I have decided i really like south australia! (i always want to write south africa whenever i see SA). There's a lot more to do than the coast - i had a good time, but i've learnt from my mistakes.
Adelaide is ok, but around there there's beaches and lots of wildlife (the supposedly good kangaroo island does make your wallet a little lighter though!) and there's lots and lots of vineyards (barossa and mclaren are only the beginning!) and there's supposed to be stunning outback up in the north - you get places like coober pedy (i'll mention it later), the flinders ranges (where you get stunning views from wilpena pound, good hike though and in this heat not really recommended) and lake eyre (massive dried-out salt lake).
However i only have 6 days here! that and i don't have a car or driver's license to rent one, which limits me slightly.
I was originally going to go to coober pedy but this german girl in my room said (about 3000 times) DON'T GO TO COOBER PEDY (an underground opal-mine place)! there's nothing to do there, and when thinking about it, it wasn't really worth the $170 24-hour return bus ride! so i spent an extra few days doing nothing in adelaide!
I can't really say a lot of eventful things have happened, the highlight probably being hahndorf, which is this german village just south of adelaide. it's beautiful, the people are really friendly, and because it's in the adelaide hills, there's lots of wineries there! i only went to one though. Also cool about it is that they're into the fine foods thing, so lots of delicatessen there! Including thsi one yummy herbed goat cheese.
It's crazy, to be honest i never thought that i would want enjoy the smell of cows (quite pretty ones at that!)and agriculture as much! seems like i really needed to get away from the coast and experience the different scenery. I think i'm just too restless at the moment, it's a very laid-back country and it's not like there's tons of culture to see, so at the coast mainly people would go surfing and that's a day done whereas i like to move from place to place more, or pack more into my days... definitely a learning curve to relax more and think that it'll be ok!
Also went to see Australia yesterday - one i'd recommend! I wasn't too keen on it at the beginning, but then it turns into a good movie. Not the kind of australian experience i'm having though, with the whole lack of outback thing and all!
Off to the barossa tomrrow - one of the reasons i came here! I have 2 nights and will be biking around yay! and then after i'll probably spend a day biking around the coast (called the fleurieu peninsula) and then new zealand! exctigin!
love love
p.s. pictures continuously updated
Thursday 27 November 2008
Sunday 23 November 2008
Finished with the coast
As nice as it's been on the coast and the beaches and everything (i can't believe i'm actually saying that!) i'm ready to move on to see a different australia!
My days around brisbane were pretty rainy.
The people i stayed with lived in tweed heads, which is just over the new south wales border, and the whole of the next day it rained. Then i made my way back up to brisbane and went to this excellent exhibit called game-on where you can play your way through the history of video games. Of course i spent most of my time playing mario on the SNES, probably one of the best games ever! But it was great for anyone who grew up with video games, they had the original space invaders and doom and a heap of older games, and then they had a wii too as well as guitar hero and stuff. They even had this japanese dating game!! but it was very fun.
I then stayed with someone, also met in africa, who lives in this really nice apartment in the suburbs, with a beautiful garden.
Went to see the new bond film the next day, came out here on the 19th, and was slightly disappointed - too much close-range action and not really a great story line.
The next day i just hung around again and went to the natural history museum and then stayed with some other people, again that i'd met in africa. So all in all it was great seeing those people again! BUt that night, constant lightning, i'm not kidding! these storms have been pretty insane.
Then i went on to coolangatta, which is just north of the border between queensland and new south wales and took 2 surfing lessons! Really damaged my toe on the 2nd one, and it's proper hard, but i would like to do it some more. Met these nice norwegian girls who surfed both days. Coolangatta was really nice, it's obviously beachy but it's not too commercial yet, and there's quite a few locals there. Maybe my favorite place along the coast so far!
Am now in byron bay. Just hiked up to the lighthouse for sunrise (yep, got up at 4.45!) and then to the most easterly point of the australian mainland... good exercise i tell ya!
Off to adelaide tomorrow after an overnight bus ride...yay!
My days around brisbane were pretty rainy.
The people i stayed with lived in tweed heads, which is just over the new south wales border, and the whole of the next day it rained. Then i made my way back up to brisbane and went to this excellent exhibit called game-on where you can play your way through the history of video games. Of course i spent most of my time playing mario on the SNES, probably one of the best games ever! But it was great for anyone who grew up with video games, they had the original space invaders and doom and a heap of older games, and then they had a wii too as well as guitar hero and stuff. They even had this japanese dating game!! but it was very fun.
I then stayed with someone, also met in africa, who lives in this really nice apartment in the suburbs, with a beautiful garden.
Went to see the new bond film the next day, came out here on the 19th, and was slightly disappointed - too much close-range action and not really a great story line.
The next day i just hung around again and went to the natural history museum and then stayed with some other people, again that i'd met in africa. So all in all it was great seeing those people again! BUt that night, constant lightning, i'm not kidding! these storms have been pretty insane.
Then i went on to coolangatta, which is just north of the border between queensland and new south wales and took 2 surfing lessons! Really damaged my toe on the 2nd one, and it's proper hard, but i would like to do it some more. Met these nice norwegian girls who surfed both days. Coolangatta was really nice, it's obviously beachy but it's not too commercial yet, and there's quite a few locals there. Maybe my favorite place along the coast so far!
Am now in byron bay. Just hiked up to the lighthouse for sunrise (yep, got up at 4.45!) and then to the most easterly point of the australian mainland... good exercise i tell ya!
Off to adelaide tomorrow after an overnight bus ride...yay!
Sunday 16 November 2008
A week later, a bit further down the coast
For my 21st i went diving on the Yongala! The club left from this town called Ayr, aka deadsville, and so we only stayed as long as we needed too! The other divers were nice though! The dive eventually lived up to expectations once the 'wow' factor wore off and you could really appreciate the wreck lying in the middle of nowhere with tonnes of coral growing off of it so that it's become this cleaning station for masses of fish! amongst others saw a 2.5m long giant queensland grouper, moray eel, green and hawksbill turtle, marble ray (2m in diameter), batfish and lots of disgusting giant trevallys. Pretty good birthday present to myself i have to say! one of the top 10 dives in the world!
We (i'm travelling with the friend i met in cairns still) went down to airlie beach, with this other guy who did the yongala, because that's where most stuff out to the whitsundays leaves from. Had a few birthday drinks at night.
2 days later i left the girl and went on a one-day trip around the whitsundays - whitehaven beach, one of the most photographed beaches in the world, is absolutely stunning! because the sand is so clear white, the ocean is beautiful shades of blue! gorgeous! i imagine an aerial tour would've been spectacular. The snorkelling there however is abit of a let down compared to up north, but the views over the white beach made the trip worth it!
As exciting as the one street in airlie beach was (that was sarcasm btw!) the whole backpacker mecca was getting to me so i headed down to Noosa beach. I'm finding that, with the lack of culture here in Australia and wanting to really experience it, i'm not getting any of that here on the coast in tourist centers. So i've decided to steer my path towards more local spots (therefore slightly less party-y but that's not what i came here for!).
Noosa is a very fancy place, and it's where the rich and retirees live. Very pretty and not too exciting, plus there's a lot of surfers there too. yesterday (the2nd day) i went to Australia zoo, perfectly timed to coincide with Steve Irwin day (aus zoo is where steve worked). It's really scary how much they idolize him, and think he's god-like (i personally didn't always agree with what he did, think his death was his own fault and will love david attenborough any day over steve) but it was fun nonetheless and i saw terri and bindi (who is now idolized too) and robert irwin (last 2 = kids), and saw some dingoes and koalas, and even a sumatran tiger!
I'm now somewhere south of brisbane, with some people i'd met in Africa! and it's nice to have free internet and a private room...!!
We (i'm travelling with the friend i met in cairns still) went down to airlie beach, with this other guy who did the yongala, because that's where most stuff out to the whitsundays leaves from. Had a few birthday drinks at night.
2 days later i left the girl and went on a one-day trip around the whitsundays - whitehaven beach, one of the most photographed beaches in the world, is absolutely stunning! because the sand is so clear white, the ocean is beautiful shades of blue! gorgeous! i imagine an aerial tour would've been spectacular. The snorkelling there however is abit of a let down compared to up north, but the views over the white beach made the trip worth it!
As exciting as the one street in airlie beach was (that was sarcasm btw!) the whole backpacker mecca was getting to me so i headed down to Noosa beach. I'm finding that, with the lack of culture here in Australia and wanting to really experience it, i'm not getting any of that here on the coast in tourist centers. So i've decided to steer my path towards more local spots (therefore slightly less party-y but that's not what i came here for!).
Noosa is a very fancy place, and it's where the rich and retirees live. Very pretty and not too exciting, plus there's a lot of surfers there too. yesterday (the2nd day) i went to Australia zoo, perfectly timed to coincide with Steve Irwin day (aus zoo is where steve worked). It's really scary how much they idolize him, and think he's god-like (i personally didn't always agree with what he did, think his death was his own fault and will love david attenborough any day over steve) but it was fun nonetheless and i saw terri and bindi (who is now idolized too) and robert irwin (last 2 = kids), and saw some dingoes and koalas, and even a sumatran tiger!
I'm now somewhere south of brisbane, with some people i'd met in Africa! and it's nice to have free internet and a private room...!!
Sunday 9 November 2008
Photos
Some photos are now up - click on the slideshow.
I have now left Cairns and stayed in Mission Beach last night. It's a sleepy little town with a really nice beach though the weather isn't great today. I'm currently travelling with this other girl, Jamie, who i met on the OceanQuest diving boat, and tomorrow we're diving the Yongala wreck - one of the top 10 dives in the world! EXCITING!
p.s. mozzie bites - driving me insane.
I have now left Cairns and stayed in Mission Beach last night. It's a sleepy little town with a really nice beach though the weather isn't great today. I'm currently travelling with this other girl, Jamie, who i met on the OceanQuest diving boat, and tomorrow we're diving the Yongala wreck - one of the top 10 dives in the world! EXCITING!
p.s. mozzie bites - driving me insane.
Thursday 6 November 2008
Australia
So, after a hectic few days both at home in belgium and back in london during and after graduation, i'm now back in the sun, but in Australia this time!
It's a massive change from what i'm used to - for the past 3 years i've gone to developing countries, and now to be somewhere quite like home!
Sydney is quite cool, though i've only had a 2 days there, and 1 was trying to kick jetlag, so i was forcing myself to go shopping to stay awake... i'm not complaining of course but it didn't work completely! However i got over it in 1 night and after headed up to cairns. It's not very exciting here, reminds me a bit of florida actually, but a day later and i was on a boat in the barrier reef! and this is how amazing it was:
snorkelling (between dives) i see a barracuda swim past, look down and there's a blue-spotted stingray, look up and there's a pipefish, look down and there's a white-tipped reef shark! all within like 15 minutes. It's pretty amazing. The biggest parrotfish you've ever seen along with some more sharks, including some that i dived with at night, turtles, cuttlefish, huge maori wrasse and at night giant trevallis. a-mazing. definitely do it!
I met some cool people, one whom i might go travelling with further for another 2 days. tomorrow: cape tribulation and the daintree reserve. woop woop!
It's a massive change from what i'm used to - for the past 3 years i've gone to developing countries, and now to be somewhere quite like home!
Sydney is quite cool, though i've only had a 2 days there, and 1 was trying to kick jetlag, so i was forcing myself to go shopping to stay awake... i'm not complaining of course but it didn't work completely! However i got over it in 1 night and after headed up to cairns. It's not very exciting here, reminds me a bit of florida actually, but a day later and i was on a boat in the barrier reef! and this is how amazing it was:
snorkelling (between dives) i see a barracuda swim past, look down and there's a blue-spotted stingray, look up and there's a pipefish, look down and there's a white-tipped reef shark! all within like 15 minutes. It's pretty amazing. The biggest parrotfish you've ever seen along with some more sharks, including some that i dived with at night, turtles, cuttlefish, huge maori wrasse and at night giant trevallis. a-mazing. definitely do it!
I met some cool people, one whom i might go travelling with further for another 2 days. tomorrow: cape tribulation and the daintree reserve. woop woop!
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