Goodbye Australia

Saying goodbye is the absolute worst and I'm not sure I'm too good at it. I have had the most incredible 4 months exploring what felt like the entire country, however there is still more to do. I would love to go to Ayers Rock, Alice Springs, Darwin, Esperence and see a lot more of Victoria. So I'm pretty sure we'll be back at some point in the near future. 

I have truely fell head over heels for Australia, I just love the outdoor culture there. It does help that the majority of the time they have amazing weather. Also my one true love is the beach and I love how close it was to everywhere we visited. And also love how many very different and unique places you can visit, it's just such a diverse country. 

Anyway enough rambling, I'm sure you can tell from all my posts how much of an amazing time we had. But now it's time to say goodbye but a while and fly to my next destination, this time alone...

Xoxo

Port Macquarie & Newcastle

So we spent a day in Port Macquarie. The weather was lovely and we wrote postcards, read and ate carrot sticks and humus whilst lying on the grass by the beach. We didn't do anything else so this is all I have to say and there is only one picture I can include.

Our next stop was Newcastle. It was a lot colder and definitely not bikini weather, although the sun was still shining. I reckon if it was raining it would look a lot like Newcastle in the UK. We drove the through the town and along the water front before parking up at the Ocean Baths. Once we left the camper we got hit with the wind and it was freezing but we headed out anyway to watch the early morning surfers brave the sea. There is something about watching surfing, it's almost hypnotic and you can get carried away and spend too long there.

After spending a while there, we decided to go for a run along the front and we headed in the direction we had not yet been. Big mistake! It was uphill only and not just any uphill, the steepest we could have picked. I struggled big time, it was tough. We probably ran about 3.5km before heading back to the Baths for a shower. I had a quick dip in the Ocean pool before my shower and it was freezing. This was the view on the run.

We didn't have anything to make for packed lunches so we treated ourselves to a footlong meatball Subway and it was so delicious before heading on our way towards our next destination.

Xoxo

Coffs Harbour & Yamba

So we arrived in Coffs Harbour pretty early in the morning and we went straight to MacDonolds, now not for what you might initially expect. So basically Bob, told us a hidden Aussie secret, that you can get ice cream for 30cents all day everyday. I can't believe we only found this out in Byron, we could have saved ourselves a lot of money. So here's the picture of our 30cents ice cream at 8.30am.

We found the beach as our first priority obviously and had a long walk by the sea before we found an island, I think it was called South Coffs which we decided to explore. 

 

It was really beautiful and the views were completed uninterrupted and there were no other tourists around so we felt like we had the island to ourselves. 

We stayed in Coffs Harbour to eat our packed lunch before heading to find our rest stop for the night. Only a short visit but we really enjoyed the walk. 

The following morning we arrived in Yamba, which I'm not sure is a very touristy place but the main beach was huge and there was no one around so we went for a walk, whilst watching the sun come up. 

Nath and I also this thing, which we find really funny. So you know how normal people write in the sand 'I love Sam' or 'B.R 4 C.L' well we think it's hilarious to write things like 'haemoglobin' or 'tables' because other people and the beach walk past and spend ages staring at it and just don't get it. Anyway I did actually write something normal. 

We didn't stay in Yamba for too long, as out initial aim was to spot dolphins on Pippa Beach but we couldn't spot anyway, so off we went. 

Xoxo

Surfer's Paradise

After Brisbane we headed straight to Surfers Paradise and to be honest I wasn't expecting much after being told on the West Coast it was very commercial and being liken by some to Blackpool, I was therefore expecting Magaluf. We were both pleasantly surprised. The beach was surrounded by high rise buildings and the shops were very Newquay-esque, but it was sunny and when you are travelling that makes the difference. 

We only stayed one night here as there were no close free rest stops and the campsite was pretty expensive. But we had a great time, we drove and explored the area which was full of water, rivers, lakes and obviously the sea, there were also some amazing properties right on the water which must have cost a bomb.

 

Our full day was spent on the main beach at Surfers Paradise and we had incredible weather. So we spent all the time in the sea, which was beautifully clear. 

All in all, great holiday spot.

Xoxo

Noosa Heads & Mooloolaba

We had a short stopover in Noosa Heads. Now this had to be done because my Auntie Alison travelled the East Coast in 1995 and she liked Noosa so much she named one of her late dogs after it. We were also lucky with perfect weather so we just lay on this beach and read. 

Unfortunately near by there weren't any free stops, so not been ones to pay for accommodation we drove on around lunchtime to Mooloolaba. I'm not sure this is a normal east coast stopping point, but we wanted to stop here because we liked the name and we saw the Mooloolaba surf lifesaving team at the Aussies. We took a couple of selfies and then headed on towards a free rest stop. Short but sweet. 

Xoxo

Gin Gin & Agnes Water

From Bundaberg we headed to a free rest stop in Gin Gin, (only wish I could have one of Dad's Gin and Tonics in the bath *dreaming*) where we stayed that night and saw a beautiful sunset. 

The following day we went for a very hot and sweaty run through the local park and up some killer hills before going to the local swimming pool to swim a few lengths and obviously use their showers. 

Around lunch time we headed to Agnes Water and Town of 1770, which was a little out of the way but I wanted to go here because it marks Captain Cook's first landing in Queensland. It is also the first area where it is safe to surf at when travelling down from Cairns.

The beach was lovely if not a bit chilling and it was here we first discovered 'squeaky' sand. We later learned that this is to do with the compactness of the sand. This area was also where we also saw our first glimpse of a proper hippy. 

Unfortunately I have let you guys down and I don't have any pictures of Agnes Water.

Next stop Rainbow Beach...

Xoxo

Townsville

We ended up staying in our next stop, Townsville for 2 nights for the simple reason of, a little bit of sunshine. Townsville has an average of 320 days of sunshine per year, which they could trade stats with the UK. So much sunshine thy undercover seating at Dairy Farmers stadium was considered unnecessary because of minimal rainfall during rugby-league season.

We spent both of our days there at a local outdoor Olympic sized swimming pool. It cost $5 per person for entry and we desperately needed showers and some exercise. We got sufficient showers and managed to do 40 lengths each, each day.

The sea looked beautiful but unfortunately unswimable unless we wanted to be attacked by stingers. There was a lovely esplanade that ran along the beach front overlooking Magnetic Island.

On our way out we visited Barracks Kissing Point and this had to be done. 

Xoxo

The Great Barrier Reef

We caught an early plane from Melbourne to Cairns and arrived in hot, sticky Cairns before lunch time. We checked in at Global Backpackers where we managed to get a check double room rather than a dorm. We then booked onto the Great Barrier Reef tour for the following day. For dinner we got a voucher from our hostel, for $6 for a main meal and a drink and went here as we hadn't yet done a food shop. 

The next day we got up early for our Great Barrier Reef tour and walked out to the jetty. The day included a introductory scuba dive. I have never been scuba diving, so I was ridiculously excited if not a bit nervous. Also at this point I was also a bit gutted that Nathan and I had not done the PADI course in Koh Tao, Thailand last year. As apparently it's the cheapest and best place to do it in the world, may have to make a return trip. 

We had a perfect day, the sun was shining and not too much wind so we assumed sea sickness could be avoided. However you'll soon find out this wasn't this case. We both took ginger sea sickness tablets to be on the safe side (NB.. Does not always work). 

Our boat took us out to the outer reef and we stopped at Norman's reef, which according to the travel guy was meant to be one of the best. We were the third group to go on the intro scuba dive so we went snorkelling to start with. Obviously taking with us our favourite toy, the GoPro. 

All suited and booted in our wetsuits, just waiting for the all go to jump in. 

So there was a video I wanted to post here, which was taken from the GoPro but it won't seem to let me, might only be possible on a computer. We had an awesome time snorkelling and saw lots of colourful fish and beautiful coral. 

After a half hour snorkelling session, it was our time to get into our scuba gear. Unfortunately the pictures of us in our gear was rubbish (taken by someone else) so I won't be putting it on here. And because it was our introductory dive, we weren't allowed to take any cameras underwater, as they wanted our full attention on the activity at hand. But luckily we had a professional following us around taking pictures, I have only 1 saved on my phone which I will share with you shortly. 

Scuba diving is a completely crazy experience and definitely nothing like I've ever experienced before. I was pretty nervous to be quite honest. The key point to remember was 'do not stop breathing', which they drilled into us. Sounds easy right? But I was then overthinking, what if I forget to breath! Obviously I didn't but it did make you panic. Every metre or so we went further underwater we had to pop our ears and the further we went down the more I felt in my comfort zone! 

It's a completely different world but I was fascinated, I felt like a mermaid. Because it was our introductory dive, the instructor took 4 of us down and we had to link arms with him the whole time, which gave us less freedom but it made sense, seeing as we weren't trained. He took us 10 metre below the surface and got us to sit on the sand and we held a starfish. Then out of no where this huge fish came over. I now know this is a humpback wrasse. It is pretty much a pet dog of the fish world, following all the divers around and we were allowed to stroke it's lips. This is my professional photo.

I mean talk about awesome!! We also saw lots of nemo fish! But before we knew it, it was time to come back to the real world. As soon as we reached the surface and had removed the breathing tube, Nathan felt really unwell. According to our instructor this is normal, as it is articifical air that we are taking it and people react differently to it. Stupid ginger tablets didn't work. 

Once we were back on the boat we were given the opportunity to go on a second dive, which would be longer as we didn't have to do any training but it would cost. I decided straight away I had to do it. And we were allowed to take our cameras down. Nathan opted out as he wasn't feeling great. 

The second dive was even better. We were allowed a lot more freedom and could swim by ourselves rather than linked arms with the instructor. 

This is my selfie with my scuba gear. 

This is my underwater selfie.

We saw a sea cucumber, a flat worm ( easily the most elegant thing I have seen which is actually a worm, wish I could upload a video), lots of colourful fish, some huge ones and lots of little ones. Don't ask me for names, because I have no idea. I was hoping to see a turtle but luck wasn't on my side. However I did see a reef shark, caught on video but not by picture. Luckily whilst I was scuba diving, Nathan went back in the water and did some more snorkelling. 

Just a quick tip, those of you that go underwater with your GoPro whether it is scuba diving or snorkelling or just playing in the sea or a pool. I'd really recommend buying a floatie device. It's bright orange and attaches as a back door onto your GoPro. That way if you drop it, it will still float and you've less chance of losing it. We also attached our extendable pole, which is perfect for getting up close and personal with the fish and for taking selfies without having to ask others for help. 

We had an incredible day on the reef and it's safe to say we were very tired on the trip back to Cairns.

Here's one last picture of Nathan feeling a lot better with his certificate.

Xoxo