good morning all.
yes i know it is not morning but i like it as a greeting. last time we spoke we were still in Sydney. it may have felt like an afternote on that blog but that is because being in Sydney is indescribable so we spent a lot of time in awe rather than doing stuff. while we were there we were given several amazing tours by Dan and Craig, did very touristy things, visited Bondi Beach (whoop whoop) and, as ever, had fish and chips on the beach. well, technically it was in a park on the wharf but still. as i said indescribable and absolutely incredible.
after a far too short time in Sydney we flew to Melbourne, arrived at 9 in the evening and left at 8 in the morning. really long stay. as our plane was leaving at 8 we thought we would aim to be at the airport at 6. we had a half hour bus journey and about 15 minute walk so we planned on getting up at 4.30 (yeesh but gotta be done). i woke up at 5.40 to discover that my alarm had not gone off and sarah's phone was still on Queensland time so an hour ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Panic ensued so we got ready at light speed, practically ran to the bus (up a hill with 17kgs on our backs. not fun) and just made it to the bus on time. we got through security and went to our gate with plenty of time only to wait for boarding to start for half an hour. so not impressed.
however, we arrived in New Zealand absolutely fine and were picked up by Fran and Sam. we have spent the last few days discovering Auckland which has been lovely and being practically waited on. i really liked that. last night we arrived in (sarah thinks) Whangarei to stay with Bill and Irene. it is lovely here. you look out the window and right there is the sea and its blue and warm and (apart from the cold wind) perfect. this morning we went for a walk and paddled in the sea and found a lookout and a lovely little bay. gorgeous.
lots of love
Amy and Sarah
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
p.s. the reason we have stopped adding photos is because while attempting to add some in Sydney Sarah's memory card got wiped. Dan, being the amazing man he is, managed to recover them but we aren't risking it again as we have nowhere toback them up to. you will just have to wait until we come home and start flaunting them..... i mean ........showing them.......
xxxxx
Sunday 25 March 2012
Monday 19 March 2012
Stalked by a Dingo!!!
So when we last left you we were about to go on our trip to Fraser Island!!! So on wednesday morning we met with our guide Tony ( at least we think his name was Tony someone else though it was Stephen???) and guess what? It was raining again!! We finally set off to the island and Amy and I were shoved in the boot of the 4x4 joyous joy!! It ended up being quite a nice place to sit actually as it was one of the very few seats that wasn't covered in sand!! The ferry ended up taking a lot longer that it's meant to as the weather was so abysmal!! We started off our trip with a swim in Lake Birrabeen. The water was green, slightly cold but lovely once you were in. there were fish in the water that liked eating the boys but not us. We still have no idea how the fish got into the lake as it was a rain water lake with absolutely no connection to the sea. according to Tony it was because birds ate the fish, then pooped out the eggs into the lake. my foot that happened. once that discussion was out of the way a sand fight ensued. we stayed well clear. the sand on Fraser was 'pure sand'. which we find weird as sand is made of random rubbish. however, that does mean that you can shine jewelry on it and it works!!!!! sarah now has a very shiny watch but i left all my jewelry on the mainland :(.
we visited Lake Wabby next. we had heard great things about Lake Wabby such as you could climb over a hill and be there in 10 minutes. No, we had to do a 40 minute hike through the rainforest! Barefoot!!!!!!
i was less than impressed. once you emerge from the rainforest there is just lots of sand. it took a very long time for us to find the lake. when we did it was at the bottom of a very steep hill. this provided much temptation so the boys rolled down the hill into the water. apart from Ed you always ended up going sideways. the water was gorgeous but very deep so looked practically black and had giant fish that would swim around everyone. we did a group swim across the lake as team bonding.
by now it was relatively late so we went back to camp. we had the option of tents (that dingoes were known to tear into. they had spent $5,000 on new tents in 6 weeks!!!!!!!!) or we could stay in the rotunda. this was basically a netted room with hundreds of bunkbeds with real mattresses. as sensible people we chose the real mattresses and the less likely chance of dingoes getting in even though they lived under it! that night we saw about 7 dingoes! sometimes you kinda had to chase them off. 2 girls saw some and ran so the dingoes made chase. they nearly got bitten.
the next morning dawned bright and, after a while, actually sunny. we started the day at the Champagne Pools which were basically giant rock pools that were covered in bubbles from the tide. this was fantastic fun until we realised how many jelly fish there were. then ali got stung by one. apparently it really hurt. we sunbathed after that.
we then went and stood on Indian Head. this is one end of a dormant volcano the other being Waddy's Point. the other half now forms a coral reef. Indian Head is therefore the only real rock on the island and we have driven through a volcano. the walk to the top was interesting to say the least. the path was mostly about as wide as your foot with dirt about 2 feet up on either side. at the top you can normally see whales (in whale season which we missed), sharks, sea turtles and dolphins. however, it was so friggin hot we left after about 10 minutes to hide form the sun. hence, we saw nothing.
we went to Eli Creek via the Maheno shipwreck which was mostly sunken into the sand. Eli Creek is the largest river on that side of island pumping out 4.2 million litres of water an hour. in theory you can just float down but the water was so shallow this was nearly impossible. we managed though.
last task of the day was Lake Allom. Tony told us all we would need is swimmers and cameras. when we finally saw the river we were highly skeptical of this: the water was black. not just very deep water style black but actually black. we watched the turtles for a while then Tony mentioned the pedicure fish were in the lake. immediately everyone put their feet in. apparently the reason the lake was the colour it was is because there are loads of nutrients in the water. the water was orange. very, very dark orange. when people got bored we all went for a swim. the water was really deep, really cold and really dark; you could barely see your stomach let alone feet so had no idea what was swimming beneath you. luckily the water was too cold for crocodiles. when we got out our hair and skin was really soft but we didn't half stink!
on the way home we visited a sandblow. in front of us on the path was a dingo which refused to be scared away easily by 13 of us. eventually she ran but hid in the bushes emerging after everyone had gone past. i was at the back of the group so was told i was about to be eaten by the dingo stalking us. i insisted it was fine as she was one of the nice dingoes. not only did i not get eaten Tony recognised her and they were quite friendly. not only did she follow us back to the 4x4s she followed them for a while, then appeared at camp. lovely dingo. the sandblow was very pretty.
the last day of our tour started with sandboarding. this basically involved climbing up a humungous sand hill that looks alright from the bottom. when you get to the top it looks vertical and really high. you would then lie on a boogie board and surf down. it was terrifying but so much fun. sarah didn't go. Ed and Aileen actually lay on top of each other to go down, apparently first time anyone has ever done that.
we then went on a calming walk though the rainforest before our last item of the trip: Lake Mckenzie. this was the lake everyone had heard about so we were all quite excited and let me tell you, we saved the best for last. we walked quite far but ended up on an empty beach, the sand was white, the water actually blue, it was idealistic. apart form the fact it was quite cold and very windy. after spending as long as possible in the water and washing off all the sand we sunbathed and got covered in sand again by the wind.
the next day we got on the plane in Hervey Bay and had possibly the shortest flight ever (40 minutes) and then another flight of 2 hours to get to Sydney where Dan picked us up. as we got in quite late we just hung out with them. on sunday we went to Paddy's Market and Darling Harbour. this was a very pleasant day. we then had to wonder up Darling Harbour to find HMAS Vampire!!!!!!!
yesterday we visited Circular Quay and saw the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Rocks Discovery Museum. this was all a dream come true until it started raining. so we went home.
we visited Lake Wabby next. we had heard great things about Lake Wabby such as you could climb over a hill and be there in 10 minutes. No, we had to do a 40 minute hike through the rainforest! Barefoot!!!!!!
i was less than impressed. once you emerge from the rainforest there is just lots of sand. it took a very long time for us to find the lake. when we did it was at the bottom of a very steep hill. this provided much temptation so the boys rolled down the hill into the water. apart from Ed you always ended up going sideways. the water was gorgeous but very deep so looked practically black and had giant fish that would swim around everyone. we did a group swim across the lake as team bonding.
by now it was relatively late so we went back to camp. we had the option of tents (that dingoes were known to tear into. they had spent $5,000 on new tents in 6 weeks!!!!!!!!) or we could stay in the rotunda. this was basically a netted room with hundreds of bunkbeds with real mattresses. as sensible people we chose the real mattresses and the less likely chance of dingoes getting in even though they lived under it! that night we saw about 7 dingoes! sometimes you kinda had to chase them off. 2 girls saw some and ran so the dingoes made chase. they nearly got bitten.
the next morning dawned bright and, after a while, actually sunny. we started the day at the Champagne Pools which were basically giant rock pools that were covered in bubbles from the tide. this was fantastic fun until we realised how many jelly fish there were. then ali got stung by one. apparently it really hurt. we sunbathed after that.
we then went and stood on Indian Head. this is one end of a dormant volcano the other being Waddy's Point. the other half now forms a coral reef. Indian Head is therefore the only real rock on the island and we have driven through a volcano. the walk to the top was interesting to say the least. the path was mostly about as wide as your foot with dirt about 2 feet up on either side. at the top you can normally see whales (in whale season which we missed), sharks, sea turtles and dolphins. however, it was so friggin hot we left after about 10 minutes to hide form the sun. hence, we saw nothing.
we went to Eli Creek via the Maheno shipwreck which was mostly sunken into the sand. Eli Creek is the largest river on that side of island pumping out 4.2 million litres of water an hour. in theory you can just float down but the water was so shallow this was nearly impossible. we managed though.
last task of the day was Lake Allom. Tony told us all we would need is swimmers and cameras. when we finally saw the river we were highly skeptical of this: the water was black. not just very deep water style black but actually black. we watched the turtles for a while then Tony mentioned the pedicure fish were in the lake. immediately everyone put their feet in. apparently the reason the lake was the colour it was is because there are loads of nutrients in the water. the water was orange. very, very dark orange. when people got bored we all went for a swim. the water was really deep, really cold and really dark; you could barely see your stomach let alone feet so had no idea what was swimming beneath you. luckily the water was too cold for crocodiles. when we got out our hair and skin was really soft but we didn't half stink!
on the way home we visited a sandblow. in front of us on the path was a dingo which refused to be scared away easily by 13 of us. eventually she ran but hid in the bushes emerging after everyone had gone past. i was at the back of the group so was told i was about to be eaten by the dingo stalking us. i insisted it was fine as she was one of the nice dingoes. not only did i not get eaten Tony recognised her and they were quite friendly. not only did she follow us back to the 4x4s she followed them for a while, then appeared at camp. lovely dingo. the sandblow was very pretty.
the last day of our tour started with sandboarding. this basically involved climbing up a humungous sand hill that looks alright from the bottom. when you get to the top it looks vertical and really high. you would then lie on a boogie board and surf down. it was terrifying but so much fun. sarah didn't go. Ed and Aileen actually lay on top of each other to go down, apparently first time anyone has ever done that.
we then went on a calming walk though the rainforest before our last item of the trip: Lake Mckenzie. this was the lake everyone had heard about so we were all quite excited and let me tell you, we saved the best for last. we walked quite far but ended up on an empty beach, the sand was white, the water actually blue, it was idealistic. apart form the fact it was quite cold and very windy. after spending as long as possible in the water and washing off all the sand we sunbathed and got covered in sand again by the wind.
the next day we got on the plane in Hervey Bay and had possibly the shortest flight ever (40 minutes) and then another flight of 2 hours to get to Sydney where Dan picked us up. as we got in quite late we just hung out with them. on sunday we went to Paddy's Market and Darling Harbour. this was a very pleasant day. we then had to wonder up Darling Harbour to find HMAS Vampire!!!!!!!
yesterday we visited Circular Quay and saw the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and The Rocks Discovery Museum. this was all a dream come true until it started raining. so we went home.
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Cursed I Tell You
there is a very good reason the last blog makes little to no sense: i broke the computer. ooops i accidently hit a button, no idea which one, and the formatting has gone really really weird.
hows home?
lots of love Amy and Sarah
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Welcome To The Sunshine State
well hello
so strictly we have been in the Sunshine State, or Queensland to most people, for about a week and half now so i thought i would give another quick update. yet again with no pictures because our luggage is locked away. i will work on that in a few days.
so while we were staying with Joe and Lorraine we had a fabulous time. we spent some days chilling at their house because it was so lovely being at home again, even if it wasnt our home. we also might have broken the car. ooops. while we were chilling the weather was perfect, clear skies, about 30 degrees: perfect.
when Joe got a day off he took us and Kaja (his daughter) to Crystal Cascades which is glorious waterfall. sarah nearly walked into a giagantic spider. was very funny. we then drove throught the rain forest to Lake Morris which had some stunning views.
typically when when we finally got out of the house it started tipping down :(
on Sunday after spending an hour in the travel agents for something that took 2 minutes (we booked a trip and they put us on different buses!!!!!! we refused but had to go back the nest day to sort it out. 3 hours in a travel agents for something that should have taken half an hour!!!!!!) we went to Palm Cove with the entire family. it felt like a family road trip :). palm cove was beautiful. as its stinger season they have these nets in teh sea that float at the top and have weights at the bottom so people can still; swim in the sea. clever right? anyway Palm Cove was beautiful.
we then went to Port Douglas which mostly consists of 5* resorts. kinda ruins it but its still gorgeous. we went around the market, got covered in mud (stupid wet season) and then had a picnic on the beach. beautiful. then stopped for coffee while Sarah and Kaja played in the playground. we stayed under shelter so couldnt hear them!. win win!!!!!! just as we were leaving the rain kicked in :(.
we then flew to Brisbane. we only had a day there so we wondered around the city and saw all of it in that day. the weather was lovely; kinda overcast but still really warm. shorts and t shirt weather.
yesterday we got the dreaded 5 hour bus journey to a tiny little town called Hervey Bay. literally there are 2 supermarkets, a bottle shop, a petrol station about 10 hostels and thats it. so why are here? there is a gorgeous island called Fraser Island about a boat ride away. largest sand island in the world and the place we have been told to go by pretty much everyone we have met.
so we are leaving for this beautiful island in about 20 minutes and guess what! its tipping it down! cats and dogs. proper weather. not impressed :(. spectacular island and rubbish weather. we are cursed.
otherwise all good. hows hom?
so strictly we have been in the Sunshine State, or Queensland to most people, for about a week and half now so i thought i would give another quick update. yet again with no pictures because our luggage is locked away. i will work on that in a few days.
so while we were staying with Joe and Lorraine we had a fabulous time. we spent some days chilling at their house because it was so lovely being at home again, even if it wasnt our home. we also might have broken the car. ooops. while we were chilling the weather was perfect, clear skies, about 30 degrees: perfect.
when Joe got a day off he took us and Kaja (his daughter) to Crystal Cascades which is glorious waterfall. sarah nearly walked into a giagantic spider. was very funny. we then drove throught the rain forest to Lake Morris which had some stunning views.
typically when when we finally got out of the house it started tipping down :(
on Sunday after spending an hour in the travel agents for something that took 2 minutes (we booked a trip and they put us on different buses!!!!!! we refused but had to go back the nest day to sort it out. 3 hours in a travel agents for something that should have taken half an hour!!!!!!) we went to Palm Cove with the entire family. it felt like a family road trip :). palm cove was beautiful. as its stinger season they have these nets in teh sea that float at the top and have weights at the bottom so people can still; swim in the sea. clever right? anyway Palm Cove was beautiful.
we then went to Port Douglas which mostly consists of 5* resorts. kinda ruins it but its still gorgeous. we went around the market, got covered in mud (stupid wet season) and then had a picnic on the beach. beautiful. then stopped for coffee while Sarah and Kaja played in the playground. we stayed under shelter so couldnt hear them!. win win!!!!!! just as we were leaving the rain kicked in :(.
we then flew to Brisbane. we only had a day there so we wondered around the city and saw all of it in that day. the weather was lovely; kinda overcast but still really warm. shorts and t shirt weather.
yesterday we got the dreaded 5 hour bus journey to a tiny little town called Hervey Bay. literally there are 2 supermarkets, a bottle shop, a petrol station about 10 hostels and thats it. so why are here? there is a gorgeous island called Fraser Island about a boat ride away. largest sand island in the world and the place we have been told to go by pretty much everyone we have met.
so we are leaving for this beautiful island in about 20 minutes and guess what! its tipping it down! cats and dogs. proper weather. not impressed :(. spectacular island and rubbish weather. we are cursed.
otherwise all good. hows hom?
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Cairns
This is really just a quick blog to ensure everyone that we survived and were not eaten by sharks. although we did see many. the dive tour was absolutely fantastic. we saw so many fish and sea turtles and sharks and general under water life forms. we stayed on boat on Saxon and Norman reefs but moved sites on the reef 3 or 4 times a day.
the boat itself was really comfortable and we couldve stayed there longer easily. the food was pretty horrible though and seemed to have 2 days worth of carbs in each meal. it was quite impressive.
we are now in Cairns staying with my aunt's brother and his family. Joe and Lorraine are lovely and Kaja (theyre 3 year old daughter) is really funny and could talk forever. basically all good our end and i mayuadd pictures to this post later so keep in touch
xxxxxxx
the boat itself was really comfortable and we couldve stayed there longer easily. the food was pretty horrible though and seemed to have 2 days worth of carbs in each meal. it was quite impressive.
we are now in Cairns staying with my aunt's brother and his family. Joe and Lorraine are lovely and Kaja (theyre 3 year old daughter) is really funny and could talk forever. basically all good our end and i mayuadd pictures to this post later so keep in touch
xxxxxxx
Sunday 4 March 2012
DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So i know we only posted yesterday but we are, yet again, about to drop off the face of the planet and we thought we would update you with our contineous disaster weekend.
so we arrived in Cairns yesterday to find we had a message from Cairns Dive Centre, the company we booked our tour with. however, when we arrived they were already shut for the night. so we phoned them this morning and......
their boat had broken down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wtf?!?!?!?!?!?! they gave us some options which we discussed then went down to see them in the shop. eventually we got a full refund but we still had no dive booked. we were not happy.
we went for a walk and Cairns is literally chock-a-block with tour operators so we walked into one and met a lovely lady called Vicki, had a lovely chat with her and we now have a tour booked for tomorrow (when we were ment to go) in a better room AND a discount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it did cost a little more but i think we will have a better tour.
So off tomorrow!!!!!!!! Soooooo excited!!!!! and for parent that want to know we are diving with Deep sea divers den. So if you dont hear from us within the next 2 weeks assume the boat sunk!!!!!!
Lots of love
Amy and Sarah xxxxxxxxxx
so we arrived in Cairns yesterday to find we had a message from Cairns Dive Centre, the company we booked our tour with. however, when we arrived they were already shut for the night. so we phoned them this morning and......
their boat had broken down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wtf?!?!?!?!?!?! they gave us some options which we discussed then went down to see them in the shop. eventually we got a full refund but we still had no dive booked. we were not happy.
we went for a walk and Cairns is literally chock-a-block with tour operators so we walked into one and met a lovely lady called Vicki, had a lovely chat with her and we now have a tour booked for tomorrow (when we were ment to go) in a better room AND a discount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it did cost a little more but i think we will have a better tour.
So off tomorrow!!!!!!!! Soooooo excited!!!!! and for parent that want to know we are diving with Deep sea divers den. So if you dont hear from us within the next 2 weeks assume the boat sunk!!!!!!
Lots of love
Amy and Sarah xxxxxxxxxx
Saturday 3 March 2012
Paddling in the Desert
My my my, what a past week or 2. yes, i have absolutely no idea what day of the week it is. Since i last wrote we have been on an 11 day tour from Melbourne to Alice Springs. there is no way to tell you everything that happened in the time but i will do my best.
it started with a half hour walk to our pick up point at 6.15 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeesh. over the next day and a half we went along the Great Ocean Road which was absolutely incredible. we stopped every 10 minutes or so to take pictures of the views and awesome rock formations suchg as the 12 Apostles, or the Sow And Her Suckling Pigs as the Aborigines called them!!!!!!
We saw KOALAS!!!!!!!!!
we also drove our tourguide Chris insane by being obsessed with cheesy songs and dancing along to anything we could!! (think surfing USA and ANY dance moves that go along to it!!! along with the obvious YMCA and las ketchup song!!!)
the next day and half to Adelaide we were in the Grampians wihc involved a whole lot of hiking up maountains in 30 degrees. thats fun let me tell you. our last night we stayed in these little huts in a tiny town called Hall's Gap and there were kangeroos literally in our back garden!!!!! it was amazing. we all loved Hall's Gap and could've stayed ther forever. little did we know but after that was a different tour!!!!!!! the organisation for this trip was fantastic. this involved a free day in Adelaide sop we went to the beach :D!!!!
We got to see the opening ceremony for the Adelaide fringe festival that evening also and it was amazing!!! fireworks off buildings in the centre of the town!!!
the next morning it was up early again to leave for our onward trip at 6.20am to alice springs. We met our tour guide Ilse and were off!! We met some lovely people and ended up continuing our bus aerobics and singing and recurited a few more poeple to the cause!!! We stayed in quorn, i know quorn like the food! but none of the places sold quorn and thought i meant corn!!! oh well we have to educate these australians sometimes!!! We did a few short walks but it was soooooo hot that Ilse decided that we would have to once again be up before sunrise to do our nice long walk up dutchmans stern!!! joy oh joy!! but we made it to the top and it was worth it!!! a kangaroo hopped across the path 2 metres in front of where i was standing!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!
We then had a roadtrip day!!! YAY!!! 10 hours on a bus half full of fun people and the rest of people who really didnt care to join in! oh well amy and i made up for about 10 of them in enthusiasm!!!
We finally arrived in Coober Pedy and had a really fun night out at the underground bar where Aileen (irish girl) managed to chat up some miners and got a free drink out of them!!! Clever girl!!!! The next day we got a lie in!!! only left at 7.20am!!!! to go noodling yes noodling for opals which basically consisted of searching though a pile of rubble for any rocks that might contain a piece of opal and I FOUND ONE!!!!!! amy did too but mine is way cooler!!!!!
on our way out of coober pedy the next day we found out the van was broken so after waiting around in the rain for it to get fixed ( it shouldn't rain in the desert!!!! apart from when you're there Rach!!) we finally set off for our first night of camping!!!!! well it was meant to be camping under the stars but ended up not being so as it was chucking it down!!! ever slept in a tent with bunk beds????? i have!! its weird!!! any way apart from there being a 1 hour time change from heading a bit further north that day was rather uneventful!! except for the mouse in my tent that i saw twice on aileens bed and ended up on mine eating an empty crunchie bar wrapper!!
Once we finally arrived at Uluru (Ayres rock to those of you less educated) it was still raining!!! As a result of the rain about half the group left a day early!!! ( none of the brits though we're all way too hadcore from D of E to go home because of a bit of rain!!!) After they left we walked around the entire of Uluru in the rain, well not walking so much as paddling (Amy paddled in sacred mud) and jumping from tuft to tuft due to the amount of water there! Anyway I'm soooo glad we didnt leave as we got to see the most amazing sunrise the day the tour ended!!!!!!!
In Alice we had a farewell dinner with everyone that made it to the end of the trip and Ilse had a bitch about the people she didin't like!! Quite funny!!
We spent all of next moring in HOSPITAL!!! I'm fine!!! I just managed to get a rash all over my arms, legs, tummy and back!!! I think its the cheap soap at the hostel!!! Anywhoo we arrived safely in Cairns this evening and can't wait to go diving on monday!!!! Great barrier reef here we come!!!!!!
Lots of love Sarah and Amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
it started with a half hour walk to our pick up point at 6.15 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeesh. over the next day and a half we went along the Great Ocean Road which was absolutely incredible. we stopped every 10 minutes or so to take pictures of the views and awesome rock formations suchg as the 12 Apostles, or the Sow And Her Suckling Pigs as the Aborigines called them!!!!!!
We saw KOALAS!!!!!!!!!
we also drove our tourguide Chris insane by being obsessed with cheesy songs and dancing along to anything we could!! (think surfing USA and ANY dance moves that go along to it!!! along with the obvious YMCA and las ketchup song!!!)
the next day and half to Adelaide we were in the Grampians wihc involved a whole lot of hiking up maountains in 30 degrees. thats fun let me tell you. our last night we stayed in these little huts in a tiny town called Hall's Gap and there were kangeroos literally in our back garden!!!!! it was amazing. we all loved Hall's Gap and could've stayed ther forever. little did we know but after that was a different tour!!!!!!! the organisation for this trip was fantastic. this involved a free day in Adelaide sop we went to the beach :D!!!!
We got to see the opening ceremony for the Adelaide fringe festival that evening also and it was amazing!!! fireworks off buildings in the centre of the town!!!
the next morning it was up early again to leave for our onward trip at 6.20am to alice springs. We met our tour guide Ilse and were off!! We met some lovely people and ended up continuing our bus aerobics and singing and recurited a few more poeple to the cause!!! We stayed in quorn, i know quorn like the food! but none of the places sold quorn and thought i meant corn!!! oh well we have to educate these australians sometimes!!! We did a few short walks but it was soooooo hot that Ilse decided that we would have to once again be up before sunrise to do our nice long walk up dutchmans stern!!! joy oh joy!! but we made it to the top and it was worth it!!! a kangaroo hopped across the path 2 metres in front of where i was standing!!! AMAZING!!!!!!!!
We then had a roadtrip day!!! YAY!!! 10 hours on a bus half full of fun people and the rest of people who really didnt care to join in! oh well amy and i made up for about 10 of them in enthusiasm!!!
We finally arrived in Coober Pedy and had a really fun night out at the underground bar where Aileen (irish girl) managed to chat up some miners and got a free drink out of them!!! Clever girl!!!! The next day we got a lie in!!! only left at 7.20am!!!! to go noodling yes noodling for opals which basically consisted of searching though a pile of rubble for any rocks that might contain a piece of opal and I FOUND ONE!!!!!! amy did too but mine is way cooler!!!!!
on our way out of coober pedy the next day we found out the van was broken so after waiting around in the rain for it to get fixed ( it shouldn't rain in the desert!!!! apart from when you're there Rach!!) we finally set off for our first night of camping!!!!! well it was meant to be camping under the stars but ended up not being so as it was chucking it down!!! ever slept in a tent with bunk beds????? i have!! its weird!!! any way apart from there being a 1 hour time change from heading a bit further north that day was rather uneventful!! except for the mouse in my tent that i saw twice on aileens bed and ended up on mine eating an empty crunchie bar wrapper!!
Once we finally arrived at Uluru (Ayres rock to those of you less educated) it was still raining!!! As a result of the rain about half the group left a day early!!! ( none of the brits though we're all way too hadcore from D of E to go home because of a bit of rain!!!) After they left we walked around the entire of Uluru in the rain, well not walking so much as paddling (Amy paddled in sacred mud) and jumping from tuft to tuft due to the amount of water there! Anyway I'm soooo glad we didnt leave as we got to see the most amazing sunrise the day the tour ended!!!!!!!
In Alice we had a farewell dinner with everyone that made it to the end of the trip and Ilse had a bitch about the people she didin't like!! Quite funny!!
We spent all of next moring in HOSPITAL!!! I'm fine!!! I just managed to get a rash all over my arms, legs, tummy and back!!! I think its the cheap soap at the hostel!!! Anywhoo we arrived safely in Cairns this evening and can't wait to go diving on monday!!!! Great barrier reef here we come!!!!!!
Lots of love Sarah and Amy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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| There was also one about not taking cats on hikes!!! these australians are odd!!! |
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| Amy walking/paddling aroung Uluru |
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| Rain at ULURU!!!!! |
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