TravelStream™ news feed for member rtwexplorer on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/rtwexplorer en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 05 Oct 2005 08:54:04 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124560620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124560620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124560620/tpod.html Wed, 05 Oct 2005 08:54:04 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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New York, New York, United States

"Start spreading the news (dodoodydodum). We're leaving today (dodoodydodum). We want to be a part of it (dadum) New York, New York"!!!

Well, here it is. Our last week on the worldwide road, and what a place to end it.

New York is just the most amazing city and so different to everywhere else in the States. It has history for a start! The buildings are all so beautiful and it's so green and leafy. In fact, in those respects it's not dissimilar to London.

Anyway, we loved it and had a fantastic week exploring the different districts and doing all the typically touristy stuff that just has to be done.

Here's what we got up to....

After landing in New York at 1am we jumped in a cab and headed straight to our hotel. We couldn't believe our luck when we got there! Fantastic location, Midtown close to the Empire State building and Macy's. We were even more gobsmacked when we got to our room on the 36th floor and found that we could lie in bed and look straight out at the Empire State Building AND the Chrysler Building from our window. We could also just make out the Manhattan bridge and we could look right down onto Madison Square Garden!

The next day we decided to get our bearings straight and be stereotypical tourists and we jumped on an open top tour bus which took us all round the top uptown (Bronx) and downtown (Grenwich Village, SoHo, Financial District and Brooklyn) sights as well as telling us a bit more about the city. For instance, did you know that New York was known as New Amsterdam until the Dutch handed it over to the British and the Duke of York named it after himself?? There you go then..!

We were taken past Central Park and the Plaza hotel, up into Harlem and through all the ethnic districts and then we headed downtown where all the famous sights are. Ground Zero (where we jumped off and spent some time taking in the eerie and subdued atmosphere and reading the memorials that are still there in the little Chapel next door), the Empire State building, Rockefeller Centre, Times Square, Greenwich Village, Soho, Brooklyn, Chinatown, Little Italy etc etc. That evening we did a night tour on the same bus and saw the city beautifully lit. We went over to Brooklyn where we got a fantastic view of the Lower Manhattan skyline illuminated with light.

The next day we spent some more time exploring Brooklyn (which could be a city in it's own right - it's massive!) and then we jumped on the Staten Island ferry to get our first close glimpse of Lady Liberty herself.

Following all this activity and the non-stop buzz of NYC, we spent the following day in Central Park. With the sun shining, we wandered along the pathways in the shade of the many trees. We stopped a while to listen to a sax player then carried on to have lunch by a boating lake.

On our final night we decided to treat ourselves and go to see Lion King on Broadway. It was spectacular and kept us completely spellbound to the end. It was quite weird, we realised that our whole adventure had started in Africa and here we were on our last night watching a musical set again in Africa. The Swahili music was enough to send a shiver down our backs. And, as the curtain came down on the performance, it was also the end of an epic journey. Just like at the start, it didn't feel real until we'd landed in Cape Town, now it wasn't feeling real that we would be returning home in the morning. Before we left we knew the time would flash by, but writing this now, I can hardly beleive that its all over so soon. But hey, what an adventure! Trully, the trip of a lifetime.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1096743060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1096743060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1096743060/tpod.html Wed, 05 Oct 2005 03:54:32 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Codicote, United Kingdom

This website is a record of our adventure where we circle the globe over the next year. We are hoping to visit all of the places on our all-time wish list. Once we get going we will try and keep you updated on where we are, what we are doing and any funny little stories that we think you'll like. We'll be taking our camera so we can load images of the places we go to for you to see. Honestly, no attempts will be made to post any pictures of white sandy beaches, tropical sunsets or palm trees swaying in the breeze. You can subscribe to our updates so that every time we add something new to the site you'll receive an e-mail telling you. Oh, and lastly, don't be shy- send us lots of e mails telling us how much it is raining and how much your job is stressing you out. We'll love that!

Well, for those of you that are interested (I guess you must be at least a little curious as you've taken the time to log-on and read this far), this is the plan so far:

12 Nov 04 Leave UK 8.15pm on the fist of so many flights to Cape Town where we will be spending 8 days. All the famous sights here; Table Mountain, Robbens Island Prison(Mandella), Simons Town (Penguins on Boulders Beach), Stellenbosch (wineries), Diving with Great White Sharks, Whale watching along the Garden Route. All time permitting of course!



20 Nov 04 We start our "Desert Tracker" safari, 26 days in a truck, camping as nature intended in the wilderness. A month without a proper bed- where will Vicky plug her hair straighteners in? The route we will take will be to leave Cape Town and travel along the west coast of Africa, through the desert in Namibia, the Namib desert is the oldest desert in the world and has the highest dunes. We have been warned that journeys can be as long as 9 hours at a time and the heat in the desert reaches 50 degrees C. Here we will also stop at Fish River Canyon (the 2nd biggest canyon in the world).



Across the border to Botswana. Taking in the flood plains of the Okavanga Delta and Chobe National park. We will be staying overnight out on the Delta, hundreds of miles from anything, surrounded by the swampland and noises from mother nature. From there we head toward Zambia then into Zimbabwe and the Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders. From there we leave and head south via the Kruger National Park to end up in Johannesburg on 15 Dec. Back to the luxury of a proper bed and a hot shower (and hair straighteners).



18 Dec 04 Fly from Johannesburg to Goa (via Nairobi then Mumbai). Christmas and New Year in Goa. We have bamboo huts booked literally on the beach (see below) in Palolem, Goa. This place is reputed to be pristine and remote.



4 Jan 05 Fly from Goa to Delhi, this will be our base for the next month where we plan to also visit Agra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Plus anywhere else that takes our fancy.



2 Feb 05 Fly from Delhi (via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) to Bangkok, Thailand. This is where we will be slowing down the pace (even more). After a dew days in the capital we head south to the islands and beaches. Having fallen in love with Ko Samui on our last visit, we plan to really kick back this time and experience all of the beautiful islands without counting the days till we have to come back to start work.



Ko Chang, of course Samui, then to Phuket. As tourists entry is only permitted on a 60 day visa which can be extended once inside the Kingdom to 90 days total. All being well with this and assuming that 3 months of being complete beach bums doesn't wear us out (jealous yet?), we'll fly out of Phuket some time around early May.

There are no onward dates on our tickets for this reason so from here we'll take it as it comes.

Fly Phuket to KL, Malaysia and then down to Australia.





First stop Sydney. The trail looks a bit vague here. We'd like to spend a couple of months or so travelling and seeing Melbourne (Vickys Great-Aunt), up to Alice Springs and Ulluru, the whole east coast up through Brisbane then Cairns where there is the (reputedly) best diving in the world on the Great Barrier Reef. The country is huge though and by this time we are expecting funds to be drying up so we'll have to see.



So, a couple of months (or so) later fly out of Brisbane to Fiji, right in the middle of the Pacific. You can probably see where the name "Round The World" comes from now, eh? More beach bumming (like the tan will have started to fade by then!)



From Fiji to Los Angeles. We will then explore California, Arizona and Nevada. This will take in San Francisco, Yosemite NP, Death Valley, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

Back to LA and then down to New Orleans to explore the Deep South. This will include cities of Memphis, Nashville, Kentucky the Bourbon State, back through Alabama and the Great Smokey Mountains NP.

Back to LA (again) and down to La Paz in Mexico to see Mark's sister, Jes for a few days.

You guessed it, back to LA and then onto New York.

From New York to good old London. Part of us hopes not until November 11th 2005. Part of us will be missing home and all you lot like mad by then (well maybe!?!)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1107578100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1107578100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1107578100/tpod.html Fri, 16 Sep 2005 07:32:55 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Koh Chang, Thailand

Yes we've arrived on the beach at Thailand's second biggest island called Koh Chang. Time to shift down a gear and actually stay in one place for a while. The longest we've managed so far in the last 3 months is 10 days!

We spent about a month here, it's a fantastic place and has everything we were hoping for- long white sandy beaches, great food, cheap accommodation, sun, sun, sun and lots of Chang Beer!

For the first couple of weeks we stayed on the main beach, Hat Sai Kao (White Sand Beach). It would appear that the stories we heard from other travellers we in fact true and that all the islands on the Gulf side of Thailand are much busier due to relocating tourists who would have otherwise gone to the Tsunami affected Andaman Coast and islands like Phuket. Most of the beach bungalows are full here every day and the owners are charging premium rates because they can. None the less, there is loads to do here and there is a real holiday buzz to the place.

Unfortunately the Delhi-Belly's-Gonna-Get-Ya was back and poor old Vicky suffered from repeated symptoms a couple of times. The most memorable was when she was feeling a bit queezy and we called in to the doctor to see if he'd give her a few tablets to make her better. We should have known. He took one look at her and thought it best to send her into hospital to be on the safe side. The only trouble was, Koh Chang being an island, doesn't have a hospital and, at 8pm the ferries had stopped running. Good old travel insurance is all I can say! We were transferred back to the mainland by ambulance and they chartered a ferry specially for us (these things normally carry about 200 people and 30 cars). Now, when I said the doctor wanted to be on the safe side(call me Mr Synical) but, after 2 nights and all they found wrong was the "trots", there was a bill of £800 heading back to our insurers.

After White Sand Beach, for the next couple of weeks we headed further down the coast to a more isolated stretch called Hat Kai Bae. Here the room rates were much lower and there is a much more layed-back feel to the place. Its more the kind of place where you see people searching out rooms with a backpack on, rather than the package holiday mob from White Sand. We have spent the time in a bungalow right on the beachfront, we can lie awake at night and listen to the sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the wind in the palm trees. The sand is but a short step outside the door or we could sit on our veranda and watch the sunset with a G&T (or two).
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1113409140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1113409140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1113409140/tpod.html Fri, 16 Sep 2005 06:03:03 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Koh Samui, Thailand

We've arrived with Mum and Dad in Samui and it's every bit of the paradise that we remembered from our holiday here in February 2004. This is the place in fact that inspired us to do this whole 'Gap Year' thing in the first place. It was here that we met a couple from Ireland who had taken a sabatical year from work (they have a proper employer!!). One night sitting on the beach, looking up at the stars and several G&T's later we hatched a plan that one day, we too would do the same thing. And here we are!

The weather has been between 35 and 40 degrees every day and the Chang has been flowing. There's not a lot to write about really other than that we're all having a fab, lazy time getting brown and kicking back.

We really enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime, we spent most of the time relaxing in the sun but we also went around the island, up the mountain and through the jungle by jeep.

In the evening we were tucked up in bed by 8pm every night, fast asleep.................beleive that, you'll beleive anything! No, we might have had the occassional cold beverage. Well, OK, we had several........and throughout the day.......most days infact!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1116897600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1116897600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1116897600/tpod.html Thu, 08 Sep 2005 05:59:00 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Great Ocean Road, Australia

Before you read on, dullard that Mark is, he's uploaded some of the photos that should have appeared under this section to Melbourne (previous entry). Having spent an hour waiting for them to upload they're going to have to stay there!

We're now seven days into our campervan adventure and we're loving it!

We've affectionately named our van "Skippy" and it's so cute and
cosy. We're having a lovely time driving during the day, stopping
whenever we want, having picnics at scenic lookouts and by night we
cosy ourselves up in the back, listen to music, cook dinner in our
mini kitchen and drink lots of wine! We've discovered a game called
Uno which is highly addictive and very competitive. We've also both
discovered that we are both very bad losers and enjoy rubbing salt in
the wound of our losing counterpart when one of us is winning!

So, what have we been seeing and doing in the last 7 days? You're
about to find out!

Day 1 - Melbourne City to Phillip Island

Our first day behind the wheel went really smoothly. Mark drove the
first stint out of the city (I refused to get behind the wheel until
we were somewhere quiet to minimise potential damage to ourselves, the
van and/or innocent members of the public). We took the Princes
Highway to Phillip Island, a small holiday island to the south east of
Melbourne. Driving through the city suburbs was really interesting -
people on their way to work or school, going shopping or walking the
dog. All this everyday life going on around us and we were so excited
about being in our new little home! We stopped to do some shopping on
the way. One thing we have noticed is that Australians have some very
strange set ups here - things that would be considered outrageous back
home! For example, gambling halls with fruit machines in every town -
and they all have an ATM inside!! And drive through bottle shops!
Mark thinks these are great - even took a photo of one. You literally
drive in, load your car up with "tinnies", pay and drive off!!
Fabulous idea - but could you imagine it if the same thing was
introduced in the UK???! Bedlam...

Anyway, I digress. We reached Phillip Island which seemed a million
miles away from the city. Really pretty and green. We booked into
our first caravan site which we pretty much had all to ourselves, then
headed out to a place called The Nobbies, a scenic point of the island
with interesting rock formations and stunning landscapes. We spent an
hour or so wandering around here before taking ourselves to the
Penguin Parade (I drove, and I was actually quite good at it). This
was great. The Penguins live on the beach and every evening at sunset
they come in from the sea in groups to nest for the night in the
sand. We wrapped up warm (it gets bitterly cold here at night) and
sat and waited for about an hour. When the first group washed up it
was amazing. They kept getting knocked over by the surf of the waves
but they waited until all their group was there before waddling up the
beach to the sand dunes. After a few groups had made it out of the
sea, we walked back up the boardwalk where we could watch them
waddling further inland. They weren't bothered by the people at all -
but it was great to see nature working so well! And they were so
cute! I could quite easily have smuggled one out under my jacket...

Day 2 - Phillip Island to Queenscliff

We awoke from our first nights sleep in the van (surprisingly
comfortable) and had breakfast before heading out to the Koala
Conservation Centre on Phillip Island. It wasn't long before we got
our first ever glimpse of a Koala! Because it was morning, they were
all still asleep (they sleep for 20 hours a day - not a bad life) but
we could see them really clearly in the branches of the trees. They
are adorable, like big fat cuddly teddy bears. We stayed for an hour
or so, wandering the boardwalks, looking for koalas and listening to
the sounds of the Australian wildlife (we even heard a Kookaburra!).
After that, we stopped at Churchill Island, a tiny island about 50
metres across from Phillip Island. It used to be a farm but is now a
national park. We wandered for a while before setting out for the
mainland to Sorrento to catch the ferry across to Queenscliff. It was
getting dark when we arrived so we just settled ourselves into the
campsite and prepared ourselves for hitting the Great Ocean Road in
the morning.

Day 3 - Queenscliff to Anglesey

Before we left Queenscliff, we decided to take in a few of the sights.
We took the Bellarine Peninsula Railway, an old steam line that runs
for about 30kms return. We were the youngest on the train by about 50
years! It's strange being tourists in this area at the moment - it's
low season so there aren't many of us about. Everywhere we go, we see
more of everyday life in Australia than we do of the tourist scene.
The folks on the train were locals who did the trip on a regular basis
for a chance to chat with friends and to get themselves out and about
a bit. It wasn't mega exciting, but it was a nice, lazy way to while
away a couple of hours. After that, we had lunch overlooking the
sea, then we headed off to pick up the Great Ocean Road at Torquay.

We actually arrived in Torquay earlier than we thought, and as there
didn't seem to be much going on, we decided to head a bit further
along the coast to Anglesey before we settled for the evening. We
booked ourselves in at our campsite before setting out to find the
famous Anglesey Golf Club, where Kangaroos hop about on the fairway at
dusk! Quite strange to see people playing golf, but having to shoo
away the kangaroos before they played every shot! We got some good
photos though and managed to get quite close to them (I got a bit too
close for comfort - one of them growled at me!!) After that, we
headed back to the campsite where we found a little path leading up
the cliffs which overlooked the beach. The strength of the wind had
blown all the trees so that they were all growing at a strange angle!
Again, we pretty much had the campsite to ourselves so we had a lovely
quiet evening listening to the sounds of the trees and the waves
crashing in the distance.

Day 4 - Anglesey to Wye River

We were now on the Ocean Road properly and at every twist and turn in
the road, there was another stunning scene in front of us. Along the
way we stopped at a place called Aireys Inlet where we took a walk to
the lighthouse and along the cliffs before having lunch next to a
small lake off the beach. We stopped at a site next the Wye River
which was really pretty and serene. I made friends with some very
tame ducks after I gave them some bread (I haven't done that for years
and it was lovely!) As we arrived here early, we took the van back
out and drove further along the coast to a waterfall and then along an
unsealed road where we were lucky enough to see Koalas again, but this
time awake and having a good old chomp on some eucalyptus leaves!

Day 5 - Wye River to Colac

What a long day of driving this was!!

First stop along the way was through a section of very prehistoric
looking rainforest (seriously, if I didn't know any better I would
have expected a diplodocus to stamp on us) to an area called Cape
Otway. It's right in the middle of nowhere, along an unsealed road
(naughty us - not supposed to do that in the van!) but was worth the
bumps and the sore backsides when we got there. There is a lighthouse
on the far end of the cape which is opened to the public, so up we
went. It was a bit blowy up top but I didn't care because I'd just
successfully climbed a ladder to get there without any mishaps so I
was feeling pretty pleased with myself.

After the lighthouse we drove further inland through lots and lots of fields full of cows but past very little other traffic to the Otway Fly, a suspended iron walkway
through the treetops in the rainforest. It was a long walk up but
worth it when we got there to be in the tops of Eucalyptus trees
swaying in the breeze. Mark climbed the spiral staircase to the
lookout tower but I bottled out of that one (c'mon, I'd only just
climbed a sodding ladder up a lighthouse! There's only so much a
pathological scaredy cat can accomplish in one day!) I just hung
around at the bottom telling other folks who were going up that I had
a bad knee/hip/vertigo! I did make it out to the end of the wobbly
walkway (can't remember the technological term for it) while Mark
jumped up and down (git). After a long slog up a steep hill to get
back to the carpark, we had a cuppa in the van and then set off to
Colac to settle ourselves for the evening. We found ourselves a
lovely campsite right next to the lake and watched the sun set over
the water before retreating to our now routine evening of
wine/dinner/cards!

Day 6 - Colac to Port Campbell

We awoke this morning to find that (shocker!) it had been raining and
was really overcast. Before leaving Colac, we headed to area called
the Red Rock. The whole area is made up of dormant volcanos and
craters and the landscape from the top of one of the mountains was
really dramatic. Not pretty, but very impressive.

After that, we headed back to the coastal road, quite excited as we
were about to take in some of the highlights of the Great Ocean Road.
We were concerned along the way though, as the rain and cloud just
didn't seem to want to clear. As we approached the coast though,
almost within a blink of an eye it was completely clear and sunny.
Our next stop was the Gibson Steps. The view from the top was
breathtaking enough - thundering waves, rugged cliffs and rocks
protruding from the water - but being little miss super fit and
energetic that I now am, I insisted on walking down the steps to the
beach because, after all, we're only going to get one chance to do it!

The steps were pretty steep and a bit slippy, but it was worth it.
The beach was gorgeous. The water was rough and dangerous, but the
whole area was so unspoilt. Pretty much the only footprints in the
sand were our own and the seagulls! We mooched about down there for a
bit before running (*snigger* huffing and puffing more like) back up
the steps to the van.

A bit further along the road we came to the piece de resistance - the
12 Apostles. For those of you who aren't familiar with what this is,
it's 12 huge rocks that protrude from the sea along the coast. With
the waves crashing against them and the coast line of the Great Ocean
Road behind them it's quite an awesome sight. We walked all the way
up and down the boardwalk getting as many views as we could. We then
decided to head up to our campsite in Port Campbell and then return
for the sunset and we're so glad we did because it was amazing as the
photos will show!

Day 7 - Port Campbell to Warrnambool

Wow! Another day full of exercise and exertion! Before leaving Port
Campbell, we backtracked a bit along the coast to the Loch Ard Gorge.
We thought it would be a "jump out of the van, take photos, jump back
in van" type stop but we were very wrong! We ventured down MORE steps
to the beach to take in the drama of the Gorge. The story of it is
that a ship called the Loch Ard sank just outside the gorge in the
late 19th century. Only 2 people survived - a young man and a young
woman. There's no love story attached which the locals are all quite
disappointed about, but the gorge is named after all the people who
died at sea. There is even a cemetary on the clifftops where some of
the bodies they recovered are buried. All the coast line along this
stretch is very dramatic.

We've never seen such huge waves crashing
against the cliffs like that and could quite easily have hung around
all day just watching. We came back up the steps and walked further
along the rim of the gorge to areas known as the Blowhole and Thunder
Cave - both named so because of the sound the water makes when it
crashes into them - deafening! We must have walked about 5 miles,
just ambling round the area. We were quite surprised when we got back
to the van and it was already lunchtime!

Next stop was the famous "London Bridge". It's an arch shaped rock
formation in the water which used to be connected to the mainland by
another arch (hence why it's called London Bridge - you'll get the
idea from the photos) until 1990 when the middle arch collapsed into
the water, leaving a couple of stunned tourists stranded on the far
arch!

We then arrived in Warrnambool where it started slinging it down with rain!

Day 8 - Warrnambool to Port Fairy

We spent the morning updating the site (the Melbourne entry and up to
day 6 of the Gt Ocean Road) before hitting the road again for Port
Fairy. Port Fairy is a quaint little fishing village that would look
at all out of place in Cornwall. We arrived just before sunset so we
went for a walk on Griffiths Island and had a little nose at the Port
area before settling down for the eveniing.

Day 9 - Port Fairy to Portland

We mooched around Port Fairy a bit in the morning. A very sleepy
place with not a great deal to see, but just pretty. We had a cuppa
and a TimTam (yummy Aussie chocolate biscuit - very moreish and bad
for the belly) overlooking the sea before setting out on our final leg
along the Great Ocean Road to Portland.
On arrival in Portland, we treated ourselves to a fish and chip lunch
before visiting the Enchanted Forest. Another long uphill walk (which
I don't recommend with a belly full of fish and chips!) but worth it
as it was really pretty and very unusual. If I were 7 years old
again, I would easily believe there were elfs and fairies hopping
about in there!

Day 10 - Portland to Halls Gap

Before leaving the coast we took a (cold and windy) walk to an area
known as the Petrified Forest - basically an area where trees grew
thousands of years ago, but over time sand blew in and set around
them, killing the trees and hardening into sandstone, leaving lots of
hollow sandstone "trees" on the cliffs. Quite spooky!

So there it is - The Great Ocean Road. Now we're off inland a bit to
explore the Grampians and the Goldfields - what will lie in store for
us there?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117070160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117070160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117070160/tpod.html Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:50:18 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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The Grampians, Australia

The Grampians and The Goldfields (in our campervan still so continued from Gt Ocean Road entry)

Day 10 - Portland to Halls Gap

So we're now heading inland. We've both said how much we'll miss the
rugged coastline of the Great Ocean Road. But we're sure that the
mountains and the history of the Goldfields will be just as good.
The drive into the mountains was gorgeous. The sky was a clear blue
and the green of the trees and the colours of the rock were really
vivid.

We arrived at our campsite in the middle of the mountains to
find that we were surrounded by birds and kangaroos. The birds were
very "friendly" (ahem) as I'm sure you can see by the photos,
including a particularly amusing one of me having an Alfred Hitchcock
moment. (well, the bloody thing started flapping in my ears just as
Mark took the photo - I was happy and smiling just moments before!)
We spent the afternoon taking a walk through a forested area where we
got up close to kangaroos, emus (hilarious birds, funnier than
ostriches), wallabies, echidnas and kookaburras. It was great - you
can pay fortunes to get into wildlife parks to see all these things,
yet we did it for free, and had it all to ourselves! Depsite a brief
scary moment when we thought we were lost in the bush, it was a
fantastic afternoon.

Day 11 - Halls Gap to ..er.. Halls Gap

Well, our first 2 nighter! There's so much to see here that we
decided to stay put to see it all properly. Our intention today was
to drive up into the mountains and take some walks to some great
viewpoints to get views over the region, but unfortunately it was
raining and overcast when we woke up and we could barely see the
mountains through the mist! After umming and ahhing for a bit, we
started to take a drive around some of the surrounding towns, but it
didn't take us long to realise that they are all the same and pretty
non descript, so we opted not to waste the petrol and to chance doing
the walks, especially as it had already started to clear a bit.
So we took a long a windy road up the side of the mountain to our
first view point (I really can't remember them all off the top of my
head - bad planning Victoria! - I'll update when I've got it all in
front of me).

It was still pretty cloudy but we could make out the
view. One of the stops we made was known as "The Balconies". A 1km
walk through a wooded area took us out to a rock formation on the side
of the mountain which was exactly like a balcony (see photos) with
stunning views over the surrounding countryside. We then headed to a
waterfall (the name of which is on the tip of my tongue - how bloody
annoying) where we walked to all the possible lookouts we could except
the long and slippery climb down to the bottom (which would just be
asking for trouble). MacKenzie Falls! That's it - thank God for
that, it would have bugged me all day.

We then drove back down the mountainside and stopped off in Halls Gap
to do a bit of shopping (in one of the 3 shops that the "main town" of
the Grampians has!) before settling down for another night with the
kangaroos!

Day 12 - Halls Gap to Bendigo

Off on the gold trail now folks! Bendigo and it's surrounding towns
are some of the most famous in the history of Australias Gold Rush.
It was a long drive, but we arrived in time to catch the last tour of
the goldmine of the day. We were hustled straight through as we were
a few minutes late and before we knew it we were trussed up in hard
hats, batterypacks and headlamps and venturing 20 storeys underground!
Mark had a go on a compressed air drill which frightened the life out
of him because he had no idea what it was going to do! We saw gold in
the quartz reefs of the walls and were told exactly how the miners
would extract the gold and how hard it was to find. It was great fun
and I think I might make a hard hat a fashion accessory as they really
are VERY stylish.

Day 13 - Bendigo to Ballarat

After a morning tram ride in Bendigo and a visit to a wildlife park
where I got to pat a dingo and Mark got bitten by a cockatoo
(*fnarfnar*) we set off for Ballarat. Another long senic drive to the
town with not a lot in between and we were both pretty shattered when
we arrived. We stopped in the visitor information place and picked up
some leaflets on Sovereign Hill, the attraction that got us here in
the first place, promptly found a camp site and then crashed with a
beer or three!

Day 14 - Ballarat to somewhere else in Ballarat

Sovereign Hill day! Here's the lowdown - Sovereign Hill is a theme
park of a couple of acres. It's built exactly as the town of Ballarat
looked back in the days of the gold rush with wooden builings and old
fashioned saloons and shops. The staff are all actors and wear period
costume and get all the visitors involved. There is an option to go
down the gold mine, but been there done that so we didn't bother.
Instead we watched a blacksmith smelting gold until it becomes liquid
and pure, and then setting it into a bar of gold worth approx $54,000
AUD (about GBP 20,000). I tried to persuade Mark that it would be a
lovely souvenir but he was having none of it. Instead I got a
lollipop from the confectioners which was probably more enjoyable and
not so harsh on the wallet. We saw the confectioner making sweets and
got to try some of the toffee while it was still warm and before it
set hard to a boiled sweet. We saw a blacksmith reshoeing a horse,
candles being made the old fashioned way, brass candlesticks being
crafted - the list goes on and on. They had a street theatre and a
saloon where you could order a beer and feel like you were in a
Western. It was great - very touristy but very cleverly done and well
managed. We really enjoyed it!

Day 15 - Ballarat to Melbourne

Time to return Skippy back to base. What a great two weeks! We've
seen loads and really enjoyed being able to do it all at our own pace.
Apart from a few cross words over the odd game of Uno, we've got on
brilliantly (which is quite impressive given that our living space is
approximately 4 square meters). We're just glad that we're doing it
all again in 10 days time!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117614660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117614660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1117614660/tpod.html Mon, 05 Sep 2005 11:26:02 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Alice Springs and Ayres Rock, Australia

The Outback! Crocodile Dundee country!

We flew out from Melbourne to Alice Springs and it didn't take long
for the Victoria cloud to clear and for us to get an amazing view of
the outback at 32,000 feet! It's all red with not a soul, road, house
or town for hundreds of miles.

Alice Springs was a funny place. It's probably one of the most famous places in Australia yet it's smaller than Ware (or Arlesey for you Bedfordshire folk) with a population of about 25,000. Apart from a couple of supermarkets and an array ot tourist shops there isn't really a great deal here.

The climate here is also completely different - hot, dry and dusty in the day, yet bitterly cold at night and first thing in the morning.
We did go to a couple of really interesting places and we did buy
ourselves the ultimate Australian souvenir - a didgeridoo! You can
all have a go when you come to our house!

Our hotel was more of an apartment. It was a luxury to have a private bathroom, a sofa and (get this!) a TV!! We spent most evenings curled up watching Neighbours/Blue Healers and even Jamies School Dinners!

Anyways, we paid a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor service. Remember that really bad Aussie soap of the 80's called the Flying Doctors? Well, it's all real (kinda). We got an insight into how the service works, had a nose into the control room where 2 planes were out - one tranferring a patient from Alice to Adelaide for specialist care, and another on a life or death emergency. The service is run completely on donations and it's incredible when you see just how vital the service is to the people of the Outback and the Northern Territory.

The next day we headed out of town a bit to the Alice Springs Desert Park, basically a nature reserve set up to show people how life exists in such a harsh climate and the different areas and habitats that make up "the desert". Fascinating stuff, especially contemplating how the Aboriginies have managed to exist out here for so many thousands of years.

On our last day in Alice, we decided to hire a car and head out to the West MacDonnell Ranges, the mountain range that runs either side of Alice Springs. First stop was Simpsons Gap, a gorge forged into the rock by a river that hardly ever runs, over thousands and thousands of years. The echo down there was great and the size of the rock face was impressive- we even saw a rock wallaby hopping about in some of the rockfall debris! Next was the Standley Chasm. It was a long walk scrabbling over rocks but when we got there it was great. The walls of the chasm
glowed red in the sunlight and it was strange to emerge at such a
place after trekking through forest to get there.

We stopped at several more places, but the most notable were the
Ormiston Gorge and the Ochre Pits. The Ormiston gorge was a stunning waterhole surrounded by mountains and eucalyptus trees. In the summer it's a popular swimming spot but in the winter the water is bitterly cold so we weren't tempted. The Ochre Pits is an area where the Aboriginies would get their Ochre paints to decorate themselves for ceremonies and to paint. The colours are really vivid and they came off really easily just by running a finger along the surface of the rock.

The following morning we left Alice bright and early to make our long
bus journey to Uluru (Ayers Rock). We made a couple of stops along the way, at one place buying a piece of Aboriginal art from a local artist. We got our first glimpse of Uluru when we were still about 70 miles away (that's how flat it is out here!) and it was really
impressive. The patterns and lines in the rock were really soft and
smooth, not harsh and jagged like a regular mountain.
Ayers Rock Resort (where everyone HAS to stay) is cleverly hidden in amongst the sand dunes, so it can barely be seen from the road. The hotel that we were in (The Lost Camel) was really modern and funky. No TV though - bit of a running joke there amongst the staff of the resort (Where are the tellys? With the camel!) but it was pretty luxurious - especially by backpacker standards!

On our first evening there, we climbed a sand dune just in time to set the sun setting around Uluru. A spectacular sight - one that just has to be seen!

Day 2 and we decided it was about time we stretched our legs again, so we embarked on the 9.4km (6 mile) walk around the base of Uluru. It was hot and dry and the flies were persistant (thank heavens for my dorky yet indespensible flynet!) but what a FANTASTIC experience. It took us 2 and a half hours and it was just as well I had my flynet otherwise I would have swallowed a lot of flies - my mouth was agape pretty much the whole time. Being so close to such a famous sight, and one that I've been looking forward to for so long was incredible.

We had a couple of hours vegging by the pool before it was time to get myself glammed up ready for our "Sounds of Silence" dinner that evening. We were collected by bus at 5pm and driven out to a private viewing point for the sunset where we had champagne and canapes (including crocodile and kangaroo, both of which I tried, along with sushi which is actually quite nice!). After the sun had set, we were led down to the dining area where we were served unlimited wine and a fantastic dinner of Aussie delicacies while the night sky unfolded around us. All of a sudden we looked up at the sky to see the most spectacular, 3 dimensional array of stars that we have ever seen. The waiters then blew out all the candles and we were in pitch darkness in the middle of the desert surrounded by these stars. An astronomer then came out to show us the milky way, all the constellations of the zodiac (which can be seen in the southern hemisphere) and the Southern Cross (the Aussie equivalent of The Plough - everyone knows it!) We then got the
opportunity to look up at the planets through her telescopes where we saw Jupiter and Saturn, and got a closer look at the gadzillions of stars in the Milky Way. It was just the best evening - one that we'll remember forever.

Gluttons for punishment that we are, the next morning we were up at 3.15 (that is not a mistype - 3.15am) to get ready for a coach trip
out to Kings Canyon. I was all set to do the base walk of the Canyon but somehow got persuaded to do the rimwalk, so after 5 hours sleep and 4 hours on the road, I found myself hiking up 500 uneven, rocky steps to the top of the Canyon, and then rock scrabbling my way along the 7.4km track. It was so worth it though. The views from the top were amazing and I feel really proud to be able to say that I climbed a Canyon! I wasn't even the last one back to the bus!

The next morning we had a well deserved long lie in, vegged by the
pool a bit more and then headed out late afternoon to the Olgas (or
Kata Tjuta). Kata Tjuta is the less famous part of the Ulura - Kata
Tjuta national park, but it's just as spectacular. It consists of 36
rock domes protruding from the sand. We took a walk between 2 of the domes in the centre of the Olgas before heading back to catch the sunset. Unfortunately it was really cloudy so the sunset didn't happen!

The next morning we awoke to find it was chucking it down with rain!
Typical - hasn't rained here since last September! Trust it to appear
when we're here! Still, at least we got to see all the amazing
sights. Many people are only here for 1 or 2 days - imagine landing
thinking you're in for 2 days guaranteed blazing sun to find it peeing
down!!

Time to move on again - this time we're off to Cairns in the tropical
north. More sun, possibly a bit more rain, but another chapter! This
book seems to be getting to the end very fast. Let's make sure we
enjoy every paragraph eh?!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124259660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124259660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1124259660/tpod.html Mon, 05 Sep 2005 09:19:23 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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La Paz, Mexico

We decided to see what all the fuss what about. For those of you that don't know, Mark's sister, Jessica is living and working in La Paz as an Illustrator with a marine conservation charity. She fell in love with this place some years ago and has visited regularly on holiday ever since. In April this year she decided to move out there.

With funds tight and only a few days to spare we took a flight down from LAX (our favourite place, not!) It was just how you expect a Mexican town to be, dusty, hot and strangely, full of Mexicans. There was a strange, rugged beauty to the place though. The mountains of rock around the town, the bay, the turquoise water.

As is always the way with close friends and family, whenever you meet up after a long time apart, it takes no time at all to get chatting as though you've never been apart. Everything was very relaxed and with no itinery in mind we were just happy to chill with Jes. By the way, nothing happens very quickly in Mexico. The first day was all a bit of a blur really, mainly down to the Margerittas we were downing that night in town. They sure don't make them like that anywhere else in the world!

The second day was Mark's day to go diving (once he'd remembered how to work his legs from all of last night's Tequilla). Vicky stayed by the pool like the lady of leisure that she has now become. The diving was pretty fantastic and yes, I can now see what all the fuss is about this place. It was so cool diving with a family of Sealions. The females kept diving down to us on the bottom to play, the big bulls kept a watchful eye over goings on to ensure we didn't get too close.

And on our final day we did what every right minded person does when it's over 40 degrees- they go to the beach. We stopped at a place owned by Jes' (now former) boyfriend. We spent the afternoon drinking Pacifico and eating Mexican food. That night we had a slap-up meal and had massive steaks washed down by a bottle of red wine, wow Australia was such a long time ago (think steak and red wine on the barbie almost every night)

After some sad goodbyes we were off again, another plane, and another night in the same hotel at LAX airport. Getting to be a habit this.

As we were about to settle down for the night I decided it would be a good idea to call the airline and reconfirm our flight for the next day. It was only when I was reading out the date of the flight (clearly written on the ticket) that I realised what a huge cock-up we'd made. At that point I realised we should not be sitting in Motel 6 at LAX but instead on a plane somewhere close to New York.

After a lot of frantic calls to the airline where we were given the complete runaround. We had a choice: either stay in LAX for 6 days and only have 1 day in New York before flying home or pay for another flight. There was only one thing for it, out came the credit card I'd saved for just such an emergency (with a week left we just hadn't got $650 left in the kitty). What an expensive, frustrating mistake to make, we couldn't believe how stupid we'd been. We were even at the airport at the time the flight was due to go. Looking back it's understandable- in that week we'd driven 1000 miles from Kentucky to New Orleans, taken 4 other flights and stayed in 6 different hotels. It was bound to happen. For those of you that know me (Mark) from work, ha! see how chilled I've become now!! Who needs to run their life by a diary? OK, I guess in this instance we should have.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1115735400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1115735400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1115735400/tpod.html Sun, 04 Sep 2005 09:18:40 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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Melbourne, Australia

The first chapter in our Australian adventure has closed and with a lump in our throat we said goodbye to Sydney and flew south to Melbourne.

So, Sydney absolutely flew by and we then found ourselves in Melbourne
all of a sudden. We decided to fly to Melbourne because firstly the
flights were dirt cheap and secondly, neither of us fancied an
overnight bus journey! Sometimes I wonder if we're really "embracing"
this whole backpacking concept....

Anyhoo, we could see how much smaller Melbourne is compared to Sydney
as we flew in. The city centre itself is a fraction of the size and
has a fraction of the skyscrapers. We later realised that Melbourne
is a great place for shopping, eating and chilling out because it has
a far smaller, friendlier and slightly European atmosphere but
unfortunately our backpacker budget (which by now is disappearing like
water down a plughole) didn't allow us to sample this quite as much as
I'd have liked to!

However, before we actually got into Melbourne city centre itself, we
stopped off in the south eastern suburbs to pay a visit to some
relatives of mine (Vicky - if you haven't already guessed!). My Great
Auntie Lil moved out to Melbourne 20 years ago to be with her daughter
Pat (my Dad's cousin) who moved out here 40 years ago. Auntie Lil
actually turned 100 on 30th April so it was quite a big event for all
of us. My Dad phoned Pat before we left the UK in April to let her
know that I was coming out and to make arrangements for me to meet up
with them. They haven't had any contact since he was 18 so it must
have been a bit of a shock for her!

She actually told me some amusing stories about how her and her best friend would take my Dad and his other cousin Richard out for walks in their prams when they were babies, and that she would always bags my dad because he was the cute
one with blond curly hair and big blue eyes! This has got to be one
of the funniest things I've ever heard - I can't imagine my dad being
a baby in a pram, let alone a cute one!!
(Dad - hope you enjoying this world wide web humiliation - I'll be
expecting the repurcussions when I get home!!)

Anyway, we all had a lovely time catching up on family gossip. Pat
and Laurie, her husband, took good care of us and we had many laughs
(particularly over the above revelation - I'm still chuckling away as
I type! Oh, and Bruno their dog who's half poodle and half corgi.
His tricks and antics were hilarious - an adorable dog!). I found out
all about my extended family that I've never met and lots of stuff
about the family who are all still in London. And seeing Auntie Lil
again was lovely. She looks nowhere near 100, she's still got all her
faculties and her memory is amazing. She remembered me as a short,
chubby seven year old! At least 2 out of the 3 have changed!

After a sad goodbye 2 days later, we headed back into Melbourne. We
checked into the hostel we'd arranged beforehand and promptly checked
back out again when we realised our room was an oven-like prison cell
with no windows. We found ourselves another place (called Toad Hall!)
which was much nicer and settled ourselves in. One of the great
things about Melbourne is it's tram system. Getting around the city
is so easy and it even has a free city circle tram that costs nothing
(hence why it's free) and takes you in a loop around the city (hence
why it's the "city circle" line). We did this on our first afternoon
to get our bearings.

The rest of the 5 days was a mish mash of mooching about the city,
exploring the little alleyways and coffeeshops, drooling over the
lovely clothes/shoes/accessories that leapt out at me from every shop
window and generally just taking in the atmosphere of the city.

On one evening we took a night tour around the Old Melbourne Gaol,
where the infamous Ned Kelly was imprisoned and eventually hung. It
was a combination of a theatrical performance and a fact based tour,
all conducted by candlelight in Australia's most haunted building - it
was quite creepy. Especially seeing the "death masks" of all the most
infamous inmates. Plaster casts were taken from the heads of the
bodies so that scientists could determine what it was that made them
criminals by the lines and shapes of their skull. Very very eerie.
After that, we went into Chinatown where we treated ourselves to a
chinese and a few beers.

On the Saturday we took ourselves to St Kilda, the beach town of
Melbourne. We had a cooked breakfast in a cafe by the seafront and
then took a walk up the pier before taking the ferry across to the
other side of the bay to a place called Williamstown. We hung around
here for a bit, looking in the shops and watching the goings on in the
harbour. A couple were there having their wedding photos taken so we
had a nose at that for a while. We then took the ferry back to St
Kilda where we had a go on a rollercoaster in the Luna Park, a 1950's
themed fairground (which actually broke down with people on it 2 days
ago - I'm amazed it didn't happen to me) and then had an enormous ice
cream (well, you can't spend the day at the seaside and a fairground
without having an ice cream can you??)

On our last day, we did the tackiest, most touristy thing imaginable
and went on an official tour of Ramsay Street!! Mark was mortally
humiliated when the bus pulled up only to have this very fact
plastered all over the side of it in bright, big letters, and even
more so when every time we stopped at traffic lights or got stuck in a
traffic jam, the residents of Melbourne would stare, point and laugh
at us!!

All this would have been ok if the tour had been any good, but it was
actually a bit of a rip off. We got to drive past Erinsborough High
(no filming, no stars about) and we got to drive past the studios (not
go in them, just drive past them) before actually arriving in Ramsay
Street (which is actually called Pin Oak Court) which is tiny. We
spent about 20 minutes there (didn't get to go in any of the houses)
before heading back into the city on the humiliationmobile. Still, we
got a couple of good photos outside the Ramsays and the Robinsons
house, and Mrs Mangles!!

So, that was Melbourne - we were now all set for our first Campervan
adventure!!

Watch this space.....!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1118207400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1118207400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/rtwexplorer/cape_town/1118207400/tpod.html Sun, 04 Sep 2005 08:29:01 -0400 Life is living, make the most of every single moment of happiness.

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East Coast (Cape Trib to Nambucca Heads), Australia

So, here we are in hot and sunny Queensland.

With a couple of days in Cairns before we picked up Skippy MkII we
took the opportunity to take ourselves out on a boat to the Great
Barrier Reef. Mark was excited as it was his opportunity to get his
diving gear on and venture into the waters of possibly the most famous
diving site in the world. I however, was a little bit nervous as yet
again I'd signed myself up for another attempt at snorkelling. My
hopes were to just be able to get more than my ankles wet this
time....

Anyway, the coach picked us up at yet another ungodly hour (6.30am!)
and it started raining! We sat on our way to Port Douglas hoping that
it would clear before we got onto the boat!

The boat turned out to be pretty impressive. We found ourselves seats
and made the most of the morning tea that was on offer and then we
started out. It got pretty choppy and I was starting to feel quite
queasy when all of a sudden it became much calmer and we realised we
were then sailing over coral. Mark had his diving brief and was
hustled off leaving me growing more and more nervous about putting my
face in the water. Amy, the snorkel guide, was a great calming
influence and when I explained that the thought of putting my face
into the water and breathing, not being able to touch the bottom and
my certainty that I would sink no matter how many flotation devices I
had attached about my person, she made me feel quite relaxed and
assured me that I was in actual fact normal and not a complete retard.
After a couple of failed attempts, I eventually managed to have a
good old swim around and even thoroughly enjoyed myself! (I actually
had Mark with me dragging me through the water by the scruff of my
flotation vest, but hey! I did it!)

Mark loved the diving too and really felt like he'd achieved a long
held ambition. We met some lovely people during the day and we can
actually say to ourselves that we've "done" the Great Barrier Reef!
Pretty cool eh?!

The following day (Saturday 11th June) we picked up our new van and
set off north to Cape Tribulation for the night before heading south
down the coast on our last leg of Australia.

The north of Australia is completely different from the desert central
region and the temperate south. It's totally tropical, surrounded by
lush rainforest and loads of sugar cane plantations! To get to Cape
Trib we had to cross the Daintree river on a ferry but weren't lucky
enough to spot any crocs (yep, we're in croc country now folks). As
soon as we got to the other side it was another complete change of
scenery. The open countryside with rainforest clad mountains and huge
fields with long open roads gave way to a winding mountain track
literally through the middle of a dense rainforest, crossing bridges
made of planks with crocs below. The rainforest ran all the way down
the mountain side right the way to the white sandy beach below. The
trees were so thick they weren't letting through any daylight and the
humidy was amazing. We could almost see the water in the air and the
steam coming up from the road. We settled ourselves in a site right
on the beach and, although it was basic, it was quite amazing to be in
such a stunningly unspoilt part of the world and to have it pretty
much all to ourselves.

(Another tale of bravery - I shared the toilet with what I'm sure was
a white tail spider - one that bites. Needless to say, I didn't hang
around and I watched him the whole time. If he moved, I was runnin'!)

The next day, after a very humid night and a bit more exploring, we
headed back south and into a region known as the Atherton Tablelands.
The region was really pretty and, because it was high up, a lot cooler
than Cape Trib! We explored some of the local towns and found the
Curtain Fig Tree, a strangler fig which was a pretty impressive sight.
It's the only tree in the world that grows downwards. A bird drops
the seed onto the branches of another tree and the root grows
downwards. The tree eventually spreads and strangles the host tree
until it dies and rots away, leaving the hollow strangler fig and all
it's strange roots standing. We stopped for the night in a place
called Mareeba in a campsite next to a waterfall and went for a bit of
(unsuccessful) platypus spotting before calling it a night.

Heading out of the Tablelands, we did a circuit trip of some
waterfalls (there are loads of them in this area) which was lovely as
the carparks were right next to the waterfalls (except for one but
that was only a 5 minute clamber down some steps) so we got to indulge
our lazy bones and see some really pretty waterfalls at the same time.

We drove ourselves to a town called Innisfail and called into a croc
farm just in time for lunch. Theirs, not ours! These beasts were
enormous. Some were upto 6 metres long. The keepers would quite
happily walk into the enclosures with them with nothing but a plastic
rake for protection. Nutters. The guy that owned the place sneaked
up behind Mark while we were watching one of the crocs and scratched
his leg with the rake, sending him jumping 6 ft into the air. He said
"you've got good reflexes - want a job!?" Mark declined!!

After that, we headed for Mission Beach and had a cup of tea on the
sand before heading to Lucinda, a tiny port with a 6km jetty. We were
a bit flabbergasted on arrival at the campsite. We were expecting it
to be really quiet what with it being so out of the way but it was
heaving. Full of retirees and their caravans having driven up from
the cooler south to spend the winter months in a warmer climate. The
first sight we were allocated was right next to an "enthusiastic" lady
bashing out "When the Saints Go Marching In" on her keyboard at full
volume, so we politely (after killing ourselves laughing) asked to be
allocated another site which was, thankfully, quieter. We were still
the talking point of the entire site though, due to being
"campervanners" and considerably under the age of 50 and lots of
people came over for a chat. We were both exhausted after such a long
day, and that coupled with the considerable amount of wine I'd
consumed, I fell asleep outside in the chair (I may as well tell you
because I know for sure that Mr Marky is going to put the photographic
evidence on the website - I will have my revenge!)

The next day we headed further south and took ourselves on an exciting
drive up a mountain to the Wallaman Falls, the tallest single drop
waterfall in the country. The road was steep, the bends were tight
and some sections were bumpy gravel road, but it was really worth it
when we got to the top as the view was spectacular.

Afterwards we continued exploring the area and came across the Paluma
National Park. We found a really pretty mountain drive and came
across a river and waterfall called "Little Creek". We then headed
further up the mountain to the town of Paluma and the Macellan
Lookout. We could see much though as we were right up in the clouds!

The rest of the day was spent driving into Townsville, the 3rd largest
city in Queensland where we just crashed for the night ready for a
trip over to Magnetic Island in the morning.

After so much continuous driving we both felt we needed a day off, so
we ditched the van in Townsville for the day, donned our swimmers and
packed the sunscreen and headed over to Magnetic Island for a day on
the beach. We took the passenger ferry then the bus to Horseshoe bay
and set ourselves down on the sand, treating ourselves to a morning
snack of a cuppa and a pie (we're turning into a pair of pie fiends.
That well known footie chant regarding pies will soon be aimed at us!)
It was lovely just sitting and chilling out in the sunshine without
having to worry about getting anywhere by a certain time. We had a
superb fish and chip lunch and then disappointingly discovered that we
had to head back to the mainland to get back to the van before our
carpark ticket expired as the ferries only ran every 2 hours! So,
with our day cut short we headed to our next campsite which was just
outside Townsville (and right opposite the Koala sanctuary where we'd
be heading in the morning!). That evening while we were sat outside
enjoying a beer and some crisps, Mark spotted something moving in the
tree above us so he fetched the torch and we spotted a possum! It
wasn't long before another, more confident one appeared and came right
up close to us - so close we thought it was going to pounce! We were
also lucky enough to have hundreds of fruit bats soaring and circle in
the sky above us! Quite an eventful evening!

The next morning I was up bright and early, ready for the moment I'd
been looking forward to for weeks! Koala cuddles! The sanctuary was
just over the road from the campsite and we were there as soon as the
gates opened. The first koala session wasn't for a couple of hours so
we made the most of having the park to ourselves for a while and
wandered round feeding the kangaroos and the birds, seeing the wombats
and dingoes and taking some photos of the very odd looking Cassowary
bird. Then it was koala time! They really are the cutest, cuddliest,
sweetest looking creatures. The keeper gave a little talk about
koalas and their habits and the best way of handling them. A few
minutes later and I had Lucy, a 15 month old baby, in my arms. She
had been born in captivity and was used to human contact so was quite
happy having a cuddle. I was over the moon as the huge grin on my
face in the photo shows. All too soon I had to give her back (I did
consider making a dash for it with her, but as we can't get eucalypt
leaves at home, I thought better of it), but I got to spend some time
with another koala who loves humans but was considered too likely to
scratch (accidentally!) to be held. I got to look right in her eyes
and I really felt like we'd bonded! Much as I'd have loved to take a
real one home, I couldn't, so Mark bought me a cuddly one to take home
instead.

After that it was back in the van and further down the coast to Airlie
Beach, gateway to the Whitsundays, ready for the next part of our
adventure.

The next day we left the van behind again and set out on another boat
to take in the beautiful Whitsunday Islands. First stop was
Whitehaven beach, considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches
in the world. It was stunning. The sand was pure white and so soft
it squeaked under foot. It looked more like snow than sand! The
water was crystal clear and a brilliant turquoise blue. The best
thing about it was how unspoilt it was. No shops, no resorts - not
even a toilet! Just an island with a rainforest centre surrounded by
pristine beach.

Mark went on another dive and saw some blue spotted rays and some
amazing coral and I ventured back in with a snorkel (which
unfortunately had a hole in it, so after consuming a large amount of
salt water I called it a day). Yet another lovely day on the
Australian coast.

After spending a couple of nights in a very touristy area and a
touristy park, we decided to get off the beaten track a bit and stay
somewhere that's a bit more the way nature intended. We found a place
called the Capricorn Caves, a national park with limestone caves,
forest and a campsite in the grounds. We went on a tour of the caves
with a very enthusiastic guide and then settled down for the evening
surrounded by the sounds of the forest and not much else! The
following morning, we were approached by a very inquisitive and
friendly kangaroo with a joey in her pouch so I held out a small
handful of muesli which she seemed pretty impressed with! How to make
friends!

Fraser Island was our next stop of importance. It's the largest sand
island in the world and the whole island is world heritage listed.
It's a pretty stunning place. There are no roads so we couldn't take
the van over - instead we went on a 4 wheel drive bus which was really
good fun, yet quite odd looking. We drove through the rainforest
until we got to 75 Mile Beach which is not only a huge beach, but the
main highway on the island. All 4x4's use it as well as fishermen,
families and aeroplanes! Yes, small scenic flight planes use it as a
runway! We saw the Cathedrals (sand sculptures) and the Maheno ship
wreck before taking a walk in the rainforest and sitting by a pristine
freshwater lake and polishing our rings in the really fine sand.

The next day it was a long old drive to Brisbane where we stopped over
for one night to allow us to arrange our flights out of Australia (sad
day!) to Fiji and from Fiji to LA. It has to be said that I am really
looking forward to a few days of R&R just chilling out on the beach!
Flights all sorted for the 5th July to Fiji and 10th July to LA, so we
just relaxed for the evening with a bottle of wine.

The sun was out and the sky was blue the following morning, so we had
a lovely drive along the Gold Coast, through all the high rise
developments of Surfers Paradise and the like. It was really built
up, but somehow not ugly like Benidorm or other big beach resorts.
The buildings were all very art-deco and modern and the beaches were
lovely. Soft white sand and clear blue sea. Really lovely. We
eventually made it down to Byron Bay, hippy capital of the East Coast.
After doing a bit of VW Kombi spotting and mavelling at the number of
places in the town where you could buy crystals, have your chakras
aligned and your aura cleansed we eventually came across a lovely
campsite, just out of town, which was in the middle of a nature
reserve and right on the beach. We had a stroll along the sand and
did a bit of whale spotting before heading back into town to do a bit
of internetting.

The next day, we did the highly recommended Cape Byron walk. It was
hard work but really worth it. After a walk along the beach we headed
up a steep slope along the Cape taking in the views over the sea and
watching the Humpback whales playing in the distance. It was a
gorgeous sunny morning and the sea was really calm so we could see
them clearly even though they were a long way out. We then set about
heading up the climb to the lighthouse. The path along the way was
dotted with modern art from some local artists and students. Some of
it blended in really well, some of it stood out like a sore thumb but
it was all really interesting to look at! We were lucky enough to be
stood just in the right place when a large pod of dolphins came up
close to the cliffs to play in the surf. We were high up so they
looked small from a distance, but it was lovely to see them.

After the walk, we headed into town and bought ourselves some lunch
and then went and sat by the beach for a couple of hours. Mark wrote
his diary and we both just chilled out and rested our weary legs until
it was time to head further on down the coast.

We decided to head to a tiny place called Brooms Head. It was already
getting dark by the time we got there but it was a pretty place and
again the campsite was right on the beach. The wind was picking up
and the waves were getting quite rough, so we sat in the van and ate
our dinner with the sound of the waves in the background. Lovely!

The following day we reached our most southern point on the east coast
- Nambucca Heads. We took a walk along the jetty reading the messages
that locals and visitors had painted on the rock wall. It would have
been nice to leave one of our own but with no paint to hand it would
have been tricky. We made friends with two labradors in the park -
Amy and Topsie. Both youngsters and both adorable. It really made us
miss our dogs at home!

Since then we've been heading back up towards Brisbane, stopping in
small, unspoilt places along the way and taking ourselves off the main
highway every now and again just because we can. Tomorrow (Tuesday)
we'll be dropping the van off and preparing ourselves for our last
week in Australia.

The campervan has been great fun and a real adventure that we've both
loved. Maybe if we come back to Australia to see all the bits we've
missed we'll do it again?!
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