Brisbane

I know, I know! It’s been a while since I posted and I am really far behind! Sorry!!

 So after we left Noosa we headed for the bright lights of Brisbane city, after hating Sydney I was expecting to find Brisbane as equally repulsive, however from the moment we arrived i loved it! I don’t know what it was about Brisbane, but I was happy there, I could quite easily go back one day and live there for a while.

 So on the first day in Brisbane we did the usual and explored. Exploring tend to lead to spending money on things and this was no exception...bye bye bank balance!

 On our second day in Brisbane we did something that I had been looking forward to all year...THE ZOO!! That’s right, we went to Australia Zoo, home of the legendary crocodile hunter.

 The day was filled with me zooming off to look at the next animal, climbing on giant alligators, looking at crocodiles (and secretly hoping one eats the keeper), fluffy toys, cheetahs on leads, wombats on trolleys, Tasmanian devils being walked, tigers being cuddled, crocodile shows, Sarah crying about the lack of monkeys, popcorn and smiles.

 Now Australia zoo is nothing like a zoo at home, mainly due to the large number of crocodiles and alligators...but that’s the whole point of it!

 I couldn’t wait to go see the alligators, yes they lay there and do bugger all, but theyre amazing to watch. Just knowing that theyd have you in a heartbeat if you jumped in with them. I got to see the legendary Aggro! I remember watching Steve Irwin on TV as a kid and Aggro was the one he mentioned a lot, he always stuck in my mind as the one that I wanted to see!

 In  the afternoon we went to see the infamous crocodile show...I have to admit it wasn’t as good i remember watching it on TV, but it was alright. They started by doing a bird show, lots of multi coloured birds flying over our heads and squawking. Then they had a large bird of prey swoop down over the stage. After this they brought out the hugest, scariest, meanest, malicious and unreasonable crocodile ever...Charlie a 2 foot baby! 
 After much laughter they brought out an actual huge, scary crocodile. After watching him jump up and “terrorise” the keepers, the show was over. I stayed behind for a while and it was worth it, There’s a tunnel where the crocodile was brought out, the tunnel leads to the paddocks out the back. Whilt the keepers out back are cleaning the show crocs cage the keepers out front are keeping him entertained so he doesn’t swim home...this didn’t fully work. Scary croc decided to swim back despite lots of shouting and bucket banging from the keepers. So I decided to watch the real show, which involved lots of shouting and scrabbling to get out of his paddock.

 After this we saw the tiger show. I want to cuddle a tiger so bad! The keepers were acting like they were kitty cats, cuddling them, stroking their bellies, feeding them milk, walking them on leads and giving them lots of love. Not gonna lie, I immediately Googled how to become a zoo keeper!

 So the day was really, really good. It ended even better with the gift shop! Where a fluffy toy was immediately bought, plus lots of other bits and bobs to send home to the family, which im sure they (and by they I mean Josh) appreciated!

Brisbane was the also the city where; my card took a heavy shopping battering, the comically large wave was invented, we had actual duvets (and it was cold enough to use them!), Twilight was watched (and disappointment ensued), Canadian drinking games were learnt, James dressed up as a woman, free champagne was drunk and steak night was had by all! Long may steak night reign.

Love me

xx

Noosa

Noosa is described as Australia's millionaire playground, this was the place where i was keeping an eye out for my future husband! Unfortunately I left empty handed.

 Noosa was a nice place to go and relax for a few days. The first day we arrived we were bored having spent the last 3 days at rainbow beach in bed and barely moving. So first thing to do when we got to Noosa was to hire kayaks and go for a little paddle up the river. We lasted all of 20 minutes before we realised we were drifting further and further out, so I used my amazing muscles to paddle back to the start and collapsed on the bank!!

 The next few days here were spent lazing about, walking around Noosa, watching Twilight and drinking tequila shots before 8pm.

 Australia has ridiculous alcohol laws, the bars seem to shut at 7pm (slight exaggeration, but not by much!) which means we're all drunk before 9pm!

So the night we did tequila at 8pm we went to find a “bar”. I use the term bar very looerly. We found a hostel with a bar attached and no people. So after meeting up with some long lost Canadian buddies from Fraser Island we decided to head home. But after paying an extortionate amount for a taxi there we decided that a 45 minute walk back sounded ok...this turned into over an hour walk back, going in circle, photobombing random people, being denied entry into an actual club with 4 (yes 4 WHOLE PEOPLE!) people in  it and walking past amazing houses.

 This in itself was the best thing about noosa. We walked, we laughed, we talked, we bitched and we generally had a good time walking back to the hostel, in the dark, without a clue where we were going!

 Also in Noosa, me and some of the others got up specially to go to see dolphins in the morning. A “Sure thing to see them” we were told, “I always see them” they said. Did we see one sodding dolphin?! NO! And to top it off it rained when we were walking...however we did get ice cream so it made it ok!We then walked along the high street and proceeded to play the “keep sarah and james away from each other because theyre buying each other xmas gifts” game. But i got to eat noodles while playing so it was fine! 

Noosa was also where we had the strangest/rudest comment made to us. We’d been out all day walking, surfing, catching wild bulls (slight exaggeration but we’d been busy!) all whilst our roommate (no idea who she was) slept. That evening after a shower me and Katie were in the room finally sitting down for 10 mins to chill, when in she walks, looks at us and goes “You’re in bed? How lazy!” and stalked out. Which prompeted me and Katie to be both outraged and hysterically laughing...at which point Katie fell off the bed, which made the whole situation even funnier.

Noosa ended with Twilight and teddies....think I’ll just end that there.

 


 Anyways, that's about all we got up to in Noosa, not much to report here....on to Brisbane!

Love me
xx

Fraser Island

  To get to Rainbow Beach (the base before Fraser island) we had to endure a 14 hour bus journey...this again is another thing I will never be doing again in my life if I can possibly help it!

After arriving at Rainbow we had a pep talk before going onto Fraser the following day. During this pep talk we were told that by going in the sea we will die, if you see a dingo; cover your nipples!

 The following morning we packed our food, bags and tents into our cars. Off we went to the world’s biggest sand island. We pitched up at our camp...when I say camp, imagine the area behind a sand dune, nothing but sand. No toilet. No shower. No civilisation. Shit.

 That afternoon after setting up the tents, we went to Lake Wabbi, a 20 minute walk to a secluded lake next to a huge sand hill. We swam, rolled down the hill, relaxed and laughed. The last laugh. Upon going back to camp and cooking in near darkness we realised that this wasn’t going to be all fun and games. We went to bed (if you can call it that) whereupon we realised hiring sleeping bags was a good idea. Laying on them was the only slight bit of comfort we had for 2 nights. Everything was covered in sand. After a restless night’s sleep we got up for breakfast, there were flies everywhere. It was not pleasant.

 On this second day, we went to Eli Creek, Champagne falls and Indian Head. We were told that Indian head we would see sharks, dolphins, dugongs, sea turtles, fish and rays. We saw a turtles head. I got to drive that day which was scary for everyone else, but pretty cool for me.

 Once again we cooked in darkness, but we had egg fried rice (my ingenious idea!) which made it slightly better. Once again we had an uncomfortable and restless night’s sleep, so we were very happy to be leaving the island.

 However upon waking we found 2 cars had dead batteries. After our guide made countless trips back and forth for jump leads, we managed to get going. We went to lake Mckenzie, which was beautiful, however as it’s the most famous lake on the island it was very busy. When we reached the lake, one of the guys turned a car off, resulting in a flat battery again! So we got it going again (eventually) and off we went. After about half an hour one of the cars clutch went and we had to leave the car alone on the beach. Another 20 minutes and our tyre blew. Whilst waiting for it to be changed we were circled by a hungry looking dingo. After jumping up and making it crap itself we were on the (sand) road again. Until the lead car ran out of petrol.

 We arrived back at the hostel 4 hours late and full of sand. Seeing all the sights that i know most people will never get to see was amazing, however camping sucks. And camping in sand sucks even more. If you thought I was a diva before, never take me camping, I will show you diva!

Love me
xx

Whitsunday

After being terrorised by a possum for 5 nights we were more than happy to pack our bags, hop on the ferry and get off this god forsaken island! So off we went to Airlie Beach ready for our Whitsunday sailing adventure.

 Airlie was the civilisation we’d been looking for over the last few weeks. We were told it was either a 40minute walk to the supermarket for food, or to pay extortionate prices at the local store. Which meant we treated the days we were there like a full blown holiday, eating out every night, drinking, shopping and generally just lazing around. 

 After 4 nights in Airlie we hopped aboard our boat; Powerplay. We were ready for sun, sea, sand and sights. After getting on the boat we sunbathed most of the day whilst sailing to our first destination. There was diving (‘Ooh diving!’) and snorkelling involved before dinner. After a few hours here we moved on to our night time destination, after looking around frantically for dolphins (none L) we settled down for the night.

 The next morning we moved on to see the famous Whitehaven Beach. The photos don’t do it justice (which is why I haven’t included any!) We stood up on the look out point, where we saw sharks, stingrays and lots of sand. The sand on Whitehaven is 98% silica, which is supposedly good. NASA used the sand here for their Hubble telescope. It’s also very white. 

 After chasing stingrays, being chased by James, swimming in my rather fetching stinger suit and sunbathing; I came up with our groups theme song (see below):

 I’m rubbing my feet in the sand
 I would do it with my hands
 But the waters deep, And the waters dark
 And somewhere out there, There might be a shark
 So I’m rubbing my feet in the sand!

 Back onto the boat we went, where we sailed around some more, ate some more and went snorkelling some more. This next destination was where I tried my hand a paddle boarding; not only did I love it, but I was bloody good at it! The captain said he’d never seen anyone take to it so easily before (think I just found my new profession!). After this we settled in for the night. Me and Maxine kept our fingers crossed for dolphins, whilst Sarah and James went diving (‘Ooh diving! I like diving I do.’) in the dark...crazy people! However once again we were lied too and no dolphins appeared.

 A life at sea is not for me. Not only did I spend the entirety of the boat necking sea sickness tablets (thank god they worked!) I did not appreciate the shower. It was an extendable tap. In the toilet. To use it, you had to sit on the toilet. And you got 1 minute to shower. I hate the sea.

Luckily the next day was our final day. Up we got bright and early; me and Sarah decided to take an early morning snorkel. I didn’t get to see a turtle (the one thing I’m desperate to see!!), however I did get to see lots of stripy fish, bright fish, little fish, shiny fish, big fish and pretty coral. After this we finally made our way back to land!! Hooray!

 I’m never living at sea again!

Love me
xx

Possumgate

So on Magnetic Island we swapped from a room with no air-con, to a teepee with nothing!
It was raised about a foot off the floor with a zipper entrance. The teepee was admittedly quite cosy, however it was stifling hot and got dirty pretty quick seeing as the lead up to the door was sand and dirt.
Me and Maxine got settled in and that night took an early one. However at about midnight I was woken up by Maxine shouting "What the hell?! Get out!" This quite rightly woke me up panicking. However what came next I was not expecting. "There was a freaking possum eating my crackers!" Yes this did raise an eyebrow or 2!
About an hour later I was still awake and we'd put a torch by the entrance to deter him, however I still saw his little paws and head pop up in a comedy routine!
That night we heard him many more times and even caught him looking through our window!
For 5 nights we we're terrorised by a possum! Deffo not the best few nights sleep I've ever had!
One night after dinner we went back to the teepee, shone the light through the window and there the little git was sitting in the middle of the floor sniffing sun cream!
Needless to say I was relived when we left Magnetic Island!
Love me
xx

Magnetic Island

<p>Originally the plan was to stay at Scotty's at Mission Beach until Christmas and work on the banana farm; however we decided this plan sucked and decided to move on....we changed our mind Friday afternoon and caught a bus less than 24 hours later!
So off to Magnetic Island we went. Because we had some time to use up before we went on the Whitsundays, we stayed at Magnetic for just over a week....this is too long!!
For the first 3 nights we we're in a dorm room, which was stifling hot and the air-con was broken. Great. But we stuck the 3 nights out before swapping to teepees. We chose teepees because they are cheaper and only 2 people can go in them so it's more private as well.
One of the days we decided to do the Forts Walk. As Magnetic Island.used to be a base for the military, the Island was basically a giant forth and you can walk around the ruined buildings. On this walk you're meant to see wild koalas; just our luck the little buggers we're hiding! The walk itself was beautiful, just a little got and sweaty!
The day before we left we decided to hire a car which turned into a day of finding all the little shops on the island! However late afternoon we each went and bought an apple so we could feed the rock wallabies. You're not encouraged to feed them however everyone does. It was so cute watching them take the apple out of your hand and munch on it! Of course somebody had to be the odd one out and brought a carrot for them to chew on! Good job they liked it.
After this we had a high speed chase around the island to find the lookout for the sunset. We drove down hundreds (maybe exxagerating there!) of tiny dirt tracks looking for the right one, we reveresed, turned left, right, u-turned, almost killed a cyclist....just the norm! And we had to watch out for the TREE'S! Eventually we found it and it was amazing to watch the sun set over the top of far off mountains.We sat on the beach, took photos and just took it all in.
The best bit about that day was the amazing lasagne I had for dinner.. Not as good as Mum's but it was close! We went to this tiny little Italian place, where we sat, ate, drank goon and laughed. Perfect little 'family' night out.
What was not so good was 'possumgate'....
Love me
xx

Sky Dive

When I first came to Australia there were 5 things that I wanted to do:
  Bungee Jump
  Zorbing
  Sky Diving
  Cage Of Death (crocodiles and NO!         I will not get eaten Sarah!)
  Cage Diving with Sharks
By week 6 I had managed to cross off a second one; sky diving.
Originally we we're meant to do it on the Tuesday. Up we got to a miserable looking sky. We went out, only to be told by the sky diving bloke that it was being put off. Chances were we might do it later on but it didn't look good. So we did the only sensible thing we could...go back to bed!
Around 3 hours later we had a rap at the door and one of the lads told us that it was back on and the bus would be here in 10 minutes ...crap! After scrambling around to get ready and not having enough time for the loo onto the bus we got.
We got to the centre, filled out the forms watched the DVD and it was time for the first group to go up in the air. Me, Maxine, Sarah and James decided to put on a film whilst we waited for them. And Wait we did! We waited and waited and waited, until eventually, 5 hours after being picked up, we were told it wasn't to be. The wind was too high. So back to the hostel we went with a fresh date for Friday. So 2 more days to be terrified! (luckily I did white water rafting the next day -see previous posts - to take my mind off it).
On Friday we arose to clear blue skies....no getting out of it this time! When we arrived at the sky diving place we were told that the 6 of us were being split into 2 groups: Sarah, James and Jake first, then me, Maxine and Scott. We watched the first group go and then did what we do best...waited! After around half an hour we were told we could go watch them land on the beach. We were greeted by 3 extremely smiley people who told us it was the best experience.
So back we went to meet our instructors and be strapped up. I don't remember my instructors name but I do remember he was ugly! He was bald, had a missing front tooth, was quite possibly cross-eyed and altogether had nothing going for him. Onto the minivan we went to go find the plane that would take us up. Amongst this he filmed me for my video, quite possibly the cheesiest thing you will ever watch (cheesier than Grease mixed with Dirty Dancing and a splash of Hairspray)
Onto the plane we got and up we went. After sitting for what felt like an hour as the plane rose the shutter went up and the first person left the plane. It's bizarre to watch a person fall put of a plane; blink and they're gone! Now my instructor didn't tell me when we were in the lineup of crazy people jumping out of the plane, so I didn't have time to scream when he pushed me forwards off the bench and onto the floor. I was sat in the doorway of the plane and couldn't even think of being scared ...until he pushed us out. Then I felt scared! It is not normal for a human to fall out of a plane and just fall through the sky! We had a 10000ft free-fall which lasted a minute. It felt a lot longer than that, but by the end of it all I could think of was 'crap! He's not going to pull the cord!'
He eventually did pull the cord and it was amazing to be floating above the Great Barrier Reef watching the world around me. It was so surreal to be floating in the air with the sea under my feet. After floating for a while the sand started to come nearer and nearer and eventually it was time to land. The landing was a disaster for my poor leggings who I had to say goodbye to (good job I was wearing a dress or everyone would have had a nice view of my underwear!) and I was covered in sand by the time I stood up! But what an experience.
There are no words to truly describe it. It was amazing and most likely a once in a lifetime experience!
Love me
xx