So here I am, at home, in England and yes, I have been to Tesco to do my shopping and yes, it was expensive! I have a good excuse for not writing though which I will explain...
Anyway, last time I updated I was in Pai. Well, Pai was brilliant actually. The night we got there we got friendly with an Ozzie couple, a Kiwi couple and a lady from London and decided we'd hire scooters the next day and whizz round the mountains and see some of the sights which turned out to be a mega fun day. I rode on the back as I wasn't feeling brave enough to get my own scooter and actually felt pretty comfortable the whole time (except for a numb bum in the evening). We visited a couple of waterfalls, temples and some natural hot springs. These were amazing, when we got there they were steaming and depending on which part of the water you go in, depends on how hot the water is. So the hottest parts are 80 degrees and obviously not for dipping your toes in whereas the nicer ones to lounge in are about 40 degrees. I'd never seen anything like that before all completely natural so we stayed there for a few hours just soaking ourselves!
From Pai the trip for me turned for the worse really. We had the 3hour windy journey back to Chaing Mai and then a 12 hour bus to Bangkok and I don't think I recovered. I was pretty sick for the last 4 days of our trip and didn't have much energy so spent an awful lot of time in our hotel room. I did however manage an organised day trip to Kanchanaburri where the Bridge over the River Kwai lies along with memorial grounds for the prisoners of war that died whilst building the 'death railway' between Burma and Thailand throughout WW2. I was dreading the trip to be a cheesy tourist day but we actually had a real good time. We were the only english on the trip with a bus load of Koreans who were really friendly. For some reason all the women wanted photos with me which I think might be due to my natural paleness???
Well asides from the River Kwai sightseeing we managed to squeeze in a quick bamboo raft along the river and an elephant trek. This was actually quite scary and I didn't feel that safe perched on a chair on the poor elephants back. I know it's what they do all day but I felt a bit bad for it having to carry round annoying tourists all day so we bought her some bananas for her efforts!!!
So that was pretty much it for our Thailand trip. We spent the last 3 days in and around Bangkok just hanging about really and me having Bangkok Fever (as I liked to call my sickness) until we got to the airport...
This is a really long story and hard to explain in writing but I shall try and believe me I am not exaggerating. As we were on our way to the airport my neck started to feel funny and was slightly hanging to one side and feeling very heavy which I thought was strange but put it down to lying funny on it. However, my neck got worse and worse as we arrived at Bangkok International airport it actually started sinking into my right shoulder and cramping right up. This carried on for 5 hours with my neck spasming into several different and uncomfortable positions. At one point, imagine the top of your head trying to reach the bottom of your spine without any control over it - I looked like I'd been possessed.
Well by the time we got onto the plane I'd calmed down a bit and just slept for the rest of the trip thinking that whole 'spasm' experience was over. Well, was I wrong... Monday night, the second evening back in England, the same thing happened again but much worse. I was by myself and couldn't stop shaking. I tried lying on the floor but my neck and back had a mind of their own and were moving about in all ways. After speaking to a doctor James' Dad drove me to A & E while my cramps and shakes were getting worse. I was given a bed straight away and soon developed lock jaw and was biting the inside of my cheek off without my own consent; parts of my body had just developed a mind of their own.
To cut this very long story short, after another 4 hours of severe discomfort the doctor made the link between my symptoms and the side effects of an anti-sickness tablet I'd been taking in Bangkok. I was given an injection and within 10 minutes felt almost normal except for a very stiff neck. It turns out that spasms, cramps and lock jaw are a known but not common side effect of the anti-nausea pills I'd been prescribed in Bangkok when I wasn't feeling well - it didn't take me long to flush those tablets down the toilet after that!
So there's my excuse for not updating my blog on the last day of our trip like I had planned - I was not really in a good position (literally) to do so.
So that's it - the end of my 7 months around Dubai, Sri Lanka, Australia and Thailand and I feel like I have seen so much. Just looking through my photos I can hardly believe that we drove 27,000 kms in Australia, that Sri Lanka really was 6 months ago or that one little pill can make your body react so badly.
The whole trip is probably still too fresh in my mind for me to know how it has changed me but it definately has. I feel like I know so much more, I may have lost a few academic brain cells along the way but have gained so many new ones by talking to interesting people, seeing different cultures and experiencing totally new things. I feel like I have 'done' Australia as far as being a traveller is concerned. I am happy with what we managed to see there and do not feel the need to go back in a backpacker mindset. I now want to try it out from a living perspective which is why both me and James will be going back there soon on a 1 year working holiday visa.
My opinion on Thailand is that there really is so much more to see. I could easily go back there (just maybe not to Bangkok) and visit other islands and other areas of the country. Sri Lanka is the same really, another country where there is so much more to see but for another time. I obviously enjoyed every country we visited but it was Sri Lanka and Thailand that really made me appreciate what I have here in England and actually how lucky I am. Australia is brilliant to travel around but you never step out of your comfort zone - it's very similar to England but with nicer weather. There aren't large areas of poverty or places where people don't speak a word of English or new religions and cultures to take in.
I decided that I hated England and probably never wanted to live there before I left for my trip but on hindsight, the opposite is probably true. I'm not saying that I definately want to live in England forever but I am saying that it isn't as bad as I thought. In Australia the threat of skin cancer looms over you on every billboard and in huge advertising campaigns, in Sri Lanka, people do not always have a choice of where they want to visit or live and in Thailand a lot of things are quite corrupt and the country lacks consistency leaving you unsure of where you stand.
Overall, my trip to these countries has made me realise how big the world really is and how having travelling as a hobby is a good idea as you will never run out of places to see. It has only pushed my urge to visit more countries and take in new experiences with the knowledge that home isn't too bad.
So for now I'll leave you with my thoughts until my next big adventure...
Tina :)
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Sunday, 10 August 2008
1 week to go!
So this time in 1 week I'll be back in England probably at Tesco buying food for the week! That's a crazy thought, I haven't even seen a supermarket for a while let alone had to shop in one! We've just had lunch in a cafe for 1 pound which included food and drink for both me and James and English people we meet keep telling me how expensive everything is back home now, I can't say I'm looking forward to that aspect!
Anyway, since I last visited my blog we've covered a bit of the country. From Krabi we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi and then the boat, bus and another bus up to Chaing Mai in the Northern province and then another bus to Pai which is where I am right now!
Koh Phi Phi was a pretty chilled out island. We did a day of diving there which was quite an experience (and that's not because of the fish). Basically, when diving, it is a common rule that when the first person in the group reaches 50bar (you begin with about 200bar) on their air, the whole group makes their way up to the surface to make a relaxing and safe ascent. Well... the particular diving company we chose on Phi Phi thought it would be a good idea to keep going under the water until the last person had reached 50bar meaning me and another guy were breathing off our buddies secondary regulators (the thing which you breathe through) as our air had virtually run out. So there we were, 18 metres underwater, swimming alongside our dive partners sharing the same air tank, not good practice. Their reasoning was, 'well then you get your moneys worth as you get a longer dive'. I have to disagree completely there and say quality over quantity as being pulled along by James underwater sharing one tank whilst fighting current isn't exactly what I paid for and I was concentrating more on that than actually seeing any marine life!
Anyway, asides from the disastrous finish to both dives that day, we did actually get to see some really cool fish and got close to a large green turtle for a good few minutes while it munched its way through some coral, amazing!
We gave diving a miss the other days as our money is really tight now so spent our time sunbathing on the beach and wandering through the markets. There was a messy night out there involving too many buckets of Thai rum and red bull but all good fun!
Well we left Phi Phi on Tuesday and had a long trip to Chaing Mai via Bangkok, about 36 hours including waiting time between buses but actually not as bad as it sounds! Chang Mai was great, a much nicer city than Bangkok and so much cleaner and cheaper. Our very nice but basic double room with A/C, bathroom, cable TV and balcony was costing us 4.50 pounds per night for both of us, fantastic! There were literally hundreds of temples around the city so we visited 3 and then decided that we were quite 'templed out' by then so spent the rest of the time wandering around the street markets and eating more yummy food!
The highlight of that part of the trip and actually one of the best days here in Thailand was the Thai cookery course we did yesterday. We got to choose 6 dishes each so me and James chose different ones to get the most out of the day. First, we were taken to the local market to buy all the ingredients needed for the dishes whilst our teacher talked us through the various fruit and vegetables which was really enlightening. Tasting of the exotic fruit happened afterwards whilst we got to know all our cooking buddies. After that, we were split into small groups depending on the dish we were cooking and taken to the various kitchens to start cooking. It was so well organised and after each dish we came back to our original group so we could all taste each others food and enjoy what we had just made. I was so full by the end of the day and couldn't manage more than a taste of the last 2 dishes but now I have the skill to make them again at home as we were given a recipe book. All in all, a very fun and useful day!
So now we're in Pai, a small mountain village 3 hours from Chaing Mai which has a bit of an alternative vibe to it. There are quite a few other travellers here and I think it's quite a mecca for some! I haven't got my bearings yet as after 3 hours on a windy road up a mountain I just wanted to lie down. I'm hoping to book us onto an elephant trek and bamboo rafting trip tomorrow so I will keep you posted! Bye for now!:)
Anyway, since I last visited my blog we've covered a bit of the country. From Krabi we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi and then the boat, bus and another bus up to Chaing Mai in the Northern province and then another bus to Pai which is where I am right now!
Koh Phi Phi was a pretty chilled out island. We did a day of diving there which was quite an experience (and that's not because of the fish). Basically, when diving, it is a common rule that when the first person in the group reaches 50bar (you begin with about 200bar) on their air, the whole group makes their way up to the surface to make a relaxing and safe ascent. Well... the particular diving company we chose on Phi Phi thought it would be a good idea to keep going under the water until the last person had reached 50bar meaning me and another guy were breathing off our buddies secondary regulators (the thing which you breathe through) as our air had virtually run out. So there we were, 18 metres underwater, swimming alongside our dive partners sharing the same air tank, not good practice. Their reasoning was, 'well then you get your moneys worth as you get a longer dive'. I have to disagree completely there and say quality over quantity as being pulled along by James underwater sharing one tank whilst fighting current isn't exactly what I paid for and I was concentrating more on that than actually seeing any marine life!
Anyway, asides from the disastrous finish to both dives that day, we did actually get to see some really cool fish and got close to a large green turtle for a good few minutes while it munched its way through some coral, amazing!
We gave diving a miss the other days as our money is really tight now so spent our time sunbathing on the beach and wandering through the markets. There was a messy night out there involving too many buckets of Thai rum and red bull but all good fun!
Well we left Phi Phi on Tuesday and had a long trip to Chaing Mai via Bangkok, about 36 hours including waiting time between buses but actually not as bad as it sounds! Chang Mai was great, a much nicer city than Bangkok and so much cleaner and cheaper. Our very nice but basic double room with A/C, bathroom, cable TV and balcony was costing us 4.50 pounds per night for both of us, fantastic! There were literally hundreds of temples around the city so we visited 3 and then decided that we were quite 'templed out' by then so spent the rest of the time wandering around the street markets and eating more yummy food!
The highlight of that part of the trip and actually one of the best days here in Thailand was the Thai cookery course we did yesterday. We got to choose 6 dishes each so me and James chose different ones to get the most out of the day. First, we were taken to the local market to buy all the ingredients needed for the dishes whilst our teacher talked us through the various fruit and vegetables which was really enlightening. Tasting of the exotic fruit happened afterwards whilst we got to know all our cooking buddies. After that, we were split into small groups depending on the dish we were cooking and taken to the various kitchens to start cooking. It was so well organised and after each dish we came back to our original group so we could all taste each others food and enjoy what we had just made. I was so full by the end of the day and couldn't manage more than a taste of the last 2 dishes but now I have the skill to make them again at home as we were given a recipe book. All in all, a very fun and useful day!
So now we're in Pai, a small mountain village 3 hours from Chaing Mai which has a bit of an alternative vibe to it. There are quite a few other travellers here and I think it's quite a mecca for some! I haven't got my bearings yet as after 3 hours on a windy road up a mountain I just wanted to lie down. I'm hoping to book us onto an elephant trek and bamboo rafting trip tomorrow so I will keep you posted! Bye for now!:)
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Diving Paradise
Next stop... Krabi. That's where I am now after a very busy and fun week on Koh Tao. We basically loved Koh Tao so much that we ended up staying there 8 nights when we were only planning about 4 or 5!
The diving there was brilliant AND i saw a shark, a black tip reef shark which was about 2 metres long. Apart from that, there were more pretty fish like Angelfish and Butterflyfish as well as a big green turtle and lots of cute other marine life. I did 11 dives there including a night dive and it only cost 100 pounds. For all those who don't know how much diving usually is, in Australia, 2 dives cost me 70 pounds and that was the cheapest option!
So apart from the diving in the day we spent the evenings with all our diving 'buddies' drinking cocktails and eating more nice food. We discovered the 'worlds best pancake' too at this little stand outside our hotel, nutella and banana pancakes, yum yum!
Anyway, by Tuesday we thought we better move on so we got the boat back to the mainland and a bus to Krabi on the west coast. Yesterday we went to the beach for the day by longtail boat which was great, its the coolest way to travel here as its so breezy, the only problem is when you stop and its bloody boiling! The beach was nice but I got stung by a jellyfish! I was in the water and felt like a cigarette burn and then when I got out I had red lumps on my ankle and a tentacle mark. A local lady gave me some leaves to rub on it which seemed to do the trick so after 20 minutes the pain had gone! James also managed to stab his foot on a rock while he was exploring a cave so we weren't too lucky all in all!
Today we have been on an organised tour to 'James Bond Island'. It was the set for 'The Man with the Golden Gun' and is pretty touristy to say the least, but still interesting to see. We got taken there by longtail boat too and then onto a monkey temple and waterfall. We had lunch at a Muslim floating village which was quite surreal actually - basically, after being on the boat for about an hour this village pops out from the middle of nowhere and has 2000 habitants, all on water! Our lunch was lovely but the markets we strolled around afterwards were awful. There were stuffed pufferfish and corals everywhere which certainly put all of us off buying anything at all.
Well, my stomach is telling me it's dinner time soon so I better go with it! Our next stop from here is Koh Phi Phi island tomorrow where we'll stay for a few days before heading North so until then...
The diving there was brilliant AND i saw a shark, a black tip reef shark which was about 2 metres long. Apart from that, there were more pretty fish like Angelfish and Butterflyfish as well as a big green turtle and lots of cute other marine life. I did 11 dives there including a night dive and it only cost 100 pounds. For all those who don't know how much diving usually is, in Australia, 2 dives cost me 70 pounds and that was the cheapest option!
So apart from the diving in the day we spent the evenings with all our diving 'buddies' drinking cocktails and eating more nice food. We discovered the 'worlds best pancake' too at this little stand outside our hotel, nutella and banana pancakes, yum yum!
Anyway, by Tuesday we thought we better move on so we got the boat back to the mainland and a bus to Krabi on the west coast. Yesterday we went to the beach for the day by longtail boat which was great, its the coolest way to travel here as its so breezy, the only problem is when you stop and its bloody boiling! The beach was nice but I got stung by a jellyfish! I was in the water and felt like a cigarette burn and then when I got out I had red lumps on my ankle and a tentacle mark. A local lady gave me some leaves to rub on it which seemed to do the trick so after 20 minutes the pain had gone! James also managed to stab his foot on a rock while he was exploring a cave so we weren't too lucky all in all!
Today we have been on an organised tour to 'James Bond Island'. It was the set for 'The Man with the Golden Gun' and is pretty touristy to say the least, but still interesting to see. We got taken there by longtail boat too and then onto a monkey temple and waterfall. We had lunch at a Muslim floating village which was quite surreal actually - basically, after being on the boat for about an hour this village pops out from the middle of nowhere and has 2000 habitants, all on water! Our lunch was lovely but the markets we strolled around afterwards were awful. There were stuffed pufferfish and corals everywhere which certainly put all of us off buying anything at all.
Well, my stomach is telling me it's dinner time soon so I better go with it! Our next stop from here is Koh Phi Phi island tomorrow where we'll stay for a few days before heading North so until then...
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Greetings from Koh Tao
I'm now writing from Koh Tao, an island off the East coast of Thailand and have to say, definately feel more in 'holiday' mode!
Bangkok was a crazy place to be, so many people everywhere and really humid and sticky! We visited the Grand Palace and some other temples as well as some really cool markets. We lasted 4 nights there before deciding that we all needed the sea so we made the 9 hour trip by bus and boat down to Koh Tao.
The weather has been great up until today where its been raining a bit but never mind! Yesterday we went diving on 2 different sites and I managed to spot a blue spotted stingray and we saw some beautiful reef fish. I actually thought the quality of the dive was better than the Great Barrier Reef as it was more colourful and there was more marine life to look at. We're back on the boat tomorrow and hoping to spot some sharks, they're definately around and lots of people have seen them so fingers crossed:)
The food here is amazing, we've been in Thailand for nearly a week now and not had one bad meal or spent more than 2 pounds on a dinner! On that aspect it beats Australia by miles!!!
Our plan from here is to get the boat to Koh Samui in a few days and then get back onto the mainland and visit some national parks and then head up North to Chang Mai, Chang Rai and Pai but we'll see how that all goes! We're staying here longer than planned so who knows!
Well James loks like he's about to fall asleep sat next to me so I better finish here, ta ta for now!
Bangkok was a crazy place to be, so many people everywhere and really humid and sticky! We visited the Grand Palace and some other temples as well as some really cool markets. We lasted 4 nights there before deciding that we all needed the sea so we made the 9 hour trip by bus and boat down to Koh Tao.
The weather has been great up until today where its been raining a bit but never mind! Yesterday we went diving on 2 different sites and I managed to spot a blue spotted stingray and we saw some beautiful reef fish. I actually thought the quality of the dive was better than the Great Barrier Reef as it was more colourful and there was more marine life to look at. We're back on the boat tomorrow and hoping to spot some sharks, they're definately around and lots of people have seen them so fingers crossed:)
The food here is amazing, we've been in Thailand for nearly a week now and not had one bad meal or spent more than 2 pounds on a dinner! On that aspect it beats Australia by miles!!!
Our plan from here is to get the boat to Koh Samui in a few days and then get back onto the mainland and visit some national parks and then head up North to Chang Mai, Chang Rai and Pai but we'll see how that all goes! We're staying here longer than planned so who knows!
Well James loks like he's about to fall asleep sat next to me so I better finish here, ta ta for now!
Friday, 18 July 2008
I have now vacated AUSTRALIA!
Well well well... I am now in Bangkok, a long way from where I was last time you all heard from me! The last 2 weeks in Australia have probably been some of the best I've had whilst being over there!
So, I last left you when we were about to visit Magnetic Island. We spent 3 days on the island and basically chilled out a lot. It wasn't the greatest place we've visited and didn't really have anything special but we met some fun people staying in our hostel dorm room and had a really good time there! We did manage to squeeze in some snorkelling but it wasn't too great, a bit dark and sandy but overall, well worth a visit! From there, we continued North to Cairns stopping at the famous Mission Beach which by the way was absolutely gorgeous! I actually felt like I'd arrived in Hawaii or the Caribbean somewhere, we spent the afternoon there fishing and sunbathing but I would have quite happily stayed longer if we weren't on a strict time schedule!
Cairns is a beautiful city and the base for the Great Barrier Reef. We met up with some friends up there and had a crazy night out at Rhino Bar resulting in me having the longest lasting headache from Saturday morning until Sunday night, I guess the night out we had was worth the pain! Hmmm? Cairns doesn't have an accessible beach so it has an amazing artificial lagoon which is so nice to lounge around in and by, it's the biggest pool I've ever seen!
So... did I mention that I dived the Great Barrier Reef??? That's definately up there on the list of things to do before you die and now it's ticked off for me! We went on a day trip and because me and James are qualified as advanced divers (I mean on paper!) we got to dive without a guide which was really cool. We did 2 dives in the inner reef and saw lots of really brightly coloured coral and some funky fish. I have to admit, we didn't see anything amazing and it wasn't as good as diving in the Red Sea in Egypt but definately worth the money. I'd like to dive the area again and explore the outer reefs which aren't as damaged.
So anyway, after Cairns we drove down to our final adventure in Australia which was a 3 day sailing trip in the Whitsunday Islands. This was an absolute blast!
We were on a boat with about 35 people, all backpackers and about our age and had a crew that kept everyone laughing. We basically sailed to South Molle Island which was our home for 2 nights and then explored the other islands and sea in the day. Everyone was so friendly and we all had so much fun building human pyramids on the beach and boats from sand! Whitehaven beach was the main place to visit and it is a stunning white beach which stretches for 9km with the clearest torquoise water. After the sailing trip we all had a beach BBQ and then some of us went out in Airlie Beach which is where we were all staying and got rather drunk on goon (the classy and cheap 'wine' you get in a bag over here)! Overall, the Whitsundays was definately the best way to finish our trip in Australia!
So now we're in Bangkok. We had a long trip to get here - 2700kms of driving from Cairns to Sydney which we did over 3 days and then our 9 hour flight which wasn't too bad. I watched 3 films in a row, a record for me I reckon! We've only been here a day, we arrived in the middle of the night. James' sister arrives this evening which I'm really looking forward to so all in all, its going to be a good month here in Thailand. Today has been a 'get your bearings' day and 'walk around in a daze' day due to lack of sleep so I will keep you all posted about our plans when we actually make some!
So for now, ciao!
So, I last left you when we were about to visit Magnetic Island. We spent 3 days on the island and basically chilled out a lot. It wasn't the greatest place we've visited and didn't really have anything special but we met some fun people staying in our hostel dorm room and had a really good time there! We did manage to squeeze in some snorkelling but it wasn't too great, a bit dark and sandy but overall, well worth a visit! From there, we continued North to Cairns stopping at the famous Mission Beach which by the way was absolutely gorgeous! I actually felt like I'd arrived in Hawaii or the Caribbean somewhere, we spent the afternoon there fishing and sunbathing but I would have quite happily stayed longer if we weren't on a strict time schedule!
Cairns is a beautiful city and the base for the Great Barrier Reef. We met up with some friends up there and had a crazy night out at Rhino Bar resulting in me having the longest lasting headache from Saturday morning until Sunday night, I guess the night out we had was worth the pain! Hmmm? Cairns doesn't have an accessible beach so it has an amazing artificial lagoon which is so nice to lounge around in and by, it's the biggest pool I've ever seen!
So... did I mention that I dived the Great Barrier Reef??? That's definately up there on the list of things to do before you die and now it's ticked off for me! We went on a day trip and because me and James are qualified as advanced divers (I mean on paper!) we got to dive without a guide which was really cool. We did 2 dives in the inner reef and saw lots of really brightly coloured coral and some funky fish. I have to admit, we didn't see anything amazing and it wasn't as good as diving in the Red Sea in Egypt but definately worth the money. I'd like to dive the area again and explore the outer reefs which aren't as damaged.
So anyway, after Cairns we drove down to our final adventure in Australia which was a 3 day sailing trip in the Whitsunday Islands. This was an absolute blast!
We were on a boat with about 35 people, all backpackers and about our age and had a crew that kept everyone laughing. We basically sailed to South Molle Island which was our home for 2 nights and then explored the other islands and sea in the day. Everyone was so friendly and we all had so much fun building human pyramids on the beach and boats from sand! Whitehaven beach was the main place to visit and it is a stunning white beach which stretches for 9km with the clearest torquoise water. After the sailing trip we all had a beach BBQ and then some of us went out in Airlie Beach which is where we were all staying and got rather drunk on goon (the classy and cheap 'wine' you get in a bag over here)! Overall, the Whitsundays was definately the best way to finish our trip in Australia!
So now we're in Bangkok. We had a long trip to get here - 2700kms of driving from Cairns to Sydney which we did over 3 days and then our 9 hour flight which wasn't too bad. I watched 3 films in a row, a record for me I reckon! We've only been here a day, we arrived in the middle of the night. James' sister arrives this evening which I'm really looking forward to so all in all, its going to be a good month here in Thailand. Today has been a 'get your bearings' day and 'walk around in a daze' day due to lack of sleep so I will keep you all posted about our plans when we actually make some!
So for now, ciao!
Saturday, 28 June 2008
Time is whizzing by...
Ok, so our Australia trip is coming close to an end, we leave from Sydney in just over 2 weeks which seems crazy! We've seen so much and still have lots to do, probably have to save some of the sights on our list for our next trip here.
I haven't been very good at all with updating my blog and can't even remember everything we've done since leaving Brisbane but I can say that we are now in Townsville, way up in Queensland and 300km south of Cairns! Phew!
So the weather here is great, perfect for us British people, about 26 degrees and really sunny, can you believe it's actually winter here, life could be worse!
Anyway, after Brisbane we've done a few very cool things. We went to Fraser Island which is the worlds largest sand island and 4 wheel drive only, it was fantastic! Luckily our car is 4WD so we took it over for 4 nights and had so much fun driving around on the beaches and some of the more bumpy tracks, we managed to get stuck in the sand once and had to be pulled out, all part of the fun! Life on Fraser is all about the sunny weather, it's a place to chill out by one of the gorgeous torquoise lakes or as I said, have fun with the car you're driving!
After Fraser Island we had a bit of car trouble and ended up sleeping the night in the mechanics while it was being fixed, not a place I can say I've spent the night before! I had a girly weekend booked down in melbourne to meet my friend Sophie so getting to the airport was a complete nightmare as the car wasn't fixed, in the end we had to rent a car for the day so James could drop me off there. So whilst I was away having so much fun, he spent a further 3 nights at the mechanics! On the plus side though, Melbourne for the second time was even better, definately a city I can see myself spending more time in. Me and Sophie made it a Sex and the City weekend and paid homage to the film by spending all of the Saturday shopping, drinking cocktails and having a glitzy night out at the casino after watching the film which by the way was amazing!!! All in all a very fun and girly weekend!
Other places we've been include Australia Zoo which was very different to what I originally thought it would be like. It is more like a conservation park and really encourages the visitors to think about all the animals that may become extinct if things don't change, a real eye opener I thought, plus the crocodile show was cool!
We're off to Magnetic Island tomorrow for 3 days which I'm looking forward to. It's a small island in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef so there should be some good snorkelling and nice beaches, more laziness really!!! Well, that's where I am at the moment, I know I've missed things out but there is just too much to write about, all I can say is that I'm having lots of fun and experiencing new places, not that they're all great but on the whole put a smile on our faces :)!!!!
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Oooopsey!
Well the last 2 weeks have whizzed by and I haven't even had a chance to check my emails!
So we're now in Brisbane and have seen quite a bit since leaving Sydney...
James has found his 'perfect wave' at a beach called Crescent Head, I had to drag him away after a couple if days and he has yet to find a wave as good apparently! A lot of our time has been spent chilling out on beaches and camping in the car so not too much to report on really!
We went to Byron Bay which we both loved, such a cruisy place with a really good vibe. We stayed in a hostel there and I was the only girl in a dorm room with like 12guys, can't say I've done that before! The card games we played together were fun though! James had his most drunk night there too at a bar called Cheeky Monkeys which involved him prancing around in his boxers to naked musical chairs - he came second!
Another rather interesting place we visited was Nimbin, a small hippy town where they all believe in the legalisation of weed so you could say that it was a mega chilled out place! We didn't stay long but had a little look round the funky coloured buildings and smelt a few strange things!
The Gold Coast is where we've spent the last few days and it really is the epitamy of commercialisation. Although it's quite nice and pretty, as such, it's so Americanised. There are huge skyscrapers just coming out from the beach and the whole place is full of motels. It was beautiful just before we hit the Gold Coast highway at Tweed Heads but after that, the craziness got a bit, well crazy!
Anyway, 2 minutes left on the internet so must be off, will blog again soon...
So we're now in Brisbane and have seen quite a bit since leaving Sydney...
James has found his 'perfect wave' at a beach called Crescent Head, I had to drag him away after a couple if days and he has yet to find a wave as good apparently! A lot of our time has been spent chilling out on beaches and camping in the car so not too much to report on really!
We went to Byron Bay which we both loved, such a cruisy place with a really good vibe. We stayed in a hostel there and I was the only girl in a dorm room with like 12guys, can't say I've done that before! The card games we played together were fun though! James had his most drunk night there too at a bar called Cheeky Monkeys which involved him prancing around in his boxers to naked musical chairs - he came second!
Another rather interesting place we visited was Nimbin, a small hippy town where they all believe in the legalisation of weed so you could say that it was a mega chilled out place! We didn't stay long but had a little look round the funky coloured buildings and smelt a few strange things!
The Gold Coast is where we've spent the last few days and it really is the epitamy of commercialisation. Although it's quite nice and pretty, as such, it's so Americanised. There are huge skyscrapers just coming out from the beach and the whole place is full of motels. It was beautiful just before we hit the Gold Coast highway at Tweed Heads but after that, the craziness got a bit, well crazy!
Anyway, 2 minutes left on the internet so must be off, will blog again soon...
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