Full of the Christmas Spirit...

So after the overnight bus to Hervey Bay we were picked up at 7am on Sunday 23rd by our Fraser Island guide, Jason in a giant 4x4 minibus. Coincidentally in our small group of 9 was a couple, Gemma and Rich, one Welsh and one English and both with connections to Canterbury and the university so we chatted away like we had known each other for years (more on them later!). We got the ferry safely across the sandy straits to Fraser with some dodgy looking clouds above us, jumped back aboard our 'truck' and we were off. Now I knew that Fraser was a giant sand island but I had no idea that would mean we were literally driving over sand (!) and it was very bumpy, but brilliant fun. We made it across the island to the 75 km beach which is the main highway on Fraser and joined the many other 4WD going up and down surprisingly fast! Our first stop was Eli Creek, the fastest following body of water on the island. Despite the overcast weather we donned our swimmers and walked up the creek and floated with the current back down, past a couple of Aussie blokes sat in the water with their cans of beer! After climbing back aboard the truck and filling it with sand, we continued up the beach whilst listening to Jason's brilliant commentary (the guy really knew his stuff) until we reached the wreck of the Maheto, washed up during a cyclone whilst on route to its new Japanese owners (and coincidentally later used as target practise by the Australians when preparing to attack the Japanese!) Next stop was the coloured sand that formed the rocks of the Pinnacles, either created by different mineral deposits or by the Aboriginal Rainbow Spirit! After a lunch prepared by Jason, we headed further up the beach to the volcanic rock formation of Indian Head, which we climbed during the hottest part of the day (and the only sunny part of the day as it turned out!). But it did give brilliant views over the island and coastline and some people even managed to spot a turtle and sharks! Our final stop of the day was to be a 2km walk for a dip in lake Wabby which after the heat of Indian Head sounded like a good idea, however as we raced back down the beach so the weather turned. We ended up in the lake whilst the rain was bucketing down on us and then as we walked back to the minibus it got heavier and we got even wetter! That night we were staying in a rather nice mini apartment which we shared with Gemma and Rich, and since they were also in Hervey Bay for Christmas and like us, unsure how to spend the day we planned to meet up and have a BBQ on the beach to celebrate Christmas!



On our second day on Fraser, and also Christmas Eve, we went back across the island until we reached Central station, the former logging headquarters, and walked from there along an amazingly clear water creek and into the rainforest where typically it rained! Luckily Jason had gone on ahead and by the time we reached the minibus he'd boiled up some water and we had a nice warm cup of tea with biscuits, very civilised! Our final stop on the island was to be the highlight of the tour, a trip to the famous Lake Mackenzie which in all the pictures looks stunning, however when we got their it was still overcast and drizzling and didn't look quite as good but we still waded in and enjoyed the clear waters until it was too cold. We returned to the minibus to find that Jason had rigged up an awning for us to enjoy a rain free lunch of snags from the barbie! And then we had our encounter with the island's famous baddie when a dingo, smelling the food, wandered over to try and scavenge. So being the scared tourists we all jumped up on the bench and tried to make lots of noise, which didn't scare it away so instead we kept a safe distance and took photos! After a fairly long and very bumpy ride to the ferry terminal we made it back to solid land and Jason returned us to our accommodation and I spent a fair bit of the evening trying to locate internet that I could use on Christmas Day to phone home cheaply!

And so I've made it to day 51 of the trip and its Christmas Day, sadly no Christmas presents to open but two cards from home which was just as good and a great day to look forward to! We begin with some food preparation (using a penknife!!) at Gemma and Rich's motel room before relocating to the seafront where handily there are free electric BBQs available for anyone to use. And we begin our feasting with a celebratory toast of sparkling wine before the boys head off to cook and we open the next bottle before our first course of skewered prawns and corn on the cob, followed by some good old steak and finally bananas baked with chocolate and marshmallows (BBQs for Christmas are definitely the way forward for me!). Luckily the weather held out and although not very sunny it was still pleasant and after a good sociable few hours we moved to the beach for a paddle before retiring to the motel room again to watch the video Rich had made of Fraser island and to finish a brilliant day with more food and drink and some films! So although I missed being at home with family, I had a really good day with friends and it will be one of the best memories from the trip..

Came back down to earth with a bit of a bump the next day as we said goodbye to our new friends (although we will be seeing them in Brisbane on the 29th!) and went back to our hostel to nap and to enjoy a very lazy Boxing Day (and do some laundry!).

Thursday the 27th and time to say goodbye to Hervey Bay and continue our trip down the coast this time to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, only we have yet to see the sun here. You may have already heard that we are suffering some of the worst summer they have seen here, yes that's right before we turned up there was the worst drought for 100 years and n0w its like a British Summer, although not as cold!! We've settled into yet another YHA, this one even has a surround sound cinema! Sadly our plans have had alter whilst we're here due to weather and we haven't been able to do as much as we'd planned, but today (friday) we have managed a fun cruise around the canals and harbours, getting a bit of history of the area and gawping at the luxury houses, including Steve Irwin's former holiday home and his boat the Croc 1. So tomorrow we will gladly leave behind wet Maroochydore and get back aboard the Greyhound for the short trip to Brisbane where we will be spending New Year.

Happy New Year everyone and I will blog again in 2008!

Fun in the sun, and sea, and reef etc......

I'm going to have to try to condense a lot into the blog as its been a busy week! So on Sunday 16th we went out on our Great Barrier Reef trip from Cairns, and we did it in style on our luxury boat with two levels as well as a sun deck and a dive launch at the back, we did have to share it with about 30 others but it was still good. We also got breakfast, a very substantial lunch and afternoon tea as well as nice cool water on tap! Unfortunately the nerves kicked in and I was a little seasick whilst preparing for our intro dive but it was nothing major and I sat through our introduction on diving, learning hand signals, techniques and precautions to be taken. Then it was time to don the fetching wet suits, masks, fins and fairly heavy oxygen tank and jacket, quick recap of the vital techniques before stepping into the sea. It was then that it got a bit scary, I had to get used to breathing solely through my mouth as well as trying to equalise the pressure in my ears as we descended! It all went a bit wrong when we had to practise changing regulators in case we got into trouble, I swallowed a bit too much seawater and panicked and had to resurface. But I was determined to go on, and slowly made my way down the rope (the instructor was really good and let us go at our own pace whilst regularly checking we were OK!). When I finally reached the bottom and was knelt on the sea bed it was pretty cool, the instructor lead us past coral and some fish before picking up a sea cucumber for us to hold and touch, very weird. Before we knew it it was time to resurface and recover! Afterwards we spent the rest of the day snorkeling in a couple of different locations and although I'm glad I tried the diving we actually saw much more whilst snorkeling. It was really a brilliant day at the reef and such an experience to swim amongst the fish and see all the beautiful coral, it was definitely the best experience of the trip so far!

The next day we came down to earth with a bump when we embarked on an 11 hour Greyhound bus journey from Cairns to Airlie Beach. It was not the best way to spend a day but we did get to sea some of the more inland East Coast as well as more sea views at some of the stops. I also saw a pretty spectacular sunset at a Service Station(!), looking across an expanse of open countryside and deserted roads. We arrived pretty jaded at the Airlie Beach YHA where they had only left us out 1 key for my all female dorm, so we had to find the manager in her room to get Dan's key!!

Tuesday 18th we woke up to another hot day on the East Coast in a small but busy Airlie Beach. Again the hostel had a nice pool and cool down and the town itself has a huge public lagoon where I spent the majority of the day! We also checked in for our sailing trip and picked up our 'stinger' suits to protect against potential jelly fish interaction! At this point I'm not looking forward to 2 days and 2 nights on a boat even though its in the Whitsundays. A fairly low key day stocking up on provisions (sunscreen and seasickness pills!) and exploring the shops and restaurants (which include both a KFC and MacDonald's!).

So we come to departure day (wednesday 19th) and we have a bit of a wait until our 2pm departure from the Marina. But finally the time comes and along with 26 others we board Boomerang, which does not look anywhere near big enough for all of us, but actually its well organised and it doesn't seem that crowded. Our sleeping quarters are on the compact size and very communal! Not to worry its time to slap on the sunscreen and go up on deck where between us we hoist the sails and sail into the Whitsunday islands (on our maxi race winning 83ft racing Yacht!). First stop is a diving site called Cave's Cove on Hook Island where we have our first snorkel and see plenty of wildlife, lots of colourful coral and plenty of fish, some of which get very close. We then move on to Nara Inlet (actually a breeding ground for Hammerhead sharks - some of which we do see....but no diving!) where we spend our first hot night. Luckily I have a bed right next to the opening onto the deck so have a nice sea breeze but it is still hot!

On Thursday we move to Tongue Bay where we get a dinghy to the shore before climbing up to the lookout to have picturesque views over Whitehaven beach and the surrounds, a definite photo opportunity, so obviously my camera is back on the boat, but luckily Dan has brought the underwater camera which luckily also works on land! We come down and spend the morning on Whitehaven beach including a swim in the sea, but with our wet suits on, very strange, but better looking silly than in pain! Once back on the boat we see lots of huge turtles coming to the surface for air from the sea grass below, I'm really pleased as I'd been trying to see turtles underwater with no luck! Afterwards we hoist the sails again and its my turn to have ago at the helm (?) and sail us towards the horizon for quite a while, a bit scary but brilliant fun! I relinquish control to have my lunch and then its time fro more snorkeling at Luncheon Bay and see even more fish, including the dreaded jellyfish! Finally we move to Blue Pearl bay (with lots of blue coral!) where a small group of us snorkel until the sun begins to set when we return to the boat for dinner and the crew feed some Bat fish that our swimming round the boat.

The next morning we have some problems leaving as the mooring rope gets caught on the propeller, but the skipper manages to dive down and free it and we sail to our final stop at Black bay where I have the best snorkeling of my trip. Even more coral and so many schools of fish swimming around me, I also see a bat fish up close along with a Spotted Eagle Ray which looks a bit scary, and lots more fish that I couldn't identify! Reluctantly we all re board and set off back to the marina for a final group photo on the boat (which I have purchased, along with a photo of the boat in full sail and is on its way home with free postage!) and I find myself sad to be leaving the boat as it was a brilliant few days and an amazing experience. We spend the rest of the day with some of our new friends in Airlie Beach, before we have to say goodbye as they are off to other destinations. Later we go to the boat after party where there are only 3 of us left along with 2 of the crew (who have been drinking since they left the boat at 2pm!) we have a few drinks before having to get some sleep, finally!

Today we have been spending our final hours in Airlie Beach, got some of our underwater shots developed (actually quite good standard of photography!) before we get the overnight bus to Hervey Bay and then have a night on Fraser Island before spending Christmas Day on the beach at Hervey Bay. This will be my last post before Christmas so Happy Christmas to everyone back at home, I'm enjoying posting my blogs then coming back and reading all your comments (keep them coming!) much appreciated.

Merry Christmas from Emily x

Bye bye Asia.....hello Australia

So where was I, Monday 10th, we followed the historical trail round some of Singapore's colonial left overs, Raffles hotel, Old Parliament House, the Padang and various Raffles' statues before ending up at a much more modern shopping complex for a super market lunch courtesy of Carrefour. In the afternoon we had a long, wet and a bit fraught trip to the Changi Prison Museum, but we got there in the end and experienced the audio tour - another brilliant but moving exhibition on WWII and the fall of Singapore.

Tuesday 11th started in a now traditional Kopi (Chinese coffee) and Banana Cake before a trip on the MRT (Singapore over and under ground transport system) again, this time to Fort Cannings Park and the Battle Box - secret (not anymore!) underground bunkers used by the British (and later Japanese) and the scene of the decision to surrender Singapore to the Japanese, by now we are seasoned WWII buffs! Next stop was Chinatown and some tourist priced Chinese food and a dash of history at the Chinatown Heritage Centre. Then I made the mistake of getting the bus over to Sentosa Island, the plastic fantastic waste of time that was full of School children!

Wednesday 12th and my last day in Singapore and Asia, we joined up with one of our room mates, Andy from Austria to tour Little India, the shopping mecca of Orchard Road and Chinatown again - this time finding a more authentic (read cheaper) place to eat Wonton soup and custard tart! We finished our sightseeing along the river and the financial district, where we felt decidedly scruffy, before picking up our bags and saying our goodbyes, and catching the MRT to the airport. And so began more fun with travelling and immigration! The flight to Brisbane was fine, I had a nice lot of leg room next to the door (no idea how that happened!). But once we landed we got confused we thought we had to go to the domestic terminal for our flight to Cairns so we got our passports stamped and tried to collect baggage however when it didn't arrive we realised we were wrong and had to be escorted back through immigration (with our stamps negated) to the transit lounge as it turns out our flight was a international one en route to Tokyo (very odd!!).

We made it safely to Cairns city and had no problems finding accommodation but then the tiredness and culture shift hit us and we began to feel a bit low, especially as we had no idea what we were going to do with our time in Australia or how we were going to get anywhere! So we did some practical things, ie grocery shopping, had some dinner and watched some Neighbours and got a good nights sleep!

Friday the 14th got off to a good start we made progress on the accommodation and transport front - hiring was probably going to be too expensive and greyhound would be better and also booked some accommodation for Christmas and New Year (big relief!!) as well as a dive trip to the great barrier reef, very exciting! So we spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun by the lagoon (can't really go in the sea here) and discussing other things we want to do. I also managed to finally replace my lost flip flops from week 1 with some pink Flojos! (very cool...)

Today we have moved accommodation to the Cairns central YHA which is brilliantly set up and the staff have been a big help with sorting our plans, it even has a pool and whirlpool and a huge kitchen for student style self catering! I spent a lot of the afternoon sunbathing and swimming, it was so nice and relaxing... I'm off back to the hostel in a bit to have some dinner before an early night ready for a 7.15am pick up for our dive trip!

Quick trip down Malaysia

The second day in Penang, Thursday 6th December was spent exploring the old town, including lots of colonial buildings, a visit to the Cheong Fait Tze Mansion, a very ornate house built by a rich Chinese trader, we had a guided tour by a very crazy Chinese lady, Pat! Next I went to the Provincial Museum to learn about the origins of the island including finding out about all the different ethnic groups that make up the population, lots of them! The afternoon was spent wandering the streets seeing what we could find and one thing we found was another Starbucks where I finally had some proper English tea which was quite exciting! Unfortunately we had a bit too much time to kill in wet Penang as we were unable to get a bus to KL until 8pm in the evening! I think if I'd had another couple of days to spare I would have liked to explore the island more and visit places other than Georgetown....but no time to dwell as we were off to the capital. The bus journey down was somewhat of an adventure, we finally left the bus station at 10.30pm and after several rest breaks and some crazy fast driving we arrived in KL at 5am, which was a bit scary as the area around the bus station is not the nicest! But we were confident and located an 24hr Internet place to kill time to sunrise!

So Friday 7th December became a very long day...... After locating a hostel we hastily took advantage of a free breakfast and then headed out to try and get tickets for the sky bridge at the Petronas towers. This proved to be easier than we expected and by 10am we were 170m up on the 41st floor looking out on a wet and misty KL city! After that we had a quick wander around the shopping complex Suria KLCC and looked at all the very nice shops that we couldn't afford and then I gave in to temptation and went into Topshop! Our next stop was the National History Museum, which had closed down so swiftly on to the National Museum which was open and full of school trips! But it had a good exhibition on the Malaysian nation and independence. Next we decided that since the mist had lifted it was time to go even higher and so we made our way to the Menora KL (tower) where we had brilliant panoramic views of the city along with a recorded commentary that I quickly got out of sync with and just wandered around snapping away!

On the way back to the hostel we decided that because we'd saved money on accommodation the night before we'd treat ourselves to some more expensive food, at the Hard Rock Cafe!! It did taste good (although probably not the highest nutritional value) and was very satisfying! We then endured a stressful Monorail trip back to the hostel, since there seemed to be some sort of problem further up the line and no train turned up for over 30mins and when it finally did it was practical full! But we squeezed on and off again without too much injury!

Saturday 8th December and our second day in KL, we had some difficulty waking up due to lack of sleep and lack of natural sunlight in the windowless room! First stop on the itinerary was the Batu caves some 13km outside the city and our first trip on the public bus, which for us seasoned travellers was no problem at all! The caves involved a long trek up a few hundred steps past some fairly angry monkeys after food! The caves themselves were a bit of a let down but I got myself some sort of Hindu blessing which meant we made it safely back the stairs with no monkey attack! Once back in the city Dan and I split and I went back to the Suria KLCC and then to the BB Plaza near our hostel, managed to have a really nice Chinese meal with chopsticks and everything before getting a well deserved foot massage where it turned out that I brought luck since once I went in the place filled up with customers!

Sunday 9th December was time to move on further down the country to the Singapore border and after a slow start we got to the bus station which turned out to be a crazy place with hoards of people. First difficulty was getting a ticket to Singapore, something that was impossible unless we wanted to go the next evening so instead we got one to Johor Bahru the border town and from there got another one over the border. Now this border crossing was a lot more stressful than the Thai-Malaysian one. First you have to get off your bus at Malaysian immigration and then get back on, before getting off at the Singapore side and going through the huge queues there and that back on the bus to get to the Singapore bus station, so after leaving KL at 10.30am we arrived in Singapore at 6pm! We were worried about finding somewhere to stay but we managed to find somewhere quite central right near a MRT station. Although we later found somewhere cheaper for the following two nights! Now apparently the Singapore national pastime is shopping and so that evening we joined all the locals in wandering around the shops and stalls (in the rain!).

A week in a blog..

Well I've been quite a few places since I last blogged over a week ago! Weds 28th was spent in and around Phuket Town checking out the architecture and then watching a film, a bit of an experience in Thailand, cheap comfy seats and good air con, plus you all have to stand just before the film to pay your respects to the King. I did also make it to the beach but only had about an hour there as I had to catch the last bus back to the hostel.

Thursday was an early start to get the ferry to Phi Phi, the trip to the port set the tone for the journey, 11 of us and luggage crammed into a minibus which was then followed by what seemed like hundreds of us crammed into a ferry, not a pleasant ride. We then had some fun trying to fun reasonably priced accommodation on the island, we joined up with Bronwen from Melbourne for better bargaining power and ended up with a nice Triple 30 seconds from the beach, albeit with a minibar, satellite TV and a electronic safe which we didn't really need! The TV came in handy since after an hour or so on the gorgeous beach before the seasickness (or possible dodgy chicken the night before...) caught up with me and I spent the rest of the day in bed, which was not fun.

Luckily come Friday I had recovered and explored the town and spent some more quality time on the beach and in the sea! Not much to write about really except to say that whilst the beach is lovely, Phi Phi itself is turning into a bit of a tourist ghetto....

Anyway on Saturday it was time to move on, so we got the ferry again this time going east to Krabi where after some fun with public transport (the taxi touts trying our patience again!) we got to the bus station and onto a bus to Langu and finally to Pak Bara pier, further down the Thai coast and ever nearer to Malaysia. As it was a 4 hour journey down we had missed the last ferry to Ko Tarantao so we had to stay overnight in Pak Bara.

On Sunday we got a speed boat (yet another form of transport to add to the list...) over to Ko Tarantao - it was fairly cramped but it was fast and when we got to the island we did not have to worry about lots of people at all. The island is part of the Tarantao National Park and is protected from private development so the only accommodation is Park owned and the facilities include and small shop and the Cafe D'Tarantao which means the place is so quiet and virtually empty. It had a picturesque beach just a minute from the accommodation (mattresses in a wooden longhouse!) where we chilled on the Sunday afternoon before a fairly early night since there is nothing to do after dark!

On Monday we decided to try and explore some of the places on the island (including several beaches, a waterfall, caves and former prison sites) and planned to walk 12km across the island to the former prison for common criminals. However after 2km it got rather hilly and I'd had enough and left Dan to it whilst I explored another beach which was completely empty, so strange actually that I found myself wanting to go the other beach just to have some other people for company! At the end of the day we watched a beautiful sunset on the beach which was a great way to end our time on the islands.

On Tuesday it was time to leave for the mainland, unfortunately the speed boat was over an hour late and the whole day dragged on as we missed our minibus to Hat Yai and some obnoxious woman was 'helping' us get there, finally we did but not until the driver had tried to take us to the airport and not the train station. We had to stay overnight in Hat Yai as there is only one train to Butterworth a day, this was not a problem as there is plenty of hostels near the station and it gave us a chance for a quick browse of Hat Yai, a very westernised city considering it is right on the edge of the four most Muslim states of Thailand.

Today, Wednesday 5th December, involved an early start to get tickets at 6am for the 6.57 train to Butterworth and without too much trouble we were quickly at the border town of Pedang Besar where we had to go through the two sets of immigration before re boarding the train with our Malaysian visas. A somewhat slow slog through Malaysia, although I was entertained by a small boy who kept peeking round and getting me to pull faces until he started to laugh, got us to the Port of Butterworth where we quickly got a ferry over to Georgetown on Palau Penang. Georgetown itself was very important in more colonial times but has declined in recent years and can look fairly tired but it still has a lot of history and atmosphere. As I haven't long until my flight to Oz I'm having to try and fit in Georgetown into 24 hours and this task had been hampered by the hour of torrential rain we had this evening, it was like summer in Britain! Hopefully it will hold off tomorrow and I can explore the city more before going to KL tomorrow afternoon!