Gary & Cheryl's adventures Down Under

The Final Hurrah

gcadventuresdownunder — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 19:51:00 GMT

Helllooo,

Hope all’s well.

So we left off waiting to see if it would be a clear night in Lake Tekapo so that we could do the stargazing. Luck was on our side and it was a perfect night (although flipping freezing) and we had an amazing time. We were able to look at the moon, where you could actually see craters, Jupiter, which was a favourite for both of us as you could actually see the layers & 4 of its moons, the Milky Way in super clear detail & the nearest other galaxy to us, and clusters of stars, which were in various stages of their lifecycle. I learnt that Jupiter was actually due to be a star but didn’t have enough energy to complete this and that it goes around space cleaning up debris (so I decided that Jupiter is a female planet!) We finished up here just about 12.30am & decided to try & drive as far as possible towards our next destination, which was Christchurch. However, this didn’t go too well as we were both shattered, I couldn’t even keep my eyes open so Gary battled on for a while but we had to pull over in Geraldine just after 2am. We were then woken up at 6am by someone telling us that we couldn’t park there!

After breakfast & some much needed caffeine in Christchurch we set about exploring. Even though we’d been told that the city was still pretty devastated after the earthquake, we were still shocked at the extent of the damage. I think they only opened up the ‘red zone’ at the end of last year & there are so many buildings empty. Some are really sad as you can tell that things were just left at the moment that the earthquake hit & that no-one has been back since. There was a hotel where you could see wardrobes lying haphazard. We took a walk through their botanical gardens, which were really nice. We also went to a museum called Quake City, which was really interesting & had lots of details about the last 2 big earthquakes that hit Christchurch.

There wasn’t too much more we wanted to do here so we headed towards Franz Josef, where we were due to go on the heli-hike the next day, if the cloud played ball. This time luck was on our side & on our 4th attempt we managed to do it, yay. We’re so glad we went back for it as it was amazing. I’d never been on a helicopter before & found it pretty weird, I definitely felt less safe than in a plane. The journey onto the glacier was stunning though & the hike was really good fun. We got to go in some ice caves & also witness a couple of ice falls down the mountain, which were pretty scary. It’s horrible to think that it won’t be there in 50 years. Before leaving the next day we payed a visit to Lake Matheson, (thanks for the tip Mich) which was gorgeous. It reflects the mountains & has probably given us some of our fave pics. We also took a look at Fox Glacier from a distance which is less steep than Franz Josef but we thought looked a little prettier as the ice is nicer, maybe because less people trample over it. The area that we were viewing it from had a memorial for the 9 people that died in a plane crash on Fox Glacier back in 1995, which was really sad. I found out that they were tourists setting off for a skydive but the plane crashed just after take-off killing everyone on board. This was pretty close to home & made us really thankful for our safe travels so far. On this depressing note we also pulled the van over at one stage to switch over driving and there was a memorial to a 21 year old girl who was murdered hitchhiking & her body was found dumped there.

Back to happier tales! Next stop was Kaikoura to do some whale watching. This is a renowned place to do it in NZ as they have whales year round due to the marine life in the water and because the continental shelf drops off to 1000m closer to the shore than other areas and this is the depth whales like to dive to. In typical fashion this was called off on the first day due to rough seas! We stayed another night though & managed to go the next day. We got to see 2 sperm whales, which grow to about 15-20 metres & weigh between 40-60 tonnes. They only really have male ones here as the water is too cold for females (sensible females!). We learnt that they have x-ray vision and that they use their sonar to kill their food as it’s so loud that it literally breaks every bone in their prey & leaves it paralysed - pretty clever. We were lucky to get these sightings as they spend about an hour under the sea & only about 10 minutes up (the record is a dive to over 3000 metres & 2 hours under). We also got to watch loads of dusky dolphins jumping around, they’re proper little performers. It was a great trip, with the only downsides being that half the boat were sick (including me - at one stage Gary had people either side, in front and behind being sick!) & that Gary fell into his chair when a wave hit & we thought he’d broken something. In an ideal world we’d have done this trip when the humpback whales were migrating so that we might have caught sight of these too, but it’s the wrong time of year.

From here it was on to Blenheim, where we decided that the best way to recover from seasickness & a potential broken bone was to go wine tasting (again!)! The famous Marlborough region is in Blenheim so we checked out 4 wineries & enjoyed some lunch in the garden of one. The next day we hired a tandem bike and cycled to a few more wineries. We’d never ridden a tandem before & it was hilarious. We learnt pretty quickly that Gary was better in the front seat! We were catching the ferry that evening so unfortunately we couldn’t spend all day doing this. We spent a couple of hours in Picton, where the ferry leaves from. It’s really pretty & as the weather was good we chilled out on the foreshore for a while (unfortunately Mich, Picton Bakery was closed so I’ll never know how good their pies are!)

On departing the ferry we were heading back to Tongario National Park to see if we could do the 6-8 hour volcano trek this time around. This is a long drive & we didn’t get off the ferry until 11ish so we had a night sleeping in the camper in a random field. Unfortunately the weather still wasn’t ideal so we had to call this off as there was no point trekking up there with rubbish visibility and it wasn’t due to improve for a few days, which we didn’t have time for. Instead we headed back to Lake Taupo, which we’d liked. We also had to make a return visit here as Gary had left the new Quiksilver shorts he’d bought in Oz, one of many things he’s left at campsites around NZ - his bag is practically empty for the return journey! Whilst here we decided to go horse riding, which has probably given me the biggest laugh of the trip. Gary has never been on a horse & rates the experience as more scary than sky-diving & bungy jumping combined. Every time his horse moved his head he wondered what it was doing & on the two occasions we progressed past walking, he was bouncing around & clinging on for dear life. He says he’s not sure he can have kids anymore but he's still glad that he’s done it! Whilst in Taupo we also got to enjoy the campsites' jumping pillow, which is like a bouncy castle but with no walls. It’s meant for kids but seeing as there were none around we thought we’d take advantage. So much fun but worryingly exhausting.

Next stop was Waitomo, where we did a trip into the glowworm caves, which were fascinating. They’re limestone caves which were first discovered in 1887. It takes 100 years for the stalactite to grow 1cm, which shows how many millions of years they’ve been forming as there were massive ones in there. At the end you got to take a boat ride in the dark with all the glowworms lit overhead. You have to be quiet as noise can affect them so it’s really peaceful. They live a pretty depressing life though as they have no mouth so after only a few days alive they starve to death!

With only a few days left in NZ & much of the key stuff ticked off that we wanted to do, we decided to have a chilled few days & as the weather was on our side we headed to Hahei on the Coromandel Peninsular & enjoyed their gorgeous beach. We then headed back to Auckland as we didn’t really have time to explore it on arrival. We went up Mt Eden where we enjoyed great views of the City, ate fish & chips on Mission Bay beach, browsed the shops and had lunch at the Wharf today whilst soaking up the last bit of sun.

And that’s it. This post is being written in the Auckland Airport Lodge where we’re spending our last night before flying home in the morning. We took Dappy back today, which was emotional as he’s been a great home for the past 5 weeks. We can’t believe that the 3 months are up but equally the stuff that we did at the beginning of the trip feels like a lifetime ago. So we’ll see you all really soon, we’ll try to bring the sun back with us!

G & C x

Taking to the skies (and sometimes not)

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 6 Feb 2014 15:53:00 GMT

Hello,

Hope all’s good.

So we left off in rain drenched NZ waiting to do Arthur’s Pass. In typical NZ fashion the next day was b-e-a-utiful so we set off to do some walks. First up was the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls, which is an amazing waterfall after 30 mins or so walking through forest. We then did a walk, which takes you to Arthur’s Pass itself, this was cool but didn’t compare to the first in terms of scenery. We then decided to climb up Temple Basin, which is a ski field in winter. I realised it would be a bit of a hike but I thought I could handle it as I like a bit of a stomp every now & again. Dear lord it was the most difficult walk I have ever done. It was so steep & relentless, with loose rocks so you had to be really careful with your footing. A 90 year old with a hip replacement could probably have beat me to the top! You were rewarded with amazing views of snow caped mountains & super clean air though. We thought the descent would be easy but because of the loose rocks it was almost as challenging as climbing. We both almost skidded on to our arses a couple of times. It was quite amusing watching all the people laden with full on hiking gear as we trotted along in our jeans & trainers!

From here it was on to Franz Josef to do the glacier heli-hike that we’d heard so many good things about. We booked in for the afternoon one the following day. Franz Josef is really small but very cute, with an Alpine feel. We had a lush meal that night & then the next day we did a short walk up to a viewing point of the glacier. They have some info boards there, which show you how much the glacier has receded over the years - pretty scary. It was then time for the heli-hike so we got all kitted up in the warm waterproof gear & hiking boots & were all ready to board the helicopter when they had to call it off due to cloud. Obviously safety is important but still really annoying. The 9am one the next day was fully booked so we put ourselves on the midday one & had to go & check in for another night at a campsite. For some reason they put us all by ourselves in a spot miles from anyone else, we think they were camper van elitists! They had a free private jacuzzi you could use there so to kill some time we thought we’d give it a go. Gary didn’t realise there was a step on the inside so he completely stacked it & fell face first into the water. Once I’d made sure he was ok I cracked up & I still kill myself laughing whenever I think of it! It didn't get much better as the jacuzzi smelt of wet dog & the water wasn’t that warm so we got out after a few minutes.

The next day also decided to be cloudy in the exact places that the helicopter needs visibility so they couldn’t run the midday one but were hopeful the 3pm one would go ahead due to how the weather was changing so we hung around for this & it was looking really promising….until the cloud moved just as were were about to get kitted up! Given that our Grand Canyon helicopter trip was cancelled from Vegas due to the helicopter crashing, killing everyone on board, we are kind of wondering whether we should take this as a sign that this isn’t the mode of transport for us! We are heading back to Franz Josef in the next couple of days for another attempt, which we’re really hoping is successful as it’s a 6 hour drive out of our way. Hey ho, c’est la vie.

Next up was Wanaka, which currently sits in position number 2 of our favourite places in NZ. It’s such a nice area, with a lovely atmosphere. The lake is lovely to sit by & it has a couple of roads filled with nice bars & restaurants. It probably helped that the weather was really nice here too. On our first morning we phoned up to book a skydive for the following day, which looked lovely on the forecast. They said they could fit us in at 11am that day, it was 10.30 at that stage, so Gary agreed! I instantly felt sick as my whole psyching period was gone but we decided it was probably just good to go & get it done before we could talk ourselves out of it & the weather at that moment was amazing with clear blue skies, warm sun & no wind. I thought I would be bricking it the whole time but once we got there I was surprisingly chilled as I filled out the paperwork & got kitted up (perhaps I was expecting it to be cancelled at the last minute like Franz Josef!) I felt ok in the plane too, although the fact that I was going to be jumping out did start to become a bit more real. You’re ridiculously squashed in the plane, which I think they do to encourage you to want to get the hell out of it. I was right opposite the door & when they opened this the nerves kicked in for the first time but luckily it was pretty quick from here. Gary was the first to jump & when I watched him drop like a stone from the side of the plane I had a moment of ‘I can’t do this’ but before I had time to express my doubts I was hanging out the door! The initial drop is the weirdest thing as you’re literally summersaulting so fast in the air but pretty quickly they pull this first mini parachute which keeps you upright as you free fall. After 45 seconds they pull the main chute & although it’s calmer from this point on, this is the bit where I felt most like chundering as they have to keep turning to keep you on course. I’ll have to write to the makers of my travel bands & let them know that they’re not that effective when falling through the air!! On our return you can look at the videos & pics of us doing it, they’re hilarious. Unsurprisingly you pull some funny expressions when you jump out of a plane at 12,000ft! We were on a high after this but decided it was probably a good idea to do nothing more taxing than lying by the lake. I did have my first G&T in ages that night, which I thought was deserved. The next day we checked out this weird place called Puzzling World (pretty sure that everyone that’s been here will have done it, it’s a tourist mecca) which is full of stuff that plays tricks with your mind. They’ve got this whole room full of faces that follow you wherever you go. We also did the maze that they have there where you have to visit the 4 corners before finding your way out. I’m ashamed to say that we failed & only managed 2, although Gary would like it to be noted that he was hot, hungry & unwell! Actually on this point, Gary has to be applauded as he not only did a skydive but did it with tonsillitis (not that he declared that on the medical form).

From our action packed antics in Wanaka it was on to Queenstown, which is actually renowned as being the adrenalin capital - yikes what would we get up to here! We took the scenic route across, on what’s called the Crown Range & it was really beautiful so we stopped quite a few times to take pics (although we have also become quite skilled at snapping away whilst driving).Queenstown currently sits at number 1 of our fave NZ places. We can’t say enough good things about it. First up, it’s absolutely stunning. It’s got exactly the right balance of being busy, with lots going on but not being hectic like a city. We stayed at Gary’s fave campsite to date, where we had a spot right by this little stream (it pays to have a teeny camper sometimes). He made friends with some ducks, who even I had to concede were cute. Our first activity here was taking the Skyline Gondola to do some luging. Given that I’d recently jumped out of a plane it was ironic that catching the gondola/cable car freaked me out! The views from up here were amazing & the luging was so much fun that we kept wanting to do it again (although Gary thought he was Vettel at one point & almost fell out!) They’ve also got one of the bungy jumps & swings up here (the bungy orientated in Queenstown), so we watched someone have a go on that. Gary wanted to try a bungy but decided now wasn’t the right moment (I knew that never would be the right moment for me). This exertion was followed by the heavenly treat that it is a Ferg Burger! For anyone that’s been here, these need no introduction & even if you haven't been here you may have heard of them as they’re world famous. This place is open 22 hours a day, 7 days a week & pretty much always has queues. I can’t admit in writing how many times Gary & I visited here, and the adjoining bakery, during our stay in Queenstown as it’s just too shameful! I also can’t talk about a shop called Cookie Time, which I may also have frequented far too many times! That evening we checked out Steamer Wharf, which is the bar & restaurant area by the lake - really nice.

Day 2 started with a bike ride around Queenstown Gardens & down to Frankton (burning the Ferg calories!) which was lovely & included a stop at the Boatshed Cafe where we enjoyed a drink out on the deck in the sun. This was a major point where we started to become depressed about our rapidly approaching return date. We then went to visit the Kawarau Falls, which is home to the original bungy they opened here. It’s 43 metres over a river, which you can choose to be dunked in. We watched quite a few people do it, with me feeling sick on their behalf, but Gary still wasn’t completely convinced by it. Instead we headed out to Gibbston Valley to visit some wineries & a cheese factory. We’re not entirely sure what happened to the daily budget here but we accidentally purchased a few bottles! It seemed that wine tastings had given Gary the dutch courage that he needed & it was back to the bungy place. Hats off to him as stepping to the edge of the platform & throwing yourself into the river below takes massive guts but he did it & has the pics/vid to prove it! Yay, well done Gary (and no I’m still not up for a tandem!)

Our last day in Queenstown (boo) began with an early start to go white water rafting. I was more nervous about this than skydiving as I’m really not a fan of choppy water but I wanted to try it. The numerous briefings about falling in, being whacked into rocks, getting cut by the sharp metal of the old gold-mining equipment in the water etc, did nothing to calm these nerves but I’d come this far & wasn’t going to back out. I’m so glad I didn’t as I loved it. We had a brilliant guide called Kacey, who’s been doing it 20 years. A lot of the time it's actually really chilled & scenic but on the 7 or so rapids that we did, it was definitely an adrenalin rush. It’s a grade 5 river, which is pretty hardcore (this is the most that travel insurance will cover you for & even the pro’s generally only go to a 6). The names of the rapids are pretty descriptive e.g. pinball, jaws, the toilet, aftershock. The worst thing that happened was that the woman behind me in the raft didn’t hold on enough at one point & came crashing into me, which hurt but at least I wasn’t overboard, which was my biggest worry. We celebrated this with a visit to a couple of wineries that we missed the day before (weirdly some more bottles ended up in the van!) & then a quick trip to an old gold mining place called Arrowtown, which was cool.

That evening we drove to Te Anau to do a cruise on the Milford Sound the following day. Milford Sound is actually misnamed because it’s a fjord - Sounds are caused by rock erosion whereas fjords are the result of glacial activity, which is what Milford is. Our boat could hold 75 but they were only 12 of us on it, which was pretty handy as we had loads of space to move around & get pics. All the big coach trips go for an afternoon cruise so that they can get there from further afield. The weather wasn’t great but that’s pretty common there (they have 7 metres of rain a year). We both enjoyed the trip, with highlights being how close we got to two groups of fur seals & going into a waterfall, but the danger of NZ is that you see so much stunning scenery that it takes a lot to impress & we didn’t really see much here that we hadn’t seen already. After cheese on toast in the camper by Lake Te Anau we started the journey to Lake Tekapo/Mt Cook (having already done 4 hours driving from Te Anau to Milford & back).

After driving for another 4.5 hours (and playing ‘guess the number of bits of roadkill we’ll see’ game to stay entertained!) we decided to spend the night in Omarama, which is about 50kms from Lake Tekapo as we were tired & hungry. This is a small, farming town with not a lot going on but we did manage to get a decent roast dinner, yum! The drive from there to Lake Tekapo the next day is one of the most scenic we’ve done I think. The lakes in this area are renowned for their amazing turquoise colour, which is something to do with how the glacial water crushes the rock. We got some great pics by Lake Pukaki en route. We drove up to Mount Cook (the highest mountain in NZ), which was cool. We also did the Tasman Glacial walk here where you’re supposed to be able to see massive icebergs in the lake during the summer but to be honest this was pretty rubbish with nothing to really see. We were saying it’s funny which stuff makes it on to the tourist trail, as sometimes random things that you come across whilst driving are actually far more impressive than the ‘must do’ sights.

Next, we headed up to Mount St John, which provides a great view of the surrounding area & is where you can do star gazing tours at night as this town is one of the best in the world for providing a clear night sky (it’s been awarded Gold Status as a Starlight Reserve) & they have the most high tech equipment here for it (one telescope is worth $7.5 million). Would you believe it though, the night we book & it’s cancelled as it’s too cloudy!! Damn you clouds. We’ve hung around though & are attempting it again tonight so fingers crossed. During the rest of yesterday we briefly visited the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd, which is pretty well known & has a stunning outlook from the altar over the lake. I thought it was nice, Gary was unimpressed but he had been grumpy all day so I ignored him. Miraculously he cheered up when I said they had a golf course & I got the pleasure of being a caddy for 9 holes! It’s done nothing to change my view that golf is a weird game but I have learnt that it’s actually pretty hard work walking around the course with your bag (the budget didn’t extend to a golf cart, which would have been cool). I also attempted a couple of shots, which were horrific! In another case of what a small world it is the woman at the golf course used to work on the Isle of Wight ferry.

That brings another whooper of a post to a close. We’ll be back again soon hopefully (unless the internet breaks due to cloud cover!) Keep in touch with your news.

G & C x

Like a box of chocolates

gcadventuresdownunder — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 15:08:00 GMT

Given that we've had a bit of a hiatus from blogging we'll do an overview of the first week & a half that we've spent in NZ so far & hopefully we can keep a big more on top of it after this.

The Forest Gump inspired title perfectly describes NZ I think as you never know what you're going to get, in terms of both landscape & weather.

So we arrived in Auckland & despite it being Gary's job the night before to find out the location of our hotel & how to get there from the airport we ended up at the opposite side of town! We didn't do an awful lot on arrival except start to sort out our campervan (which yes I know several of you advised us to do beforehand but we were enjoying Oz too much & their internet was generally rubbish). That night we met up with one of Gary's friends Lee who took us to the nice harbour area where we had dinner & discovered for the first time that NZ is a lot colder than Oz! Morning of day 2 was more campervan fun until we secured Dappy, who we picked up that afternoon to set off on our 5 week touring adventure.

Perhaps I should have been asking more questions about why this company had vans available when no-one else did & also why it was so cheap compared to others but the excitement at securing a van silenced these doubts. On meeting Dappy I understood the answers to these questions a little more! He's basically a little white van that an odd job man would use with a mattress & 2 ring gas hob in the back. However, I have learned to love him & he's provided a pretty good home this past week & a half so fingers crossed that continues. He's not a huge fan of hills, rain or sharp bends in the road (and NZ has an abundance of all 3) but he muddles through every time & even withstood an earthquake - more of that later.

Night one was spent in Muriwai Beach just west of Auckland as we picked the van up late so didn't have chance to go much further. We then moved on to Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsular. You can dig your own little hot tubs on the beach two hours either side of low tide due to hot water seeping up from the earth's core. Annoyingly we were too late to do this when we arrived so we got up at 4.15am the next day. It was 100% worth it though as the beach was deserted, whereas it had been heaving the day before & we got to watch the sunrise whilst reclining in our pools. The water is actually boiling though so there's a bit of an art to digging them, which Gary mastered after we'd both burnt our feet! We also walked around a place called Cathedral Cove whilst in this area, which is a stunning beach. There was a lovely older guy called Tony who we got chatting to at our campsite (he had rented the same van as us & was from the Isle of Wight weirdly) & he gave us some great travelling tips for our time here. He lives a proper cool life including volunteering at a whale watching base in Antarctica.

Next stop Rotorua. The main highlight here was a place called wai-o-tapu, which is this crazy natural geothermal place with geysers, bubbling mud, massive lakes of random colours & waterfalls. You'll have to see the pics to get what I mean & even they probably don't do it justice. It's all a result of NZ's location on several faultlines. We also stayed in an amazing campsite here with our van overlooking the lake.

It was then on to Taupo. On the way we stopped at Huka Falls, which are pretty incredible. We saw 2 people who had somehow made their way right next to the falls, crazy fools! I was quite happy with my vantage point way up on the bridge. Weirdly we also bumped into a girl that we'd met on NYE in Brisbane & again in Sydney. She was about to do a skydive so was feeling pretty sick. At Taupo we chilled by the lake enjoying the sun which had made a welcome appearance. We were going to try paddle boarding here but the water was freezing & I knew I'd spend more time in it than on the board so I gave it a miss until I could find somewhere that did it with a wetsuit.

The next day we headed to Turangi as we wanted to walk some of the Tongariro National Park, where you get to head up volcanoes but the weather was set to be rubbish for a few days so we were advised against it as you wouldn't get to see anything & you might have to head back part way through. Our backpacks of mainly shorts & t-shirts also aren't really ideal for this weather!

With this postponed until our return journey through the North Island we headed down to Wellington. As this is a mammoth journey we stopped overnight in a place called Levin en route. On arrival we got told the evacuation procedure that evening for if they had any further earthquakes. It turns out there had been one that afternoon measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale. Whilst the epicentre hadn't been in that town (it was about 50km away) they'd still felt it & had been having aftershocks ever since. We had seen a lot of police on our journey, which now made sense (you might wonder why we didn't hear anything on the radio but that's because surprisingly the radio doesn't really work!) We must have experienced some on our way through but as Dappy is a pretty bumpy ride anyway I didn't notice any difference! Gary was desperate for there to be further earthquake fall out but I was scared this might finish the van off. There were more minor aftershocks overnight & Gary woke up during one but I slept through oblivious (the wine over here is great!)

We made it on to Wellington unscathed but it was pouring with rain & had gale force winds so any nice outdoors activities were ruled out. Instead we went to the cinema to watch The Wolf on Wall Street, which we both thought was really good. The cinema is much cheaper than home, at £11 for both of us, which was a bonus but they don't do sweet popcorn, only buttered, which in itself is a reason I could never live here! The weather had improved the next day so we caught the cable car to Kelburn where you can get a good view of the city. Up here we also went to the Carter Observatory, which has some mess with your mind stuff about planets, stars, the creation of the universe etc.

That evening we caught the ferry to the South Island, which, as people had told us, was really scenic. After a night in Picton, where the ferry arrives, we headed towards Able Tasman National Park (we left early Mich so I didn't get to sample the famous Picton Pies but I will on the way back through!) We stayed near Able Tasman in a place called Motueka. Our campsite backed on to a vineyard, which was pretty cool. We hired bikes to ride along the beach tracks in the sun that afternoon. The next day was a highlight of my trip so far, a kayaking trip around Able Tasman. We had amazing weather for it & the park is stunning - white sand beaches, crystal clear water, lush forest etc. It didn't hurt that our guide was pretty attractive either! Although I had thought it would be a pretty relaxed activity at a gentle pace but it was hardcore & I have the blisters on my hands to prove it! It was about 4 hours of kayaking & when the current is against you it's a proper workout ( you'd have loved it Lara G!) You could have done a combined kayaking & walking tour which I wanted to do but Gary wasn't keen on the walking element, although after 2 hours of kayaking he was slightly regretting writing off this idea. We chose the trip which went to Tonga Island as this is a seal colony. Unfortunately the seals seemed a little shy but we did see a little baby one (the guide said he'd be about 4-5 weeks old) & a massive male (we were the only people to see this one as we were at the back - sometimes it pays to be slow!)

After an overnight stop in Murchison surrounded by gorgeous mountains we explored some of Buller Gorge, including the longest swing bridge in NZ. Whilst this was no doubt beautiful I also found it slightly terrifying given how much it moves whilst you're suspended miles above a rushing river (Della - I was only slightly less pathetic than on that floating jetty thing in Zante!) Next up was a stop at Tauranga Bay in Westport, which is also a seal colony. Luckily the seals were up for an audience here & we saw quite a few including about 5 baby ones & several adults. Watching the little ones play and try to clamber over rocks was so cute. We took loads of pics but where the seals are the same colour as the rocks it's pretty hard to capture them, on camera it just looks like we've taken lots of photos of boulders! Next up was the pancake rocks in Punakaiki. These are basically layered rocks in the sea that get beaten by the waves. Geologists aren't sure why they have their layered appearance. These were ok but we didn't think they were anything amazing. It wasn't fully high tide, which is the best time to see the blowholes, so maybe they would have been cooler. We stayed overnight in Greymouth & have headed on to Jackson today so that we're close to Arthur's Pass to do some of the walks there tomorrow (Mich we went over that crazy one way bridge that you share with trains, what the hell is that about?!) The weather today is horrific so we're having a chilled one, although it has allowed Gary to capture some arty shots of the mountains in the mist with raging waterfalls, which he's been pleased with (every cloud has a silver lining!) In slightly less positive news we did almost kill a cyclist on a bridge (Gary blames her for not wearing high vis clothing!) & our van door broke but luckily we've now fixed this. On Tuesday we've booked a heli-hike to the Franz Josef glacier, exciting times.

Hope all is well with you. Keep in touch & speak soon.

G & C x

game, set & match

gcadventuresdownunder — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 15:07:00 GMT

Hi Everyone! Don’t you just hate people who put their seat back before you even take off?... yep me too, luckily a combination of being boarded, disembarking, re-boarding and my knees won me a tiny victory over the twat in front!

We booked a hotel in melbourne as it was the same cost as a hostel, who knew that i could get so excited over a cotton fluffy towel - amazing!

Day 1 - It was freezing & grey but we braved a walk down to federation square where we a)picked up our day 1 tickets for centre court tennis (yeehawww) b)booked the neighbours tour c)booked the tour to see the baby penguins and finally d)booked a hire car for the great ocean road. After that wallet bashing we then walked to the sky tower to take a look at the city from above. After this we headed to the markets which chez wanted to visit (oh the joys). On route chez says its brightening up a bit, within 10 minutes it was 30+ and baking - I was happy about this except I had winter clothes on and didn’t layer up!! the markets were ok (not my thing) but chez looked up and down every aisle not buying anything (surprise surprise). We headed off to st kilda which was a tip from Lara who worked with cheryl, it was a cool place with a nice beach and coffee shops. On the tram back cheryl gave up her seat for an old man with 2 walking sticks called john - John sat next to me and spent the next 30 mins telling me his whole life story - I have picked out the highlights…

beaten cancer a few times

was born with a hole in his heart

had broken legs

had broken arms

broken back

Was a gang member

came back from almost being a cripple

He was a nice old guy but he gave me a headache!!!.

That evening we had tickets for an outdoor cinema in the botanical gardens, we were watching Prisoners. When we arrived, we laid our towels down and started munching on our picnic, it was then we saw you could hire big comfy bean bag cushions - i resisted the temptation to be tight and paid for these. This proved to be a great buy as it got cold in the evening so we ended up with towels over us. To keep up my healthy eating diet plan I also purchased burger,chips and a full fat coke!

Day 2 - we headed off to pick up our hire car for the great ocean road - as our car had been in the wars we called it john after my friend on the tram! Getting to the start of the Great Ocean Road takes an hour and involves driving through melbourne - they have several roads with things called Hook Turns, we were told how to avoid all the roads with these on but true to form we ended up on one!! I didn’t really pay any attention when they were explaining them, so combine the lack of knowledge with the trams alongside you and you get a crazy few minutes driving where I broke every rule on the road and for good measure I did almost run 2 old people over!

The GOR is unreal, we visited the lighthouse from ‘around the twist’, drove through miles of stunning coastal road. We saw wild koalas, the 12 apostles,and too many other things to list. The water on the beaches comes from antartica so isn’t quite like what I was used to in Queensland! We stupidly booked into Port Fairy about a 1.5 hour drive extra than we needed to, lovely place but we arrived, ate dinner, went to bed and were on the road by 7:45 the next day to head back for the tennis!! On route back we tuned into a local farming radio station which played some awful songs one of which "hi-ho-dairy-o, the farmer took a wife” has stayed stuck in our head for days!

Day 3 - We arrived back in good time and headed to the tennis. The trams were packed as it was 5pm with tennis fans + commuters. We headed straight to the heineken arena which had a beer tent (of course), jacobs creek tent and food. The queue was pretty big so we went separately, chez was quicker then me back to our meet point and spent the next 10 mins getting chatted up by some guy, I didn’t care as I had purchased 3 pints of ice cold beer!! There was a great atmosphere and a live band.

We then went to our seats to watch Djokivic play some other dude. The seats were awesome and cheryl finally understood the rules by the end. It was a close match, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 and djokivic gave a hilarious interview at the end. Next up was some female tennis (well I say female) it was Serena Williams world number 1, who may have some balls of her own vs. a local aussie called Ashley Bartly who was 18. Serena had loads of attitude and despite the crowd being hostile to her and chants of “lets go ashley, lets go!” she smashed the other girl 6-2, 6-1. We then left the arena and went back to the hotel.

Day 4 - All together now….Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours, with a little understanding, you can find the perfect friend……..

On our way to the meeting place for this trip we picked up a $1 coffee & tea in 7/11 where we met mani - mani is an indian guy who talks & talks & talks which would have been ok if we hadn’t been running late, I got rid of mani and then we met up with the tour and 14 of us sad people headed off on the bus with old episodes playing on route. We found out that despite aussies saying they don’t watch it, its the highest rated show on the network it runs on over here! We went to the studios then onto ramsey st itself (which is called pin oak road in real life) they have security there as apparently people use to knock on the doors hoping to see Dr Karl or they stripped naked for a comedy photo on toadfish's garden! Its much smaller in real life but kind of cool. We then headed back to meet a star, usually its 1 of Harold, Toadie, Karl, Steph….nope we get Stingray who died 6yrs ago. He gave a bit of a talk but to be honest nobody gave a shit. It was a fun morning and a hot one (40C). We then sat in federation square watching the tennis on a massive screen which they put up. We got to see the trophies for the winners and had a photo. We sat outside for about an hour then headed inside for cold drinks. Cheryl looked like she was going to pass out!!!

That evening we were due to go on 'the little penguin bus tour' to phillip island, about a 1.5hr drive away. Before we met up with the tour we stopped for a 30c mcdonalds ice-cream and who do we bump into…yep Mani from 7/11 - we had a decent chat and when we left said goodbye, but this didn’t seem to be enough for mani who gave me a long handshake and a double cheek kiss for cheryl…. guess you had to be there but was pure comedy!!

We arrived at phillip island and watched the 30cm tall penguins come ashore in the surf, walk a few steps then retreat back to the water, this went on for a while until a couple of brave little penguins ran across the beach and didn’t get eaten by foxes/birds of prey, then loads of them in gangs of 10-15 came out of the water and started the walk to their nests to feed their babies. They swim 100km a day hunting and eating, pretty cool. We saw hundreds but couldn’t get photos as you aren’t allowed to film or video as the flash can really scare and disorientate them.

We arrived back at midnight and collected our bags from storage at the hotel - it was still 30C+ and we made our way to the airport for our 7am flight to NZ. We got to the airport but decided not to sleep and power through. I did doze off but woke up when a cockroach was on my toe!

That’s the end of our time in Oz & we loved every second of it. For me Perth, the Red Centre & Melbourne were my favourites. For Chez it was Rottnest Island (Perth), Margaret River wine tour, the Red Centre, Rainbow Beach & Sydney.

We’re now in NZ so the blogs might be more of a challenge as we’re in a camper van but we’ll still try to keep you updated.

Hope all’s good with you.

G & C x

On top of the world down under

gcadventuresdownunder — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 15:06:00 GMT

Despite not feeling all that lively after the overnight greyhound journey we stored our bags at our hostel & headed out to get to grips with the city so that we didn't waste the day. We walked to the botanic gardens & headed for a spot called Mrs Macquarie's chair where you can get great views of the harbour bridge & opera house. This was really nice but unfortunately our visit coincided with workers lunch break & it seems that every one of these workers uses this as an opportunity to go running so we almost got mown down several times! We also explored Circular Quay where all the ferries go from & walked up to the Opera house, which looks different up close. That night we caught the bus to glebe to meet two friends Hannah & Lou who we used to work with, for dinner & a catch up.

They gave us a great tip for the next day so we caught the ferry to watsons bay, which gives great views of the city. The sun also came out over here, yay. We walked along the coastal path, which was lovely except its a popular suicide spot so lots of Samaritan type signs! From here we caught the bus to bondi beach which we really liked. I imagine it's heaving in better weather but we got to see it when it was really quiet. We then walked to bronte beach (I couldn't get Gary to do the full 3hr walk to Coogee!) then back for a drink in a restaurant called Iceberg overlooking bondi (great tip Lara C, thanks).

From here we bused back to the city & booked the harbour bridge climb for Friday, our last day in Sydney. We also looked around the rocks area, which is the earliest part of Sydney where the convicts arrived. It's really nice with cobbled streets & old buildings.

As it was our 7 year anniversary that day (Gary says he smashed a mirror that many years ago!) we had an amazing blow the budget dinner out that night including my favourite French martini cocktail, in Cockle bay wharf. This & Darling Harbour, which is next to it, are lovely. Imagine a nicer Port Solent or Gunwharf.

On day 3 we went up Sydney tower eye, which provides amazing views of the city & interesting details of its history. We walked across the free footpath of Sydney harbour bridge, where you could take great pics of the opera house. We also walked up the east pylon of the bridge, which provided even more brill pic opps (get ready for the mother of all slide shows on our return!) & lots of interesting details about the building of the bridge. There was no health or safety in those days so none of the workers were secured to the bridge & yet miraculously only 16 people died in the 7 years that it took to build & only 2 of these fell. The design of the bridge was from a company in Middlesborough, which beat 7 other tenders, who'd have thought it. They built both sides of the bridge & then lowered them until they met in the middle, which happened on my birth date in 1930. It took 8 days to lower & as the metal changes size slightly when it cools it was first joined up on the morning of the 19th August & then had to be joined again at 10pm that night. Both sides of the bridge have hinges to allow for the 180mm change in size of the bridge based on temp. It can withstand winds of 172kmph & even then it would only sway by a metre (perhaps the UK could learn something from this given recent events!) We followed this with tea & scones at an Irish tea room in the rocks, which was delish (Gary says it's scary how food has the ability to make me super happy!)

On our last day we did the Sydney harbour bridge climb at 9.30am. Handily the sun came out for this & was the best weather we'd had our whole time there. It's a 3 hour trip but an hour of this is getting kitted out in a beautiful baggy grey & blue onesie & doing some safety stuff. You even have to practice walking up & down stairs whilst you're clipped on. There are 14 people in a group & we were lucky to have a decent bunch of people including Steve & Hayley from Manchester, who were on their honeymoon. Our guide was called Bernie, who has been doing the tours for 14 years (they've only been running them for 15 years). He was hilarious but also pretty eccentric. Gary & I both thought he must have had an accident on the bridge at some stage! I thought it would be scary walking across the top but this was actually really nice. It was climbing up the steep stairs in the middle of the bridge that was more daunting. You got to see amazing views of Sydney & also hear some interesting stories about the people connected with the bridge. We joined the other mugs who bought some pics of ourselves up there to remember it by!

To make the most of the sun we caught the ferry to Manly when we'd finished the bridge climb. This is a popular place for people to live who work in Sydney. Over here we also walked round to another beach called Shelley beach. These were both pretty nice but I wasn't overawed by them. Perhaps it was because it still wasn't amazing weather or maybe my expectations were too high but I definitely think there are better beaches in Oz. We then returned to the city, got our bags & headed to the airport for our 8pm flight to Melbourne (this worked out cheaper then the greyhound & took just over an hour rather than 13 hours.)

Gary swung between disliking & liking Sydney. As you'd expect from a major city, the centre is busy with lots of traffic, people & noise. However, there are lots of areas outside of this which he really enjoyed like watsons bay, bondi & cockle bay wharf. There are lots of London & New York influences in the city itself & whilst I couldn't live here I really liked exploring it. It's an easy place to get your bearings in. I wouldn't have liked it to be too hot here but it's a shame we didn't have slightly nicer weather (we'll have to photoshop some sun in to our pics!) We were thinking of doing a trip to the blue mountains from here originally but we didn't really have enough time & people had said that the recent bush fires meant that it's not as nice as it could be. Our friend Hannah also said she prefers it in winter on a cold but clear day.

That's it for this post. Stay tuned for our adventures in Melbourne! Hope all's good, keep in touch with your news.

G & C x

Sunrises, surfing & sharing bunk beds!

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 9 Jan 2014 21:36:00 GMT

Hello again,

Hope all’s well & that the weather is starting to improve back in Blighty. Know we won’t get much sympathy but we're in Sydney & it’s been overcast, drizzly & pretty chilly (very unusual for them). It’s the first time we’ve worn jeans since leaving the UK!

But back to where we left off with the last post. We moved on from Brisbane to Surfers Paradise, which I think is a bit of a marmite place as people tend to love or hate it. I can see why some people don’t rate it as it’s pretty commercial with big high rise buildings & some tacky shops/restaurants but we thought it was pretty good. Gary rated it more than me but I certainly wouldn’t say I disliked it.

There was a bit of confusion around when the shuttle bus was arriving to take us to the hostel, as we were a little way out of the main bit, but this eventually arrived. On seeing the place we were staying I think it would have been preferable if the shuttle bus hadn’t have turned up! Gary & I said that we hope it’s the closest we come to knowing what it’s like to be in a prison cell! Our ‘room’ had bare concrete walls & ceiling, a teeny window (although no bars fortunately), two clothes hooks, 1 shelf, a small mirror & a dirty fan. The carpet was thinner than our micro fibre towels & the beds weren’t the best either. We then made the mistake of checking out the shared bathroom facilities. In fairness the ladies sounded much better than the gents but even they were pretty bleak. It seems that most of the male guests had some issues with aim & thought it was acceptable to just pee & crap somewhere in the vicinity of the toilet! On the plus side Gary has a new appreciation for my cleaning regime back home!

Deciding that the best idea was to get the hell out of the hostel for the rest of the afternoon we headed across the road to main beach, which was really nice. It was much quieter than the central part of Surfers Paradise. Gary went for a swim & came back clutching $50 that he’d found poking out of the sand. This is about £27, which when you’re travelling is like winning the lottery! Can’t remember if we said in a previous post but we also found $20 on the street in Rainbow Beach, happy days. Although I think we’ve now spent this $70 about 3 times over as we keep using it to justify non-essential expenditure!

That evening we went to a local fish & chips shop that had been recommended & it was heaving. I’ve never seen anything like it. We queued for about 20 mins & then our order took about another 25 mins from there. As it was New Year’s Day they were shutting at 7pm so we were some of the last people they let through the doors. They had to turn lots away. The fish is all freshly caught that day & it was worth the wait as it was lovely.

The next day we headed to the beach in the centre of Surfer's Paradise & chilled there for the day. That night we went to explore a road close to the hostel (Tedder Avenue) that I’d heard was really nice & the reports weren’t wrong. It was full of lovely little restaurants that were all lit up. As expected they were pricey so we decided to have breakfast there the next day instead & headed back to a pub next door to the hostel for dinner (we couldn't bring ourselves to cook in the hostel kitchen). Weirdly given the roughness of the hostel it was in a really posh area with a marina & a Versace hotel next door. My desire to try & sneak into the Versace hotel was overwhelming but I think my crumpled backpack clothes would have given me away!

After breakfast on Tedder Ave the next morning (I had Turkish toast, my new obsession, which I've already emailed Della about to see if she can make it!) we chilled on the beach near the hostel as we had to catch the bus that afternoon to Byron Bay. It was a scorching day, which it always seems to be when we're catching a bus!

We arrived in Byron Bay about 5pm that evening. It's only about 1.5 hours from Surfers Paradise. During the journey you cross a road where one side is Queensland & the other is New South Wales & you need to put your watch forward an hour. Don't know how it works if you want to meet up with someone who lives on the other side of the road, you must have to synchronise watches or something! The traffic getting into Byron was crazy & the bus driver said that the town was packed. We weren't concerned though as we had our accommodation booked, or so we thought!

So we get to the hostel & say that we have a dorm booked for the first night & then a double room for the following 2 nights but they'd only booked Gary into a dorm for night one & had forgotten to book me in. The hostel was full, as was every other place in the town so I shared a single bunk with Gary in a 5 person, male dorm for the night, cosy! A gecko then crawled across a smoke alarm at 5.30am the next morning setting it off so that we all had to leave our rooms. Not the best start, although it did mean we didn't have to pay for my first night & they gave us free breakfast the next day so there were some benefits.

Byron is described as a hippy town & it does have this vibe but I was surprised by how upmarket it was too, with lots of fairly pricey nice cafés & boutique shops. It's also known as a surfing mecca, but more on this later. Day 1 was spent enjoying the beach, although I didn't venture into the water as the waves were massive & there was a rip tide so there were loads of caution signs & 'swim at your own risk'. It was good for watching the surfers though.

The next day was really chilled with a nice lay in to make up for the previous bad nights sleep & a potter around the shops (spending our free $70 again!) Our last day there was action packed though, as we got up at 4.45am to walk up to the lighthouse & watch the sunrise. The lighthouse is the most easterly point of Australia & the pictures we managed to get up there are stunning. We'd then booked ourselves into a surf lesson for the afternoon, which was so much fun but also the most hard work ever. It took us a couple of attempts to stand up but we both managed to ride quite a few waves into the shore, which we were chuffed about. One of the instructors was the most stereotypical surf dude ever & ridiculously toned, reminded me a bit of Brad from Neighbours (for those of you old enough to remember him). I didn't even try to hide my ogling from Gary, who had to concede that he looked like he'd been photoshopped!

Gary would like it noted that the instructor said he had natural ability & if we're going to mention this then I also think it's worth recording that he said I was better than Gary (ha ha)! After this lesson I was so shattered that I could barely move. We headed back to the hostel to shower & eat dinner before catching the overnight greyhound to Sydney. An enjoyable 13 hour journey! The only slight plus was that it wasn't full so we had 2 seats each to try & get some sleep but you generally end up cat napping as you stop quite a bit.

We'll fill you in on our experiences of Sydney in the next post. We've only now got Melbourne left before we leave Oz & head onto NZ. These last few weeks have gone so quickly & we'll be gutted to leave as we've had an amazing time but sure more adventures await in NZ.

Keep in touch,

G & C x

Photos: Noosa, Aroona, Brisbane, Surfers

gcadventuresdownunder — Sat, 4 Jan 2014 22:33:00 GMT

Photos: Cape Trib, Cairns, Whitsunday, Fraser Islands

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 2 Jan 2014 22:10:00 GMT

Too Easy!

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 2 Jan 2014 22:05:00 GMT

Happy New Year. Here's hoping that 2014 is a good one for you.

Since our last blog we've been experiencing a bit more of what it's like to actually live in Oz by staying with 2 lots of friends.

We started off with Duck & Claire in Noosa, arriving on the 23rd Dec. They were house sitting & also had another couple staying with them called Andy & Claire. Our first night was pretty chilled with pizza & drinks (perhaps a few too many!) outside. The next morning Gary played golf with Duck, Andy & Andy's brother Matt. This involved getting up at 5am to be at the course for tee off at 6.20am, but as it was golf Gary was excited rather than displaying his usual morning grump. Evidently it seems that playing down under agrees with him as he had a great round & won!

Whilst the blokes were playing golf the two Claire's, plus Matt's girlfriend Sarah, & I went to enjoy Noosa beach. Felt slightly odd to be on a beach before 8am but it was already busy with joggers, surfers, families etc & it was actually a great time to enjoy it as it wasn't completely baking yet. We also had a little shop along Hastings Street & then met the guys for lunch at the golf club, which was really nice. Gary got lots of pictures of all the kangaroos that joined them on the course. Thank god he had a good round otherwise some of those kangaroos would be sporting golf ball size bruises!

Christmas morning started off on the beach, which I thought would feel weird but would actually be very easy to get used too, if someone could just have a word with whoever's in charge of UK weather please! The others had plans for Xmas afternoon so Gary & I had the house to ourselves & made a turkey roast dinner (a bit left field from what we'd have back home but close enough). Was so nice to cook in a kitchen with decent stuff & not be trying to manoeuvre around 30 other people. In the evening we walked the dog that Duck & Claire were looking after. He's called Raffa & was the sweetest thing. We also cycled down to the river, which burned off some of the roast & allowed room for the Xmas treats of chocolate & shortbread that we'd bought!

On the way back from our ride we stopped at an empty kids park near the house & Gary was made up to see that it had a roundabout. He decided to spin it & then jump on it as it was moving as he'd done when he was a kid. Not sure if it's just because he's older or because roundabouts in Oz are more hardcore but he ended up kind of slumped in the middle & complained that his hip had gone. He needed me to stop it, which was quite a challenge as I was pissing myself laughing. It was made even more amusing as he still had his bike helmet on (which you legally have to wear over here, when riding bikes obviously, not on kids roundabouts!!)

On Boxing Day Claire & Duck took us to a really quiet beach that you reach through a national park. That night we went out for a lush meal in town & had a few drinks. We learnt our favourite new Aussie phrase here, 'too easy', which we now use daily. It basically means no worries but sounds really funny in certain contexts like when you order a meal & the waiter says it as you wonder if you should pick something more challenging for the chef to cook! The next day was pretty chilled as we were catching the bus in the afternoon.

We were sad to leave Noosa, Duck, Claire & Raffa. Thanks so much for having us guys. Hope you got your next accommodation sorted.

Next stop was Aroona to stay with the Barden's, who lived next door to my family for about 5 years. This resulted in me feeling massively old as I babysat their son, who is now at Uni & driving! They have an amazing house, which has made it even harder to return to hostels. We had a yummy BBQ on night one & enjoyed the swimming pool & pool table (although I still can't play to save my life).

The next day they took us to the popular Emundi markets (which Gary wasn't thrilled about until I told him they had lots of food stalls). They were really nice to walk around although it was scorching. Jeff then took us on a tour of some of their local beaches. There are about 20 within a 10 min drive of their house. The ones we saw were stunning & yet again they all had spotlessly clean facilities. Jeff also showed Gary how to make his own beer, which he wants to do on his return (heaven help us).

That night we went to a local members club at the marina for dinner, with some of their friends. We also went to the rock & roll bar where their youngest son Josh works (he's only 16, but you can start working from 14 over here & don't need to be 18 to serve alcohol). Him & the owner guy got up on stage to play some tunes with Josh on the drums. He's never had a lesson in his life & just learnt by watching YouTube clips. He's only been playing a year & he's amazing. The other guy would play the opening lines of the song on the guitar & Josh would just pick up the beat. We felt very untalented!

We were gutted to be leaving the next day & could have quite happily stayed a few more days, if not forever! We decided to do Australia Zoo the next day as our bus was leaving from there late afternoon. Sam, who was also staying with the Barden's, came with us. On the way to the zoo Jeff took us to some cool places, including the house that they built a few years back in a rural area called Mooloolah (love that name) & an amazing look out point where you can see the glasshouse mountains.

Where to start with Australia Zoo. It was such a good day. I wouldn't have said I was much of a Steve Irwin fan beforehand but I developed a new respect for him & it was quite sad seeing the film footage of him. We got to see some cassowaries so Gary was happy (I still think they're the weirdest things). We also got to see some 4 month old tiger cubs & hand feed kangaroos. Terri, Bindi & Robert Irwin did a show at 12pm, which was really good, although before this Bindi came on stage with her group called the Jungle Girls & performed some of the cheesiest songs, which are still stuck in my head! The animals are all really well cared for & Jeff told us beforehand that when Steve was alive he'd frequently visit the zoo unannounced & if any keeper was feeding the animals food that wasn't fit for human consumption then he'd make the keeper eat it first & then fire him. The only downside of the day was that it was just shy of 40 degrees, so we were all sweaty Betty's!

It was then on to Brisbane. We were staying in a new YHA hostel there, which was pretty nice, although a lot of people. There was a hilarious guy on reception who used to randomly read poetry over the intercom. On the first day we did a bit of shopping at Queen Street Mall & then headed across to South Bank for some lunch & a wander. They had a big lagoon here, which was nice but not as good as the others we'd seen.

The next day was New Year's Eve. During the day we went to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary, which was great. We both got to hold a koala, who was called Byron. He was heavier than I thought at 7kg but luckily I didn't drop him. There were a couple of baby koalas who were adorable. They're born around 35 days old & are teeny, they basically look like a pink jellybean. They then stay in their mums pouches for about 6 months while they grow. Gary decided that he'd like to come back as a koala in another life as they sleep for 18-20 hours a day, only waking for food & mating! We also fed kangaroos & wallabies here & watched a sheepdog show including a shearing demonstration. They earn about $2.50 per sheep they shear & can do around 200 a day (although the record is 562) so no guesses what new career Gary is contemplating!

In the evening we went on a pub crawl that the hostel organised (I know, pretty wild for us!) The first pub had a roof terrace so we watched all the fireworks they do at 8.30pm. The second pub was also really nice, with a good band. The third one was heaving so we decided to head towards the river for midnight. We stopped off at the casino quickly first, which was massive. We went on a roulette machine & managed to lose $10 in about 2 seconds as we hadn't realised that was set as the minimum bet! Luckily we managed to win this back. We then got ourselves in a prime position opposite the Brisbane Wheel to welcome in the New Year (complete with a massive slice of pizza each!) The fireworks were amazing so I can't even imagine what the Sydney display must be like. We then trotted back to the hostel stopping at the 7-11 for $1 hot drinks - our best bargain discovery, along with 80 cents water in Woolies (the tap water in most places tastes of mud!)

Gary didn't rate Brisbane at all, I think mainly because he's not a city person. He compared it to the Tricorn in Portsmouth, which I think is a little harsh! Granted it had more grey concrete than Perth but it also had some nice areas I thought. We have been in beach places for a while though so that probably made it seem even more drab in comparison. He did perk up at the topless barbers though, which also serves boob pizza (I think this just means 2 pizzas!)

We're now in Surfers Paradise & will be moving on to Byron Bay tomorrow but we'll cover them in a separate post as this is far too long already. We just don't want to forget anything about the trip so it's helpful to record it here.

As always keep in touch & let us know what's happening with you.

G & C x

Life is an Island

gcadventuresdownunder — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 09:43:00 GMT

Helllooo,

It’s been a while & I guess you’re all winding down for crimbo now. Not sure if we’ll be able to get online again closer to Xmas so hope you all have a great time. I’m already getting turkey & yule log envy!!

What have we been up to since our last post? Well, on leaving Cairns we headed for Magnetic (Maggie) Island. Not sure if our expectations had been built up a little too much by the idea of a Robinson Crusoe paradise but we were pretty disappointed. Admittedly the fact that it’s stinger season didn’t help as only two of the eight or so beaches had nets set up so that you could swim but the whole place just seemed a bit meh. Not a patch on Rottness. It probably didn’t help that we had a pretty long journey & when we got to the hostel on Magnetic Island the check in was the most chaotic thing ever, run by a woman who clearly loved herself but did nothing whilst two junior members of staff tried to figure things out. Our room was a mattress in a shed with a fridge. It was boiling hot & had really sloping sides so we kept hitting our heads. There were also loads of really young Europeans staying there that seemed to think it took 10 of them to make some pasta in the communal kitchen so that there wasn’t room for anyone else. That aside we had a great time! Gary would also like me to mention here that he made an amazing bolognese, which was no mean feat in their kitchen, given the number of people & lack of any decent cooking equipment.

From here we moved on to Airlie Beach, which luckily was the opposite of Magnetic Island. Gorgeous place, with a great atmosphere. We shared a 4 bed dorm with a German couple called Felix & Christina who were really nice. Our hostel was on a hill overlooking the bay & it was just a short 5 minute walk to the street with all the shops/cafes/bars. The first day here we chilled by the lagoon, which as per all the other lagoons we’d encountered was lovely.

The next day we’d booked a trip to the Whitsunday’s on a speedboat. Naturally on a day trip you can’t fit everything in so this trip focused on Whitehaven Beach & some snorkelling at a place called Chalkie Beach. Whitehaven is stunning with the only downside being it’s popularity so there were quite a few other boats there & some posh, non-budgeting people arriving by sea-plane! Gary saw a shark swimming 2-3 metres from the shore but our skipper said it was too small to kill you yet but in a few years time it could, the chinese were running up and down trying to get pictures of it. Snorkelling was also really good fun & we saw loads of great fish. On the way back the sea was mental with the biggest swells/waves so we were thrown around for about an hour & got absolutely drenched. Thank god for my travel bands!! Gary said he thought the boat was going to go at one point. To celebrate our survival we had $5 dominoes pizzas, best value meal yet & as my pizza included pineapple it was part of my 5 a day!

Sadly that brought our time in Airlie Beach to an end & it was on to an overnight Greyhound bus to take us to Hervey Bay. Greyhound have rolled out lots of swank new buses with wifi, leather seats, more legroom etc so we assumed the overnight bus would be one of these beauties but unfortunately not. Gary has still not got over it! It was a pretty long journey with not much sleep but it did save us the cost of a night’s accommodation, which was handy. At the service station stop at 1.30am this girl off another coach must have seen her friend on our coach & came on board for 5 minutes of squealing & jazz hands, waking everybody who was asleep on board. Gary got the look of a serial killer & I think they’re lucky to both still be alive. Even now he’s still talking about making a voodoo doll of them!

Hervey Bay was worth the trip though. We’d heard it was a sleepy, retirement town (right up our street!) but it was pretty busy, possibly because of Xmas hols. Our accommodation gave us free bikes to go & explore. When I first got on mine, the pedal fell off, which was a grand start (it was like our Richmond bike ride all over again Della!). We headed along the beach to a shark museum that Gary wanted to check out. Museum is possibly a little over-zealous, as it was pretty much a large room but it was really interesting & had a frozen great white shark on display. The guy behind it thinks that the Oz government are trying to downplay shark attacks to protect tourism and from his stats and newspaper cuttings it’s hard not to agree. There were some horrific pictures of limbs that had been torn off. It has made me a little more weary of taking surf lessons now but given that I probably won’t get further than 2 metres from the shore, I should be safe! After this slightly morbid trip we cheered ourselves up with a visit to the ice creamery, which had over 75 flavours, imagine the challenge for someone as indecisive as me!

On our second day here we headed to Fraser Island for a day trip. Again, as it was only a day it was pretty whistlestop but great nonetheless. It’s a really unusual island as its all sand & yet has a rainforest & lots of lakes. We were on a 4x4 bus & hats off to the driver as driving in the sand over there, especially with hills & sharp turns, is ridiculously challenging. We saw lots of people getting stuck. We got to swim in two beautiful places, Lake Mackenzie & Eli Creek. We also went along 75 mile beach, which is stunning but you can’t swim because of sharks, Great Whites, Tiger, Bull (we didn’t want to end up as a case study in the museum!) There is a cool shipwreck on this beach that crashed in 1935 that we took pics of.

We were going to spend another night in Hervey but the accommodation had no space so it was a manic rush to pack up & get ourselves on the Greyhound to Rainbow Beach. At the risk of sounding repetitive, this is another gorgeous place & has a beach to rival Cottesloe or Rottnest. We also got to do one of my highlights of the trip so far here by feeding wild dolphins. There’s a place nearby called Tin Can Bay where the dolphins have been coming for years. They’re really friendly & come into the shallows to take a fish out of your hand. So cute.

There’s also an amazing sand dune called Carlos Sandblow in Rainbow Beach where you can sandboard (I ate a lot of sand!) & has amazing views over the beach and Fraser Island. It feels like you’re on an uninhabited planet up there, or in the middle of the desert, very weird.

That brings us up to date. Next stop is Noosa for Xmas, where the lovely Duck & Claire are letting us stay - thanks guys (beers are on us!)

Merry Crimbo, have a good one & keep in touch with all your news.

G & C xxx

P.S. We'll try to uplod some pics for this blog & the previous one when we have better internet

I’d like a pet cassowary!!

gcadventuresdownunder — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 21:25:00 GMT

G’day Everyone,

Gary here, cheryl has agreed to let me write an entry as long as I made everyone aware very early its me writing, now that disclaimer is out the way over to what we have been up to…..

We left alice and flew for 2.5 hours across austalia, I had the window seat on a clear afternoon and in the whole time looking out I did not see 1 town, 1 road 1 dirt track or any sign off life, it was just desert which i thought was pretty amazing. We arrived In Cairns and got on the shuttle bus along with all the other backpackers. We had the funniest / most un PC driver ever, my personal highlight was calling the south korean girl a north korean spy and showing the japanse girl pictures of his chinese wife on his iPad while driving!!!

Day 1 - we went for a walk along the esplanade and as always everything is clean and tidy and not vandalised like back home. We stopped to have a go on all the exercise machines that they have which are completely free to use, this lasted all of 10 minutes!. We then went for a swim in the lagoon.

Day 2 - we hired a car (well i say car it was a f*****g hyundai which pleased cheryl greatly) We drove to cape tribulation along the captain cook highway, the whole route had amazing beaches one side and the rainforest the other, the roads were winding up the hillside so at 1 stage you were beach level and the next you were in the canopy of the trees. We were rocking to the top 20 hits that the local station had compiled when dire straits came on much to our disgust and we had a laugh at my dads expense!! Along the route we kept seeing yellow warning signs for kangaroos but there was a warning sign for what we thought was emus, we thought this was weird but carried on anyway (more on this later) We arrived at our hut in the rainforest and got talking to some german guy called Robin, he joined us on a 6k walk to a waterhole, the lady in reception of the hotel had drummed it in to me that i had to turn left when i got to the river as if i turned right their was crocodiles!! We got to the waterhole with not too much moaning about my bad foot, bad leg, bad shoulder, bad back, bad blister and went for a swim, it was really nice. On route to the waterhole we came across a massive pile of well..crap it was only later that i discovered what it was. Now considering the amount of rubbish I watch on tv and nature programmes, why have i never come across the cassowary??! what a bird, it grows 2m, mostly aggressive and has killed humans with its knife like feet. I’d quite like to let one loose in langstone technology park http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/cassowary-terryfying-bird-earth/10022 sadly we didn’t see 1. That night we cooked dinner and hung around with a good bunch of people listening to the sounds of the jungle.

Day 3 - We drove back to cairns and stopped via port douglas, this had loads of cute cafes & restaurants but we didn’t fancy spending £18 for a sandwich so we walked for a while and found a cheaper cafe to buy a tea and muffin for chez who was becoming a mardy cow and was getting road ragey while driving!! We got back to cairns and slept the night before our diving course.

Day 4 - Great Barrier Reef - we booked on a dive and went out to the reef. It is so expensive compared to thailand, I think i could have 10 dives for the price of 1 here. However it was on my bucket list so off we went. Cheryl was in the beginner group for people who hadn’t dived before. I was with all the cool kidz who had qualified in the past :) and went and did my dive which was great, saw Nemos, Angle fish, a massive barracuda and loads of other stuff that you would expect. When I came back chez was waiting to go and looked like a ghost! fair play though she went in with 1 other tourist and a diver and they took them round and she was chuffed to bits 20 mins later when she had done it and she even said she had fun. I had another dive and saw loads of manta rays and some awesome clams and more reefs. Overall I would say the diving in thailand was better as the visibility was greater but I may do some more here in the whitsundays.

We ate out that evening, I had another Burger while watching the ashes and ignoring cheryl haha - all in all a great few days.

PS - if i get more comments than cheryl, I’m allowed to write again….!!!

Photos: Alice Springs

gcadventuresdownunder — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:31:00 GMT

Bear Grylls eat your heart out!

gcadventuresdownunder — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:09:00 GMT

Hello,

Hope all is well & dandy with you.

Wow, what a few days we've had. If you can't be bothered to read another epic post then here is a quick overview in numbers:
Miles driven: 869
Miles walked: 18.6
Litres of water drunk: 22
Litres of sweat lost: 32
Expletives uttered at flies: off the scale
Pictures taken: 264
Stunning views: too many to count
Pairs of sunglasses lost: 1
Hours listening to someone's life story: 5
Minutes spent checking our sleeping bags for bugs: 15
Kangaroos seen on trip: living 0, dead 3 (very disappointing)

We arrived in Alice Springs from Darwin on Thurs 5th Dec. We weren't sure if we were going to face delays as there was thunder & lightning when we arrived at the airport but luckily it cleared before the flight. Touch wood all flights have been on time so far. Gary wasn't happy as we were in the clouds for the whole flight so he couldn't see the ground (not sure exactly how that's going to prevent any problems but it makes him happier!)

We checked in to the YHA on arrival in Alice Springs. Pretty nice place. Good kitchen facilities so we made dinner there that night. Only slight downside was that there was a sofa outside our room, which made it the communal lounging area & there were a few people yibbing on until really late. The youth of today, no respect for their elders who need their sleep!!

The next morning is when the adventure began. We went & hired a car to drive down to Ayers Rock. We ended up with a ford estate rather than a hyundai, which Gary was pleased about (although he did get overtaken by a hyundai on our trip!). We callled the car skippy & he came fully loaded with camping gear. Yes that's right, Gary & I had decided to camp!

Skippy was an automatic, which I'd never driven before but given that it's 2 roads all the way to Ayers Rock, it wasn't too challenging although I did look to change gear whenever we slowed down. He also had cruise control, which is the greatest invention ever!

So off we went, rarely passing another car more frequently than every half hour on the way down. There are only a couple of gas stations on the way & they are proper outback. We also got to listen to some very interesting music on the local radio including a chipmunks song about Santa arriving in a pick up truck & an artist called Kimwat Diddy!

Our first stop was Kings Canyon. Stunning place. We did the full 6k hike there, which was a little sweaty in 34 degrees. You're supposed to walk it early but we did it at 2pm as we couldn't pick the car up any earlier than 8am & it's a 5 hour drive. The guide says that it's a challenging walk but I thought they were probably just being over cautious so that people didn't sue them but it turns out that it was pretty hard work. It starts with a really steep climb but luckily it does get easier after that & the good thing about climbing at the beginning is that you get to descend at the end. Unfortunately I realised at the bottom that I'd lost my sunglasses & we deduced that it was probably quite close to the end so we re-climbed the steep rock that we'd just walked down! Alas my sunglasses weren't to be found. Gary was actually very good about it & was up for walking back even further. Had the situation been reversed I would have had a proper rant & told him that he'd just have to burn his eyes & we weren't going back!

We then made our way to our first 'campsite', Curtain Springs, which is a cattle ranch with 1 million acres, yep 1 million - they do things big in Oz. I say campsite lightly as it was basically a field. However it was free so beggars can't be choosers. We didn't have a tent, but a swag which is basically a mattress in a tough waterproof bag that you sleep in, in sleeping bags. The beauty of this is that you get to see the stars & with no pollution or unnatural light, these were amazing. Our camping gear also included a gas stove so we had hot dogs for dinner. It was dark by the time we cooked these but luckily our gear included this ultra powerful light so that we could see what we were doing. The downside of this is that it attracted a lot of bugs, which are also bigger in Oz! We had a couple of moths fly into the gas flame who are sadly no longer with us! Several other weird things also died in the frying pan. The bugs would probably have normally bothered me more but I think I was just too tired to freak out (Gary had a few girly squeals though!)

We woke up pretty early as the sun was shining in our faces & the cockerel was making a proper racket (that's not a euphemism!) We headed off to Kata Tjuta (the Olga's) to do the valley of the winds walk there. This was over 7km & was described in the book as being more challenging than Kings Canyon. As it was earlier though it wasn't as unbearably hot. There is a lookout point there which has the most incredibly view, with huge rock either side & lush green forest in the middle. Well worth the hike.

That night we watched the sun set over Ayers Rock, or at least that's what we attempted to do but out of all the places we could have stood we picked a spot right next to the chattiest man in the world. I know I'm a talker but dear god, this guy spoke at us for hours. We could easily answer a q&a on his life story. Him & his wife then turned out to be staying in the place that we were going to have dinner so we enjoyed another few hours of his chat. In fairness he was harmless & he told Gary so much about Australia, which he was genuinely interested by. We also both got a free drink from him so guess that made it worthwhile!

The next morning we watched the sunrise at Ayers Rock, which was more impressive than sunset as the night before had been cloudy (and we'd been having our ears chewed off!) This did mean a 4.30am start for Gary on his birthday but he coped with it remarkably well. We followed this with the base walk around Uluru (Ayers Rock), which was fine but not a patch on the walks we'd done the previous 2 days (maybe we were just done with scenic walks though). We think Ayers Rock is something that is more impressive to look at from a distance. The walk around it is over 10k but as we were doing it super early the heat wasn't a problem. Later that day it topped 40 degrees & we both said we were glad we weren't walking it in that.

We then packed skippy up & headed back to Alice Springs. We were both shattered so had to battle to stay awake. Hilariously at the first gas station we bumped into our friend from the night before, so we had another chat!

As it was Gary's birthday we stayed in a hotel that night & had a room with its own bathroom & everything! That evening & the next day were pretty chilled as we waited for our flight to Cairns. We arrived in Cairns late last night & are going to head up to the rainforest in Cape Tribulation, check out Port Douglas & dive the Great Barrier Reef over the next few days so we'll fill you in on that in the next war & peace instalment!

Speak soon.

G & C x

P.S. For everyone that warned us about the flies at Ayers Rock, you really weren't joking. They are a nightmare. Thank god for our fly nets, the best £6 we've ever spent. We may have looked like idiots but without them I think we'd have developed a nervous tick by the end of it due to constantly swatting the flies away! For those of you planning to come here in the future, you have been warned!

Photos: Darwin

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 12:57:00 GMT

The Delights of Darwin

gcadventuresdownunder — Thu, 5 Dec 2013 11:52:00 GMT

Us again! Now that I've got this blog up & running I thought I'd better get another post in before I manage to break it. Thanks for your comments on the last post, I've written a reply back on there.

We've just left Darwin so thought it was the perfect time to fill you in on what we got up to there before I forget.

Darwin was baking, it was over 30 degrees every day with over 80% humidity. I managed to avoid having to do Monica from Friends hair braids but only just! It certainly warmed us up from our night at the airport.

On arrival there we checked in to a 6 person dorm at the YHA. It was 5 blokes & me, which might sound like the stuff of dreams but trust me it wasn't! There was stuff everywhere & 1 of them was a long term tennant who worked in construction so there were tools & dusty work boots/clothes strewn about the place. The desire to tidy up was overwhelming! These rooms also had an en-suite, which is pretty rare for hostels & you'd think would be a good thing but imagine sharing a teeny bathroom with 5 men. I also obviously had to change in here, which given the amount of floor space available was no mean feat. We'd only booked this room for a night as we weren't sure what tours we were going to do up here & after this we opted for a private double room, woohoo! It does cost more but it's so worth it. I said I'd rather go without food than continue staying in that room (think Gary knew that was an empty promise though!)

On our first day we went to Kakadu National Park & had a guide take us around there & point out the aboriniginal cave paintings, some of which are thousands of years old. Was pretty cool. We then went on a boat trip down Yellow Billabong River, where we spotted some crocs - you really don't want to mess with them. We learnt a lot about the aboriginal way of life & how they use various plants & animals. There were also these birds that mate for life & if the partner dies the other one commits suicide & because of this the aboriginals don't kill them for food.

Our second day was pretty chilled. We did some much overdue washing, you have no idea of the excitement of clean clothes! We also went to a great lagoon that they have here. You can't swim in the sea due to crocs potentially being there & also the huge number of jellyfish that can paralyse & kill you - not really a holiday experience we're keen to have understandably. The lagoon has a wave machine & these big rubber rings that you can ride the waves in. Was good fun.

To keep costs down we went to supermarket & bought food in so that we could eat at the YHA. The kitchens are actually really good, although Gary got annoyed as I started to clean up in there (it looked so much nicer after I'd wiped down the surfaces!) We got a bag of pasta & some pesto for $3, which fed us both twice, happy days & means more money for magnums & alcohol!

The YHA is on Mitchell St, which is the main road for bars & restaurants. There are some really nice ones along there. On our first night we had a roast dinner in one (so British!). I then saw a poster that it was the final of Miss Hawaiian Tropic in there that night, just what you need after you've stuffed a roast! They also have an amazing ice cream shop on this street, with loads of flavours & toppings that they mash altogether. Gary had white chocolate with oreos & I went for cookies & cream with a Freddo mixed in. As you can see food is playing a big part in our trip!

Yesterday we went to Crocosaurus Cove, which was really good. I had no idea how intelligent crocs are or that they live to about 130. They're also actually weirdly beautiful. We saw Burt who starred in the original Crocodile Dundee film (you can imagine how happy Gary was!). We got to feed young crocs & hold a baby one. They also had turtles, fish & reptiles. We missed the reptile holding time but I can't say I'm disappointed as some of them freaked me out. Before we came over here Gary had wanted to do the Cage of Death where you're in a tank that is put in the water with a croc but on arrival he wasn't sure if it was worth the money & having seen some people do it in there he's glad he didn't bother. Some of the crocs are obviously so used to it now that they're not interested & just lie there so you're basically just sitting in a tank of water looking like an idiot.

So that was our time in Darwin. We thought it was a really nice place & it was good to have a bit of chilled time to catch up on things. We flew to Alice Springs this afternoon & are planning to hire a car tomorrow morning to drive to Ayers Rock & Kings Canyon. It's basically just one road & they drive on the same side so shouldn't be too many dramas, although they won't let you drive at night due to hitting kangaroos or camels. Hilariously most of the hire car places offer Hyundais, which Gary is thrilled about driving!

Keep us updated with your news. Speak soon.

G & C x

We love WA

gcadventuresdownunder — Wed, 4 Dec 2013 18:26:00 GMT

G'day. Hope everyone's well. Sorry this first post has taken a while. I had some technical difficulties (shocker!) We've now ditched Off Exploring as it was being a pain & opted for this site instead so hopefully everything will work.

We had a great time in West Australia. We only had a week there but we managed to pack a lot in, which is probably why it felt like so much longer since we left the UK.

The flights over were really good, even Gary said he found them ok. I was kept entertained by Broadchurch, which I never got to watch on TV - so good. Gary recommends World War Z.

On arrival I whizzed straight through the electronic passport but Gary's wouldn't work so he had to queue & then be asked loads of questions about his visit. Not the best start for him!

Our hotel in Perth was really nice & in a good location, although they have free buses to get around the City, which is super handy - watch & learn UK! We'd paid for a nice place for the first couple of nights in case we had jet lag but luckily we were fine. The weather was great so we checked out Kings Park & Botanical Gardens, which were really nice with good views of the city. Northbridge is their main area for the evenings with bars & restaurants but the Sun & Mon nights we were there were pretty quiet. We also had no idea how early they stopped serving food (everyone seems to get up early but go to bed about 9pm) so the first night we ended up with a kebab! Gary was more than happy but there's a reason why you generally only eat kebabs when you're drunk! Not much chance of us getting drunk out here though, unless we buy booze in from a bottle shop as it's so expensive. Like £10 for a G&T & £8 a beer. A lot of places in Northbridge do special offers on food so we started hunting those out but they tend to be burgers & chips, which again Gary is thrilled about but I'm panicking about what 3 months of that will do - better book me in for 5 hour sessions now Lara G!

From Perth we moved on to Fremantle, where we stayed with a lady called Simmi that we found through airbnb (great recommendation Lara C). We stopped at Cottesloe Beach on the way, which was gorgeous. We did have to lug our backpacks with us, which I moaned about a bit (another shocker!) We also paid £10 each for fish & chips, I'm assuming the fish was famous like Nemo or something for that price!

I really liked Fremantle, very chilled. Gary was also a fan of the town but the place we were staying was about a 10 min bus ride away & he wishes we'd been closer. On Weds (27th Nov) we did a trip to Rottnest Island (or Rotto if you're a local - it really is true that Aussie's just add an 'o' to the end of every word!), which was amazing. Beaches easily rivalled the Carribean. It's car free so you hire bikes to get around. We cycled a lot of the island but probably not enough to burn off the limited edition white chocolate & strawberry Magnums that I found in the shop, happy days - there will always be room in the daily budget for them!!

From there we headed on to Margaret River, via a town called Bunbury. Stayed the first night with a lady called Ruth, another airbnb booking. Nice place but she had 2 cats who had collars with bells on & it was like a rendition of jingle bells as they ran around during the night! It did nothing to change our view on cats! She was also a total hippy having lived on a community for a while, so there was lots of tie dye, jossticks and buddha paintings. The josssticks didn't totally eliminate the smell of cats though!

They had a great pub there called the Settlers Tavern, which was very British & did the best bangers & mash (easily pleased!) although they call sausages snags. Gary, unsurprisingly, had a burger! It was open mic night but luckily the cost of alcohol meant that neither of us got drunk enough to give it a whirl!

The next day was officially my best day ever & even if I get married & have kids I think this will still surpass it! We did a wine tasting tour, which also included a visit to a chocolate factory with free chocolate. I reckon it must be what heaven's like! Margaret River is the main wine region on the west coast & we visited 5 wineries & did about 5-6 tastings in each. We also went to a venison farm (Kerry - I thought of you & Rich!) & a cheese factory, which was so yummy. Lester - we talked about you a lot as I think it would have been your dream day too, one shop even had homemade honey! Kirst - there was also a winery called Edwards so maybe check out if James has any family over here, would be a pretty cool thing to inherit!! There were 13 people on the tour, who were all really nice. One couple invited us to stay with them if we're ever in Atlanta so that's the next trip sorted!

Ruth couldn't accomodate us for our final night in Margaret River so she put us in touch with her friends Amanda & James (canadian and NZ) who are officially the nicest people ever. They have a great house on stilts in the forest (although a bit of a mission to find at night, thank god we bought a torch). We went out for a drink with them in town & the next morning Mandy cooked breakfast for us then took us on a roadtrip to find kangaroos (which we did, woohoo) & then on to this cute coffee shop overlooking the beach. Not sure Starbucks is going to cut it when we get back! The wine tour & staying with these guys made for a great Margaret River experience.

It was then on a bus back to Perth to fly to Darwin. The bus took about 4.5 hours but we slept for a lot of it, which was handy as that night we decided to sleep at Perth airport to save money as we were flying at 8.30 the next morning. Not an experience I'm in a hurry to repeat! I thought we'd be able to lie across a few chairs but they have individual metal arms (stupid idea) so that put paid to that plan. So we laid on the floor, which was pretty much bare concrete & so painful (it actually bruised me, which I know is easily done but still!). It was also freezing so we used Gary's 0.001mm thick microfibre towel to keep warm, how handy that was! At 1 point we woke to find the cleaner hoovering about an inch from our heads! Gary also got woken up by 2 people talking really loudly while everyone was asleep and that put him in a bad mood! Fun times but we did save $70, which is going straight in the G&T fund! Unsurprisingly we slept most of the flight to Darwin (only about 3 hours) but I made sure I was awake for breakfast, given the cost of food over here you don't want to miss a free meal.

Bit of an epic first post but that summarises our whole time in WA. Don't worry, they should be shorter from now on (no promises though).

You can check out a few pics from WA here: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A55yeZFhWjSAr. We did try to attach them to the post but Mac laptops are stupid and don't support it (so much for the end of my technical problems with the blog).

Speak soon. Please keep in touch & tell us what you're up to back home.

C & G x