Cairns - The tropical North Queensland

Lookout over Cairns

Day 19
We woke up at 4:30 to catch the plane to Cairns. I think I barely got 3 hours of sleep because of our rowdy roommates but that's the beauty of hostel living! We arrived in Cairns at 9am but it was too early to check in at the recommended party hostel, Gilligans, so we walked around the Esplanade and to the lagoon. The lagoon is a massive pool beside the ocean. Most of the beaches are closed this time of year because of jelly fish so the lagoon is always busy. Since we were so exhausted we had a nap in the park beside the lagoon. Best nap ever! The rest of the day was spent doing things that needed to be done like laundry, grocery shopping, booking our reef trip and the most important, signing up for a pub crawl the next night. We ended up doing nothing for the night except hanging out in our room with our always entertaining new British friends.

The lagoon at night

Day 20
Robyn, Charlotte and I were up at 7 to be at the marina for 8. After checking in with Reef Quest we made our way to the reef, which took about 1.5 hours. We spent that time on the top deck relaxing and searching for dolphins. Charlotte went diving and Robyn and I went snorkeling at our first reef location. I was in the Great Barrier Reef! It was so awesome and one of the coolest things I've ever done. I found Nemo the clownfish, Crush the sea turtle, Bruce the reef shark (terrifying even though they are harmless) and so many other amazing fish and coral. So bright and vivid! We went snorkeling in 2 locations for 2 hours each time but time flew by! It was such a good day on the water and we were so lucky to have a perfect blue sky day.
After getting back we got ready for a crazy night out. Somehow we were late again for another pub-crawl so we had to call the promoter to find them. It was alright though because he bought us drinks to make up for it. We made it to Vibe, where Charlotte "participated" in the bar games and then we went to the Woolshed (or Wolfpack as Harrison called it). At Woolshed it was Ladies Night which meant free champagne offered by shirtless men and a striptease from Hot Chocolate. We met up with our roommates here and had a wild time! Needless to say we didn't make it to the rest of the pub-crawl but had one of the best nights out! Good family outting!

Robyn and I in our trendy stinger suits

Cairns family photo!

Day 21
In the morning we had lots of laughs about the night before, champagne showers and trying on Ash's clothes. Before Robyn and my hangovers set in we left Charlotte in the fetal position to go for a swim at the lagoon and nap in the park. In the room, we continued to be entertained by the Brit boys. Later that night Robyn and I went to see the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was a very graphic but good movie!

Day 22
On my to do list I had rent scooters in Cairns so that's what we did on Robyn's last day in Cairns. We met two girls from Melbourne that seemed as nervous as we were to ride the scooters so we invited them to come along with us. We figured there would be safety in numbers. The scooter guy told us to go to Crystal Cascades and after some practicing and Robyn running into a wall, we were off! Off and going at 55km/ hour woooo! The ride there was beautiful going through the rainforest. At Cascade Creek we swam around, went down the rock slide, admired the scenery and watched people dive from the cliff called No Fear. This was also the first time seeing a big Austalian spider... with his family of 3! Ewwww! Some local guys that the Melbourne girls knew showed us around and helped us back to Cairns. On the way home one of their friends fell off the scooter. She had severe asphalt burn and was taken to the hospital. I think we all drove a little more cautiously after that!
For Robyn's last night we splurged on a nice Italian restaurant on the Esplanade. We enjoyed yummy mussels, wine and pasta! And of course we couldn't call it a night until we had a jug of beer, at PJ O'Briens!

"Put your hands up if you feel stupid!"

Waterfall at Crystal Cascades

The swimming whole at Crystal Cascades

Robyn and I on her last night in Cairns

Day 23-25
Boo hoo Robyn leaves! I'll miss her and I hope she still lives in London when I come back!
The next couple of days we felt less than motivated to look for jobs especially after almost 4 months of holiday. We did print out resumes and go out in the extreme heat to hand some out. We also went to the daily Happy Travels job presentation but it wasn't that helpful unless you were willing to go the Outback. The job market was not looking promising because in Cairns it was the off season so no one was hiring! Charlotte and I got down feeling unwanted and poor :( I hate looking for jobs!

Day 26
Today was a new day and we were feeling more motivated! We woke up early to apply at the Reef boats and spent the rest of the day 'pounding the pavement'. We went to all the hotels and walking all around Cairns looking for someone to hire us. So what if it was the dead season?!
After dinner we went to Happy Travels for their Wednesday night of free Goon (wine) and pizza. We had heard about this party at the job presentation the day before. Charlotte and I went with our new Dutch roommate, Simone. Surprisingly quite a few people showed up to play drinking games in the back room of the travel agency. It turned out to be pretty fun and Simone even won a reef trip. The party moved on to the Woolshed, where we befriended 3 Canadian guys from Vernon, BC. They were good friends to make, as they then provided us with drinks and too many shots for the rest of the night!  Just another crazy night at the Woolshed!!!! Woolshed-2, Katie-0

Happy Travels party people

Simone and I with the Canadian guys

Day 27
The usual...hangover, lagoon and nap.
I had a work trial at a restaurant called Winks on the Esplanade. The job was a hostess position trying to get people to come into the restaurant. I felt myself getting more stupid repeating myself for 2 hours! It was a good thing the trial wasn't that long because I was exhausted! It was early to bed for me!

Day 28
Basically we are just playing the waiting game and hoping to hear about a job soon. As we wait though we wade in the lagoon since it's 37 degrees outside. Life could be worse ;)
Charlotte, Simone and I went out to the Woolshed to party with the Canandians boys again. We just can't resist the free drinks haha! Another fun night out! I'm beginning to like this Cairns place !

Day 29
Blah blah blah the usual stuff. Internet, skype, applying for jobs etc.

Day 30
We check out of Gilligans...so bittersweet! But onto better things like Charlotte's family friend, Graeme and his wife have offered to take us in and take us on some adventures. Our first adventure was to the nearby Atherton tablelands. It was another day with a lot of stops.
Lake Barrine is a crater lake and we saw green long-finned eels and turtles.
When we stopped at Lake Eachram we went for a swim in the deep water. We also threw bread into the water and that attracted turtles, sea dragons and hungry fish.

Lake Eachram

Platypus Bend is private property that was once a Japenese tourist spot to look for platypus. Graeme and Esther know the caretaker and that is why we were able to visit. We had a nice lunch in the covered picnic area while it rained. The rain did stop and we were able to go for another swim. There was no sight of any platypus but that was probably because they are most commonly found at dawn or dusk.
The next two stops were at my new favourite trees, the Curtain and Cathedral Fig Tree. They are unbelieveably massive trees reaching more than 500 years old. They are older than the country of Australia!
That night we went with Graeme and Esther to watch them rock n roll dance where one of their favourite bands were playing. They were really good but they couldn't convince us to get in the dancefloor...for once!

Curtain Fig Tree

Day 31
Redlynch is a suburb of Cairns and that is where our temporary home at Graeme and Esther's was. When we had arrived the night before I couldn't see what was around but when I woke up it was so pretty. We were surrounded by hills of lush green rainforest. It was also ridiculously hot out but I just kept telling myself 'you could be at home where it's winter time!" . Charlotte and I went swimming in the nearby creek (no crocs!) to cool off but either than that it was quite the chill out day.

Day 32 & 33
It rained off and on. Nothing too exciting except some delicious homecooked dinners cooked by Esther.

Day 34
Happy Australia Day!!!
Graeme had it planned with his friend to take us all out sailing for our Australia Day! It was my first time in a sail boat and I was very excited. We went to the marina at about 10am and packed up the boat but we couldn't find anyone in the office to tell we were taking it so basically we stole it. About an hour later someone came out to the boat and told us we needed to come back to sort things out. It was like we brought bananas on the boat...which I found out that day, is unlucky! Anyways, once we got the details figured out we were off sailing again. We were pulling ropes and there was lots about jibbing, winching and ducking out of the way for the boom. We also,entered a race or cruised the companions since for insurance purposes can't call it a race. We had no idea what we were doing at that point haha. We did a couple loops around the bay and made it back right before it started storming. It's was fun to learn something new like that and it made it a memorable Australia Day!

Our sail boat for the day

Day 35
We had a day of decision making...well researching our choices. Would it be Melbourne, Gold Coast or stick it out it Cairns? Everybodies advice was running through our heads and we didn't know what to do.
Later in the day we went into town to the Salt House because it was Esther's leaving party for her job. It was a really nice place on the pier with amazing $15 cocktails, which we made her loser ex-boss buy us.

Day 36
Our Saturday plans changed a bit because Graeme's friends new business was in desperate need of a bus driver. Although something potentially good came out of it because his friend said he might have work for us doing promotion and administration. On our way to the airport to meet up with the business owner a tire rolled down a hill onto the road and smashed into us. A teenage boy was changing the tire on his trailer and it got away from him resulting in a big dent in Esther's car. I was thankful it hadn't been Charlotte or I driving. To continue with our eventful morning we also found a friendly rainbow lorikeet in the backyard. It sat on Esther's shoulder and hand so we concluded it must be someone's pet but we wanted to keep it for ourselves. It was really cool to see one of these birds so up close even if I was freaked out.

Rainbow lorikeet

For late lunch we all drove up to Lake Morris for a BBQ. It is a beautiful lake were Cairns gets all their water from. After the BBQ we took a short and very hot walk around part of the lake to take in the views and see parts of the water process.

Lake Morris

That night Charlotte and I went out for Japanese. We ordered the Oz BBQ taster, which included lamb, crocodile and kangaroo. The red meat of Kangaroo was surprisingly the best one and crocodile was just like tougher chicken. I'm so proud that we tried it! After dinner we went for a drink and dance at the Gilligans bar. We just couldn't stay away! It was an early night though because that is when our ride was leaving.

Kangaroo, crocodile and lamb! YUM!

Day 37
From eating crocodile to watching them eat...On our way to Port Douglas, the 5th most scenic drive in Australia, we visited Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. Hartley's was the 1st place in Australia to conduct feeding demonstrations and are now known for how daring they are. We made it just in time for feeding time for both the 'salties' and 'freshies'. The salt water crocs are massive (Big Ted is 5.2 meters!) and the fresh water ones have the memorable loud snap with their mouth. I hope I never encounter that in the wild ekkk! We then took a boat trip through the lagoon. Our tour guide, Duncan is a little nuts but how could you not be if your career choice is feeding crocodiles. But anyways, he puts chicken heads on the end of a stick and lures the crocodile to jump out of the water to get them. Terrifying! Next, Duncan takes us on the farm tour when he says this is where you get your "boots, belts, burgers and bags!". It was another scary vision, of several pits of crocodiles. Did you know the chromosomes don't determine the sex of a crocodile but rather it's the temperature it is when it's laid? The farm tries to make as many males as possible because they grow bigger and faster which equals more money ($1000-2000). Lastly was the death roll demo by Haggart the crocodile. Snap..roll..drown...your dead!

Jumping for chicken heads

Crocodile farm

At 3:30 we continued on to Port Douglas and had a late lunch on the pier. On the way back we stopped at the once swanky (in the 80s) Sheraton to check out their Vegas-like pool and then a few lookouts like Flagstaff Hill.

Flagstaff Hill

That night we watched almost 6 hours of the mens Australian Open Final! Ridicuously long but ridiculously good tennis. Congrats Djokovic! 

More Cairns to come!xx



Brisbane, Gold Coast and Fraser Island

Day 10
Time for some classic Aussie experiences! We went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the first and largest of its kind in the world. It was a fun day of holding koalas, feeding kangaroos,spying crocodiles, spotting Barry the platypus and admiring the tropical coloured birds at feeding time.
That night we went to the hostel's trivia and our team WON! We are so smart and for that we won the big $75, which we responsibly decided would go towards our car rental. Robyn and Charlotte hit the hay while the party animals continued to The Down Under Bar. It was good for a Monday night!

Violet the Koala

Just hopping around

 Sleepy koala

Pretty bird

Day 11
So we should have booked hostels ahead of time. We not knowingly found out it was the busy period so Byron Bay was booked up for at least the next 10 days and Surfers Paradise wasn't much better. We also needed to organize a rental car and so long story short it took awhile to figure this all out.  Finally, we got our sexy, red car and were ready for our roadtrip. It was a quick arrival to Surfers Paradise, where all 5 of us piled into 1 hotel room with 1 king size bed. We did a quick peruse of the main street and laid on our towels at the beach. We went back to the hotel room and played drinking games. The highlight of the night was Gerrit pulling the last king and having to drink the 'shit mix' (vodka, gin, rum, coke, ketchup and milk) from a bedside table drawer while in the closet. Somehow, Jen and I were the only ones who went to the bar that night.

Robyn, Jen and I at Main Beach

Q1 Building - tallest in Australia



 Gerrit drinking from the drawer

Day 12
We checked out of the hotel and went straight to the beach and spent the majority of the day in the hot Aussie sun! Of course there was wave playing :) On the way to going to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch we bought tickets for the Wicked Pub Crawl. This was the most expensive pub crawl I've ever paid for and the earliest start at 6!! Anyways, we had our lunch and now Robyn could cross that off her list of Hard Rocks visited around the world. Then, we checked into our hostel, The Islander and got ready for our night out. We were late for the first bar but made it to the other 4. The clubs in Surfers are a little risqué with all female bartenders just wearing lingerie. It had a very Montreal feel to it. Why would you do that if you arn't working for tips? The night didn't get too crazy as you might expect with a bar crawl but we still had fun with lots of over the top dancing and making fun of other people haha!

Day 13
In the morning we had Mad Travel at the hostel book our Fraser Island 2 day trip with Fraser Explorer Tours. The first step was to roadtrip down to Hervey Bay, where the tour left from. In our hot red car it took us 4 hours to get from Surfers Paradise to Hervey Bay. Once we got there we roamed the beach and town that seemed like a cool beach town only 10 years ago. After our free sausage sizzle held by the local church and our massive plate of spaghetti we went back down to the beach. Again, we missed sunset but we sat on the beach anyways on the lookout for shooting stars.

Hanging out on the beach in Hervey Bay

 

FRASER ISLAND

Day 14
We were up early to catch the bus for our tour. A full day of sight seeing! There was a 15 minute bus ride and a 30 minute ferry ride to Fraser Island. Since the island is made completely out of sand only cars with 4 wheel drive are allowed. Making our way through the sand roads, we first arrived at Lake Mackenzie, the islands most photographed location. The lake has an impermeable layer of leaves on the bottom therefore anything put in there will be there for thousands of years. Despite the initial thought of disgust you find it's rich in minerials and has a 2.0 pH level making for soft hair and anti-aging properties. We were also warned to watch our bags because dingos were known to come and take them. None were spotted and we spent our hour here playing in the water :)

Lake Mackenzie



Next, we discovered the islands ancient rainforest and giant King Ferns (living fossil) at Wanggoolba Creek and Central Station.

Oldest living fossil



Our lunch stop was at Eurong Beach Resort, our base during our visit to the island.
After lunch we hiked the Hammerstone Sandblow. It was a tough walk through the hot sand and we thought the bus driver must have left us there to die because the 'mirage' lake, Lake Wabby was no where in sight. We did eventually find it and had a much needed refreshing swim.

Lake Wabby

Robyn, Charlotte and I had drinks before going down for the Mexican buffet dinner. We went back to the room for a bit before going to the bar to then go to the beach but then getting too scared of dingos. Ahhh! Too many things to be afraid of in this country!

Day 15
The day started of slightly amusing when Jen and Gerrit slept in so I had to bang on their door while the whole bus had to wait for them.
We drove down 75-Mile Beach ocean highway along the shark and jellyfish infested ocean. Jen and Gerrit took the optional flight overlooking the island and landing on the beach. They took some beautiful pictures! The beach is also where we had our first dingo sighting! They really deceive you with their cute dog appearance.

Looking down 75 Mile Beach

Fraser Island beaches from above

We continued down the beach to Red Canyon, which as the name mentions is coloured sand and rocks.

The girls at Red Canyon

Next, we went to the Champagne Pools. They are sandy/rocky pools overflowing with ocean water and that creates the bubbly effect with the crashing waves.

Champagne Pools

Then, we checked out the Maheno ShipWreck. It was a passenger liner in 1935 that was being towed to a scrap yard in Japan but got caught in a cyclone that brought it to Fraser Island.

Jen and I at the shipwreck

We climbed up Indian Head to get a view of the beaches and water below. We spotted groups of stingrays but unfortunately didn't see any sharks.

Views from Indian Head

Our last stop of the day was at Eli Creek. Robyn, Charlotte and I did as the tour guide suggested and floated on our backs all the way down the stream. Its a hard life! Eli Creek seemed like the spot to be as people had music playing from their trucks, tents set up and coolers full of beer. We saw another dingo here but much closer this time and this could have something to do with stupid people chasing it out of the bush. If only I could bring it home! So cute!

That concluded our Fraser Island Adventure and we took the ferry back to the main land. Fraser Island is so beautitul and unique! We had previously planned to go to Rainbow Beach for the night so we drove for 2 hours to get down there. As Charlotte drove, all the Canadians drank beer in the car because it's legal in Australia!

Day 16
We checked out of our hostel and started making our way back to Brisbane. To break up the long drive we stopped in a few beach towns along the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Mooloolaba. Noosa is mostly known for the big houses and flashy things. We hung out at the windy beach and swam in the super wavy water. Mooloolaba I had been told was where all the Canadians went and I can understand why. It was a cute and busy spot and possibly a place to go back to to look for a job.  Our reason to come back to Brisbane was to drop Gerrit off at the airport to go back to where he lives in Perth. Jen was sad that her boy was leaving :( and after their goodbye we went to our hostel. The night was a the usual dinner and a jug of beer before bed.

Day 17
Since Byron Bay accommodation was completely booked up we planned to go just for the day. While we were doing our usual playing in the waves Jen landed wrong and really hurt her knee. She managed to make it back to shore and we had the lifeguard come and take a look at it. He couldn't do much about it but the accident left Jen somewhat immobile. Boo! After doing some stressful beach laying and patio drinking we headed back to Brissie. I hope to come back to the hippie town of Bryon Bay. Again, the night was the new routine of dinner and a jug of beer before bed.

Day 18
It was a lazy day while Jen went to the doctor and Charlotte, Robyn and I laid around and did some packing. Jen decided she would go to Perth instead of coming to Cairns with us because of her injury. Despite her reasons of trying not to slow us down it was hard not to be disappointed that she wasn't coming.

Cairns here we come!

G'day mate! - Sydney

Day 1: Christmas Eve
After a 3.5 hour flight from Auckland to Sydney we made it to Australia! We took a taxi to Bondi Junction, where we were staying at a friends of a friends for a few days while they were in NZ. The only thing we managed to squeeze in was grocery shopping for Christmas day breakfast.

Day 2
Merry Christmas! There was  no snow, no rain not even a cloud in the sky! It was the perfect hot Christmas day!! We made breakfast of French toast with strawberries and syrup, grapefruit and a bottle of bubbly to start the day off right!

Our Christmas breakfast





We put on our bikinis and I put on my antlers and Charlotte her elf hat to go to Bondi beach. This seemed like the place or home for all the orphaned travelers. For most, swimsuits and Santa hats was the dresscode! Not being home for Christmas could have been lonely but not with these hundreds of other people loving the sun and surf! After spending the day at one the worlds most famous beaches we had chicken sandwiches, watched the tv series Vampire diaries and freaked out about a giant cockroach.

Bondi Beach on Christmas Day



Christmas spirit on the beach

Day 3
We tempted ourselves and went Boxing Day shopping at the Westfield mall down the street. It is a giant mall that seemed twice the size of the Eatons centre. The mall was busy, chaotic and overwhelming and nothing was bought. We had been doing a lot of walking the past 2 days so my foot was a little sore so that gave us an excuse to watch tv all evening.

Day 4
You would have thought we were at home not Sydney, Australia by how much we were lazying around.  We moved locations to Charlotte's friends, Harriet and Mark's apartment while they too were in New Zealand for the holidays. Also in Bondi Junction, this place is referred to as the palace. It was a very nice apartment that even had a roof top pool and garden area.

Day 5
Finally, we got our tourist hats on and took in the sights of Sydney. We took the bus to Sydney Harbour and saw the icons of Australia, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The opera house has been said to be designed as segments of a whole sphere if put all together. But sadly, the designer was fired from the job before completion and then never made the trip to see it in person before he died. The bridge and Opera House were bigger than I thought but closer together than I imagined. We laid in the sun while in the Botanical Gardens and had a $9 AUD drink under the Opera house overlooking the bridge. Next, we walked to the Rocks, the first European settlement in Sydney. We went to the Rocks Discovery Musuem, which was boring even for a museum. Then we walked back to Sydney harbour to take a ferry to Darling Harbour. I think taking the ferry is the cheapest way to get great views of the famous harbours and city skyline. This was a day full of pinch me moments!
I was really looking forward to seeing Jen and Robyn the next day!

The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge

Charlotte and I at the Opera House

Sydney Harbour from the ferry

Day 6
I got up early to be ready for when the girls arrived at their hotel. When they did call, Charlotte and I took the train to central Sydney to reunite with Robyn and Jen. I also got to meet Jens new boyfriend, Gerrit who was joining us for 9 days of our Australia adventure.  It was tourist day on repeat but in reverse. We started with a walk through Darling Harbour, took the ferry to Sydney Harbour and went to The Rocks for drinks at the Orient Hotel. We took the train back to their hotel and planned to go to the beach for sunset. Hours went by while the 5 of us drank in the room and we completely missed sunset. Gerrit, Jen and I kept the party going and went to 'The Cross' (Kings Cross). We even got a picture with the giant Coca Cola sign, which I found out is as much a Sydney icon as LA's Hollywood sign. Kings Cross is the place to go on a night out even with the occasional drag queen and strip club. Never a boring moment in THE CROSS!

Art in motion with the Harbour Bridge



Gerrit, Jen, Robyn and I with the Opera House



Jen and I at the Cross

Day 7
We did have a slow start because of hangovers and jet lag. Once we did get going it was off to Bondi Beach, again but it was something I thought the girls couldn't miss! After staying for a couple hours lounging and playing in the waves we planned to meet one of my old Whistler co workers, Bec. Charlotte, Robyn and I left the couple to go to the Clovelly Hotel for dinner. It was good to see Bec and we talked about boys, Whistler and our New Years Eve plans for the next night. Bec was actually the person that told us to come to Shore Thing monthssss ago! We didn't stay out late reminiscing though, in order to save ourselves for big NYE night.

Day 8
The last day of 2011!
Robyn, Jen and Gerrit went to the Botanical Gardens to see the fireworks over Sydney harbor. They had to leave early afternoon to get a spot in the gardens so it was cya next year for them!
Charlotte and I spent some time by the pool and then slowly started getting ready. You can't rush someone on vacation ;) ! We went to a pre drink in Surrey Hills with Bec and her friends. Then, onto the big event - Shore Thing at Bondi Beach! There was big lines for drinks but Snoop Dogg was a good distraction at least. He even played one of my favourite songs at the moment. Living youngggg and willldddd and freeeee!! Calvin Harris brought us in to 2012! Happy New Year!!!!! Fireworks YAY! Unfortunately no hunk to kiss this year at midnight, only Charlotte! The night was then just like being at a really cool concert and listening to Calvin Harris and Pendullum.

Bec and I at Shore Thing

Shore Thing at Bondi Beach

Happy New Year!

Day 9
In our last few hours in Sydney we all laid by the rooftop pool. Nothing too strenuous due to the previous nights activities. We took the train to the airport and then we were off to Brisbane!

Goodbye to Sydney...for now! xo