I’m not the most consistant blogger I know. Which probably doesn’t benefit me. However when times are hard you can’t complain when you are busy can you?
Anyway here are a few things that I have been doing:
1) I went to see the best band ever play at the O2 Arena. Now tell me who doesn’t love BonJovi? We all have a soft spot for them I’m sure. Well the concert was incredible and I have to say I enjoyed every second of it. I just wished it could have last longer.
2) Then I went away for 6 weeks on a trip to Australia. If you haven’t been to Oz then that is something that you really need to think about doing. I only managed to the east coast but I’d definately go back and do the west coast. So where did I go? – The trip started off in Melbourne, mainly to go and see the Neighbours set. I know, how cheesy. But I was a die hard Neighbours fan when I was younger and I couldn’t go all the way there and not visit the set and meet some of the cast. The tour was actually pretty interesting and I even got to see some old episodes while on the tour bus. It’s a shame that we went in the Australian winter because it was pretty chilly I must say. So we did try and get out of Melbourne as quick as possible. Then was the train journey to Sydney now that in itself was pretty tough. 12 hours sat on a train when all I wanted to do was sleep. Sometimes I wish we had upgraded. Ah well, Sydney was worth it. Such as beautiful place – the Opera House, the Habour Bridge, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach… Ice cream and oh my goodness it was so much warmer than in Melbourne. We did a couple of day trips out of Sydney as well and went up to Newcastle and Port Stephans to go do some dolphin watching, crocodile spotting and sand boarding. I managed to feed a kangaroo as well…. that was so cute.
Pancakes @ Pancakes on the Rocks
Manly beach in Sydney is incredible. Probably one of my favourite places in Sydney. Everyone goes on about Bondi, but I personally am a Manly fan. Maybe because I saw Bondi in the rain so didn’t get the full affect of it 
– There is good ice cream around Manly though! If you do go to Sydney and you are a fan of pancakes then I do reccommend you go to a place called ‘Pancakes on the Rocks’ – this place is AWESOME. They sell every kind of pancake that you can think of and oh do they taste good. I could probably eat at that place every day. However I would get fat very quick! But surprise surprise they do a low fat pancake too! So there is something for everyone. If you are looking for good night life in Sydney then they say go to King’s Cross – I wasn’t there long enough to try it out, but next time I go I will definatly be trying that!
From Sydney we headed up to Byron Bay. That too was pretty nice. We learned to surf there. There is quick a laid back, hippy vibe to Byron. We were told that if we wanted to go to learn to surf then that was the best place to go. I do not disagree. The people were really friendly and the surfing lessons were really good too. The nice thing about going in the Aussie winter is that there were not loads of people crowding up the waves – and I didn’t feel intimidated by all these amazing surfers. I don’t think I’m a natural surfer, there was this guy in our group who was incredible. He was just a natural, like he knew how to catch a wave. He had never been surfing before either which I was just astonished by. Anyway I did manage to catch a few waves 
If you go to Bryon Bay then go surfing with Mojo Surf and also stay in the Nomad’s hostel. It’s like a hotel. We didn’t actually surf on Byron beach, we went to this place called Flat Rock. They chose that place because the waves were good for beginners. So we didn’t actually go to Byron beach until our last day in the area. It’s a gorgeous beach and watching the sun go down while on the beach is amazing. The surrounding are just gorgeous. There is also a walk to this lighthouse which if you take the sceanic route takes you alongside the ocean. We were lucky as we followed some whales while we were going up the trail. I think that’s why I like Byron so much… it’s all about being free and open. I was pretty sad to leave Bryon Bay, I don’t think we stayed there for long enough. I could have probably surfed a few more days, chilled out on the beach and maybe even gone to NimBin. Google it and you’ll see why. I’m not a fan of all that sort of stuff, but I would have been good to experience it.
Me - having a go at surfing!
Then it was onto Brisbane. Now I’m not a big fan of this place either. You know why. It’s like Sheffield with better buildings. There was a nice museum there and yes, it’s good for shopping but in general there is nothing that attracks me to it. I would never go there again. But I think the appeal of Brisbane is that it is a good base to travel the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. And that’s exactly what happened. We stayed in an awful hostel. I mean awful. So we wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. So as people do we hired a car and drove firstly to Surfer’s Paradise and then up to Noosa Heads. I loved Noosa though. It’s got these gorgeous mediterranean vibe to it. You feel like you’re in the south of Italy of something. What did we do in Noosa, well we first of all did a day trip to Fraser Island. I do think that anyone who goes to Australia should really go to Fraser Island… mainly for Lake Mackensie. It’s something special, they even say that you could wash your hair in the sand it is that pure. The amazing things about Fraser is that the island is a sand island with a rainforest growing out of it. There is nowhere like it in the world. The beach is pretty awesome too as the waves are just mental…. the place in which the island is located means that are that are alot rips and crazy waves attacking the shore and it seriously does look crazy. Like nothing i’ve seen before anyway. Plus you aren’t allowed to go swimming the water because of the sharks… it’s a great breeding ground for them. I’ve heard some interesting things about Fraser Island… like people having their tents ripped apart by dingos searching for food (dingos are a native animal to Fraser)… but in general people love the place and I completely understand why. What I found funny was watching this guy exfoliating his face over and over again with sand from Lake Mackensie. It was so odd to watch, he must have been doing it for a good ten minutes. Just rubbing the sand in his face and then washing it off. Very strange.
So what comes next…well more sight seeing in the area of Noosa Heads – Kondillia Falls, this huge waterfall that was a mission to walk to, but totally worth every step, hanging out on the Noosa beach. There is so much to see around Noosa and that’s why it is great to get a car and just head out into the world – huge mountains, loads of wildlife. It’s also a great place to relax because the scenery is just gorgeous.
I’d decided to plan alot of my trip before I left home, I didn’t have much time there and I wanted to make the most of it so I booked a flight from Brisbane to Cairns so as to cut out some time and make sure that I could make good use of the remainder of my time in Oz.
Cairns is acutally a really small city…covering all of 5 blocks. There is no beach because of the crocodiles which is a little disconcerting – I kind of thought if I got too close to the water then I would get eaten by a croc! So yes, I would say that Cairns is definately not what I expected. It probably wasn’t buzzing as much as I thought it would be either but that could be because we were there in the Aussie winter. What is good about Cairns though is that even though there is no beach in the actual city, there are a number of beaches along the suburbs. The most beautiful beach I thought in this strip of beaches was ‘Palm Cove’ …. A little fact for you here. Some of the trees in Palm Cove are over 600 years old.
Paper Bark trees in Palm Cove
These trees are paper bark trees and as they are so old, they are classed as part of the heritage of the area… so if any building work takes place then it has to be done around the trees. I mean literally the buildings have to built around the trees. There are a number of the hotels that have the tree trunks in their reception lobbies. I think that adds to the charm of the area, not only is the beach beautiful but so is the rest of the area. It’s divine.
The main attractions or reasons for visiting Cairns is the Atherton Tablelands, Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest as well as the most well known which is the Great Barrier Reef. I didn’t have enough time to make it to the Tablelands but I did go to both Cape Trib and the Daintree Rainforest as well as the Reef. I LOVED both of these. The Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef are both world heritage sites – Australia is the only place in the world where two world heritage sites meet. I tell you something that part of the world is incredible, the rainforest was beautiful and it was good that we went on a guided tour of the area because there were fantastic things to see and learn about. We even were shown where Steve Irwin was killed… or at least it was pointed out to us. Here is a couple of the things that I did whilst touring the Daintree Rainforest and the areas north of Cairns:
- Crocodile spotting on the Daintree River
- Daintree Ice Cream Company (they take the fruits that are in season and make ice cream with only these fruits)
- Walking through the rainforest
- Discovering Cape Tribulation
- Port Douglas
- Palm Cove
- Mossman Gorge
These sites are certainly worth a visit and each one is so different that they feel like a completely new and individual experience.
While in Cairns there is also the possibility to go Sky Diving and this is something that I have always wanted to do. YOU HAVE TO DO IT! Oh my gosh the rush!!!!! There is no feeling like it
Skydiving
at all… I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I was so scared before I did it but then I did and it was just crazy… I just have no idea how to explain it to you other than to say that you just need to go and strap yourself to a complete stranger and just go jump out of a plane! Skydiving is a must – it’s also probably the best way for people to get over their fears of flying or heights. Go in at the deep end!!! I just know that skydiving and then landing on the beach is one of the best things I have EVER done and I would recommend it to anyone. My ears really hurt afterwards and I felt a bit sick but apart from that – I’d definitely do it again 
My sister and cousin came with me on my trip to Oz and they both wussed out and didn’t do it. I wish they had because I think that ‘feeling’ is something that everyone should experience. To be honest though I don’t know if I could have done it on my own. Having the tandem master with me certainly made me feel alot safer.
It seems that pretty much everyday on this amazing trip to Oz we were doing something or going somewhere and each day was jam packed. Cairns was just as filled as every other place that we had been to on our holiday and so the day after sky diving we were heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. This alongside the surfing and the sky dive were my favourite parts of the Australia trip. It was amazing. We had chosen to go out on a luxury cruise boat, so that we could not only experience the reef but so that we could experience it in style. To be honest most of the trip had been staying in rubbish places, scrimping on food and saving in everyway possible so that we could go on loads of tours and day trips. And you know what I am kind of glad because that meant that we got to see loads of Oz… and it also meant that
Sea Turtle in the Pacific Ocean
when I headed out into the vast ocean to see the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, I got to do it in a gorgeous boat with great crew. I had intended to go scubadiving but on the day I wasn’t really feeling it so instead I went snorkling… this was just as good I think. I took and underwater camera with me and I managed to get some AMAZING shots of all things Great Barrier Reef and I also saw some of the typical wonders of the Reef – Nemo (Clown Fish), Sea Turtle, Blue Starfish, Giant Clam… you know the usual. It’s all awesome. Incredible in fact. The sad thing about this day trip was that it was ruined by the fact that I get travel sick really badly
Three girls snorkled to a sand island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
and somehow the tablets that I was taking had no real effect and on the way back to Cairns I ended up hurling my guts out 
bad times. But ah well it was a beautiful day – full of swimming, snorkling and sunbathing. It was pretty cool because they let you feed the fish. We were out in the middle of the ocean and we were throwing prawns at these bat fish. They just flocked around underneath the boat and we’re swimming in between us. It was a pretty amazing experience I have to say. It was pretty surreal seeing the whole world below me… but something really special. The boat that we decided to go on made it really amazing too. We went out on a one and one with a this guy Michael, he showed us all this crazy stuff like how a giant clam closes it’s shell when a shadow falls over it. He also helped us spot a shrimp burying into the sand. Things that we would probably never notice because we wouldn’t know what to look for. AMAZING. I felt sad when I was on the boat though, it reminded me that we only had a few days left in this beautiful country! But on that note we still had so much more to do.
Australia was obviously home to aboriginal tribes before it was colonised and as such there are still remnants of those tribes left. It is pretty horendous what happened to alot of the aboriginal people, the technology and poor treatment of them lead many to turn to drink and drugs, however in Cairns they have an
Learning about bush foods.
“exhibit” which allows tourists to see how the Tjupukai tribe used to live. They teach about hunting, bush foods and even how to make fire and play the didgeridoo. It was a great way to learn about another culture. The great thing about this ‘exhibition’ is that run alongside the aboriginal people so they are a part of it and what is shown there. It’s a great way to keep their heritige alive.
For the next two days before we moved onto our next leg of the journey (New York City – a 24 hour flight from Oz) we felt that we needed to get in some RnR and just relax before we headed forward. We hadn’t stopped for a whole month and none of us wanted to get on that flight to NYC and be completely shattered when we got there. So the next two days we did what any girls would do for rest and relaxation – we went shopping! I’m only gutted that I was carrying all my stuff in a rucksack because I could have bought so much more stuff. Our hostel Tropic Days also had a pool and hammocks to snooze in… and I certainly made use of those. On our last night in Oz we decided to try go and eat something that is very Australian – so we went to find somewhere that sold an ‘Aussie Platter’ – for those of you who don’t know the Australian coat of arms has two animals on it – an Emu and a Kangaroo and guess what – Aussie’s eat both of these animals as well as Crocodiles. These are the Australian delicacies and you can’t go all the way down under and not try them – Crocodile tastes like chicken, but I don’t like Emu!!
I was pretty gutted when it finally came to leaving Oz but I was excited about the next part of journey and heading to New York City. The great thing about going to NYC is that we had to fly back to Sydney and I got to see this incredible view… check out the photo on the below.
Sydney from the air...
There is so much more that I could tell you about Oz – how friendly the people are, how gorgeous the surfer dudes are… the fact that there is so much to see there and I just don’t think I had enough time in the country. Loads. One thing I can say is even though I probably wouldn’t go back to do the East Coast again, I would recommend it to anyone. I also would go back to Sydney a couple more times and definitely do the West Coast too.. there is still so much to discover!!
