I woke early but chilled in bed until 9ish. As I only had 1 day in Darwin I need to make to most of it. I got up and tried to sort my stuff out to post home as I have far to many things! However I decided it all went in ok from Exmouth so I would do it in Alice springs or Adelaide. I had found there was a pearl exhibition on and the museum of the Northern Territory that sounded good. I headed out to find them. Also I had got in contact with the the guide headquarters in Darwin and they were having a meeting at 5 I was going to attend.
The pearl thing was at the harbour, which is lovely they are still developing it but there was a wave pool there because people don't go swimming in the sea because of the jelly fish. It looked so tempting in the heat and after the walk. Unfortunately the pearl exhibition was closed as it's still the summer holidays. There was an Indio pacific museum, which was more of an aquarium, the little old man wouldn't let me leave with out going round. I watched a film about the life of coral which to be honest was more a lesson than anything. Then the man showed me their coral tank that they don't feed, clean, or do anything to other than give it sun light with light tunnels in the ceiling and top up the water when it evaporates with rain water. It was quite good but bit boring really. Once I had looked at all the tanks I set off to find the museum.
I stopped at the hostel to grab a clean top for the guide meeting then set off for the museum. It was free to get in and it was good but as most museums are full of the same things it didn't take long to look around and it wasn't very big. The aboriginal art work was beautiful and interesting to read the stories behind them. I asked the best way to get to the guide hall and headed to the main road to catch the bus. As I walked the clouds over the city were black! I couldn't quite believe that the sky could be blue on ones side and black on the other! Then it began to rain and boy did it rain! Then the thunder and lightening started and that was even more impressive! Long forks of lightening hitting the ground! I dashed into a bowls club for shelter and called a taxi as I was going to be late for the meeting. The storm was right over head and the lights flickered with every flash. I wanted to get a picture but thought better of it as the lightening hit so near!
I ran up the stairs to the guide hall and introduced myself. Everyone was really nice and I had a browse in the shop at the badges. The meeting was a presentation about the large plan to make guiding the number one organisation for girls and young women in Australia. I had thought it would be massive but in the northern territory there are only 270 girls in the movement! The northern territory is massive much much bigger than the UK. The presentation was good and once it was over we had some nibbles and chatted. They were really nice and I gave them some badges that I had bought with me to swop, they gave me a centenary badge and a birthday badge! It was good to meet leaders and get to hear about guiding in another country. They gave me a lift back to my hostel and I went about packing, I had been mistaken everything did not go in easily! Ggrr!! I headed out for some food and spoke to dad for a bit. As it was getting late I headed to bed as my pick up for my tour was 5:30am!
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Day 45 still on bus!!
Very boring I'm afraid. As I had another day on this bus! All I have been doing is try to read which just sends me to sleep and listen to my iPod which again sends me to sleep! At one point there were only 3 of us on the bus. Luckily I had 2 seats to myself the whole time so could move and get comfy, well a comfortable as you can on a bus!
When we got to Darwin my hostel was only about 2mins walk from the terminal. I checked in and went to find my dorm room. To my surprise I saw Genie walking down the corridor. She was one of the people I got the bus from Exmouth and she got off in Broome then flew to Darwin! She bought me a drink for having been on the bus for so long. I headed to bed.
When we got to Darwin my hostel was only about 2mins walk from the terminal. I checked in and went to find my dorm room. To my surprise I saw Genie walking down the corridor. She was one of the people I got the bus from Exmouth and she got off in Broome then flew to Darwin! She bought me a drink for having been on the bus for so long. I headed to bed.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Day 44 the journey continues!
I slept ok on the bus but it was to be expected as we didn't get on until gone 1am!! The first stop was breakfast and as we pulled in the driver said we are stopping at the shopping centre with lots of different eating places but it closed and the only thing open is mcdonalds!! I don't like mcdonalds! But luckily I had made sandwiches the night before so ate one of them. We only had long enough to eat and a quick teeth clean then set off again. I am going to find out the distance so you get an idea. Pretty much dozed and read for most of the journey. We were however behind by a couple of hours so had to work out how to get me on to my connecting bus to Darwin. The others were going to Broome. (Found it right I didn't do this all in one go and I'm not sure if this is as the crow flys but roughly it's 4185km from Perth to Darwin!)
At around 7pm I swoped buses and got on the one headed for Darwin. It was raining good by now so I ran across and managed to run through a massive puddle! Typical! Once on the bus and changes into attic gear again (cos it's really cold on the buses at night) I settled down to sleep for the next however many hours on the bus!
At around 7pm I swoped buses and got on the one headed for Darwin. It was raining good by now so I ran across and managed to run through a massive puddle! Typical! Once on the bus and changes into attic gear again (cos it's really cold on the buses at night) I settled down to sleep for the next however many hours on the bus!
Day 43 packing and chilling
Day 43
Chilling and begins the epic bus journey!
I wine up early as the girls were leaving and I was too but even though I was checking out I wasn't actually leaving until 10.30pm!! So I packed, well more like squashed my stuff into my rucksack. I swear it's all expanding or multiplying while I sleep!! Once I had checked out I left my bag in the storage room and went to chill in the aircon in the tv room. I caught up on my scarp book and then headed into town in search of a blanket. I know that sounds strange for a place so hot but honestly the buses try to freeze you to death! So a blanket is needed! Anyway as I am sure you have already guessed in a place were it rarely goes below 28degrees there aren't many blankets to be found! However my crafty side (and I mean crafty like making things) found a craft shop with a sale on material and they had some lovely fannel cotten on sale! So I bought 2metres for $10!! (which is good)
I headed back to the hostel and found Laura and Vicky by the pool so I joined them and learnt about a book called the secret. Very interesting! All about positive thinking. I have to say at this point that I will be getting on a bus at 10:30pm and not getting off a bus until 9:30pm 2 days later. Yep that's right 47hours on a bus! So alot of positive thinking is needed! The others were getting on the same bus but they were only on it for 19 hours.
After a couple of dips in the pool we headed into town to get stuff to cook for tea. Once that was all in the fridge we jumped in the pool again, well it was like 37degrees!! Vicky and Laura had paid for the night so they would still have the room and shower which was god send! Chicken and satay sauce, potatoes and baby sweetcorn for tea yum!! Then waiting to head off to the pick up point for the bus.
Once the time came we saddled up (not sure if that's the right term to use but you know what I mean) and headed off to the visitor centre where we would get picked up. The shuttle bus to the highway had been broken on our arrival to exmouth 2 days ago and we doubted it had been fixed but as there was no one there to inform us and there was nothing on the web site we guessed all must be ok. However we were wrong as 10:30 came and went. Then 11:30, then 12:30 we guessed the same must have happened. The wait was ok though we played cards, spotted kangaroos, and kept wandering in the middle of the road until the bus arrived at 1:15am!!
And so the 47 hour bus journey began!!
Chilling and begins the epic bus journey!
I wine up early as the girls were leaving and I was too but even though I was checking out I wasn't actually leaving until 10.30pm!! So I packed, well more like squashed my stuff into my rucksack. I swear it's all expanding or multiplying while I sleep!! Once I had checked out I left my bag in the storage room and went to chill in the aircon in the tv room. I caught up on my scarp book and then headed into town in search of a blanket. I know that sounds strange for a place so hot but honestly the buses try to freeze you to death! So a blanket is needed! Anyway as I am sure you have already guessed in a place were it rarely goes below 28degrees there aren't many blankets to be found! However my crafty side (and I mean crafty like making things) found a craft shop with a sale on material and they had some lovely fannel cotten on sale! So I bought 2metres for $10!! (which is good)
I headed back to the hostel and found Laura and Vicky by the pool so I joined them and learnt about a book called the secret. Very interesting! All about positive thinking. I have to say at this point that I will be getting on a bus at 10:30pm and not getting off a bus until 9:30pm 2 days later. Yep that's right 47hours on a bus! So alot of positive thinking is needed! The others were getting on the same bus but they were only on it for 19 hours.
After a couple of dips in the pool we headed into town to get stuff to cook for tea. Once that was all in the fridge we jumped in the pool again, well it was like 37degrees!! Vicky and Laura had paid for the night so they would still have the room and shower which was god send! Chicken and satay sauce, potatoes and baby sweetcorn for tea yum!! Then waiting to head off to the pick up point for the bus.
Once the time came we saddled up (not sure if that's the right term to use but you know what I mean) and headed off to the visitor centre where we would get picked up. The shuttle bus to the highway had been broken on our arrival to exmouth 2 days ago and we doubted it had been fixed but as there was no one there to inform us and there was nothing on the web site we guessed all must be ok. However we were wrong as 10:30 came and went. Then 11:30, then 12:30 we guessed the same must have happened. The wait was ok though we played cards, spotted kangaroos, and kept wandering in the middle of the road until the bus arrived at 1:15am!!
And so the 47 hour bus journey began!!
Day 42 more diving!
I didn't get to sleep til late because the French girls decided that 1am was the time to start showering and messing in bags! Oh well the joys of dorms! Anyway got up early for another days diving! We headed off to some islands who's name I can't remember! Am sure it will come to me! There were only 3 of us diving and 3 try divers and some snorkelers. To get to our boat we had to jump in a small blue plastic boat which was funny watching everyone hesitate to get in.
It was an hour to the islands so we got our gear ready so we could just jump in as soon as we got there. And that's pretty much what we did! Well we had a briefing about the dove then we dove straight in!! It was lovely and warm I was just diving in my bikini and a rash vest. There was loads of soft corals and beautiful shoals of little fish and bigger fish. It was a nice dive some swim throughs and I took loads of pictures as usual! After 50 mins we surfaced and got our gear ready for the next dive. As we set off to the lunch spot I spotted some dolphins jumping out of the water and they seemed to follow us for a while as we kept spotting them and they came near us at times. I do love dolphins!! We had lunch which was delicious and then headed for the second dive sight. This one was on the other side if the island and was different corals, hard corals. (now I think I have that in the right order!) Anyway one of the divers didn't want to go in I think she was scared because there was a swell on the first dive and she felt out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately she needn't have worried because this dive was so still and it was lovely to just bob around and relax. When I am diving I always seem to get the song from bed knobs and broomsticks stuck in my head! "It's lovely bobbing along, bobbing along on the beautiful brunt sea!!" sorry can't help myself!
Anywho!! Again beautiful fish and lots of pictures but my battery died! Rude!! Especially because on the way back more dolphins and as we neared the shore we jumped in for a drift snorkel and only saw a big cow tail ray!! It was chilling on the bottom half buried in sand. We got back to shore and unloaded and headed back.
Once back at the hostel I showered and headed off to find a phone card as I was desperate to talk to Dan again for longer than 4 mins!! But being a Sunday and low season I eventually found one at the petrol station. I almost ran back to the hostel and called him! Unfortunately I woke him up ooppss!! But had a good chat which just makes me miss him more! Then spoke to my mum for a bit. I then headed over to the kitchen to make some food. While I ate I chatted to Laura and vicky again then headed off to bed. After calling Dan again! Hehe!
It was an hour to the islands so we got our gear ready so we could just jump in as soon as we got there. And that's pretty much what we did! Well we had a briefing about the dove then we dove straight in!! It was lovely and warm I was just diving in my bikini and a rash vest. There was loads of soft corals and beautiful shoals of little fish and bigger fish. It was a nice dive some swim throughs and I took loads of pictures as usual! After 50 mins we surfaced and got our gear ready for the next dive. As we set off to the lunch spot I spotted some dolphins jumping out of the water and they seemed to follow us for a while as we kept spotting them and they came near us at times. I do love dolphins!! We had lunch which was delicious and then headed for the second dive sight. This one was on the other side if the island and was different corals, hard corals. (now I think I have that in the right order!) Anyway one of the divers didn't want to go in I think she was scared because there was a swell on the first dive and she felt out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately she needn't have worried because this dive was so still and it was lovely to just bob around and relax. When I am diving I always seem to get the song from bed knobs and broomsticks stuck in my head! "It's lovely bobbing along, bobbing along on the beautiful brunt sea!!" sorry can't help myself!
Anywho!! Again beautiful fish and lots of pictures but my battery died! Rude!! Especially because on the way back more dolphins and as we neared the shore we jumped in for a drift snorkel and only saw a big cow tail ray!! It was chilling on the bottom half buried in sand. We got back to shore and unloaded and headed back.
Once back at the hostel I showered and headed off to find a phone card as I was desperate to talk to Dan again for longer than 4 mins!! But being a Sunday and low season I eventually found one at the petrol station. I almost ran back to the hostel and called him! Unfortunately I woke him up ooppss!! But had a good chat which just makes me miss him more! Then spoke to my mum for a bit. I then headed over to the kitchen to make some food. While I ate I chatted to Laura and vicky again then headed off to bed. After calling Dan again! Hehe!
Monday, 24 January 2011
Day 41 diving and sharks!
Sorry the last ones were out of order!
After sleeping in a room with no air con and a ceiling fan that looks like it's about to fly off and kill anything in it's path, I am pretty tired. I got up early to check in and then as it's so hot I thought I would head out to find the dive centre I had booked with. I got a map and set off. The first thing that struck me was how it is like a ghost town tumble weeds are almost rolling down the street! I say almost because they're not but what is on the road is emus!! They just wander down the road with not a care in the world! I found the dive shop easily because there are about 10 shops in the whole place. As I haven't been diving in 2 years I need to squeeze a refresher in and luckily they had one in half an hour so I booked on to it and waited.
We got our gear and headed over to the pool. The outdoor pool with a temperature of 32degrees!! So needless to say I didn't need a wet suit! We kitted up and jumped in, no sorry we didn't jump we did a large stride entry! We went through the skills and I didn't freak out taking my mask off this time! Woohoo!! There was actually some wildlife in the pool in the form of frogs, sadly one dead frog but one was just alive so we rescued him! Good deed for the day tick!! The couple doing the course were going to dive off the navy pier in the afternoon and the instructor, Kelsey, said it was one of the top dive sites in the world! Who can say no to that!! So I headed back to the shop and booked. After getting some food and sorting a few bits out I headed back down to meet the bus. The navy pier is still operational we were allowed to take pictures of it. We had to wait for slack tide and so we went down to have a look under the pier. You can see so many fish from the surface so I was excited to see them all from below!
We kitted up and headed down the steps. Unfortunately when I got in my fin flipped off and I had to retrieve it from the current. We descended the line and there were so many fish!! Some massive ones and some beautiful ones! One of the divemasters was hanging out above us with a spear! I thought this was for the sharks but it was actually for the cod apparently can get aggressive. The dive was brill we saw white tip reef sharks and got quite close. Also saw an angler fish which I think maybe the one from memo with the light in front of it's head. I took lots of pictures!
We came up and headed back to the hostel. I ate with the people who went diving and some other people try had met on their travels. Olivia and Phil were the ones form diving and Laura and Vicky the girls they met. I headed to bed as up early for another day of diving and stopped to call Dan and mum and dad but with no call card it's difficult and the $2 doesn't last long! :( miss them all loads!
After sleeping in a room with no air con and a ceiling fan that looks like it's about to fly off and kill anything in it's path, I am pretty tired. I got up early to check in and then as it's so hot I thought I would head out to find the dive centre I had booked with. I got a map and set off. The first thing that struck me was how it is like a ghost town tumble weeds are almost rolling down the street! I say almost because they're not but what is on the road is emus!! They just wander down the road with not a care in the world! I found the dive shop easily because there are about 10 shops in the whole place. As I haven't been diving in 2 years I need to squeeze a refresher in and luckily they had one in half an hour so I booked on to it and waited.
We got our gear and headed over to the pool. The outdoor pool with a temperature of 32degrees!! So needless to say I didn't need a wet suit! We kitted up and jumped in, no sorry we didn't jump we did a large stride entry! We went through the skills and I didn't freak out taking my mask off this time! Woohoo!! There was actually some wildlife in the pool in the form of frogs, sadly one dead frog but one was just alive so we rescued him! Good deed for the day tick!! The couple doing the course were going to dive off the navy pier in the afternoon and the instructor, Kelsey, said it was one of the top dive sites in the world! Who can say no to that!! So I headed back to the shop and booked. After getting some food and sorting a few bits out I headed back down to meet the bus. The navy pier is still operational we were allowed to take pictures of it. We had to wait for slack tide and so we went down to have a look under the pier. You can see so many fish from the surface so I was excited to see them all from below!
We kitted up and headed down the steps. Unfortunately when I got in my fin flipped off and I had to retrieve it from the current. We descended the line and there were so many fish!! Some massive ones and some beautiful ones! One of the divemasters was hanging out above us with a spear! I thought this was for the sharks but it was actually for the cod apparently can get aggressive. The dive was brill we saw white tip reef sharks and got quite close. Also saw an angler fish which I think maybe the one from memo with the light in front of it's head. I took lots of pictures!
We came up and headed back to the hostel. I ate with the people who went diving and some other people try had met on their travels. Olivia and Phil were the ones form diving and Laura and Vicky the girls they met. I headed to bed as up early for another day of diving and stopped to call Dan and mum and dad but with no call card it's difficult and the $2 doesn't last long! :( miss them all loads!
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Day 39 packing!
I bloody hate packing! I have tried to stream line my stuff but it doesn't seem to get any less! Oh well Sarah was back at work so I wandered into town and had a mooch around then headed back for more packing and telling the cat off for chewing my bag! When Sarah got home we headed up to a view point to see the city all lit up and had some food then back for early night as had to be up early for the bus to exmouth, my next port of call!!
Day 40 bus journy begins
Spent all of today on a bus. 18 hours to be exact!! It was freezing in to morning then hot then even colder at night. There was young 13 year old sat next to me call Kacey. She told me she loved magazines and then produced about 10 which she read and did quizzes with me. Was cute! The stops along the way for food were pretty crap only burgers, chips pies we are not talking Greggs!! As we got further north it got hot!! Seriously hot! And am not even as north as I am going!! We arrived at the town of Exmouth at 1am and then began the search for the hostel! Two other girls were staying in the same place so I asked someone and we set off in the direction he pointed! There was however another girl who came with plus even though she didn't know the name of her hostel or where it was! As it turned out it was in the other direction!! Silly girl!! I have since heard she got a lift from the police to the hostel. This is all pretty boring am sure!
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Day 38 sea lions and penguins
Yet again another early start we had to be in town for a 7:45 pick up!! Needless to say alarm was snoozed many a time before actually getting out of bed. However this did then result in a mad dash to get ready and me hopping round packing bag while trying to put my bikini on!
Anyway we made it to town and got picked up, we were on our way to kayak over to a few islands. When Sarah booked to trip she was told that unless we had a head strap for our sun glasses then there was no point in bringing them. As we were lead to believe the sea would swallow them up, so we followed the advice and didn't take our sun glasses. The little man who told us this was wrong, and we both ha to squint our way as there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun reflected very nicely off the calm sea! Moan over!
Right we arrived at the beach got our equipment sorted, they were 2 man kayaks so Sarah went up front and I was in the back. The kayaks had rudders so we had a quick lesson on how to operate the rudder, pretty easy push the left one to go left and yep the right one to go right. We then headed out into the big blue oh wait no we prayed to the great Indian ocean gods to look after us first then we set off. The first island you can't land on so we just floated nearby and tried to get the sea lions to come into the water and play but they were all to full from breakfast. Two however did take a dip but not much playing. Also on the island was a large group of pelicans! Beautiful to see as when I used to read the giraffe the pelly and me, the pelican wast favourite! We moved on and headed for penguin island were we would spend most of the day.
We landed on the beach, after paddling 2.5km, and found a shady spot to have some food. Strawberries, sweets, crackers and dip just what the doctor order! Once we were all satisfied we grabbed our snorkelling gear and set off for a cove. Most of the walk was in water which I was told may reach you knees maybe a little higher. Well I can tell you it was a little higher it was nearly waist high! Thank goodness I had got spare clothes with me. On the way we saw a penguin under the ramp to the beach which was only half malted he had fluffy legs, it looked like he had feathery leg warmers on! Once we reached the cove we donned our gear and went for a swim. There were quite a few fish in shoals, and shells on the bottom. They were all pretty much the same browns just pattens that differed. We then headed back through the waist height water to go to the penguin feeding.
The penguins on the island are called little penguins because they are the smallest of the species only measuring about 30cm in height. They had all had a big breakfast so were not interested in feeding. After lunch we had a tour of the island and saw dolphins swimming just off shore, beautiful! After gathering all the stuff we got back in the kayaks and started back to the beach via the sea lions who were still to full to play. The wind had picked up and the sea had got a little choppy. It made it harder work but was more interesting! Carrying the kayaks up the ramp was a killer! We had a chilled evening watching Australia the film which was really good but really long!
Anyway we made it to town and got picked up, we were on our way to kayak over to a few islands. When Sarah booked to trip she was told that unless we had a head strap for our sun glasses then there was no point in bringing them. As we were lead to believe the sea would swallow them up, so we followed the advice and didn't take our sun glasses. The little man who told us this was wrong, and we both ha to squint our way as there was not a cloud in the sky and the sun reflected very nicely off the calm sea! Moan over!
Right we arrived at the beach got our equipment sorted, they were 2 man kayaks so Sarah went up front and I was in the back. The kayaks had rudders so we had a quick lesson on how to operate the rudder, pretty easy push the left one to go left and yep the right one to go right. We then headed out into the big blue oh wait no we prayed to the great Indian ocean gods to look after us first then we set off. The first island you can't land on so we just floated nearby and tried to get the sea lions to come into the water and play but they were all to full from breakfast. Two however did take a dip but not much playing. Also on the island was a large group of pelicans! Beautiful to see as when I used to read the giraffe the pelly and me, the pelican wast favourite! We moved on and headed for penguin island were we would spend most of the day.
We landed on the beach, after paddling 2.5km, and found a shady spot to have some food. Strawberries, sweets, crackers and dip just what the doctor order! Once we were all satisfied we grabbed our snorkelling gear and set off for a cove. Most of the walk was in water which I was told may reach you knees maybe a little higher. Well I can tell you it was a little higher it was nearly waist high! Thank goodness I had got spare clothes with me. On the way we saw a penguin under the ramp to the beach which was only half malted he had fluffy legs, it looked like he had feathery leg warmers on! Once we reached the cove we donned our gear and went for a swim. There were quite a few fish in shoals, and shells on the bottom. They were all pretty much the same browns just pattens that differed. We then headed back through the waist height water to go to the penguin feeding.
The penguins on the island are called little penguins because they are the smallest of the species only measuring about 30cm in height. They had all had a big breakfast so were not interested in feeding. After lunch we had a tour of the island and saw dolphins swimming just off shore, beautiful! After gathering all the stuff we got back in the kayaks and started back to the beach via the sea lions who were still to full to play. The wind had picked up and the sea had got a little choppy. It made it harder work but was more interesting! Carrying the kayaks up the ramp was a killer! We had a chilled evening watching Australia the film which was really good but really long!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Day 37 tunnels and salsa
Yet again today started early! We headed over to Fremantle for a tour of the tunnels of the prison which were used to collect fresh water not to escape!! On arrival we had to sign a waver form then wait for our guide. Obviously everyone else has sense and stayed in bed so we were the only people on the tour. Richard our guide gave us a brief history of the prison and the tunnels then we headed off to get kitted up to desend the ladder 20m to the tunnels. Once we had kitted up in hard hat, coveralls, life jacket, harness and boots we were fixed onto the safety rail and climbed down. Sarah is scared of heights so we climbed together and I talked to her the whole way down. Once at the bottom we began our tour walking round the tunnels and stopping at various points. They turned all the lights off so you can see well nothing not even you hand infront of your eyes! We got in to small boats and paddled through the wet section of the tunnels again they turned the lights out and we had to paddle through in the dark which was quite funny! At the end of the tour we got an extreme heritage certificate!
After all the early mornings we were both pretty pooped so after a little shopping we headed back and chilled. Sarah had a few hours sleep and I got bout half and hour. We got ready to go out for something to eat and choose to go to a Indian restaurant on arrival it seemed to have disappeared so after walking up and down a couple of times I asked in another restaurant. The Indian had indeed closed and the owner of the place we were in said we should stay there and gave us a free glass of wine so guess what we stayed! The food was lovely. After we had finished we headed over to the mustang bar. Apprently the only place open in Perth on a Tuesday. They had a salsa night on so I tried to teach Sarah a little and had a dance! We headed home as we had to be up earlier tomorrow!
After all the early mornings we were both pretty pooped so after a little shopping we headed back and chilled. Sarah had a few hours sleep and I got bout half and hour. We got ready to go out for something to eat and choose to go to a Indian restaurant on arrival it seemed to have disappeared so after walking up and down a couple of times I asked in another restaurant. The Indian had indeed closed and the owner of the place we were in said we should stay there and gave us a free glass of wine so guess what we stayed! The food was lovely. After we had finished we headed over to the mustang bar. Apprently the only place open in Perth on a Tuesday. They had a salsa night on so I tried to teach Sarah a little and had a dance! We headed home as we had to be up earlier tomorrow!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Day 36 My birthday!!!!
Happy birthday to me!! Hehe!! As I'm sure you have guessed it is my birthday! I have ha a brill day and it has been sunny and warm, something that has only ever happened once before on my birthday. That was last year when Dan and I went to Marrakech.
Sarah had today all planned out, wine tour then meal. We had to get up early to get to town for the pick up at 9:45 but we had planned to go to the tour operators first to book my travels. This was a challenge as you may know I am not a morning person! However I got up and got ready pretty speedy after checking my money stuff. We left about 8:30. Unfortunatly we missed the buses into the city, so because the next ones were an hour off we called a cab. Excellent I hear you say plenty of time to get to town and tour place and yes you would be right were it not for the taxi breaking down on the motorway slip road! On a bend no less!! Most taxi's are gas run over here and as he tried to restart the engine you could see the gas escaping. Needless to say we made for a quick exit from the car and waited forma new cab to come. There was not enough time to go to the tour place so we headed to the bus stop for pick up. The first bus that arrived was bright pink!! We hoped that wasn't our bus and then a lovely white one with out and about written on the side pulled up, that was ours!
Once we were on our tour guide/bus driver went round asking names and Sarah informed all that it wasn't birthday! We visited 5 wineries, 1 brewery and a chocolate factory! I accutally found a couple of wines I liked, the late picked ones that are sweeter. Sarah bought some port, which isn't allowed to be called port anymore as the Spanish have reclaimed the name so from now all 'port' will be given a new name unless it has been made in the region of Spain where the name comes from. Interesting fact for you! She also got some funky 'port' glasses that were designed for sailors they have a glass straw on the side so that when they were drinking it on the ship they would spill any. Once we made it to the chocolate factory everyone was pretty tipsy and tired, as it was a very hot day. A group of French school kids were in front of us and they were nearly diving head first into the taster bowels scooping the chocolate into bags, which were soon confiscated by the factory worker. Even the adults with them were rude pushing past you and grabbing the spoon you were about to use! Rude!!
Once we got back to the city we headed over to the travel office to see if there was time to book the trips and bus tickets etc. They were brill and sorted it all out for us getting discounts and even a free tour for Gareth and I from Sydney! Bonus!! After that we head to find some food and had amazing ribs and I had a cookie and ice cream with a candle in! Unfortunatly the tour we had booked for the next morning required a breathelizer test and so we were unable to go out drinking. Still I am sure that time here moves faster after 9pm because you look and it's 9 then what seems like 10minutes late you look and it's gone 11pm!! So dancing and cocktails have been saved for tomorrow night!!
Sarah had today all planned out, wine tour then meal. We had to get up early to get to town for the pick up at 9:45 but we had planned to go to the tour operators first to book my travels. This was a challenge as you may know I am not a morning person! However I got up and got ready pretty speedy after checking my money stuff. We left about 8:30. Unfortunatly we missed the buses into the city, so because the next ones were an hour off we called a cab. Excellent I hear you say plenty of time to get to town and tour place and yes you would be right were it not for the taxi breaking down on the motorway slip road! On a bend no less!! Most taxi's are gas run over here and as he tried to restart the engine you could see the gas escaping. Needless to say we made for a quick exit from the car and waited forma new cab to come. There was not enough time to go to the tour place so we headed to the bus stop for pick up. The first bus that arrived was bright pink!! We hoped that wasn't our bus and then a lovely white one with out and about written on the side pulled up, that was ours!
Once we were on our tour guide/bus driver went round asking names and Sarah informed all that it wasn't birthday! We visited 5 wineries, 1 brewery and a chocolate factory! I accutally found a couple of wines I liked, the late picked ones that are sweeter. Sarah bought some port, which isn't allowed to be called port anymore as the Spanish have reclaimed the name so from now all 'port' will be given a new name unless it has been made in the region of Spain where the name comes from. Interesting fact for you! She also got some funky 'port' glasses that were designed for sailors they have a glass straw on the side so that when they were drinking it on the ship they would spill any. Once we made it to the chocolate factory everyone was pretty tipsy and tired, as it was a very hot day. A group of French school kids were in front of us and they were nearly diving head first into the taster bowels scooping the chocolate into bags, which were soon confiscated by the factory worker. Even the adults with them were rude pushing past you and grabbing the spoon you were about to use! Rude!!
Once we got back to the city we headed over to the travel office to see if there was time to book the trips and bus tickets etc. They were brill and sorted it all out for us getting discounts and even a free tour for Gareth and I from Sydney! Bonus!! After that we head to find some food and had amazing ribs and I had a cookie and ice cream with a candle in! Unfortunatly the tour we had booked for the next morning required a breathelizer test and so we were unable to go out drinking. Still I am sure that time here moves faster after 9pm because you look and it's 9 then what seems like 10minutes late you look and it's gone 11pm!! So dancing and cocktails have been saved for tomorrow night!!
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Day 35 last day of being 25!
This is the last day of me being 25!! :( don't like getting older!
Today we ventured out early to rottnest island, a classes A nature reserve. This is due to the quokkas that live there. We saw loads but we were more sensible than the other visitors and we didn't go cornering any to stroke them. Silly people! We headed straight for the beach and after sitting for 5 mins were ready for a cool down! It was hot! We donned our t shirts to save our shoulders and headed for the water. There were loads of tiny fish and some bigger ones but the most beautiful ones were small yellow and black striped ones which I did get quite a few good photos of. It is alot more difficult to take good pictures when snorkelling than when diving because you are being moved more by the waves. Also the throngs of kids kicking up sand make the visibility bad.
Once we had dried off in the sun, which took about 10 mins! We headed for some shade to eat. I had been reading the map and information sheet and read they did tours of the island by plane, these seemed reasonably priced and Sarah had not done one before so we decided to find the airport and aim for the sky!!
The plane had 4 seats!! The pilot said the best views would be from the right side of the plane so we should both sit that side. This ment one of us sitting next to the pilot one the co-pilots seat!!! As it was a one propeller plane with 4 seats the take off was a little rocky but up in the air it was stunning!! You could see the whole island, the different colours of the water. I was trying to spot dolphins or sharks!! Again the landing was rocky but it was worth it! From the airport we walked back to the port and paddled then hopped on the ferry back across the water.
This evening we have chilled had take away and watched twilight! I have cursed at my bank as they are stupid and have hopefully sorted stuff out to be able to book the tours across Australia tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
Today we ventured out early to rottnest island, a classes A nature reserve. This is due to the quokkas that live there. We saw loads but we were more sensible than the other visitors and we didn't go cornering any to stroke them. Silly people! We headed straight for the beach and after sitting for 5 mins were ready for a cool down! It was hot! We donned our t shirts to save our shoulders and headed for the water. There were loads of tiny fish and some bigger ones but the most beautiful ones were small yellow and black striped ones which I did get quite a few good photos of. It is alot more difficult to take good pictures when snorkelling than when diving because you are being moved more by the waves. Also the throngs of kids kicking up sand make the visibility bad.
Once we had dried off in the sun, which took about 10 mins! We headed for some shade to eat. I had been reading the map and information sheet and read they did tours of the island by plane, these seemed reasonably priced and Sarah had not done one before so we decided to find the airport and aim for the sky!!
The plane had 4 seats!! The pilot said the best views would be from the right side of the plane so we should both sit that side. This ment one of us sitting next to the pilot one the co-pilots seat!!! As it was a one propeller plane with 4 seats the take off was a little rocky but up in the air it was stunning!! You could see the whole island, the different colours of the water. I was trying to spot dolphins or sharks!! Again the landing was rocky but it was worth it! From the airport we walked back to the port and paddled then hopped on the ferry back across the water.
This evening we have chilled had take away and watched twilight! I have cursed at my bank as they are stupid and have hopefully sorted stuff out to be able to book the tours across Australia tomorrow! Fingers crossed!
Saturday, 15 January 2011
Day 34 planning!
Today has been quite productive! Well productive afternoon anyway. Sarah had her hair done this morning and it looks beautiful!! All I have heard her say is "brown I love it!" while she was at the hairdresser I was supposed to go into Perth and find a tour agents to plan getting from here to Brisbane by the 1st of march. However as I'm sure you can tell by the supposed to and those who know me will know this didn't exactly go to plan!! I looked on the Internet at a tour operator and stood in front of sarahs map of the world trying to see a good line around Australia that would get most things in! That I found in the shape of an N! I then looked at tours, buses, flights, trains etc. (ignore the etc I think I listed all forms of travel possible to do such a large country!) Again I was successful in finding tours to complete said line across. I packed my list and purse and of course camera into my bag (bought for me by Dan for Christmas, which is exactly the kind of bag I was going to buy for my travels!! Love him and it!) and I set off to catch the bus. Buses in Perth aren't like buses in the UK, there are very few services on a Saturday. Which is fine if you remember it's Saturday and don't read the week day timetable then sit for 50mins cursing the buses until Sarah calls to say she is on her way back! Yep I did exactly that!
With Sarah now back and planning totals me to a national park (who's name I can not spell!) to see kangaroos and koalas, we set off for the city to get food and drop into a tour place. Around two hours later we exit tour place with a plan and itinerary for my time in Australia. To late to go to national park so instead we head to a wildlife park. Saw loads of different animals, birds and reptiles well only crocodiles but they are reptiles!! Stroked and fed kangaroos and met a baby called ruben ("you want scuba ruben!! Hehe!!) Also stroked koalas and a dingbat who weighed 30kg and looked like a massive teddybear!!
This evening we went to lava restaurant where your food comes on a piece of hot volcanic rock and you cook it atthe table! Yum! Tomorrow we are heading to an island to go snorkelling and do an underwater safari thing. And as it is nearly gone midnight I best get some sleep!!
With Sarah now back and planning totals me to a national park (who's name I can not spell!) to see kangaroos and koalas, we set off for the city to get food and drop into a tour place. Around two hours later we exit tour place with a plan and itinerary for my time in Australia. To late to go to national park so instead we head to a wildlife park. Saw loads of different animals, birds and reptiles well only crocodiles but they are reptiles!! Stroked and fed kangaroos and met a baby called ruben ("you want scuba ruben!! Hehe!!) Also stroked koalas and a dingbat who weighed 30kg and looked like a massive teddybear!!
This evening we went to lava restaurant where your food comes on a piece of hot volcanic rock and you cook it atthe table! Yum! Tomorrow we are heading to an island to go snorkelling and do an underwater safari thing. And as it is nearly gone midnight I best get some sleep!!
Friday, 14 January 2011
Day 33 In Perth with Sarah
I am sorry have been very quiet for the last few weeks, didn't get much chance to go on the internet in Thailand, as I was having a great 2 weeks with Dan!!
The flights from Thailand to Australia were interesting. Three flights in less than 18 hours and not one took off on time! I ran through Bangkok airport because the queue for passport control was so long, I waited about 40 mins in the queue! Then when I got to the gate to find we were delayed I was unimpressed and worried that I wouldn't make the next flight to Perth! Then When we got to Kuala Lumpur the queue for check in was like a long snake and from the end I couldn't see the check in desks! Over all a lot of queuing and jogging through airports! I guess it was a good thing that none of them were on time because I wouldn't of made it to Perth!
I am now in Australia, currently staying with Sarah (a friend from school) in Perth. It is hot here!! when I landed here the pilot said "we have landed in Perth the local time is 5:45am and the current temperature is 26degrees"!!!!!!!!!! At 6am it was 26 degrees how very very hot, your lucky if thats the days high in the UK!! Sarah has the week planned, I think I may have to pay her to plan the rest of my time here as the floods have blocked some of the things I had provisionally planned! It seems like I have so long here but at the same time not enough time. To put it in perspective I am in W.A (Western Australia) which is huge you can fit the UK in to it 17 times! I keep trying to find tours and buses etc to get to places but then get distracted by things to do here. On the first day we went into Perth to look round and I bought some flip flops (thongs!) and some shorts is it was difficult to buy shorts when it was snowing in the UK before I left! We then hopped on the Perth tour bus and Sarah did the tour for the 6th time! It was interesting but we did get told off for talking by the driver and I did nod off just a little as only had 2 hour sleep on the plane over night.
Today is my second day in Perth and we have been to Fremantle. We had a browse round a market which was dangerous but I was very good and didn't spend a fortune! We then went and did at tour of the prison which Sarah hasn't done before. It was surprisingly really good about the escapes from the prison. We have booked in to do the tour of the tunnels by canoe which should be amazing. This evening we went to a very posh restaurant, I was glad I have a dress with me because there was a dress code! It was on the 33rd floor and it revolved! I am now a little dizzy!! hehe! No not really it takes 90minutes for it the do one turn. The food was amazing and the waiter was funny and very helpful!
Right am sure that is a long enough post for now and you are all yawning now! I will try not to be so quiet from now on. Oh and if anyone has any suggestions of places to go in Australia then please let me know!!!!
The flights from Thailand to Australia were interesting. Three flights in less than 18 hours and not one took off on time! I ran through Bangkok airport because the queue for passport control was so long, I waited about 40 mins in the queue! Then when I got to the gate to find we were delayed I was unimpressed and worried that I wouldn't make the next flight to Perth! Then When we got to Kuala Lumpur the queue for check in was like a long snake and from the end I couldn't see the check in desks! Over all a lot of queuing and jogging through airports! I guess it was a good thing that none of them were on time because I wouldn't of made it to Perth!
I am now in Australia, currently staying with Sarah (a friend from school) in Perth. It is hot here!! when I landed here the pilot said "we have landed in Perth the local time is 5:45am and the current temperature is 26degrees"!!!!!!!!!! At 6am it was 26 degrees how very very hot, your lucky if thats the days high in the UK!! Sarah has the week planned, I think I may have to pay her to plan the rest of my time here as the floods have blocked some of the things I had provisionally planned! It seems like I have so long here but at the same time not enough time. To put it in perspective I am in W.A (Western Australia) which is huge you can fit the UK in to it 17 times! I keep trying to find tours and buses etc to get to places but then get distracted by things to do here. On the first day we went into Perth to look round and I bought some flip flops (thongs!) and some shorts is it was difficult to buy shorts when it was snowing in the UK before I left! We then hopped on the Perth tour bus and Sarah did the tour for the 6th time! It was interesting but we did get told off for talking by the driver and I did nod off just a little as only had 2 hour sleep on the plane over night.
Today is my second day in Perth and we have been to Fremantle. We had a browse round a market which was dangerous but I was very good and didn't spend a fortune! We then went and did at tour of the prison which Sarah hasn't done before. It was surprisingly really good about the escapes from the prison. We have booked in to do the tour of the tunnels by canoe which should be amazing. This evening we went to a very posh restaurant, I was glad I have a dress with me because there was a dress code! It was on the 33rd floor and it revolved! I am now a little dizzy!! hehe! No not really it takes 90minutes for it the do one turn. The food was amazing and the waiter was funny and very helpful!
Right am sure that is a long enough post for now and you are all yawning now! I will try not to be so quiet from now on. Oh and if anyone has any suggestions of places to go in Australia then please let me know!!!!
Friday, 7 January 2011
Day 26
I have been very bad since bin here at updating this! Sorry! internet cafes so expensive here! this will be a quick one again! I have been to a couple of temples and the phuket aquarium and to the bar with the lads! sorry this is very short cos have to get back to get some food starving!!!
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Day 21 Happy New Year!!
Happy new year to all hope you all had an amazing time and 2011 is treating you well so far! I have arrived in Phuket and found Dan! It is nice and warm here am sure you will all be thrilled to hear! Haven't really done much so far apart from party the new year away! The fireworks are still going on as we come to the 3rd of Jan! There are no regulations here either which means some sound like bombs going off and it is abit heart stopping! have spent today on the beach and in the sea which was nice and very hot!
Sorry this another short post due to it being 11.50pm!
Hope you are all well and takeing care in the new year!
Sorry this another short post due to it being 11.50pm!
Hope you are all well and takeing care in the new year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)