Update
01/07/2007
The next photo's to
see are Melbourne
- Perth - Thailand. O.k. so we got home late March and now it's
July, bit slack at doing the website. In the real world there is
just so much to get on and do!
A really quick run down
to accompany the photo's. After getting back from NZ we stayed in
Melbourne for 1 month with friends of my (sandy's) parents. That
was lovely - thanks Marie and Roger for housing us and feeding us
so well! Both alfi and I really liked Melbourne and I'd personally
like to move there one day. Beats Sydney if you ask me. We both
tried to get work in that month and failed due January not only
being summer holiday time and school holiday time but after xmas.
Lots of business's don't even open in January. I managed to get
a couple of very short temp jobs but nothing like the duration I
worked in Brisbane. So instead alfi and I spent the time wisely
and got out and saw Melbourne. We also went on another camping trip
along the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles. I've reduced
the photo's on this update by heaps, maybe when life hasn't settled
down I'll find some more. We met up with my second cousin Frances
who is studying in Melbourne and went to museums and generally relaxed.
Marie and Roger also took us up to Emma's (their daughters) mini
farm and along to a vintage car rally. I spared you the extent of
our photo's on that one.
Then off to Perth -
a lovely place. Very clean and awesome beaches. Not much going on
though, not sure if I could live there. I would like to travel back
to Oz and finish doing western australia though. For three weeks
we enjoyed being on holiday --- which is different to travelling.
We stayed at a nice camp site, lounged by the pool jammed in with
going to the beach. Tough life. We also got the chance to do some
more scuba diving off Rottnest Island, visit a submarine and see
perth's prison as a tourist not because we got locked up for being
naughty. Oh and I got to make a big sandcastle on one of the pristine
beaches.
Then off to Thailand.
That was good fun. Very humid and pretty hot all round to be honest.
We started in Bangkok and got stuck in with the bartering. In a
country that you can't walk two metres in the main stretch and not
be offered either a suit, massage or tuk tuk we embarked to try
and find a place to have a good suit made. How do you find such
a place when everyone is offering their services ? We managed to
sort something out and got all measured up before we left for out
flight to Phuket. Now if you'ev been to Thailand you'd probably
know Phuket isn't the kind of place you want to stay for long. We
stayed long enough to book some accomodation on phi phi and jumped
on a ferry. Phi Phi was beautiful but I think the Thai people are
going to ruin it with their unregulated tourist developments. After
Phi Phi we moved to Koh Lanta. That was everything I hoped Thailand
would be. Quiet but enough going on to not feel you've picked a
dud of a resort. We stayed in Palm Beach on Long Beach. Enjoyed
the sand and sea and nice thai food for 4 nights. We squeezed in
a snorkeling trip off Koh Ha, a little island which has national
marine park status. Swimming in the sea was exactly like having
a warm bath. We also rented a motorbike for a day and went off to
see the island.
Then back to Phi Phi
for another 2 nights and back to Bangkok for another 4 nights. I
think. Some bits of the trip are already becoming a haze....Bangkok
was fun when we got back. Picked up our suits. Bargain. Moved over
the older side of town, much closer to the Grand Palace. While there
we did the whole tourist thing big time. Grand Palace, Wat Pho with
the famous reclining budha, Jim Thompsons house, eating at night
markets, Khao San - eating and shopping. Then I started to miss
english food. So we had a curry and that cured me, really good food.
That's it really. Time for home.
So now back in UK, alfi
is back to brighton to pick his business up. I've gone home to the
folks to job hunt. Still in the process of job hunting. It's a long
process and I'm starting to miss Oz and my travels already. So I
need a job, so I can save for the next adventure.
Hope your all well!
Update 23/01/2007
The next photo's to
see are under "New Zealand".
As usual we are behind with the website so you probably havn't seen
the update below either! Oh well - we are on holiday after all.
After being in Queensland and having travelled down to Melbourne
we left for New Zealand. What a great place. Amazing scenery in
just about every corner you look into. Although the overall impression
was that the Kiwi's have taken every opportunity to flog the tourists
for what they can get. Considering the exchange rate, most tourist
activities only seemed reasonable once you've converted the cost
back to pounds. This is the cure for most activities that seem just
a little too pricey in the local currencey. Most places that one
might go and see as a traveller were more expensive than Australia,
even when you take into account the differing exchange rate.
Anyway, I'll give you
the highlights. We arrived in Christchurch mid November. Alfie then
got stuck into doing lots of jobs for his mum around her place.
So that's a little town called Cheviot, north of Christchurch about
half way again to Kaikouria. Alfie trimmed tree's, built gates and
storage shelves, moved wood and mowed lawns etc. All because nearly
every job involved some kind of machinery whether it be the chainsaw
or the tractor or Joan's new ride on mower.
I helped with moving
wood and pointed from the bottom of trees with words like "that
branch over there". Joan had a massive amount of green waste
to burn at the end - I don't think I've seen such a big bonfire
outside of guyfaulks. Anyway so that was the first week or so in
Cheviot. We also did a walk with the local walking group up mt Isobel
(2 hr up and 2 hr down) then back down in the afternoon for a nice
soothing dip at Hanmer thermal pools (and a particulary good icecream
after that). From the photo's you'll see Cheviot it's a pretty but
small town - check out the local train station (which is why it
was so funny when my sister wendy said in an email just before xmas
- I've looked for shops in cheviot with online shopping but I can't
find any).
For a couple of nights,
Joan showed us around the north end of the south island. We travelled
up the east coast and got some good sight seeing in there, but the
west coast true to form was wet, very... and it didn't take much
convincing to drive back to Cheviot. Check out joan's pop top caravan
- three of us slept in there plus Alfie's dog - shala. So our journey
went - Cheviot to Kaikouria for fish and chips with friends of Joan's
(Marie and Bru). Then Bleinham, Nelson and past through ward. We
stopped just off of Pelorus river. A very nice camp ground, with
really nice green grass. Alfie had a dip in the river but it was
cold and I don't think I've seen him get out of the water as fast
before (and he jumps in pools, ponds and the sea when I won't).
Then from Motueka to Takaka we stayed with some more friends of
Joans, Albert and Noemi. Alfie trimmed some of their tree's too.
Then from Takaka we travelled upto Farewell spit which is the furthest
point north on the south island. Also to Wharariki Beach and Collingwood
museum was where we found the whales eardrums and had pies for lunch.
Then onto Waikoropupu springs - I've never seen such clear water.
It was cold but I've never wanted to get into water as much - maybe
because all contact with the water is forbidden - it's bottled as
mineral water. Then we drove a little way and saw the Abel Tasmin
monument. So leaving Albert and Noemi's we started travelling down
the rainy west coast. We stopped at some caves in the Takaka hills,
amongst lots of black marbel in the hill side there are the Nguru
caves. Down to Punakiki, the pancake rocks and blow holes. Because
of the rough weather these blow holes were really spectacular. Lots
of thundering crashing waves into the blow holes. Then I can't remember,
we stopped somewhere and it rained the whole time. Then we drove
home to Cheviot via Rotherham and had a nice pub lunch.
O.k. so onto the North
Island. From Cheviot to Picton, then on the ferry from Picton to
Wellington. The scenery across the gap is outstanding. Arriving
in Wellington about 10pm we drove to a near by campsite just past
Porirua and Paraparaum Beach. Travelling up the second day we stayed
at another van park at Palmerston North - it was still raining.
We decided to go and see the town and ended up visiting an animatronics
exhibition called "How to make a monster". Based on the
work of John Cox - It was most different. We saw latex models of
all kinds of creatures, some working with the steel structures inside
them. Because it was quiet (most people have jobs during the day)
the lady looking after the exhibition gave us a guided tour - very
educational. Then after Palmeston North up further to Napier - the
art deco town. Heaps of stuff to do up there but we flagged the
tourist sights in preference of going to the climbing centre. Then
it had kinda stopped raining so much while we travelled upto Taupo,
and parked up at a caravan park. Having a pop top caravan with a
heater, kettle and fridge was just luxury after being in a tent
for so long in Oz. Although New Zealand being colder and wetter
doen't really lend it's self to tents that well - I felt so sorry
for those campers in tents. December proved to be a much wetter
month than in previous years (I beleive). On the way up from Taupo
we stopped just past Wairakei falls a series of dams. Water had
just be let through the channel and it looked pretty good - nice
and clear. We were driving around looking for the pink and white
terraces but found Rock n Ropes instead and watched people climb
up poles and jump off the top. I would have been interested if we
had stayed longer. So travelling up again - we wanted to get to
Auckland and then have the journey back down to Wellington at a
more leisurly pace. At Matamata we found Opal Hot Springs. An older
thermal pool but complete with camp grounds and a nice swimming
pool - with free entrance to the thermal heated pools which is unusual
in the area. Arriving in Auckland we stayed at Manukua Top 10 -
which afterwards we learned that is was the slightly rougher part
of Auckland, but it was fine. We met up with a mate of Bryan's -
Mike and his wife Sara and baby Madison. A few beers! Auckland was
o.k. but as a city I don't think we saw it as best as we could have.
Visited the museum there and saw lots of Maori wood carvings. Went
to a couple of art galleries and drove around the Quay. Britomart
train station in the centre was lit up in different colour neon
lights.
We both enjoyed walking
the Tongariro Crossing which takes in views of active volcanoes
of Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. The walk continues across the
south crator and finally upto the Red Crator, the highest point
on the track is 1886m which then desends down to the Emerald Lakes
a group of water filled explosion craters and finally down through
native forest to the end where the coach comes to pick everyone
up. It wasn't a long walk - about 7hrs if you go slow but because
of the climbing up and down it was a little arduous in places.
Rotorua was different
and worth staying a few days. Enjoyed the luge, visiting Wai-o-tapu
and looking at all the volcanic crators and bubbling mud pools.
A bit disappointed at visiting the Buried Village which is an excavated
site once covered in lava from Mt Tawerra ( I think). Something
to watch on telly I feel. But marvelled in what it would have taken
for visitors to travel to the pink and white terraces when they
were still visible. They were also covered in lava at the same time
as the near by village. Still in Rotorua we had a go at Zorbing.
Which involved a very rocky drive upto the top of the small hill
- a supermans dive to get into the plastic sphere, a bucket of cold
water added, zipped in and then you push yourself down a wiggley
hill untill momentum takes over. I wasn't overly impressed but Bryan
was mildy impressed - it's aesthetically action packed but in reality
it's really not as good as what it looks like.
After Rotorua it was
back through Taupo - take a few photo's of the lake and down to
Wellington. Wellington seemed a good kiwi city. The museum there
Te Papa is an all together interactive experience and very big.
Then it was chance to take advantage of being somewhere for a few
days for long over due haircuts. The ferry ride back to Picton was
in the afternoon so we enjoyed watching the land disappear over
a beer. Back to Picton and back to Cheviot via the Pavlova shop.
Xmas was fun - lots of nice food and lots and lots of beer. Bryan
fashioned a xmas tree from pine tree branches from Joan's back paddock
- it smelled lovely. We also had chance to catch up with Geoff another
mate of Bryans. Had a top meal in Christchurch and then a really
top breakfast in town the next morning (hangover cure). Then on
the 28th December we flew back to Melbourne on Virgin Blue - prepared
this time with 12 mince pies for the journey.
Next up date will be
our Melbourne stuff..........
Update 13/11/2006
The next photo's to
see are under "Tropical Queensland".
After Mike left we travelled upto Cairns where I (sandy) did a scuba
diving course. Good fun. Two days in the pool and three days out
at sea. The last day was spent on 2 pleasure dives having completed
the course the day before. A very good idea to do some diving without
the instructor, although navingation becomes an issue where before
you just follow the instructor around. After Cairns we drove upto
Cape Tribulation and stayed a night in the rain forest. We could
have travelled upto Cook Town with the car but anywhere further
up requires a 4WD. It was already getting pretty wet so we came
back down to Cairns and decided to travel back down to Melbourne.
We took the inland route because we had taken the coastal route
upto Cairns. We stayed in Kuranda for a few more days which was
very wet too. Visited a butterfly Sanctuary and Alfi got a Aussie
hat. We also had time to visit Hartleys Crocodile Adventure Park.
A great place with lots of animals to see not just crocodiles -
but the crocs were good viewing. Nr Innisfall we visted Paronella
Park - a spanish castle recovered from the rain forest. Travelling
inland gave us a chance to see hours of highway, red earth and road
kill. The flies get more annoying that's for sure. We made some
adaptations to our hats which helped but sometimes we just had to
get back in the car. On the way down we stopped by some Gorge's.
In particular the Granite Gorge (nr ????) which gave us a good walking/climbing
experience. It's alot more scarey without a harness on. Then further
down our route we stopped at Carnavon Gorge (nr ????). We don't
know what came over us but we enjoyed our 22km walk through the
gorge and side gorge's very much. I was limping for the last km,
my knee decided to remind me how badly I landed on it a week earlier
on a short run. I think the walk was so enjoyable because we set
off at 6:30a.m. with 2 litres of water each and made good distance
before it got really hot. Plus it's all mostly flat and there are
things to see along the way such as aborginal art and the gorge
narrowing in against the trees. The destinations after this were
Brisbane to pick up post and stock up, Sydney for a few days, Canberra
(which is quite uneventful - the war memorial was o.k. but) and
then Melbourne. In Melbourne we stayed with some family friends
- Marie and Roger who looked after us brillantly - great food! Very
good to sleep in a real bed and have a hot shower without spiders
and frogs. Now onto NZ.
Update 17/10/2006
Check out the new photo's
on the page called "Mikes Visit" or
click here . These are photo's of Mike's big holiday in Australia
with us. Starting in Brisbane where
Alfi and I (sandy) were working, then heading out to Rammblers Drop
Zone (Toogoolawah) to learn to skydive! then off to Queenstown
in New Zealand for snowboarding and then back to Oz for his final
week in the Whitsundays. Alfi and I
at that point continued up to the far north of Queensland and did
some more travelling. I (Sandy) am writing this from our tent in
a nice campsite in Cairns. However
photo's of our adventures in Cairns will come next. Most of you
will agree "mikes visit" is a massive page! it was a very
expensive 3 weeks for us but awesome fun.
Week 1 - Brisbane, Gold
Coast - wet n wild! and Skydiving
Mike had no time for
jet lag on arrival, his holiday was jam packed. Day 1 see Brisbane
while I (Sandy finished off my temp job) day 2 wet n wild....and
day 3 help sandy and alfi move out of rented accomodation and get
on the road to Toogoolawah - Rammblers Drop
Zone. Mike and Alfi both learnt to skydive over 8 days and
20 free fall jumps at 14,000 ft. Very cool ! Alfi and mike enjoyed
the skydiving, beers, meeting new crazy people that also like to
jump out planes and I improved my foozball skills quite considerably!
Week 2 - Queenstown
NZ
Mike and Alfi took snowboarding
lessons for three days and I (sandy) did some skiing lessons. All
I can say is that I got more bruises from the chairlifts and magic
carpet than falling over trying to ski. Alfi on the other hand,
really took to snowboarding and by the end of the first day was
frightening himself on intermediate runs. Mike also got the hang
of snowboarding, although his progress was hindered somewhat by
his skydiving injuries (You're ment to land on your feet - not your
arse!!). Plus we met up with Alfi's sister Julia,
baby Nikita and Alfi's mum Joan
and enjoyed some great pub food.
Week 3 - Whitsunday
Islands
Back to Oz and upto
Airlie Beach on the A1 motorway. Lovely to be in the warm again.
We all took a 3 day and 3 night boat trip on the Anaconda
III out to the Great Barrier Reef. Excellent snorkeling and
an opportunity for Alfi to do some scuba diving. We snorkeled a
section of the stepping stones of the Great
Barrier Reef and also had a trip to Whitehaven
Beach (which is incidentally rated as one of the worlds nicest
beaches). Great fun being on board with fellow travellers and holiday
makers (30 of us) - 3 days was a good time to get to know everyone.
We also took some photo's with a manual underwater camera, it was
like going back in time! Quality not great but you get the jist.
Plus a great chance to get our sea legs, 3 days and 3 nights - you
find out if you really get sea sick or not!
Partial update
8/10/2006
OK, not a proper update
but what you might call a sneak preveiw of what's to come.
Living in Brisbane
is the latest addition by Sandy, although we will probably add a
little more to that page when I've gone through our photo's a bit
more.
Mikes Visit an
addition which is by no means finished but I figured it was about
time we uploaded some of our work or it's gonna take ages to upload
in one go.
We also have plans to
do a whole new type of page which will include short movie clips
and interesting stuff we've found on the net at various points during
our trip. Until we've sorted out some more photo's though - you're
gonna have to wait. Feel free to email us with any amusing clips
etc if you wanna have them added on.
Email address's below
if you don't already have them - look forward to hearing from you
all. Later dudes!
Alfi's email:
The boss
Sandy's email:
Yeah right - In your dreams
Alfi
Last Updated
17/9/2006
Lots to tell this time
round. You'll all be glad to know that Bryan and I stopped enjoying
ourselves quite so much and did some work for two months in Brisbane.
We found a little shared flat which was well located and got used
to the comforts of living in a solid structure. Have to say, it
made those occassional rainy days a lot more comfortable. Brisbane
during the winter has surprised both of us, don't think we could
live here in the summer - it's just nice in the winter - during
the middle of the day, it would easily get to 25 degrees. Then colder
at night.....but never cold enough for coats. Click
here for photo's
Bryan got work as a
sparky since he has all his skill cards for Australia. I did get
offered a science job but unfortunaly they wanted me for 6 months
and we were only planning on staying for 2-3 months in Brisbane.
I instead did some office temping. I worked for a distribution company
for 6 weeks in a warehouse in Brisbane Markets. It sucked! But after
that ended I did some temping for companies in the central business
district which was much better. I worked for a major mining company,
Queensland health complaints department and also Queensland Electoral
Commission for 3 days (just before an election in Qld).
After all the work was
done - Mike came out and no sooner than he was able to think about
getting over his jet lag, we had a day trip to wet and wild. The
next week for me was spent watching Alfi and Mike, doing an AFF
course (accerated free fall) skydiving and parachuting course.
Last Updated
15/7/2006
Time for more photo's!
After staying with Bryan's
Auntie Helen for nearly a month in Sydney. Bryan and I did some
camping around NSW for a two weeks (while waiting for the last bits
of mail to arrive in Sydney).
Map 1 - NSW Camping
Trip
First stop was Bilpin
(a little rest stop on the way to the Blue Mountains)...we didn't
waste any time, got the tent up (in the dark) and made a fire. On
the map the white dots are places we stayed at for 1-2 nights. So
having realised that our camping guide "Camps Australia Wide
3" points out all the free camping spots, being the budget
conscious travellers that we decided to be (tight), we opted for
the free camp spots whenever possible! The next free place along
our way was called "Flat Rock"
beside Rainville Creek, a fish river. Camping here was my first
introduction to "Real" camping, The river was a bit cold
for a quick wash but we did it and we had heaps of space to throw
the Boomerang. Our first attempt at "Spuds" didn't work
to plan - never under estimate just how quickly a real fire cooks
food. Also our first experience of being out of civilisation, no
mobile signal (soon to be v.common) and camping with absolutely
no-one around. I have to say it was a bit daunting at first, specially
at night with all the creatures.
Around Katoomba
we visited Jenolan Caves and went to the Three
Sisters. See the link above. It was in Katoomba where we
stocked up on extra bedding, it was pretty cold at night. I (Sandy)
wrapped up well, sometimes wearing my coat and nearly always my
hat. At these times Alfi would call me "Bob". It's amazing
just how cold it is as soon as the sun goes down. The Jenolan caves
were awesome and I appreciated easily fitting through the passages
as compared to the actual caving we'd done in the U.K. We also started
to notice the bird life, lots of pretty coloured birds in Oz. While
in Katoomba at the three sisters, we took a train down into the
trees and walked around the rain forest. A great of time of year
to be in the area as all the trees (above the rain forest) were
in their autumn colours. We then stayed at Lake
Lydell (nr Dam). Here we started to get the hang of cooking
on our camp fire, got the spuds just right and progressed onto apples!
Got used to camping with kangaroo's all about the place too. Even
though it was $10 a night we stayed for a couple of days. There
was no firewood in the grounds of the site, and it was $14 for a
small bag of fire wood. So we investigated and found heaps close
to the dam. We did have to drive the car down a small road and climb
over a barrier. I was just bringing some more wood up when I saw
a security guard talking to Alfi. I thought we'd been sprung and
are gonna get told off. Instead the dam security guard offered to
help us bring our wood back up to the main road. What a guy! He
also told us about the times he'd hit roo's driving at night and
the local places to go. We'd seen quite a few roo's by this point
dead on the roadside.
Onto Mudgee,
a quaint little town. Very clean, just like the town time had forgotten,
and then we got to Gulong which really
was like a ghost town and Dunnedo,
like a big retirement village. Wanting some free camping we then
travelled into the Gouburn River National
Park. That was a long trip, about 18km on a really bumpy
track (2WD apparently - but you wouldn't want to do it a lot) -
we took it slow. Arrived to see lots of Kangaroo's and Alfi saw
an Ostrich. We found some massive holes......and at night time you
could hear lots of weird noises, which we assumed were all the local
nocturnal wild life. It was at that point camping bacame more like
survival and we had a fire just to keep warm. We woke to a very
frosty morning. It soon warmed up and we walked around the area.
I got slightly stuck up a bank, it's always very easy to climb up
places but getting down isn't my forte. This is where I started
to learn not to always follow Alfi. After the cold night I was reluctant
to go to the Coolah Tops which were ment to be beautilful but high
up and hence cold, so instead we travelled East to Lake
Glenbawn. Saw some black Roo's. In Aberdeen we had a few
swims, it's cheaper to go swimming and get clean than to pay for
a camping ground. Besides not all of them let you have fires. And
Alfi was really enjoying having a camp fire. We then moved onto
Towarri National Park. A small place,
very sheltered, nice and green. Everywhere we went appeared to be
having a drought, so we walked along what would be a river bed and
found a Porcupine? (prickly dude...maybe a wombat?). Maybe you can
help us out on the species. We have been taking lots of photo's
of the wild life - cos they are generally our company. By this point,
Alfi was suspecting the clutch was slipping in our car. We carried
on to Watagan's National Park. After
some cow herding (Alfi is a natural) we made it up to the top. Our
first rainy day. Now after the bumpy track at the Gouburn River
National Park, I was a bit calmer with the adventurous driving until
this track. A very rocky uphill slippery track and I was not enjoying
it (and I wasn't driving either). We made it to the top, but nowhere
suitable to camp because the ground was rock. We then found a track
down the hill side - which was probably the track we should of taken
on the way up (doogh) and was much better. Found a lovely green
spot. Pitched our tent. It got dark. Later a German Couple arrived
and walked over to us and said "there is a problem with camping
here" and we thought oh no, what's wrong, is it cursed? what
animals come out at night here? but what they were trying to say
is "is there a problem if we camped nr you in our camper van?".
That was fun, made our dinner and ate together. They got slightly
drunk and Alfi told them all about the wild life we'd encountered.
The next day there camper wouldn't start but it didn't seem to bother
them (only just bought it from a backpackers car dealer!!) we were
on a hill and they could bump start it. Cheers all round when the
van went. The morning was spent on a fun walk to a water fall. No
water though and it was more like a water drip. We then headed back
into Sydney to get our mail. Spent the night on Pete and Dot's boat
in Tennyson Point mooring, lots of food and wine : ). We then stayed
with Dot and
Pete for a few days, they fed us very well, made us mussels and
took us to the Sydney Fish Markets for fresh fish and chips. We
also went out to a local club Pete and Dot are members off and had
an "all you can eat" dinner which was delicious.
Map 2 - New South Wales
to Queensland (Brisbane)
Keen to get back on
the road and find some warmth we headed upto Queensland
as fast as possible. First day driving was a long trip and we stayed
at another free campsite (level with Port Macquarie), that was another
night tent assemblage. Can't remember the name of where we were,
and probably just a fluke but it seemed heaps warmer as soon as
we arrived. We woke to see exactly where we had camped to find a
nice little stream running around the campsite and big hills in
the distance. We even did a bit of yoga outside, it was much warmer
than we were exposed to back lower in NSW. We have generally inadvertantly
entertained many campsite goers with our alfresco yoga. So you can
probably guess - we camped our way as fast as possible upto Brisbane.
You don't want to hear it all step by step, yakka...yakka. So I'll
just give you the highlights. Arounnd Yuragir
National Park we found the big snake! She was a beauty. A
bit difficult to drive around (with the windows firmly shut) but
a good find. Camping is so exciting with all the dangerous extras.
Have to say at first I was shreaking and running a mile at every
spider, but now I just assume everything is deadly and step back
verrry slowly. Plus knowing the inner tent is pretty impervious
to most creatures (and we find a lot when we take the tent down
stuck on the outside of the inside) you just have to get on with
it. Although taking the torch to the outback dunny (and I suppose
we havn't really been outback yet) is a very good idea when it's
dark. Bryan found a rather big spider in a Fire Hose Reel box. I
watched him as he said "hey found a big spider" and then
watched him suddenly move back real fast "jee's it moves fast".
That was at a place called Boreen Point
(nr Tewantin and Noosa). So also on the way to Queensland we stopped
off at a choice little spot right on the beach, we awoke at 6a.m.
to watch the sunrise. It's also sometimes real noisey in the morning
when the birds rise. Camping right on the beach you get to hear
the crashing waves, which sometimes are pretty loud too. Being in
the middle of nature is great but not always peaceful. Another little
highlight on the way up was staying in a camp ground called James
Sharpe Park, just under Nerang (Gold
Coast). The scenery surrounding the Gold Coast
was particulary green and a welcome sight after the common browny/yellow
grass we'd been travelling through (an indication....it rains here).
But I think that's because the Gold Coast is a tourist mecca and
many places maintain their grass better (and I also read today at
work that some people have plastic turf laid). Saw some lovely beaches
around the Gold Coast and strangely don't have photo's of those.
Guess cos we havn't really done any real beach lounging - too much
other stuff to do for that. We arn't really into lying on beaches
all day - but I'm sure if I worked at it I'd be good at it. So James
Sharpe Park - yes you guessed it - another budget campsite,
$4 each per night (that's about £1.60). It was in the middle
of a military training zone but I'd say the signs were old and that
was over the road from the campsite. Although the combination of
signs on the way to the site ....with first "caution military
training zone, do not stop" followed by "road works -
prepare to stop! " hmmm?
So once reaching Brisbane
Bryan and I stayed for a while at the Samford
Showground (on the outskirts of Brisi). It was a great cheap
campsite outside Brisbane. Normally a horse show ground...no horse
poo though. They also host local fares etc. Lots of space for Bryan
to do some land kiting and lots of space without other campers except
our only other neighbour for 1 1/2 weeks, a couple from further
north Queensland in there camper (the guy had massive hands - a
market gardener by trade). Great big place, only downside was because
it was by the side of a river, when it rained it brought all the
cane toads out. And those you didn't want near you. They particulary
liked the toilet area to my annoyance...had to take Bryan with me
and he bought along a big stick. You do have to be careful - since
flip flops (jangles NZ, thongs OZ) are the accepted footwear in
Queensland, and most of time when wearing them with the heat, you
generally don't have covered up feet.
So while in Brisbane,
the grand plan was to find a flat and some work. However we also
had another mission and that was to get prepared for the arrival
of Bryan's Mum - Joan. The preparations included buying an extra
spoon and bowl! We also got sick of sitting on our storage boxes
as chairs - well I say sick, Bryan fell through his storage box
chair and did a great save with his dinner. It was a lovely day
we invested $7 each in a set of - Bunnings Warehouse finest blue
fold up chairs. We didn't rush into it either with many comparisons
in the store of several of the alternatives. Bryan got carried away
with the moment and wanted to buy a 1m x 1m card table. That was
unpractical and later on into the Joan Z holiday Bryan scored a
great little table for $10. You may say these little things - what
are they talking about. But it's nice being able to eat your dinner
from a table like device and actually see what you are putting into
your mouth! So the photo's can be seen with the link "camping
with mum". We travelled upto Maryborough
and to a smaller town called Howard
where Joan's friend Iris lives. We all stayed there for a few days.
On the way however we stopped off a fantastic little campsite in
Boreen Point. It was on a lake. We
visited the local hotel which did some supreme meals. Bryan and
Joan discovered deep fried lambs brains on the menu, I obviously
hadn't tried such a combination....and before you knew it, a portion
were being ordered so "sandy can try lambs brains"....I
wasn't so sure. However pleasantly surprised, they weren't too bad.
But they did taste very rich. Bryan tryed Kangaroo steaks and slowly
over the week holiday through 2 stays at Boreen Point, on the way
to Maryborough and on the way back, we collectively worked our way
through the entire menu. I also tried the Kangaroo, since Bryan's
were so nice at the first meal we had there. I also tryed Barramundi
fish with capers and lemon. We all agreed - very yummy food and
reasonably priced too!. So in Maryborough Joan, had the chance to
catch up with her friend Iris. Iris fed us very well. Plus as a
top bonus Iris did our washing! I got used to Iris's two german
shepherd dogs - Ollie and Simba. The dogs were majorly excited when
we arrived and not being a dog person, I hid - for a while. Bryan
got stuck in though, they loved him. On the way back down to Brisbane
to drop Joan off at the airport, we stopped by the famous Ettamogah
Pub. It's a pub which featured in many cartoon sketches starting
in the 1960s. The place is fitted out like you would imagine the
inside of a cartoon pub - if that makes sense. Then while in Brisbane
we disovered a 40s retro cafe, which made old fashioned thick shakes.
They were pretty special.
Another interesting
little story was Bryan's mission to get a new car stero, which happened
over the period Joan was visiting. One afternoon as Bryan did another
search, Joan and I waited for Bryan in the car and got talking.
We were all in a hurry that day and Bryan said he'd be quick. Anyway
some time passed and still no return of Bryan. Then he comes running
back, wearing a thermal hat, holding a donut, some peanuts, iced
coffee and a DVD saying "I've just sung a song on the radio
and won the competition". Apparently he couldn't resist entering
a Johnny Cash singing contest which just happened to be on his way
to the stero store.
The red line on map
2, shows what we plan to do when we start heading further up north.
Hope to get upto Cairns and further if we have time in late Sept.
Living in Brisbane
So no photo's for this
section yet. Those will come. Living in Brisbane is good. Great
weather, warm during the day and a bit colder at night which because
we arn't camping is fine. Bryan and I have a flat share with another
couple in Indooroopilly. If anyone
wants a chat, we've got a landline....email me for the phone number.
Oh and if anyone wants a webcam chat, we can do that too. We are
about 5-10 min on the train away from the central business district.
We have our own bathroom, for those who have lived with me (I am
really enjoying keeping it clean). Great location really close to
trains, buses, cinema, shops and the gym! and also the Colonel which
is Bryan's down fall (KFC). In Brisbane there is an outdoor climbing
wall at a place called Kangaroo Point right on the river, which
is free and brillant. Bryan invested in a new rope and we both got
new climbing shoes, we'll take some photo's soon. Also we have joined
a gym and Bryan is currently at yoga as I type this. It's fantastic
for me, I've never been a member of a nice gym in my life! We also
have a great swimming pool, outdoors but heated and 50m. The 50m
part is really helping both our swimming speeds. Although the 25oC
nature of the pool is toughening us up, it takes about 2 lenghts
to warm up - which is after the quiet comtemplation to actually
get in. Bryan has a job as an electrician and me, I have a job doing
some office stuff which I'm not sure about yet. It's alright but
I've had way more fun temping jobs. But for such a short period
of time, hey it's money. I did get offered a job with the Australian
Blood Service (doing science stuff) but they wanted me to work till
Dec and we won't be here then.
So we have big plans
for the next month. Bryan and I checked out two drop zones last
weekend cos Bryan would like to do a parachuting course (Grade A
Skydivers). So now having found a place, it's just a question of
working it into the plans. The course involves 20 jumps over 10
days. If it wasn't so expensive I'd even consider it! but it's out
of my league. Mike - a friend of Bryan's is coming out in September.
We've been busy planning lots of stuff to do while he's with us!
We are off to New Zealand for skiing for 1 week in Sept. Also we
will travel upto Whitsundays with Mike and hopefully, Mike and I
will learn to dive there. Together with a few theme parks near Brisbane,
wet 'n' wild and Seaworld, Mike you've got a big holiday ahead!
Oh and Bryan is apparently going paragliding this weekend which
is another activity for me to show some support.....from the ground.
That's it ....hope your
all having fun out there.
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