The Adventures of Jim & Rhonda

We had a very busy last few days in Australia while staying with our friend Sara and her husband Jason and son Cody. Sara and I met while both working for the same company about 6 years ago and even though she moved back home to Australia we’ve kept in touch. It was lovely to see a familiar face again after two months on the road.

Sara & Jason own the Wonga Beach Horse Rides just north of Mossman in tropical Queensland so in addition to seeing them we got to ride and play with their dogs, a good thing since being around our pets is one of the few things we miss about home (other than family & friends).

We got to their house on Friday afternoon and just spent a quiet evening. Saturday was spent on errands and running about and then Sunday, my 40th birthday was a busy day. We headed into Port Douglas for their markets in the morning and did some shopping, spent the afternoon in the pool, and went out for a very nice dinner in town that night.

Monday was a very fun day with Sara, Jim & I heading north to Cape Tribulation, in what is considered to be the worlds oldest rain forest and a world heritage site. We went through the Daintree center canopy walk, had a great lunch, and then did what they call jungle-surfing , what we had known previously as zip lining. They strap you into harnesses and you zip along the line between big trees in the forest. Very fun.

Tuesday was Sara’s birthday and Melbourne Cup day. We started the morning with a ride on the beach and in the surf with some of their horses and then had to get ready for the party! This horserace is known as the “race that stops the nation” and literally, almost no one works and everyone dresses up and goes out for elaborate luncheons. It was a ball and we met some of their friends as well. One of our favorite days in Australia, I’d have to say.

Wednesday we were up bright and early to drop off Sunflower, our hippie van, and head to the airport. Due to no inexpensive flights directly from Cairns to Bali we had to first fly 2 1/2 hrs back south to Sydney and then fly 6 1/4 hrs north to Bali. Not too bad though and certainly shorter than the flight over to this part of the world.
In retrospect, I’ve got to say that Australia still didn’t win any big piece of my heart. We had moments of brilliance within our 5weeks there – Sydney, Byron & Airlie Bay, camping with the locals at Carnia Gorge, and lots of fun with our friends, but I’m not sure I’ll head back anytime real soon. That said, it was much better than sitting at a desk at home! Not too tough being Jim and Rhonda these days!

Next post from Bali. Cheers

Hello all! We’re here in sunny Cairns, except, today it’s raining!

After we left Airlie Beach we had 4 nights to get up to Cairns. We spent one night just at a campground en-route and then arrived in Mission Beach. Mission Beach is a small town, similiar to Airlie Beach but MUCH smaller and near some good whitewater rafting and trips out to Dunk Island, etc. We wanted to spend our money in Cairns and with the US dollar dropping against the Australian dollar on a seemingly hourly basis we spent our time in Mission Beach around the pool, taking long walks on the beach, and finally getting some New Zealand photos on the blog. Then, up to Cairns and one night spent at a camper park on the edge of town. We got a cabin yet again (haven’t slept in Sunflower since before Airlie Beach) because it is so damn hot. Around 92-94 everyday and nearly 90% humidity. We have certainly hit the rainforests of tropical Queensland for sure!!!

Cairns is not quite what I expceted. Not knowing anything but it’s reputation I thought it would resemble Cancun, or even the Gold Coast here in Australia with lots of high rises, ritzy casinos, etc. but it’s actually a very laid back town. The downtown area and esplanade reminds me more of Maui, just larger. There is a large manmade salt water lagoon for swimming right on the Esplanade due to no actual beaches in Cairns proper (another surprise) and loads of restaurants, internet cafes, etc.

After 1 night we moved into the timeshare and settled in for 4 nights. We’re now on our 3rd day there and enjoying the 3bdrm they gave us! More than enough room for the 2 of us for sure. Yesterday we took a day cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef, something we’d both been looking forward to. We signed up for an introductory dive and then snorkeling for the rest of the time. Unfortunately for me, it was a pretty rough, choppy day and when they were giving out seasickness pills as we left port I knew I would be in trouble. I did take the pills but still got sick a couple of times. I’ve been seasick before… always when we’re far enough out that I can’t see land – my body just does not like that!!! I never get sick while the boat is actually moving and in Fiji we had fairly choppy weather but were in and amongst islands and I was fine.

We did our lesson on the way out and got to the first dive spot. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing anyway, not the actual being in the water part, since we’ve snorkeled all over the world, but having water get in my mask and having to practice taking the breather out while underwater and blow the water out as you put it back in. That, combined with the really choppy waves got me a bit freaked out and I chose to opt out of diving and just snorkel instead. Jim did dive and even took a second dive and absolutely loved it. He is definitely a convert!! I certainly want to try it again but done as a normal class or even resort intro where you practice the stuff in a pool first before heading out into the ocean.

That said, even the snorkeling was amazing!! What a huge variety of rainbow colored fish of all sizes and shapes, black tipped sharks, and Jim and I snorkeling together even saw a sea turtle which is a little bit unusual. While diving Jim also saw a huge clam that was almost 8ft across! If I hadn’t been sick a couple of times it would have been an incredible day (and Jim DID have an incredible day!) We did the cruise out of Port Douglas so had about an hour drive back home but it’s certainly the most scenic drive of our entire time here in Australia. Outside of Cairns the road ends up driving right along the ocean and is really beautiful with the rainforest coming right down to the beach.

Today, as I said, it’s raining and we’re doing some stocking up shopping for sunscreen, shampoo, etc before heading to Bali next week. Tomorrow night we are going to the Tjakupai cultural park for the evening aboriginal show and dinner and then Friday heading up to Port Douglas again to stay with our friends and celebrate my 40th bday on Monday and Sara’s birthday on Wednesday and see what they have planned for us. I’m sure we’ll be busy so most likely you can expect my next post to be from Bali!

Cheers for now – Jim & Rhonda

Here is the best of the bunch from New Zealand. We ended up with about 250 photos and couldn't put them all up but enjoy! http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimandrhondartw/sets/72157602077811796/detail/

First of all, after re-reading my last entry I know I should not do a blog while really tired! Probably with no explanation the breathilizer comment made no sense eh? Well, before the uneventful bridge climb in Sydney they actually give ... [Continue reading this entry]

Well, first to apologize for waiting 2 weeks to do a blog entry but hey, we're on holiday here! Sydney was great, and coming from someone who isn't normally fond of big cities that is saying something! We had originally booked ... [Continue reading this entry]

Well, here we are on our final day in New Zealand. It's been a really fantastic month and we've enjoyed the country as much as we were told we would! We dropped the campervan on Tues. in Christchurch and checked into ... [Continue reading this entry]

Ok, I'll catch you all up on the last week in a minute. But first I must tell you about our afternoon on Thursday which has to be one of our cooler experiences so far. We'd driven from Dunedin on the ... [Continue reading this entry]

I realize that I haven't done a good blog in some time so now prepare.... time to catch you up on the last week on the road with Jim & Rhonda! Kaikoura was wonderful and gorgeous and we had such a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Some of you have been a little curious about how we're doing in such close quarters in the campervan for 26 days. And, the answer is, we're having a fantastic time. In fact, we were originally scheduled to drop the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Ok, what you've been waiting for. We finally are getting Flickr somewhat organized so here is the link to the photos of Fiji. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimandrhondartw/sets/ Enjoy, All the great New Zealand pics will be in after we get to Sydney. Cheers - Jim ... [Continue reading this entry]