Australiasia

Since we arrived in Melbourne in March, we have been looking for jobs and setting up our new house. It’s winter here now, so funny as its still around 200 C which isn’t much different from a warm spell in London. So we’re not fairing too badly in the so called cold. As always the shortened days and lack of travelling has made me a bit cranky. So Michelle and I decided to take a road trip on the long weekend. Can you believe that they have a public holiday here for the Queen’s Birthday? How weird is that! We only get on when it’s a special birthday…I think she’s 100 at the next one.

Anyway, we decided to rent a car and drive the great ocean road & the Grampians. The great ocean road runs along the Victorian coast from Torquay to Port Fairy.

Melbourne – Apollo Bay(189km)

Well the hardest part of the journey was actually getting out of the city. But once on the highway we decided not to follow the map and just follow the road signs and see where we end up. Generally how we handled the 4 days. The countryside is just gorgeous once you get out of Geelong.

First stop was a beautiful lighthouse set in the cliffs. If you ever used to watch a programme called around the twist, you’ll know exactly what I mean. I used to love that programme when I was a kid. Then back in the car along to Apollo Bay.

Can I also just mention that there are signs almost ever 300m with various lookouts. By the end of day two we just stopped looking at them, so apologies for all the random photos, but it’s real pretty.

We arrive in Apollo Bay early evening and it’s really similar to Byron Bay outside of Sydney. Due to the winter weather it is relatively quiet, and in true UK style we have fish and chips for dinner opposite the beach front. Our hostel was really lovely, YHA Eco-Lodge and very plush with open fires. The funniest thing was that there were no people out age staying there, which is a first for us so far. It’s full of lovely old ladies on a walking holiday. They are really funny, and in the morning caught a few of them in the bathroom putting their makeup on! Im not even that bad, seriously no one to around to impress!

Apollo Bay – Port Fairy (200km)

Port Fairy is a very happening town with tons of music festivals and arts fairs going on most weekends. There was a live music festival on the weekend we were there. On the way we stopped to view the sky tower deck. This deck sits in the centre of a rainforest walk and stands at around 47 meters above ground level. As always the scenery was gorgeous, so nice to be back in nature. Im not sure if im going to cope with the city of London as I did before. Even Melbourne seems so distant from greenery and it’s nothing compared to London.

The heart rate certainly went up a few notches walking up the steep spiral staircase to the top. It was really interesting to feel how my body reacted. Michelle and I spent so many months doing this sort of thing every day that we hadn’t noticed our fitness levels go up. Now we’re back working at a desk all day, the heart was going for it and my leg muscles we like jelly once we reached the top. I can’t imagine now going back to Noosa and trying to canoe for 3 days straight…oh dear!

Back in the car and a visit to the 12 apostles, these rocks looks like someone just plopped them in the sea, the weather was perfect today. Cold but really bright, the water is such a clear blue. We’re definitely going to have to come back and visit some of the beaches here once it warms up again.

Next stop after and hours drive or so is Warrnambool whale watching deck. It was absolutely freezing by the time we reached here; the deck goes right out into the sea. Beanies on our heads, gloves and scarves and coats, hot chocolates and a biscuit we patiently waited to see some whales and their babies… 45 mins later frozen and whale-less back in the car to head to our hostel in Port fairy.

This place is so funny! It’s a really quaint little town, this is the long weekend and according to the locals it’s busy! There is no-one here! Thankfully another open fire in the pub, we chatted away to the bar man, who seemed happy to have a few customers. The hostel we stayed at that night used to be a primary school, and was a bit spooky to be honest. Especially as it was just outside the town in the middle of nowhere and Michelle and I were the only 2 people staying there. We couldn’t get out of there quick enough in the morning…lol.

Port fairy – Halls Gap (188km)

The drive to Halls Gap much like the rest is full of lovely spots to stop and have a walk around. Halls Gap would have to be my favourite town so far this weekend. It’s very similar to a ski resort in layout. Lots of lovely restaurants, bars, shops all set in a basin and surrounded by mountains. There are a decent amount of people here and loads of trails to follow.

We decided to take the 2km walk to Venus Ponds before we check in. The ponds are formed from pooled freshwater which cascades down the mountainside. The people here are so friendly and encouraging, as the walk is quite steep.

A quick note for anyone who decides to visit. Always book a table for dinner as soon as you arrive as the number of people outnumbers the restaurants. We had to drive to another town to have dinner.

So that’s a quick round up of the weekend

I can't believe its mid February already! Spent a few days in Brisbane just realxing, hitting the shops...naughty! and catching up on some sleep. From BrisVegas we travelled to a small town called Noosa. Noosa is just stunning... my second favourit place in Australia so far. A bit more expensive than Byron Bay, but very cute. Loads of beautiful beach, rainforest and plopped down in the middle are small boutiques, great restaurants and coffee shops to read your book in...and just an hour from Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo...which was so cheesy it's unbelieveable.

Michelle and I loved it so much here that we stayed a full week, also because we couldn't get onto out next trip until then end of the week too. we got ourselves ready for a 3 day kayak tour of the Noosa Everglades. We were picked up around 8am... such a shock, not used to these early mornings! Everyone already on the bus were really friendly and we ended up having a really nice group of people on the trip.

We were taken by speedboat to the Noosa information centre, where we were shown what to expect from the local wildlife and how to use the Kayaks. Neither Michelle or myself realised we wouldn't have a tour guide or the amount of Kayaking that we would actually be doing! We were shown how to use the paddles and pack our stuff into the Kayaks. Looking back we had a great time and laughed so much it hurt...but it was really hard work.

Day 1 - Kayak from info centre to campsite (yes i forgot to mention the camping part...hmmm)

This was 6km of paddling with a kayak fulll of camping gear, clothes and food for 3 days...lol. To say the least we weren't at all impressed. It was 2 hours of paddling upstream, thankfully we chose to go directly to camp and not to visit the lake on the way...otherwise i don't think we would have made it. The everglades are amazingly beautiful but for 2 girls from the big smoke it was quite a shock to the arms. Michelle has been an avid camper with the family over the years, but I was a camper virgin and pretty put off at the lack of facilites...we had toilets..lol. So we all put up our tents and started on our dinners in the bush. The bugs out there simply love a bit of Anegative blood as I was getting eaten alive...had to put on a pair of leggings with yoga pants ove the top, a hoodie to cover my arms and walking socks with flipflops to stop the blighters getting through...not my most attractive look but what can you do? As you can imagine the next few days were similar, with the second day totally about 24km of hiking and kayaking. After 3 days we were absolutely knackered but still laughing and we all went out for a well deserved drink that evening.

We arrived at Rainboe beach, nothing there...nothing at all!!!! ahhhhhhhhh! Anyway thankfully only one night here before heading to fraser island. That night our hostel was like an oversized tent...pretty cool, but the weather took a turn for the worst and we woke up to gail force winds and terrential rain! I thought, they couldn't possible send us in that weather...but they did. 11 off us set off to Fraser in the oldest 4x4 you ever did see.... soooooo funny. So we braved the rain and had a good day looking at the ship wreck and eli creek. We started to set up camp for the night on the beach... on the radio we had a weather update of monsoon rain and 90km winds. That's right people little old lisha was camping on the beach in those conditions...it was hilarious and luckily there were 3 off us in the tent otherwise we would have blown away. Unfortunatley Fraser Island didn't get much better! the weather continued for the 3 days we were there and michelle and i had to sleep in the 4x4 as our tent was leaking. Lake Wabby and Lake McKenzie we fabulous but the weather spoilt our time there. Am very tempted to go back and do it again...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18918&l=b96af&id=506583035

Extremely earlier on the 19th we got on the oz experience bus...er hello 6am! We haven't had to do that in a very long time. Was very funny getting on a bus with all these strangers, especially at that time in the morning. It wasn't until we stopped for breakfast a few hours later that we all introduced ourselves. So the bus we're on is heading up the east coast and after a few hours of driving we got to our first stop "Surf Camp".

Yes, we were thrilled to be stopping at surf camp, I wasn't too fussed about the surfing but Michelle was really excited to give it a try. We pulled up at this place whic I can only describe as HELL!!! The place was like a shack, whic can only be described as wasteland, with a very small and unclean beach on one end. It stunk of sewage, the rooms were so packed with people it was gross. The only blessing was, due to the amount of people, 6 of us from the bus got to stay in a teepee for the night! So much fun, bigger than the dorms and clean! Long story short we all went to chat and await dinner....2 or so hours later we were served up a feast of a mini burger and some bread! hmmmmm not going down too well with us ladies let alone the guys on the bus. All in all Surf camp was a massive waste of time and we couldn't wait to leave... thankfully only one night there.

Back on the bus the next morning around 11am, with hearts hopeful that Byron Bay will rid us of the memory of Surf Camp! We pulled into Byron... thank you lord! I love this place... its so pretty and quaint. Really small town filled with cool shops, lovely restaurants and a really nice beach. Michelle and I decided to stay for 4 days ...i think! everyday seems to meld into one and I can't believe its really 8 weeks since i left home. If i knew I could get some work, I'd definetly contemplate staying there long term. the hostel was pretty basic, but we met some really funny people, especially the boys we shared our dorm with. They just made us laugh so much, we have even ended up travelling with Pete a bit more. I cant even put into words how beautiful this place is...go visit...i love it so much.

Next, back on the bus to Surfers Paradise...this place is hilarious... its like Miami on speed. The hostel is really nice, very homely and small, everyone goes out together in the evenings. So if you ever go to Surfers, you must stay at the Surf n Sun Backpackers, tv's and 500 movies to choose from to help aid the hangovers from the big nights out. We were taken out by some of the guys from the hostel, 80 of us from our hostel went as well as 8 pther hostels. Funny enough I met a guy that used to live in Worcester park, and I know his cousin...small world! We had amazing days out at Sea World & Wet n Wild. Surfers is good fun, but too much like being in London so we only stayed a couple of nights. Of course we had to go to the hard rock cafe for dinner...it would be rude not to... before we get back on the bus to Brisbane aka Brisvegas!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17716&l=6b5f2&id=506583035

Okay so the real travelling now begins... with stays in hostels rather than our lovely Sydney apartment, but all is good. We took the train from Central Station and arrived at katoomba in just over 2 hours. It's bright and sunny. thankfully, after dropping out bags at the hostel (pretty clean!) we desiced to head for a wonder to find the 3 sisters.

The 3 sisters are a group of rocjs tha stand together and form part of an old Aborigional fairy tale. So beautiful, so crazy rthat these rocks and lush forests are just 2 hours from the city. This was the begining of a few days of much bush walking and exploring. the walk from the main high street to 3 sisters take about 30 mins, at a slow ramble, much of which is uphill...flip flops not advised! Better prepared on day 2 with our walking shoes firmly on, michelle and i head to Echo point and walk the bushtrail to Katoomba cascades and then onto the Katoomba railway. All in all about a 15km walk in the lovely sunshine, good old (new) shoes no blisters or pains the whole time... apart from our slightly aching legs. We gave ourselves a little leg rest and some food for our bellies in the lcaol tea shop, it really should have been in the depths of devon! We had a lovely afternoon tea with scones and jam and then headed back to the hostel for a rest. That evening, after our disco naps..ok my disco nap..michelle read her book! i awoke to the Katoomba eco system letting rip! terrenchial (is that spelt right?) rain anda fod to put the hounds of the baskervilles to shame slunk into every corner of the village... quite beautiful I thought, wrapped up in my duvet.

Next morning the weather was pretty much the same, which didn't really matter as we were off to the Jenolean caves and would be inside the caverns for the best part of the day. Our poor thighs thought the walk from the day before was a shock, then to find out that the firtst cave had 981 steps...ahhhhh. Our guide admitted that the first 10 mins was the worst! he wasn't kidding! walking up the steepest steps i have seen in my life, heart pounding apart to jump out of my throat! it was pretty hard work...but everyone is in the same boat and putting on a brave face until you get to the first platform stop...that's the hard bit outta the way. From then on its pretty amazing formations of rock and sparkling white crystal all around. Just an amazing place with a brilliant energy that knocks you off your feet and makes you feel pretty insignificant compared to the rest of the world. Totally amazing. after the Lucas cave in the morning the Orient cave was dead easy at 348 steps... I can't wait to have an excuse to go back and explore some of the other 320 caves they have. We both slept very well that night and were expecting some serious aches and pains the next morning! This is where I have to give Peter the old personal trainer a big hand of applause as Alisha Waterman awoke and flinched expecting some serious repercusions from the past 2 days walking, trekking and uphilling and not a twinge at all...thank god!!!!!

So anyway, back on the train to Sydney for one night before we board out tour up the east coast...

Happy New Year

So Michelle and I arrived in Sydney around 7pm on the 30th Dec, flight and airport went smoothly. Even if Avalon airport is literally a tin shack in the middle of nowhere. It's so funny, to be at such a small airport. It had 2 boarding areas and that's it. You even have to tidy your own area before you get off the plane as they don't have time to clean between flights.

We got a taxi to the harbout to pic up our new year tickets and the place looked pretty good...yay! then back in the cab to the apartment. I have to admit, its really nice just to stop and have somewhere to call home for a couple of weeks. the apartment is lovely, more than we imagined and in a really good location (Ultimo), its about 10 mins walk to the city centre and the central train station, monorail and light rail all run right around the corner.

On our first day in Sydney we just had to be real tourists and find the harbour bridge and the opera house. The city is just stunning, i really like it here, so clean, warm and loads to do. A really good mix of cultures and we're round the corner from China Town...yummy! So we head back to the apartment for a disco nap before getting ready for new year. Michelle's cousin and her friend came to stay for a couple of nights, which was nice. We met thier friends also, that had been travelling the east coast and Thailand. A few cocktails at Cargo Bar, some hip shaking and then it was midnight. The fireworks here are fab and we went outside the club to watch. As well as the Sydney Harbour one's, they has smaller shows going off similtaneously down the harbour. Just gorgeous. A few srinks later, a much needed nightime McDonalds and a slow walk home on sore feet... just a normal Saturday night...lol.

Sean, Angie & Nathan have also come down to Sydney and are staying with family in Manly. Michelle and i went up for the day. The beaches here are amazing also, but we have had some freaky weather and couldn't swim because of the rough water. Shame as it has been really warm here around 28 degress, thankfully not as hot as Melbourne which was 45 degrees the day we left. i just love how you can get the ferry to the other sreas of sydney, such a change being out in the open with sea air rather than stuck on a stinking tube towards oxford st. boo hooo! I do miss the old oxford St. and in true patriotic style we headed to paddington areas and stopping the concrete of oxford st. shops here. Michelle and i have been doing so much walking we arte like 2 old ladies, seizing up in we sit for too long. It's getting better though as we get used to it.

We also went to the Royal Botanical gardens yesterday, walked for about 5 hours just looking at all the plants and funnin creatures. We saw flying foxes, freaky spiders and eels in the Chinese gardens. Am having so much fun am looking forward to dinner at Sydney Tower next week, Bondi Beach and catching up with some other friends. Here's a link to the photo's so far:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15847&l=604a4&id=506583035

Enjoy