So after a very early start I met Olivia at the airport and we headed off on an 8am flight from Sydney to Ballina. I'm not usually bothered about flying but I was slightly apprehensive when I saw the plane as it was tiny!! It only carried about 30 passengers! But we arrived in one piece and it was all quite uneventful which was good, apart from the screaming child behind me!
Caught a shuttle to Byron Bay and got dropped off at our hostel - the Arts Factory. Byron Bay in general is a bit of a laid back hippy place, and this hostel in particular has that feel about it! We opted to stay in an island hut which was quite cool although pretty sparse for what we paid - an oversized dome tent type thing with two beds and nothing else!! And the showers, well a gnat probably could've pissed on me and it would've had more of an impact and it might have been warmer aswell!! But apart from that there was a swimming pool, cinema, bar, cafe, shop - everything a girl could want really!!! And it was a nice setting and quite unique really, so nice to stay somewhere a bit different.
Spent a couple of relaxing days here on the beach, just chilling out after the last few hectic months in Sydney!! Weather was pretty good most of the time, quite hot so the tan is coming
back after the last few cold months in NZ and Sydney!! Decided to do a sunrise tour so we could be amongst the first people in Australia to see the sun rise at the eastern most point of Oz! So that was another early start of 4.45am to get to the Lighthouse in time to see the sun! It was a bit cloudy so didn't get the full effect but it was still nice to see - am always a sucker for a sunrise/sunset!On Sunday we did a tour to Nimbin. This is supposed to be a bit like the Amsterdam of Australia. It's quite a small place but has a big reputation of the alternative lifestyle and anything goes. But clearly not everything though as our 'alternative' tour guide definitely had his own opinions about things such as the monarchy and religion (and these weren't positive
opinions either surprisingly enough!) and wasn't actually open enough to consider the fact that people are entitled to their own opinions... So against the whole freedom of thought/speech etc etc thing then!!! But it was really interesting to hear about how this town came about and what has been going on there over the last 30/40 years. But when we rocked up it was completely different to what I had imagined and the picture that had been painted of this place. Instead of it being this really chilled out, relaxed place it was a bit sad really - lots of people that were really miserable and quite unhealthy looking, mostly off their faces and trying to sell tourists weed and cookies. I guess turning up en masse with loads of other tourists means you are never going to see the real life that goes on there, but I didn't get a great vibe from the place. But it was still an interesting day out.On the way back we got randomly taken to some guys place (who wasn't there!) and we hung out in his house for an hour or so, with some people taking a dip in the pond (they called it a pool but I don't think I would go that far!)! Bit bizarre but it was nice and peaceful! And then we went home via what was possibly the most pathetic waterfall I have ever seen in my life! I know I have been spoilt by Iguazu in Argentina, but the aforementioned gnat's piss would've probably more impressive!!! I know there is a bit of a drought situation going on here but in that case why take us to a waterfall that doesn't really exist?!!! Quite a fitting end to a rather bizarre day I guess...!!
Brisbane
Caught the Greyhound bus to Brisbane the next morning - and changed time zone aswell which was a bit strange, especially when the bus driver didn't even bother to tell us! And Queensland doesn't have daylight savings either, so just as I was getting used to the longer evening they were snatched away from me!!
Spent the afternoon wandering round the city and went for a walk down by the river which was all quite nice! The next day when I woke up it was raining which I wasn't too impressed with, although it did stop and was just cloudy and overcast for most of the day but I can cope with
that! Did a bit of a tourist thing around the place - saw the City Hall, some pretty looking church that was stuck quite randomly in the middle of the city in between some huge office buildings and went into Parliament House where I got a guided tour (and there was only two of us so I could quiz the woman about how the whole politics thing works over here) and got my photo taken in the Speaker's chair in the House of Commons equivalent which I thought was pretty cool (but then I am an accountant so my idea of cool is not the same as everyone else's!). Then crossed the river and walked around South Bank for a while. Brisbane is a nice enough place but it's just another city really so a day and a half was enough for me! So onwards and upwards to the next destination!!Noosa
We are staying at Dolphins which is a really great hostel. It's separated into little units with two bedrooms, a bathroom, lounge and kitchen for 8 people so it's a good way to meet others and it's really chilled out which is nice. Only problem is that it keeps raining!!! I'm in the Sunshine State on the Sunshine Coast and it's bloody raining! Am NOT impressed!!! So I got a bit wet on my afternoon wander and had the very clever idea of walking for ages up a road to get to a viewpoint, only to get there and not be able to see that much as it was raining and all misty and cloudy!! Marvellous!
It rained on and off the next day, but still went out for a walk along the Coastal Path in the Noosa National Park with a Canadian woman I met from the hostel. It was a really nice walk and took us from Sunshine beach, where the hostel is, over to Alexandria beach (a nudie beach but fortunately there was no one there when we walked across it!), up to Hell's Gate, over to Tea Tree beach and then into Noosa Heads and the centre of the town. There's really lovely scenery round this part so it was great to get out and about in the National Park.
Whilst I was in the area I decided to go to the Australia Zoo, home of the late, great Steve Irwin! It was a bit weird though as even though he's not around anymore it doesn't feel like it as he's just everywhere! On the way to and from the zoo we watched videos of him on the bus, in the zoo he's up there on the big screen and his face is everywhere! They were also gearing up for Steve Irwin day which was the following week. The craziest thing I saw there was a kid's fitness video by Bindi (who also has her own fashion thing going on!) so she's clearly going to be the next big thing there...
The zoo is pretty impressive! Obviously there's lots of animals there but it's really interactive aswell - you can feed the elephants, watch a croc show, pet a baby crocodile thing, watch tigers and otters being fed (not at the same time though!), stroke a koala and feed the kangaroos! So plenty of stuff going on! It was a lovely hot day too so had a great time wandering around!
Fraser Island
From Noosa we caught a bus up to Hervey Bay where we stayed the night before our three day adventure on Fraser Island. Hervey Bay is just a jumping off point for FI and so everyone you meet is just about to go there or just got back so there were lots of stories to swap!
We had an earlyish start to catch the boat over the FI, where we were met by Ranger Bob who was to be our guide for the next 3 days. I have never met a person who is so passionate about his work and conservation and he had so many interesting stories to tell that we never tired of listening to them. There were 24 people on our tip, mostly Irish of course!, and we all got on pretty well! Apparently we were the best group ever according to Bob but I'm not sure we were that great!!!
Anyway, off we went in our big truck! There are no roads on the Island, it is all just tracks in the sand so you need a 4x4 and we didn't really fancy driving one and having to dig it out the sand etc etc, hence going on a tour! And sometimes it's just great to sit back and not have to worry about anything!! Our first stop was Basin Lake - it was a bit of a walk up to get there but def worth it as the lake was amazing - really clear, and lovely and warm so we all jumped in! Then after lazing round for a while by the lake we walked down the Central Station where Bob had got lunch sorted for us which was fab, although there were loads of bloody huge March flies everywhere that bite which was quite annoying!
From there we went on a little bushwalk which was nice, and then back to the bus where we
went for a drive and ended up at Lake McKenzie - another stunning lake. There was also a bit of excitement when a dingo came down to the beach, but it looked so skinny and sad that I don't think it had the energy to attack anyone. You aren't allowed to feed the dingoes anymore and so they are struggling to survive and it's quite sad to see them in the state they are in now. We spent a while at the lake but the water was really cold and then it started to rain a bit so we all made a run for it back up to the truck and Bob was there with tea, coffee and cookies which was great!Then we headed back to the Kingfisher Resort and found our lodges. Olivia and I were in a room with two Irish girls - Maeve and Emer, who were lovely and a lot of the others were in our lodge too, so after a bit of a fight over showers we all had a few drinks before heading over for dinner. The food at this place is sooo good, and there's loads of it too, forcing you to be a bit of a pig and eat far more than you actually need to just because it's there!! Then after dinner we all sat around having a few drinks, played a pool competition (where I didn't completely embarrass myself so years of people trying to teach me how to play is finally paying off!) and then passed out at some ridiculously early hour as we were so knackered!!!
The next day we were at for breakfast at 7am and then off we went! First stop was the Stonetool Sandblow lookout and then we headed to 75 mile beach (which apparently is only 68 miles!!). The tide was in and it came right up the beach so there was very little beach to drive on, but Bob is a little bit crazy and very experienced fortunately so he drove us up the beach
anyway which was great fun! We stopped for a turtle that we saw on the beach that we thought was dead at first until it moved it's head, so we put it back in the water and off it swam, so that was pretty cool to see. Then we carried on up the beach until we got to a ship wreck that had been stuck in the sand for years and it was all rusting away but was still pretty impressive. From there we carried on driving up the beach until we got to Indian Head, where we walked up to the top for an amazing lookout over the sea and parts of the island.From there we headed onto Champagne Pools, which again was really lovely clear water, but really cold and it was quite windy so decided not to go in!! And then we drove back to the Resort, via Pinnacle Rocks which were some stripey, sandy rock things, and Ely Creek which was a nice little creek!!! Driving back down the beach with the tide out was so much easier that I realised how hard it must've been driving down it this morning!!
In the evening, after another lovely dinner we had a night of singing with Bob playing the guitar!! I love nights like this as everyone gets together and we all just had loads of fun, trying to remember all the words to random songs! Until the Irish took over though with all their bloody songs and I got a bit bored as couldn't join in!!
The next day we had a lie in until 7am and then off we went! First stop was Lake Wabby and this was probably the most impressive lake I have seen on this island. It was a lovely shade of
green and it was set amongst the sand dunes so it was really impressive to see from the lookout and then we walked down to it and had a swim! Managed to swim to the other side and back, which was slightly further than we thought, but good exercise after all the cookies we had eaten!! Then after chilling out by the lake for an hour or so, we walked over the sand dunes to the beach.We had lunch in one of the other resort, which again was fab, and then we went off to Lake Birabeen and chilled out there for a while, with a post lunch doze!! It tried to rain a couple of times but for the majority of the time we had been really lucky with the weather. Then we drove to an ancient Aboriginal area of the beach for a walk around and then after our last stop for tea and cookies we had come to the end of our trip and it was time to catch the ferry back to the main land. It was quite sad to say goodbye to everyone as we had all gotten on so well over the last three days. But that's travelling for you with everyone going their different ways, although you always end up bumping into people in the most random of places! Whilst Olivia and I were waiting for our overnight bus up to Mackay we bumped into the two girls that I lived with in Sydney!! It's a small world sometimes!! And then after that we hopped on our bus for 11 hours to Mackay!
Mackay
My top travel tip would be to never come to this place!! There is nothing here! Olivia slept for most of the day after the lack of sleep on the night bus so I went for a wander for a couple of hours and still found nothing of any interest! And then when we tried to go out for something to eat in the evening everywhere was shut! So we decided to get the hell out of there and hopped on an earlier bus up to Airlie Beach!
Airlie Beach/Whitsundays
So you would think that hostels over here should be of a reasonably high standard, especially down the East Coast which is such a well trodden route... Well not so it seems! As we did a package thing for Fraser Island and the Whitsundays we got a few nights accommodation included along the way and we weren't given an option of where we could stay... So we ended up in Koalas in Airlie Beach, which everyone had warned us against as it's not supposed to be very nice. A room stinking of piss classes as not very nice to me so I guess everyone was right!! And no one told us you were supposed to pay a dollar for sheets so we had nothing to sleep on either!! And fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view!) we missed the wet t-shirt competition which was the evening before we arrived!! So you can imagine what sort of classy establishment it is!!! But it was only for one night, and even though the party was in our room when we wanted to go to bed everyone was quite nice and left pretty quickly and I managed to sleep through whatever racket was going on outside!!!
We spent the afternoon catching up with Ash, our mate from Sydney and her friend Orla who was out here on holiday, and it was great to see a familiar face and have a good old catch up over a few beers, rather than yet another forced conversation of where are you from, where have you been etc etc...! These two crazy Irish girls partied the night away until about 4am, but I just can't hack it anymore and only managed to stay out until about 10pm!! Ha ha!
We had a bit of a lazy morning and then got to the boat at lunchtime. There's 12 people on our boat plus Dave the skipper and Zack, who had the most gorgeous blue eyes I have ever seen in my life (and was pretty cute!), and was also a damn good cook too so the whole package really!!! There were two Dutch couples who were quite a bit older and then 8 girls! Two of them were English and after hanging around with so many Irish people for so long it was great to chat to some English people again!! Everyone was really lovely and we all got on really well which was great!
Once we all got settled on the boat off we went. It was at this point that I realised I wasn't actually overly keen on boats, but there wasn't much I could do about that for the next couple of days!!! Also as there was only 2 crew on the boat we had to help out a bit, so I figured I might aswell throw myself into it all and get involved, pulling ropes and stuff!! We also had to tack quite a few times, which basically means move to the other side of the boat so they can swing the boom around and go in a different direction. Sounds simple enough but when the boat is at such a sharp angle it's quite hard to manoeuvre anywhere and we all looked very unglamorous as we scuttled from one side to the other, trying not to fall in!
Then it started to rain which was nice! So there we all were, sitting in our lovely yellow rain macs thinking this wasn't exactly what we had signed up for when we thought of sailing in the Whitsundays!! Also we all had visions of lying on the deck sun baking but as it was quite a small boat there wasn't much chance of that happening! And anyway, sailing boats (as I found out!) sail along at almost a 45 degree angle so if we lay down chances are we would've rolled off!!
The weather cleared up fortunately so we spent the afternoon cruising around until we got near Hook Island where we dropped the anchor and decided to settle for the night! Then I had another thought - it was only about 5pm so what were we going to do for the night? Answer - eat, drink and chat!! So we had a fab dinner, some cheap but not too nasty wine and a bit of a laugh!
The sleeping arrangements were interesting... There were two cabins which the two couples
took, three people went into the third cabin and the rest of us were in the main area. Sarah had to sleep in a bit of a cubby hole with her legs in a cupboard, Olivia and I were on some seats, and 2 others were above me and Olivia in a bunk type thing. So it was all fine, apart from the fact my seats were by the table so basically I had my arse wedged under the table for the night, which wasn't the most comfortable but for a couple of nights it was fine!! It took some getting used to, as did the rocking and noise of the water but we managed to survive!The next morning we were all up at about 6.30 and after some breakfast off we went! We sailed
over to Tongue Bay and Whitehaven Beach. We went onto the beach and walked up to a lookout where you could see Hill Inlet which was amazing - all the different colours of the water and the white sand, it was fab. Then we went down onto the beach for a while and some put on their sexy stinger suits and went for a swim!After lunch we moved onto another spot - Dumbell Island - so we could go snorkelling. I haven't been for years and was a bit nervous as can never get over the whole idea of putting my face into the water yet still breathing, but it all came back to me pretty quickly! It was fantastic. The water was so clear so you could see the coral really well and the colours were amazing. And the fishes swam so close it felt like you could touch them! I took an underwater camera in with me and so probably have 27 pictures of blue water and not much else but fingers crossed some of them come out OK!! Since being on this boat I have realised that you can't really be that self conscious! First of all we all have to wear these skin tight lycra stinger suits which doesn't really leave much to the imagination, and then when you want to get back into the boat after being in the water you have to sort of pull yourself up a bit and then someone grabs you and pulls you in. I kept ending up head first in the motor boat with my arse in the air - such a good look! We were actually quite glad there were no boys on the boat so it didn't really matter what we looked like!!
The weather for the day had been OK - no rain but some cloud. In the afternoon the sun came out though and it was sooo hot! So after the snorkelling we did a bit of sun baking whilst the motor was on and no sails were up so we didn't roll off the boat! Then we went for a bit of a sail until we got to our evening destination - no idea where though as everywhere just looks the same to me!! Then spent another evening eating great food, drinking some more wine and had a bit of a dance on deck to some cheesy music! What a way to spend a Saturday night!
Another early start and we went snorkelling first thing too at Cave Cove! It wasn't so sunny but it was our last chance so figured we had to make the most of it! Had a great time swimming around and saw some different fish which was good! Then we had to make our way back to Airlie Beach. I even
took a turn at driving the boat which was interesting! It was harder than I thought it would be as you really have to concentrate on where you want to go, and I kept getting a bit scared when then boat goes up on one side as I keep thinking I'm going to tip it over, and regardless of how many times someone reassures me this is how it is supposed to be I still can't quite believe them!!! Clearly I'm no sailor!! It was fantastic weather as we cruised back though, really hot. Am actually glad it wasn't sunny the whole time or we all would've been an attractive shade of red!!And then we got back to Airlie Beach and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Some people were meeting up that evening for dinner and drinks but a lot of us were heading off in various directions. So after a bit of luch we all said our goodbyes and Olivia and I hopped on yet another Greyhound bus to Townsville.
Townsville/Magnetic Island
We found a really nice little place to stay in Townsville, and it had a free washing machine which was a bonus as all our clothes were stinking after being on the boat! They had no dryer though so we had to hang it out on the washing line - this was such a normal thing to do that it felt really strange!!
Caught the ferry over to Magnetic Island and spent the day there. Got a bus down to Picnic Bay and walked up to Hawkings Point where we had excellent views over the island and across to Townsville. And then we got the bus all the way over to Horseshoe Bay and chilled out there for a while and went for a walk along the beach! It was quite a hot day so couldn't really do too much! The island is over-run at the moment with lots of teenagers - something to do with Schoolies week, whatever that is, so we were quite glad that we had only come over for the day and weren't staying any longer! It is a nice place though, quite quiet and chilled out which was good!
Cairns/Cape Tribulation
Our last Greyhound bus and a 6hr journey to Cairns! Had a couple of movies to watch though so it wasn't too painful! The hostel we're staying at is a bit out of town but was one of those palces that had everything there, including an all you can eat buffet so we were happy!
We're now in North Queensland - where the rainforest meets the reef! We decided to head a bit further north up to Cape Tribulation, which is supposed to be quite remote but a really nice area so thought we'd check it out!
The next day we set off for Cape Tribulation. We were met at our hostel by our guide Brad. I have never seen such an enthusiastic person in my life! And he managed to keep up the enthusiasm and big smiles for the whole time we were with him which I thought was quite impressive! We drove off up the Cook Highway, along by the water which was a really lovely drive, until we got to the Daintree River and went for a bit of a cruise! The guide on the boat had amazing eyesight as he spotted this tiny snake that was hanging around in a tree, and then he saw a crocodile on the bank of the river, sunbaking! He got the boat pretty close to it, closer than I would've liked!, but it didn't seem bothered by us! It was behind some bushes though so the photos don't really do it justice!
After the river cruise we headed off again and then went for a bushwalk in the rainforest which was pretty cool! As we drove off we went round a corner and nearly ran over 2 cassawories that were strolling across the road! It was amazing to see them as apparently it's quite rare to spot them so we all sat in the bus and watched them go about their business (they can kill you so we decided not to get out!)! Then we carried on until we got up to Cape Trib and got dropped off at our accommodation for the afternoon. We were staying in a beach house which was fab! It was right by the beach, and it had a swimming pool and restaurant so we were all sorted! We went for a walk along the beach to the Cape Trib lookout point, and then we cooled off in the pool! In the evening we met some other girls staying there so had dinner with them which was nice!
The next morning we had arranged to go horse riding. Ever since Grainne and I had to cancel our horse riding on the beach in NZ I've wanted to do it! There were three other girls who were going aswell, plus the guide. She assigned us our horses - I got Zeus! Whilst I was waiting to get on him I heard her say 'come here big boy'! There are a few occassions when I don't want to hear those words and one of them is when it's describing a horse that I'm about to get on!! So yeah, he was a pretty big horse!! But very ungracefully I managed to get on him!! Once we were all sorted off we went. We just walked first of all, through the forest and down to the beach. When I thought of horse riding on the beach I had images of me on a horse galloping along the sand with the waves lapping at the horses feet and the wind in my hair. The reality was that we just walked for a while along the beach, stopped for photos and then walked back!! I felt slightly cheated!! But after that we did do a bit of a trot and then a canter which was good fun, and went all through the rainforest and down to a creek, where we could swim but it was a tad cold! We stopped for some refreshments and gave my knees a bit of a rest as they were killing me (this is when I start to feel old!) and then rode them back to the stables. Despite his size Zeus was actually a great horse and was really obedient - I didn't need to tell him to do anything as he just followed whatever was going on in front so nice and easy!
In the afternoon we got taken back to Cairns. We had a few stops along the way - at an ice cream place where they had all sorts of wierd and wonderful flavours, at a lookout of the Alexandria range and we could see Low Island which is where Steve Irwin was killed by the stingray (how marvellous that this is now pointed out as a tourist attraction), then onto Mossman Gorge and had a stroll around Port Douglas, which was a really lovely little place. It was a shame we weren't staying there as one of the pubs had cane toad racing on which I thought sounded like fun! And then it was back to Cairns and we spent the evening with some new friends at the all you can eat buffet, with a few beers and a pub quiz!
Alice Springs and Uluru
So, here I am back on my own again! I left Olivia in Cairns as she is flying back to Sydney and I hopped on a plane to Alice Springs. It's so bloody hot here, as soon as you step out the door you break into a sweat! The town itself is a little bit strange, but I guess that's to be expected seeing as we are in the middle of nowhere! I'm glad I'm not here very long though as I don't really get that good a feeling about the place.
Got picked up the next morning at 5.45am (I was later to find out that this was a lie in compared to what lay ahead!) along with 20 odd other people. It was a long drive to Uluru (maybe about 450kms!) so we all dozed for a while and then our tour guide Dermot decided to make us play a quiz, with the losers making lunch for everyone! It was girls against boys and as I was the only native English speaker amongst the girls I had a nasty feeling we weren't going to do very well...and I was right! Fortunately lunch was quite easy to make!!
After lunch we went to Kata Tjuta and did an 8km walk round these rocks in the heat of the day
which was a fantastic idea! Our thermometer told us it was about 56 degrees in the sun which is a bit bloody hot really! But it was a good walk and the views were pretty stunning so even though we were all dying of dehydration by the end of it I'd still say it was worth it!Then we went back to the campground and walked up to a little viewing point so we could see sunset over Ayres Rock. We got to sip some champagne whilst watching the sun do it's thang and there was also a full moon so there were some amazing colours in the sky and it was all looking pretty good! It wasn't quite as picture perfect as you see on the postcards, and from where we were the sun didn't actually set over Ayres Rock, it set over the Kata Tjuta rocks but the sky was still a nice colour!!
We went back to the campsite for dinner and then as we had another early start most people disappeared off to bed pretty quickly, leaving me and some of the boys sitting around a non existent camp fire wondering what to do with ourselves, and then realising that we actually had no options except a shower and bed!! How exciting!
The next morning we were all up and on the bus ready to leave at 5.10! Were a bit bleary eyed but were hopeful that what we were about to see would make it all worth it...! We got to the
viewing area and along with hundreds of other tourists we got to watch the sun rise and saw the changing colour of Ayres Rock, from red to...a different shade of red! It was quite impressive though so definately good to see and worth getting up for!Had breakfast at the side of the road and then headed off for a bit of a walk. There was the option to climb Ayres Rock, although the Aborigines don't like to you as it's sacred. So I wasn't planning on doing it anyway, but first it was too windy and then too hot, so people had to make
do with a 10km walk round the base of it. It was a nice easy walk and there were a few things to look along the way. But at the end of the day, it is just a big rock! I didn't get the WOW factor that I was expecting, but it seemed no one else did either so am glad it's not just me! Am definately glad I came here as it's one of those things you have to do, but I guess it wasn't quite what I was expecting! But I don't know why - it does what it says on the tin - it's a rock and it's a sort of red colour depending on the light!!Anyway, once everyone had walked around we went to a cultural centre to understand a bit about the Aboriginal culture in the area which was quite interesting. There was a folder of letters from people who had taken a bit of rock with them and then had experienced loads of bad luck and so were sending the rock back in an envelope, asking for it to be put back! They do say it is bad luck to take away a piece of the rock, and it seemed some people suffered more than others... But I'm not sure if kidney failure, cheating husbands or other random accidents can really be blamed on a piece of rock but I guess some people need something to believe in...
Then from there we had a long drive to Kings Canyon. I think it took about 4 hours and after all the excitement of the morning most people just dozed off! When we got there we found a little resort so had a swim and chilled out by the pool, and then went for a cold beer in the pub which was lovely! And then in the evening, after watching yet another sunset and seeing yet more
rocks change colour, (this time over Kings Canyon though!) we had a campfire! Some of the boys got overly excited about this and went off on missions to find the biggest bits of wood they could. The benches nearly got thrown on at one point but I think the guide might've noticed and not been too impressed...!! Once the fire was raging we cooked our food, which I was abit dubious about but it was actually fantastic! Then to liven things up Dermont made us play possibly the most rubbish games I have ever seen in my life! It was quite hard to explain the games too when half the people didn't speak great English and the rest of us were sitting there just wondering what the hell we were doing! Three games later though he gave up and left us alone!We decided to do the proper Aussie thing whilst we were in the Outback and sleep in a swag for the night! Basically a swag is like a sleeping bag but has a little mattress in it. We were warned to zip it all up and don't leave anything out (including flip flops!) as dingoes come r
ight up to the camp and will take anything! So it was pretty cool, sleeping in our swags by the fire under the stars and the full moon... This isn't such a bad life you know...!The next morning we were up and walking up heart attack hill at 6am!! It gets so hot in the canyon that we figured it was best to start early... Apart from the first hill the walk was quite easy going and the scenery was stunning. We walked around the rim and you could see right into the canyon. We also saw a kangaroo hopping around up there too which was pretty cool!
When we got down, Dermot had found out that some road had been opened which was going to take a few hundred kilometres off our journey which meant time for a swim! This was great news after the long walk so we headed back to the pool for a couple of hours! And then off we went back to Alice Springs. What we didn't realise about the road was how bad it was going to be to drive on! He told us it was unsealed so we were expecting it to be a little bit bumpy, but not quite on the scale that it actually was! Oh well, we only had to put up with it for about 200kms and somehow I managed to slee
p quite a bit!! Afterwards we found out that you are only allowed to go on that road if you have some sort of radio in case you break down and apparently we didn't. Nevermind, we lived to tell the tale!We stopped off in an Aboriginal village for a break and as apparently people are always intrigued as to how they live. But I felt a little uncomfortable there as people were just hanging around and I don't think they really appreciate people coming along and staring. We also found a kangaroo's tail in the supermarket freezer which I thought was interesting! Didn't really fancy the idea of eating it though as it's mainly just fat! Nice!
And then a few hundred kms later we were back in Alice Springs! A shower was the first priority to get rid of all the red dust I had accumulated over the last few days, and then we all met up in the
evening for dinner and a few (well quite a lot actually!) drinks...!
Melbourne
So after a few hours sleep and with a raging hangover I had to leave behind all my new buddies and get on the plane to Melbourne! Then for some bizarre reason I got my washing powder confiscated so spent ages at check-in with everyone staring at me whilst I rummaged around in my bag for some white powder, and then had to force everything else back in again! Just what I needed!
The flight was only a couple of hours and pretty uneventful so I just slept! Then I had the job of getting to my hostel. I thought this would be pretty easy, which for the most past it was. So I was sitting on a bus and they drove me to St Kilda and then dropped me off on a random road. Usually it is not hard to spot a hostel but this one had a twist - despite it being called St Kilda Beach House, the name of the place on the outside was actually Hotel Barkly! Don't ask me why as I've no idea and in my not quite with it state it took ages for me to actually realise! I must've looked like a right idiot wandering up and down this road with a huge rucksack on my back in the hot sun when the bloody place was right in front of me the whole time!!!
And as nice as this hostel is, it wasn't the most social! For the first few days I only saw my 7 other room-mates when I went to bed and they were already alseep, or when I got up in the morning and they were asleep! Eventually though we saw each other when we were all awake and finally I had some people to talk to!! I spent some of my time wandering around the city, trying to get a feel for the place and deciding if I want to actually live here for a few months! The city is growing on me quite quickly, even though wasn't in a real touristy mood so didn't see that much! I've got a few friends here who I've met on my previous travels so it was great to catch up with them after such a long time!
I did a day trip on the Great Ocean Road which was really good. At first it felt a bit rushed and
there were all these great viewpoints that we kept driving past, but then I guess really it was all the same thing - a huge long road and some beach!! But then we did stop a few times along the way and all hopped to to get a full appreciation of the great scenery! At times it did remind me of the English countryside which was nice to see, and in the morning it was a bit cloudy which definately reminded me of home!! We eventually got to the 12 Apostles which was the highlight of the trip and what everyone comes to see. Basically there are 12 big rocks in the water, but you can't really see them all from the viewing platforms so some of us got a helicopter ride around the area which was fantastic! We had really good views of all the rocks, the road, the beaches etc etc so it was brilliant! 
After this we went to Loch Ard Gorge and some razorback rock and then down to London Bridge. Basically these were some other areas that had lots more rocks for show and tell!! They were pretty impressive though! After all this excitement it was then time to drive back to Melbourne. We went back via the highway, which is not so stunning but definately quicker!! It was a long day but def worth doing as the scenery was amazing.
My uncle, aunt and three cousins live in Melbourne so I went and stayed with them for a few days. I haven't seen them for fourteen years so wasn't really sure how it was all going to go but it was great to see them and they made me feel so welcome. It was so nice to be part of a family again after such a long time, be in a normal house and actually sleep in a room without seven other people!!! I had a great time there for a few days just relaxing, watching movies and catching up with them all so it was really good! It got to the point that I didn't really want to leave, but the fact I am planning on coming back to Melbourne in about a month or so made it a bit easier to go!
Singapore
I didn't arrive in Singapore until about 10pm and even though there's only a 3 hour time difference with Melbourne I was struggling a bit and wasn't quite with it. I got the train to somewhere near my hostel and then had to walk for a bit. But I ended up down the wrong street wandering around for a while but eventually found the place! The reception was shut but I had a little note waiting for me with a map and some keys, and so I found my way upstairs and then eventually after wandering around for a while looking a bit lost someone pointed me in the direction of my room where my name was plastered on my bed so it all made me feel quite welcome!! I really like this place - standards have dropped slightly from Australia but that's OK, I'm happy with low standards anyway! The upstairs is like one huge bedroom, with loads of people sleeping in bunks with these big curtain things hanging down to try and give people a bit of privacy! Then there are a few dorm rooms aswell - I'm not sure how I managed to end up in one of them but am not complaining! It's so humid here though, that after sweating a few litres making my way from the airport I stood under a cold shower for a few minutes and then fell into bed!!
I spent my first day wandering around the Arab Quarter and Little India. It wasn't quite what I expected Singapore to be like - I felt more like I was in some other Asian country. But it was really interesting to walk around these areas - I felt like I had been transported back to India with all the material shops, shops full of cheap tat that no one would ever need yet still buy!, restaurants with rotis, chapatis and decent curries, smell of incense etc. As well as the odd stare and dirty old men whispering things in my ear as they walked past!!! Nice!
I braved a restaurant for lunch which was an interesting experience - I didn't understand what he was saying, he didn't understand what I was saying, so we pointed to some pictures, exchanged a few words and then I sat down and waited...! It turned out to not be so bad - I got a bowl of watery wanton soup thrown in, the noodles tasted good and I didn't feel like I was going to be ill whilst I was eating it so everyone's a winner!! It only cost me $2.50, and it didn't make a swift exit out of either end too so it's all good!!
In the afternoon I went up to Orchard Road, which is apparently famous for all the shopping (although I had never heard of it before I got here!). Singapore is well known for it's food and shopping and I have to say the shops are pretty impressive! There are sooo many shopping malls and there are hundreds of shops in each one. I found a Marks & Spencer, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins which I found to be quite strange and in one of the huge department stores I found proper English Cadbury's chocolate which was very exciting! If only I wasn't going home in a couple of days I could've stocked up! This is definately the country to go to before going back to the UK (for good!) as things are pretty cheap and the choice is amazing! But seeing as I have a shortage of funds and a small ish rucksack I had to make do with just window shopping!!!
I met Lisa, a Scottish girl, in my room so we went out for some dinner in the evening. We were both pretty knackered so it was quite handy that there was a restaurant a couple of doors down from the hostel! More good food and at $4 a plate we weren't complaining! It's wierd how some things are really cheap, and other things are quite expensive. If you wanted to you could spend $15 upwards on dinner but clearly I am never going to do that! I guess the more expensive things cater to the tourists but you can get buy on a few dollars a day if you wanted to...
The next day I met an Aussie at breakfast and so we hung out for the day! We went to Raffles Hotel where everyone says you have to go for a cocktail but we got chucked out the lobby for being inappropriately dressed!! So we were a bit annoyed after that! I did have the world's most expensive ice cream ($8! that's more than I spent on lunch and dinner put together!) and Aiden had the world's most expensive orange juice (at a massive $12!!)! They put far too much effort into the ice cream - first I got to try flavours and she recommended different ones, and then when I picked two she scooped them onto a marble slab and started mixing and mashing them in together, which is not really what I wanted as I like to eat them separately!! Anyway, I didn't have a choice, and so in the end I got a cup of brown goo that really didn't look that appetising! She took such care over it though I guess she must've trained for years to become such an accomplished ice cream putter togetherer and so I didn't really like to say anything...!!!
After that we went for a little cruise along the Singapore River in a bumboat! Not as classy as it sounds, especially when the water is a lovely green/grey colour! But it was good and a nice way to see the CBD. Then wandered around the CBD for a while before hopping on the MRT to Chinatown for some food. There was supposed to be a huge Chinatown Food Complex which is supposed to be quite an experience, but in true Heidi style I couldn't find it anywhere!! So we opted for a place in the street instead, and the food was great! Walked round Chinatown for a bit before going all the way back to a museum in the CBD (as I felt like a bit of culture!) in the pouring rain, only to find it was really expensive to get in when I had run out of dollars and wasn't planning on paying $10 for a museum anyway! So we got soaked for nothing then! Oh well!
After chilling out back at the hostel for a while Lisa and I ventured slightly further for dinner - we actually crossed the street this time, and got $4 plates of food from someone else! There were no menus in this place and we didn't understand whatever was written on the board, so I just opted for noodles with chicken and requested the not spicy version and was pretty impressed with what I got! After we got our meals they asked if we wanted an egg! I thought this was a bit random and so declined but Lisa went for it and literally just got a fried egg on a little plate which was a nice touch!
The next day was my last... Can't believe I have been away for nearly a year and am about to fly back to the cold and rain in the UK! Anyway, I spent my last day wandering around Singapore - went back to Chinatown to explore a bit more and then headed over to Sentosa, this island which I had overheard someone saying was a great place to visit and you should go now as it's all being re-developed and will change. Well it's actually being re-developed as we speak so a huge chunk of it was a building site which was nice! I had also read in the Lonely Planet that you have to take a cable car one way as there are such magnificent views... Well the cable car was ridiculously expensive and only $1 more for a return so figured I'd push the boat out... It was so not worth it as you couldn't really see that much except for the aforementioned building site!!
The island was really wierd, there were quite a few attractions there but none that really interested me, so I went for a walk along the beach and found the southern most point of the Asia Continent so that was worth a few photos! But apart from that there wasn't much else! I rode on the buses around the island to make sure I wasn't missing anything (and I wasn't!!) and then headed back to the mainland and a bit of last minute shopping to spend my final few dollars!! I had my last plate of $4 noodles with Lisa and a couple of other people we had met at the hostel and then I headed off to the airport for my last leg of my Round the World ticket back to London...
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