I got the early greyhound from the airport to Brisbane city saving another $11 by not taking the skytrain. Then I had 2 hours to kill until my next greyhound to Airlie Beach so went food shopping. I found Coles after a disappointing woolworths metro didn’t have any bargains. Coles was great as an item in my basket was incorrectly priced and the assistant said under the policy I get it for free. Woo hoo as this happened 3 tines altogether. She was very apologetic but I was well happy with my free stuff. Then I spent another 30 minutes making my sandwiches outside the court house ready for my overnight coach.
It was an uncomfortable night on the coach and the next morning my feet were swollen. At least my accommodation let me check in at 8am and that was amazing. The setting of Magnums was in a jungle. I went over budget slightly for my own room with shared bathroom. Loved the free stuff in the kitchen and bought some more food at woolworths and coles. Spent the day just exploring this lovely little town and was looking forward to a swim in the beautiful ocean. I realised nobody was swimming in the sea but there were some people sunbathing. Then I saw all the signs about stingers and how it hurts and possibly even dangerous enough to kill you. At least the man made beach was the next best thing. I walked along the coast all the way to the town of Cannonvale. I watched a beautiful sunset and went to bed early as the last 2 nights without a bed definitely caught up with me.
After a well deserved rest and my feet shrank back to normal, I’m totally looking forward to my sailing trip to the Whitsundays. My boat is called the Spank Me. It’s a previous racing boat and Spank Me Racing was the racing term used and when it retired, it was sold and brought back to Oz where they kept the quirky name. It has nothing to do with snm.
Our skipper was Lachie, typical Aussie bloke, fuck yeah after every briefing and smoked too much. He knows his stuff and took to us to all the great places at the right time. I had Whitehaven Beach, the most famous beach in the Whitsundays all to myself I was first up and first on the dinghy, nobody else was and so he took me anyway. I loved it! Even the lookout walk and views was all by myself. Not a crowd in sight. My Spank Me group eventually joined me but I was so grateful for the time alone. Then there was his first mate, best mate and probably girlfriend, Kate who was Irish but makes the best damn beef curry. Finally Toby the apprentice deckhand at 17 years old who can cook, clean and do all things boaty. My Spank Me group was 27, me included of all 20 somethings. We were all in a shared space for everything. Luckily my bunk was the bottom one and was also called a double which I had to myself. I barely fit in it so the ones with 2 people sharing it must have been a tight squeeze. We had two snorkeling stops and both had incredible coral and sealife. Turtles all over the place. Our other stop which in my opinion is the best is Betty’s Beach and Hill Inlet. It was amazing. The views when the tide was going out was simply stunning. The beaches were pristine and with great timing we practically had it to ourselves. I swam near sting rays and lemon sharks. I took so many photos I was even chased by one of those lemon sharks. It was an awesome 2 days and 2 nights at sea. I had one more night in Airlie Beach before heading back up north to Townsville to continue with my Northern Territory trip to Central Australia trip before Nauru Airlines interrupted my programme.
My knee was playing up after all those stairs going up and down to the lookout points. I rested it for the whole day and then arrived in Townsville late afternoon. My free pick up from civic hostel didn’t turn up and the room I booked directly on their website didn’t exist at that price. Townsville isn’t looking good at the moment. I ended up in a 4 bed mixed dorm not ideal but it’s a nice and very clean white hostel. Townsville isn’t anyone’s final destination as everyone comes here only to leave for Magnetic island and I’m no different. I didn’t realise this but there are two ferry companies in Townsville. Luckily I checked the day before.
After loading up on a day’s worth of food, drinks and snacks, I walked 30 minutes to the Magnetic island ferries, not sealink. Next to each other but separated by the river. It was approximately 35 minutes to Nelly Bay. Everyone who gets off either heads to Horseshoe Bay or Picnic Bay. I was going to walk as much of the island as possible but the knee said no!! Luckily for me Queensland buses are 50 cents a ride or $1 day ride pass exists on the island. So why walk when you can ride all day and as many times for a dollar. I went to Horseshoe Bay first. It’s a nice enough town busy with the Sunday market. The beach is the same everywhere, full of marine stingers. So not much swimming going on unless the netting is out. After a couple of hours pottering about and reading, I took the bus to Picnic Bay. Now this was so much nicer and quieter. They had a very long pier. There was also the esplanade with amazing huge, old haunting trees. I found my spot at the end by the huge boulders. I saw amazing birds. After a couple of hours I got the bus back to Nelly Bay for the 4pm ferry back. I had an hour to kill so saw on Google maps saying rock wallaby. I walked to the point thinking there’ll be a statue of some kind. I actually wanted to get closer to the eagle flying low and then I swear a sting ray jumped out of the water and fell in again. If it was a bird then it never came back up. It was almost a square shape that leapt out of the water. Suddenly right there on a huge boulder I saw a rock wallaby. I couldn’t believe it. He was just sitting then walking a bit and eventually hopped away into the rocks underneath me. It was fabulous. I even saw him again as the ferry went past. He was far away but he was definitely back on the rocks. It was a relaxing and easy day. Just what I needed as it was a 4 30am wake up for my next greyhound to Tennant Creek and Wauchope.
The toilet experience in the Northern Territory this time around was basically a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Andy has to pull the leaver covered in bugs or Indy and Short round dies. Well I was Andy trying to flush the toilet and then coming out screaming trying to get bugs out of my face and hair. It was a traumatic pee. From Tenant Creek luckily it was an hour’s wait before the greyhound to Wauchope. I fell asleep and woke up 10 minutes after the arrival time and freaked that I had missed my stop. It was the first time greyhound was a little late but only 10 minutes. It then pulled up in front of the motel and just as the owner said his wife came out to greet me. It was dark and the only light was on the front of the hotel. The bugs were persistent here too. The owner met me and showed me to my single room. The hotel isn't like a hotel. It is actually a bar and restaurant with land at the back with lots of cabins added on. The single room was in a block of what looked like a portacabin set up. At least the shower and toilet blocks was next to my room. The place was pitch black except for lights to show the toilet. I went straight to bed. Plus there's a ton of bugs...they're everywhere and on me. The next morning I was finally getting to see where I am staying. I've always wanted to stay somewhere just like this. I was prepared for the remoteness, the heat, being in the middle of nowhere not being able to go anywhere without a car, the actual Devil's Marbles being a 40km round trip away from the Devil's Marbles hotel and possibly hitch hiking but I didn't expect all the bugs. This place is just like in the movies except the people running the hotel bar restaurant are an Aussie couple, Vietnamese barmaids, Filipino cook and a Sikh couple. Very international. My next mission was to get to Devil’s Marbles which weirdly 40kms round trip away from the hotel. Well I didn't hitch hike but I put the word out to the staff in the morning that I was looking for a ride to the marbles and back....willing to pay. By noon I got my ride. One of the staff was leaving so she had to get stuff at Tennant Creek 120 kms away but also wanted to see the marbles before she left...so result. Justina is leaving to go work on a farming station in Queensland and she didn't want paying just some ice cream. She even had a fridge freezer in her truck...bring on the cornettos! Oh, the marbles were fabulous by the way even with the temp nearing 50 degrees Celsius when my phone died. The bloody flies were a nightmare, so annoying. Apart from the pesky flies a pretty awesome day. My last few hours before my greyhound comes at 2.40am so checking out the wildlife on the compound. The birds in the hotel backyard are bloody noisy but much prefer them to the bugs. I went for a swim in the pool but was constantly hit in the head by crickets, locusts, huge alien type evil looking wasps, flies, moths the size of birds, stick insects and God knows what else. I just ran to my room. When I had showers and didn't realise moths like to hide in the curtains and as soon as the shower goes on, they all fly into me while I'm naked and wet so they get stuck to me. Wtf! Even the toilets are a nightmare. Then on the last night I go to the toilets, it's dark so I put my hand inside the wall to feel for the switch and touch something not bug like but bigger. As soon as the light goes on, a load of bats fly out and one twats me in the head. I can't fucking believe it. Bats!!!! Then it was time to get the fuck out of Wauchope which according to greyhound only at 2.40am. The long dark walk to the bus stop was a pain. I had to put the torch on so I could see but too many bugs landing on my face so just walked in the dark. Then the place to wait outside the hotel was so brightly lit there were more bugs so I just stood on the road in the dark. The relief when I saw a bright light from the high way and seeing the big red bus. Woo hoo! Greyhound remembered to pick me up.
5 hours later and I'm in Alice Springs at 7am. Luckily Alice's Secret Travellers Inn gave me a code to enter the hostel and hang out. $38 a night in a caravan with 3 single beds cramped in and it's very pinky purple. The place is so hippy kitsch it's almost annoying. It's only a night so it's all good. While waiting for official check in, I went exploring downtown Alice which has the highest crime rate in Australia. Lots of signs about no alcohol, saw the flying doctor museum, the jail, the weird hand, did a tiny climb up to Anzac Hill for the so so views, lovely birds even had a chance to go scrumping for lemons...mmm lemonade.
My tour of Uluru was the next morning. Journey to the centre of the centre starts at 5.30am. Saw another lovely sunrise and joined my group for 3 days tour. Erldunda is the centre of Australia apparently. It was definitely busy with road train traffic. Saw loads of emus too. Our next stop was a farming station so big it's the size of Belgium. The owner of this land is the guy who decided to put a chain railing up Uluru and charge people to climb it way back in the 50s. He didn't even own that land. He does own Curtain Springs along with a Mount Connor known as Fuluru as people used to mistake it for Uluru. The actual Aboriginal owners tried to stop people from climbing their sacred rock. Well the Aboriginies who owns Curtain Springs aren't even allowed to visit their sacred mountain. Severin refuses to allow them on HIS land. He says it's private property. The Aboriginal people as well as the government are waiting for his lease to end which is in 15 years where they won't renew it and finally be able to turn the land into a national park. Peter Severin you utter cunt...give them back their land! We arrived in camp Yulara for lunch and time to settle in and get used to our swag camping. It's a bigger and more sturdy sleeping bag for outside conditions. I'm fine with it and will try anything once but at the back of my mind....bugs!!!!!!! Then it was off to our first visit to Katja Tjurta meaning many heads. Beautiful place but super hot at 48 degrees Celsius. My brain is boiling. Then we headed to the viewpoint for the Uluru sunset. The rock was on one side and the sunset on the other which made the rock look redder and redder by the minute. Saw a cool lizard too a baby Perentie. Then it was back to camp for a bbq and an early night in our swags. Surprisingly no bugs but a gazillion stars to look at. Even saw a shooting star. Brilliant day and night. Early night as we're getting up at 3.50am. We started at 5.20am for our walk around Uluru. Remember you cannot walk on the rock anymore. Australia finally listened to the Aboriginal people and it was forbidden from 26 Oct 2019. The walk is beautiful especially with the sunrise. We walked earlier to avoid walking during the hottest time of the day. You can cycle and segway around it too but the segway people look like twats though. This walk is pretty cool and it's flat all the way so woo hoo. The walk around the base of Uluru is just under 10kms and it's all flat. I've never realised that Uluru isn't just a dome looking rock. It's a lot more interesting around the back. It's the largest single rock in the world. The parts that we couldn't take photos of really reminded me of Darth Vader's helmet. Even the rock with the big mouth reminds me of Jabba the Hut. All very Star Warsy. I loved it! We had some spare time between lunch and our drive to King's Canyon. So we visited a camel farm. There are more camels in Australia than anywhere else in the world. So they use it as meat, riding tours around Uluru and exporting them to other countries. The camels are Afghan camels. Our next destination was King's Creek Station for our next swag camping. King's Canyon is just around the corner for our walk tomorrow. Saw a dingo as well but no snakes here yet which is concerning with the swag camping. It's an earlier start too waking up at 3.40am so early to bed. Luckily it's forecast for rain so we all got upgraded to a tent...woo hoo!!!!!
Omg the walk along King’s Canyon Rim was a nightmare because of all the flies. They’ve been a pain the last couple of days but these fuckers are relentless. They just won’t leave me alone. The start of the walk is 25 minutes all the way up and that’s when the flies were at their worst...no wind. They’re all over me. Once we were higher it got better and so did the views. Film fans, Priscilla’s Rock is here. We learned that many people have died here. A man was struck by lightning and died instantly. A ballerina tried to do a ballet jump across a gap and didn't land, badly broke both her legs and died a few days later.. A girl walked down a ledge for a photo moment at a popular selfie spot and fell backwards, got stuck in a tree screaming in agony for 5 hours and then died. A lady went swimming in the pool at the Garden of Eden but it was so cold, she couldn't move, her family tried to help her but she just sunk to the bottom and her body was never found and she is presumed died. All the other deaths are from heat exhaustion, sun stroke and dehydration so while in the national park you must have 1 litre of water for each hour you intend to walk. I'm carrying 4 litres and I think it's fecking heavy. My guide Sophie, is carrying 13 litres extra for us so nobody in our groups dies. Just like that, my time in this part of the Northern Territory is over. I head back to Alice Springs and treated myself to my own room £30 a night because I really needed it after 3 days camping. This place is fully self managed with an electronic receptionist. You type in your name and the key pops out. Pretty cool system. At first I thought I had a minibar in my room but upon checking it was just stuff leftover from the last resident. I gave away the large rum and raisin dark chocolate bar as it's gross to me but kept all the fizzy drinks. Kombucha and ginger beer aren't my go to drinks but it's fizzy and it's free. Happy days and now it's time to chill for a couple of nights. I couldn't stay in bed all day so went for a walk to the very famous and historical Telegraph Station. It's very interesting and very cool that this was their so called Internet back in the day. It's definitely not cool about the children born of Aboriginal and white parents and how they were treated as experiments by the government. Who the fuck experiments on children except the Nazis of course. Failure on every aspect of the highest level by the Australian government. After the Telegraph Station I picked a trail to go exploring. It was hot but I'm glad I persevered as I saw a kangaroo. He was huge. I was so excited my video is so shaky. Ecstatic seeing them in the wild. I tried following him but I couldn't or shouldn't go off the path because of all the snakes. After Trigg Hill I continued to walk further and saw more kangaroos. This was mother and baby. I was wary about being in their way but stayed on the path as instructed by all the signs. The baby hopped across me earlier as it got spooked but mum hung around to see where I was going I guess. It was a you go first, no you go first type of situation. It looked like she wanted to use the same path, so I waited a good 3 minutes in the hot sun before she hopped off after the baby before I continued my walk. Then I continued back along the Todd River into town. This river and most rivers in the Northern Territory are upside down rivers. No water on the top but plenty underneath it. You dig and there's water. Pretty cool. What's cooler is I saw another mother and baby kangaroos. It was amazing. I'm glad I got out of bed this morning.
