Sydney!

After what was definitely the worst overnight bus journey in terms of sleep time, we arrived in the middle of Sydney with no idea how to get to our hostel! We gave up waiting for a bus to arrive and set off on foot... which we soon discovered was perhaps not the cleverest thing to do in a new city...an hour later and on the verge of giving up, Amy spotted it!! Yay! And outside was Silvio, a guy we met diving in Cairns, painting the fence!! (Crazy!)
We spent the afternoon exploring the centre of Sydney and catching up on some food shopping and internet. In the evening, the hostel gave us a FREE bbq which was really yummy (though we are not exactly sure what was in the mystery sausages we ate....). After dinner, we watched some of Peter Kay. (I'm not sure the non-british people in the room really understood some of the jokes!) An early night.
Today, we woke up to find FREE breakfast with nutella! We were beginning to like this hostel :). We set off to the harbour (via the botanical gardens of course) and took some postcard photos of the opera house and the harbour bridge. We then visited "The Rocks" where there was a fantastic market selling all sorts of arts and crafts and food, most of which we sampled! Then we met up with Francesca, a german girl we had met in New Zealand who works as an au-pair in Sydney and we took her back to the market for some more liquorice sampling. Our day then became an even more social one as we met up with some friends from England. We went out for sushi which made us feel very sophisticated :). We finally got back to hostel at about 8 o'clock, realising that we had been on our feet all day! We were knackered! Another early night.

Byron Bay

We have spent the past few days in Byron Bay learning to surf! It has been so much fun, and surprisingly we both managed to catch the waves and stand up on the board quite a few times! Although we are now aching all over especially in our shoulders and will definitely be catching the free shuttle to the bus stop tonight! We now understand exactly why surfers are so hot.. :) Today we went body boarding for free (always good!) and had a great time in the huge waves, which seemed intent on removing our bikinis!! We didn't even stop for the torrential rain which came out of nowhere, but as we were already wet it didn't matter. Apart from that, the weather has been amazing and we are trying our best to soak up as much sun as possible before we leave!
We enjoyed Shrove Tuesday and managed to eat 6 (mini) pancakes each with sugar and lemon. We tried to check with the Australian check-out boy that we had got the right day, but he just looked at us blankly when we mentioned Pancake Day and asked if it was a place?!! Oh dear. We met someone (Dutch) we had done the Whitsundays with while we were eating them and she looked at us in disgust and told us we were very English! English and proud we replied :)
Part of the surf package was 2 free breakfasts and a free dinner at a local cafe. We have yet to sample our dinner, but the breakfast was amazing! We both had a bacon and egg roll (on both days) and I have to say, it was probably the best meal we have had in Australia :).
Tonight we jump on the overnight bus to Sydney where we will be looking out for any hungry sharks on Bondi Beach...

Noosa

We arrived in Noosa yesterday after a short bus journey from Rainbow Beach. We decided to make the most of the sunshine and went for a walk through Noosa National Park which was lovely. The path took us along the coastline and we watched the sun set behind the hills (very romantic!) However the walk did also take us onto a nudist beach of which we were not aware...promise. (We weren't tempted to join the naked men in the surf!) We had a gourmet dinner of tinned spaghetti bolognaise sauce with rice which was surprisingly tasty :) We then retired to our dorm which I have to say is a convincing winner of the award "the largest number of beds we can fit into the smallest space"! (The bunks were so close that Amy and I could actually hold hands). And if this wasn't enough, we also had a window with no glass which looked into another dorm. Amy could literally have rolled over and ended up in the bed of the guy in the next door dorm!! Tempting.
Today we went to Australia zoo!! This was awesome and our favourite animal is now officially the koala. We both paid $20 for a photo in which we held a koala-so cute! It took some persuasion from the keeper to make me give it back...I reckon my backpack is just about big enough... We saw loads of crocs and elephants and tigers and loads more! We could also walk through Kangaroo Heaven and stroke the kangaroos! (Though I don't think they liked Amy as one tried to bite her hand off...)
Tomorrow we are off to Byron Bay for some surfing!

Fraser Island

We went on a three day, two night 4WD self-drive trip on Fraser Island. Fraser is an island of sand just off the east coast near Rainbow Beach. It is unusual because forest grows on it on sand.
We got put in a group of 11, packed up the van and set off with just a few guidelines to follow! Crazy! On the island, the beach was the road and your campsite was in the sand-dunes.
It was fantastic, we swam in beautiful fresh water lakes and took loads of photos of the amazing scenery. Some highlights were the Mahino shipwreck which you could get right up close to and seeing the native dingos.
We couldn't drive being under 21 but quite frankly didn't want to- we were quite happy to let the Swedes (again!) handle the wash-outs and temperamental gear box! Somehow we got put in charge of the cooking, and we made a 36 egg scrambled egg for breakfast on day two (it was all eaten!). Cooking in the dark in the evening meant our steaks were pretty rare, but fortunately three peolpe in the group were french and they loved it. Something we didn't miss when we left for home were the enormous flies we called MONSTER flies which ate us alive during dawn and dusk (yes, we were up that early!). On the way back on the very last day we managed to get stuck in some wet sand as we attempted to round the head at high-tide. Stupidly we had let the Chilean drive and he did not listen to anyone! Problem was, when we tried to dig the wheels out, the van just sank further in. Absolute nightmare! Anyway, luckily some Aussies turned up and towed us out but not before all the other groups arrived to watch us...

Our Whitsundays sailing trip

We have just arrived back on dry land after 2 days onboard a sailing boat on a tour of the Whitsundays Islands. After thunderstorms forecast, we were extremely lucky with the weather and even managed to sleep outside! (Well for most of the night anyway!) There were about 15 of us on the boat and we all lent a hand hauling the enormous sails up and down! We visited Whitehaven Beach which is rated the third most beautiful beach in the world. The sand is 99% silica and was so fine that it felt like flour between your toes and squeaked when we walked over it! We did some fantastic snorkling too and even saw a turtle which was really cool. (Nemo must have been sleeping though as we couldn't find him!)

Today we chilled out by the lagoon (again!) and saw some people we met in New Zealand! Lagoons are definitely the place to be.

Tonight we have an overnight bus to Rainbow Beach where we are starting our self-drive Fraser Island tour!

Whitsundays

We managed to escape Cairns on the first bus to run for weeks. It left at 12am which was a bit of a shocker. It started raining just as we left the hostel with our big bags and trekked over a mile to the bus station. And it stopped immediately when we reached shelter!

We slept quite well on the coach which had very good air-conditioning unlike our hostel, and the best part was we saved some money on accomodation that night. We arrived in Airlie Beach at about 11am and spent another lazy day. We got the bus to the supermarket and got some supplies including MEAT for the first time :) ! Then it was time for some serious shopping. We spent about 3 hours choosing between three dresses for George, only for her to change her mind at the till (and then she swapped it today- no jokes!). In the evening we swam in the lagoon before we had spag bog and stuffed ourselves with melon. Yum yum!
Today we swam in the lagoon again and did some more shopping (this time it was my turn to take ages trying things on, but no luck- surely I can find one bikini I like in Australia!). The weather has been fantastic finally!

p.s check out hot pic of Amy... :)

Reunited at last!

Unfortunately today we were reunited...haha just joking, it was actually really nice to see each other again (though Amy got a bit over-excited and practically slipped over on the kitchen floor!) After an update on the buses, which still weren't running due to the floods south of Cairns, we had a lazy day by the lagoon, catching up on some sun-bathing and doing some food shopping. We were shocked by the lack of food in the supermarket as obviously no supplies could reach Cairns. (See photo of empty aisle- no yoghurts today!!) In the afternoon, we returned to the lagoon where we bumped into the Canadians we had met in New Zealand!!!! Crazy!!! They had travelled up the coast from Sydney in a record time and were flying to Perth tonight to start their semester! It was great to see them- we felt like long lost friends! We had some lunch with them and then said good-bye for the second time in 3 weeks! We had a quiet evening at the hostel, renting Oceans 12 on DVD for free :).

The next day we finally got some news on the buses! They were going to run again that evening! So so relieved. We were considering spending our precious cents and flying out. So we were able to start booking things, and ended up paying for our Whitsundays trip, Fraser island, Surf Camp and all accomadation (oh, and not forgetting Steve's Australia Zoo :) !). We visited the lagoon again and packed to leave Cairns at last!

Georgina in Cairns!

Pool Training-
After spending the morning doing theory, we finally left the classroom and jumped in the pool to begin practising our skills. Our first challenge was to swim 16 lengths of the pool and then tread water for 12 minutes (quite tiring!). We learnt how to put all our gear together and check it was all working as it should be and were then buddied up. I was pleased to find that I was buddied with one of the instructors..definitely the best deal as you can never trust the Germans...;)
The second day we had an earlier start and were thrown straight into the pool. It began to get more serious as we ventured from the shallow end to the deep end, which was 4 metres deep! We were also given lots of top-notch equipment to try out, which we later found out was simply a ploy to get us to buy our own gear from their shop later on! I soon discovered that a mask would set me back $100 and settled for the free rental equipment, in true backpacker style :). In the afternoon, we went back to school and had our final exam, which consisted of our instructor (Scuba Steve) reading out the answers and us trying to remember them..a style of exam I have decided I could definitely get used to and one which I think we should definitely introduce in England!

Liveaboard-
A 6 o'clock pick-up something which nearly gave Silvio (Italian) a heart-attack! We headed to out to the boat. There were 31 passengers on board- our open water group plus some advanced divers, certified divers and 2 snorkellers. I was relieved to hear that the predicted cyclone had not materialised! We set off on our big adventure...and soon the boat began to rock and the seasickness set in. There were a few of us suffering but most of others seemed to soon find their sea legs..however I ended up spending the day outside, trying my best to focus on the horizon! The most frustrating thing was the wonderful food that they kept laying out which I could not bring myself to eat. We did the first 2 of our 4 open water dives during which we had to do unpleasant things under water, such as removing our masks! I went to bed early hoping that during the night, I would find my sea legs!
However I woke up in the morning for our first dive and was sick again..oh dear. But..miraculously after this, things seemed to improve and by the afternoon I was even able to sit inside :). We had a very busy day with 4 dives! The first 2 were to complete our open water certification and then we were officially certified divers, which was exciting but rather frightening! We were let loose on our own and even had to navigate with a compass, something that is even more difficult under water! Our inability to use compasses was evident when we surfaced 200 metres from where we were supposed to..oops! The last dive of the day was a night dive which to our relief was guided!! This was awesome and we probably saw the most interesting fish on this dive, including a lionfish and a lobster crayfish.
On the third day, we were on an even tighter schedule, with 3 dives to fit in before 12 o'clock. We were up at 5 30 and in the water at 6! As everyone was using their air at different rates, we swapped buddies at this point. My buddy was an "air-pig" so I dumped him as I was having to surface with 130 bar of air left! Today we finally saw a shark which was very cool!! After lunch, we said good-bye to the Great Barrier Reef and headed back to Cairns, exhausted but proud of our achievements!
My elation at finally being back on dry-land was short-lived as I discovered land-sickness! It was the stangest feeling- your body thought it was still at sea and I was swaying all evening!

Amy in Cairns!

On my first day without George (finally got rid of her! Just joking!) I went on the Ocean Free (a small sailing boat) to Green Island. The crew were all really friendly and we got fed mountains of food! In the morning we went snorkelling over the reef which was fantastic. We saw clown fish and parrot fish, and some enormous ugly predatory fish (as well as hundreds of other pretty shoaling fish I didnt recognise!). The highlight of the day was seeing an ancient turtle which just cruised past before diving down to the depths- it was about 1m long.
During lunch we saw some spinner dolphins leaping over waves not far from the boat. After lunch we visited the island, where I had a look at Cassius, a 5.5m long crocodile who used to attack fishing boats. I was glad he was behind bars!!! The snorkelling in the afternoon was even better as the tide was going out and you literally had to hold your arms in otherwise you would touch the coral. On the way home I got a go at steering the boat which was hilarious because I couldn't keep it in a straight line!

I was supposed to be going white water rafting the next day but the river was so swollen it was too dangerous. So I walked all the way to the botanical gardens which was a bit of a mission, and when I got there I was eaten alive by midges! To enter the gardens you had to walk along a wooden boardwalk, whch was just inches above water in the middle of thick jungle. I got a bit freaked out by thoughts of Cassius in the water so ended up running most of the way! I have to say, I took the bus back. In the afternoon I escaped the rain by going to see Bride Wars at the cinema.

On Sunday and Monday I went onto the tablelands with a company called 'On the Wallaby', where I walked in the rainforest and saw giant strangler fig trees, jungle lizards and water lizards, fresh water turtles and plenty of leeches (!). On the first day we visited lots of lakes and waterfalls which we could swim behind. Despite standing for what seemed like hours in the rain, I never got to see a platypus.

The next day we went on a 15km bike ride which was pretty hilly and impossibly hard in the humidity (one guy started shaking and had to lie down). In the afternoon we went canoeing and saw a tree kangaroo, giant butterflies and a kingfisher but no snakes (thank goodness!). The guide brought the hostel dog along for the ride, and halfway through the dog decided he wanted to be on our boat. He ended up practically on my lap- I will upload a pretty funny photo of this when I can! Later we went wine tasting. None of the wines were made from grapes, but other fruit such as passionfruit, pineapple and dragonfruit. They were.....interesting!
Then back to town, driven by an absolutely insane man who had us all singing Grease songs and bus surfing (trying to stay standing as he went around the bends on the mountain road). The bus surfing record was two and a half corners- not very impressive!

Arriving in Cairns

We had a five hour plane journey to Cairns. It was quite sad to be leaving New Zealand but we couldn't wait for the next part of our tour. As we left the airport, the heat and humidity hit us!
We found out that there has been serious flooding around Cairns so all the Greyhound buses are cancelled, and unfortunately more bad weather is predicted. So we may have to re-think our travel plans.
On our first day in Cairns we both spent the morning starting our dive course. I (Amy) failed the medical so I got all my money back and will be doing different things while in Cairns. George is continuing with the course along with six guys!

Auckland

We arrived in Auckland and said goodbye to the big green bus. We managed to catch a bus to Vicky's cousins' house, but unfortunately got off too early and ended up trekking through town with our rucksacks. Oh dear!
We had a lovely evening swimming in their pool and ate the best meal we had had for weeks :). In the evening, they took us to Mount Eden which gave panoramic views over the city for free! (why pay to go up the skytower!!) We then went to the waterfront where we were treated to the most delicious Movenpick ice-creams with extra toffee bits..mmm! We had a reasonably early start in the morning though not as early as it could have been as Rose kindly offered to take us to the airport by car. We were pleasantly surprised when we went through customs and were not asked for the $25 departure tax that we were expecting to have to pay..so...we had a duty free shopping spree!

Rotorua

Today we had a short drive to Rotorua. And believe us, we knew when we had arrived due to the overwhelming smell of hydrogen sulphide! Our first thought was "how can anyone live here with this stench?" but you do get used to it! We saw a mud pool which was bubbling, more than we first realised. One girl was slightly over enthusiastic and got too close to a particularly bubbly one and it exploded all over her white trousers! Rotorua is the Maori "centre" of New Zealand and upon arrival we were given a brief introduction to Maori culture and given some interesting food to try which was surprisingly yummy! (Both of us went back for seconds!) We spend the afternoon exploring the town and then in the evening, we went on a tour to a Maori village, where a company put on a reinactment of an event in Maori history. Each tour bus was a tribe and we elected a poor Canadian guy to be our chief! After an initial ceremony where we had to convince them that we had come in peace and not to attack their tribe, we were taken through to the village to have a look around, before watching a show. The warriors were all dressed in Maori costume and did a rather intimidating dance. Finally we had a Hangi, a traditional Maori meal, which was delicious. It was quite funny as all the backpackers were sent to the back of the hall to their own tables as far away from the other tourists as possible! Even more funny was the shear amount of food that we backpackers managed to fit on our plates compared with the regular tourists!!