Quality Times in Queensland

Where do we start? The last state in Australia has certainly left us with a good lasting impression of this country and contained some of the highlights of our trip so far.

We have spent the past 3 weeks being spoiled by Norman and Annette. It’s amazing the things you miss when your ‘hostelling’ it…your own space for a start, a big wide open kitchen to cook in, nice home-made meals, we definitely made up for it here in Brisbane, spoiled we were!

During our first week in Brisbane we caught up with the family which was nice and got the City Cat around the city centre and took in some of the sights. Bryan was also bitten by a spider and was left with a nasty mark; at least we’ve taken in the whole Ozzy experience now. We finished up this week by watching the Old Firm with Gemma, Sam and Amy at O’Malleys Celtic Supporters Club in the city and had a great night – what an atmosphere, shame about the result eh! We still sang though.

After just over a week in Brisbane we got the bus up to Rainbow Beach in preparation for our 4X4 adventure around Fraser Island. In sum, Rainbow Beach involved me sharing a room with a 2 cross-dressing males (1 was Bryan - dressed as a bunny, he won a prize though) and a smurf! Not an ordinary night, it was a fancy dress contest. Sorry to disappoint, but Bryan hasn’t turned to the dark side! After a few good nights at Rainbow Beach, we met our group for Fraser – Team B, and what a group it was. We had a ball and cracking weather too. The guys we were with were a great laugh and much goon was consumed. We seen some of the most amazing beaches and lakes and bumped into some dingoes. For anyone who hasn’t done this trip, and is coming to the East coast of Australia, Fraser is a must see. I think that we both agree that this was the highlight of our trip so far.

Upon our return to Brisbane, Norman and Annette took us on a couple of day trips. We visited the coastal town of Scarbourough and took a trip inland to Toowoomba, both were great days out. To top off our Queensland experience we visited Australia Zoo – the home of the late Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter. Again, this was amazing, we fed the elephants and kangaroos and got to get a picture with a koala – it was soooo cute, wanted to steal it. We kept our distance from the crocs though, wanted to arrive in New Zealand with our limbs in tact, or else skiing wouldn’t be much fun.

So, there you are, the Australian leg of our trip is almost over. We’ve had an absolute ball here, and there is just so much to do. A lifetime in Oz wouldn’t be enough to see everything it has to offer. So, as this chapter comes to an end, a new one begins...

Until next time…Speak to you from NZ!

To view pictues of our trip through Queensland CLICK HERE

‘Sunny Sydney’ – Tales from New South Wales

After catching the over-night bus from Melbourne, we arrived in Sydney at 7am on a Sunday morning and we were greeted by torrential rain. Strolling about a deserted city in the pouring rain after a 12 hour bus journey is a surreal experience. However, after a few rainy days, things cleared up and we explored the city. We visited the Opera House and walked over the Harbour Bridge (the free one, not the 200 dollar one) and took in the sights which the city and its surrounds had to offer. Strolled down the infamous George and Pitt Street (that one’s for you Martyn!) and visited a few watering holes.

After a few days in the city itself we took the train to Katoomba and went to the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters. It was really cool there; the climate was similar to Scotland – cold and rainy, but it is going into winter after all… :-( After a few days at the Blue Mountains we caught the train back to the city and made our way to Coogee Beach, and the good weather seemed to follow! Here, we did the Coogee - Bondi coastal walk and had a couple of nights out with some people we met. Really enjoyed this part and it was pretty relaxing. Sydney was a really nice city and it was cool seeing the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, as these are things that you see on T.V, but actually seeing them is kinda weird.

After Sydney we caught the Greyhound and thought that we’d explore another couple of places in NSW on our way to Queensland. Our first stop was Coffs Harbour – a cool coastal little town. Again this was pretty chilled and not to spoil tradition and few more drinks were had with some French/Germans we met! The language barrier seemed to vanish when the drink was flowing. After Coffs Harbour, we travelled up to Byron Bay and spent a few nights there. The weather wasn’t amazing, but we seen a really beautiful sunset, sunrise was too early! Really enjoyed it here too – pretty chilled hippy atmosphere. Seen our first spider too, but still no sharks…

We really enjoyed NSW and packed quite a lot into our time here. Our last stop in Australia will be Queensland where we are going to catch up with Norman and Annette in Brisbane, will defo be nice to have a break from the hostels and catch up with the family…

N.B. There is no need to explain any of the photos this time around, as they are pretty self-explanatory and possibly less controversial than the last entry.

Still missing you all!

Stay tuned…

To view some pictures from our trip through New South Wales CLICK HERE

The Melbourne Chronicles

Our next stop on the Australian leg of our trip was Melbourne, Victoria. This place was eagerly anticipated and didn’t fail to disappoint! After leaving Perth, note; which was still 30 degrees, we arrived in Melbourne to a 15 degree drop in temperature – freezing, felt just like home. The first hostel we stayed in was in St Kilda – really cool place, hippy-chick laid back atmosphere, plenty of alfresco dining and vintage clothes and record shops in the area too. We also met up with Gemma and co at their hostel (Faulty Towers, but priceless banter) and a few good drunken banter-filled nights followed and we met a really cool group of people. It was nice to see a friendly face from back home. We also had our first experience of tasting the ‘GOON’ – never again. It’s wrong that 4 and a half litres of “wine” should cost a fiver, cost effective nonetheless…

We went to our first Ozzy Rules match – Geelong Cats vs Collingwood, this was a good experience and we kinda got the rules by the end, definitely prefer football though, it’s a lot less complicated. Also, the fans sit together; can you imagine that at an Old Firm game? After ticking the Ozzy Rules match off of the list and exploring the city centre and some of the surrounding suburbs (visited some family too), we bought a tent, hired a car and hit the Great Ocean Road. This was a great drive and some of the sights were amazing! We also stopped off at a few nice places along the way (Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Fairy) and got to see a lot of the Australian countryside and finished our road trip in Halls Gap in the Grampians, before heading back to Melbourne to take the car back. Seen some kangaroos bopping about and a couple of dead ones too – that upset me (Cheryl) :-)

What we seen of Victoria was really cool and Melbourne is a really nice city, plenty to see and do and really cosmopolitan – very European feel to the place! After feeling satisfied that we had made the most of our short time here we booked tickets for the overnight bus to Sydney…

To view some pictures from our trip through Melbourne and its surroundings CLICK HERE

N.B. I’ll just explain a couple of the blog photo’s in more detail…
Picture of Gemma and I with the infamous ‘Goon’
Gemma and I pay homage to Barry Ferguson and Alan McGregor (I’m sure most of you will get it if you’ve been following the news)…