White water rafting

Of the whole east coast trip the one thing I was most looking forward to was my time in Mission Beach.

Mission Beach does not have a huge amount around it to do. Obviously as the name suggests there is a beach however my hostel was a little way out of town so other than go hiking there wasn't a lot around.

This however was not a problem for me as I had booked a couple of activities whilst I was here and one of those was my white water rafting.

I had done this once before in Thailand and really enjoyed it however little was I to know that rafting in Thailand and rafting in Australia are pretty different. For starters in Thailand you do not get involved in the paddling and basically just sit back and enjoy the ride. This was not the case in Australia.

We arrived at the starting point and were put into our groups. In mine I had a girl from England, two guys from Korea and two guys from Brazil. Very multicultural I must say. Once we were finally all kitted up (the Brazilian guys had to be sent back to the bus to change their speedos) we were ready to set off on our adventure.

The guide positioned myself and other English girl in the front of the boat which meant we had to control the speed of the paddling (well girls  obviously are more organised so this made sense) however I think soon after we started the guide quickly regretted his decision as quite frankly we were rubbish. This did not stop our enthusiasm though and we gave it everything we had.

We raced through the waves in a style that could rival top rafting athletes (ok this is clearly a lie) but we did almost make it to the end without fallen out - damn you Korean boy for letting us down.

We also saw some spectacular boat flips which literally sent all crew members flying through the air and landing face first in the river - hilarious.

I have to say of all my experiences in Australia this was one I enjoyed the most and would encourage any one to give it a go (yes Mum and Dad we are going to do it in New Zealand). I have not laughed so much as what I did for those four hours and would quite happily do it over and over again.

Now on to day two of my Mission Beach adventures - Skydiving Ahhhh!

-x-

The Whitsundays

Before I go on to tell you about my amazing time in the Whitsundays I have to mention my Scooter roo experience in 1770.

 Basically Scooter roo is where they turn mopeds into pretend Harley Davidson's and you ride around in a gang with fake tattoos and leather jackets. It was awesome. There were about thirty of us I think and we all set off to ride in convoy around the place I was staying called 1770. We then ended the ride by going to watch the sunset which was so beautiful. It really was so much fun to do and I am glad I got the chance to experience it.

 Now onto the main subject of this post. The Whitsundays, which are made up of seventy four Islands and are off the coast of Airlie Beach. When I booked my boat I didn't really know much about it however as I was traveling up the East Coast everyone just kept telling me how it was the crazy party boat and no one slept and basically people were just drunk the whole time. Anyone who knows me knows that I love my sleep therefore I was a little worried about what I was getting myself into. I had no need to.

 The boat is the biggest that goes out on The Whitsundays and due to that there was a great mix of people aboard. Some who loved to dance and drink at night and others who like to relax on the deck and play cards. I did a little of both. The one thing we all had in common though was we were all there to see the Whitsundays and therefore that meant very early mornings and long days of activities which everyone got involved with.

 First of our activities was to go to Whitehaven beach which is beautiful with white sand and an amazing view. You can actually use the sand to clean your teeth and jewellery which some people tried (I decided my teeth were fine just as they were so opted out of shoving it in my mouth).

 Other activities included snorkeling, diving off the boat and slide and my favourite - the diving. When I went to Thailand I did my Padi open water and couldn't wait to get back into the water and see what Australia had to offer. It did not disappoint. The first dive was just going around seeing the fish and other weird little sea creatures but the second one involved diving through caves which I had never done before. All I can say is it has opened up a little passion inside of me and I cannot wait to get out there again.

 One exciting thing we did see one night was a hammerhead shark swimming around our boat. The crew promised us it wasn't dangerous but I am not going to lie, I was pretty pleased when we moved location in the morning for the diving. All in all it has been one of my most enjoyable experiences so far on my trip and I am so pleased I did it. I just hope everything else lives up to it now!

 -x-

(Sorry guys once again no pictures but after an hour of trying to upload one I gave up the will to live and quit. Promise to get them on FB as soon as possible)

Fraser

As part of my package I got to experience the amazing Fraser Island which is an island made completely of sand off the east coast. I headed there from a place called Rainbow Beach which was on the mainland. Rainbow Beach didn't really have much around but I think that is mostly due to the fact people only go there to head off on a tour to Fraser. Before you head off on your trip you are put in groups of eight to spend the time together doing the most fun part - driving four wheel drives across the sand. We had to get up quite early to leave to go to the island (anyone who thought traveling meant laying around sleeping think again). I offered to be the first person to take the wheel and I am glad I did as I got to do mostly road driving and therefore didn't make too much of a fool of myself :o) Once we got across to the island we headed off in convey taking it in turns to race down the beach to the most amazing lake. It really was just beautiful and it made a nice change to swim in fresh water. Someone said it reminded them of Canada however having never been I wouldn't know. Guess I will get to find out next year! :o) After we finished up there we headed to the campsite we would be staying in with our luxury suites and by luxury suites I actually mean tiny tents with no underfloor padding. Fantastic. That night we cooked dinner in our groups and mostly just drunk until we were all too tired or tipsy to carry on and headed off to our homes for the night. I think the alcohol helped as I pretty much passed out as soon as my head hit the "pillow" and I didn't wake up till the next morning. All I can say is sleeping on the floor may be good for your back but I honestly felt like someone had gone ten rounds with me in a boxing ring. Oh and joy we got to do it all over again that night as well. Couldn't wait. That day after breakfast we headed off to the Champagne pools. Now Vicky do not get excited they are not actually filled with Champagne the waves coming in just made them look like that. After that we went to float down a pure water creek which was a bit like being at a water park which was really fun. Finally we went to look at a shipwreck on the beach and sat around whilst our lead driver told us the story of it (it wasn't that exciting so I won't share it with you). Again that night people got on the drink however after the previous night there was a huge lack of enthusiasm and most people just sat round the campfire or went to the beach to look at the stars. Unfortunately on the last day it started to rain - not sure if you have heard about the Cylone here, well that was causing a little bit of a rain issue for us. Anyway we didn't let it affect us too much and we still headed off to do our last days activities. This involved climbing a hill for forty five minutes only to spend about fifteen minutes at the top to walk back down, all in the pouring rain. Super fun. That pretty much ended our trip on Fraser Island and although the whole experience was brilliant I have never enjoyed having a shower so much and our hostel felt like five star accommodation when we got back. All I would like to say though to end this post is....... I HATE CAMPING!! -x-

Noosa

I wasn't in Noosa for a huge amount of time so do not have loads to tell you about it.

One thing I can tell you about is the wonderful electric bike hire I did and when I say wonderful I actually mean ridiculous.

The idea was that the bike helps you when you pedal and therefore you do not struggle when going up hills etc. So after promises of getting up to speeds of about 40km and sporting a rather sexy yellow helmet off I went. Now I am not sure if anyone has seen that episode of friends with Phoebe when she is trying to learn to ride a bike but that was pretty much how I started out. I mean the last time I rode a bike I think it was at a family BBQ, I was a little tipsy and I tried to speed round the garden resulting in failing and falling off. This nearly ended the same way.

Anyway after wobbling along, off I set to see the great sights of Noosa. Now I was either doing it wrong or the damn thing was broken because aid me it did not. After racing off down a hill with the wind in my hair (that wasn't stuck down under the helmet) and riding around for a bit I soon decided it was time to head back to drop the bike off.

Here was where the fun part began and then ended very quickly. I started off well and felt the bike kick in however after about thirty seconds it stopped and I was left stuck, panting and nearly rolling backwards. After realising the stupid thing had given up on me I jumped off and started to push. The hill which had previously been a thing of great pleasure was now the most evil thing I had ever seen.

So now picture me pushing a bike (which I might like to add is heavier than a normal bike) yellow helmet still on looking like a sweaty walrus panting up a hill. Great image isn't it.

When I finally made it to the top I stumbled grumpily into the hire place and dumped the helmet and keys on the desk whilst the overly friendly gay guy asked if I had had a "super time". I won't tell you what my response was.

Other than the bike hire there wasn't a huge amount to do and this was mostly due to the fact that yep, once again it started raining in Australia (and people complain about the English weather).

Next stop Fraser Island. I am really excited for that one as I have heard some great things about it and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

-x-

Surfers Paradise and Brisbane

I decided to do the above two places together as in all honesty there is not a huge amount to do in either and therefore two separate blogs would have been quite boring to read (and to write).

I will start with Surfers Paradise and no before you guys get any ideas I didn't suddenly find my inner surfer superstar and try to do it with the big boys. This was just another stop on my tour and I had heard mixed reviews about it and figured may as well see what it is all about for myself.

Now quite a few people do not really rate it and I think if like me you are coming from Byron bay I can understand why. Byron is very chilled whereas Surfers is much more in your face. Also a lot of people told me it was like the Australian version of Miami. Now I have never been to Miami but if it is like what it is on TV then I would have to agree with them. There is a lovely beach (made better by the fact we are now now later in the season and therefore was very quiet) and then beside the beach there are high rise buildings. Hotels, offices etc. It makes for a great picture.

Other than the beach there really is not a huge amount to do. Surfers is known as a party town and that is pretty much what it is. Lots of bars and bar crawls with cheap drinks deals and dancing. I went out the first night I got here but soon realised I didn't fancy wasting my money on beer and therefore chilled out on the second night. Two nights was definitely plenty enough for me in Surfers.

Now onto Brisbane. I honestly did not know what to expect when I got here and honestly I still do not really have an opinion. All I can say is I am glad I am only here for a couple of days as I think any longer and I would be bored. That isn't to say it isn't nice however again there is not too much to do and even the man made beach is a little bit of a let down. The one good thing about Brisbane is the Australian Zoo.

After being recommended it by a friend I figured it was a great way to spend one of my days whilst here so off I went and booked myself on the trip. Just in case you do not know Australia Zoo is the one that Steve Irwin developed therefore it is pretty special.

At first I thought the seven hours I had here were going to be far too long however I didn't actually realise how big the place was. It has so many different sections and amazing things to see. They also put on regular shows which I took full advantage of. I even got to hold a Koala. So cute but boy did he smell.

I am now sat waiting for my bus enjoying a good old cup of tea (you can take the girl out of England but you can't take the England out of the girl). Tomorrow I move on to the next place and I cannot wait to carry on the adventure :o)

-x-

Sorry for the lack of pictures guys but I am in quite possibly the worst place ever for wifi (so glad I wasted that $4)

Godbless Greyhound wifi - pictures below

Byron bay (with a little bit of Nimbin)

After the last few hectic days of surfing and buses it was nice to finally get to somewhere to chill for a little while.

I have just spent the last four days in Byron Bay which is roughly about half way up the East coast. It is basically a little hippy town with a lovely beach. When we first arrived it was night time so I pretty much went to bed straight away. The next day was the trip to Nimbin.

Now if you are like me and had never heard of it I will explain. Basically it is a very hippy town where they smoke a lot of weed and genuinely just all walk around in a daze.

So there I was waiting at the bus stop for the transport to arrive and what turns up? Quite literally something that was stolen from Austin Powers - I kid you not.

After two very bumpy hours on that bad boy we finally arrive in Nimbin. It is quite a small place and the hour and a half they gave us there was possibly a little long. There is a few shops selling the same things and then a lot of people selling drugs (don't worry Mum I behaved myself). I am not sure how they get away with it but I honestly just think the police turn a blind eye (either that or they are stoned themselves). All in all it was an interesting experience and the BBQ on the way back was certainly worth it.

The rest of my time in Byron Bay has mostly been spent sunbathing and drinking lots of beer and cider whilst meeting some amazing people. This is the first place I have been to since being in Oz and actually thought I wasn't in England. I was stood in the sea yesterday and just thought "wow I am really here" it was an amazing feeling. 

Today I decided I couldn't carry on laying around anymore and chose to hike up to the lighthouse and most easterly point of Australia. Wow that was a mission. Thirty degree heat and all uphill. I made it though and the views were amazing (even if I did have to spend most of the time looking at them from the floor of the lighthouse after nearly dying).

Tomorrow I move on again so it is time to say goodbye to Byron Bay however before I do I am going to have one last jump in the sea :o)

-x-