If I remember correctly last I left off was the last few days of Vietnam. We went up into Sapa mountains for three days and it was fantastic. The land is tierred to help with irrigation and rice growing - the result is the most unusual and beautiful landscape ever. We did quite a lot of walking with a local guide and along the way we were joined by women from the local hill tribes. They still wear the traditional clothes made out of hemp. Their clothes were dark navy, surprisingly heavy for the weather and with beautiful embroidery on them. Earrings are a sign of beauty and the more you were the more loyal a wife you are so the majority wore several pairs of very heavy, silver hoop earrings through the same piercing. The women walked with us for about four or five hours before they took the jewellry, bags etc. out to try and sell us so they definitely had their business plan mastered! After that it was a quick turnabout to get a night train back to the city and onto the islands. We went out on a junk ship for two days, one night. Unfortunately the sky was quite cloudy so it wasn't as beautiful as other pictures I've seen but nevertheless still fantastic - thousands of islands in the sea with floating villages in between. That night our Vietnamese guide gave us a show of traditional music before getting up to teach us a few dances and songs! We also went out kayaking round the islands for an hour which was a lovely and peaceful way of getting closer to the islands but hard work.. When we landed that was our time in Vietnam over :( We flew back to Bangkok and two days later onto Australia. I had a fantastic time in Asia though the last few days I was getting tired and things were starting to grate on me - having to barter all the time, people trying to sell you stuff etc. so after previously being a bit concerned about how the transition from East to West was going to go I found myself looking forward to arriving in Australia.
Arrived in Sydney and was met by my uncle's parents. It was great going to a house with people you knew, home cooking and a setee! My second day we were having a barbeque and I was really cold compared to other people. We had also opened up a nice bottle of wine but the only thing I wanted was water.. turned out that was the start of a fever starting and two days later I would find myself in hospital!! The doctors thought that I had typhoid but at the end it was diagnosed as a strong strain of salmonella. Due to bad use of antibiotics in Vietnam the salmonella was very resilient. A few days in the hospital on a drip got me rehydrated and back in shape. When I got out I was fine but very tired. I cancelled my trip to Cairns and just had to give myself time to pick up properly. My uncle's parents were fantastic and I still got to do plenty with them so my time when I should have been in Cairns wasn't wasn't wasted. I went to Huskisen and Duruss to stay in cabins by the sea - went on a whale watching cruise and also saw loads of kangaroos, wallabees, possums and parrots in the area. Around the area I got to see loads of locals towns, beaches, bushwalks etc so I had a brilliant time.
Sydney - had the good fortune to stay with family of family so free accomodation! On the first day we got the ferry over to Manly which was is a lovely district. There were a group of full blooded aboriginals on the boat so that was interesting to see as I may not get to see more full-blooded indigineous people on the East coast. I was surprised how distinctive they looked. I have become very interested in their culture and have done quite a bit of reading on them since. After that I was dropped off where I was going to be stayin and that was the start of my adventures on my own.. eeeeekkk!!!
The rest of the week I was out sight-seeing everyday. Did the cliff walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach (which is an overrated beach!), went to loads of museums, street festivals - saw an Aboriginal smoking cermony, Darling Harbour Fiesta and street dancers outside the opera house, botannical gardens (beautiful), Taronga zoo, aquarium, the Rocks, surfing etc. It is a lovely city and I really enjoyed myself. The weather wasn't the best so I decided to leave the Harbour Bridge climb to the end of my trip because I think at that height the view would be spectacular and didn't want them ruined by clouds! Highlights were the Rocks, the zoo, Police and Justice Museum, Maritime Museum and the ferry trips which look back on the bridge and opera house.
After that I flew to Hamilton island to go to Airlie Beach. There's not an awful lot to Airlie Beach itself but the boat trips are fantastic. I went on a boat called the British Defender which was a maxi yauht so actually did some real sailing! We were all surprised at the size of the boat to fit 30 people but it was fine once we all got used to it. We sailed the first day to where we were going to stay so all were involved in lifting the masts etc. The next morning was an early start and we got dropped at Whitsunday Island National Park. It's on an island and home to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my whole life - it's apparently in the Top 10 beaches in the world and I'm not surprised. We chilled out there for a while and then we were back on the boat for a bit more sailing. The next stop was for snorkelling which was really good fun but I have to say I was disappointed in the coral! A lot of it was dead and it didn't live up to what I saw in Vietnam. I'll hopefully get a chance to see more at some point but a lot of good snorkelling and scuba is done further north round Cairns so I may have missed that (all these thigns I have missed just give me an excuse to come back again someday!). The craic on the boat was mighty and I met such nice people. Travelling alone isn't as scary as it initially seemed! It's so easy to meet people and generally most people are very nice so so far so good. When we all got off the boat on the Saturday the crew booked a table for us a local bar so we all met up and had a good night out together before all saying our farewells.
The next day I had decided to try out couch surfing. I stayed with somebody who initially might seem like an unusual choice - a 58 year old man. However, he was an aboriginal elder and I just couldn't miss the opportunity to meet him. We went on a bushwalk together and he was such an interesting person to talk to. He had worked on a native title claim, had gone and lived in the bush for 9 months a few years ago and had his four bottom teeth missing - knocked out as part of the ritual to show that he had been initiated. After that we went to the next town to see some local wildlife and then back to Airlie Beach. It was lovely seeing that side of the area as well. Ten minutes drive and you're away from all the tourists and commercialisation so it was lovely!
Picked up the Oz Experience bus and we were then on our way to Kroombit cattle station, which is a compulsory stop with the company because it is such a long journey to Rainbow beach which is most people's next destination. The cattle station was in the middle of nowhere and, as random a place as it was to stay, was fantastic. We were taught how to lasoo, crack a whip, we were electrocuted with the cattle prod (all in the name of team building!), had a limbo competition, talent competition (I won :)), drinking games and then the next morning it was out on the horses to muster up the goats before heading on on our journey! I had originally booked to go straight to Rainbow beach but I was so tired I decided to get off at the Town of 1770 to relax for a day or two. According to the Lonely Planet, it's a small beach town with not much to do. They are correct in that it is one street town with a beach but there is plenty to offer tourists. It has such a chilled out vibe to it and the hostel has sofas and a TV so it's perfect to relax for a while. The first day I did nothing but read and watch TV. The next day I signed up for Scooteroo - you can go motorbiking and you don't need a licence! It was amazing. We rode for over 60km all around the area before stopping off at the beach to watch the sun set. If we had the climate at home I would definitely look into buying a motorbike. The ones we had weren't proper in that there were no gears (although you could travel up to 100km/hr or so on them - the fastest I got was about 65km/hr) but the feeling of the wind on your face is amazing and it was such a good experience. The next day I signed up to go on an acrobatic place. An English girl and I went up with the pilot on a four seater plance and the pilot pulled some maneovures - upside down, round and round.. it was like a rollercoaster. It was like nothing else I've ever experienced before although after I was feeling a bit ill. We stopped off at a beach on an island for about 45minutes which was good to settle the stomach and then we were off again. This time I was in the front :) I may have had the chance to fly but ssssh because it may be illegal to allow passengers to fly a plane... Today I signed up to surfing lessons - 3 hours for $17 so I couldn't say no. I still can't surf to save my life but I still enjoyed it!
Anyway that's me finally up to date. Still missing you all xxx
