Jamie and Naomi’s Adventure

Australia
Brisbane
We landed at Brisbane airport after a long overnight flight from Bangkok>Singapore. We collected our luggage and then headed for a bed. We got the sky train from the airport to Roma Street and the YHA. We checked in after begrudgingly handing over a massive $65. Which in reality is 30 GBP but when you are coming from Thailand and paying 4 GBP a night it is a bit of a shock. We got checked in and showered and moaned for a bit about the price and how accommodation here is going to eat into our budget. We wasted no time looking into getting our hands on a camper van. We had already decided that we were going to buy a camper van over renting purely because we could then make money bank on it. We went and had a look at a few campers that were for sale and then one came along that was just for us. It was a little over budget but it was in good condition and had all of the relevant paperwork etc. So we put an offer in and brought our Toyota Tarago our home for the next couple of months. We lovingly named her Sheelah 🙂
Sheelah was delivered to us on a Saturday morning and we wasted no time “moving in” doing washing and driving off. We were heading up to Cairns at a fairly fast pace so we could slowly work our way down the East Coast ending up in Sydney for our flight to New Zealand. We stocked up on groceries and off we went.
The Glass House Mountains and Australia Zoo!! CRIKEY
Our first stop was at the Glass House Mountains and the world famous Australia Zoo. We braved some of the climbs to the spectacular view points and checked into our first campsite. Which was OK and we could both tell that the whole camping thing was going to take a while to get used to. We had our first homemade cooked meal in a long time and got bitten to shreds by mossies but we can bare it. The following day we went to the zoo which we personally felt was overpriced $38 each. It was quite a small zoo and the tiger and crocodile shows were quite impressive but we struggled to fill the morning to get to the shows. We had a good laugh none the less and had a laugh about good old crocodile hunter and then headed off up the road.
We stopped over night in Coolum bay just as a stopover really. We made a quick stop at Bunnings and brought a tarp to put on the camper van to give us a bit more room to maneuver . We relaxed for the evening and the following morning we were rudely awoken by the morning chorus at 5.30am. not impressed but it gave us an early start and we headed to Tin Can Bay.
Tin Can Bay
We arrived in Tin Can Bay and found a lovely campsite. We got set up and headed straight for the pool, (yes a lot of campsites have pools) we chilled out for the afternoon and tried to get some idea of what we wanted to do and the timescale. We planned to stay in Tin Can Bay for just a night and then feed the dolphin in the morning and then head off, but we met such a lovely bunch of people there we just did not want to leave. Only downside was there were thousands of sandflies and we got eaten alive it was horrible. We spent the days by the pool and the nights in the barbeque areas eating food, drinking beer and chatting. It was really nice and on the morning we left we stopped by at the marina hoping to feed the local dolphin that makes and appearance most mornings. Lucky for us our morning of choice there were hardly any other people there and Mystic showed up for breakfast so all of us got to go in and out of the water to feed him until all of the fish had been eaten. It was such an amazing experience and I would advise anyone to do it. All they ask for is a donation towards the fish that is fed to him and to do as they say for both yours and the dolphins safety. It was brilliant. After the dolphin feeding it looked like the weather wasn’t going to be too great so we decided to do a biggish drive while it was nice and cool.
We spent the next couple of days making our way up to Cairns stopping when it started getting dark at very basic campsites just to get us by until we reached Cairns.
Cairns and Cyclone Larry!!!!
We got to Cairns and found ourselves the campsite closest to the city and made our way into town for a couple of drinks which was good. Although we couldn’t get into any of the clubs because of the thong rule….ie flip flops. So we headed back and made sure the next few nights we went out we wore something other than flip flops. Then Cyclone Larry started to pose a threat on any plans we might have made for diving etc. To be honest the locals didn’t seem at all bothered they all seemed to think it wasn’t going to reach land. Then it got upgraded to a catergory 4 and everyone went mad. Panic buying, boarding up windows and preparing for the absolute worst. We had no idea what to do, all we had to protect us was a van with a bed surrounded by glass windows?!?!? We had no idea what to do and when we asked the owners of the campsite what to do the unhelpful buggers just said “hide” when we asked where to hide they shrugged their shoulders and carried on with whatever they were doing. So we got chatting with our neighbours to try and get a plan of action together. We all decided that we should make a move to a multi storey car park before the winds picked up at 6am. So a convoy of us made our move and drove around Cairns looking for somewhere to bunker down for the night. We settled for a supermarket multi storey and wasted no time getting settled in and having dinner. It was so hot in there and the security guards came round and told us that we could stay over night as long as we behaved. We got drinking and watched the local people bring in there cars and go home and it wasn’t long before the security guards came round to make sure we had enough water as little Larry had been upgraded to a catergory 5!! At about 2am we all made for bed and we were all awake again at 6am as the winds had picked up and more people decided to bring their cars in and we ended up helping a guy who was trying to get 35 cars out of a car lot and into the multi storey. We got to drive some really nice cars and it was a laugh. Then we all sat out the storm. It was strange listening to the rain, whistling winds and things banging around and what was even stranger at 10.30 it just seemed to stop.
We all headed back to our campsite which was annialated by the winds. There were trees fallen everywhere and debris lined every part of the campsite we definitely made the right decision to leave!! For us after shopping, drinking and withstanding a cyclone that was enough of Cairns for us so we decided to head up to Port Douglas.
Port Douglas
We reached Port Douglas and a really nice campsite and headed into town to have a look round. It is a really quaint little place and although expensive it is really nice. We booked our diving to the Great Barrier Reef from here and it was great. Everyone should go to Port Douglas if you are going to Cairns. Its only an hour up the road and it is really nice.
Great Barrier Reef
We booked a one day trip from Port Douglas to the Outer Reef. It was really choppy and almost everyone was seasick at one point or another. We had the opportunity to do 3 dives. They were all quite good but unfortunately not as good as expected I think that this was partly because of the weather as the sun wasn’t out so we couldn’t really see the colours. We had a lovely close encounter with Daisy the Potato Cod and we say rays and quite a bit of marine life but again not quite as much as expected.
After diving the great barrier reef we started to drive back down the East coast unfortunately because of the cyclone we couldn’t stop in many places on the way down as they were such a mess. We made a few stops in Townsville and the bigger cities but the main place after coming all the way down was Rainbow Beach.
Rainbow Beach
We had a really good time here as we were traveling around with another couple which was really nice. We did some fishing off the beach and relaxed using the campsite facilities which were brilliant and we ate barbeques almost every night. From here we organized our own 4 x 4 and went over to Fraser Island which was good. We all chipped in some money towards the 4 x 4 and drove ourselves over after getting our permits. It worked out much cheaper to do it this was rather than by organized tour. We stopped at three of the lakes the most amazing being Birrabean and Mackenzie. Lake Mackenzie is supposed to be the most beautiful but Birrabean was almost identical and much quieter due to all the tourists going to Mackenzie. We drove along the beaches and up and down the bumpy sandy roads and we all ended the day with sore bums and arms from holding on. It was a really good day but I really don’t think that it was worth all the hype and it made us even more grateful that we did not pay a massive amount of money to go on a tour.
Noosa Heads
We absolutely loved Noosa heads and on our way round we ended up coming back and staying here on three separate occasions. Once on our lonesome and with 2 other couples at separate times. We hired a boat between us and went fishing which was a right laugh. We sunbathed, shopped, drank and went to the amazing national parks they have there. When we went on our own we stayed at the Noosa National Park campsite which is brilliant. We got set up here and within minutes of us getting dinner two cheeky Kookaburas were eyeing up our dinners and perching themselves on the van waiting for a good time to attack. Just as the sun set 3 kangaroos were grazing around our van and a really big Monitor lizard was being squawked at by Larakeets. Just as it got dark the sky turned into a blanket of Fruit Bats it was amazing but as we were so close to water and wood we did get bitten by mossies quite a lot but it was worth it.
Tweed Heads
 
We stopped in Tweed Heads on our way through at a really fantastic campsite with amazing facilities including a brilliant new camp kitchen and a lovely big pool. It was really nice here and there were a lot of really cheap food shop including a great green grocers and an even better butchers so we stocked up here. We meant to use Tweed Heads as just a stopover but ended up staying here for 3 nights as once again the people were really nice and helpful.
Byron Bay
We made our way to Byron Bay after Tweed Heads and we head a really good time here although it was a little bit more expensive than everywhere else we had been. We met some really good people and went out with them for drinks we went to Cheeky Monkeys and had some $2 dinner and then drank the evenings away which is the normal thing to do while in Byron me thinks!!!
Fantastic Forster
Forster is definitely one of my favourite stops. We fell on Forster we were once again just passing through on our way to the Great Lakes but ended up staying here for near on a week. Forster is a really small place but we were so well looked after by the family that we met there we didn’t want to leave. Every night at 6 we met the family in the barbeque area and we cooked up a storm….well they cooked up a storm and they filled us up with fresh fish they had caught during the day which was delicious and during the day we would go to the beaches, it ice cream and wander around town. It was brilliant Jamie even managed to do a shark dive with about 40 Grey Nurse Sharks which he really enjoyed.
Bulli
We landed in Bulli while on our way down to Wollongong. We stopped there because it was beautiful right on the beach front and near loads of little walks. We stayed here for about three nights and had some really nice evening walks and once again met some great people.

Dodgy Car Market
Before we knew it, it was time to head into Sydney to sell her on to another owner. We stopped in a basic campsite as close to the city as we could go and cleaned her up and packed and made her look presentable. We headed into Kings Cross to the most dodgy set up I have ever seen called the car market. We brought our space for a week $65, from the dodgy guys who work there and got to displaying the car. We spoke to some people who had been there for over 2 weeks waiting to sell their cars/vans. They warned us about the people that worked there and we soon found out for ourselves how dodgy they were. Within a couple of hours we had a couple interested in buying Sheelah and we had all the relevant paperwork. When they asked the staff about our car and the fact that it had a pink slip (equivilant to an MOT cert at home) the guy told them that it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on and to go to a reputable garage that would check it out for them. Of course they had a garage that they could use. Of course we agreed to take Sheelah there as we knew that earlier that week we had her serviced and all was good. The couple paid that garage over $100 to do some check that took 20 minutes. And, of course the mechanic came back with a list of things that needed to be done which included all the things we had done a few days earlier!!! When we told him this he said ….”oh you won’t need to have them done then” he then went onto say that it was a mechanically sound vechile but the things on the list should be done totaling at over $400…..what a twat. The couple did buy it off of us but they also booked into the garage to get the work done!!! What a pair of ninnies……sorry guys, but you are mugs!!!! 🙂
Bondi Beach
After getting rid of Sheelah we decided to stay in Bondi and relax for a few days before our flight to NZ. We really liked Bondi and there was loads to do there including Paddies markets which is brilliant for some cheap bargains and drinking and eating. There is a lovely little Italian there which is always packed and we treated ourselves to a meal there and it was yummy!!! I liked Bondi but even I felt a bit old there!! It is great for a night out and a hungover day spent sunbathing…or surfing at the beach.
Overall I was a little bit disappointed with Australia. I don’t know if I was expecting the wrong thing or we went to all the wrong places (we did go to many more places than mentioned but these were the ones that I remember most). It is a really good place to go but, is definitely not my favourite place.
 

Borneo

Kota Kinabalu

We arrived in Borneo and got a taxi into Kota Kinabalu. We headed out looking for a bed and fell upon ‘Backpacker Lodge’ “Lucys’ Homestay” . It is amazing, Lucy is like a mum she is lovely. he gives you all of the information you could possibly need to do things you want while you are in Borneo and will even phone friends for you to see if she can help. It is 18RM for a bed per night but that includes breakfast of toast and fruit and tea or coffee. For a room it is 40RM. They even have a TV there so if you are trying to stick to your budget as we are you can sit in and watch movies of an evening which is I am sad to say what we do most nights.

We have had a good wonder around KK and there are several shopping centres full of goodies to buy and food courts to eat in. There are also some good markets not to be missed although they are a bit smelly. And, there is a new bar and restaurant complex at one end of the sea front that has a massive seafood restaurant with tanks where you can pick what you want to eat!! It is quite a sight. We arranged all of our tours from agents in KK including Mount Kinabalu.

Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary

We flew from KK to Sandakan to save ourselves the 6 hour bus jouney and it only cost 15GBP so we weren’t complaining. We got a taxi from Sandakan to The Jungle Resort for a bed for the night. It is set in the most beautiful surroundings again it will have to wait for photos as I will not be able to do it justice. The rooms are basic but with hot showers so we were happy.We arrived in the morning so in the afternoon we headed over to the Orangutan sanctuary for the afternoon feed. It was amazing you go along a boardwalk to the feeding platform and right on cue they all turn up for food. They are adorable. They are all relatively young and hours of fun to watch. We got soaked the following day while we were watching them feed as it rained so hard I can’t even describe it that didn’t deter them though. Jamie and I even braved doing one of the treks through the rainforest you can do there by yourself. They warned us that it was muddy where it had been raining so hard recently. We could have had no idea it was like walking through one great big muddy puddle. We got about half way and then we had to turn back as we were both covered in leeches…Jamie more so as he was wearing open shoes. They were discusting, and I was surprised at how I didn’t totally freak out when I found one up me trouser leg feasting on my knee!!! Highly amusing!! 🙂

After 2 days at the Jungle resort we jumped on the bus back to KK for 6 hours but they played movies all the way there so the time went quite fast. Back in KK we celebrated my birthday by going to Shennanigans and watching the live band who were brilliant and Lucy came along and had a boogie with us (she loves to dance). The group of us ended up going to a cheaper bar later on and sat there until 2.30 making the Borneons ears bleed by singing songs at them. They were more than tolerant and even sang along with us it was brilliant. the next day four of us headed to Mount Kinabalu…..extremely hungover, not good.

Mount Kinabalu
We all got to Mount Kinabalu base camp dumped our bits in the dorm and attended the mountain briefing, had dinner of steamboat and then early to bed for in preparation for the climb. After a not great nights sleep (inconsiderate dorm buddies :-< ) we got up and headed to the meeting area we looked up and could see the peak of the mountain it was such a clear day it looked beautiful. A group of 7 of us shared a guide and started the climb. (Guides are quite expensive it is a really good idea to ask around your fellow climbers and see who sharing as more often than not there are plenty of you ready and willing to share a guide)We were all quite relaxed as people we had met at base camp told us how easy it was.......they were lying. We haven't really exercised for 3 months so believe us when we say it was hard...bloody hard. Its all steps and rocks a foot high. It seemed to go on for ever. It was hard hard hard!! We reached summit camp after almost 6 hours climbing,(some people had done it in 4 hours!). If it wasn’t for the group I don’t think many of us would have made it as far as we did. All of us took a turn to lead and set the pace and it helped that when one of us was having a bad time of it the rest of us could encourage them and vice versa. We all ate the extausionate $$$ food (take your own boiling water is free) and then headed to the showers which were supposed to be hot (as it is a bit chilly up there) but they just did not have enough hot water to go around and it took about 1 and ½ hours for the water to heat up again. We all got ourselves into bed as we had to be up at 2.30am to make the climb to the peak. We were rudely awoken by our alarm and were up and out by 3am and admittedly I did not feel to great along with quite a few others. It seemed that the altitude was getting to us. We all started climbing and after about 1/2 hour I felt so ill and couldn't breathe so I had to turn back....doh!!! I was not happy. Everyone carried on up and I headed back to bed. From the 7 of us in our group only 3 made it to the peak. Jamie got there at 5.30am and unfortunately it was really cloudy so he couldn't see anything other than clouds so he raced back down to the summit camp and went to sleep for a bit before making our descent. We started the descent at about 10 o 'clock. The descent was much harder than any of us could have imagined. Our legs seemed to have a mind of there own and we had no way of controlling them. Our knees kept locking, so we couldn’t bend them and when they weren’t locking they seemed to be racing forward leaving our bodies behind struggling to keep up. All of us at some point lost all control and landed on our knees and nearly faces on some occasions. We met quite a few people on their way up and we did all we could to bite our tongues, smile politely and say how great it is and that it is worth the effort J!! Again we all took it in turns to set the pace and we all did what we could to hang on for dear life where possible and not land on our arses. After what seemed to be racing down we reached the waterfall which is sort of like a marker for the beginning and end (for us anyway) and as we turned the corner we were met with the steps, we had forgotten we had walked down at the beginning. It was like a final test we all got up them as fast as we can. To get it over and done with rather than to see who was the fastest. It took about 4 hours to reach the bottom and we all posed for photos before jumping on the minibus to take us back to the base. We all laughed and joked and then when it was time to get out of the mini bus we all realized our legs had actually given up so we had to lean on random people just to get ourselves out of the bus. We walked down to the bus stop said our goodbyes jumped on the bus and headed back to KK. From the bus terminal we got the shuttle bus to KK centre and to Lucy’s where we got in, sat and didn’t get up. For the days that followed we really could not do much without our legs screaming at us. This included even simple tasks as getting out of bed and going to the toilet!!! ;-> Lucy had no problem accommodating us for the last days of our stay in Borneo letting us watch films and lounge around the hostel. We felt so bad that we had just been under her feet that we varnished her garden furniture for her, which she was really pleased with. We were sad to be leaving and saying goodbye to Lucy as it was just like having a mum away from home. She was just lovely to us and we would advise anyone going to KK to stay at “Lucys Homestay” It was clean, small and we were very well looked after. We made our way to the airport and our next destination……Oz!!! :-O

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Hi guys Well the time has arrived and we leave for India on Saturday. Excited and scared....but mostly excited!! We hope you enjoy our blog as much as I hope we will enjoy writing it!! Love ya