25th July - 4th August - Noosa, Fraser Island and Whales!

Saturday 25th July

We spent the day looking around Noosa town...and got wet! Me and lil randomly saw a woman we spoke to in Alice Springs airport - that was weird! We also went to PeterPans (Backpacker booking office) and booked up tours, hostels and buses, for the next 2 weeks! I got into a bit of trouble when my credit card wouldnt work, but Lil and Mum helped me out - phew! But for the next 2 weeks all we have to buy is food and drink, so thats brilliant! That night we went out and had a couple of cocktails, I had a Mango daqueri which was disgusting! Then we went onto the Rolling Rock club, and they were showing the F1 qualifying! So I was very happy! Sat and watched most of it! The DJ was rubbish but after a while a new one came on who was much better so we danced for a while! We had some weird wobbly legged people try and dance with us, but we managed to get away! We then got hot salad wraps (they were lovely!) and went back to Dave and Jill's.

Us in the Rolling Rock

Me excited about seeing F1!

Sunday 26th July

Quite hungover we got up early and went to Austrlia Zoo (I got up even earlier and spoke to Mark on Skype!). It's the Zoo that was run by Steve Irwin, and it was great! Dave nd Jill came with us and we managed to get in on a family of 5 ticket - no idea how! Very different looking triplets?! But it was a great day, we sa an amazing show with paradise birds and crocs. We also fed elephants and had photos taken. Then Me and Lil had a photo with a baby Alligator and Rach had a python. There was no way I was touching that snake! It was a really good day and we saw so many things. In the evening we chilled out and watched a film - Dirty Dancing.

Us with a Croc statue!

Me with Elephant saliva on my hand after feeding an elephant!

Me holding the baby Alligator

Monday 27th July

Me and Rach went to PeterPans to pick up all our details, we then found a book exchange where I got a new beach book to read! Lil had to sort out her bank but then met us on the beach for our packed tuna sandwichs! And then we were off to our surf lesson! We squeezed into wetsuits and lugged out boards down to the shore. There was about 15 of us and we had one teacher and 2 helpers, it was so good! We all mastered the bodyboard technique of catching wave, and then he called up in for the big lesson of standing up! You have to kind of balance on 1 leg with your bum in the air to get two feet on the board - all whilst riding a wave! All 3 of us managed to do it at least once, which was brilliant! I did one really good run where I stood up all the way to the shore - I was so proud of myself! But it went very down hill as I got more and more tired! That night we cooked Fajitas for Dave and Jill to say thanks! (well Rach did most of the cooking!) and then we had popcorn and watched Love Actually, worn out and tired on the couch!

Us in our wetsuits!

Tuesday 28th July


We caught a bus this morning to Rainbow beach, about 3 hours, and we are waiting to start our Fraser Island tour tomorrow. Iwrote this bit of blog - nut not allowed to put photos on so I will add to this when I can! We spent the day having a look around the town, laying on the green outside the hostel, and then in the evening we had a xouple of drinks with a group o irish lads that were sharing our dorm. Rachel is doing the Self drive tour - About 10 people are given a 4WD truck and are left to look round the island, they have to camp and cook on a gas stove. Me and Lil are doing the guided tour - We go around in a group of about 15 on a big monster truck type bus, we have a hostel on the island and we get led around the island by a guide. ( We were a bit scarred from our Uluru camping to camp again! Plus we wanna know what we're looking at!)

Wednesday 29th July

We end up leaving at the same time as Rachel - even though she was up 2 hours earlier than us haing talks and loading up the truck (hehe!). We ended up on boats next to each other, waving accross the water! We got to Fraser Island - It is beautiful. The worlds largest sand island - it is 92% sand, and also has the worlds largest above sea level fresh-water lake. (That's right we learnt things on the tour!) The beach runs as far as you can see (it's 125km long - thought I'd throw another fact in there), the sea is beautifully clear and it's full of tropical plants and animals. The first day we drove off the beach and through the road - I say road I mean pathways of sand through the trees, going up and down and feeling like the bus could fall over at any minute, trees bashing against the windows, how I didnt throw up I will never know! We went to Lake Birrabean, It was beautiful, crystal clear and surrounded by the whitest sand I have ever seen! It was beautiful. We sat there for quite a while, getting to know the other people on our tour and taking photos. Some people swam but it wasn't very hot that day! I did paddle quite a way in and saw some tiny little greem fish that looked like tadpoles. We then went back over the gutwrenching 'roads' and to 'central station'. This is where all the loggers used to be stationed on the island - nly 2 run down huts left now. We did a walk through the rainforest, it was so pretty the trees were so tall it was quite dark. There was also a strem running through but it was silent, it ran through the sand and you couldnt hear it, it was also so clear alot of the time you had to look for it! After that we headed back to our hostel and had a shower - it was like a running tap! We have to be back at the hostel by 4ish beacause of the high tides! The beach is used as the road to get to most of the island so if you're not there by 4pm you're screwed! That night we had a BBQ and we tried Kangaroo, it was lovely so sot and a bit like tangy beef! We had a few drinks in the bar with our group then went off to bed!

Me in Lake Birrabean

Me and Lil on the Rainforest walk

At the bar with some of our group!

Thursday 30th July

We spent most of the day driving on the beach - thank goodness - not sure I could face a long stint on the 'roads' again! We went to The Pinnacles - to see over 50 shades of sand, I could only see about 4 to be honest! But it was very pretty. We then went to Indian Head, a cliff looking out to the sea, we climbed up the roack and it was an amazing view. We saw some manta rays from up there and some whales in the distance. We also saw the Irish lads from our dorm before ( We actually kept seeing them all day - it was weird! Especially as they were on self drive like Rach!). We then went to the Champagne Pools, natural pools by the sea, filled by the waves. Unfortunately a german guy rom our tour stod a bit close to the edge and got soaked including his camera! But the pools were lovely we got in for a bit but it was ice cold so we wern't brave enought to actually swim like some people! We have discovered by now that most of our tour group is Irish! 9 out of 14! The Irish are everywhere!! Our guide then showed us Pippy racing. You find a lump in the sand and then dig until you find a Pippy - small shell fish thing. You then all walk to the sea and put the pippy's in, once a wave comes in and gets them wet, the sea goes back out and a weird little tongue/fin pokes out of the shell, and it slowly drags itself back under the sand, was so weird! Mine beat lil's one! Although they got mixed up a few times in the waves so bit hard to tell! We then went to Eli Creek where we saw Rachel and her group we sat and chatted to them for a bit, Rach said they were freezing at night mwahahaha! Then Me, Lil and our friend from our tour Katrina, walked down the creek - it was so pretty, beatifully clear and surrounded by amazing plants! We then went back to the hostel, on the way stopping to get photos of a shipwreck thats been on the island for years - very pretty, just on the beach slowly rusting, got some great photos! We got back and had some spag bol. Me and lil then walked down to the beach and saw a dingo, was so cute! Was scared Lil was gonna try and stroke it but she managed to control herself! We then went back and got on the goon! We played drinking games with Katrina, Jen and Cat ( al irish!) and a german couple called Matius and Ena. They were so funny! Me and Lil learned a few more drinking games too that I shall be bringing home! After our drinking games marathon we headed down to the bar with everyone else (A walk along the dingo fence in the pitch black!). We had a good dance like crazy people, and even learned some dances from the australian locals! Was a really good night!

Me and Lil with Rachel at Eli Creek

Me and Lil with Jen, Cat and Katrina...at the bar after drinking games!

Friday 31st July

Back into the bus with a hungover groan from everyone! Also forgot to mention there was a lady on the tour called Carol who we met at Alice Springs airport and at Noosa, what are the chances! Anyway... We had a 2km walk to Lake Wabby. Again very pretty but this was a lot bigger and was more a greeny pond colour. We spent a few hours there. We had a paddle and saw some cat fish in there. Lil was brave and went in but it was freezing so I only went to the knee! The guide was then showing us how to sand board down a sand dune! Me. Lil, Katrina, Jen and Cat decided to give it a go! When we got up there we nearly chickened out! It was really steep and you went straight into the lake, but we did it and it as a lot of fun! We then sunbathed and played 'I went to lake wabby and I bought a ...' very funny game and in the end the whole group was helpi ng us remember! We then headed back to the boat and back to Rainbow beach. The girls were in the same hostel as us on Rainbow beach -'Dingo's' so the 5 of us went our for some pizza, was really nice. We met up with Rachel again and exchanged stories! That night we had some drinks at our hostel, then went over to next door for some cheap cocktails, played some drinking games. We ended up at a beach party with a big group of 30 or so people from a mixture of fraser island tours. We all sat around the fire chatting and playing drinking games with goon! It was really good! We got in about 3am and nearly got chucked out by security for making too much noise!

Our tour, with Guide Cameron at the front

Beach Party!

Saturday 1st August

We spent the day recovering on the green in front of the hostel 'Dingo's', with Katrina too! We then got our bus at 3:30pm to Hervey Bay. We arrived at 6ish and had a look around, we were staying at a place called Koalas, didn't have much atmousphere but we got our own room and bathroom for the 3 of us! We saw a possum in the dark and me and rachel screamed our heads off, made us jump! He was cute but not as good as George from Brisbane! We had jacket potatoes and an early night to recover from Fraser Island!

Sunday 2nd August

Me and Rachel had booked a Whale watching tour or today. Lil has already done hale watching before so she had a chilled day. We got a shuttle there at about 1:30pm and waited by our boat. We saw the irish lads again at the dock- everyone seems to be doing the same route! The company told us that there as ony one pod of whales in the bay and that they had left, we could have got our money back btu they said if we didnt see any we could go back the next day! About a third of us decided we still wanted to go! And luckily they let us! I had my travel tablets and they semed to work -didnt really get sea sick at all! On the way out to the place they whales might be, we saw about 3 dolphins all swimming alon with the boat, they stayed with us for a while, everyone leaning over the edge trying to take loads of photos. We got a great view as it wasnt a full boat. Me and Rach then had a free tea and cakes! Then luckily we saw some whales! A pod of 3! They were massive, one came right up to the boat at one point, it was quite scary! Got a few good pics of their tails flicking up and rach got some great videos on her camera. We had some noodles back at our hostel and then met up with the Irish lads for a drink - one of them was in hospital with apendicitis, ouch!

Me and Rach on the very windy boat!

Mr Whale

Monday 3rd August

We spent the morning on the beach, it was really hot! It's the first time we've hit heat that has been unbearable, it's definatelty getting hotter as we go north! We then got our bus in the Afternoon to Agnes Water. It was a 4hr drive, not too bad, mostly slept! We got to out hostel - Beachside Backpakers, had some lasagne, me and lil played some scrabble (nerds!) and went to bed.

Tuesday 4th August

We borrowed some bikes from the hostel, and rode into town (yes I actually rode a bike!). I wasnt feeling too good, so lil and Rach went off to do a bit of surfing and I meandered around the town and headed down to meet them on the beach. When I caught up with them (easy to find - pastiest ones on the beach!), the waves were so rough they had already given up! We spent a bit of time on the beach and then headed back, and now I'm writing and finally up to date! wohoo!! Plan is to get $5 dinner from the hostel tonight and wacth a film in the tv room. It's a really quiet town, so not much to do. Plus I'm not feeling too good, so welcoming a quiet night!

Got an overnight bus tomorro night, not looking forward to that. But in the day me and lil might do a motorbike tour of the town and Town 1770. They are proper old hogs that only go pretty slow apparently so were gonna go cheak that out! Then our Bus takes us to Airlie Beach. 22 days left now - it's going very quick! Miss you all xxx

Weds 22nd - Fri 24th July - Goon, Point Danger and Bus Chaos!

MISSED INFO: (some stuff I forget to put in - must be all the drinking!)

Monday 20th July:

Our first night in Byron Bay in the Art Factory Hostel. When we got back from having our noodles we found there was an open mic night. We sat outside under the stars on picnic benches and people (mainly hippies) played guitars and sang. We drank some beers and listened, was really nice. The atmousphere really summed up Byron and then laid back friendly hostel we were in.

Tuesday 21st July:

After our Pictionary game and cider. There was a man who works at the hostel (Cockatoo Paul - little plait out the back of his hair with 2 big white feathers attached), selling opals. He had all kinds from big expensive rare ones to ones with hundreds of glittering colours. He mostly had dark ones with flashes of colour in the light. But I spotted a little white one, it was just like the one from nannies ring, appart from it was smaller and in an almost smooth shark tooth shape. It was $80 but I fell in love with it, I had to have it. He also gave me a small round version of the stone too, I think as I was questioning buying for quite a while and he could sense I was a pauper! I will get the bigger stone made into a ring back home and the smaller one im not sure what to do with!

Photo of Byron Bay I took with big camera but didnt put on before

Back to normal blog:

Wednesday 22nd July

After our walk up the lighthouse, our pasta dinner and starting on the 'Goon' (cheap boxed wine). I wrote my blog - mug of goon in hand! Then we saw our Pictionary buddys from the night before. We got some drinking games going, and it was really funny! Altho the goon was disgusting and tasted of feet! We even got shushed at one point because we got so caught up in the game we were screaming! We were playing 21's and couldnt get to 21!! After a while we decided to go out, me and Rach randomly couldn't find Lil! We found her...curled up around the toilet bowl! We still don't know how she got quite so affected by the goon compared to us! We think becasue she was still a bit ill and hadnt had a big drink for a while it just disagreed with her....quite badly! She told us to still go out and that she would crawl into bed in a bit. I felt very guilty but there was nothing we could do, she told us to go so we grabbed our bags. The other were holding the shuttle bus for us and then...I managed to lock my locker key inside the locker...doh! Luckily Tyler (from Tennessee) went and grabbed some scissors and prised it open! Then we were off on the shuttle into town. We went to Cheeky Monkeys, a strange bar which is all about dancing on tables! There is no dancefloor, just 3 rows of like metal picnic benches - which you have to dance on! People had to give each other hands to get up and there was only a small galley to get through to the bar! But it was a good night, me and rach danced away with our new pictionary friends! They played a good range of music, altho I nearly fell off the table several times! We then walked back with Sam, Tyler and Brian, getting a pie on the way! Was really good night, when we got back Lil was tucked up in bed snoring away!

Photo of Lighthouse taken with big camera

Me with a mug of goon!

Me and Rach with some of our Pictionary Pals

Me and Rach in Cheeky Monkeys with some stolen hats!

Thursday 23rd July

We got up with very heavy heads! Lil had to have a cold shower as she was still dizzy - nutter! We then gathered up our stuff and dragged ourselves downstairs, I had a bit of toast and we chatted to some people. We then got on the shuttle into the town and jumped on our coach to Coolangatta. Coolangatta is a nice town, it's a bit like Surfers Paradise but more for families and oldies (no offence readers!). We walked around the town a bit, got some hangover food and sat on the beach. Rach had seen whales before from Point Danger, we walked up there but no luck! That night we cooked jacket potatoes - I managed to find some 'English Version' baked beans! Others were beans in Ham sauce or Spaghetti sauce - urgh! The receptionist told us there was an R n B night but we just groaned at her! We had showers, read books and went to sleep! It was a weird hostel - Gold Sands Hotel. There was a hotel bit and a backpackers bit - it was cold, long beige hallways and no atmousphere - we were glad we were only there for a night! Only saw 3 people!


Friday 24th July

We got up and headed to the bus stop. We had a stop over in Brisbane, but were just prepared for a travel day - it would take about 5 hours in all to get to Noosa. Unfortunately when we got to Brisbane, we wandered off and got a wrap for lunch, only to realise the time was 2:05pm, the bus left at 2! We legged it up the escalators, me chucking my half eaten wrap in the bin on route! We got to the desk and 'It's gone' say the toure operator. We all gape out of the glass doors at the missing bus, which had all our backpacks on...crap! Luckily the bus driver who drove us was still there, he managed to get us onto another bus for free but we were still missing 3 very large backpacks! Luckily we were going to stay with Lil's family friends - Dave and Jill, Dave very kindly went and waited for the bus with our luggage on! What a drama! He then picked us up from the bus stop and brought us back to the house! Reunited with our bags and over the panic we were then given a massive dinner - lovely! Like roast dinner but cooked on the barbie!
What a day! I then took advantage of the free internet and thought I would catch up the blog!

Hopefully not as much drama over the next few days! In Noosa until tuesday and then we are hoping to do a Fraser Island 3 day tour! Will write again soon! H x

Thurs 16th - Weds 22nd July - Cougars, Sickies and Hippies

Thursday 16th July

After spending about 3 hours holed up in an internet cafe (geek!), I rushed back, changed my trousers, ate a pot noodle (most of which i ate on the way to the bus stop), and we got a bus into town. Backpackers get a lot of deal in surfers - if we got to 'Cocktails and Dreams' by 10:30pm we got free entry and a free drink. So we rushed down there! We had a good night, we got chatted up by 18-yr olds, they were so funny bless them! Lil got us some cheap drinks out of one of them, who worked there! We nick named ourselves the Cougars after that! haha! We then had a dance for a bit and headed back to the hostel. The hostel is really cool, little pool and really friendly, plus rach managed to get us a cheap deal with just 3 of us in the room, sweet!

In Cocktails and Dreams

Friday 17th July

We spent most of the day on the beach, I read my book. It's not really hot as it is winter but hot enough to lie on the beach! Lil started to feel a bit ill, shes got a bad cough. So Rach and Lil had a nap and I wandered the nearby little town - Southport. Southport's only about 20 minute walk to Surfers Paradise and a bit more in the quiet, so it was great location. We had arranged to meet somepne me and lil went to school with - Lorna Peters, she's a rep at another backpackers in Southport. We had a drink and a catch up in an Irish bar, she told us about the crazy life as a rep! She then got us free entry to 'The Bedroom' club and $50 worth of drinks at the bar! She kept going up and using the $50 rep crard to get drinks, was brilliant! Unfiortunately lil felt like she needed to catch up on sleep as she was pretty ill, so she went home early. But me and Rachel got very merry with Lornas free drinks and had a good ol'dance. Mostly taking the mick out of a bloke that constantly punched the air - that was his dancing!! We got the bus back and stumbled into bed!

Me and Rach with Lorna in 'The bedroom'

Saturday 18th July


Another chilled day, me and rach went shopping in the local Southport mall, got lunch and dinner. Then we all chilled by the pool for a bit, and we made Fajitas for dinner! That night was the Backpackers Big Night Out! About 4 hostels - 120ish people, free drink and entry to 4 clubs, we all went around together, it was madness! We spent about an hour in each club, and before we went we had punch in the hostel and was given a big straw hat and a glow stick. Was a very bizarre night! We didnt make it to the last club but we had a lot of fun!

On the Backpackers Big night out

Sunday 19th July

We got up and sat by the pool for a bit. Lil was still poorly and Rach was starting to feel rough too! I then went into Southport and saw Harry Potter 6 film - was brilliant! I went by myself and had a big box of popcorn (altho it was salt as they dont have sweet here - mad!), i kept seeing other people by themselves and we gave each other little nods, was funny! That evening we went to the beach and watched the sunset, was really pretty altho unfortunately the big skyscrapers of Surfers kind of blocked most of it out! We then ate a little cheap Thai restaurant and went back.

Sunset at Surfers Paradise

In the town

Under the surfers Paradise sign - bit blurry which is a shame!

Monday 20th July

We packed up and got a bus to Byron Bay. It was just over an hour. Byron Bay is a weird quaint little hippy town. We are staying at a big hostel called The Arts Factory, full of hippies, surfers and people playing guitars. We are in a normal down but you can also sleep in theme rooms, camp or dorm teepees! We looked around the town, had noodles in a box and then went to bed (early night for the poorly ones - I'm now reading lil's book).

On Byron Bay beach

Tuesday 21st July

Spent the day on the beach and looking around the town. In the evening we had dinner, bought some drinks from the bottle shop ( I had cider) and then played Pictionary with some people from the hostel! Rachel and the Irish guy won (we decided to split up as it might be easier as we knew each other), me and Tyler (american) came second! Was a good evening, really funny as we started to take it really seriously. The sickies got to bed early and I read till 2:30am (loser!).

Wednesday 22nd July

Today we walked up to the lighthouse, it was quite a long walk but really picturesque! Across the beach and up and down a trail through trees, we got some great views. I got some amazing photos on my big camera. We had an Ice cream at the top then walked back, we then went to the Bead Shop - where you can make your own jewellery. We all made a bracelet and then headed to the supermarket. We cooked pasta and then had some goon (cheap boxed wine - it's gross). Now here I am typing up this!

On the walk to the Lighthouse

..and with a sign

Our names in the sand!

Not too bad catching up as we've been relaxing most days. We're off to small town Coolangatta tomorrow for one night and then up to Noosa. We're booking up some more tours soon for up the coast - Fraser Island and the Whitsundays, looking forward to them! Not many photos as I've only bought Lils camera to the computer. Most of the pics are split between rach ands lils cameras now (and big pics on my beast camera), so i will make sure i bring hers too next time.

Miss u all lots Hxx

Sat 4th - Thur 16th July - Flights, Rachel and The Rock

Big Update! You might want to go to the loo and get yourself a tea!

Saturday 4th July

Mary and Steve drove us to our backpackers in Auckland. We stayed at the Queenstreet Backpackers, just of the main strip. We had an all girl dorm and only 5 beds in there, so much easier to sleep...and get changed! We had a look around the city, and decided to walk to the sky tower, after walking for ages we thought we must of passed it! So walked back, we saw it and thought we followed it...but lost it again! This is a massive tower (that was glowing blue as it was night) taller than the eiffel tower! In our defense it's surrounded by tall buildings...but its not a very good defense. In the end we were hungry so ate at a nice little thai restaurant, and after we actually found the skytower! We decided to go back to the room and get changed (turns out we were only about a 15min walk from the tower, haha!) and then went to the skytower casino, a massive casino + bars mext to the tower. We had some cocktails, gambled on sone cheap 5c machines, and then danced to some cheesy songs sung by to singers in one of the bars. Lil even found us a sugar daddy who bought us a couple of drinks! We also went to the bar 3 and danced with a big group of people. We had a really good night and rolled into the room at about 3 am, which the other girls probably wernt too happy about!

Us in the Queenstreet Backpackers

The Skytower - easy to lose!

Cocktails in Bar 3

In the bar with the singers

Getting carried away!

Sunday 5th July

We had to check out by 10am - which was painful with our hangovers! But we ate some cereal bars in the living room and randomly watched the Tomb Raider film. We then went to the skytower by day to actually go up it. It was an amazing view of Auckland and we took loads of photos, they even had a glass bit to stand on that made you feel a bit wobbly! We had a bacon sandwich up there too, which helped a lot with our hangovers. We then looked round the shops for a bit and then headed back to the hostel to get our bags. We got picked up by Rachel's(Lil's cousins wife) brother and we stayed at his girlfriend's parent's house (anyone follow any of that?!). They said we could as it was close to the airport, and our flight was so early there was no point paying for a hostel! They were really nice and cooked us pasta and everything!

Me freaking out up the skytower

View through the glass floor

The View of Auckland City

Monday 6th July

The cab picked us up at 2:45 am (ouch!) and we went to the airport and got a flight to sydney. Was very sad to leave NZ, had such a great time there! At Sydney airport we found a hostel called 'Funk House' which was quite cheap and free breakfast, so we jumped on their free shuttle and went there. Check in wasnt till 10am so we could go in our room, so we dumped our bags and went to look around the town. We had a lovely walk (all be it a very tired walk) around the city and fund the central area. We sat in Hyde park for a bit and had a look at maps and places to go, alot of things have the same names as london which is weird - liverpool st, oxford st etc. I then found 100 NZ dollars in my bag - doh! We found a food court and had some cheap jacket potatoes! We went to St Mary's Catherdral and had a look around, it was so pretty and peaceful in there. There was a place you could light candles for people so I lit one for Nanny and Lil lit one for Jackie, was really nice. We then went on to the museum, they had dinosaur skeletons, an aboriginal exhibit and all sorts, it was really interesting, although by then we were very very tired. So we dragged ourselves back to the hostel and got our room keys. The hostel was friendly, unfortunately the room was no so good, and they were fully booked so nothing we could do! Two boys had been living in there so it really smelt, and there pants were everywhere, yuck! One of the blokes was really nice tho, a camp Canadian Asian, who loved our accent, he was quite funny - but his pants wern't! We then had some pot noodles in the kitchen and the fire alarm went off, but then whilst standing outside we did get free hotdogs so that was a bonus! We then headed down to the Sydney opera house, to see it at night, it was beautiful, we stood there for ages admiring it and looking over at the harbour bridge taking pics. We then went bad to our smelly room and collapsed into bed (with the window open and the fan going - yuck!)

Me arriving at Sydney Airport

Us in Sydney

St Mary's Cathedral

Outside our smelly room!

The Opera House at night - bit blurry but i already uploaded it!

Tuesday 7th July

We woke up and had our free breakfast and watched a bit of the MJ memorial - so bizarre. We then got the train up to Kawoomba - then main town in the Blue Mountains. We did the main hike and saw the 3 sisters rock formation from Echo point and all the lovely scenery. We then did a 4km bush walk, but it started to get dark so we got out of the trees and used the roads to get back to the station. After the 2 hr train ride it was very late when we got back so we had a late pizza and then popped into a kareoke bar which was quite cool! I had quite a headache tho and we were both knakered so we went back to our smelly room.

Taken with Lil's Gorillapod - flexible tripod

More Blue Mountains views

Wednesday 8th July

We got up and packed up our bags and put them into storage. We wanted to see the opera house by day so we headed over there. It was amazing and it was a really bright day so we go some great photos. We then started walking around and it started pouring down really heavy, so we slipped into a little internet cafe and sent some emails. We had our jacket potatoes for lunch again and then we were off to the airport. We flew from Sydney to Brisbane and then got a shuttle to the hostel that Rachel had booked - Banana Benders Hostel! We got there and it was lovely - so much nicer than the last one, it was soo clean! We shared with a couple of girls who were really nice too. I then realised that i had put someone elses lock on my backpack, doh! So i borrowed some garden shears from the hostekl and managed to get it open. Think the girls were a bit worried when i walked into the room with a big pais of shears!!

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Me with the Sydney Opera House

Thurday 9th July

We waited outside for Rachel and then she booked in our room, it was just the 3 of us for a couple of nights so that was nice. We had a walk around brisbane and found a Wagamama to have lunch in. We then went back about 4pm so Rach could have a nap, and later found the supermarket and had ourselves some soup. Whilst eating on the veranda of our hostel a Possum randomly appeared, the owners infomred us his name was George. In NZ Possums are a pest and they shoot them for sport but in Australia they are portected. We fed him some bread, he was actually very cute!

A Brunette, A Blond and A Redhead hit Brisbane City

Me with George the Possum

Friday 10th July

We got up in the morning and headed into town - we found a much quicker route! We then got a bus to Lone Pine Koala Santuary. We held Koalas and had our photo taken, and we also fed and stroked kangaroos in a big enclosure, it was so cool. We even saw some little Joey's in their pouches! We also saw Dingos, Parrots, snakes..and lots and lots of Koalas. They are really lazy funny things, that actually look like the teddys that are sold of them! We then had a bit of a shop in Brisbane city - Rachel had all hot clothes so she had to get a few jumpers! We then shared a pizza for dinner and went to a backpackers pub nearby. We had a drink and realised that nearly everyone in there was irish!! It was a good atmousphere with a funny live singer which was good! I find it harder sharing Lil as it's been just us for ages, but it should be good with 3 of us as time goes on.

At Lone Pine

Me and a Koala

In the Kangaroo and Wallaby Enclosure

Rachel bonding with a Roo

At the Bar

Saturday 11th July

Me and lil were up and out early again to the Airport. We got our plane to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia - the Outback. We booked into our hostel (Toddy's) and got ready for our 3 day Ayres Rock Tour. We walked into Alice Springs for a bit, we were so happy to see some sun! and bought some pot noodles. We saw our first aboriginal people too, altho some were quite intimidating and would shout at you to but painting etc. We headed back to the hostel and two girls had just got off the tour so they gave us lots of helpful advice about what to take which ended up being very handy!

Outside Toddy's Backpackers

Sunday 12th July

We got up early and got ready, as the bus was at 6am. We went to store our backpacks in reception but it was closed, we started to panic a bit but then found out there is a half an hour time difference!! Who ever heard a of a half hour time difference?! Luckily it was half an hour behind so we had time to get in our free breakfast and wait for the bus. We got on the bus and had a few more pick ups, aktho most people were from Toddy's. Our guide was called Ryan, he was a really nice guy. He was driver, guide and cook for the whole trip! We drove for about 5 hours into the outback. We then had a 3hour hike at Kings Canyon, we had some amazing views but it was heard walk as there was a lot of hills and it was really hot. The first hill was called Heartattack Hill, it was really steep and a lot of climbing, one person couldn't make it so had to do a shorter walk! It was really good tho and Ryan kept stopping to tell us info about the place and the Aboriginals. We then drove further into the outback and had to stop at the side of the road to collect fire wood. He drove us down this little track into a field - I say field but there's no grass! It's all red sand, rocks and really dry trees. He then got the fire going and we had a really mild chilli con carne around the fire, sitting on our rolled up swags. We saw some great stars that night too. There was no toilet tho so we had to take a shovel round a bush, dig a hole and pee in the hole, we had to cover it up so we didnt attract and animals!! It was horrifying but really funny! The swags we slept in are basically big sleeping bags, they had a thin little matress and then a flap that goes over your head, they are thick and water resistant (not waterproof as we found out), you put your sleeping bag inside it and then sleep in it. It was overcast so Ryan got out a tarp so people could go under that if it rained. We thought we'd be ok, so fully clothed (it was really cold) got into our swags. Unfortunately it did rain, alot! But if we'd have got out and moved under the tarp we would have got wetter! So we deceded to stay put - we didnt quite realise how wet we would get!

Me on the hike

Kings Canyon

Camping!

Monday 13th July

We got up at 5am (not that we slept) and we were soaked! The whole left side of my jumper was soaking and the sleeping bags and swags were both wet! We al got up grumbling and had our breakfast and then back ontot the bus. The bus sat 21 of us + the guide, it was quite rickety but comfortable, and didn't make me car sick which was great! We headed off into the main national park of Uluru (Ayres Rock) - everyone slept on the bus! We had a hike around KataTjuta known as 'Valley of the Winds' which was really nice, altho it was really windy and quite cold! We then had some wraps for lunch and went to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre. We looked at art and read some of their tales. We can only hear their 'dreamtime' tales that are known by children, most stories are only known by aborignals themselves, they keep them secret and sacred, which just adds to the mystery of the whole place. We had a short walk (1km) at Ayres rock called the Mala walk. A guide took us along and we sat in caves and he told us tales. It's so interesting as the tales line up with the marking and shapes in the rock itself. Was really amazing! We then went to a lookout point and watched the sun set over Uluru, it was so pretty! It changed colour so much it was amazing! By then we had made a few friends on the trip so we sat chatting to them and taking stupid pictures with uluru. Vikrum and Glen were from America, plus we had our gay best friends Micheal and Noah from Melbourne, there was also a really nice old couple - Pete ( who was always helping the guide) and Carol, our Japanese friend Kota, 4 girls from manchester, 4 french girls, an italian lady and fench lady best friends, aussie lady on her own, and a dutch guy. Can't remember that many names! We then went to a campsite and got out our swags again - me and lil were planning to sleep ou the bus like some people did the night before but we wern't allowed! So we all had to stand around the fire trying to dry our our swags! It's funny now but at the time it was horrible! We had stopped off to get marshmallows but everyone was far too busy with swags to toast them! We did get to have a shower tho which was lovely after all the walking and dirt and dust!

Kata Tjuta Walk

In a wind cave on the Mala walk

Uluru Lookout with our GBF's

Sunset

Tuesday 14th July

We all woke up covered in frost and shivering - Ryan said it's really rare to experience rain or ice in the outback and we had experienced both - this however did not make us feel better! I had slept better than the night before tho but i was freezing, altho it was a lovely clear night and i did see a shooting star at one point. We were up early again to go and see the sunrise over Uluru, it was really pretty and we all had breakfast there. We then did the Uluru Base Walk (8km), me and Lil walked aroud with Vikrum and Glen and it was reall good, we took loads of photos! There was the oppotunity to climb it, there a chain link rainling to hold, but there is so many reasons not to so no one on the tour did. It's sacred to the aboriginals and is said to be bad luck, plus so many people have fallen and died. Most people who climb arent on tours they just drive up and start climing, people even took their kids up there, it's so dangerous and steep! We then started the hourney home, we stopped for kunch on the way and also at a camel farm, where we saw lots of camels and other races. They had lots of awards there from the local Canmel Races. When we got back most of us agreed to meet for a meal at Toddy's. We got showered, put our backpacks back together and arranged them all and then headed out. We all ate together outside with a live singer. Ryan and another guide came too. Kota made oragmi kangaroos for people, he helped me make my own! Me and lil had a few beers - proper backpackers! A few of us then jumped on a free bus into town and went to a bar. The 'Saloon' was really bizarre and actually decorated like an old cowboy sallon, it was a mix of local ans backpackers, we were dubous but by the end it was a really good atmousphere! Us and our gay best friends decided we wanted to dance, so when the right song came on we all went up and got everyone dancing! It was us, Kota, swiss girl (who we originally thought was french), the manchster girls and Ryan. We had such a good night! It was starnage tho as every now and then they wuld play a really western song. But me and lil had a great time dancing like nutters! It shut about oneish and a few of us swapped names for facebook then started walking back together. (You wouldnt really want to walk on your own!) Ryan then told us about his disco pool, so we went to see it, it was an empty pool that they used as a dance floor, covered in flashing lights and they put foam in it! His roommate had a tour the next day tho so we could use it! We all chatted for a bit and then headed back to Toddy's - got in about 3am! Was really sad to say goodbye to them all as you get to know each other quite well! We had such a great time!

Sunrise at Uluru - with our Teas!

People climbing Uluru

With Ryan the Guide

Wednesday 15th July

Out by 10 am again with a hangover, and off to the airport! Not a very interesting day, just travelling. We had to stopoff in Adelaide for about 30mins, then we got back on to Brisbane. I nearly lost my coat! We had 5 planes in less than 2 weeks - what jetsetters we are! We then got a shuttle bus to Surfers Paradise where Rachel was already in a hostel - Trekkers. We caught up with stories (She had been with family in Brisbane) and we actually got a good night sleep!

Thursday 16th July

Today! We walked around Surfers Paradise and sat on the beach - we actually got some sun! Not as hot as it has been at home but the shorts were out!! We had a lazy day and then we found an internet cafe - which ive been sitting in for about 2 hrs writing all this up!

Us on the beach

Sorry this is a long catch up again! Got very behind! Ayres Rock/Uluru tour was so good! Was on such a high afterwards, now looking forward to our next adventure up the coast! Having a few days in Surfers first to recover!

H x