Marvellous Melbourne

This morning we got up at around half 8, got ready and went downstairs to have some free pancakes that are included in our stay. They were only small but it was better than nothing. I had mine with maple syrup and Lauren had hers with sugar.

Then we got the free city tram to the library to join a free walking tour that started at half 10. The library had two big statues of people on horses out the front; one was Joan of Arc and the other was George and the Dragon. Apparently they were put there in the 1850's to keep both the English and French happy. We're pretty sure the tour was by the same people that do the ones on Sydney. The tour was led by a dude called Matthew who was full of information. He told us that Melbourne was almost named Batmania, with people being known as Batmanians,  after a dude called Mr Batman (pronounced Bat-mun) who was related to the founding of the city. Personally I think Batmania would have been pretty cool but 'such is life'.

'Such is life' were the last words of Ned Kelly, but we will get to him later.

Melbourne's first settlers settled in the area in 1835. Before this there were 5 aboriginal clans who lived in the area. Batman apparently made a deal with the aboriginals in the area over some land and this began the chain of events that eventually led to the establishment of Melbourne.

In the 1850s there was a gold rush in Melbourne, only a month after Melbourne and Sydney had separated. 20 million ounces of gold was found in 7 years. This rush ended 1960s and people left the area. Melbourne's next boom came in the 1980s in an era called the marvellous Melbourne era. Children of wealthy parents who had made their money in the gold rush grew up and spent the money, built houses and started businesses causing economic growth. Melbourne become more wealthy than Sydney. In the 90s this collapsed and Sydney returned as the wealthiest city in Australia.

The first place the tour took us was the old gaol. The gaol was built out of a grey coloured bluestone, which is a local stone. It was built in the 1840s and used until 1929. Records show the youngest prisoner was a 3 year old boy, held for 6 months for being idol and disorderly. The most famous prisoner, who was held and executed there was Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly is apparently the Australian Robin Hood.  He and his gang robbed banks, rather than defenceless people, and in one act that made them popular during their robberies, they burned the mortgage records of small farms. They killed 3 police officers during their time, which didn't help endear them to the public. Ned's gang all died in a shoot out after a hotel siege, but Ned faced off the police wearing iron armour. Eventually the police were able to shoot his arms and legs which were unprotected and capture him. He was tried and sentences to death at the Melbourne Gaol. He was 25 years old.

The next stop was the 888 monument which commemorated the fight to get an 8 hour working day, 8 hours of rest and 8 hours of play in every day. I can't remember much about what Matthew said but apparently there were some protests about it.

We walked through Carlton gardens, which had metal sheets wrapped around the trees to stop possums climbing them and eating new shoots. They can't be that effective though as we saw a possum hanging out of a hole in one of the trees. And when I saw we saw a possum, I mean we saw its back end hanging out of a tree.

In Carlton gardens is the Royal Exhibition building which is very fancy. It was built 9 years before the Eiffel Tower.

We then wandered through some beautiful gardens called Parliament gardens to the Australian State building, which held the national government until Canberra was built and ready for use.

We also saw Princess Theatre, which is apparently haunted by the ghost of Frederiche  (sp?) who died whilst being descended into hell during a play but then according to the other actors still turned up to hold hands and bow to the audience.

Next up was chinatown, which is the oldest chinatown in western world (western economy) that wasn't destroyed by earthquake and fire. San Fransico's Chinatown had to be rebuilt so hasn't been around as long, technically.

Melbourne also has a greek precint. Apparently it is the third biggest Greek speaking city, and the biggest outside Greece.

The tour took us down Bourke Street. Buskers on Bourke Street need a permit to busk, and to get this they have to audition to Melbourne city council to make sure they're actually good. We headed from Bourke Street to Union lane, which a lane way where street art or graffiti is legal. You have to get a permit to allow the art on the walls. If you're caught putting street art on walls that don't have a permit for it, you can get two years in prison. I thought Union Lane' street art was impressive but it was nothing on Hosier Street we walked down later on.

Lane ways became filled in 1990s due to street art permits and changes to outdoor dining laws and liquor licenses. Previously they had just been empty or for deliveries to be made to shops. Now they have cafes and bars and shops. We walked down one called Centre place. It was full of bustling cafes, all filled with people.

We walked down Hosier Lane, across the river and into a square called Federation Square, which is the product of a winning competition entry in a design competition. Matthew said people in Melbourne hated it at first but it's grown on them.

From the square you could see Eureka tower, which is the tallest building in Melbourne. It has 88 floors.  It was designed based on a rebellion by gold miners who were rebelling over the tax they had to pay.  They burnt their mining licenses and pledged allegiance to the Eureka flag which is blue and white, like the main part of the building. The gold obviously symbols the miners and the red for blood that was spilled after some miners died.

Our tour ended at the edge of the river which gave a good view of the Melbourne skyline. It was an enjoyable tour and we learnt a lot.

After the tour we wandered round for a bit before returning to the hostel around half 4. Today was the first day I'd had to get changed before going back out. Both Lauren and myself had felt cold for the first day in a while. When we went back out I had a cardigan and leggings on.

We walked down to the summer night market where we had some food, browsed the stalls and watched some performances to celebrate the Chinese new year. Then we walked back to the hostel to get an early night as we have to be up early tomorrow.

*Internet's playing up. Will post some photos soon!*

Made it to Melbourne

Today we got up around half 7, packed our bags and shipped out as we were flying to Melbourne. We got the airport shuttle from our hostel to Cairns airport. It was raining as we left so we weren't missing much. We dropped our bags off and whizzed through security as there was no queue. Because the flight was internal there was no rules about liquids which felt weird. We took off at 10:55 and the flight was about 3 hours, but there was a time difference of an hour so we landed around 3:15. It was sunny when we landed which was fab. We got the skybus from the airport to southern cross station which was about a 5 minute walk from our hostel so that was nice and easy.

The check in process at the hostel was so slow it was painful. We are staying in a chain of hostels called Nomads. We had heard good things as they were popular backpacker accommodation that were in many places so we were hopeful. Firstly we waited ages for some boys to check in and then the receptionist told us we needed to complete our details on the tablets behind us, after we'd already waited about 15 minutes. Not sure why he couldn't have told us this earlier. Then once we did that we had to go back to reception.  It took so long for the dude to check us in. I have no idea what he was doing as we'd already entered all our details onto the tablets. Eventually we got our room and went to dump our stuff. Unfortunately we are both on top bunks but beggars can't be choosers. Neither of us are that impressed with the hostel so far but we will see how it goes. The WiFi is only free in the common areas between 7am and 7pm so all my posts will chop off the evening and if anything interesting happens, you'll hear about it the next day.

After we had dumped our stuff we headed out to the supermarket to buy some sauce and veggies to go with the pasta we have. We also bought a multi pack of Pepsi max to save us money.

We put the shopping away in the fridge and went to the bar next to the hostel to claim our free welcome drink. I had a coconut/pineapple/melon cocktail and Lauren had a orange vodka one.

This evening we plan to just cook dinner and chill. Tomorrow we hope to explore the city.  

Last day in Cairns

So after yesterday's disappointment I decided to try and have another go at snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. I booked myself onto a half day snorkel tour for this morning. I got up at 6:45am and headed off to the marina for a 9am departure. The boat wasn't full but I was one of the only young people on it. Everyone else appeared to be Asian families. It was obviously a tour with a large Asian clientele as everything was also written in an Asian language (I don't know which).

The boat took us to an island called Green Island. I was beginning to fear the snorkeling with be the same as at the island yesterday as it was also a large sand island. This island was slightly different however as it had a hotel and lifeguards and cafes etc, rather than just being uninhabited. On the journey I was unfortunate enough to be sat next to the one lady who was throwing up. I had to try really hard to just tune it out as I am not good with sick.

When we got to the island at around 10am we were basically dumped and told to be back by 11:50am.  Some people went on a glass bottomed boat,  some were doing snorkeling, some were doing other things. I had to take my whole bag with me as the boat was leaving to collect other people but I had been told there was lockers on the island. These lockers were minimum of $7 for 4 hours and I was only going to be there for 2 hours and I did not want to pay $7. I had already had to pay an extra 8 to get a stinger suit which they tell you you need. Instead I just risked leaving my bag slightly hidden and prayed no one stole it.

The people on the boat had said there was two sites to snorkel; one was supervised with lifeguards and the other wasn't. I sort of went between the two, trying to decide where to go to see the best of the reef. The information office dude said the coral was better at one but the animal life was better at the other. I tried both but decided that with my swimming ability in the sea, given how far I'd have to go out, it was best to go to the supervised area.

The sea was very seaweed-y and I had very low expectations and was beginning to regret the money I'd paid. The first couple of times I went out all I could see was sand. I spoke to one of the lifeguards who pointed me in the direction of the best place. It was really far out and I was a bit concerned about swimming that far but I set off anyway, as there were floating rest points along the way. I saw some basic fish and a couple of non-harmful jellyfish at first which wasn't that impressive. Then I saw (what I assume was) a sting ray which was pretty cool. I made it to the first rest point a bit down heartened. But I put my head back under and kept going. Then I saw a small shark, about as long as my arm and thin. I had a mini panic and headed back to shore. I spoke to the lifeguard and they told me it probably was a shark. They assured me it wouldn't hurt me so I headed back in. I saw more sharks swimming around a little bit of coral which was pretty cool and then I saw a turtle swimming pretty close. Seeing those animals made me so glad I did it, although I was a bit disappointed I didn't see much coral reef like you see on the photos but I was happy to see the different animals. The water wasn't that clear though so unfortunately I didn't get any good photos.

I got back to the mainland at around 1pm and met Lauren, who had spent the morning chilling by the lagoon. I really like the lagoon here. You can lie on the grass and have a swim and it's near the shops and it's so calm and lovely. We stayed there until around 5pm then headed back to the hostel to get showered and ready for the hostel's Aussie BBQ.

The BBQ was really good. We made friends with our roommate and ate crocodile, kangaroo, emu and barramundi, along with pasta, potatoes and normal salads. (I did have some salad.) They were surprisingly un-exotic in taste. I expected the crocodile to be green for some reason but it was actually white.

After the food there was a didgeridoo competition that contained a lot of innuendo about tongues. It was a really fun night. Tomorrow we are flying to Melbourne so we had a chilled evening and packed up our stuff.

Disappointment at the Great Barrier Reef

So I was really excited for today.  We got up at 7:45am and got the free shuttle bus down to the marina for 9am to get a boat as we were doing scuba diving and snorkeling at the great barrier reef.

We zoomed out to the dive site, having a safety briefing about how to dive and the signals on the way, and we were split into several groups of 4. We were in group 3. There was 2 instructors who took a group and then came back for the next group. Group 1 and 2 went first (obviously). We waited on the boat as the guy told us that we wouldn't have time to snorkel first, whilst everyone else went snorkeling. After a while we got kitted up, tanks, buoyancy aids, masks, fins etc. We didn't have to go in backwards thankfully! We sat on some steps that led into the water and just slid off.

First we put out mouth pieces in and put our faces in the water to see if we could breath. It felt really weird and I was pretty terrified the whole time. After this we went lower into the water and practiced taking the mouth pieces out and putting them back in again. I found it really hard to stay under the water. I kept floating to the top and the instructor kept having to grab me and pull me down again.

When we were ready to let go off the bars we had been holding on to for all this time and go lower in the water, we started going down and my ears started really hurting. The pressure was too much. I thought my eardrums were going to burst. It was one of the worst pains I've ever experienced and efforts to equalise it (basically blowing out of your nose while pinching it) were not working. I had to return to the surface. I just couldn't continue. I was so upset and disappointed with myself. I got out of the water and my ears continued to hurt for a good couple of hours. They still don't feel quite right now. By this point the snorkelers were coming out of the water for lunch so I didn't get to snorkel at that site. 

Lunch was potato salads, bread, meat etc. After lunch we headed to the next place which was a sand island called Sudbury Cay. We had to swim from the boat to the island and could snorkel on the way. I tried this but my mask was leaking and every couple of metres I had to stop and empty my mask and with the waves this was becoming difficult and I didn't feel confident. So instead I just swam on my back to the island, occasionally attempting to snorkel when Lauren pointed something out.  We spent the majority of the time just splashing about in the shallow water of the islands banks. We did see a turtle in the distance but the snorkeling was no where near as good as in the whitsundays and the great barrier reef is supposed to be amazing. On the way back we lay on the deck at the front in the sun to dry off. 

Lauren completed her dive and was super happy and said it was really good. She had a really good day so at least that's one good thing.

When we got back to the hostel we showered and then got the bus back into the city at 8pm. We had dinner at the night market and wandered around it. Neither of us bought anything although it was very close. There was some nice anklets and magnets. 

When we were done we wandered back to the hostel, periodically sheltering under cover as the rain started and stopped. We got back to the hostel around 11:30pm and went to bed. 

Lazy day by the lagoon

Today was a very chill day. We got up at around 9ish and got ready and got the free bus into town. I'd woken up several times during the night but didn't feel very tired. Our roommates had had to leave tor the airport at 3:45am and had woken us both up, but they were very quiet and had warned us about it so it wasn't too bad. They had also paid for the aircon the last two nights.

We got into town around 10 and wandered round the world's smallest market on the esplanade. We then headed to Rusty's fruit market and wandered round there. It had a couple of none fruit stalls as well but we didn't buy anything.

It was really really hot today, around 33°. Even just walking around was very hot and sweaty. So we decided to spend the day at the seafront lagoon. We sunbathe and swam until around 5pm and then got the free bus home. It was very hot and we ended up sitting in the shade for a lot of the time.

When we got back we showered and plaited our hair in preparation for tomorrow and cooked dinner.

A day out with Uncle Brian

Today we were picked up at 7am from our hostel to do a tour with Uncle Brian's tour company of what we were told is the oldest rainforest on the earth, Cape Tribulation. Apparently it's 150 million years older than the amazon rainforest, which is 9 million years old. It's existed since the dinosaurs were around. It covers 896,000 hectares and has 1300 species of tree. That''s compared to only 143 species of tree in the whole of Europe. Many of the trees are dependant on a flightless bird found in Australia called a cassowary. One of our guides, Ritchie, went on for ages about how beautiful these birds are but really they just look like exotic turkeys. Or at least from the pictures we've seen and from what I remember of them from all that time ago back at the wildlife park in Sydney.  Apparently cassowaries are the only birds with stomachs that are able to dissolve the plastic like film on the seed that allows it to regenerate and grow. There were protests in the 80s, which resulted in deaths of local people who were attempting to save the rainforest which a local 'crook', as Ritchie put it, wanted to clear. And from what I've seen, it was definitely worth saving.

Our first stop on the trip was in Port Douglas, at 4 mile beach. We stayed there for an hour, walking on the beach, having tea, coffee and biscuits. I tried a Lamington which is like coconut sponge.  I don't know if they're an Australian thing but they seem to be popular.

On the drive to Port Douglas we saw loads of wallabies in a field which was cool. Ritchie also told us about a golf club in the area, and about how there was a crocodile in the lake, so they called the only crocodile catcher in town, only for him to forget to leave his handbrake on and all his equipment end up in the lake.

After Port Douglas we drove on to the rainforest and had to cross the Daintree River on the ferry. It takes about 2 minutes to cross as it's not a very wide part of the river,  however at the widest part the daintree river is 200m wide. Once you go to the north side of the river, there is no police, no running water and no electricity, so people have to generate their own. Most people do this using solar power.

We drove past Thornton Beach, which was apparently the sight of the most recent crocodile death (which aren't very common and wasn't very recent). A woman was swimming at night and got eaten whole by a crocodile*.

We stopped for lunch at Turtles café. Lauren and I both had cheeseburgers from the limited menu. We had had to choose in advance so that the tour guides could phone the order through in preparation for our arrival. It was about 11:45 when we got to the cafe and had lunch, and we had to be back at the bus at 1. We wandered down through the rainforest to the beach, past some gigantic spiders. It was a beautiful beach with beautiful surroundings such as the rainforest (obviously) and mountains. It kind of looked like a stereotypical desert island with palm trees and the forest leading away from the beach.

Our next stop was Emmagen creek for a swim. It was another beautiful setting with clear waters, surrounded by forest. The guides also showed us how we could paint our faces with oaka (sp?) which looks like face paint but is made from rubbing a certain type of rock against another.  After everyone had had a good swim we headed back to the bus to start the return journey.

On the way back we stopped at Alexander look out (originally called Walu Wugirriga by the native peoples). From there we had a beautiful view of the Daintree river and Ritchie told us about Steve Irwin and the exact way he died, as it happened not far from where we were.

When we got back to the Daintree river we went on a crocodile cruise run by a guy called Bruce. We went out on his boat looking for crocodiles and he told us a whole load of information about them and the way they live.  We saw two small crocodiles and one huge one that was about 4 metres long, called Benda.  It was pretty awesome! This cruise lasted for about an hour. We also saw a blue kingfisher and a whole load of fruit bats.

After the cruise we drove home, via one more look out point, that again had a amazing views. On the way home we played a game where a song was played and we had to name the tv show or movie it is associated with. The songs included the Friends theme tune, the Big Bang theme tune and a whole load of film ones such as the Godfather, Star Wars and James Bond. We were in teams of 5 and the two Scottish people we were with carried the rest of the team. We came joint second with 17 points of 20.

The trip was a lot of fun and it was really awesome to see a huge crocodile.  I would have liked to spent some more time in the forest itself but given the amout of dangerous animals in there, it's probably good we didn't. 

When we got home at around half 7, we did our laundry and showered and just spent the evening chilling.  Tomorrow we have no plans so hope to have a nice relaxing day.

*some of the info in here was told to me by the tour guide. I have no idea how accurate it is. I haven't starred it all.

Happy Australia Day!!

Today we woke up and both had showers after a very hot night. At one point I'd woken up cold, presumably due to the air conditioning, which automatically turns itself off after three hours, and at another point I'd woken up too hot.

We went and checked into the hostel now the reception was open and he told us some basic stuff about Cairns. Then we wandered down towards the esplanade to see what was going on. It was about 11am by this point and we expected it to be busy as Australia Day is a public holiday. It was raining on and off but it was very hot. We walked past a lagoon which was on the seafront and made a mental note visit if the weather improved on a future day. We were surprised by the distinct lack of people hanging around. There was a stage with some kids entertainers on, facepainting, bouncy castles and some food stalls. We got our faces painted and wandered along the esplanade for a while. The beach at Cairns is not picturesque at all. I'm not sure if it was just because the tide was out but it was pretty much a whole load of mud, with the sea far away. But there was some nice surrounding mountains and forests.

After this, we went to a shop called the reject shop, via St Monika's cathedral. The building from the outside wasn't impressive at all but it has really beautiful windows. At the shop we bought a few little things, including a big beach bag for myself, as the prices were really cheap.   

After this we headed back towards the esplanade and sat on a grass area in front of the stage listening to the bands. There was one pretty decent one called The Night Shift. They provoked some pretty interesting dance moves from some older gentlemen on attendance. A lot more people had turned up by this point.

We got the free pick up bus back to the hostel at 7pm, quickly cooked some pasta with carbonara sauce, showered and got the free bus back into town again. We went to a bar/club called the woodshed which we had been told by multiple was pretty good. It was ladies night and we had VIP wristbands which were apparently useless. We did however receive a card on entry which entitled us to 5 free cocktails. Although it soon turned out that the cocktail was champagne and juice. Neither me or Lauren like champagne, although the first glass didn't taste of it too strongly. We left around half 11 and walked back to the hostel to go to bed. 

Goodbye Greyhound

This morning we got up around 8:15am, packed our bags and headed off to the bus stop to get the bus to Cairns. It was our last joutney on greyhound buses. I can't say I'm sad about it. It left at 9:45am and is due to get to Cairns at 8:20pm this evening. We managed to be first on the bus due to some good team work and got the front seats that have extra leg room and a better view. This bus looked set to be the best one yet; the driver was lovely, we had the front seats, the air con worked, the WiFi worked and the USB charging points worked. It would be a long boring journey but everything was looking good.

Our first stop was at around 11am. The driver was talking about lunch but everything in the service stations greyhound stop at are very expensive. Neither Lauren or I got anything,  despite both wanting a drink.

At Townsville a whole load of people got on and the driver changed. The old driver was trying to tick people off the list as they got on but he couldn't find anyone on the list. Then I noticed he was using a list from the 15th. The dude across the aisle pointed it out to him and he found the correct list and ticked people off at double speed. 

At around 5:15pm we stopped for a break at a place called Cardwell. Again the food at the cafe was really expensive and the choice was limited but it was right at the side of the sea which was beautifully calm and picturesque. It was sheltered by an island so there were hardly any waves. We doubted it was the sea for a minute.

After we got back on the bus and had arrived at the next passenger stop we asked the driver if there was a toilet we could use at the stop, as we had done at a previous stop. The driver was very grumpy and remarked that there was a toilet on the bus. We were a bit dubious as earlier I'd overheard a girl telling the previous driver that the light didn't work and there was no loo roll.  The dude across the aisle from us said you had to lock the door to make the light work and then went to check it out. He reported back that the light worked but there was no loo roll. Lauren had some tissues so went to use the toilet, only to find the light didn't work and the lock was dodgy, firstly causing the driver to open the door while she was using it after we had told him there was no loo roll, and secondly caused her to require help from the girls sitting near the toilet to get out.  I decided not to risk it and crossed my legs, hoping to make it to Cairns. 

It was all going well, we pulled up to a stop around 8:20pm but it didn't look particularly busy or like a bus station. It turned out we were running late and wouldn't be at Cairns for another 30ish minutes. Lauren asked the driver what stop we were at because everyone on the bus was generally a bit confused and he ignored her. The dude across the aisle was the one who eventually managed to get a response out of the driver when he asked how long it would be. I was fairly confident I could carry on crossing my legs for another 20 minutes; it was the 30 minute walk to the hostel I was worried about.

When we made it to Cairns, we immediately went to the toilet at the bus station before grabbing our bags and setting off on the walk. It wasn't too hot so it wasn't too bad but by the time we reached the hostel we were both sweating buckets.

We stopped on the way at Hog's Breath Café on the way to the hostel and had chicken wraps. They were pretty good and it helped break the walk up.

The room we're in at the hostel is a 4 bed 'deluxe' room. We are sharing with two people from Hamburg. It's quite a small room and it's very very hot. I have no idea how tonight will be. I've just paid a dollar for three hours of air conditioning.

Whitsundays Photos

Here are some photos from the Whitsundays yesterday. Enjoy! 

Wonderful Whitsundays

This morning we got up at 7:45am as we had a full day of activities ahead of us. We were picked up from our hostel at 8:25 and were driven down to Abellpoint marina to get on a boat day trip called the "Thundercat" around the Whitsunday Islands, which are a group of 74 islands. Lauren and I were sitting right at the front, across the aisle from a group of Asian people. We sailed really fast and we're flying over the waves, off the water, getting absolutely soaked. The Asian people were sitting with towels over their faces.

The first island we went to was Whitsunday Island, home to Whitehaven beach, the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. We got off the boat and walked 15 minutes up to Hill Point to look out of the beach. It was such a beautiful view. On the way up JJ, one of the boat crew/tour guide, picked up an ants nest, shook it a bit and told us the ants, called Lemon Drop ants, tasted like lemon, before licking one. Everyone was a bit disgusted. He offered one to the group and one boy took up the offer and licked an ant. He agreed it tasted like lemon. I didn't really fancy trying one so took their word for it.

After everyone had taken plenty of photos we headed on to the beach. The sand was so fine. Apparently it's 97% pure silica. Fraser Island is 94%. It reflects the light and heat so was cool to walk on. Apparently it's the only place in the world to have such sand. Turtles can't lay their eggs there because it's not warm enough. Whilst we were on hill point looking over the beach we saw a big lemon shark swimming around the beach. This didn't stop us getting in the beautiful blue water.  We splashed around for a bit, taking photos etc, before heading back to the boat for lunch. We sat moored on the boat in Tongue Bay, which is a breeding and feeding ground for turtles. Unfortunately we didn't see any but it was a beautiful setting for lunch.

After lunch we sailed to the most northern point of Hook Island, the largest of the  Whitsunday islands for some snorkeling. Hook Island has an abandoned resort on it that's been abandoned around 15 years. It looked kind of creepy but we were snorkeling around the other side.  We were given stinger suits to protect us from jellyfish and masks. When we were pulling up to moor the boat we saw some very large jellyfish but we didn't actually see any when we were in the water.  We went into the water off the side of the boat and swam to the designated snorkeling area. We put our masks on and put our faces in the water. There were fish everywhere.  They were coming so close. There were hundreds of fish about the size of my hand and every one and then a couple of huge fish would swim past. It was so much fun.

After snorkeling for a while we got back on the boat and headed to a second snorkel site, just off Langford Island. There were less fish here but a lot more interesting plants and coral to see. We snorkeled there for a while before getting back on the boat and heading back to the mainland. It was an absolutely fab trip. We both had such a good time. I can't wait to do some more snorkeling in Cairns!

After we returned to the hostel and showered and made ourselves presentable again, we headed out to the Down Under bar and grill as we had been told that we could get cheaper drinks and food if we told them we were on a boat trip. I paid extra to have my schnitzel with mash and veg instead of chips (hope you're happy Waj!). I ate all the veg, which was green beans, broccoli and courgette. (Yes mum, even the broccoli). Lauren had steak.

After dinner we entered a beer pong tournament, played using water. We got into the third round but got knocked out by a boy/girl pair where the girl literally did all the work. We then walked home in the rain, which had thankfully held off all day. Tomorrow morning we are getting on a 11 hour bus to Cairns.

Here are some photos.  More will be added when the WiFi cooperates.  

Lagoons, Lasagne and Lots of Rain

When we got off the bus we discovered a further greyhound grievance; our bags were soaking wet. Half my clothes and all my underwear was wet. The poor guy in the bed above me has to try and climb into his bed over the multiple pairs of underwear that are currently on the ladder. I have no idea how our bags, in a covered luggage space, at the bottom of a pile of luggage, managed to get so wet.

It was a short walk to the hostel but it was very hot so we were grateful. We dumped our bags but had to scrap our plans to just head to the lagoon and chill as it was raining.

It's been raining on and off all day. We wandered with our raincoats on through the town looking for somewhere to have breakfast. We eventually decided on Subway as it was cheapest. Breakfast in Airlie Beach is expensive! We sat outside for quite a while before going back to the hostel to get our room keys. Our room is a (full) 8 bed ensuite room. It's pretty decent. We changed into our bikinis and went to the man made lagoon near the seafront.

We paddled our feet for a while before getting in completely. It was quite warm. It rained at one point whilst we were in the lagoon but it didn't really matter as we were already wet. We stayed in the lagoon for a long while.  Our fingers and toes were very wrinkled by the time we got out. We wrapped ourselves up and headed back to the hostel for a shower. Lauren plaited my hair in preparation for our trip tomorrow and we chatted to Xander (sp?) who is from Holland about scuba diving and Finding Nemo (the film).

At around 7:45pm we went out for dinner to a place called Mamma's Boys were we had lasagne and chips and were treated to some live music by some dude with a guitar. It's so much more buzzing than Hervey Bay. There's so many more pubs and restaurants and they're all open past 8pm.

After dinner we headed back to the hostel to prepare for tomorrow's early start. I'm very excited for tomorrow's activities.

Greyhound Grievances

After we were dropped off at the bus stop at around 7:15pm we had a quick scout around the area to see what there was. There was a spar that shut at 7:30pm, but was already shut, a off license that was open until 9pm and a Mexican restaurant. We decided to go to the Mexican. We each got Nachos and a drink and we sat there until around 8:30pm. We then went back to the bench by the bus stop.

At the bus stop was another two backpackers. We chatted to them for a bit, and discovered they were from Norfolk/Suffolk and were also going to Airlie Beach.  We were joined by another two girls who were doing the same. They all agreed Hervey Bay was boring and that it was a place for people to go to retire. "God's waiting room" as one of them put it.

The bus turned up early and left promptly at 9:35pm. The USB chargers work and the WiFi doesn't. It's 10:15pm now as I write this. I'm hoping the WiFi will sort it's life out and I'm hoping we'll get some sleep. Lauren looks like she might already be asleep. We think the bus is going to have several stops during the night. It will definitely have to stop at some point as I doubt the bus driver is allowed to drive for 12 hours but when that will be I don't know.

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11:10pm we stopped for a 40 minute break. No one seemed to really want to stop but a couple of people went to the loo. There's one on the bus but the driver says "it's only for emergencies". Some of the drivers don't care when you use it but some don't really want you too. It's the same with the front seat. Some let you sit there but some don't let you. 

At around 2:45 we stopped for a driver change. I had managed to get a little bit of sleep but not much. Lauren said she hasn't got any either. When the driver got off and moved his stuff I moved into the front seat that was now clear. The old driver and the new driver were talking about passengers they had to pick up and the old driver said "she can sit in the seat behind me". When they both got on and saw me there, they told me I had to move. I asked why and they said they had to pick up a passenger. I asked if Lauren could move next to me and the passengers could have our previous seats in the row behind and they said no. They told me the passenger had requested this seat. I asked them how that was possible as I would like to do it for future journeys and they told me they didn't know. They were a bit flustered and when I told them I'd ask before how to do it and was told you couldn't they just kept insisting they were just the drivers and they didn't know and it was just written on their information. They then made a comment about how I could only have one seat anyway, as my bags were on the seat next to me. Lauren remarked how the rest of the bus were doing the same and they said that wasn't their problem. I moved back to my original seat in the row behind. The old driver then said to the new driver "I wonder why they request the front left seat" before realising it was the front right seat that was now empty and correcting himself. It seemed completely made up and was really annoying. I didn't want to get kicked off the bus so just had to let it go but greyhound are really not impressing me so far. 

Just as I wrote that the new bus driver got on and told me I could sit in the front seat after all. I have no idea what's going on.

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It's 4am here and I'm trying to sleep but I'm just not that tired and not very comfortable. I know I need to sleep or I'll be shattered and miserable tomorrow but I just don't seem to be able to. Only 5 hours to go....

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It's just gone 6 and I have up trying to sleep about 20 minutes ago. I think I had a little nap but it's hard to tell. It's absolutely chucking it down outside. Lauren seems to be asleep so at least she won't be shattered and miserable for the whole day. I have no idea what we are going to do today if it continues to rain. If it's sunny we can just go and pass out on the beach but ifs it not I have no idea what there is to do. The WiFi started working for a bit earlier but now has stopped again. We're stopping around 7am for a meal break so maybe they'll have WiFi there. Unlikely but one can dream....

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There wasn't WiFi at the service station but the bus WiFi started working temporarily. It's now 8am. Our bus gets to Airlie Beach at 9:45am allegedly. It's still raining but not as heavy. I feel a bit queasy which is not good. I can't wait to go to bed this evening.

We've just started heading towards blue sky. There may be hope for us yet.

It's 9:56am. We've made it to YHA Airlie Beach.

Time to kill

Today we've had lots of time to just wander and see a bit more of Hervey Bay. We are pleased to say we have found that people do exist in Hervey Bay and they do go out at the weekend. We saw more people than we've seen in days; and they were all are the supermarket.

We walked first for about 20 minutes to get to one supermarket to check out the prices, then walked another 20 minutes to a bigger shopping centre that had a couple more supermarkets, as well as some clothes shops. We bought some essentials such as toothpaste and suncream and then went to Hungry Jacks, as they had free refills on drinks. Hungry Jacks is Australian Burger King, so again, no vegetables (sorry Waj). We sat there for a while before returning to Woolworths to get some snacks for the 12 hour overnight journey this evening and then wandered back to the hostel along the sea front, where we are sitting in some hammocks, relaxing. After a wile we got bored and starting playing chess, until around 7pm, when we'll get the last shuttlebus to the bus stop, where we will have another 2 and a half hours to kill until we get the bus.

I'm looking forward to moving on to Airlie Beach, as Hervey Bay is very quiet and doesn't have much to do. Hopefully the weather will be a little better too, as again today it's been very cloudy.

Clouds and Calm in Hervey Bay

Today has been quite slow. We had planned on going to the beach, so got up at ten and got ready; sun cream, bikinis, towels, only to discover there was no sun. It was still pretty hot but it was very cloudy. We went to the beach anyway and sunbathed until around 2, before coming home and showering.

We hung around the hostel for a while. I tried to hang our wet stuff on the washing line but it started spitting so I took them off again. At around 7pm we went to an Irish pub down the road for dinner. They had beef and gravy filled bread rolls with chips for $10 so we both had that. We got there just in time as it was the last two portions. They weren't bad for ten dollars. The Irish pub had live music so we stayed and listened to the band for a while before heading back to the hostel. The hostel we are staying in is a very relaxed place, somewhere to just chill, away from all the other hostels.

Hervey Bay, or at least the area we are staying in, is a strange little place. It was so quiet the whole day, despite it being a weekend, and all the cafes and shops seemed to close early, if they opened at all. Tomorrow we are thinking we might venture to a different part of the town to see what we can find, see if it's any more lively. We have the whole day to kill before the bus at 9:35pm.

Rainbow Beach round 2

 Today has been a slow, relaxed day. Because of the timing of the buses between Rainbow Beach and Airlie Bay (our next stop), we had planned to spend a couple of night in a town half way between to break the journey up a little and make the timings more ideal. This meant we had a bus to catch at 4pm to Hervey Bay so couldn't really do much as we had no access to showers or somewhere to change etc.

We wandered over to the bakery for breakfast. I had the best pain au chocolate I've ever had (probably). We sat outside in the shade for a while just chatting and then wandered down to the beach. We'd been told that Rainbow beach got its name from the different coloured Sands,  and we figured since we were here we should probably have a look. We weren't expecting Rainbow coloured beaches and we would have been disappointed if we had, as the beach looked just like any other beach. It was a lovely beach but the sand was just normal sand coloured and all the same.

We paddled our feet and sat on the beach for a while until it got too hot. Then we wandered along the main street, looking in a few shops on the way, back to the hostel for a bit and sat in the common room using the WiFi. We then wandered out to the shops again and sat on a bench in the shade having a drink and watching the world go by before returning to the hostel for the last time to relax in some hammocks before getting our bags and getting the bus.

The bus was fairly empty. It took two hours to get to Hervey Bay. In the way we saw a huge kangaroo just hopping about at the side of the road. It was so close to the bus and it was all very exciting.

When we got off the bus at the last stop we were pleasantly surprised to find a free shuttle bus to the hostel. It wasn't that far away but it was really hot and would have been a nightmare with our backpacks. 5 of us piled in to the little mini bus and off we went.

Lauren and I are in a 3 bed deluxe room for an extra $2 a night but we are (currently) the only ones in it. We dumped our bags, checked to see if the world was still turning, and headed out to find some food. We were really surprised to open the door of the room to find it pitch black outside. We hadn't been in the room for that long as it was only half 7. The sun had been setting around half 8 where we were before.  We were also surprised that nearly all the food places shut at 8. It ended up being a choice between a pizza takeaway or a fish and chip shop. We went for fish and chips in the end. We both had cod and chips, which was pretty decent. Then we wandered back through the pitch black to our room.

Tomorrow we plan to go to the beach.

Rainbow Beach photos

As promised,  here are some photos from our stay in Rainbow Beach 

Fraser Island - Day 2

Today we got up at half 4 in order to go down to the beach and watch the sun rise. It was so worth it. Almost everyone went down with their dingo sticks and sat on the sand to watch. It was so beautiful and to top it off we saw a dingo and some dolphins. It was a fab start to the day, despite the early rise.  

For breakfast I had sausage left over from last night and some toast with peanut butter. At 6:45 we all got into the car to go off for the day. 

The noise of forest as we drove through was amazing. It was so loud. Apparently it's an insect call a cicada making all the noise. As we were driving we saw a huge iguana climbing a tree. The whole island is packed full of wildlife! 

We arrived at lake Birrabeen around half 7 (maybe). We were the only ones there. A whole load of us (but not all) got in the lake as the weather was fairly warm. We didn't stay for long before heading off around 9 to Lake Mackenzie, which put all the other lakes to shame. It was absolutely beautiful. White sands and amazing clear waters. It was more crowded as it's. The most beautiful lake on the island that everyone wants to visit but it wasn't too bad. We stayed there until 11:15, as that's what time our tour group was restricted too. 

We drove from the lake to a place called central station, which wasn't a station, to have lunch. It was a build your own tortilla wrap type lunch again. After lunch we did a jungle walk alongside wanggoolba creek  whilst Gary told us about all the different trees. 

After the walk we headed back to the hostel to get our stuff and drive back to the barge to the mainland. Lauren had a go at driving the four wheel drive and handled it like a pro. Whilst we were on the barge we saw so many dolphins just playing and jumping around in the water. It was fab.  

When we reached the mainland, we got dropped back off at Rainbow beach and checked into the hostel we had stayed at before for a night. We were both dying for a shower as we were covered in sand. 

After making ourselves presentable and feeling much cleaner and happier we headed out to a little cafe for dinner. I had fish and chips which was good. 

The rest of the evening will just be spent chilling and sorting ourselves out. We're only staying here one more night before heading off to Hervey Bay. 

I absolutely loved Fraser Island. Dropbear adventures did a fab job and Gary was so funny and entertaining in his job. I would love to go back someday. I could have swam in Lake Mackenzie all day.