Brisbane to Cairns

Once we left Surfers we went a couple of hours to Brisbane to see someone I meet last year and spend a night there just for a quick catch up and somewhere to stay for the night, he made us a lovely dinner and then took us out for what he says is the best ice cream in the world called…

I mean it was good but it hasn’t made ruin ice cream for me.

We left the next day and heading up to Bunderburg, the weather was horrible making the drive really hard for me. There were some points where I could hardly see in front of me but we made it there safe and sound, and we were able to stay at Gerry’s daughter’s house for a few nights, so we actually had a bed again for a few nights. Whilst we were there we went to the Bunderburg Rum factory and had a tour and a couple of free tastings and they have a rum they make but only sell from the factory which is a coffee/chocolate liqueur so obviously I had to buy a bottle of that and it is just amazing, over a bit of ice…yum yum yum.

We soon left Bunderburg as we only wanted to go to the rum factory, and headed up to Airlie beach and this time we stayed with Gerry’s son. We didn’t have a bed this time but we got to set up our lovely tent in his garden and we had a fire every night so that was a bonus. Airlie beach was amazing I loved it, we went to the beach on the first day but the water was murky so we didn’t really fancy going for a swim as it was the end of the box jelly fish season, not nice. But the next day we went on a jet ski tour of the islands and that was fun. We had about 20 minutes on the way out to the island and Judith was driving and then when we got to the island we had a tour of the aquarium and got to feed the rays and hold a baby bamboo shark. On the way back from the island I was driving and it was so much fun, I just wish we didn’t have to stay in a line and follow each other as it made it harder because one person would be going to slow or the person behind you would be right up your ass and it was really annoying. We nearly didn’t get to go out that day as the weather was getting rough and the swell was about 3 meters so they phoned round in the morning to check that we were up for an adventure and weren’t going to be scared of it! ha us scared of a little water…

After we left Airlie Beach we went straight on up to Cairns and the weather was horrible nearly the whole way, we must have been following a storm or something, but we made it there, managed to find our hostel and again we found a really good deal for a private room for 3 nights, the room was more like a hotel with a balcony and en-suite and a massive double bed. Unfortunately money and weather meant we were very limited on what we could do in Cairns, so we didn’t get a chance to go out on the reef as it just rained every day we were there, but we did go up into the rainforest to a place called rainforestation which is a nature park set in the rainforest. We ended up having our very own private tour on the amphibious vehicle as we were the only English speaking people there (everyone else was Chinese or Japanese) and we think the tour guide loved us as he kept stopping and chatting rubbish to us and the tour went on for a lot longer then we think it should have done, neither Judith or me remember anything he told us. The main thing we did was cuddle a Koala, it was amazing and we got our photos taken with him. Other than that like I said we didn’t actually get up too much, Judith brought me home a big sombrero from a night out she had and it has been travelling with us ever since.  

Gold Coast

Beautiful beaches, sun shining, good nights out, what more can I say? We spent 3 days in Surfers Paradise, and we had such a good time, the hostel we stayed in was small but good, managed to get a private room for $28 each a night so that was a good score. As soon as we got there we decided to go down the beach but on the way there we got called over by some club reps and had a lovely chat with then, turned out to be alright as we got $40 tickets for 2 nights out on town, one that night which was a club crawl and one the next night which was a ladies night at one of the clubs. So we had a couple of good nights out on the town. During our first day there we went to a water park called Wet and Wild, this was interesting as we were slightly hung over and the first ride we went on was called Kamikaze which involved what I would say was a 65^o drop and Judith was sat backwards and I was the one that would have to sit facing the drop and you go down on a rubber ring things and it just goes straight up the other side and you just keep going like that until it stops, but when you first go over the edge it feels like you are just going to topple over. On the next night we went to a dinner and a show called Outback Spectacular and it was amazing, we got a 3 course dinner, and a show that consisted of horses, quad bikes, cars, and people all doing tricks and really amazing things. So that pretty much concludes the main things we did in surfers, but we had a really good time there and was just nice to relax and have some fun.

Ballina/Bryon Bay

After what felt like 100 road works, we reached Ballina and the farm where we would be staying for the next two weeks. Instantly we met their dog, Boofi, and the horses, King and Jimmy, as soon as I saw the horses I knew I didn’t want anything to do with them but Sophie and Judith were all over them so I knew they would be kept entertained on any day we didn’t have anything planned. During the two weeks we were there we went to Bryon Bay which was about a 30 minute drive from where we were staying, we went to the St Paddy day races in Ballina and then went to Bryon Bay in the evening thinking it would be a good place to celebrate, but apparently everything shuts at midnight even on St Paddy’s day, which was very disappointing. We went on a few trips to the surrounding towns, but there wasn’t really much around so most of the time we would just be at the farm looking after the animals, and surprisingly I actually ended up helping out with the horses every day, and Judith even managed to ride Jimmy bare back and get his saddle on him which no one has done for a while. Unfortunately just before we were going to be leaving Sophie decided that she wanted to move on and do some travelling in other countries in the time she had off, so one morning I took her on a four hour round trip to Brisbane where she stayed the night until she got on a plane the next day to go to Airlie Beach and catch up with a family friend. It was sad to see her go but it’s good for her. So that just leaves Judith and Me to finish the journey to Alice Springs. When Gerry and Corinne got back home they offered us to stay a few days and so some work around the farm for cash, so naturally we agreed. Gerry taught us how to chainsaw, and I was cutting down trees and chopping them up into smaller pieces, not sure the English health and safety would approve but I’m still here so it can’t have been that bad, and he also taught us how to use and the front end loader tractor. Judith and I had great fun over those few days and we got paid for it, even better! Then it was time to leave and head on up to Surfers Paradise. 

Melbourne to Byron Bay

Here we go again then, the blogs have started, been a while since I left I know that but haven’t had good enough internet to do this with.

Judith and me landed in Melbourne late on the Sunday night and stayed with Liz, two days later Sophie arrived. That caused a bit of hassle bless her as she sent her flight details to my English number which I didn’t have any more, causing us to have to phone around friends back home in a panic trying to figure out what time she would be getting here. Eventually Josh managed to get the details from her sister and we made it to the airport, but the panic wasn’t over yet as her flight never arrived. One main problem is that because of the time of night there weren’t many staff around that could help us, finally we managed to find out that her flight had been delayed by 3 hours. When we caught sight of her through the gates, it was the best feeling ever as by this time it was about 2 in the morning and all we wanted to do was sleep. But we got her home and away we went.

Whilst we were in Melbourne Judith, Liz and I went on the neighbours’ tour, so worth it if you are a fan, was so strange to see the street and we meet Eve AKA Sonya. Judith, Sophie and Me then carried on the Melbourne fun by going to St Kilda beach, the National Museum, Geelong, they had a White Night festival whilst we were there as well, went to Karaoke, Melbourne Zoo, War memorial, and we toured the city on the City Tram and the City bus so we think we managed to see a lot of the city that most people wouldn’t end up seeing, went to the science and technology section in Federation Square.

After Melbourne we went to stay with a couple of my friends Graham and Lee and one of their friends Louise up in Ballarat, for the weekend, was really good to catch up with them all. We didn’t really do much whilst there apart from go Koala spotting up a small mountain and scaring Judith by going up a lookout tower whilst there.

Then it was time to hit the Great Ocean Road, with a quick stop off at Mt Eccles National Park, where we were surrounded by Kangaroos, Koalas and Possums all night, we even got to have a play in a Police car. The Great Ocean Road was really good, we spent two days driving  along it, starting off by stopping off at all the viewpoints but after about 6 stops we realised we could start missing out on a few of them, but we made sure we stopped at the 12 Apostles. When we got to Apollo bay we were going to go for a swim but decided the sea was way too cold and instead had fish and chips and a beer!!

Our next stop was Canberra, but unfortunately we didn’t get much time here as Corinne and Gerry (my bosses last year and this year) phoned and asked if we wanted to house sit for them, but they needed us up at Byron Bay area within a week, it was originally going to be about 2 weeks maybe a bit more. But we agreed to do it so we had one afternoon in Canberra which we spent at the Captain Cook water fountain and the Parliament house, considering none of us are the political sort it turned out to be a little bit boring so we made our way to the campsite we would be staying for the night. It appeared to be a very nice camp ground, a showground that was only used on week a year and the rest of the year it was a campsite, we woke up in the morning to a misty scene, which was really good for photos, but then things turned rubbish as Judith heard the caretakers wife bitching about us to some other campers, say how we must think it was hot as we were sat out in the sun at 9 in the morning, and how we have all our stuff everywhere (we had a tent, a car and three chairs so don’t know how she figured that one out!!) then she came over to us and started saying it all to our face. I have never felt so unwelcomed at a camp ground in my life, so we quickly packed up “all our stuff” and high-tailed it out of there!

After a few hours of driving we got to SYDNEY, now that was a bit of a pain to get into as we paid for one toll road and we really didn’t want to pay for another one so I decided to turn down a side road and go into the city through all the back roads. When you don’t actually have a point to head towards, other than the city centre it is actually really hard to find anywhere, eventually we found a hostel and just about managed to get two nights stay, but we had to find somewhere else to park the car as they only had six spaces, first car park we went into was going to cost us $280 for two nights so we moved on from that one and found another one still expensive but a lot better at a price of $120 for two nights. One the first night there we went out with the guy who was sharing our room, and we didn’t get back in until 4.30 in the morning! The next day was our only full day in Sydney, so we paid for the city tour bus as we thought this would be the quickest way to get around and see the sights. We managed to cram in a lot considering we didn’t start until 1ish. Saw the Oprah House and the Harbour Bridge, got the classic photos and moved on to Bondi Beach.

Next day we had a short trip through the Blue Mountains, and it’s true, the eucalyptus trees do give off a blue haze. It was a really pretty drive with lovely views, we went down a couple of look outs on the way, including one that (again) pushed Matt to the limits but he got us there, even if it did turn out to be a bit of a waste of time as the water fall we went down there for was another 2 hour walk away and none of us were prepared to do a two hour walk. We carried on through the mountains and did a loop to the other side where we found a national park to camp for the night. Over the next couple of days we were just driving up the Pacific Highway towards Byron Bay.