Skydiving Mission Beach

It was a 2 hour (ish) drive south to Mission Beach from Cairns and we arrived early afternoon and headed straight to the Skydiving Centre to book in our skydive for the following day, turns out there were 2 slots available for 7am the next day. We booked them! Clearly we weren't thinking straight, this gave us less than 24 hours to mentally prepare.

We then headed to a camping spot we have driven past on the way in, Bingil Bay. It's tiny but relatively cheap for a beach front location at $19. I would a million times recommend it. Unfortunately the luck of the weather wasn't on our side, as as soon as we parked up the heavens opened. We didn't have much else to do so we popped on Bridget Jones which Nath hadn't actually seen yet and he loved (yay for future Bridget Marathon sessions). It rained throughout, so we couldn't even cook dinner as we have to put our cooker outside and there is no cover. So we settled for a dinner of a wickedly cheap bag of Coles (Tesco equivilent) own brand cookies. Healthy maybe not but perfect for a rained-in movie night. As we then proceeded to watch another film, Unstoppable which was action packed and had us on the edges of our seat, would recommend. 

When it was time to go to bed (9pm and this isn't even our earliest - the things you do when you can't afford to go to the pub) we popped out and braved the outside to go to the toilet. We didn't put two and two together and think what happens when there is rain and a rainforest. We got eaten alive, in Nathan's case, quite literally with 20 plus on each arm. We decided we would rather dehydrate than head back out again. 

The following day we got up at the crack of early, 5.30am to have a quick breakfast and head to the skydive centre and we were lucky enough to grab a good sunset on the way which I didn't manage to take a picture of. Probably too scared to open the window in fear of being chewed on again.  

The nerves started to set in as we watched movies of previous skydives whilst waiting to set off on our own. Unfortunately there was too much cloud cover for us to leave at 7am. We left the centre around 8.30am when they thought it would be ready, however as soon as we got in the bus the rain started again but still we drove all the way to the Tully (fact - rainiest town in Australia, this I could believe) skydive airport. The weather wasn't on our side so we headed back to the centre on the little bus and proceeded a long wait. Not necessarily good when your nerves have to wait too.

Finally we left the centre at 11.30am for real. This time there was a bit of rain but we drove right up to the world's smallest plane. Prior to this our instructor and tandem partner had shown us the correct positions for leaving the plane, free falling and landing and had attached our harnesses on as well as a life jacket (as there was a chance we could land in the sea, having a tiny landing strip on the beach). 

The plane had two long (not long enough) benches and we lined up, with all of us rookies sitting in front of our instructors. I sat in the far back corner right next to a very young looking pilot. Eek! I should let you know, since our holiday to France for skiing in February I had picked up a bit of flying nerves, so considering a part of the plane was open the entire journey I wasn't feeling entirely positive at this point. We flew until the pilot got to 14,000ft and to a big clear part of sky, where we had an awesome view of Mission Beach and the Great Barrier Reef ! 

And before I knew it, it was go time. I barely had time to think before they chucked the first person out the plane and it turned out that I was the last to go so I had to watch everyone go including Nath. 

(Not the most flattering angle, but Mum and Dad look, I now have long nails, clearly travelling is not stressful enough)

I could say I was bricking it at this point, but in all honesty you really didn't have time to think about it. Finally my time came and I was hanging out the plane, with my instructor safely inside and away we went. The sensation of the 60 second  freefall was pretty much insane, I felt not too dissimilar to Superman, although I'm pretty sure in the films his arms, legs (thighs) and face don't flap like crazy. It was truely exhilarating especially as you know you are flying at 120mph. 

Once the 60 seconds were up, the instructor released the parachute and we slowed down dramatically and we had the chance to really appreciate the incredible views. 

My instructor even gave me the chance to man the parachute and the turns we were doing made my stomach do flip flops. I also got to watch all the others on the plane land on what felt like the world's smallest beach. When my time came to land it felt we were going really too fast but we landed perfectly with both of us on our feet.

I can safely (now I'm alive) say that skydiving was one of the best experiences I have experienced and I now want to do it a thousand times over. Now, if you are going to use any of my recommendations from previous posts, please use this one and do it and you can't use the excuse you're too old (ahem Dad), because one of the instructor's 65 year old mum did it a few weeks ago! 

The instructor had a GoPro attached to his hand to film us through and take pictures, as you are not allowed to take a camera up unless you've done 100 dives. So hopefully at some point I can put up Nath and my films. There is the option to pay more and have another skydiver jump out of the plane as the same time as you and take pictures, this footage is amazing as we watched another persons but you do need to have the extra cash, which we do not.

Xoxo 

Great Ocean Road

So ideally we would have liked to have driven from Adelaide to Melbourne through the Great Ocean Road route, however after working through the costs it just wasn't feasible on our budget. So we had to do it the awkward way, getting a 12 hour day bus to Melbourne and then doing a full day tour to the Great Ocean Road. But we saved money so we're winning!

We got picked up from the hostel at 7 in the morning and had an amazing tour guide who knew absolutely everything and was a real wealth of knowledge. So anyway I'll just post pictures of the day without any more words, but just to let you know the birds in the pictures are all wild and very scary. 

Xoxo

Adelaide to Melbourne

After an amazing week in Bali, we flew back early Friday morning to Perth. We met with Judi and Arthur who then took us to Terminal 2, where we had a coffee with them and Arthur's relative Alan who had just arrived from Melbourne. 

We then checked in and waited to board our 5.30pm flight to Adelaide. For dinner that evening before boarding we ate our first Red Rooster (a fast food joint). 

We arrived in Adelaide late evening and caught a cab to our first Aussie hostel, Backerpacker Oz where a flew blown karaoke caught be heard a few streets back. We were in a 4 bed dorm with a guy and his mum. 

Seeing as the following morning we were catching a bus to Melbourne we needed to make a packed lunch, we went late night exploring in search of a shop. We found a Coles, which opened a midnight (very odd opening hours). So we explored the town a bit more, the only people we saw were club-goers and tramps. A delightful view of the city. However I think there is something quite peaceful about walking around a city at night. Finally Coles opened and we bought some bits of food, and made our way back to bed at the hostel, ready for a very early wake up call. 

We woke up just before 6 and before the sun had risen yet and walked with all our luggage to the bus station and waited to board our bus to Melbourne. The journey was long and tiring and not too scenic as we didn't take the Great Ocean Road route.  

We arrived in Melbourne around 7pm and checked into Urban Hotel, a huge backpackers pretty much in the centre of the city. We dumped our things in another 4 bed dorm and made our way in search of a cheap restaurant. We found a inexpensive Italian in South Melbourne where we ordered a pizza between us and I had a milkshake and Nath a beer. However the waiter messed up which meant we ended up getting 2 pizzas for the price of 1, winning!!

The following morning Nathan set his alarm for 4.30am to watch the Champions League Final but unluckily for him overslept and missed it. But we still got up early and decided to do our own DIY walking the city tour.

We consulted our trusty Lonely Planet for tips on where to visit and one of the tips was the Eureka Tower which gives you incredible 360 degrees of Melbourne and because the sky was so clear the views were amazing. 

There was also the highest post box in Australia there. 

Melbourne is such a great city and I reckon I could easily live there. They have their own tram network which is free to use in the city and autumny trees aligning the streets and they also have St Kilda which is apparently very pretty and is the water part of Melbourne, however we didn't have time to visit it.

For lunch we headed over to South Melbourne Market and it was awesome. I mean the food selection was insane, I tasted some delicious fresh gnocchi and everything just smelt amazing. And Nathan and I treated ourself to a large piece of Millionaire's Shortbread and it was wow. There was also a great Jewellary selection and I made my own necklace for $4!! I wish I lived in Melbourne and had my own house and some money because I would have bought everything. 

That afternoon there was an AFL game on and we bought the cheapest tickets and headed over to the MCG, where it felt very autumny. We watched the Adelaide Crows play Carlton and the atmosphere was great and I actually understood what was going on. If you are ever going to visit Australia to have to watch a game. 

On the way back I'm pretty sure we walked through Richmond Park and had dinner at a Lonely Planet recommendation, Red Pepper which is an authentic vegetarian Indian restaurant and it was so satisfying and super delicious. 

And after walking back to the hostel through the city this was the view! 

I really hope I can come back to this city!

Xoxo

Ningaloo Whale Shark Dive

We got picked up at 7.50am by Ningaloo Whale Shark and Dive (highly recommended)! And headed South down the coast to the pier to get on the boat. The weather was perfect, we couldn't have asked for it to be better.

We had to take a dingy out to get on the main boat! There is a choice of 8 different tours you can go on, but I'd say ours definitely had the best boat. 

After arriving on the boat, we were fitted out with flippers, snorkels and masks before being given a briefing on the whale sharks and the days activities. 

Basically a spotter plane heads out and looks for the whale sharks before sending down radio messages to the boats on their whereabouts so the crews can then spot them and they can take us out. 

Firstly we headed to a sight to test out of gear in preparation for the whale shark swimming. The water was a lot warmer than I expected (thank goodness) and it was the most turquoise colour I have seen. 

It was so nice and clear in the water so you could see relatively far away and there was lots of coral and little fish. We did this for around 45minutes before getting on the boat to head to our whale shark spot. 

I was becoming increasingly nervous in all honesty. I mean, I have a right to be when Whale Sharks are the biggest fish in the Ocean. We were the first group to go in and when we looked under water it was pretty clear again but we couldn't see the bottom or anything it was just deep dark sea. I always find it scarier when you can't see the bottom, like a shark might come up and surprise me. Thankfully they said it would be highly unlikely for us to see one, but still there is always that chance that plays on your mind. 

The guide got us all to 'stand' in a line and then once we had put our heads under water he would point in the direction we needed to look. However even when the whale shark arrived you didn't expect it and it was huge, around 8 metres we were told. It swam right past us and about a metre away and there were loads of smaller fish swimming underneath it in order to protect them from predators. It was beautiful but very surreal and when we go out of the water 10 minutes later it was like we had dreamed it. 

We did this again around 4 more times and each time was slightly different, sometimes it was closer and sometimes it was slower so we could swim a lot with it but each time was awesome. 

Unfortunately after the second time Nathan started to feel very sea sick which wasn't helped when it swallowed a load of sea water. But luckily he still saw the whale shark before this happened. 

We had a photographer taking pictures of the whale shark the whole time which we got given on a CD.

We spent the rest of the day in shallower water snorkelling and on the hunt for turtles but unfortunately we didn't manage to see any.

It was an incredible day and definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. Apologies for no underwater pictures I will have to post them separately some other time when we can get free wifi on the laptop.

Xoxo