After being told that our biggest journal fans were wondering where our write up on Australia was I am now shamefacedly writing it up a few months late.....Pete and Sheila, this one's for you!
As Oz is a very large place and we spent 7 weeks on the mainland this may also be another bourban biscuit and tea session, so get ready.
After getting fat and contented on Auntie Lyn's beautiful meals we alighted from the ferry at Melbourne onto mainland Australian soil. Fortunately, to cure us of our upset at leaving our new family, Kelly, Jon and Laura were at that moment on a plane from Trethomas to come and meet us for 2 weeks of crazy cross country driving from Melbourne to Brisbane.
Melbourne was fab and we did some touristy things like going up the Eureka tower and being shoved out of the side at the top in a glass box. Not good for the old vertigo. We then spent a day driving down the Great Ocean Road looking at the fabulous coastline and much travel sickness was had by all thanks to the Greenaway's hire car. Whilst driving along we saw lots of people stopped up on the side of the road and were amazed to discover about 4 koalas having a siesta in the trees above us. We were really luck to see them in the wild.
A tour to the Neighbours set was compulsory of course and after a slight mix up at Kels travel agent, me, Kel and Laura were also given a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The poor jet-lagged eight year old held up pretty well considering. The Neighbours tour was indeed cheesy yet fabulous and me and Kel worked ourselves into a frenzy deciding what to wear to meet the lovely 'Dr Karl'. Dr Karl was obviously having a day off the day we decided to go which was sooo disappointing but at least we got good pics of us at Ramsey Street, which is really really small when you see it in real life. A stop at Ned Kelly's last stand was also a must do and where we all bought matching cowboy style hats,
After many, many hours of driving our next port of call was Sydney where we stayed in an amazing campsite set in a nature reserve. We had a fab barbie and It was great for Laura to see a possum up close - until it bit her foot! The Opera House and Harbour Bridge were of course beautiful and a must do. It would have been nice to spend more time there but we were on a tight schedule and with me as nominated map nazi we needed to make progress, progress people!
So with Victoria and New South Wales crossed off the list it was on to Queensland and time to do some fun things for Laura who was feeling decidedly deprived of Gladiators and Pokemon. Sea World was the chosen fun filled destination and she had a fab time. This was the point where me and Mikey decided to give it all up and become dolphin trainers.....until the next cool thing came along. Kel and Jon paid for us all to have a helicopter ride over the Gold Coast which showed yet again how beautiful Oz is. A trip to Hooters Bar by Mike and Jon was also necessary apparantly, where they had to pay strange women in hot pants and tight tops to have a photo taken with them 'for charity you know'. At least me and Kel got a Hooters t-shirt out of it!
To finish off the trip the last day was spent at Australia Zoo, home of the famous Irwin family. The crocoseum and the show held in it were fab and it was so sad seeing Steve Irwin up on the big screens. Me and Kel got to hold a Koala too and he showed his appreciation all over my t-shirt. Nice. Mikey held a baby alligator aswell and much photo evidence was taken. After a long satisfying day Laura decided she didn't want to leave Australia, especally her new best friend uncle Mikey who she was attached to like glue and it was so sad to leave them at Brisbane airport the next day. We were treated to a posh hotel the night before and became babysitters for the night so that Kel and Jon could celebrate their wedding anniversary. A free hotel room was a fair exchange!
After a very sad goodbye with Laura sobbing in the check-in ailse and me and Kel being manly and holding back the tears, we were on our own again.
Being map nazi and location planner was hard work (work, what's work?) so we drove back to the Gold Coast for a little rest and some body boarding at Surfer's Paradise before headingfurther up the coast to Fraser Island. Most people spend a few days on the island which is the biggest sand island in the world but we opted for a day trip after hearing horror stories of constant rain and gigantic spiders. Once there we swam in the very cold but very beautiful Lake McKensie which is supposed to have the best exfoliating sand anywhere due to it being so fine it was like glass. Our tour guide recommended rubbing the sand all over yourself including your hair and we gladly obliged. It really does work you know, I dont think he was having us on...The island is also famous for having the purest bred wild dingoes in all of Oz and we saw one. It was just a dog really, but I wouldn't want to be in the way of a hungry one.
From sand to sugarcane as we moved onto Bundaberg, the place of one of australia's most popular drinks. Now, if it was whisky or the good old vods me and/or Mike would have been estatic. Bundaberg is famous for rum though which would have been fab for Mike's mum or cousin Nic (both heavy rum drinkers ;-) We did the factory tour anyway and got to sample the goods which wasn't all that bad after all.
Rockhampton, famous for its cowboys and bull rodeo, was the next stop where we saw many people in cowboy hats and got called 'darl' a lot. Lack of political correctness was the order of the day. A tour to the local crocodile farm was also necessary due to Mikey's obsession with anything that can kill or maim you and we got to hold a tiny baby crocodile and were taught how to avoid them in the wild as we were now in crocodile country. These instructions were of course twisted by Mike into 'how to FIND a crocodile' as he was desperate to see one in the wild. Typical. Luckily they are actually very hard to find so we were saved from having a limb dismembered on a jaunt by any rivers/streams or watery areas.
It was getting close to my birthday and after the skydiving extravaganza that was Mikey's birthday, I demanded something equally great. We found a cattle ranch/farm that did homestays in the outback and booked for 2 nights and 2 days. It was the BEST birthday I have ever had as we rode horses, for the first time for both of us, across the outback. My horse for the 2 days was called Betty and she hated me! While everyone elses horses were trotting away happily she insisting on showing up my new equestrial skills by refusing to budge several times. I'm sure I wasn't that heavy. Mike's horses Gadget and TJ were a lot better behaved though and Betty even perked up as we rounded up the cattle from one field and herded them back to the farm. Apparantly the bulls almost stampeded me as they were legging it towards the back of my horse but I remained very calm - I was too busy posing for photos to notice! We really enjoyed riding but dont think we will take it up as a hobby, having a big creature beneath you who could bolt at any minute was a little bit scary. My next birthday treat was to milk a cow, something I have always wanted to do. I have high goals in life, I know. It was definately not like helping a woman to express milk!! I was so upset when I couldn't do it straight away as it's a skill I pride myself on back in the Heath! to round off my day, mike had secretly helped the farmer's wife to make me a birthday cake which was lovingly decorated by him and brought out in front of everyone around the fire. FAB!
The farm was amazing and had a big outdoor campfire where the dinner for everyone was cooked each night in big pots over the fire. Each morning a wallaby and a young kangaroo took up residence in front of the fire and came for a cuddle if you had a nice cup of tea or some toast. Making tea and toast over an open fire with the kanga next to you was an unforgettable experience. We also learned how to lasso and fed the baby calves who head butted us in mistaken thinking that our delicate knee caps were their mother's udders! To continue with Mike's quest in eating weird and not so wonderful things - he ate a witchetty grub in a 'i'm not a celebrity get me out of here moment'. He claims that it tasted like wood! The farm stay was absolutely one of the best things so far and we felt so rested and immersed in nature and red dust that we didn't want to leave.
Townsville was the next stop and a visit to Mike's mother's cousin was also in order. It was lovely meeting even more family and hearing all the stories and history that go with it. A free lunch didn't go amiss either! Ken and Nell were lovey and we really wished we could have spent more time with them but we were off to the Atherton Tablelands. Here we wne to a place called Kuranda and found the didgeredoo that we had been searching for for weeks. It was just right and we can't wait to perfect our skills at it when we get back. So far we can make lovely loud parping noises from it, not the kangaroo jumping sounds the instruction book promised. In the town we also saw amazing aboriginal dancers and had pictures taken with them and explored their beautiful art galleries.
The quest for crocodiles then continued up to Port Douglas where we at last saw some in the wild with the help of a tour guide and a sturdy boat. The archer fish were even more fab as they came to the surface and squirted us in the face!
Cairns was our last stop in Bernie and where we were to leave him at the airport to be picked up by a friend of Rob and Lyn. Sob.
Whilst there we took a tour boat out to the Great Barrier Reef and Mike scuba dived and we both snorkelled. We saw really big sea turtles and swam with them which was again absolutely amazing.
So after waving farewell to Bernie, our new best camper and friend, we took the plane to Alice Springs to visit Uluru/Ayres Rock. With a 5 hour drive there then back it was a long old day but worth it. The rock was as beautiful as it looks on tv and we got some fab pics as we watched the sun set whilst having champagne and a BBQ. An amazing end to our Australian adventure as we left the next day for Singapore.
My hands hurt now, sorry it's a long one!
