Melting

Traveling up or down the east coast of Australia is one of the most popular backpacker routes in the world. Tiny beachside towns, surfing meccas and trips to the outlying islands make up the routes of most people. You could spend months visiting every nook and cranny along the huge coast, and some people do. I hadn’t done too much on the east coast, but I knew the one thing I definitely wanted to do was a sailing trip on the Whitsundays. [read on]

(I’ve added captions to some of the pictures on smugmug. If there is a series of pics I didn’t caption all of them. I’m uploading a few more now.)

I’m sitting in a relatively cool internet cafe in Cairns right now. When I say relatively, I mean the sweat isn’t pouring off me, but just rather sticky and clammy. It is unbelievable how hot and humid it is here in Queensland, especially coming from the southern part of Australia, where it’s warm but very dry. In fact, most part of Australia are actually in a drought and screaming for rain, whereas Queensland has more moisture than they know what to do with. I have a whole day to do nothing really, as I’ve booked an overnight bus south to Airlie Beach, the departure town for my sailing trip on the Whitsundays. I’m not really looking forward to this bus ride, not only because it leaves at midnight, but also because it is 11 hours and I paid over AUS$100 for it. It was a slight shock to me, as my flight from Melbourne all the way up to Cairns was only $160. I think I got slightly ripped off, and I’ve know heard from other travelers there are other bus companies that are cheaper. It is a little bit of an adjustment coming from New Zealand, where the hostels and information centers are unbiased places where you can book transport and activities. Here, the hostels and “i centers” make commissions on their bookings, so you really don’t know if they are any good or not. Case in point was my day trip into the Atherton Tablelands yesterday. [read on]

Happy Birthday to my sister Kendra...Hope you are having a great time in Vegas! I took a few days extra before writing again. I've just spent 5 days "recuperating" in Melbourne at my friend Jane's apartment and trying to get things ... [Continue reading this entry]

Well, I finally saw a kangaroo, it only took 13 days. I was beginning to think it was some big tourist ploy. Even Denika and Jane were surprised we didn't see any on our drive from Sydney to Melbourne. We ... [Continue reading this entry]

These past 6 days have absolutely flown by and melded together. Today is January 5th, Thursday. Denika, Jane and I are driving south at the moment down the coast of New South Wales. The weather is crap right now, very ... [Continue reading this entry]

I've been in Sydney, Australia for almost three days now. I can say without a doubt it is a wonderful city. Getting here, however, was not so wonderful. It was what can only be described as hell in the sky. ... [Continue reading this entry]