Here we are in Auckland it's a little, big city in a very hilly country. When we arrived it was late at night but the change of tempurtre was so lovely and much needed. When we left Sydney it was 40+ and in Auckland at 10pm it was 18 and so cool and refreshing. We moved into our hostel with the plan of going to buy a camper van in the morning.
Camper van house job
We awoke early to go to the backpackers car market. It was full of many different types of campers. Some we liked others we did not. We then wanted to go to look at others so we could compare prices. We got on a bus to travel across Auckland for nearly 1 hour to a market in a car park. We got there to find it no longer happened. By the time we had returned to the city all the other markets had finished. It was about this time we changed our plans. We decided to try to rent a room in the city and spend some time working. We found a flat on the suburbs of the city where we can rent a flat. It is less then 5 minutes to the beach. It has a nearby ferry and bus to the city. The family whose house the flat is in are lovely and looking after us. We have not yet got work but are signing up with agencies and hoping to start soon.
Travel
As I have mentioned this is a extremely hilly country. We were finding walking up and down the hills hard work so I thought lets find a better way to get around. We went out and bought two bikes. The bikes are good but this does not help us with the hills. One thing is for sure we will be coming back much fitter than when we left. Another thing is that it is law here to wear a helmet. By this they do not mean carrying it on your handlebars but you have to wear the helmet on your head.
Events
It was Zoe's birthday this week. We went out for the day and went to another art galley. I have never been a lover of the art but I am learning to like it as usually it is free. You will find me saying "This is not art, I could do this". Upcoming events include the Auckland sevens next week it's on a bank holiday. American cup is coming soon. Zoe would like to see the silver ferns play netball. there is so much going on in Auckland.
Thanks for reading I hope it's not getting boring yet. If I get requests I can add jokes or story's which I may or may not make up.
Benj - Get well soon
Smithy - get digging
Clemo - Give me my Camrea back
Mum - Good luck with the job
John - How are West Ham doing
Andrew - Like the look of the run. Sign me up.
Thank you all for text and messages
Friday, 30 January 2009
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Austalia - Done!
We finally made it - all the way to Cairns! Just over 2000 miles! It really does feel like a big achievement.
Over the last week we have been staying in hotels, motels and hostels due to a combination of rain, too many insects, hot sticky weather and stomach bugs! as you can imagine this was luxury after the tent and very nice to not be disturbed by animals during the night!
Highlights have been the Great Barrier Reef. we spent the day snorkeling in lovely warm water. Although we were covered from head to toe in a rather fetching stinger suit due to all the jellyfish (apparently although we didn't see any!) But we did see many exotic and colourful fish of all sizes. The best bit was seeing a shark and a turtle. It was amazing but we could of done it for far longer - maybe next time!!!! We have been for a cruise on the Daintree river looking for crocodiles but as it was so hot we only saw the one poking his head out of the water. David still wanted to go swimming!
Final thoughts......Australia is a large country and it's not until you get here that you realise that it really is the other side of the world! It is very hot and humid and very difficult to escape this heat. It is full of interesting and varied wildlife - anything that bites we've decided we can do without! We like the country and have had a fantastic time but we wouldn't want to live here!
Big thanks......to everyone who has helped us in Australia - the boys in Gladstone, Barry from Tin Can Bay and of course Bianca in Sydney.
On a sad note.....we have lost our camera and all the photos of the trip so far. Gutted. We hope to replace it soon so we can put more photos in the blog. Next time we will back up the photos sooner!
Over the last week we have been staying in hotels, motels and hostels due to a combination of rain, too many insects, hot sticky weather and stomach bugs! as you can imagine this was luxury after the tent and very nice to not be disturbed by animals during the night!
Highlights have been the Great Barrier Reef. we spent the day snorkeling in lovely warm water. Although we were covered from head to toe in a rather fetching stinger suit due to all the jellyfish (apparently although we didn't see any!) But we did see many exotic and colourful fish of all sizes. The best bit was seeing a shark and a turtle. It was amazing but we could of done it for far longer - maybe next time!!!! We have been for a cruise on the Daintree river looking for crocodiles but as it was so hot we only saw the one poking his head out of the water. David still wanted to go swimming!
Final thoughts......Australia is a large country and it's not until you get here that you realise that it really is the other side of the world! It is very hot and humid and very difficult to escape this heat. It is full of interesting and varied wildlife - anything that bites we've decided we can do without! We like the country and have had a fantastic time but we wouldn't want to live here!
Big thanks......to everyone who has helped us in Australia - the boys in Gladstone, Barry from Tin Can Bay and of course Bianca in Sydney.
On a sad note.....we have lost our camera and all the photos of the trip so far. Gutted. We hope to replace it soon so we can put more photos in the blog. Next time we will back up the photos sooner!
Saturday, 17 January 2009
More News!
Mount Warning
We arrived and set up camp ready to climb the mountain the next day. David had spent most of the trip so far reassuring Zoe that he will look after her in case of any emergency and certainly protect her from any dangerous animals/insects/reptiles. So when we were told of a 6ft python that had to be removed from the site the night before Zoe needed a vast amount of reassurance in order to sleep! As we climbed into the tent that night, closed the zips and began to sort out sleeping bags suddenly..........David jumped up, elbowed Zoe in the face, tore open the zip and dived under the tent. Zoe, still shocked in the tent and nursing her nose, heard David say "snake, there's a snake!" Zoe then calmly got out the tent and we searched every corner to find a bottle of water in the bottom of a sleeping bag! After that we slept until 2.30am when we got up to climb the 1156m high mountain in order to see sunrise. We climbed it all in the dark with one torch and made in time. We were then joined by about another 30 people to witness the clouds getting lighter as the sun rose behind them!
Brisbane
What a great city! In particular the south bank which is made up of cafes, restaurants, pubs etc by the river where you could sit for hours. We had the opportunity to go and watch a fantastic twenty-twenty cricket match at the Gabba between Australia and South Africa. The stadium was massive and we were in a crowd of 37, 000! The noise was like nothing we have ever heard before. The beer was alright as well! Australia won which pleased most of the crowd.
Barry and Tin Can Bay
After a few hours of travelling and looking for somewhere to stay it had got dark and we rolled up in Tin Can Bay. We found a random campsite and went to the office. We were met by a typical Australian man who introduced himself as Barry. He updated us on the floods in Cairns and then lent us a lamp as the batteries in ours had gone. We were getting set up and Barry wandered over and asked us what we were having for dinner. Before we had chance to reply we had been invited for curry at his! We then had a great night learning much about Australia and drinking home made rum! The next morning we got up early and went down to the harbour to see the dolphin feeding. We then hand fed them which was amazing but didn't last long enough.
Fraser Island
The island is just of the coast of Harvey Bay area and is the worlds largest all sand island. We saw it as part of a tour which meant we saw it all but not long enough in each place. For us the highlights were Lake McKenzie - a freshwater lake in the middle of the island which is claimed to have the purest water in the world. It was so clear and refreshing. And Eli Creek - a freshwater creek that runs to the sea. Just like a natural lazy river - great fun to float down!
We arrived and set up camp ready to climb the mountain the next day. David had spent most of the trip so far reassuring Zoe that he will look after her in case of any emergency and certainly protect her from any dangerous animals/insects/reptiles. So when we were told of a 6ft python that had to be removed from the site the night before Zoe needed a vast amount of reassurance in order to sleep! As we climbed into the tent that night, closed the zips and began to sort out sleeping bags suddenly..........David jumped up, elbowed Zoe in the face, tore open the zip and dived under the tent. Zoe, still shocked in the tent and nursing her nose, heard David say "snake, there's a snake!" Zoe then calmly got out the tent and we searched every corner to find a bottle of water in the bottom of a sleeping bag! After that we slept until 2.30am when we got up to climb the 1156m high mountain in order to see sunrise. We climbed it all in the dark with one torch and made in time. We were then joined by about another 30 people to witness the clouds getting lighter as the sun rose behind them!
Brisbane
What a great city! In particular the south bank which is made up of cafes, restaurants, pubs etc by the river where you could sit for hours. We had the opportunity to go and watch a fantastic twenty-twenty cricket match at the Gabba between Australia and South Africa. The stadium was massive and we were in a crowd of 37, 000! The noise was like nothing we have ever heard before. The beer was alright as well! Australia won which pleased most of the crowd.
Barry and Tin Can Bay
After a few hours of travelling and looking for somewhere to stay it had got dark and we rolled up in Tin Can Bay. We found a random campsite and went to the office. We were met by a typical Australian man who introduced himself as Barry. He updated us on the floods in Cairns and then lent us a lamp as the batteries in ours had gone. We were getting set up and Barry wandered over and asked us what we were having for dinner. Before we had chance to reply we had been invited for curry at his! We then had a great night learning much about Australia and drinking home made rum! The next morning we got up early and went down to the harbour to see the dolphin feeding. We then hand fed them which was amazing but didn't last long enough.
Fraser Island
The island is just of the coast of Harvey Bay area and is the worlds largest all sand island. We saw it as part of a tour which meant we saw it all but not long enough in each place. For us the highlights were Lake McKenzie - a freshwater lake in the middle of the island which is claimed to have the purest water in the world. It was so clear and refreshing. And Eli Creek - a freshwater creek that runs to the sea. Just like a natural lazy river - great fun to float down!
Friday, 9 January 2009
Sydney to Byron
The journey so far...We camped for two days in the Blue Mountains National park. We went for a fantastic walk down into the valley during which there was a huge thunderstorm and we were very refreshed by the rain. Our visit to Hillsong church was fantastic. Such a huge church, 3 tier seating, band and choir, massive screens and we were given a great welcome. We have stayed in a range of different Campsites most of which have been national parks which have no running water and pit toilets! We have treated ourselves to one night in a 'proper' campsite so we have now had a shower! we continue to see lots of amazing beaches. The best was yesterday at black rock beach where the waves were massive.
Wildlife
Now we may have joked about the wildlife we were looking forward to meeting but......we actually have bumped into quite a few of them! At an excursion to Billabong koala breeding centre Zoe had fun petting the Koalas and feeding the kangaroos while David petted huge snakes, lizards and a crocodile - which happened to escape while we were there causing much excitement (David) and worry (Zoe). We went for 
a walk in Dorrrigo Rain forest centre and managed to see some wild wildlife - a huge guana and a wild turkey! Last night while we were camping in a national park there was a kangaroo happily munching away on greenery on the site next to ours! Still on the lookout for spiders. One very unwelcome insect is of course the mosquito and despite deet we have still been bitten.
a walk in Dorrrigo Rain forest centre and managed to see some wild wildlife - a huge guana and a wild turkey! Last night while we were camping in a national park there was a kangaroo happily munching away on greenery on the site next to ours! Still on the lookout for spiders. One very unwelcome insect is of course the mosquito and despite deet we have still been bitten.Car problems!
After a long days driving though the heat we set our hopes on where we wanted to camp that night. We took recommendation from the guide book only to find when we turned up the whole town was fully booked. Our plan the changed to find anywhere. So off we went towards a town we had already passed though. The problem was there were no real road signs. After driving down a road we found it was the wrong road so we had to turn around after which we wanted to look at a map so we pulled over off the road. It was at this point we heard a massive clunk. We had not seen a huge pothole. As we pulled away we heard a rattle. David had a look but could not
see anything. We ended up calling the roadside repairs. They told us we had to wait 90 minutes. As we waited for the man to come we met 2 local boys. We played on their snakeboards and shared cans of coke. When the man came he fixed the car no problem. By that time it was very late and dark so we had no chance of finding anywhere to sleep. The boys then took us down to the rec and we camped there. There was also a pub so we managed to have dinner. We gave the boys our blogsite so if your reading this a massive thank you!!!
see anything. We ended up calling the roadside repairs. They told us we had to wait 90 minutes. As we waited for the man to come we met 2 local boys. We played on their snakeboards and shared cans of coke. When the man came he fixed the car no problem. By that time it was very late and dark so we had no chance of finding anywhere to sleep. The boys then took us down to the rec and we camped there. There was also a pub so we managed to have dinner. We gave the boys our blogsite so if your reading this a massive thank you!!! Friday, 2 January 2009
Sydney
New Years Eve
Bianca took us out to Palm beach which is where the quality Australian soap Home and Away is filmed. Again great waves and gorgeous sand. Sadly Alf Stewart was unavailable for a chat!
As you may know we are 11 hours ahead of you so therefore we enjoyed our new year as you were having lunch! Your lunch may of been disturbed by a phone call from the other side of the world. If you were the person still in bed then I am sorry but you're no longer a student and you need to get up! If you would like to contact us our mobile in Oz is 0061424791259 (updated number) if you text us then we can call you as it is very cheap for us to call you.
So, we had walked around Sydney the few days before NYE looking at the city. We found that they really go to town on NYE; they close roads and fill parks with people from all over the country to see the fire works. Our friend in Sydney, lovely Bianca, had arranged tickets for us at a
bar in the city. This was the bar beside the opera house which had views of the harbour bridge, the opera house and the skyscrapers of the city behind us. On the way to the bar we passed thousands of people sat in the road, in parks and up trees. I said "Struth mate what time did this lot come down?" I was told that they would of needed to come down early that morning and some would have even camped out the night before. So we walked passed them all to our VIP bar! At the bar they had a mix of entertaiment bands and DJs and Canapes were served nonstop. At 9pm they had a family fire work display so that the children had something to watch. At midnight we had the big one which we have never seen anything like before. They fire off fireworks from 4 points in the city and light up the sky. It's timed perfectly and looks magic. It was a great night and we finaly got home at 4am.
bar in the city. This was the bar beside the opera house which had views of the harbour bridge, the opera house and the skyscrapers of the city behind us. On the way to the bar we passed thousands of people sat in the road, in parks and up trees. I said "Struth mate what time did this lot come down?" I was told that they would of needed to come down early that morning and some would have even camped out the night before. So we walked passed them all to our VIP bar! At the bar they had a mix of entertaiment bands and DJs and Canapes were served nonstop. At 9pm they had a family fire work display so that the children had something to watch. At midnight we had the big one which we have never seen anything like before. They fire off fireworks from 4 points in the city and light up the sky. It's timed perfectly and looks magic. It was a great night and we finaly got home at 4am.Beaches
While in Sydney we have visited a range of beaches. The first was Bondi - beastiful white sand and brilliant waves. We have now purchased a bodyboard and are in the process of learning how to use it - by the time we leave we may have got the hang of riding the waves!
Bianca took us out to Palm beach which is where the quality Australian soap Home and Away is filmed. Again great waves and gorgeous sand. Sadly Alf Stewart was unavailable for a chat!Finally we went to Watson Bay to sample the fish and chips! Not as good as the English of course. We went for a lovely walk around the southern pont of the harbour and came across a nudist beach. David later attempted to become a part of this as he jumped across some rocks and ripped a whole in his swimming shorts in a rather inappropriate place!
Coming Soon.........
We have slightly changed our plans and tommorrow we pick up our hire car from Sydney to begin our drive up the east coast. Our first planned stop is the Blue Mountins outside the city and we plan to go to the Hillsong Church on Sunday. We hope to meet lots of new friends on the way - friends such as Sally the snake, Freddie the frog, Darren the dingo, Sheila the spider and of course snappy the crocodile!
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