Australia 3 - East Coast
Day 128: Saturday July 24th 2004. Arrived in Cairns and checked into Gone Walkabout backpackers - a cheap recommendation. Pretty much just slept all evening after all that camping out!
Day 129: Sunday July 25th 2004. Chilled at Gone Walkabout. Had a communal barbie in evening.
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| Shrimps on the barbie |
Day 130: Monday July 26th 2004. Aaron arrived and we made plans to see the Great Barrier reef. The best recommendation we had both had was for a company called Mike Ball - a bit 5 star, but they get you out to the outer reefs where there are no other divers.
Day 131: Tuesday July 27th 2004. Admin day - laundry etc.
Day 132: Wednesday July 28th 2004. Booked up rafting and then diving with Mike Ball, all starting tomorrow.
Day 133: Thursday July 29th 2004. White water rafting on the Tully river. Although the rapids were not quite as fierce as on the Zambezi (see Zimbabwe page), the experience seemed far more dangerous, as the water was really shallow. We ended up tipping on the very last rapid and the whole raftload of us went down in our lifejackets, bouncing off rocks! I escaped with a small graze on my ankle, others escaping with skinned knees and lost shoes...
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| White water rafting - Aaron and I up front |
There must have been ten rafts, and afterwards we all watched a video production of the days trip. One shot showed Aaron playing up to the camera, which was where they decided to freeze the action to nominate him 'freak of the week', much to everyone's amusement! Once back in Cairns, we asked the rafting tour bus to drop us off at the jetty so we could get straight on the boat for the live aboard.
Day 134: Friday July 30th 2004. Mike Ball trip day one. The service and accommodation is superb, with an onboard chef, photography facilities and even someone to make your bed and put a chocolate on the pillow every morning. Since the boat has only half it's compliment of passengers, we have (almost) a member of crew to every passenger! All a bit posh really, but I can't help but love it!
As for the diving, 'Steve's Bommie' was the highlight today. The Barrier Reef is everything I'd hoped: pristine corals, and a colourful, vast selection of huge fish. Add to that clear, calm water and sunny days - well, happy days!
Day 135: Saturday July 31st 2004. Mike Ball trip day two. Having seen some awesome, brightly coloured, highly detailed slides, I decided to try using a slide film camera (MX10) underwater. I got some pretty good shots, but being on slide, there is no way to display them here until I can get them professionally scanned. I knew I chose digital for a reason!
Later on, between dives, we saw dolphins.
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| Dolphin |
Day 136: Sunday August 1st 2004. Mike Ball day three. The Cod hole dives were awesome. Saw the biggest fish I've seen in some of the best visibility I've seen. Luckily I had rented a digital camera:
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| White Tip Reef Shark | Anthias over reef | Potato Cod & diver |
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| Must look this one up! | Aaron & Giant Clam | Giant Trevally |
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| Big guy - Maori Wrasse | Lizardfish | Picnic table! |
Day 137: Monday August 2nd 2004. The final part of the Mike Ball trip is a scenic flight from Lizard Island to Cairns over the reef. The view was stunning, but not as good as actually diving it!
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| Bug shot: Lizard Island Mantis | Reef flight |
Back in Cairns, we checked into Gone Walkabout.
Day 138: Tuesday August 3rd 2004. Booked Tablelands trip. Bought a guitar for 40 dollars, complete with case and electronic tuner from a skint traveller who had been given it as a present. Bargain!
Day 139: Wednesday August 4th 2004. Tablelands trip day one. Pretty stunning stuff. Paul, our guide, is local and really seemed to know his stuff.
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| Tablelands - farms and forest | Waterfall | Waterfall | Fig tree in rainforest |
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| Mother nature | Turtle | Turtles | Water monitor lizard |
In the late afternoon we went out Platypus spotting. After that, it was one of the staff's (Caroline's) birthday, so it was a big night at the local pub...
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| Platypus (you'll have to trust me on this one!) |
Day 140: Thursday August 5th 2004. Spent a lazy day with Caroline, swimming and chilling.
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| Lake Eacham |
Day 141: Friday August 6th 2004. Wakeboarding with Paul, Dan and Caroline. First time I have tried wakeboarding off the back of a boat. It took me three goes to get up, but once up it's a whole lot more fun than being dragged by a cable, as I had done in the past. I wish I'd had my camera, as I was getting a little bit of air there - very, very cool!
Day 142: Saturday August 7th 2004. Mountain biking and canoeing day.
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| Curtain fig tree | Rare Fish Eagle | Flora |
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| 1.5 metre freshwater crocodile | Egret | Scrub Turkey |
Day 143: Sunday August 8th 2004. Lazy morning followed by a swim at lunchtime. Ached a bit from the wakeboarding. Pub in evening - English, Irish, Aussie and American company telling outrageous jokes - we managed to offend our tee-total American friend who left in disgust. Heh heh.
Day 144: Monday August 9th 2004. Spent the morning lazing around the backpackers. Went for a swim at lake Eacham in the afternoon. Somewhat reluctantly got the tour bus back to Cairns in the evening. Checked back into Gone Walkabout, and took my first (painful!) steps on my new guitar.
Day 145: Tuesday August 10th 2004. I got up at 6:30, hangover free, which actually made a really nice change! After checking out, I caught the train down to Townsville. Although slow and non-smoking, the trains here are clean, spacious and well equipped. I took the opportunity to catch up on my weblog. I checked into Globetrotters Backpackers, a small, quiet place near the 'city centre'.
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| Flowers at Globetrotters |
Day 146: Wenesday August 11th 2004. City stuff! Actually, Townsville is only half the size of Brighton, but it's 'the big city of the north'. As it is mid Winter, apparently it was 'freezing' even though everyone was walking around in shorts and sandals! I guess it's all relative. I took full advantage of the city thing, and spent the day updating the website, which I have now filled up ( must have over 200 pictures up now!) and have started a second. I also did a bit of shopping, particularly for camera gear I had wished I'd previously had. (A polarising filter and mini tripod). Pub meal, couple of pints (schooners) and game of pool and bed.
Day 147: Thursday August 12th 2004. City stuff day two. I had my guitar strings changed and did a bit more internet stuff. I then booked up a dive trip to the Yongala for tomorrow. Pub meal, couple of pints (schooners) and game of pool and bed.
Day 148: Friday August 13th 2004. Got up at the unearthly hour of 5:30am to catch a dive boat out to the wreck of the Yongala, one of the worlds top ten dive sites. Despite seasickness, low visibility and cold water, I was not disappointed! The wreck is entirely covered in soft corals, and the profusion and shear size of the fish was - well, I'd never seen anything like it! We were not permitted to penetrate the wreck, but saw huge Gropers and Wrasse, sea snakes, Unicorn fish, Sharks and the biggest turtle I've seen to date. You could make out the dining room, toilets, portholes, rudder and anchor of the wreck, even though they were entirely encrusted in coral. All around the wreck the water was full of the usual contenders - Fusiliers, various Wrasse, etc. Oh, and we saw humpback whales on the way out. Awesome.
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| Townsville harbour | Humpback whales |
I went out for the usual pub meal, beers and pool and ended up going for a bit of heavy drinking session with a couple of local lads. Not sure what time I got in, but was very hungover the next day...
Day 149: Saturday August 14th 2004. Checked out of Globetrotters, did washing and last minute emails, probably for the last time before NZ. A Canadian guy tuned my guitar for me and showed me a few chords - I'm making VERY slow progress, but I am starting to get there! Got on the train to Maryborough to get on a Frazier Island trip. It looks like it's time for the usual mad mission at the end of a country! Australia has gone way too quick! I do love train travel, the time always just flies by for me.
Day 150: Sunday August 15th 2004. I had a really crap nights sleep on the train, having neglected to bring a blanket or pillow. I ended up using my guitar case as a blanket. Hey ho, live and learn! Booked into YHA Colonial cabins in Hervey bay and booked up for the Frazier Island tour tomorrow. Went out for drinks, food and pool with an American actor called Joe who in the same dorm as me, who deserves a mention, especially for the music session on the way back in the car!
Day 151: Monday August 16th 2004. Frazer Island day one. Arrived on the island to a very organised tour. Twenty five or so of us were ushered onto a big 4wd bus - 4wd, as the island has virtually no tarmac roads. Frazier Island is the biggest and oldest sandbank in the world, so the roads are all sand. First we went turtle spotting at the Basin lake, one of literally hundreds of freshwater lakes on the island. We then went for a walk through the rainforest along the banks of the Wanggoolba Creek before stopping for a picnic lunch at the old logging station. The creek was unusual, in that it had a sandy bottom, due to the fact it was actually ran on top of the water table, so the water didn't seep away. The rainforest, as at Asherton Tablelands, was stunning. It reminded me of the sort of forest you see in dinosaur pictures.
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| Wanggoolba Creek | Basin Lake | Dragons head | Up the gum trees |
After lunch it was onto Lake McKenzie, with it's white sandy beaches. Some people swam, but it was too cold for me. Once back at the resort, it was time for dinner and a Trivial Pursuit competition. My team won, and we got a free bar tab - sorted!
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| Lake McKenzie | The winning team |
Day 152: Tuesday August 17th 2004. Frazer Island day two. We drove up the Seventy-Five mile beach, which was a surreal experience in itself. The beach also doubles as an airstrip. Along the way, we stopped to look at the wreck of the Maheno, a 1902 luxury liner caught out by a freak cyclone. What a photo opportunity that was! The afternoon was then spent at Indian head, one of only three rock formations on the island, and the Champagne pools, the only place on the island where it is safe to swim in the sea (the rest of the waters are full of Tiger and Great White sharks).
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| The wreck of the Maheno | ||
The evening's competition was table football. My team lost. No worries there though, the beer was cheap enough!
Day 153: Wednesday August 18th 2004. Frazer Island day three - last day. After a visit to Lake Wabby and a walk over the Hammerstone sandblow, we had lunch. The rest of the day was spent exploring Rainbow gorge, with it's huge sand dunes. My dune rolling technique (see Namibia page) proved very useful here!
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| Sandblow | Redback spider | Pelicans |
Day 154: Thursday August 19th 2004. Humpback whale watching with Sarah and Lee, people from the Frazier Island tour, and their mate Nick. We were very lucky, with some of the whales being more than keen to interact with us - it was like they wanted to show off! Truly awesome, emotional even.
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| Fellow spotters | Humpback whales | ||
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| Humpback whales | |||
Had a bit of a heavy night's drinking afterwards. Not the best of ideas just before my great long journey, but hey, when the company is good, what can you do?
Day 155: Friday August 20th 2004. Up at 4:30am for a taxi to the air port. Bus to Maryborough. Train to Brisbane. Spent a few hours bumming around before getting on the coach to Casino, then the overnight train to Sidney.
Day 156: Saturday August 21st 2004. Didn't sleep on the train too well. Spent the day walking around Sidney, doing the tourist stuff - Opera house, Harbour bridge. I'm definitely not a city boy at the moment! Also saw some very entertaining street performances and went to see Farenheight 9/11 at the cinema.
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| Harbour bridge | Street Performer | Sidney Opera house |
Day 157: Sunday August 22nd 2004. Arrived in Melbourne early, after another nights crap sleep. I decided to book into a backpackers for the day, and took an instant liking to Melbourne on my walk to the accommodation. I then slept for hours, before doing a little cold weather clothes shopping in anticipation of New Zealand's snowboarding slopes. I woke up late for my flight, and as is the way every time I have to use an airport, I got stressed. I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before boarding time, but made it in time, just...
My tour of Australia was hectic, unlike the country itself. I really took to the Aussie laid back attitude and 'offensive' sense of humour. I found pretty much everyone I met easy going and easy to talk to. As is probably evident by the amount of pictures I took here, there was so much to see and do - I'll have to come back soon...
On the downside? A little bit too much of that good ole American 'lets sue the crap out of each other at any opportunity' attitude - it's a shame when the simplest of things cannot be said or done for fear of litigation.