Brisbane and On

Guess what? It's only one month till we get to see your lovely faces again! We left Brisbane one week ago and have been on the road ever since. Currently we're travelling between Airlie Beach and Townsville on a rather delayed Greyhound bus service and figured it would be a good time to update you.

Firstly, just a quick fill in on what we did in Brisbane. We arrived back in April and immediately set about house hunting - finding a place about half an hour from the city centre in the suburb of Paddington. We were sharing a two bedroom flat (originally with a pair of British backpackers and then with two Italians) which was fairly close to the Suncorp Stadium (Queensland's largest rugby ground) and all the surrounding bars.

Finding jobs was more difficult, as it always seems to be. Unfortunately, Mat didn't find an employer however he did acquire a few temporary roles through a job agency. Luckily though, Leah found work at a call centre; raising money for charities such as Make a Wish and Oxfam.

Brisbane itself felt quite small for Australia's third largest city (and the largest in Queensland). There wasn't a lot there, especially when compared to Melbourne but it did have pretty good weather. It never reached the scorching highs of our time in Melbourne but it was nearly always in the 20s during the day and we had about 12 days rain in the entire time we were there.

Highlights of the city included the Southbank area where a man-made beach has been constructed in a riverside development which incorporates the cultural and arts centres of the city and is littered with cafes and restaurants. The Barracks shopping complex was close to where we were living and had a very homely feel about it. We liked to get coffee there, browse the boutique shops and watch the trains pass under the rail bridge. Roma Street Parkland was also close by and offered a relaxed place to wander in the sunshine.

The Brisbane river runs through the city, bordering the city centre and we took the new city hopper ferry a few weeks before we left. Though not as speedy as the city's famous catamarans this ferry was free and allowed us to see Brisbane from the water.

There's a lot more to tell you about the city (not least the strange image of a winter festival, complete with ice rink, when it's sunny and in the 20s!) and this post hasn't really done it justice but we're short of time here and are finding it hard to fit blog writing into our schedule.

Just so you know what we're doing/have done, once we left Brisbane we headed for Rainbow beach and then across to Fraser Island for a couple of days before catching the night bus to Airlie Beach and hopping on a catamaran to sail around the Whitsunday islands. We've had a great time so far and once we arrive in Townsville we'll be catching a ferry over to nearby Magnetic Island for two nights and then hot-footing it up to Cairns for the last part of our Australian journey!! We fly to New Zealand on Wednesday (25th) and have a route planned taking us from Auckland (North island) to Christchurch (South) but we'll tell you about all of these things soon.

Keep your eyes peeled for another post soon.

Lots of love

Leah and Mat

(written on 19th July, posted when we get internet)  

Sydney to Brisbane

Hi everybody, once again we apologise for not posting sooner. We've been in Brisbane for about 7 weeks now and time's flying. We've got about 5 more weeks before we hit the road once again. Life's pretty good; we've found a place to live and although the short length of time we've got left here has made finding jobs difficult, Leah has found work in a call centre raising money for the Make a Wish Foundation. I'm still looking and picking up what I can from agencies. Anyway, back to the story of our journey to Brisbane.

Nobbys Head, Newcastle

After kindly being put up by Tegan and her family, our first stop after Sydney was Newcastle where we would be relying on the hospitality of others once again. This time we were going to meet up with Leah's cousin Molly. Newcastle is the second biggest city in New South Wales and it feels really spread out. You need to rely on the busses or have your own car to get around the city. Having said that, there are loads of beaches, including one stretch which goes on further than the eye can see! Although it was only a flying visit and we only spent one full day in the city it was great to see the area and to catch up with Molly.

We departed Newcastle on the Greyhound coach first thing Monday morning. The three hour journey passed quite quickly and before we knew it we were in Port Macquarie. Upon arrival we offloaded our baggage at the hostel before setting out to explore the town. We found the river mouth and a pier from which we could see shoals of fish and even rays, if not the dolphins we were hoping for. None the less, it really makes you grasp just how beautifully clean and clear the water is in this part of the world. However, in what would become a Port Macquarie theme, it started to rain on us and we sought refuge in a nearby cafe. We decided that the circumstances required cake too, cake is often important. 

The next day hadn't seen a break in the rain but we decided to make the most of where we were and head out for a wonder around the marshland boardwalks. I don't really know what we were expecting to see but I don't think it was bats. Certainly not the hundreds of them that were all over the trees here. And they were active too, and REALLY noisy - not at all what you expect from a nocturnal animal. We also saw some more Kookaburras. Having been really proud of spotting one within a week of being in Australia, seeing three perched on the most obvious of branches rather diminished our original feat.

However, these native birds weren't the most memorable stars of port Macquarie. That honour went to the Water Dragon that we stumbled across further along the board-walk. This little water dragon was lying across our path and although it wasn't the most striking of lizards it will always be remembered for the fright it gave me. I was taking the lizard's photo when all of a sudden it lurched towards me, rearing onto it's hind legs and running straight at me. We wish we had a video but as the cameraman was too busy taking evasive action from the scampering animal we didn't actually manage to capture the beast mid-run before it disappeared into the marshland.

Barry the escape 

The other animal stars came later that day at the Port Macquarie Koala hospital. Here they specialise in treating wounded koalas and feeding them back into the wild where possible. But these lovable marsupials each have their own personalities and stories. We arrived just in time to catch the free afternoon tour and were treated to stories about each of the animals. In particular Barry (whom we saw being fed), a resident who isn't well enough to be returned to the wild but who has somehow managed to escape from the hospital multiple times and is now famous amongst travellers worldwide.

Coffs (and around, below)

A new day dawned and a new destination beckoned, this time Coffs Harbour. We arrived in the evening, just about in time for sunset and we decided to take it easy and enjoy a meal out rather than stress over cooking in the hostel. We chose Indian and decided upon a little restaurant near to our hostel, the food was great and the price very reasonable too. We'd just finished when the rain caught up to us once more and resulted in us getting rather wet as we ran for the hostel. The next day was rather more on and off weather wise and we used breaks in the rain to investigate the harbour.

Where we canoed

Coffs is quite an interesting little town really with lots of things to do and we were lucky enough to be staying in a hostel which offered free canoe hire for use on the nearby river. After waiting nearly all of our second day for the tide to be high enough, we eventually made our way onto the river. It was so quiet - we were the only people out there and it felt as though we were a much longer way from the busy road and shops than we were. The other benefit to the tranquillity was that the wildlife didn't hide; there were a variety of birds lining the banks and fish jumping all around us!

Our final stop before Brisbane was Byron Bay. Even better, the weather had improved; it wasn't glorious sunshine but it was dry at least and warm enough to explore the area and make the most of the gorgeous beaches of Byron. The town was bigger than both Coffs and Port Macquarie but that meant that there was a little more of a buzz and vibe in the town centre, we liked that about Byron and decided that it would be a fantastic place to live - beaches, nice town (not too big or too small) , plenty to do and see. Byron is also home to the most easterly point of Australia mainland. We had the added incentive that the hostel we had chosen wasn't the nicest so avoiding our messy 8 bed dorm was a high priority. We loved it in the bay and both agreed that we would have stayed there longer if we could have.

We departed Byron heading for Brisbane, and will let you know about Queensland's capital in another post.

Lots of love,

Leah and Mat

P.s. Thanks for all of the Birthday wishes, I had a really nice day. We went for a meal the night before and to the cinema on the day.  

A Little Cheeky Wombat

Now I know that we haven't finished telling you the story of our journey to Brisbane but just as an aside there is an old RSPCA advert that was being shown in Australia whilst we were in Melbourne which we think would be appropriate for this blog. Just watch for the wombat...

Sydney and the Blue Mountains

Ok we seem to be falling behind a bit on the blogfront (we're now in Brisbane) so thought we'd try to bring you up to date a bit starting with our experience of Sydney and the Blue Mountains!

As you may remember we flew to Sydney from Melbourne at the end of our Great Ocean Road trip. We stayed in a hostel in the central Kings Cross area for a few nights whilst we had a look around the sights of the city. On our first day the weather turned decidedly British, very grey skies and the threat of rain but we made the most of our time with a walk through the botanical gardens, admiring the huge spiders and unusual birds (the Australian white ibis is one of Mat's new favourites). It didn't take long to find the harbour which even when overcast was undeniably beautiful and lent a very different character to anywhere else we'd been. Walking along the waterside we rounded a bend and suddenly the opera house was just across the water with the harbour bridge neatly nestled in behind it. It felt strange to just be wandering along and suddenly stumble upon such a world famous iconic scene.

We stopped for the obligatory photos before continuing around the bay and climbing up the steps of the opera house. Standing below the arches gave a real appreciation of the complexity of the architecture, design and engineering of the landmark and some understanding of why it was 10 years late and more than 10x over budget at completion!

From the opera house we headed into the main shopping area to find some lunch and have a look around, in the inner city there was much more hustle and bustle and it felt all business, not in a bad way, just more like London, than it had in Melbourne. We saw the monorail (now due to be taken down), the town hall and some amusing advertising slogans before eventually finding a coffee shop that was actually open (as it was Easter Sunday a lot was closed) before heading back to the hostel.

Monday saw a turn in the weather, we awoke to clear blue skies and predictions of temps hitting the mid 20s so we figured we'd make the most of it by hopping on a train to spend the day at Bondi Beach. We met up with an old school friend of mine, Tegan, whose family emigrated out here back in 2004 and enjoyed just lazing in the sun for a few hours. We later tried a spot of surfing, though to be honest the water was too busy and we spent our time worried about getting in the way of the awesome little 13 year old kids who were making us look rather pathetic! After getting out, struggling to remember where on the beach we'd left our stuff, realising we were going to be late returning the hire-equipment, charging up to the surf shop still wearing the wetsuits, and changing on the pavement we were quite ready to go back and rest for the evening (though we did manage to slip in a quick kerbside coffee on the way)!

On Tuesday the weather was still clear but it had cooled down a lot due to wind chill so we took things slowly wandering around 'the rocks' an area of the city that's been preserved as it was in the first years of Sydney's settlement. It was quaint though to be honest being from England the late 18th century buildings weren't such a novelty to us! We also had a wander along the harbour bridge and got some nice photos of the opera house in the sunshine (though decided not to pay the rather steep $200 fee to climb over the top). We later returned to the rocks for a coffee and cake at a nice little patisserie before walking back around circular quay and the harbour to get some sunset pics of the opera house and the bridge.

The Three Sisters

The next morning we got a train out to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. It only took about 2 hours to get there but the scenery changed dramatically pitching us from the big city by the sea into a small town nestled amongst miles and miles of hilly forest. We got settled in at the hostel, a nice small place with a log fire in the living room where they passed biscuits around in the evening, before taking a walk down to Echo Point from which 'The Three Sisters' are visible. It was surprisingly cold due to the higher altitude, we were both in jeans and thick jumpers, but the views were amazing and it was refreshing to be somewhere so different.

For our only full day in Katoomba we went for a long walk through the woods along the bottom of the ridge under Echo Point. We walked for about 5 or 6 hours, there were a lot of steps down but overall it was easier going than we expected, which was just as well as the steps back up were a killer! Because we were in the woods the views out weren't actually as good as we'd anticipated but it was good to be in the fresh air and we felt so far from the city.

Our third day was spent at 'scenic world' a family attraction featuring a railway and cablecar that descend from the top of the valley down into the World Heritage rainforest of the Jamison valley below. We took the railway (the world's steepest) down which was exhilarating even though the descent did only last all of about a minute, we were clinging on to try not to fall too far forward! We had a walk around at the bottom where we spotted a little tarantula (little by Aussie standards that is, still wouldn't want to find it in your shower) and a lyrebird which was beautiful even if it didn't sing us a chainsaw sound (they're renowned for their ability to mimic noises). We then took the cablecar back up taking in stunning views of the valley along the way. Once we reached the top we caught the 'skyway', another cablecar this time stretching between two outcrops of the cliff top, back towards town, again via more fantastic views of the valley out and below (there was a glass floor!). So ended our time in the mountains. We then caught a train back to Sydney and stayed the night with Tegan and her family before beginning our journey up the East Coast.

Keep an eye out, we'll try to get you all filled in soon enough,

Hope everything's well in the UK or wherever else you're reading this from!

Lots of Aussie love, Leah and Mat

The Great Ocean Road

Hey,

We're writing this from a very wet and miserable Port Macquarie (mac-kw-are-ey) which is about 5 hours drive North East of Sydney (up the coast). We're waiting for the coach to take us on up to Coffs Harbour later today. The last couple of weeks have absolutely flown by so it's about time we told you all about them. Lets start with the Great Ocean Road.

It took us about 2 hours to drive from Melbourne down to Torquay (our first stopover). The most difficult part of the journey was getting out of Melbourne CBD but from then on it was a case of cruising at 100Kph (about 60mph - the maximum speed limit in Victoria). We just had to be wary of other drivers, who can legally under-take other cars on roads of three lanes or more. It puts you in the odd position of being both over and under-taken at the same time.

Torquay is the entrance to the Great Ocean road and we arrived at our hostel (the newly rennovated and EXTREMELY comfortable Home@BellsBeach) at about lunch time. The town itself seemed to be a haven for surfers, entirely relaxed and laid back with gorgeous beaches and multiple surf-ware outlets (what do you expect from the town where Rip-Curl was founded). Moreover, about 5 miles up the road is one of the most famous beaches in the world - Bells beach. We headed straight there, hoping to catch the afternoon's heats for the Rip-Curl Pro event at the beach and see some of the best surfers in the World. We weren't disappointed; despite it only being the second round we saw some great action. We wished we had longer in Torquay and debated trying to surf there but as we only had one night and lots of things to see we figured that we'd get a chance further down the road.

The next day was absolutely beautiful, perfect weather for a coastal drive along windy cliff roads. Not far out of Torquay was our first stop at Anglesea - a picturesque little town with a lovely beach and a river (it very much set the pattern for the day). Whilst we only stopped briefly, Anglesea made a lovely place for a mid-morning walk.

Split Point lighthouse was next up. Whilst the lighthouse itself was fairly standard as lighthouses go, it warranted a stop due to its starring roles on TV and film including Mad Max 2 and 90's children's TV show Round the Twist (which is how we both knew it). The detour did have an extra bonus too; the views from the headland were spectacular.

About half way from Torquay to Apollo Bay (where we were staying) is Lorne. Lorne is one of the bigger towns along the Great Ocean road and is a common stop amongst travellers due to its golden beach with waves that are normally powerful enough to surf, but not so strong as to make the water exclusively for pros. Unfortunately for us, the weather was so nice that there wasn't even enough surf for the most amateur of surfers. Still, there was no detracting from the beach and it was nice just to be out in that weather.

A small detour to the north of Lorne took us to Erskine Falls. This was our first venture into the rainforest of the Otway National Park and provided us with a different scene from the coastal road that we had been following.

The next 50 miles of driving were probably the most varied, interesting and fun of the whole journey. Winding along cliffs and through forests, up and down steep inclines where rivers cut in land and leaving the car in a low enough gear to feel the acceleration on the tight corners was fantastic. Along with the flexibility it provides, this part of the trip fully validated hiring a car rather than joining a coach tour. A car also gave us the opportunity to stop in many of the well placed lay-bys to take in the simply stunning views of the surrounding coastline.

We arrived in Apollo Bay with just about enough time to check into our hostel, buy some fish and chips (which were really good) and find the beach before sunset. A perfect way to end a sunny day by the sea.

Our final day on the Great Ocean road started with another detour into the rainforest, this time to the raised treetop walk of the Otway Fly. Whilst we had hoped to see more wildlife on our walk (the forests are renowned for being extremely biodiverse) we think that the sheer number of people were keeping most of the animals in hiding. All we saw was a solitary tiger snake. However, the board-walk was 25metres above the ground and the tower climbed up to a hight of nearly 50metres, giving us the opportunity to look out onto the rest of the rainforest before we hit the coast one last time.

The last part of the Great Ocean road is probably the most famous. Over a very short distance the road passes some of the most spectacular coastal formations and cliffs that can be seen anywhere. It all starts at the Twelve Apostles (a group of stacks, now only 6 in number as the rest have been eroded away) and ends at London Bridge (now a large arch sitting just off-shore after the original 'bridge' connecting it to the land fell away). The formations really live up to their name and despite the wind and rain (unfortunately for us the weather had turned by the time we got there) they make an extremely impressive end to the coastal road.

A further hours drive took us to windswept Warrnambool where we were staying that night before taking the (much shorter and faster) Princes Highway back to Melbourne and flying to Sydney.

This is where we'll stop for now and we'll pick up the story in Sydney next time we get internet.

Lots of love

Leah and Mat

Hello Sydney!

Hey,

Just to let you know that we've arrived in Sydney safe and sound! We've only got limited internet in the hostel so we'll post later about the Great Ocean Road (which was spectacular). Happy Easter, hope everyone's well.

Lots of love,

Leah and Mat

Leaving Melbourne

Hello lovely people :)

I know we were in contact not all that long ago but as our plans are hotting up we thought we'd post one last time from Melbourne whilst we still have a reliable internet connection to let you know anything we've missed and our future plans.

Firstly Mat's done a little video tour of the house (as promised months ago) to show you all where we've been living the last 4 months. It's a bit amateur and he didn't want to chat over it so I'll explain, we start on the top (second) floor where there are 3 bedrooms off the top landing then along the corridor are another 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms before a lovely view over the backyard and surrounding area from the fire-escape. Then we proceed to the first floor, where there's a large room straight ahead, a toilet/shower room, and another double before heading down and up along the corridor past 3 more bedrooms and another bathroom. Down the staircase, out the front door for a lovely view of the street and front of the house before back inside into the enormous living room and back out down the corridor into the kitchen before 180ing back out to our bedroom. You walk in past the wardrobe, desk in front of you, turn the corner and yes, that's a sink and a shower, in our bedroom (thankfully it's only us that get to use it!) about turn and there's a ladder which we ascend to the bed built in above the desk. Then out we go through over very own fire exit, (complete with bright green light up sign) into the backyard for a final look up at the fire escape. Ta-dah. Yes the house is massive, there are 17 of us and a lot of coming and going at that, we've had 30 house mates in 4months! And our room is very random and very noisy. But it's nice and central, not horrifically expensive and it's been home, mice and all.

We've now handed in our notice to the landlady and having finished work we're all set to pack up and move out. Yesterday we hit one of the beaches just down the Peninsula (Chelsea to be precise) and headed to nearby Philip Island today to visit the Koala Sanctuary and see the famous 'Penguin Parade' where hundreds of little penguins waddle from the sea at sunset up to their burrows in the sand dunes. We'll be leaving Melbourne tomorrow, first stop the Great Ocean Road. We've rented a car and Mat will drive us along the famous route which follows the curves of the coastline going west from Melbourne (towards Adelaide) taking in picturesque ocean views and small Aussie seaside towns along the way.

We've booked 3 nights accommodation en route so we can spread the 660 odd kilometres over 4days. We plan to stop at Torquay where we're hoping to take in some of the ASP Bells Beach Pro Surfing competition, Lorne where we'll hopefully rent boards and head into the sea ourselves, Apollo Bay a laid-back fishing port in the shadow of the Otway Ranges, and the Twelve Apostles an iconic Australian natural wonder of huge rock stacks set against a rugged coastline. Along the way we'll pass through two national parks, past mountains, rainforest, and hope to take in waterfalls, lighthouses, shipwrecks and of course a bit of the local wildlife (we're hoping for more of the kangaroos and koalas than snakes and jellyfish!) but you'll have to wait for the next post to see how much we managed to fit in!

Finally on Friday night we'll stay at Warrnambool and take the quicker and easier highway route back to Melbourne ready to catch an evening flight to Sydney on Saturday. We'll then spend a few days over Easter in Sydney doing the obvious harbour sightseeing and beaches before heading inland by to Katoomba (~2 hours by train) in the Blue Mountains where we'll take in a very different kind of scenery. Then back to Sydney for a bit before we start our trip up the East Coast taking in the all Australian tourist traps of Coff's Harbour, Byron Bay and Surfers Paradise etc. on our way to Brisbane where we plan to stop and work for another couple of months before continuing on up the coast to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. But that's all very much still in the pipeline at the moment!

Lots of love,

Leah