End of Aus...
AUSTRALIA | Thursday, 3 May 2012 | Views [568] | Comments [1]
Hey all,
A very very late happy new year!! Hope this finds you smiling :). We thought it was about time to send an update on our adventures - as it's been such a long time it's in two parts - 1st the end of our Australia journey and 2nd our time in New Zealand. We have also updated our blog with these and some more pics - ENJOY!
Oh and before you get reading we should let you know that our journey is very nearly at an end ....we are heading back to the UK on 28th May after just over two years of being on the road ..scary but exciting....we can't wait to catch up with everyone....
PART 1.. END OF AUS!!
When we emailed last it was mid June and we were in Western Australia adjusting to life outside Gnaraloo station. It was amazing to be free of the toilet/bin duties but it was hard to get used to being back in civilisation so we began our 'freedom' with a few days on the Ningaloo Homstead (another sheep station!). We had an exclusive camping area right next to a gorgeous long empty beach which gave us some relaxed days consisting of little but walking, fishing, shell admiring and swimming. These few days also provided an unforgettable (and extreme giggle inducing) experience of using our 'loo with a view'. As a condition of staying on the station we had to hire a portable enviro-loo and not feeling too keen on putting it inside Doris a few days of scenic open air toilet usage ensued!!
As if we hadn't had enough of the laid back beach life we then occupied an absolute beach frontage camping spot - in what has become one of our favourite spots in all of Aus in - the beautiful Cape Ningaloo National Marine Park. We enjoyed some amazing snorkelling with sharks and rays in the crystal clear turquoise water, some awe-inspiring sunset viewing from the roof of Doris, and some fantastic wildlife spotting and gorge walking in the nearby national park and even managed to get our boards wet with a few days surfing in nearby Exmouth.
July was our marathon month of National Park visits. First we headed to Karijini National Park which turned out to be our top pick! Here we entered deep gorges; clambering over huge boulders and down rickety ladders set into sheer rock faces, we swam in swimming holes under gushing waterfalls, we traversed thin ledges above rushing rivers and waded through freezing cold water (which at times was neck deep) to reach eerily calm pools of stunning near navy water surrounded by towering rock faces. We were amazed by the abundance of water, life and beauty that was hidden away in these gorges given the expanse of otherwise dry baron land in the surrounding area.
We managed to squeeze in a few days in Broome surfing, sunning ourselves and sampling some refreshingly good beers at a micro brewery before taking a spectacular scenic flight in a small bi-plane over Purnululu National Park and the infamous group of rock formations known as the "bungle bungles" which are akin to huge stripy bee hives, and quite a sight.
Next we entered the Northern Territory and took a refreshing stop at Litchfield National Park- A large lush area of tropical rainforest where we did some challenging, sweat breaking hikes to be rewarded with cool swimming holes and beautiful waterfalls. We had a brief stop in Darwin where we experienced the local nightlife (involving Jo and a shopping trolley!) before taking in a cultural hit in Kakadu National Park. In Kakadu we visited the untouched natural beauty of Aboriginal owned Arnhem Land - we visited a remote aboriginal art community, learned the significance of rock art, heard the local dreamtime stories and viewed the not so friendly locals AKA the saltwater Crocs - This gave Jo the great enjoyment of re-living childhood days with a terrible rendition of the song 'never smile at a crocodile'!
On our last stop in Northern Territory we explored the amazing heart of Australia taking in Kings Canyon, Kata Juta (The Olgas) and Uluru (Ayers rock) on a 3 day tour alongside Germans, Malaysians, Canadians and Japanese. We slept under the stars in 'swags' (oversized sleeping bags made from wax jacket like material with a foam mattress at the base) in temperatures as cold as -5'C- thankfully accompanied by roaring camp fires. We were lucky to have an amazing guide and a great group and were humbled when visiting Uluru (Ayers rock) due to the incredible show of colour changes at sunrise and sunset.
Having nearly overdosed on National Parks we decided it was time to head east and look for a little more work to increase the now rather small 'bulge?' in our pockets. After a few days of driving through the outback we left the Northern Territory and arrived into Queensland where we had a pee stop at the 'Burke & Wills Roadhouse' (an outback service station) - it turned out this stop lasted a month! We worked as housekeepers maintaining 30+ "Dongas" (AKA porta cabins with beds!) which hadn't seen a duster in years!
A bit like Gnaraloo, Burke & Wills had its downsides (it was in the middle of no-where, there were crazy numbers of tree frogs to greet us in the toilets and the groundhog day feeling of the repeated tasks, food and surroundings), but it also had its perks; We worked with a great bunch of backpackers with whom we shared many nights socialising around camp fires, we enjoyed free adrenaline fuelled rides in 2 seater helicopters with no doors C/O the local cattle musterers (they took us high above the roadhouse and outback and seemed to genuinely enjoy scaring the **** out of us dipping up and down like a rollercoaster!), Jo enjoyed a top speed Harley Davidson ride thanks to some friendly bikers and we experienced some real Rodeos (with bucking bulls and horses) where we met local 'Jack' and 'Jill' aroos (cowboys/girls) where to Jo's immense pleasure she got to try on many many cowboy hats!
We left Burke and Wills in late August with and spent our first two weeks with an addition in the van - Francessco (one of the Italians we'd met at Burke & Wills). He introduced us to the skilful art of Poi, the advantages to supermarket bin-diving and how it's possible to spend 2 weeks sleeping on a roof of a campervan! The journey began more slowy than expected - Doris was producing some rather smokey 'love puffs' and failed to move for a day. A lot of head scratching and some automatic transmission fluid later we were on our way and arrived in Cairns where Doris was diagnosed with love puffs caused by old age and so the journey continued (Love puff a plenty!). We visited Cape Tribulation and Daintree (where the rainforest meets the sea) and were lucky to spot a cassowary in the wild. We continued south to experience the magic of magnetic island - seeing wild koalas and riding horses bareback into the sea. We enjoyed a 3 day 'scamper' adventure on the beautiful Whitsunday islands. This involved us being dumped on a secluded island equipped with a tent, kayak, our fishing gear and what we hoped were enough supplies to last until we were collected. Our 1st day of 'scampering'was a bit of a wash out- heavy rain all day- what else to do but polish off a 4 litre box of red 'goon' (AKA cheap **** wine!) this inevitably led to a day/night of carnage involving swimming in our suits of birth! The second day was full of tropical island activities; snorkelling, fishing and kayaking to a nearby beach to climb to the summit of the whitsunday peak to be blown away by the 360' views of the islands.
We left Francessco in Airlie beach mid September to make room for our next stow away ( ;) ). First stop was back to the doctors for Doris where she was thankfully cured of her embarrassing love puffs (a blown valve not old age!). We headed south; catching a wave in Agnes Water, witnessing the amazing grace and agility of a number of extremely inquisitive humpback whales in Hervey Bay, celebrating Jo's last year in her twenties in Noosa (disappointingly with no waves but happily with a new surfboard and free meal!) and enjoying Steve Irwins Legacy at Australia Zoo before collecting Colin -Jo's step dad - in Brisbane.
The month with Colin saw us pick up our pace, our beer, wine and cheese consumption, and the frequency of playing the wurzels song - Nelly the Bionic cow! It was a fun packed month of contrasts. We began on the river in Brisbane meeting an eccentric cruise ship spotter who was a ball room dancer - he said it was "the only sport where you can hold a woman, get between her legs and get a free dip"! Lovely North stradbroke Island followed with dolphin viewing and beach lazing. We passed through the monstrosity of high rises that is "surfers paradise" and caught the 1st of many rugby world cup games. We soothed our hangovers with a thrill filled day on the water slides at wet and wild (one of Mathews highlights of the east Coast!!).
Next we crossed into New South Wales where the lush green countryside of the hinterland provided a welcome relief and the hippies of Nimbin some entertainment (as well as some conspicuous smelling fumes!). We rode some waves in Byron Bay and caught up with some friends in Lennox Head. After a few more Rugby fixes we headed towards Sydney, stopping en route to view some impressive waterfalls. Sydney saw us enjoy a touch of class staying in a hotel in Darling Harbour and admiring the city lights in the rotating sky tower restaurant -cocktail in hand! We ticked the tourist boxes admiring the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge and heading to the legendary Bondi beach. We left Sydney to spend a day trekking in the divine Blue Mountains. We then took a whistle-stop tour through the less known beauty that is South East New South Wales - stunning countryside and long sweeping beaches occupied by just a few local roos!
We crossed the border into Victoria and watched a parade of very cute fairy penguins waddle up the beach at Philip Island before arriving into Melbourne where we managed to fit in a Yarra Valley Wine tour before boarding the Ferry to take us to the wonderful, amazing, beautiful Island of Tasmania.
The 6 days in Tassie were overwhelming in so many ways - the beauty, the friendliness of the locals, the quality of the food etc etc .. We could go on forever about why we would recommend a visit to Tassie to anyone but here is a short taste of why we loved it... Our tassie experience began with an unexpectedly exquisite meal on the ferry on our way across which gave us a real taste of the delights we had to come. Our 1st stop off the ferry was the beautiful Launceston Gorge - a stunning gorge occupied by peacocks and wallabies where we enjoyed breakfast with a great view. Lunch that day was at the Pyengana cheese factory - a homely place set admist the rolling hills of the countryside - some caluiflower cheese soup washed down with a glass of wine was just what the doctor ordered following our morning of Gorge visiting, mountain traversing and waterfall trekking. The stunning contrasts of white sand, turqoise water and huge burnt Orange Boulders of the Bay of Fires followed that afternoon and we spent our first evening in a secluded spot right next to the beach, keeping warm with a camp fire. The following day we headed to Freycinet National Park to attempt to get a peak of the infamous Winegalss Bay (one of the top 10 beaches of the world). The short but steep walk to the lookout was met with dissapointment as the lookout was closed and all we could see was a glimpse through the thick trees. Unsatisfied and undettered we decided to take the alternative route to get the view and attempted to reach the summit of Mount Amos. It was very very steep and more of a climb than a walk but we fought hard and made it - the views across wineglass bay, Hazards beach and the Freycinet Penninsular from the Summit were breathtaking. That evening we rewarded ourselves with some stunning steaks which we picked up en route from the Bicheno based Butchers 'Sir Loin! The following day we saw what Hobart had to offer enjoying the culinary delights, street entertainers and bustle of the salamanca markets and the amazing collection of Art at the newly opened and extremely modern MONA Art Gallery. Our last few days took us to the stuning setting and perfect waves of pirates bay, the amusing names of houses in 'do town', the ghostly atmosphere of the port Arthur historic site and the challeninng yet rewarding trek to the snowy slopes of Cradle Mountain. Back to Melbourne we headed south to Torquay for a day on the beach and some surf before saying adios to Colin and dropping him at the airport.
Our penoltimate week in Australia involved another sad goodbye - this time it was to our lovely Doris who'd been our home and transport for 12 months. We were pleased to be able to pass her onto a lovely belgium couple to continue her jounrney and provide more funfilled adventures. We spent our last week exploring the Great Ocean Road and enjoying the surf of Torquay and the infamous Bells Beach area.... on the 7th November we boarded a plane and left Australia to head to New Zealand ...so there it is... the Oz journney finito-d ...some wild and wicked times with great people in some of the most beautifull places in the world!
PART 2 - New Zealand to follow !!!
Ciao for now..
Jo and Mathew :) x
