I can't believe it has been so long since I last blogged! Time is flying, and life is as busy as ever.
The last couple of weeks in Sydney were equally good. I started attending the gym with Eleanor to lose some weight (which was quite necessary by that point!) and went out to lunch to some lovely cafes. I took Oliver to the Aquarium for a day, and then Eleanor and I took him for lunch. I spent a day at Taronga Zoo, which was probably one of the nicest zoos I have ever been to. I saw my first kangaroo, wallaby, platypus, koala, and tasmanian devil there, and the baby bilby named after prince george. At the end of the day, I took a cable car over the zoo and then watched the sunset from a boat by the harbour bridge.
I spent one morning before work climbing one of the pylons of the harbour bridge. It took me a pretty long time to get to the top as I'm not a big fan of heights. There was a small museum inside the pylon, with original pictures of the building of the bridge, which was absolutely fascinating.
I spent one morning visiting Palm Beach with Eleanor and Susan. We went for breakfast at the boathouse, a little waterfront cafe looking across the bay at the national park. We also watched the sea plane taking off and landing from the jetty in front of the cafe. It was, perhaps, one of the most beautiful places I have ever eaten. After food, we walked up to the light house where the view was even more spectacular.
I visited the wildlife park with Silvia, one of the girls from work, and we saw more kangaroos, wallabys and bilbys. I got to meet a koala called Aaron for a picture, fed some tropical birds, stroked a snake and saw a massive alligator called Rex.
Two nights before I was due to fly to Brisbane, Susan, Eleanor, Abbey and myself went for a meal at the Bavarian Beer House which was great, and reminded me of the Oktoberfest. The next day, I packed my case, visited Justine, and popped into work to say goodbye. I spent my last evening present giving presents and chilling with the fantastic Kirkpatricks, the best hosts in Sydney. Thanks to their generosity and hospitality, I had the best time possible in Sydney and I am eternally grateful.
After meeting the girls in Brisbane, we spent just under a week there relaxing and sight seeing. The two higlights for me would have to be the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (where I held a koala and fed a kangaroo) and the Eat street Markets, an evening market with foods from all over the world, brightly lit with live music playing and some cute craft stalls/2nd hand stalls.
After Brisbane, we travelled down to Byron Bay. The hostel and town were both lovely, and I spent the first day walking over the cliffs up to the light house, seeing wild wallabies, turtles, and dolphins on the way. I had a pretty interesting tour of the lighthouse (which is still in use and operates from a lens taller than me but a bulb only a couple of centimetres tall) and stood on the cliffs at the most easterly point on mainland Australia. On one of the days, we hired a car and drove to Mount Warning, a large extinct volcano, with the intention of climbing it. After only a few steps, Lucy retreated to the car as she felt uncomfortable in the environment. Hayley and Daniella (a friend of Lucy's) carried on for another 10 minutes before giving up. I carried on, alone, for about an hour, before being warned that if I carried on to the top it would be too dangerous to return alone in the dark. Despite not reaching the top, the climb was great, the rainforest was beautiful, and the view was spectacular.
Our next destination was Surfers Paradise, where we stayed for 5 days, over half of which we spent in theme parks. We visited Wet n Wild, Warner Bros Movie World and Sea World (my favourite!). All three were great, but the dolphin shows in Sea World were fantastic, and I loved stroking the Stingrays and seeing the penguins and polar bears. My favourite rides were in Sea World too, especially the water rides, on which I got absolutely drenched. In the evening, we went to Hard Rock Cafe and, with eyes bigger than our bellies, didn't even succeed in finishing our mains!
We travelled on to Maroochydore for a night to catch up with friends I had made there before, and then carried on to Noosa where we stayed for 3 nights. We spent a day at Australia Zoo, where we saw the Crocodile show made famous by Steve Irwin, and a tribute wall to remember him. The Zoo was good, but I preferred Taronga Zoo in Sydney.
After Noosa, we travelled to the Town if 1770, named after the year that Captain Cook landed there. I was unsure what to to think at first, as the town was so secluded, it did not even have mobile phone coverage. However, first impressions were deceiving and by the end of our stay there, I did not want to leave! On our first night there, we were greeted by a full beef roast dinner- a rare luxury as a backpacker travelling alone. Our first day there was spent relaxing on a beach. On the second day, we did the famous scooter roo tour, where you are dressed up in biker leathers and fake tattoos, given a 20 minute lesson on how to ride a motorbike, and then taken out on the roads for 3 hours of driving and kangaroo spotting, with a short stop to watch the sunset. It was a brilliant afternoon, and I would have done it again, had I the money to spare. That evening, what seemed like half of the hostel walked down to a secluded beach around 10pm for a bonfire. I was unimpressed at first, as the walk was through dense woodland in the dark without even a footpath to follow, followed by a steep descent down the cliff. However, the night that followed was worth the ratger arduous journeh. The night was beautiful, and I lay on the beach bg the bonfire, counting shooting stars and seeing the milky way for the first time. We stayed there until almost 3am. The nect day we (rather groggily), got up for a surf lesson. I had a great time, but I was prettyrubbish at it and came away with plenty of scrapes and rashes on my knees and elbows fro the board.
Now, after a ten hour overnight bus journey, we have arrived at Airlie beach in preparation for our 3 day/2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands, during which we will scuba dive in the great barrier reef. Excited is an understatement!
Next week, we will travel up to Cairns where we will spend a week before the girls fly home. I am not, as of yet, sure where my travels will take me from there, but a visit to New Zealand is on the cards, and hopefully soon! I will blog soon with updates xxx
