Magnetic Island

Early start on 26th, got the bus at 7am from Airlie Beach to Townsville. Arrived at about 11.30am but had to wait about 2 hours to get the ferry over to Magnetic Island.

The ferry journey took about 20 minutes, and once I got to Magnetic Island I checked into Base Hostel which was right on the beach! The dorms were all in little cabins and there was a swimming pool and bar both overlooking the beach.

After I'd got settled I went for a walk over to Picnic Bay. It was a pretty little beach area but it was like a ghost town, all the beach front shops and cafes were closed and there was no one around! It was a bit creepy. So I took a few photos then walked back to the hostel. Went for a drink in the bar in the evening as it was ladies night so all the girls got free cocktails!

Picnic Bay

The next day I bought a day ticket for the bus and set off to explore more of the island. I went on the Forts Walk which is well known for being able to see wild koalas! It was quite a tiring walk and flip flops probably weren't the best footwear, but it was worth it because I saw 3 koalas!!! They were really cute. The walk took about 2 hours and went up a hill to a fort overlooking most of the island, so there were some pretty good views!

After the walk I got the bus over to Horseshoe Bay which is the opposite end of the island to my hostel. It was a really nice beach with lots of watersports etc. I treated myself to some chips and sat on the beach watching the world go by! I then got the bus back to the hostel where I chilled out for a bit before going to get my free meal for tea! I decided to be healthy and have a chicken salad seeing as I'd eaten so many chips for lunch! I had an early night as the next evening was the full moon party!

Horseshoe Bay

On Friday I decided to take advantage of the free snorkel hire so got the bus to Florence Bay, but it was about a half hour walk from the bus stop, up some quite steep hills and in 30 degree heat - not fun! And when I got there and went in the sea the visibility was rubbish as the water was really sandy, so I couldn't see anything! So I just sunbathed on the beach for a while.

Florence Bay

That evening it was party time! As it was Halloween it was a fancy dress party. I met some cool people in my dorm so hung out with them most of the evening, they were all dressed as crayons which was pretty funny! I was a pirate :) I also bumped into a few people I'd met up the coast which was nice. But it was such an expensive night! Tickets were $20, and drinks were stupidly expensive. They were mimicking the Thailand full moon parties by serving drinks in buckets! But instead of being really cheap like in Thailand, they were $15 a bucket, and it was just a double vodka and coke!! Oh well, it was still a fun night up until I managed to break my camera! So I don't have any photos of the party :(

Think I got to bed at about 4am, and had to check out the next morning at 10am. I didn't get out of bed until about 9:50 so it was a bit of a rush getting packed and ready. But it was an exciting day as I was meeting my sister in Mission Beach!!!!

Airlie Beach & The Whitsundays

Managed to sleep for quite a lot of the 11 hour journey to Airlie Beach. We got there at about 6pm and checked into Base hostel.
Our Oz Experience bus driver booked a table at the Down Under Bar so we could all meet up for drinks that night, my quiz team also claimed our free jug of cider! After a few drinks there we moved on to a club called Mama Africa. It was ok but a bit expensive!
The next day was raining :( so all I did was head out at 2pm to check in for my Whitsundays boat trip which was the following day (21st-23rd Oct).

It was still raining the next morning which was annoying! Got on the Boomerang sailing yacht just after lunch and we were given a massive platter of fruit to eat! I decided to take sea sickness prevention tablets, I'm glad I did because the sea was pretty rough! We were introduced to our captain, Cane, and the other 2 crew members, Ash and Justin.

It rained throughout the whole first sail so we all got drenched. We looked funny though all sat at the side of the boat with yellow waterproof jackets on! It eventually stopped raining at our first location where we went snorkeling! It was really good, the reef was really high up so we could see the coral and lots of fish. I saw a lot of Dorys from Finding Nemo!!
Back on the boat we had a massive bowl of Nachos waiting for us - yum! There will be a lot of food mentions in this post because the food on the Whitsundays trip was amazing! We just chilled out on the boat for the rest of the evening and Justin made us more amazing food for tea! Barbequed chicken, Thai curry sauce, rice and loads of salad.

The next day the sun was shining :) After breakfast we went for a snorkel which was even better than the day before as the visibility was a lot better. Had another fruit platter then BBQ sausages with salad, potato salad, pasta and fresh bread for lunch! After lunch we sailed to Whitehaven Beach - one of the 5th best beaches in the world! You could really see why! It was gorgeous. We walked round and lay on a beach for an hour or so, seeing some stingrays in the clear shallow water, before walking up to a lookout point with amazing views of the beach. 

More food now! We had a bit platter with olives, cheese, biscuits, sausage and sticks of pepper and carrot with a couple of dips. It was yum! Then we had a big spag bol for tea!
Our last and final day was just the long sail back to Airlie Beach. It was a lovely sunny day though, and I got to have a go at steering the boat! The sail was really fun, the boat tilted quite a lot so we all had to sit on the same side.

It was a really good trip, very hands on with the sailing, great food, fun snorkeling and an amazing beach! The only downside was that I expected to see more of the other islands. But it was still really fun!
We got back to Airlie Beach at about midday, so I went and checked back into Base to shower etc before meeting people from the boat for food and to watch the rugby final! Only 3 of us showed up though! Never mind. 

I had a couple more days in Airlie Beach just chilling out in the sun which was nice, I read a lot of my book which I hadn't had chance to do for ages! After a relaxing few days I was up bright at early for the 7am bus to Townsville on 26th October!

Brisbane - again!

So, after 4 months in Tropical North Queensland, I flew back down to Brisbane to continue my travels up the East Coast. It was sad leaving Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands as I really love it there. But it's nice to know I'll be back in a couple of weeks! And there are lots more exciting places to see on the way :)

I landed in Brisbane early in the morning on 5th October and checked in to Base Central, the hostel I stayed at last time. Didn't really do much as I was only there for 2 nights, and saw a lot of Brisbane last time I was there! One thing I did that I'd wanted to do last time was go to the Art Gallery. It was pretty good, lots of Aboriginal art which is cool as its not something you'd see at home. 

Also met up with 3 of the boys I did OzIntro with, Will, Jack and Tom. So it was good to see them, hadn't seen them since Byron Bay back in May. Had a bit of a drunken night then was up early the next morning to get the bus to Noosa!

Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane!

Byron Bay

So, last time I updated this I was booking an extra night at the Arts Factory in Byron Bay. That extra night turned into 3 extra nights as Byron Bay is now my favourite place ever! Spent quite a few nights at Cheeky Monkeys having cheap drinks and cheap food! They held various competitions and giveaways each night. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, but they did hold an auction for some trips, and I got a $65 surf lesson for $35! Which I was pretty pleased with cos I was planning on doing another surf lesson anyway!

That was Thursday night. So the next day I went into town and booked my lesson for Saturday morning, then in the evening me and Shweta went to the beach because we’d heard that it’s a cool place to hang out cos lots of hippies go there! It was pretty good, someone playing guitar and random street performer people! We stayed and watched the sunset, which was so beautiful. Took about a million photos!

The next day I was up at 7am ready for my 5^th surf lesson! Had a great morning surfing, though I didn’t really improve, as the waves were really different to Spot X. Because the waves were breaking really close to shore, once I was actually stood up on the board, I had to jump off as I was hitting the sand! Oh well, still had a fun morning!

Sunday I didn’t do much really. Byron Bay is the best place to do nothing, especially at the Arts Factory, it’s so chilled out. Definitely going to go back there at some point! I think in the summer I’m going to have a few days in Spot X and another week or so in Byron. Packed my bags on Sunday evening ready to get the 7:45am bus on Monday morning to Surfers Paradise.

Surfers Paradise

I arrived in Surfers Paradise at 9:30am on Monday 23rd so it was quite a short journey. First impressions weren’t that great - lots of skyscrapers and not much character. Turns out my first impressions were right. It was ok there, the weather was good and the nightlife was ok. But if you’re not into lying on the beach all day and getting drunk every night, then there’s not a huge amount to do there. I prefer places that have a bit more about them, like Byron Bay!!

There are loads of theme parks in the Gold Coast area, but they were all overpriced and I didn’t really come to Australia to go to theme parks.. and because my funds are running pretty low, I didn’t want to waste money, I’ve been to Alton Towers at home, so I doubt these places are going to be that different!

So I had 3 nights at Surfers Paradise spending most of my time reading and sitting on the beach. Which was nice apart from the fact that the skyscrapers kept blocking the sun so it wasn’t that warm! Did manage to get through a good portion of my book though!

The best thing about Surfers Paradise was definitely the hostel. I stayed at a place called Sleeping Inn which was quite a small hostel and very social. The rooms were like a little apartment, with every 3 dorms having their own kitchen, living area with a TV, and a bathroom. So it was actually quite nice having a sofa to sit on! On Tuesday night they had an “all you can eat” pizza night for $6 - and it really was all you can eat! They kept bringing out pizzas until we were all absolutely stuffed! I had 9 slices! What a pig! Wanted to get my moneys worth though J

Then on Wednesday night we went on the backpackers big night out! We paid $30 for entry to 4 bars (which normally cost about $10 each to get in) and a free drink in each bar! So that was good!

The next day I left Surfers Paradise and got on the bus to Brisbane!

Brisbane

The fun has now ended and the search for work has begun! Turns out its really hard to get a job here as a backpacker. Because I have to put on my CV that I’m on a working holiday visa, companies know that I can only work for them for a maximum of 6 months, so don’t want to hire you. I’ve applied for every job going including shop work (yes, I applied to a shoe shop!...), restaurants, bars, call centres and even door to door sales. I had 2 interviews today, one for a restaurant that opens next week, and one for a door to door sales job. I’m tempted to look for farm work instead, because at least then the work will be counting towards getting my 2^nd year visa!

So yeah, I’ve been in Brisbane for 4 nights now, staying at Base Central. Met up with Ellie (from Spot X) on Thursday afternoon, and we went over to the Southbank, which was just as nice as it was 2 years ago. We had a walk around and took some photos. 

On Friday I job hunted most of the day, then in the evening went out to look round some night markets with Helena, a girl from my dorm. I could have spent so much money there, they had some really pretty jewellery! Maybe if I get a job I’ll treat myself to something!

On Saturday Shweta arrived in Brisbane, which was good. In the evening we went down to the hostel bar as it was ladies night. So between 9 and 10pm they had free champagne and free cocktails for all the girls! And to top it off they played a Blink 182 song!

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to report for now. Doubt my updates will be as regular or as interesting once I enter the world of work in Oz!

Hope everyone back home is OK, missing you all lots! xxx

OzIntro!

My OzIntro week has now come to an end. It's been such a fun week and I'd recommend OzIntro to anyone backpacking Australia on their own. I met lots of nice people and I've done quite a few things I wouldn't have done on my own.

Monday 2nd May

Met the rest of the OzIntro group that morning as they all checked in to the hostel. At about 12pm we all got picked up in the OzIntro bus for a city orientation. We parked up in the Botanic Gardens and took some group photos in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. We then walked through the gardens and saw some interesting birds and bats in the trees!

Next was Jet Boating on Sydney Harbour! It was so much fun! The boat did 360 degree turns and we all got soaked! 

After a quick change into some dry clothes back at the hostel we went out for a group meal at Five O's. OzIntro gave us a VIP card so we can get a main meal, side and drink for $10 which is pretty good. 

We also got a voucher for 2 free drinks at the Palace bar so that was our next stop! I had my 2 free glasses of wine, then a few more! After the bar we decided to try the legendary 'goon' (cheap boxed wine) I've heard so much about. Needless to say it wasn't good! It ended up being a pretty drunken night!!

Tuesday 3rd May

The next day I woke up with a bit of a sore head! In the morning we headed into the city to sort out our bank accounts and medicare. After a tasty lunch at Darling Harbour we went to Sydney Aquarium which was actually better than I expected! I found Nemo! Also in the shark section there was a map showing Sydney Harbour and how many sharks are swimming around during the year - it's pretty scary!

Went for a quick drink after the Aquarium then headed back to the hostel to get ready for a night out at The Gaff - a backpacker bar & club. I didn't drink too much because I still felt a bit hungover from the night before! It was still a crazy night though, never been to a bar like it! There were many inappropriate competitions to win trips up the coast, like wet tshirt contests... I didn't enter, but one girl in our group did! It was mad.

Wednesday 4th May

Surf day! Probably my favourite day of OzIntro! We got picked up at about 10am and had an hours drive to Cronulla Beach. It was a nice quiet beach with small waves - perfect for beginners! The two instructers were stereotypical Aussie surfer dudes! 

We started off with a lesson out of the water. We were told how to hold the surfboard and how to catch a wave. To start you have to lie on the board but not put too much weight on the front otherwise you will 'nose dive' (kind of like going over the handlebars on a bike!). We were then told about the 3 steps we should take to stand on the board. First was to lie on the board with our toes tucked round the end of the board to hold us in place, second was to push up and stick our bums in the air and put our toes back onto the board, then third was to put our back foot in place first, then slowly stand up! Easy! Well, on the sand it was!

After a few trys out of the water, it was time to brave the waves!

I couldn't believe how tiring it was! After quite a few tumbles, I eventually managed to stand up and ride a wave! Sweet dude! After a few more attempts we stopped for lunch then quickly got back in the sea for more surfing fun! Managed to stand up a few more times before heading back to the hostel.

Definitely the best day!

Thursday 5th May

After a crazy day of surfing we had an easy morning as it was time for a travel talk! We got to the OzIntro office at about 9.30am and Nicola, our group leader told us all about some of the amazing things we can do here in Australia!

After the talk we got on the bus to Bondi Beach! We lazed around there for an hour or so before starting the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. It wasn't too far a walk but the scenery was beautiful. 

Then when we got to Clovelly beach we had a BBQ waiting for us! Yum! After food and some games of beach volleyball (I only joined in for the last game as volleyball isn't my strong point!) we went back to the hostel. Had a quiet night in and watched a bit of Despicable Me before falling asleep!

Friday 6th May

Another amazing day! Early start though as we got picked up at 6:45am for our trip to the Blue Mountains! Smokey, our guide picked us up and we began the 2 hour drive where he told us a bit of Australian history. I didn't realise how horrible the Aboriginals were treated! Apparently when Australia was first discovered many aboriginals were killed and driven out of their homes. Our first stop was to find some wild kangaroos! We managed to find a family of 3! It was amazing to see kangaroos in the wild as I've only ever seen them in the zoo. Our guide also found it necessary to fish around in the bark of a tree and showed us a Huntsman Spider. Yuck! It was huge and horrible, but fortunately not one of the deadly ones.

Next we stopped in a small town to get some breakfast before setting off again! It was crazy how beautiful the scenery was when we were so close to the busy city. We set off walking to see a waterfall, our guide seemed to know everything about everything and he told us all about some of the plants. One plant he made us smell, and we had to guess what it was - I correctly guessed tea tree (are you proud of me Mum?!) We also saw some crazy plant that inspired the invention of velcro as the plants hooked together in the same way!

We eventually got to the waterfall after walking down LOADS of steps, it was pretty impressive! 

Then we were told we had to climb all the way back up to have lunch! Our already aching muscles from surfing were exercised even more!

After a nice lunch (ham and cheese salad rolls and pasta) we headed over to the famous Three Sisters. They were a bit smaller than I expected but impressive all the same.

We had to walk down lots of steps again but luckily we didn't have to walk back up as we were going on the Katoomba Scenic Railway - the world's steepest railway! And it was VERY steep! It was fun though, and much better than climbing back up all those steps!

We got back to the hostel at about 7.30. Made some tea then went for a quick drink!

Saturday 7th May

Happy Birthday Becca!!

On Saturday we had a free day apart from our travel appointments with Nicola and the Party Bus in the evening!

A few of us went in to Sydney centre to get our fancy dress for the night ahead. Our theme was ravers! So we got some paints, highlighters, glow sticks and hairspray! I got a white vest top which I decorated with the paint and highlighters!

When I got back from Sydney it was time for my travel appointment where I planned my East Coast adventure! So in the next couple of months I'll be heading up the coast on the OzExperience bus. My first stop is Spot X surf camp where I'll be spending 3 nights and spending the whole time surfing! Next is Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, then Brisbane where I may stop and work for a while to save some more money! Between Brisbane and Cairns are some very exciting trips like Fraser Island and the Whitsundays! I'll also be doing a skydive over Mission Beach and white water rafting! Once I get to Cairns I'm going to go to Cape Tribulation for a night and do Jungle Surfing! Can't wait!

In the evening was a big night out on the Oz Party Bus! It was the craziest thing ever! Loud music, disco lights and one rule - no sitting down! We got picked up quite early and headed into Sydney! 

Our first stop was a bar in Darling Harbour, it was quite a sophisticated place with people dressed up having a quiet drink, then we arrived in our raver clothes! With the Oz Party Bus we got a free drink in each bar! After Darling Harbour we got back on the bus and danced our way to Scary Canary, another backpacker bar! The other bars we went to were Scubar, Sidebar then finally The Gaff! We were all out til about 5am so it was a pretty mad night!

Sunday 8th May

Woke up at about 11.30 with no hangover thank goodness! Lazed around most of the day then went up the Sydney Tower in the evening for our farewell meal. It was a revolving restaurant with an all you can eat buffet, including crocodile, emu and kangaroo! I tried them all and I think kangaroo is my favourite! Also had lots of prawns and calamari! Nicola our leader made a little farewell speech before we headed back to Coogee for a final drink as a group.

We then went back to the hostel to pack as we were checking out of the hostel the next morning.

Monday 9th May (Today!)

I'm now sitting in the OzIntro office waiting for my vouchers for my East Coast travels, then I'm moving to Base hostel in the city centre for 4 nights before heading up to Spot X!

I'll try and do a quick update on here before I head up the coast.

Had such a good week!