Thurs 1st FLY TIME!!! up at 2:00am
Wed 31st Mar
pretty lazy day just last look around the shops, and a short walk to watch some street performers! then went back early to pack up as leaving up at 2:00 tomorrow. morning!
Tues 30th Mar
Great Ocean Road day. with ben and leo. amazing sites! got to see a few koalas! was nice driving along the coast. had lunch on the beach and then back on the road to head to the 12 apostles! (P ictures will be up soon!) really lovely there! after the long drive back we all went out for some amazing chinese food!
Mon 29th Mar
In the evening met up with Ben and a few of his friends and we went to another comedy show, and a drink after!
Sun 28th Mar
greek festival going down this weekend so we watched a few performances etc etc
Sat 27th Mar
Wash day. so we could have clean smelling clothes!!! A day wandering around the shops and back to the market for some more goodies! when it got to the evening we managed to get free tickets for 2 different comedy acts (comedy festival in Melbourne on!!!) which was a really nice end to the day!!!
Thurs 26th Mar
Today we went to the market which was pretty darn cool! cheapest fruit and veg ever!!! so we bought a lot and bought some food for our bbq in evening!! then we did venture to St Kilda to relax on the beach and take a dip in the sea and a look at luna park for our way back. We got to go on a tram as well which was cool. Evening rolled around and we headed back out and made our delicious bbq with a bit of goon too!! really good evening!!
Wed 25th Mar
Nat feeling a bit under the weather today! so spent the morning relaxing in hostel and in the afternoon headed out with bish and giles to view some of melbourne, took a walk along the botanical gardens. And then a quiet night so nat could be ready for tomorrow!!
Tues 24th Mar
Up this morning and a trip to the most southerly point of Australia and a walk along sqeuaky beach, a nice picnic then back on the road to melbourne!!! arrived in evening to our hotel and then greeted by Dean and Elinor. Then off out for a few beers and to watch some comedy. overall good day!
Mon 23rd Mar
Morning began with a trip up the ski lift and a nice walk to the top of Mt Cosiosco (pardon the spelling!) and then a brisk walk back down again, knackering but amazingly rewarding! then straight back on the road to a small coastal town where we had a lovely fish and chips! and an early night, being quite tired after the walk!
Sun 22nd Mar
Began our travels from Sydney downwards!! early start (as usual!) stopped off firstly at Canberra the capital city, and we visted the parliament house, everything is quite… pristine around here!! then we headed further in land and our stop in the evening was at thredbo which in the winter months is a nice ski resort, but for us we got to see it dry… did some shots off a ski which was cool! then night night!
wed 18th Mar
Up at 6 for blue mountains tour, still slightly drunk, hanging out of our bums and on a tour bus… fun fun. drove to a few places around blue mountains, some gorgeous waterfalls! was very serene! Did nice walk through the forest down 800 steps! and then got the weirdest – steepest train back to the top again! like a funky roller coaster ride!!!
Wed 17th Mar
Lazy morning. stroll along darling harbour and round to paddys market, went to shops and bouht some tops bargains!! headed back for dinner and got ready to head out for st paddys day. wore our new girly clothes and went to scary canary $10 jug of green beer – Gems first ever!. free shot of melon stuff and a free t-shirt. then off in search for an irish pub! ended up in cheers got a pint f guiness and an awesome hat. spoke to some random people for a while. got a free shot and drinks from guys. ace. Had to take nat h ome at midnight not before feeding her with maccy d’s! was a good night! interesting walk back! was an ACE night!!! top notch!
Tues 16th Mar
Lie in today followed by porridge and exploration! went to hyde park, lovely and sunny saw a guy playing guitar. then a venture through botanical gardens, lovely bviews of harbour bridge. then walked around the opera house. nice. typical tourist. then we continued our walk to the rock shopping ar ea, more lovely scenery. long walk back! some food shopping. epid beans on toast. followed by tv for the evening. a cheeky choc muffin with custard yummy. and then a well desered early to bed!
Mon 15th Mar
Today we went to the aquarium, was lovely to look at all big fishes. there for a few hours, good underwater tunnels. saw lots of sharks and a few dugongs….Natalie won a colouring competition filled with 8 year olds…for winnnig this she got an ice cream…called a paddle pop….she was really the only entrant…bless her. (nat says yum!) Dinner had platoon restaurant over lookig darling harbour! kebab dinner AMAZING! gemma loved it!!!
lovely day exploring!
Sun 14th Mar
today left spot X 6:45 after a lovely cooked brekkie. 8 hours to sydney! checked in at Base followed by some exploring. omelette dinner, free goon from hostel followed by a free shot at scary canary.
Sat 13th Mar
off to SURF CAMP – spot X. AMAZING FOOD lunch was gorgeous!!! oh yes!!safety brief and into those lovely wet suits and down to the beach. learned how to pop up on our boards beach was stunning!!! lots of waves, good place to learn. Off into the water. great fun. both did well and enjoyed catching the waves. no pictures as they did for us! sorry. good few hours fun! nice to do something different and australian! yeeeeeew! After surfing back to camp and changed and another amazing meal! scrummy! and then on the goon and a live performance in the teepees. was cool. beautiful night and stars out so we went and laid on beach loking up at stars.. pretty! great day!!!
Fri 12th Mar
SUNSHINE WOOP WOOOP!!!! full day at lovely beach. Topping up our golden tans! went in sea and got hammered by the waves. lots of fun with waves!! had afew drinks in hostel in evening. gooooon everyhwere! both won ourselves a t-shirt then off to cheeky monkeys again for anoher few drinks!
Thurs 11th Mar
Day started off well, porridge brekkie and off to the beach…and guess what..it started to rain again..for the rest of the day…wrecked it down…that means it rained ALOT! went for a coffee and wander around shops at cloothing. In evening back to hostel and prepared for our evening at cheeky monkeys! Dinner at monkeys with free drink situated ourselves on front table, where we got free champagne in liht of evening entertainment of the wet t-shirt competition! we have not put most pictures on….very rude!! VERY! gemma averted her eyes, yukky. haha bit of dancing on the tables many adrink later and back to the hostel for more drinks and games! Natalie drank alot of goon!!! (she kepy losing the games..!) late night! great fun!
Wed 10th Mar
Stupid day today! checked out of hostel waiting for bus! we waited and waited etc etc.. bus had broken down…SEVERAL hours later 17:00 we were on the road too surfers paradise where we met a few old faces and then straight over to Byron Bay.
Checked in at 21:00 at holdiay village, then dinner!! starving! cheap chicke yummmy!!!! a favourite newly discovered creme brulee chocolate, yummm! then off for a wander. $2 champagne at la la land ….we were the only 2 people in there… we made a quick exit after our drink. went for anotyher wander and back to the hostel. tiring day!
Tues 9th Mar
weather gorgeous so we went to do a free tour…then we found out we were the only 2 people…so we ran. we went over to south bank and over to the lagoon ( we love lagoons) but not before going to the art gallery, very educational! and arty. we liked it!geeks. anyway. lagooon time. was nie to relax. had a swim and sunbathed a little then chips and ice cream time yum yum. and back to hostel early evening for free curry, joined in quiz..did not win! met dani and emma they told us the best places all around sydney. thank you!!! a few jugs later and on search for food…..failed…so gemma rode a big fish in china town…then it was time for bed it was!
Mon 8th Mar
good morning brisbane. oh yes its sunny here! so we decided to do some shopping. spent large proportion of the day just wandering around the city and looking at nice shops! free spag bol this evening. free so always good then we watched a really silly film. zoolander.. in a coool tv room! hostel really nice, possibly best hostel so far!! had our own little compartment in a large room…never really noticed other people! another couple of drinks and off to bed
Sun 7th Mar
BRISBANE here we come! arrived at Bunk after lunch and headed straight out to explore… weather was looking up.. SCORE! had a nice time checking out the shops and the scenrey, was a clean and beautiful city. natalie and gemma made an omelette. fact. ACTUALLY natalie didnt tel lgemma how to make an omelette. so Gemma had a scrambled egg thing! although Gemmas did not look so good it tasted better then natalies.. IN YOUR FACE! back uo to birdie num nums for a few drinkie poos.
Sat 6th Mar
weather was CRAP! lazy morning and then to the national park in the afternoon. got a little lost, was very peaceful and lovely (even though it was raining!) nearly got mauled by a mahussive branch! luck was on our side.
watched some tv, had some din dins and another earlyish night as travelling again next day!!
Fri 5th Mar
Off to Noosa at 7am (ish) at noosa by lunch and then checked in to Koalas and off for a walk around town! subway lunch…yummy! Headed out to the beach in the sun…got there and it rained.. so we went for a coffee and then off to the cinema with a few friends and we wtched valentines day… lovely film! exhausted from the last week so we had an early one! needed!!
Thurs 4th Mar
pancakes in the morning. delicious! then off to meet the ferry, not before breaking a window in our gus bus though! window exploded on both of us…perfect place to sit aye. Luckily all was good. not even a scratch. Back on to main land after lots of driving and bad singing by natalie. cleaned out our gus returned it and paid for damages….2 pound 50 each….worth it for the drama!
Jaeger night at frazers on rainbow! we both won bandanas! and had lots of cocktails and listened to some didgeridoo music! last night the girls (katie and lucy) as they then abandoned us the next day!)
Wed 3rd Mar
Tent was soaked t hrough and dripping on us…lovely to wake up too! everyone else slept in the car…except derek who spent his night in a broken tent…he doesn’t remember. Packed up camp and off to Lake McKenzie for the 2nd time. it really was gorgeous! we washed our hair and teeth and nails with the best sand in the world! oh yes, lovely! after that a trip to Lake wabby was looovely! still raninig. obviously! saw some nicel a rge cat fish!
Was travelling on the beach to visit the wreck where we saw another 4×4 and we were told the weather was getting worse – not good to sleep on the beach, so we all ended up heading back to eurong and a night in a hotel room for all 16 of us. ended up having lovely dinner and a few drinks and games all of us lot! good night!
Tues 2nd Mar
safet brief at 7in morning for FRASER ISLAND tour! boring safety brief! long drawn out morning as we sort out all our equipment and pack up the vehicle! GUS BUS! head off for car ferry over to fraser island…and would you believe it.. oh yes it was raining!! alot! headed off to explore. Gem got a chance to do some driving, along with katie and lucy ..and Derek. driving was quite different but good fun. roads were VERY bumps (if you could call them roads at all!) 1st off to eurong and then on to lake mckenze, goregous. nat and katie went swimming in pure water. then headed to central station for the evening…it was closed so we all ended up staying at a picnic area instead. everyone was there pissing wet but in good spirits (especially with the goon and soem warm food inside of us!) set up camp in teh dark (fun) 8 people in t3 tents…2 tents broke throughout evening.. just our tents standing woop woop! played drinking games with like 40 other people. then off to bed for a veeery uncomfotable nights sleep (and yes it was still raining!)
Mon 1st Mar
breakfast at 6. and straight onto morning activities, first was clay pidgeon shooting. Natalie got 5 out of 5. woop. Gun looked heavy and not to easy, but was good fun! then onto some lassooing of animal skulls! errrr. Followed by a gote rodeo, running around in goat shit…it smelt disguting!.once the goat is lassood you pull it to the corner, flip it and brand it! we were in different teams. natalie went with chris and derek and gemma went with the ladies.
Then onto rainbow beach.
Sun 28th
Back on the road again heading to kroombit cattle station, leave at 7am. Long Journey stopped off to play some bare foot lawn bowls quite amusing (nan you would be proud of me – gemma) Upon arrival we got kitted up cow girlesque with bandanas and hats. ate some goats meat -was nice. followed by a roast dinner with pumpkin and the nonto the evening festivities, whip cracking to start (no injuries)and then onto the giggle juice. one bottle later and we are on the bucking bronco – we had no laughed so much! Gemma laughed so much on her go she fell off face first into the hard floor! natalie…was not great falling off several times (on her first buck1) haha. 1 more bottle of giggle juice and onto some crinking games. funny as. ended up winning a game we d id and got ourselves a free bottle of alcohol each! bonus. finished the evening by chatting with a few people. then bed time as a half 5 wake up!
Sat 28th
woke up nice and early to set sail to whitehaven beach where the sun came out for a whole 2 hours! HELL YES!! SOAK IT UP. The sand was gorgeous, the tide was in so the view wasnt as good and we couldnt walk out as far but still stayed on lovely beach!
After lunch we had a sailing race, we smashed them! again we set up te main sail (mostely by ourselves, check us out!) Now raining (again) as we began our trip back to shore . then got soaked through as we got taken back on a dinghy to shore! back to hostel, showered (as if we needed it!) and back to the bar.
Fri 26th
Deparature from airlie to sail the whitsundays! PISSSING IT DOWN WITH RAIN!!!! set sail on the hammer cool sailing boat. started off with some snorkelling at a couple of different locations the rain continued…but was ok as we were in the nice warm sea water! nice lunch! always good to eat salads! more snorkelling Gem took her WATERPROOF camera in and it broke….although it does work now..mostly.
Next up some actual sailing. we help put the main sail up. arrrrgh real pirates. IN the evening it was still raining we played drinking games on deck with other people on the boat, entertaining evening! Then onto a veeeery uncomforable nights sleep, muggy, wet, hot ,cramped….sticky! the beds!)
Thurs 25th Feb
Bus to ferry at 11:40 for next OZ bus to Airlie beach. Stayed at beaches hostel. starting to bump into lots of same people which is cool. everyone from te bus went for some drinks in the bar before heading to bed where we were rudely awaken by other peoples late night antics in our room…RUDE!!!!!
Wed 24th Feb
Another lovely day (average 320 days sunshine on this gorgeous island!) a few hours by the pool soaking up teh sun and continuing our swim. caught tehe local bus to go on 3km forts walk. Nice walk, great scenery and eyes peeled for wild koalas (saw 3 of them…..6 if you count on the way back too!) back to base for evening – LADIES NIGHT! med dressed as women – always comical. hope you enjoy the pics – some are excluded for your benefit!
Tues 23rd Feb
Glorious day on this glorious uisland, spent the day by the pool. tres lovely. played some cards with the girls in the evening and another few drinks!
Keeping fit with swimming regime!
Mon 22nd Feb
Earyl start 7am pick up to magnetic island on OZ bus went for a walk in the rainforest and saw a cool river were told some aboriginal stories (there always good!) .
Arrived early evening to townswville then straight over to magnetic island on the ferry (felt like we were back of the the isle of wight!) went over with lucy and katie and chris. beautiful island very scenic, stayed a base! room was quite small (got a good deal so not complaining!) got a free bbqand a few drinks at the bar!
Sun 21st Feb
Up at 6am. McDonalds breakfast, always nice, headed off to our boat – osprey5 for our trip to great barrier reef! started off with safety brief for scuba dive and got put into t\groups, we were first group off!! got all kitted up (heavy stuff1) sat on the edge and dive master pushed up in to water, only 3 people in our group which was nice, more personal. got to practice breathing under water, and then taking out our air supply, blowing bubbles and putting it back in. then came clering our mask under water and then off we went linked arm in arm with instructor mark to go explore the barrier reef from 15metres down. so lots of pretty fishes, turtles, massive clams, sea cucumber (disgusting to hold!) and much more!
Photographer took loads of pictures of us udner water! we looked ridiculouss on all of them (no joke!) 15-20 mins later back to boat and dry off in the sun then loveyl fish and salad lunch!
off to different area of the reef tio snorkel which was amazing (choppy!) lots of fish around the boat being fed etc. Nat stroked a giant fish. snorkelled for a while and then begin to head back at about half 4 with cheese and champagne and some good old live music. got certificate of our achievements in the water. a nice swim in the lagoon in the evening and watched some tv made some din dins and had soem goon and packed for departure next day! amazing day!!
Sat 20th Feb
RAINED!!!! so we took advantage of finding a tour for barrier reef, got a great deal and made big arse pasta meal for late lunch! Later we headed out for another free meal (always good!) then headed off i nsearch for the infamous GOON!! Early start tomorrow so early to bed!
Fri 19th Feb
Today we explored the town and found a lovely lagoon with fake sand, relaxed their all morning reaeding and swimmnig in lovely lagoon. went for a nice free meal in evening (chicken curry) and a few drinks, niiice!!! Took a long evening walk exploring the bars and the area… ended up in shennanigans for a few beers.
Thurs 18th Feb
Flight at 16:15 spent last few hours soaking up the sun. quick 1hr 50 flight with free meal. woop. landed safely (obvbiously) got shuttle to nomads esplanade checked into our double room. quick explore to shops! early night very tired!!!
Wed 17th Feb
we had a nice day by the pool, uploaded some pics and read our books. did lots of washing, definitely needed! in the evening we had some wine whilst watching fight club looking at the stars in the pool area.
we are still alive and very well, haviing amazing time not enough time on the internet!! we have been sailing on the whitsundays and to a cattle station which was great fun now off to fraser island for 3 days 2 nights! miss you all leave us those messages!
love nat n gem xx
Tues 16th Feb
Another 4.30am Start Yawn! More strenuous walk up and around kings canyon, very beautiful place, back to camp for a dip in the pool and lunch before another 5 hour drive back to Alice springs and Annie’s place where we are staying. Had a nice meal and bottle of wine with tour group the off to bed for some much needed sleep. Was a great an memorable trip to Uluru.
Monday 15th Feb
4.30am start to see sunrise at Uluru. A Gentle 9.2 km walk around the rock as the climb was closed!!! Off to the visitors centre to look at some art work and some cool air, followed by going back to the rock for a history walk. Drove over to kings canyon took a dip in the pool and sat around the campfire before bed.
Sunday 14th Feb
5.10am pick up to Uluru, lots of driving today, arrived at campsite for lunch and onto Kata Tjuta for a short hike and some nice views. Sunset at Ayres rock was lovely and we had some champagne to top it off. More lovely pics and back to camp to our lovely tents.
Saturday 13th Feb
Lazy day had a lay in bed to make up for all those early starts. Booked a few hostels and packed for our next tour a 3 day Uluru Safari.
Friday 12th Feb
Off to the devils Marbles this morning which was cool got some good pictures. We visited a communication station and learnt some more Australian history which was nice. Stopped off for lunch at Barrow creek pub which was like Daly waters with all the objects on the wall, yet it was the original and Daly waters stole the idea…that’s what we hear anyway….
W continued driving and finally arrived at the Alice springs sign for a few pics and then on to our hostel at the Haven.
Tonight we met up with the rest of the tour group for a meal at ‘Annie’s place’ which is a hostel, few drinks and food then onto Bo jangles pub which had live web cams and some of you at home saw us. On way home we had a little late night swim hehe!
Thursday 11th Feb
5 am Start off to mataranka thermal pools which was nice although over head were 250,000 bats which at the clap of someone’s hands would go wild and you had to avoid being pooed on!
Onto Daly waters Pub, in the middle of nowhere with a permanent population of 6 people. The pub is covered from wall to wall with pictures of people who had visitors, or signed money, signed bras, flip flops, t-shirts and many random objects. Played a few games of volleyball in the pool of which we of won!
More driving and onto camp were we had dinner to the sounds of distant rumbling and lightening. A massive storm brewed all around us with lightening all around us which finally closed in as we went to bed, was indeed very windy.
Wed 10th Feb
New Tour 5.30am start, nikki and liam to name a few from our previous tour were on this one which is cool. We saw Charlie the now stuffed buffalo from crocodile Dundee, then onto our new camp site at Katherine. Very hot day and onto a 3km Hike on which our guide took us the wrong way!! Half of the group went back due to the heat but we marched on for a total of 7km to a butterfly gorge waterfalls for a well needed swim. Luckily for us it rained on the way there which was a true blessing due to the temperature.
On our return to camp we picked up a few well deserved beers. Tents had actual mattress which were amazing due to the strenuous day we had had, early to bed as another early start tomorrow.
Tues 9th Feb
Another early 6am start. Off to Kakadu to look around, saw some massive spiders and our mosquito and fly nets were truly amazing ! Got some amazing pictures, views were great.
Next onto Gubira Pools, this was a 3km hike to fresh water pools and waterfalls. Absolutely stunning. We climbed up several waterfalls and chilled out for a while. Another 3km hike back and off to the visitors centre before heading back to Darwin for the night.
Mon 8th Feb
Today is a very early start 6:30 am we left on our 2 day Kakadu National Park Safari. Firstly we stopped off to see an aboriginal group to look at their culture. We were welcomed onto the land by a water ceremony, which involved water being spat on the top of your head!! Not as bad as you are all thinking. Here we leant some stories about their history before moving on to have a look at didgeridoo playing, bag weaving, spear throwing and dancing.
After this we moved onto our croc cruise which was cool saw several crocs over the hour trip and the got very close and we have some great videos.
Stopped off for hotdog lunch then onto ubirr where we saw some amazing aboriginal art and went to the top of a plato and saw some amazing views. Off to camp in our interesting tents…
Sun 7th
Lazy and relaxing day in darwin and at the hostel. Packing for tour
Sat 6th Feb
Lazy and relaxing day in darwin and at the hostel
Fri 5th Feb
Today we had a nice stroll along the esplanade to see where all the fish gather everyday at high tide. Was a nice scenic walk but very hot, took some random paths on our way which were very much like being in the jungle, was nice. Spent a bit more time by the pool and had a few drinks on the deck during happy hour. Was rather windy and started to rain but a much a promised storm did not really appear.
Mon 1st Feb-wed 3rd 2010
we arrived after much a delay in singapore. Flight was 4h40 very boring as no entertainment at all…. we did get a free hot meal tho, not quite sure if this was due to the delay but hey it was food.
Got to our Hostel around 6.30am local time using the local shuttle bus which was very handy. The hostel we are staying at is called Melaluca on Mitchell, nice place very secure, nice pool area and decent facilitys so we are happy.
Much of the day was spent sleeping as we were extreamly tired. we are in a room of 3 bunk beds and all beds are full, really nice bunch in the room which was a bonus.
had a little drink on the deck of the hostel in the evening then off to bed again for more sleep…of which i nat woke up from 4-7 am sucks!
thurs 4th Feb
Today was a very hot hot day we went for a little stroll locally to get our bareings and find the food stores etc. ended up walking down to the Wharf which was rather plesant and scenic….tho rather hot and hard work this walking is turning out to be. ha
We spent a little time by the pool and suun bathing from which the results are rather red bits OUCH! definetly learnt our lesson. eve spend with roomies playing uno and other amusing games.
