Perth (04-18 Aug)

The 4 hour flight to Perth was pretty basic in an A320 with Jetstar. Arriving to 7 degrees it was a bit chilly waiting 30 minutes in shorts for the bus which even dropped me off at my accommodation. As usual I stayed at the YHA which is centrally located just north of the CBD. 4-share and 6-share rooms had the same rate and so it was an easy decision.

The next three days it was not just raining but pouring and by the time the sky cleared up I became sick for some days. In the end it was either pouring or I was lying in bed with a fever.

So unfortunately I just had a few days to explore the city.

The Bell Tower

Cairns (07 Jul – 03 Aug)

The rest of my time in Cairns I just spent enjoying the great weather and the nice people I have met. Big shout out to two guys from Hamburg Andre and Robin and to two fellows from NSW Mark and Jules.

YHA in Cairns

Cape Tripulation (Jul 04-05)

Next day I went on a trip to Cape Tripulation to experience the Tropical North of Queensland.

Cape Trip is as far north as the common backpacker gets. Although there are a few towns further north, there is not much to see and so almost no one goes there. Hence I have finished the East coast now and can tick that on my itinerary too.

On the first day I got picked up at my accommodation and we drove to the Daintree National Park. The “scenic” drive there was really nice. According to the guide this road is second best after the Great Ocean Road.

First up was a cruise on the Daintree River to spot some crocs in the wild. We managed to see quite a few. Biggest one was about 2.5 metres lying on the bank and taking a nap. It was a cloudy day and so most of the crocodiles were in the water rather than taking a sun bath on the banks. There are supposed to be about 80-100 crocs in that river. 

Daintree River

Croc lying on the bank

Cairns (Jun 26 - Jul 3)

It’s hard to describe how you feel returning from a 3-day-trip with 11 dives. You feel more than knackered and so it took me some days to recover. Basically every muscle in my body hurt and I would never have expected it to be that strenuous.

So I took it easy, relaxed for some days, updated this blog and watched the 8^th season of 24.

After some days Suzi checked in at the YHA and so we brought each other up to speed what we have been up to since Rockhampton. We sat down and the next time I looked at my watch it was 4.5 hours later. She was also on Maggy but stayed at the other side of the island to do the open water course. Unfortunately she left for Asia some days later and I will most likely not see her on this trip again *sob.

The next day we went for a walk on the esplanade and noticed some ukulele players on a stage. It was the 2010 Cairns Ukulele festival. 

Festival banner, look at those sponsors. Accor and KPMG are apparently everywhere ;-)

Great Barrier Reef (June 23-25)

Having just checked in at the YHA in Cairns I inquired about a trip to the GBR to get to the next level in scuba diving, the advanced open water certification, when I was told that the next course was to commence the next day at 6:20h and that all the courses for the following days were fully booked already. Nice, that gave me 9 hours to do all my laundry, get rid of some more stuff to lighten my backpack and to recover from a 7 hour bus trip. Still, I was really eager to get in the water again and so it was easy to put up with a little less sleep although I knew I had 11 dives in 3 days ahead of me.

Our boat was a purpose built multi million Dollar scuba vessel with about 80 gross tons skippered by a 22-year-old.

Our boat: ScubaPro II

 Our scuba gear for the trip

Magnetic Island (June 20-22)

…or Maggy as it is also called is just 20 minutes off Townsville and is supposed to be the best location to see koalas in the wild. As a matter of course I missed them.

 Leaving Townsville for Maggy in a very nice cat

Townsville (June 16-20)

Townsville is the second largest city in Queensland with about 160k citizens and a lot of military presence in the area. 

So it is not unusual to see fighter planes breaking the sonic barrier over the city. It is also the gateway to the famous Yongala wreck. This is supposed to be one of the top dive site in Queensland but since I cant afford the GBR and Townsville it wasn’t hard to dismiss the Yongala. Still I would have loved to dive that wreck.

Townsville was one of the few places where I didn’t sleep at the YHA. I stayed at Reef Lodge instead which was recommended by Lonely Planet and the night in a 3 share dorm was just 22 bucks. Finally I have come that far north where you don’t have to put on any long clothes anymore and where you can stay up late just wearing shorts.

My room mates were the nicest couple I have ever come across on my trip so far. Grant and Sara from just outside of Belfast were working at a CD/DVD sale in Townsville and planned on staying there for three weeks. I watched the game Germany-Serbia (fu*king hell that sucked) with Grant and was impressed how much he knew about football. We spent entire evenings just talking about stuff and if you ever hear me saying [nei] instead of now then you know where I got it from ;-)

On the way to the hostel I noticed that the rubber on my suitcase wheel became loose and by the time I reached the hostel the rubber was completely gone and the wheel was about to break off. So unfortunately the suitcase just made it a little under 2 month before I had to replace it. In order to prevent that from happening in the future I decided to buy a proper backpack which proofed to be more difficult than expected. I checked out the local stores but those either didn’t have what I was looking for or the rucksacks (they actually use that word) were too dear (another word Grant uses frequently) . Therefore I had to take the bus to the suburbs. A clever bloke would have done that on any day between Monday and Saturday but I watched some movies I got from Sara instead and so decided to go shopping on a Sunday. N1.

I guess I don’t need to tell you how long I had to wait for the busses to get me to and from the store. Anyway, in the end I got what I wanted and so I am now [nei] a proud owner of a BlackWolf CedarCreek 75+15. They had a big sale on and I got the $330 backpack for $175.

Downsizing from 130 litres or however big my suitcase was to 80 litres was quite difficult and it took me quite long to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. In the end I had to let go of a pair of trainers, a sweater, a pair of jeans, my Lonely Planet Eastcoast, lots of ducuments and flyers, my sailing books and my beloved Gnuf hoody (courtesy of Pokerakedmie.com). Sorry for that, Micha. That hoody was really good but since I had never used it Down Under there was no sense in keeping in.

I almost cracked my bones putting on my new backpack and so I had to throw out more stuff in Cairns. From now on I am a genuine backpacker.

Enough of that bag and back to Townsville: There is the only living coral reef on display in the Reef HQ but as I will get to see that myself first hand in Cairns it was probably smarter to save the money. I would have loved to take a look at it, though.

Instead, I climbed castle to get a good view over the city. 

 Castle Hill

Airlie Beach (The Whitsunday Islands) June 12 – 16

Sailing the Whitsundays is one of three must-sees in Queensland. The other two being 4WDing on Fraser and diving in Cairns.

 The Whitsundays consist of more than 70 islands

Fortunately I just got the boat I was looking for. It was a catamaran (LOA: 15m, Beam 9m) with diving on board at a standby rate saving me $150. They crammed 21 people + 4 crew on board and so there was a snug atmosphere but still quite enjoyable.

All the sheets and sails were operated with hydraulics and so there was not much we could do to help the skipper. The swell picked up and so it was quite a bumpy trip with at least half the passengers getting sick on the way to the Whitsundays.

Rockhampton (June 9-12)

Unfortunately there is only one Greyhound bus out of Agnes Water (the second big coach company Premier Motor Service doesn’t even bother to go there) which is at 9 pm and so we were due to arrive Rocky at midnight. I phoned up the YHA in Rockhampton and they deposited my room key in their safe for me to pick up. Of course there was no taxi at the bus terminal and so we had to wait 20min for one to show up.

I met Suzi again in Agnes and it turned out she also wanted to stay at the YHA. Apparently we just keep bumping into each other. Together with a Dutch guy we shared a cab to go to our accommodation. The Dutch guy wanted to give me the money for the taxi later, he probably just forgot to do so ;-)

The YHA receptionist was a nice bloke from the Philippines. He showed me some cords on the ukulele (it is actually not tuned like a guiar), let me play his guitar and recommended a great restaurant.

I met Kevin from Noosa again (as everybody is travelling in the same direction and since most backpackers stay loyal to YHA you always meet your fellow travellers again) and we had a look around the city searching for the library for free Internet. The Show was in town (something like the Oktoberfest but much smaller and without the huge tents we are familiar with) and so people used it as an excuse not to work this day. Even the library was closed. I assume you meet more people in town on Boxing Day at 06:00 in the morning. The streets were wiped empty.

Since everybody was at the show ground we figured we should at least check it out swallowing hard when the lady said “That’ll come to $15, please”. I would never go to the Oktoberfest if I had to pay $15 admission. WTF???

Anyway, it was just as crowded as the Oktoberfest and so it felt like home.

 as crowded as the Oktoberfest

Agnes Water and Town of 1770 (June 6-8)

As the name indicates in 1770 James Cook came to this nice place and founded the state of Queensland. This is actually the most northern town where you can surf but I didn’t try it. Might save that for Sydney, not sure.

 Agnes Water

It is quite a small town and apart from the beach there is not much to see. Apparently this is a good spot for snorkelling but I will see loads of fish in the Whitsundays and Cairns and so I pointed my attention toward something else.

 Beach in Agnes Water

Hervey Bay (Fraser Island) June 01-06

I had to decide between Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach as my starting point for Fraser Island. Since I am not the fastest traveller I choose the more northern City.

The YHA Collonial Village is a nice place and it looks more like a camping site than a hostel. Apparently space is becoming less of a concern the further north you go. Even the smallest streets are a lot bigger than back home. The hostel has its own tennis court, ping pong table and a good pool.

My skin deteriorated all of a sudden and so I decided to take it easy for a couple of days to let it get better before going to Fraser Island. Kinda fed up with all these delays and so I need to travel faster from now on.

Initially, I wanted to book a self drive tour on Fraser but as I didn’t feel well during the days before, I chose the guided tour where you can sleep in a hostel room rather than the sandy campground.

Driver was 8 minutes early and so everybody on the bus had to wait for me. Even the hostel staff was already looking for me.

Fraser Island consist of 99% sand and a wee volcanic material. Being 123 km long and 22 km wide it is the world’s biggest sand island and for some reasons different types of forest were able to settle. Depending on how much minerals the trees have already absorbed the color of sand changes every few kms. About 700-2000 Aboriginals (depending on the season) used to live there, but they were deported when the island was discovered by the logging industry.

The shuttle got us down to River Heads where the ferry was already waiting for us. The journey took about 35min and we saw something that some identified as dolphins.

 Fraser Venture

 

Noosa / Australia Zoo (May 28-30)

Eventually leaving Brisbane for good I took the coach to Noosa this morning. Getting out of the bus I was standing next to Suzi (the girl I met on the way to Nimbin) all of a sudden. Was really happy to see her again cuz we had a good time in Nimbin. We checked in at Noosa YHA which is situated in a building dating back to the 19th century. There were no power outlets in the room but it was a lively place with lots of relaxed people. I saw Alex again who I have met in Byron Bay and in Brisbane, I saw Laura who I have met in Surfers etc.

Suzi and I looked around the city and walked around some hours until we were sick of the rain. In the evening there was a meet and greet at the YHA. I haven’t seen that in any hostel I’ve been before. We figured they wanted to sell some tours but as it turned out they just explained the rules and we introduced ourselves over a complimentary glass of wine. I really liked that place and the people I’ve met.

The next day Suzi and I took the free shuttle to Australia Zoo. I wanted to visit the zoo from Brisbane but they didn’t offer free transportation back then. Of course I forgot to mention my YHA membership and so I got charged the full price. N1.

Anyway, the park was not as big as I thought and you could walk from one end to the other in about 35 minutes. Stopping to look at the animals and attending the shows the park took us about 5.5 hours to complete.

I was really excited to see the Australian animals because you usually don’t see them in the zoos back home. Petting the koalas and hand-feeding the kangaroos and wallabies was an amazing experience but then I have always been fond of animals. I have also heard some negative comments on the zoo that I wouldn’t be worth it but I just thought it was great and I would recommend the zoo to anyone. Crickey!!

 Cassowary, Suzi's fav

Surfers Paradise (May 24-26)

Off to Surfers Paradise was today's credo. I decided to take the public transportation rather than the coach to save some money. In the end I travelled for $11.20 from Brisbane to Surfers which is a fair price I'd reckon. On the otherhand it takes twice as long and so I arrived in the evening hours.

After checking in I strolled around the Mariner's Cove Marina and there are some steep boats at these wharfs. Not like Monaco but still pretty impressive. You could book a lot of tours like helicopter rides or fishing trips. I layed my eyes on a jetski safari but I got no time for that.

In the evening I met with some fellow travellers in a pub at the marina for drinks. There were just few Germans around (now that's a first) and mostly british folks. You can quickly become friends with these guys and so we ended up playing cards for hours after the pub closed at 23:00h. One of them even had a guitar with him and so I was able to play a bit too. Feels quite strange after such a long time.

Sea World

The next day I went to Sea World which was ideally located just up the road. The park was bigger than I had expected with widely spread water tanks. The highlights were:

Ray Reef: A small basin full of different rays (sting, fiddler, eagle) that you could touch and hand-feed

white-spotted eagle ray

back in Brisbane

Having enjoyed that shower and my decent meal I bought a 24h Internet voucher to update my blog at last. Sorry for the slight delay in terms of keeping you in the loop. A lot happened within the last 10 days and I had limited Internet recources ;-)

Unfortunately football sucked and I even got up at 4:00h to watch the game online. Had some money on Inter just in case our guys dont make it. I was right eventually but I'd rather have lost that bet. Anyway the double is nice too. At least there are no Italians around who could rub it in.

The exchange rate improved significantly during my sailing trip and so shopping and staying at hostels became just a bit plus bon marché (big shout out to Andi).

2moro I will check out the Gold Coast (I might visit my scuba buddy Nubia) before finally leaving Brisbane heading North. Initially, I didnt want to stay that long in Bris and rather go North but as it turned out I always had something to do around BrisVegas as the locals call it.

Also, I wanted to meet up with Suzi (the girl from the Nimbin trip). She was supposed to arrive in Bris yesterday but I havent heard from her yet. Maybe I'll see her on my way back from Surfers Paradise.

Sailing in Moreton Bay (May 18 - 21)

You guys might remember I was disappointed when I wasnt able to go sailing just before I went off to Byron Bay.

I stayed in contact with John, the skipper of the yacht and on my way to Nimbin I got the ok to start another adventurous sailing trip on Tuesday.

On Monday I travelled back to Brisbane and did some shopping for the trip.

On Tuesday I met with John (66, Aussie) and Liam (26, English) at the marina.

John, great Aussie bloke

Nimbin

Trip to hippie town Nimbin (about one hour from Byron Bay) was on today's schedule.

In 1973 the Aquarius Festival was held in Nimbin. Some hippies were arrested and the entire festival community protested. Police backed down, released the hippies and so marijuana became legal.

So when you exit the bus in Nimbin there are at least 3 weird looking guys asking you "need some weed, man"

Jessica Watson

Feeling a bit hung over from yesterday night (I didnt really drank that much alc but then again I didnt drink much water either) I didnt do much today apart from some laundry and watching Jessica Watson's homecoming.

She became the youngest person (16) to sail solo, non stop and unassisted around the world in just 7 months. The event was broadcasted by at least 5 TV stations simultaneously and there were hundreds of ships and even Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the NSW's Premier Kristina Keneally out on Sydney Harbour to welcome her.

After she had crossed the finish line customs boarded her ship "Pink Lady" to stamp her passport before the TV crew and a skipper stepped onto the boat.

Apperantly she ran out of some food and the crew brought a bag of goodies along. So you could see her sitting on deck giving an interview while enjoying some whipped cream out of the spray can.

PADI Open Water Diver (11May - 14 May)

Day 1

So finally my scuba (self contained underwater breathing aperatus) diving course started. It was a nice little group with Maria (Norway), Chantalle (Switzerland), Dave (Kiwi), Stacy (Oz), Nubia (Brazil) and Ross our great instructor also an Aussie.

I asked for the manual some days in advance so I could familiarize with the vocabulary but as it turned out Ross explained everything to us in a very understandable way. Unlike Phil (Skipper at my sailing trip) Ross doesnt have such a thick accent.

We had to watch some movies which illustrated the theoretical background of scuba diving (like buoyancy, the buddy system) and afterwards we were explained how to set up all the gear. Although I passed a CMAS certificate in 1999, I could hardly remember anything and so it was good I didnt take a refresher course but had everything taught again.

I can remember Andi telling me the most important rule of scuba diving (never dive alone) but Padi makes that "never hold your breath".

We put on our gear and went into the pool. I had some troubles equalizing during that CMAS course but after having my nose lasered last year it is now much easier. So now I can book my Fiji diving.

It felt strange again breathing under water but it is all just a matter of practice. At least I still knew how to clear my mask ;-)

Cape Byron Lighthouse

Today there was a little bit of hiking on my schedule as I wanted to see the Cape Byron Lighthouse. I started off from main beach where there is a lot of surfing going on. From a lookout platform you have a great view over Byron Bay.

Byron Bay main beach

It was quite a long walk uphill thru the great NSW subtropical rainforest. Unlike our forrests at home you really want to stay on the track since there are some strange noises coming from those woods and it was quite a steep path to climb/decend.

Subtropical rainforest in NSW

One of these noises was a clucking sound. I looked uphill and saw some weird looking bird walking up to me in the middle of this forrest. I wasnt afraid at all and checked if I had left something behind that was worth picking up. The sheer size of that bird amazed me and I was really excited seeing such an animal.

havent figured out its name yet

As it turned out the bird was used to humans and once I finished the trail there were five of them searching the trash cans for food. It was probably not the highlight of this day but at the time I spotted it the first time I really was happy having seen a rare beast. It was just like seeing an Ibis for the first time. I saw the first one in Brisbane's Botanical Garden and almost chased it to get a good pic. It is probably the size that attracts the most since we just dont have that at home.

At the start of that path there was a sign from some aboriginal elders. Dont know why they tried to write it in the native language since Aboriginal is probably not a language and more of a dialect so another Aboriginal wouldnt be able to read it. Also dont know why they didnt translate it properly

Having made my way thru that beautiful forrest I arrived at the most easterly point of the Australian Mainland.  At another lookout point I was even able to spot some Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins chasing fish into the shallow waters.

Finally I was at the lighthouse after about 3 hours. You can definately do the tour in one but I always take my time to take pics or just enjoy the view.

You can see the lighthouse from 27nm (50km) and it emits a beam of light every 15 sec.

Cape Byron Lighthouse

The museum within charges $8 for a 40 min guided tour but I skipped that and went back home.

2moro my PADI Open Water Cours starts and I cant wait to dive at Julian Rocks

Cliffnotes:

Byron Bay

Subtropical Rainforrest

most easterly point

Cape Byron Lighthouse

off to Byron Bay

Cant remember what happened on Saturday but it must have been something irrelevant. Probably watched some TV and updated this site.

As Matty comanded me to I bought a $32 ticket to travel to Byron Bay on Sunday. It was quite a nice ride to enjoy the landscape of northern NSW. Having arrived there at 15:00h I checked out the dive shop and after making sure I was on board (Open Water Diver course) for Tuesday I checked in at the YHA just next door.

The YHA is much smaller than in Bris with only 2 stoves instead of 8 in the kitchen and everything did not make such a good impression. Especially the bathrooms were not as clean and tidy and also there were no towels so you always had to bring your own. On the other hand the matresses and pillows are much better. Nowhere else I've slept this well so far. There are a lot of  little green birds like the ones in Brisbane's Botanical Garden making an incredible noise in the evening hours together with the cicadas. You gotta love it, feels just like vacation ;-)

I met a lovely couple from Tokyo in my room. He was an artist (sculptures made from titanuim) trying to set up his own business. Unfortunately I forgot her job. We stayed up long and highlighted the differences between our cultures. I really enjoyed that conversation cuz we dicussed topics beyond the usual backpacker conversation and so it gets you more fluent on other issues and you pick up a lot of new vocabulary.

Eventually I found a cheap water source. SPAR (yes, the same as we have at home) offer different variations of non-alcoholic beverages (Tonic, cola, lemonade, water) for the price of 49 cents (1,25l) which is about 1/3 off the usual price.

Worst case occurred: I didnt see Formula 1. Can you actually believe that?

I asked at several bars but they either had to close at 23:00h (one hour after the start) or they wanted to show some stupid cricket. As a matter of course the hostel's TV room closes at 23:00h, too. Bottom line: I missed it and so I hope someone recorded it for me back home.

2moro I will explore the area before my diving course commences on Tuesday.