So much to talk about over the past 2 months that I could not attach photos to this post. There are photo albums, as normal at the end of this post that pretty much correspond to each section of this post. Enjoy the final part of my Australian travels! I very much did!
Northern Territory - Darwin to Alice Springs
As we moved on from our Western experience, we came with a few folk from the west. As time passed by in Darwin, each moved on to what was best for each. We had farewell nights out with many of our western friends.
This three day trip sent us down the Stuart Highway, runs between Darwin and Adelaide. It's basically a long straight road with nothing very interesting in between!! We stopped for one night in Katherine where our campsite featured at the centre of an almighty thunderstorm. When you see lightning, usually you count the seconds before you hear the thunder... this storm, they came at the same time, and the sound was LOUD! Pretty scary, but very awesome!
We also stopped at Daly Waters Pub, oldest pub in the Northern Territory. It has lots of memorabilia as you will see in the photos. It was a good place to stop for lunch. Another stop was at the devils marbles. Strange rock formations where marbles balance on each other. INSANE! There are some great photos of our trip here.
We spent this part of the trip with 2 girls, Laura and Bob, from Portsmouth of all places. They are only travelling around the globe for a short period, but were our best company on this part of the tour!
Northern Territory - Uluru
Uluru, just amazing. On our first day of this 3 day your, we visited Kata Tjuta. This is where we experienced temperatures of 70 degrees centigrade during our walk. Our thermometer at 6pm read a temperature of 51.1degrees centigrade. That was impressive but hard work.
That evening we enjoyed champagne, chips and dips while the sun set over Uluru, before heading back to our campsite, cooking in the dark, running into Laura and Bob, sleeping and getting up before sunrise to head back to Uluru and watch the sun rise over it. That was again an impressive site and then walked around the base.
The next day we visited Kings Canyon before heading back to Alice Springs, it's a proper canyon unlike the Grand Canyon which is in fact a gorge. However, it seems slightly less impressive than the Grand Canyon but almost identical on a smaller scale.
East Coast - Cairns
Our first night in Cairns made for a reunion with Martin, Adrian, Laura and Bob, our friends from the west and the northern end. This would be the people that we either leap frogged or travelled with down the coast. This turned out to be a great night dancing on tables, as you do in the Watershed!
While we were in Cairns, we took a trip up to Cape Tribulation, the oldest rainforest and a day trip out on the Great Barrier Reef where Flora had a go and found a passion for scuba diving. I was happy with just snorkeling on the surface, there's plenty to see from where you can still breathe real air.
We also met up with Penny, Dan's fiancée, who may have featured in previous posts. Dan is at home for Christmas, but we enjoyed a few cocktails in non-backpacker bars thanks to Penny.
Unfortunately, Cairns was not the best place for me. Within the space of 3 days, I managed to loose not only my phone, but my camera as well! So if anybody reading this has not heard from me in a while, it’s because I no longer have your number. It's probably best you send me an email, or find what number I'm currently using (I am writing this from New Zealand and my Australian number has been disconnected!).
East Coast - Airlie Beach and Whitsundays
Airlie Beach, some of you may remember this town from previous posts. I was here in January during a cyclone. My Whitsundays trip was cancelled and I then fast tracked straight to Sydney. This time the weather was beautiful and we managed to sail the Whitsunday Islands on the Avatar, a trimaran. Our adventure was awesome and we were joined by Martin and Adrian, our Irish accomplices!
Our boat had two massive trampolines, unfortunately not allowed to jump on them! They providing a lot of room for all 26 passengers to spread out and sun bathe! We visited Whitehaven beach, one of the top ten beaches of the world! Its sand was so silky and so pure. Just look at the photos and see how amazing this trip was! The only strange part was that as we had travelled the west coast first and spent all our time with the same group of people, no one cared how anyone looked. Most backpackers who come to Australia for a short time only do the east coast. They glam themselves up every night and this was evident in Airlie beach. Thankfully, thanks to the training of the west, and the fact we just couldn’t be bothered, we made no effort and just took each day as it came… no matter how we looked, and still enjoyed it immensely!
East Coast - Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island
Rainbow beach, known for its beach featuring many different colours of sand. Not the colours of the rainbow, but many different shades! This was the gateway to Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island.
We hired a 4by4 through our hostel along with 64 other people. Our team, team F, Team Frankie was determined to be the best team departing that day. We had the best members, the best vehicle and definitely the best spirit! While on the island we visited Lake McKenzie where upon entering and exiting the lake, you would feel 10 years younger from the fresh water swamped in aloe vera. It’s true, our skin was perfect and you felt you had the body of a ten year old! We also visited Eli creek, Indian’s Head, a lookout, and Lake Wabby where catfish ate the dead skin off your body!
The trip was a huge success, our team was the first in and out of Lake McKenzie, first to our campsite day 1 and day 2, first back on the mainland and it rained the first night we were back at Rainbow Beach. A day earlier and we would have been soaked camping out on the island!
East Coast - Brisbane
Brisbane was the last city we would see in Australia, one that never seemed to stand out to me. We cycled round the city on our first visit and walked around parts of it. I was filled with confirmation that I had spent the working part of my time in Australia in two of its best cities, Sydney and Melbourne. There was a lot to see, and we had fun. Said goodbye to Martin and Adrian and even bumped into some people who we travelled Fraser Island with, but there was nothing special about Brisbane.
On our return to Brisbane after New Year and before we departed for Auckland, we were joined by Kim and Chris at a quiz in our hostel. We ended up with winning the quiz, a $50 bar tab and a free trip to Fraser Island which we had to pass on to Kim and Chris. We had already completed that adventure and were leaving for New Zealand the next day, what were we supposed to do?
Gold Coast - Christmas and New Year
Another Christmas at the Stumers was even better than 2008. We were joined this year by Ruth and Flora and spent the season in a house Martha was house sitting, complete with pool!
At New Year we were joined by Kim and Chris, the newly weds, for a great evening of celebration and fun times in the pool!
Over our time in the Gold Coast, we visited Boonah, where I spent Boxing Day 2008. A short trip in the New Year to Byron Bay was a success, providing swimming with dolphins, excellent surf conditions (using nothing but our bodies, that's right, no boards!) and last minute accommodation where we all crampt into a hotel room similar to the way we find accommodation in New York every summer!
The end of Australia
The past 13 months have been full of adventure and I have seen so much. My friendships with those already living in Australia whom I have met at Camp have been strengthened and I know that this isn't a final goodbye, even though they won't be as contactable.
THANKS FOR A GREAT YEAR IN AUSTRALIA.... HERE'S TO THE FUTURE!!
Future Plans
As of 11/1/10, my plans are as follows:
I am currently in Auckland working in a restaurant. I intend on staying here until at least March, April time, when I will start travelling around New Zealand. Travel around the whole of New Zealand will be completed by June in time for me to get back to the USA and another season at Camp Tecumseh. In September I will make my way back to England and complete my travels around the globe and begin my long long search of starting my career!
Photos
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE - NT - The Top End
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE - Top Of The East
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE - Whitsunday Islands
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE - Fraser Island
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE - Brisbane
Christmas & New Year in the Gold Coast
No comments:
Post a Comment