Australia (5) - Airlie Beach - Sailing, Scuba Diving and RAIN!

After Rainbow Beach we took another night bus (16 hours) to Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Airlie in the sun was beautiful with a outdoor lagoon/pool. When we arrived we had to check in to our boat company to say we are here and ready to go. Problem: there was not enough people for our boat. Solution: we will upgrade you to a 5* boat with an extra night and a private room. RESULT. We chilled around Airlie for a day and then boarded our boat, Whitsunday Magic.

The boat was big; we had our own en-suite cabin, there was a bar and a sun deck. The first night we set sail for the outer reef, the sea was calm but there was a storm threatening potentially stopping us from going to the reef. Fortunately this was not an issue and our skipper took us out to the reef where we snorkeled and scuba dived. Scuba diving is amazing... makes you feel like you are flying. We brought a water proof camera bag; see pictures below from our snorkeling;

The sail back to the Whitsunday Islands was horrendous; 2m waves and 30knot winds threw us around the place. The majority of the boat went to bed with motion sickness whilst I stayed up and wrote my journal. The weather then changed again and became very wet and windy!

The next day we went to Whitehaven beach, as the pics show the weather was not optimal. We walked around the beach and took in the sights. The boat back to our ship required some muscle work which was fun. Whilst anchored we saw an endangered Dugong, look it up! We then sailed to another bay, another rocky trip. The weather was not good for our trip but we made the most of it and made some new friends. In decent weather the trip would have been perfect, instead it will have to remain as amazing! We are currently stuck in Airlie Beach, there has been 4 days of constant rain closing roads and airports. Luckily we have friends here so have been trying not to get cabin fever; I have never seen or felt rain like this!!! Hopefully we can escape from this place soon; Uluru is next big thing, we may be skipping Cairns.

Australia (4) - Rainbow Beach - Noosa, Fraser Island, Dingos, March Flies and Sand

Well after Brisbane we headed to the small town of Noosa. When we first arrived we rented out a boat and went up and down Noosa river, doing a bit of swimming and fishing. Sam got us stuck on a sand bar in the middle of river so she had to get out and push, I took over the captaincy for a while after that incident. I did a bit of fishing and caught 4, not bad! That night we went out for St. Patricks and enjoyed a good amount of Guiness! The next day we lounged on the beach and did some swimming, finally the waves were calm enough. Later in the day we went for a walk through a National Park, where we saw a wild Koala!

Once we had left Noosa, we headed to Rainbow Beach, the gateway to Fraser Island. We joined a 4 by 4 self drive tour for 3 days and 2 nights and headed to the Island. Sam drove a lot of the journey and loved it! She misses driving. Our first stop on the island was Lake McKenzie, a beautiful clear lake for a cool refreshing swim. We then set up camp, there was 34 of us divided in to 4 groups. Our group is shown at the top. Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island, so needless to say we were constantly covered in sand. I am pretty sure I will be pooing out a sand castle any time soon.  After a night of drinking, we got up and went on a drive up to champagne pools, and then a hike up to Indian head for views of the island and sea. The sea is dangerous here, huge currents, rip tides, jellyfish and oh yeah... its a breeding ground for Tiger Sharks!!! So we kept away from it! That night we were met by wild dingos interested in our food, we had to scare them off! This is when the mosquitos and march flies decided they would write the Oxford Dictionary in braille on my leg using their bites! The last day we headed Lake Wabby for another swim and refresh our body which had not showered for over 72hrs! The trip was brilliant and gave you a great sense of wild Australia! The weather generally was good, except for a heavy shower whilst we were setting up tents, typical! I think I have got rid of all the sand now...I think...

Next stop Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and the home of the Southern Cross Sailing Ship! Expect another update in 5 days time...PEACE!!!!

Australia (3) - Brisbane - Manly, Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise and Brisbane

Sorry for the delay in getting another story out but we have not stopped for a while. We left Phil Kings at 10pm on the 7th to get the Greyhound overnight bus to Coffs Harbour. During the day we visited Manly beach, a beach within the Sydney area accessible by ferry. A very nice day but it was windy, the views on the ferry were pretty cool as shown above.

So on the 8th we arrived in Coffs Harbour at 0625 and got a taxi to the hostel. Unforetunately, the hostel did not open til 9, in the mean time we did some swimming and body boarding. The hostel were cool and had our room ready by 0930. The rest of the day was spent laying in the sun in tempartures around 28C, tough times. That night a group of us walked up to the bay and to a peak over looking the area and enjoyed the sunset, followed by a BBQ and a lot of goon (cheap boxed wine). Bad hangover...

The next day we headed to the relaxed area of Byron Bay and the seriously chilled hostel, Belonghil Beachouse. The first night we walked up to the lighthouse overlooking the bay for amazing views of the area and had a chilled evening. The next day we did some body boarding (I have added a photo for the ladies above) and sun bathing. The cloud cover was a relief seeing that tempartures were around 28C. The second night we had some chilled drinks, just Sam and I.

On the 12th we arrived at Surfers Paradise, a kind of Las Vegas/tacky resort by the sea. Neon lights and boozing Aussies. A guy we had met in NZ sorted out some Rugby League tickets for us for the game, Gold Coast Titans vs Illawara Dragons. It was a good game to watch, though my knowledge of RL rules is quite limited. I think I will keep to the union code. Sam enjoyed it as it was something Australian. We met up with some other friends from NZ and had a good night out. The next day was spent on the beach, though this was spoilt by torrential rain!!! Its not all smooth sailing down under.

On the 14th we arrived in Brisbane or Brisvegas to the locals. That night we did a pub quiz and came 3rd, not bad. Yesterday we went to Australia Zoo, the same zoo that was run by Steve Irwin. It was brilliant to see where all his hardwork had come together. The interaction the keepers have with the animals is amazing, as can be seen with the tigers above. It was quite sad at the same time to see how effective had been around the world. Last night we did bingo with a difference, Bogan Bingo. So much fun... http://www.boganbingo.com/

Sam sends a big hug to you all...
Today we are going to look around Brisbane and then tommorrow we are heading to Noosa. Fraser Island and Whitsunday tours are booked so keep your eyes open for them.

Australia (2) - Hurstville - Kat, Phil and the Australia Plan

Hello Guys and Gals,
Its Sam here I thought I would write a blog for a change (under the watchful eye of Paul who is very protective of his work). Well what a great few days we have just had. We have spent the last 5 nights with friends. It was wonderful seeing Kat and her boyfriend Johny who are both living together now with housemates. They are both so settled and happy and their house and housemates are so lovely! Sunday was one of my favourite days where one of Kats housemates had a house party. We were drinking from midday till the early hours of the morning and had so much fun. Paul passed out at 10pm from having an absinth (lightweight lol). Last night (Monday night) we had a nice night with Pauls friend and work colleague Phil. We had a bbq and enjoyed playing with their 9 month old Harry who is just adorable.
Today is Tuesday and after a vote on facebook of people options we are going to Manly beach instead of Bondi beach. Tonight we get the greyhound and arrive in Coffs Harbour at around 6am.
We have now decided what we are going to do, places to stay and number of nights wise so please see dates below. I know the Mum's enjoy looking places up.

Australia Plan (Date indicates where we are staying on that date)
8th Mar - Greyhound
9th March - Coffs Harbour
10-11th March - Byron Bay
12-13th March - Surfers Paradise
14-16th March - Brisbane
17-18th March - Noosa
19-22nd March - Hervey Bay / Frasier Island
23rd March - Greyhound - also 4 year anniversary, yai night on a coach :) 
24-27th March - Airlie Beach / The Whitsundays
28-30th March - Mission Beach
31-3rd April - Cairns
4-7th April - Alice Springs / Uluru
8-11th April - Adelaide
12th - 13th April - Melbourne

And that’s Australia! Love to you all  Sam  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Australia (1) - Sydney & Wollongong - Opera House, Bats and Old Friends

We have finally arrived in Australia and spent a few days in Sydney. Our flight to Sydney from Queenstown was diverted via Christchurch for refuelling so we got in 2 hours late. We booked a hostel called Maze in Sydney, worse hostel ever! I would expect the poor quality in Asia, not Oz. The next day we walked through Sydney and saw the Harbour Bridge, Opera House, Darling Harbour, Town Hall and Botanical Gardens. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful; we walked through here in the evening and surprised to see so many flying foxes. There must have been thousands of them flying around, well weird.

The next day we went to Wollongong to see Kat. The area is beautiful as the photos show. We went in the sea, the waves threw us a round. I got dunked on my head twice, probably did me some good. We move on on Monday.