East Coast Pt 1

Having stopped in Sydney for a few days following our trip from Melbourne we decided that we were going to have to try and see some of the sights we would have to miss on our planned two and a half week trip up the east coast.

Not wanting to waste time or money in Sydney, we were lucky enough to find another (very cheap) campervan relocation that provided us with 9 days to deliver the van to Cairns.

Whilst stopping at various places along the way, our main highlights so far have been spending a little time chilling out in the laid back Byron Bay, whale watching at Hervey Bay and getting up close and personal with the wildlife at a wildlife sanctuary near Cairns.

Byron Bay is a busy little resort town, which was packed out with our fellow backpackers, even though sometimes it is hard to say that we are backpackers. We know that this may sound a bit strange but when we think about it, we can count the number of times we have had to carry our backpacks on our hands. I suppose it is the same for all backpackers. The beach at Byron was very nice and with temperatures at 28 degrees then I can think of worst places to be and the boutiques and cafes made it a very pleasurable stay.

When we arrived at Hervey Bay we were unsure if we would be lucky enough to get to go whale watching as it was coming to the end of the season where the mother whales and their calves make their annual migration back from the seas north of Australia to Antarctic. Lucky for us we caught the last week that they were running trips.

We took a catamaran from the mainland and headed to Fraser Island, which is the worlds’ largest sand island, in to a large bay where the whales stopped on their migration. As there are many trips running daily from the mainland, we were advised that there had been a pod spotted so we were guaranteed a sighting which was great. A pod is the term used for mother and calf.

As a country that is very proactive in protecting its natural beauty and native wildlife and habitats, we had to wait our turn before viewing the whales as too many vessels surrounding it may cause the animal distress. When we got to get within the permitted 300m of the pod, we watched mother and calf play in the water whilst the crew talked about the animals.

These humpback whales were very big but surprisingly only the 5th largest out of the whale species. An adult female humpback can grow up to 15 metres and weigh 40 tonnes.

After watching the whales we were advised that another pod had been spotted and we would make a brief stop on the way back to the mainland. When we arrived the whale seemed very attracted to our boat and swam with the calf right up to us. We went to the underwater viewing windows and got a real close up of these amazing creatures, In fact we were told that it is very rare for them to get so close for as long as this one did. We managed to see it within a few feet about four times in all on the side that we were viewing.

We had planned to visit a wildlife sanctuary north of Cairns but we found one just before we reached Cairns called Billabong Sanctuary. When we arrived we were lucky as it was late in the afternoon and it was fairly quiet. Here we met the keepers and they did three talks on some of their residents.

The first residents that we were formally introduced to were Willie and Amanda who were both pythons. We did have the opportunity to hold but as courage was reaching the point of going to handle and hold, we were told “they are not venomous but still can bite and do kill by asphyxiation” so that put a stop to any courage that we had!

The second resident we met was a 12 year old wombat who looked like a very docile looking marsupial and we were shocked to hear that these animals can run at up to speeds of 25mph. We managed to get to stroke the wombat and get our picture taken, which was good.

The third and final residents we met were Simpson and Squirt the koalas. These cute grey balls of fluff have the lifestyle of sleeping 20 hours a day with the other 4 hours spent munching on eucalyptus leaves. We got to hold Simpson and get photos, which made the entrance fee good value for dollar! There were also a couple of baby koalas in the Sanctuary who were tiny and adorable.

After these talks we wandered around the sanctuary to see wildlife freely roaming such as kangaroos and birds. It was quite strange to see a kangaroo hopping towards you like the family pet greets you when you return home! Once it realised we didn’t have any food for it, it just hopped away to find the next human who might feed it.

Whilst these animals were dormant and caged, the saltwater and freshwater crocodiles looked a good advertisement of why you do not want to go in the waters of the tropics of Australia – especially “Goliath”.

After the experiences that we have had here so far in Australia, we have been able to put this trip into perspective in the fact that this is an experience of a lifetime and having been able to get close enough to stroke (and take a picture with) a wild kangaroo was fantastic but now adding our close encounter with a creature of the deep, our holding and stroking of the native marsupials known as koalas and wombats, we cannot recommend this country enough for a holiday destination. Even getting up close and personal with crocs, dingoes and snakes were quite awe inspiring and just reflects how amazing this trip has been so far.

Mic & Jo

Neighbours - everybody needs good neighbours...

Well we spent almost a week in Melbourne and we had some pretty good spring weather here. We stopped in St Kilda, which is a small suburb on the outskirts of the central business district of Melbourne.

As far as a city is concerned, Melbourne is up there and has everything you would want from one. There seemed a lot of construction going on but that is understandable when you are playing host city to the commonwealth games 2006. I guess I won’t be envious of those Londoners when the 2012 games are approaching!

St Kilda was very cosmopolitan and had more restaurants than you would ever need. There was a tram system (which apparently you need tickets to ride as we found out to our surprise! (-; ) linking us to the city and with a beach and a small theme park, was catered well for all.

Our hostel was fairly new and had everything you needed and plenty of entertainment in the bar and was very well located for everything.

On the Monday before we left Melbourne, we took a trip to view Pin Oak Close, Blackburn School of Language and Grundy TV stations AKA Ramsay Street, Erinsborough High and the studio where all the filming takes place. On our arrival we just caught the crew packing up from some outside filming they had been doing, so we got to see the best of both worlds. When they are filming you can only stand at the bottom of Ramsay St and cannot go and look at the houses etc. As they were packing up we got a glimpse of what it looks like when they are filming and then got to go and get up close to the homes of Lou, Harold and the rest of the gang! The tour was very cheesy indeed and we had the music videos of all the Neighbours “pop careers” (Kylie, Jason, Craig McClaughlin, Stefan Dennis, Alessi Twins and the group that performed the Scott and Charlene wedding song!) If that wasn’t enough for you, we even got to watch the death of Madge Bishop on the way home to aid the depression!!!

If an afternoon of walking through memory lane of after school Neighbours watching wasn’t enough, we went to the Neighbours night where we spent a night meeting Dr Karl, Toadie and Steph whilst doing a quiz. Well we got some pics and autographs so I think we put a lid on the desire to meet some famous Aussies!

We had managed to pick up a relocation deal to take a motorhome from Melbourne to Sydney and we decided that we would catch some of the sights of Canberra and the Blue Mountains on our way.

Whilst we only spent a very short time of Canberra, we managed to get a tour of Parliament House and to see where John Howard does his work as leader of the Oz people. We also went to Questacon, which is the Science and Technology museum. This was quite fun as it had some good displays and interactive areas. We got to experience what an earthquake may feel like and a lightening display that showed the power that a storm can produce.

The Blue Mountains is about 1-2 hours away from Sydney and is very picturesque and is home to many sights but the main has to be the 3 sisters. The 3 Sisters are rocks, although the story goes that they were originally 3 sisters that were turned to rock to protect them from being harmed but were never turned back.. The rocks stand above a blanket of rainforest below and just off a waterfall known as Katoomba falls. We managed to get a ride on the Skywalk, which takes you across the front of the falls, above the rainforest and has a glass floor so you can imagine you are walking in the air.

We then took a ride of the worlds’ steepest railway with an incline of 52 degrees. We managed to get the front seats and were actually a little unsure about it when we couldn’t see the incline until it was too late and you realise that you have nothing holding you in. Luckily it was pretty slow and gravity played in our favour.

We have driven from the Blue Mountains down to the north beaches of Sydney and stayed in a caravan park where we are going to enjoy the mid afternoon sun and 25 degrees cloudless sky!

It was our intention to try and locate in the Sydney area for a few weeks before we move up the east coast with my Brother when he arrives at the start of November. Having looked at the timescales involved and cost of stayinng around Sydney we have decided to do a flying sprint up the East Coast ourselves to catch all the sights that we know that we are not going to be able to see with My Borther.

We are going to try and get some photos up on the gallery for you but it can take a while depending on Internet connection speeds and size of pics. We have taken some really high-resolution pics of between 3mp and 7mp, so we may have to do a few a day as such – anyway as ever, please keep in touch!


Mic & Jo

Alice Springs

Hi folks..

Well following our 18 hour train journey upto Alice Springs, we were met by a 40 degree heat and an invasion of flies. We were here for 4 days before we were due to start our journey to Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon and the Olgas.

Based on some of the reports we are getting from back home, we know that most of you will probably give your right arm for a bit of sunshine and heat at the moment but its not that much fun, especially when you are being invaded by flies who seemed to have perfected a co-ordinated dive bombing attack at your face.

Whilst in Alice, we soaked up some sun and got to see the Royal Flying Doctors Service Museum, which was interesting. Not much else to report from here but have plenty of pics and stuff to say about Kings Canyon, Ayers Rock and the Olgas and Kangaroo Island but will have to update at a later point.

We do have loads more pics but have struggled to find time and an internet connection that will allow us to upload but hopefully shouldn't be too long as we are now in civilisation here in Melbourne.

Anyway as the weather gets warmer here (23 degrees today with a nice blue sky) we will be thinking of you all pulling your winter wardrobes out and getting your central heating fired up...

Adelaide

Time is drawing near for our week in Adelaide before we depart to Alice Springs on the Ghan train tomorrow. Most of the week here has been spent just hanging around soaking up the capital city of Southern Australia.

Yesterday, we went on a trip to the Barossa Valley, which is a wine making region. Having dragged our backsides out of bed early yesterday, we joined 5 other people on a trip to 4 wineries inc the world famous Jacobs Creek winery.

Having taken the scenic road up into the Barossa Valley, we stopped off for some breakfast, which was a good opportunity to line our stomachs in preparation for the 40 wines we were going to taste through the day. At the breakfast stop we found this home to the worlds biggest rocking horse and an animal sanctuary for injured animals. These animals had been nursed back to health but unfortunately now unable to fend for themselves in the wild.

Our first stop was Jacobs Creek and their new visitor centre. Having briefly stopped outside the old visitor centre and the winery we were told a little about the winery and that because of its popularity and volumes of bottles sold, they have not closed for the last 11 years and operate on a 24/7 basis. The street that the winery is situated on has wine glass shaped trees lined on each side so when the sun comes out, it provides a nice shadow of a wine glass -very creative.

We drove over the creek named Jacobs Creek and then came to the new visitor centre which was where we tasted a mixture of whites, rose and red wines. We were shown how to taste wine and told about the history of the winery and the making of the wine. According to the information we were given, there are over 1 million glasses of JC wine being consumed every day.

From there we went to a smaller winery called Richmond Grove, which is an Australian domestic wine. Once again we were given a structured tasting and advised about the wine. They had a really nice port here and would highly recommend if was available back home.

Following lunch we went to a smaller international winery called Bethanys who gave us a free for all bar to taste their 20 different wines. Offering whites such as Chardonnay (the biggest produced grape in Oz), Semillion, Reisling to the reds of Merlot and Cabernet.

Our final stop for the day was at a winery called Vine Crest. The vineyards attached to this winery supplies grapes to the Penfolds winery. We had a structured tasting session here and learnt some more about the wine making process.

Overall the day was very enjoyable. Our guide was very experienced in the wine making process as his family were involved in the industry and had loads of relative experience in working for some of the biggest winemakers in the world. The small group of people also made it more enjoyable as the blend of 3 Brits, 2 Canadians & 2 Kiwis (and the 40 glasses of wine) we all managed to get along very well..

Anyway, thats about all for now folks....

Mic & Jo

Driving with Snoop Doggy Dog....

Well not quite the rap artist but more the cartoon character....

Having spent a week in a budget hostel in Sydney, we had managed to catch a lot of the main sights there and decided that what was left, we would come back to before we leave to go to New Zealand.

This decision was taken having spent some time with our fellow backpackers who were stuck in Sydney, unable to escape because the money they were earning was covering their day to day living expenses. We joke you not that there were people there that had been there for months and were just seeing time out before they had to go back home.

Having heard about a car relocation company and itching to see what this continent could offer us, we decided to see what was available. With 48hrs notice, we were advised that they had a 2 berth Mazda campervan that needed to be in Adelaide by the 24th. This gave us 3 days/nights to get to our destination.

On the arranged morning of pick up, we were presented with our Deluxe Snoopy camper for transportation and advised that we would have no problems with it being a "newer" van. You can look at the pictures held in the Sydney and Great Ocean Road Collection and make your own decision on whether the van would be classed as deluxe.

The company we were assisting were called wicked campers and they have "unique" campers, which in all fairness, gives you something extra on the road, like other drivers/passengers staring,smiling and waving at you as they see you on the road. Have a look at their website: http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/photos/index.cfm?action=dsp_list&startrow=41

if you have chance to see some of their designs - Who needs boring eh!!

Anyway, we had originally planned on making the trip to Adelaide by the most direct route but decided not to because we were assured from the girl at the depot that this route could be driven in 12 hrs and didnt want to be sat around in towns called Wagga Wagga if the only reason was to kill time. We wanted to utilise the $5 a day fee to go and see some of the places we wanted to see.

On this decision, we decided to head south towards Melbourne, which on a map probably looks like Manchester to London but in fact it is probably three times the distance. We set off in the van and filled it up with petrol and managed to get just outside the toll roads of Sydney when the van smelt warm as if something was burning. Just after this, a funny noise started, so we pulled over and called breakdown. I guess our luck with campers had followed us..

After a speedy response from the breakdown company, it was determined that the air conditioning unit had siezed so he remedied this by disconnecting it. Good job it wasn't much warmer than the average UK summer day.

On top of this, we noted that the fuel guage had packed in (I would hate to see what a non-deluxe campers problems were) so had to work out what mileage and fuel consumption was. We did this by driving 250km's and then refilling, this allowed us to calculate how much petrol we had used and had left.

At our first refuelling stop, we filled up with approx $18 of fuel and carried on our way. Approx 150km's down the road, the power cut out and we couldnt understand it. Another call to the breakdown company and we found out that the problem had been that the fuel pumps sometimes automatically stop through feedback in the tank. Because we had no idea or knowledge of the vehicles fuel capacity or economy, we had run out of fuel so it was an easy problem to fix.

I must admit that whilst this was frustrating, we just chilled and enjoyed the weather knowing that it wasn't our problem. Jo managed to learn the finer arts of Blackjack and we got to speak to 2 local mechanics so it was all positive.

Having driven for approx 9 hrs that day, exc the breakdown times, we decided to pull over at a rest stop by the highway and get some sleep. We had an early start the following day, about 6:30am and continued our drive to Melbourne, where we bypassed around the outskirts to the Great Ocean Road that lies South West of the city.

The Great Ocean Road runs along the Southern Ocean from Torquay to Peterborough (I guess that is the colonial influence) and is a fantastic scenic costal road and is home to the 12 Apostles and the Bay of Islands. Both these features are rock formations in the Ocean and are home to a lot of different marine life. We have taken some photos of these, the rocks that is and not the marine life - we didn't fancy getting wet as most of it lives underneath in naturally formed trenches. Please take a look at the pics anyway and have a look for yourself. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great but it remained dry for the most of the day.

Having driven for 12 hrs yesterday, we pulled into a town called Warrnambool and stopped at a motel where we got a good meal and nights sleep. It seems everywhere we go, people are so keen to know about you and where you are from, which I know seems nosey but it seems to be a genuine interest as they have visited the UK. They are also very eager to let you see their town, area and will give you lots of information. This was no exception with the motel receptionist. Joanne had managed to negotiate the price down by 20% on the room rate and we even managed to come away with a booklet on the area..

Today was a 6 hour drive to Adelaide and we arrived at our apartment that we have booked for the week. Yes, we know it isn't quite a budget hostel but we found it for such a bargain price and had got the transport so cheaply, we decided that we could afford to stay in a little more luxury.

So what's next...Well after we have discovered what Adelaide has to offer, we are planning to leave here on the 30th, a weeks time, so we can take the Ghan (a train) to Alice Springs. The train travels from Adelaide to Darwin twice a week and is supposed to be one of the best train journeys in the world due to the fact that you travel through desert land and plush tropical forests. We had originally planned to stop at Alice and make a quick visit to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and then continue to Darwin but we decided that 37 degrees and the high humidity of Darwin was not really ideal for us. We contacted our relocation company and we have managed to secure a 4x4 camper that needs returning to Adelaide. As they are offering it to us for 4 days for $4 and $200 worth of fuel incentive, we are going to do this. Hopefully we will get back to Adelaide for the 9th and then we are going to make our way to Melbourne to explore.

Have a look at the new uploaded pics and I apologise in advance for some of the blurred ones in the aquarium. Our camera seems to dislike the dark and fast moving fish/sharks.....

Hope everybody is well....

Mic & Jo

Just a quick one...

Hi all,

Many thanks to those who have left comment and emails. We are currently on the road to adelaide and willl have time once there to reply and give the full update. Our luckk with Vans has travelled with us but we will update you with the details when we have more time.

Hope everyone is well...

Mic & Jo

First week in Oz

G’day from Oz…

Well we touched ground at Sydney international airport last Wednesday and we are now finally here in Oz. We had booked a week in a hostel so it would allow us to adjust to local time and decide on what we wanted to do here.

After jet lag making us out of sync for the first 2 days, we had managed to apply for our TFN (tax file no) and Bank Account so we are now in a position to work when or if required.

As you can see from the pics, we have been down to visit Circular Quay, which is the home of the Sydney Opera House and you can view the Harbour Bridge here also. The weather hasn’t been brilliant here so far but in the main it has been dry and about as warm as about 20 degrees Celsius but is looking to get warmer as we head in the summer here.

We have also booked to go and see a show at the Opera House on Monday evening so hopefully that should be good.

Yesterday, Saturday, we went up the Sydney Tower to the highest viewpoint in Sydney and the weather was warm and clear, so we got a view as far as the eye could see. We have taken some photos of these views and will be uploading - so have a look. Part of the ticket you get to do the tower, you get to go on the OZ trek ride which is like a simulator and takes you across Oz - not good for those who suffer from motion sickness (or have hangovers!!!).

Today we are going to visit Darling Harbour and the facilities that are on offer there. The aquarium should be good and we will update with pics etc later on.

We plan to go and visit the Blue Mountains at some point, where the three sisters and various other focal points are on offer. This will all depend on the weather and our success of getting a relocation deal with a local car hire company.

Relocation deals are where you take a vehicle, a car, camper or 4x4 to a location where it is required. You are charged a minimal fee for doing it and a time limit to get there so it provides a cost effective way to see places on the way to your destination.

Overall, our time here has been good so far and we have met some fellow travellers, which was good. We are now just going to leave our next destination in the hands of the car rental people if we can, if not we will have to get our thinking caps on.

Anyway guys/girls, do keep in touch we would love to hear all the gossip of what is happening back home and the things that we are/are not missing out on.