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Tim and Em

45 Blog Entries
1 Trip
356 Photos

Trips:

Round half the world!

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Bali

Kuta, Indonesia

After a false start with our first hotel/flea pit, we spent our first day looking around Kuta and Legian for alternative accommodation. We eventually found somewhere nice in Legian, it had a lovely tropical garden which was a bit of a maze and a big pool for cooling off in. We splashed out a little on a spacious room! If any fellow travellers are reading, would recommend the 3 Brothers Inn as a good place to stay. It was quite a culture shock in Legian, particularly after New Zealand, you cannot walk a few yards before being asked if you want to buy something, have massage or need transport. Our politeness started to wear a little thin some days.
The other thing that took a little getting used to was traffic, in the form of hundreds of mopeds, most piloted by Kamikazees!!
To be honest, other than having a good look around, we just relaxed, caught up with some folks back home on Skype and chilled out. We did have a few very good massages though, they do become a little addictive. We also made some plans for our time in Indonesia, after Legian, decided we would head to Senggigi in Lombok, from there we would go to Gili Trawangan and then back to Ubud in Bali.
Although we hadn’t done a huge amount in Legian, we were extremely sad to be leaving the comforts of the 3 Brothers Inn.

permalink written by  Tim and Em on April 10, 2010 from Kuta, Indonesia
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Mid air drama

Bali, Indonesia

To keep us entertained on the flight from Sydney to Singapore, a man had to be restrained by the flight crew and other passengers. Whilst we saw the fracas, we weren't really aware what sparked it or what he had done. A subsequent internet search reveals he was threatening to down the plane using his mind - obviously a Uri Geller type!! He was actually handcuffed to the seat after the incident and the captain informed passengers that the flight deck was on full lock down after a secuirty incident. That kept us amused for all of 10 minutes!!

Other breaking news is that we have caved in and finally bought a netbook to ease internet use.

We have arrived safely in Bali and after being ripped off in a flea pit for the first nights accommodation, we moved to a very nice hotel in Legian. We haven't taken many photo's but the couple we have taken are of the sunset on the first night, check it out! Its great to be back in hot weather.


Bali - Legian sunset, awesome!


Well herein the real adventure starts as we lose independent transport and we have no accommodation booked in advance. Will we obviously keep you posted......

permalink written by  Tim and Em on April 6, 2010 from Bali, Indonesia
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Dunedin to Christchurch

Christchurch, New Zealand

After the tearful farewells at Dunedin, we decided we would head to Mount Cook diverting a few times on the way. First diversion was Moeraki Boulders, large spherical boulders clustered together on a pristine beach. I guess it might not sound hugely exciting but they really were quite a odd, its as though a giant had thrown huge marbles onto the beach! Stopped at a cafe on the beach for an obligatory coffee!

Moeraki Boulders

We then stopped at Oamaru, mainly to stock up on some provisions and to use the internet (again!) It was Good Friday and unbeknown to us, everywhere seems to shut including supermarkets - how bizarre! We did manage to find a tearoom though which had internet access - we didnt hang around as the place seemed to be in a bit of a time warp!

Finally we arrived at Mount Count, we stayed at a department of conservation campsite which was at the foot of the mountain. I think this was possibly the best view we have had from the camper itself, we could sit there and see the snow capped peak - amazing! When we awoke the following day it was fairly grey and drizzling with rain.


Mount Cook

Mount Cook


From the campsite, we headed to Tasman Lake which was around 10Kms down an unsealed road. This was pretty surreal as it was almost like a moonscape and the lake had icebergs floating in it - to give you an idea look at the photo with the boat - they were enormous!


Lake Tasman Icebergs

Mount Cook - Tim & Em

After fixing a quick snack in the van, our next stop was Lake Tekapo. On the way we stopped at Mount St John Observatory, which is quite high up and had incredible 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and Lakes. We camped right next to Lake Tekapo which is an amazing aqua blue.

Lake Tekapo - Tim & Em

The next day it was time to head to Christchurch to return the van. Once this was done, Jo and Kane picked us up and we went to their house. In the evening we went to a great pizza place in Christchurch - our pizzas included Tandoori Lamb, Cranberry, chicken and brie and roast pork. They sound wierd, but the Tandoori Lamb was one of the best pizzas I have ever had - really hot and spicy!! Was great to spend some more time with Jo, Kane and Cooper but sadly the next day we had to leave - after a wonderful nights sleep in a proper bed, they took us to the airport. Thanks so much guys - it was great to see you again!

Good bye Jo & Kane, goodbye New Zealand


We sadly said goodbye to New Zealand - a beautiful country - next stop Bali - via Sydney and Singapore!



permalink written by  Tim and Em on April 5, 2010 from Christchurch, New Zealand
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South Island Circuit

Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand


The van on another busy road!
It was great to finally meet up with Karen and Phil (Tim's Sister and her boyfriend), and after squishing all our stuff into the camper we left Christchurch and headed to Hokitika via Arthur's pass. As we arrived the weather started to go downhill and began to rain - just like being at home. In the evening we went to the glowworm dell, which was quite bizarre - like lots of tiny fairy lights - sorry, too dark for pictures. The next day we carried on to Franz Josef, light rain was now a full on downpour.

We were staying overnight, so thankfully the next morning was bright and sunny which meant that we could actually see some scenery, rather than just mist and rain.


Franz Josef Glacier

View from Lake Mathison


We walked up to the Glacier as close as we could, very amazing, and then continued on to Lake Mathison, which was beautiful. As the sky was so blue, we could see Mount Cook reflected in the water, yesterdays rain was just a memory! We continued on to Wanaka, and the road wound through the most stunning and dramatic scenery - sometimes slightly hair raising in a camper van!


All of us by Lake Mathison

We also stopped at an amazing beach, where people had stopped and made towers out of rocks on the beach.

Beach art at Bruces Bay

We left early the next morning for Queenstown, and the weather was still good. Once there we wasted no time and headed up the mountain on the Gondola/Cable Car - which gave us an amazing view over the lake - we also went on the luge (similar to a go-kart), which was good fun, and left injury free!


Gondola view over Queenstown

Karen & Phil on Queenstown Gondola

The next morning Tim and I went on the shotover jet - which is a jet boat that zooms through the canyon at up to 80km per hour, narrowly missing rocks and performing 360 degree turns - just what you need first thing in the morning to wake you up!


Shotover Jet - Queenstown
We then all had a wander round Queenstown and then set off for Milford Sound. As we neared Fjordland, the weather started to go seriously downhill again.

As we drove down the road to Milford Sound, the sides of the road were littered with landslides - people had been stuck there the previous week, due to the weather. The only upside of the rain was that there were literally hundreds over waterfalls - it was as though the mountains were bleeding.

When we arrived at the campsite, I asked them if it would stop raining the next day, I knew it was not a good sign when people started laughing at me! After a restless night - (how much wind would it take to blow over a campervan?) and despite the fact that it was still raining, we decided to go on a cruise up Millford Sound. Having driven all this way, we thought we might as well! Although we didn't see the beautiful blue sky etc. that seems to be on all the postcards, we did enjoy it - the waterfalls were amazing, and it was all quite eerie and surreal through the mist.


Us - Milford Sound Cruise

Waterfall Milford Sound


We then headed back to Te Anau, which felt like civilisation again. We stayed the night and then headed off to Dunedin the next morning. Dunedin was quite a nice place although we spent most of our time in an internet cafe sorting some bits and pieces out. Again, it flet strange to be in a city so big it even had a department store! Had a lovely last dinner in town and then we were up early again the next morning, as Karen and Phil were deserting us to fly up to Auckland for a couple of nights before flying to the UK.


Sunrise over Dunedin

We saw them off at the airport, having tried to persuade them to come to Bali with us - they declined - most uncharitable of them! It was lovely spending a week with them - the camper will seem empty for the last couple of days!

permalink written by  Tim and Em on April 1, 2010 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
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Taupo to Christchurch

Christchurch, New Zealand


Huka Falls
After all the adrenalin excitement of the last few days, it was back to more sedate experiences. A long drive from Taupo to Wellington via a detour to Huka falls. It was rather weird to be in a city again with lots of people rushing around. Had a great fish & chip supper (again!) before having an early night to catch the ferry.


Inter-Island Ferry - Driving on!
We arrived at the ferry after initially going in completely the wrong direction at 730 to catch the 830 sailing to Picton. A very scenic ferry journey to South Island. From there, it was another long drive to Marahau, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. Our hostel was literally at the end of the road which we quite liked.

Marahua Beach

The weather was noticeably colder but Tim insisted that he would not wear jeans. We booked ourselves on a water taxi the following day which would tour around to Split Apple Rock and then drop as at Tonga Bay.

We awoke to torrential rain and thought this was not the best day for what we had planned. We arrived at the water taxi office and were shepherded into the boat on dry land - seemed weird. Then a tractor pulled us down the road, onto the beach and into the water and we were off!


Split Apple Rock

Abel Tasman Aqua Taxi

The boat trip reminded us of Ocean rafting in the Whitsundays, the sea was very rough and the boat was boucing around all over the place - luckily we don't suffer from sea sickness. By the time we were dropped at Tonga Bay, the weather had worsened and now included the odd bit of thunder and lightening.

We now had to hike from Tonga to Torrent Bay via Bark Bay (the lunch stop), roughly 14Kms before being picked up again by the water taxi. Due to the weather, we were dropped off an hour later than scheduled. The first bit of the walk was fine if a little wet but by the time we got to Bark Bay, the weather had cleared a little.

As we finished lunch we realised the time and that we only had an hour and a half before we were to be picked up. We almost route marched the second half of the walk and we both had visions of being stranded and spending a night in a hut. Fortunately, we made it with about 5 minutes to spare - it was the last boat of the day.


Very wobbly bridge

We only took a few pictures on the walk as we didn't really have time to stop. There was a very wobbly suspension bridge at one point which was pretty high up and was so narrow two people could not pass at the same time. We both wondered how much we would ache the following day.

Christchurch - night in a cell

Luckily we didn't feel too bad (quite impressive) and the next day we had a huge drive to Christchurch. After getting lost several times around the one way system, we found our hostel, which was a converted jail, dumped our stuff and then went to see Jo and Kane for dinner, along with Cooper and Jo's Mum and Dad, which was lovely. After spending the night in our cell - which was very cool, we were up early to drop the car off, meet Karen and Phil and pick the camper van up. We will be seeing Jo and Kane when we drop the van off again in Christchurch after our South Island Tour!

permalink written by  Tim and Em on March 26, 2010 from Christchurch, New Zealand
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Cold fear at 15,000 feet.

Taupo, New Zealand

No sooner had we dried off from the white water rafting, and we were on the way to Taupo. Apparantly Taupo is one of the sky diving capital of the world, due to the good weather etc. Tim had been mentioning sky diving before we even left London, but I had been trying to block this out of my mind, as I was hoping that he was in fact joking. Unfortunately we had met a whole raft of people in Rotorua who had foolishly jumped out of planes in Taupo and thought it was the best thing ever - this was not helping my cause! Taupo was beautiful in the sunshine, so we laid by the lake for a while, and enjoyed. The next morning, we booked our skydiving - yes I was temporairly insane! I knew that if I didn't do it I would regret it, so that was that! It seemed a little weird to complete a next of kin form when we were picked up.

When we got to the airport office, there was a choice of 12,000 feet or 15,000 feet, so of course we ended up going for 15,000 (Tim reckoned 12,000 feet was for wimps!). The whole experience was to be captured on DVD and video for proof to all. After getting our gear on, we met our Tandem Masters (i.e strangers that we were going to be attached to.) Mine was a very nice man called JK, who had done over 19,000 jumps, won some medals and been doing it for 20 years, so I was pretty pleased with this. I think he thought I was crazy when my first question was did he have a spare parachute in the bag.

(Tim takes over the typing)..

So into the plane we went, basically two benches in the back of a relatively small light aircraft. We were a little bit like sardines. The view of Lake Taupo from the aircraft was amazing as we climbed and climbed. At 12,000 feet, the door opened to let the wimps out - this was very strange as I knew we would be up next. By now, my nerves were starting to jangle a little even though sky diving is something I've always wanted to do.


Em - please exit the plane!

Tim - please exit the plane


So, we get to our altitude and Alan (my tandem master) and I slide forward towards the open door - stomach in mouth time!! The first couple of seconds of freefall are very uncontrolled and then you can put your arms our so that you are falling with your legs slightedly bent. I would swear here but the feeling was absolutely amazing, like nothing I've ever done before. I was "wooing" all the way down. The guy filming us came to us in mid-air and shook my hand.


Tim freefall

Tim - yeeeee haaaaaa


Em in freefall!

Em in freefall!

Then Alan opened the canopy and we serenely parashuted back to terra firma. Alan let me control the parashute for a while which was really cool. Once we had landed, I immediately looked for Emma who was just coming into land, I run over and hugged both her and JK. What an adrenaline rush - both of us felt on a high all day and I was up for doing it again. Even Alan said I should sign up for the skydiving course.

Tim - freefall

What a truly AWESOME experience, definately want to do it again!!


Taupo - TTS plane


Taupo sunset - its nice, I like!

permalink written by  Tim and Em on March 23, 2010 from Taupo, New Zealand
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Whitianga to Rotorua

Rotorua, New Zealand

After leaving Phil and Laura's we drove to Whitianga in the Coromandel peninsula. We checked into our hostel which was about 25 metres from a very nice beach - we could see the water from our balcony. After dumping our stuff, we then drove to hot water beach. 2 hours either side of low tide, there are certain spots on the beach where hot springs bubble out from the sand.

Hot Water Beach
Some people dug to form their own spa pool - as you can see from the photo's it was fairly busy. It's a very strange feeling to dig your toes into the sand and for it to be too hot to keep your toes there for more than 5 seconds - weird!

We went back to the hostel via the supermarket for some provisions. When we arrived back there had been a complete power cut. Fortunately, we were barbequing that night but it seemed strange to be in the pitch black for a few hours, the power was finally restored at 830pm.


Cathedral Cove

The following day, we drove to Cathedral Cove - this is perhaps one of the most photographed places in the North Island where there is a huge limestone arch which links two parts of the beach. Again, truly stunning and we managed to sneak in an hours sunbathing.

Cathedral Cove - Em & I

From there we drove to Rotorua which is the thermal hotspot of the North Island and therefore quite smelly! We checked out Wai Tapo Thermal Wonderland which consisted of various thermal wonders believe it or not!! Hot bubbling mud, thermal springs, mineral terraces, etc, etc. Some of the colours were amazing from lurid yellow (sulphur) to bronze/rust colours - check the photo's! We also watched the Lady Knox Geyser spurt.

Rotorua - Thermal wonderland

Rotorua - Thermal wonderland

The following day we had booked to go white water rafting. According to the leaflet, we would raft down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world - 7 metres of it. After a somewhat short safety briefing, we were launching the raft with 4 complete strangers and 1 "instructor" - Em managed to get the front seat which she was slightly concerned about.


Rotorua - white water rafting
It started somewhat tamely but the rapids built and built until we hit the big one - incredible. After going over, the raft gets completely submerged under the water but none of us managed to fall out and we completed the whole route without capsizing.

Rotorua - white water rafting
There were several points where the instructor got as to paddle back into falls to ensure we all got a good soaking - pretty chilly as we had checked the water temperature on the way down at 16 degrees!! Fantastic fun and got the adrenaline going!


Rotorua - white water rafting



permalink written by  Tim and Em on March 22, 2010 from Rotorua, New Zealand
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Auckland to Tauranga

Auckland, New Zealand

Hello readers, apologies for the slight delay, yes, we are know safely in New Zealand. So, what have we being doing or, as Polly would saw WUBU2...

Had a trouble free flight from Australia although Em was particularly annoyed that she didnt get to watch all of the film-they turned the inflight entertainment off before it ended! After 3 weeks in a campervan, it was really nice to stay in a "proper" hotel with our own bathroom and a TV, there was even complimentary tolietries. After staying overnight we picked up our hire car and immediately headed north to a place called Paihia, about a 4 ish hour drive from Auckland. Paihia is the gateway to the Bay of Islands.

We had booked accommdation at a hostel called the Pickled Parrott, so called because the previous owner had a parrott who liked to drink (alcohol!) Strangely enough, the current owner also had a parrott called Rocky, as well as a cat and two dogs! Rose who owned the hostel had moved out a few years ago from Somerset.


Paihia - Pickled Parrott - Tim with parrott!

We were both pretty tired so for the first few days we chilled out, read a bit, sun bathed a bit and contemplated the many trip options available to us. On our final full day in Paihia, we booked ourselves on a yacht called "On the Edge", a racing catamaran.


Paihia - On The Edge

We had a fantastic day out, the wind was good so we managed to actual do some sailing, the captain even trusted me with the wheel!


Paihia - On The Edge, reeling in lunch
On the way out, we caught a couple of fish and within 2 hours these were thrown on the barbeque for lunch - delicious! We anchored off one of the many islands and the rib was dropped into the water. I kayaked to the beach and we had two hours relaxation.

Paihia - On the Edge - Em on boom netting
There was also an opportunity to go on a "doughnut" pulled by the rib, needless to say I couldn't refuse a go! The sail back to Paihia was better than on the way out, the wind had got up a little more and we managed to hit 16 knots sailing. Dad, you would have loved this trip.

Paihia - Bay of Islands view

Paihia - On the Edge - Tim sailing


We had our final night at the Pickled Parrott and despite hours of coaxing, we still didnt manage to get a single word out of Rocky! From Paihia, we headed back South and stayed near to Warkworth. We went to dinner at Steve and Michelle's - Steve used to live in my home town and is now resident in New Zealand. We had a lovely a lovely meal of green lipped mussels and beer battered snapper that had been caught that day. It was great to meet the kids, Heath and Caleb and also Fonzie the Bassett hound. Thanks to Steve and Michelle, it was great to see you.


Wark worth - Tim & Caleb

Warkworth - Steve, Michelle & Fonzie

The following day we drove to Tauranga to stay for a few days with my (Em) Uncle and Auntie - Phil and Laura and cousins - Laurie, Mark and Adam. As both Mum and Dad and Matthew had been to visit, it was great to finally get there and to meet Milo the dog, who I had heard so much about! We had been advised that we should climb up "The Mount" being Mt Maunganui, so went to check it out. I will be honest, when we got there, the sun was shining, and the beach at the bottom of the mount looked so inviting - that was as far as we got! However the next day we went back for another try and climbed to the top. Although not a huge mountain it was still pretty steep but the view from the top was worth it though - in every direction!


Tauranga - view from mount

Tauranga - view from mount


On our last night we all went for proper Fish and Chips - Kiwi style - freshly caught and on the harbour - very very nice! We then went to the Hot Pools, a 5 minute drive from Phil and Lauras, which were almost surreal, very warm - like being in the bath and very relaxing! The pools are filled with water that is naturally geothermically (!) heated underground.


Tauranga - the Barretts'!

Unfortunately the next day we had to move on again - it was lovely to see everyone again, thank you all so much - special thanks to Adam for giving up his room! We resisted the urge to pack Milo into our rucksacks and departed for the Coromandel region.

Tauranga - Milo the dog!!!

permalink written by  Tim and Em on March 10, 2010 from Auckland, New Zealand
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Airlie Beach to Cairns

Cairns, Australia

After the excitement of the Whitsundays, the next two days can only be described as long and boring! There is not a massive amount of things to do on this stretch of coast, so we drove about 600kms each day for two days to try and get as far as possible as quickly as we could. The roads were pretty empty, we would only see another car occasionally, and towns were few and far between!

We decided to head up towards the Atherton Tablelands, as we had heard this was really nice from a few people. We picked a campsite that was right in the middle of all the waterfalls so we were well placed for the next day. The only problem with this was that in effect we were in the middle of nowhere, and it was pretty rustic!! As soon as we pulled up I knew there was potential for nasty encounters of the wildlife kind, and after about ten minutes the only other people staying on the site told us that they had snakes (of the poisonous kind) under their van that morning. By then I was quite freaked out, everything was very overgrown, so there were no clear paths to the showers without going through long grass. Naturally I demanded that Tim would come with me and stand guard whilst I was showering. I was proved right when on the way back to the camper, we encountered the largest, ugliest toad I have ever seen.

Nasty Suprise- Cane Toad
We knew this was a cane toad, and the book said they were posionous, but helpfully did not explain in what sense they were posionous - did they bite, spray you with venom etc etc?! After taking a few pics from a safe distance, we beat a hasty retreat to the camper, and stayed there for the rest of the night!

Millstream falls

The next day we went on the Millaa Millaa Waterfall Circuit, this is a group of 3 waterfalls which are all within about 10kms of each other. All very nice, and even nicer because there was no-one else there! We then went to see some other waterfalls and a large crater (much more exciting than previous craters) which was pretty large and filled with kermit coloured sludge.. mmm nice!

Zillie Falls

Millaa Millaa Falls


Crater, Mt Hypipamee

From there we headed to Lake Tinaroo, which was beautiful, really peaceful and a lovely camping site with a nice pool too. We resisted the urge to stay two nights, as we were running out of time.

Granite Gorge - Rock Wallaby
The next day took us to Mareeba where we went to Granite Gorge to feed the rock wallabies - I recognised it from when Matty went there. Very cool - we just had to shake the bags of food, one brave one came at first but was soon followed by about 10 of them. They were really really cute - see pictures and very gentle - they would hold onto your hand while taking the food.

Granite Gorge - Tim feeding the rock Wallaby
Tim was surrounded at one point and they started climbing all over him, which was all quite funny. Funnier still when one left a little present on his leg - well I thought so anyway!!

Granite Gorge - Rock Wallaby with joey
After the wallaby feeding we then drove to Port Douglas, stopping for an iced coffee at Kuranda on the way, via what must have been the bendiest road in the trip so far!! Port Douglas was really nice, and had a 4 mile beach, which again, was deserted.

Port Douglas - 4 mile beach

We had a swim in the pool and a BBQ for dinner. We started to feeling slightly blue that the Australian leg of adventure was coming to a close and that the following day we would have to hand back our home for the last three weeks (the camper van). The following morning was fairly stressful as we packed all our gear back into the rucksacks and cleaned the van up.

We headed into Port Douglas itself to look around the local market. Em was tempted to buy a chopping board and I was thinking about buying a wide brimmed Australian stylie hat - fortunately we both resisted the urge!!

From there we drove slightly further North to Mossman Gorge. We thought it would just be a scenic drive but when we got there you could walk alongside the river and people were swimming. Despite being short on time, we ran back to the van, grabbed our swimming gear and went for a quick dip. The water was pretty cold and the current takes you downstream quite quickly, it was great to cool off though.


Mossman Gorge - swimmers

Time was started to run really short as we had to drop the camper back by 3.30pm. We wound our way back down the Captain Cook Highway, found our accommodation for the night (The Travellers Oasis), dumped our stuff off and then dropped the camper back :-(.

Cairns - Travellers Oasis

The hostel was really good and we were given various vouchers for cheap eats in Cairns (bonus)! We strolled around in the evening, Cairns does not have its own beach so they have built a lagoon along the esplande which is really cool - it even has a sandy bottom!! Sorry readers but we forgot to take any pictures - it looked superb at night. By this time our tummies were starting to rumble so we ate at a place called the Woolshed - two meals and two beers for 25 bucks, the best thing was, I had a char grilled T-bone steak which was absolutely delicious! Post dinner we checked out a local night market and ending up treating ourselves to a massage.

The following day was an administration day, very boring! We spent a lot of time on the internet updating the blog and uploading photos - I hope you lot are enjoying the updates as its pretty labour intensive!! For our last night we had a deluxe double room, which meant we had a tv, dvd player, fridge and balcony!! This felt like heaven, so we decided to make the most of it and borrowed a dvd from the hostel, cooked a pizza and relaxed! Next morning we were up early to fly out of Cairns to Auckland - via Sydney! We have really enjoyed Australia, bit worried NZ will feel cold after this.

permalink written by  Tim and Em on March 9, 2010 from Cairns, Australia
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Fraser Island to Airlie Beach

Whitsunday Island, Austria

We are taking it in turns to write the blog, I wonder if you can guess who writes which bit?? No prizes for guessing though! (By the way, we are not suddenly in Austria, there is something wrong on this website!)

Bill had warned us that the drive from Hervey Bay to Rockhampton was tedious so we decided to break the journey up. First was a stop to the Bundaberg Rum distillery. We were hoping that the tour would be free but alas they wanted to charge 25 bucks for the privilege and we would have to wait for an hour and a half until the next tour. So we made do with a nose around the shop, bought a fridge magnet and got a snap of us in front of the big bottle of rum.

We were only ten minutes out of Bundberg when we saw signs for "Mysterious Craters" being intrigued, we decided to investigate. We were hoping that this might be a free attraction, however we were told that we needed to cough up 7 dollars 50 each to see this magical marvel. Not wanting to appear cheapskates, we got our wallets out. Its difficult to describe the craters, but they were, well just craters in someone's back garden - see photo. What was slightly weird is that there were a few other side attractions such as a large collection of old lawnmowers and chainsaws - having visions of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, we decided to make a quick exit!!


Gin Gin - Bizarre crators

Gin Gin - Chainsaw display at bizarre crators

Bill's warning was absolutely bang on, the drive was tedious with very few cars and only a handfull of small villages along the way. Having purchased a bag of cheesy puff crisps and, to while away the time, we decided to have a competition to see how many we could stuff in our mouths without chewing. It was tense stuff, I was proud of my first effort of 15 but Em trumped me with 20. I then went one further to 25 but we decided it was a stalemate as we had run out of cheese puffs. I tell this little story to give you an idea of how boring the drive was. There are also loads of signs by the road saying "survive the drive", "fatigue zone" for next 50Kms, etc. I now realise how people can fall asleep at the wheel.

Eventually after 6 hours we arrived at Rockhampton. We were extremely pleased to get to our destination but it was purely an overnight stop so that we could push onto Airlie Beach (gateway to the Whitsunday Islands) the following day.

Up early yet again to start another big drive. We had been warned about flooding and as we neared Airlie Beach it started to tip down with rain tropical style - wipers on max but they still couldnt clear the windscreen fast enough. The creeks were virtually to the side of the road but fortunately we managed to get to our campsite at Airlie Beach. Needless to say, it was very soggy underfoot.

We decided, after such a huge amount driving we would have a "down day" - spend some time on the internet and to decide which trips we wanted to do while there. After much deliberation and visiting 3 different tour operates, we parted with some serious cash for two separate trips over the next two days.

We awoke the following day to torrential rain, the small roads between the pitches of the campsite were literally like rivers.


Rough Day to be on the water!
I was very skeptical that our trip would go ahead but the bus arrived to pick us up on schedule to take us to the marina. We picked up our "stinger suits" - these are essential to protect you from jelly fish whilst in the water.

Ocean Rafting boat
We were then shown our transport for the day, a 38 foot rib inflatable with two huge engines on the back. The sea was very rough, I think there was a 3-5 swell. Immediately on exiting the harbour, the guy accelerated and started zig-zagging up the waves and the hull was slamming down really hard. It took 5 minutes before the first person couldnt handle it so we had to go back to the marina to drop the lightweights off!

The ride to Whitehaven beach was adrenaline filled, full throttle all the way in rough seas - awesome! We were absolutely drenched by the time we got there. Amazingly the weather brightened up by the time we got there. Whitehaven beach lives up to all the pictures you see, simply stunning although the tide wasn't all the way out so we didn't see all of the famous sandbars.


Whitehaven Beach - unfortunately at high tide!

Lookout over Whitehaven Beach

After a stroll and a spot of lunch, we headed off for the first snorkelling site. Due to the rough weather the sea had been really stirred up so visibility was not as good as it should be. We still managed to see some fish and the corals below. After 30 minutes here, we moved on to another snorkelling site which was much better. From there it was back to the marina, in all the captain told us we had covered 57 miles and reached a max speed of 38 knots - that it the swell was someting! Totally awesome day, it was funny to hear Benny (our captain) talk excitedly to a mate when we got back to the harbour about the seas and how we had got airbourne so many times.

The following day it was another boat trip (in a more civilised boat) to a floating pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef. It took us about 2 hours to get to the pontoon which had an underwater viewing area, a scuba dive platform, a semi submersible and, would you believe a water slide. On the ride out, we decided to do an introductory scuba dive and we had already booked a helicopter ride over the reef.


Floating Pootoon, on the reef

Whitsundays Cruise

As soon as we got there, we were ferried out to a near-by floating helipad. Em was pretty nervous, particularly when she saw the size of the chopper!!! Needless to say, the helicopter ride was incredible, the fact that it was a helicopter was exciting but the views of the Great Barrier Reef from the air were simply stunning. There was one other passenger beside Em and I and despite being able to talk to each other through headsets, none of us said a word, I think we were rendered speechless by what we were seeing. Whatever I say here will not do what we saw justice, hopefully you will see what I mean by the pictures.

Mean Machine


Heart Reef


Reef

It was then onto our introductory scuba dive which we were both a little apprehensive about. You went down with an instructor who held your hand (literally) all the way. After being shown the equipment and how to breathe (useful!), we pushed off the underwater platform.

Fish Shoal, Great Barrier Reef
It is so serene when you are underwater and the wildlife was just amazing. We saw a couple of giant clams, one of which the instructor touched so that it closed. Saw lots Unicorn fish which are quite weird - look them up on the internet, you'll see what we mean! Also saw a couple of clown fish (just like Nemo!). The different types and vivid colours of the coral was incredible. After 30 minutes under, we surfaced and have decided to look at a diving course in Malaysia or Thailand.

Tim -not having fun at all!

After our dive, we managed to get a little bit of R&R on the pontoon, spot of lunch and a few goes on the waterslide. As we were so tired when we got back to Airlie Beach, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal out - fish and chips!!

Whitsundays Cruise




permalink written by  Tim and Em on February 28, 2010 from Whitsunday Island, Austria
from the travel blog: Round half the world!
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