Goodbye Australia!

Hey everyone!

So, this will be my final Oz entry, as we leave for Bali tomorrow then on through South East Asia and China.....very excited! Currently in the top end of Australia in Darwin. We've had a jam packed month since leaving Brisbane so I'll fill you in briefly....

We first stopped in Noosa for a few days of relaxing by the beach. Beautiful little town on the sunshine coast to recover from a hard few months work in brisbane (ha!). Lots of sunbathing/attempting some more surfing/exploring was done. We also went to the infamous Steve Irwin Australia Zoo whilst we were nearby - amazing day, saw lots of cute otters, feed some elephants, had a look at the crocs, had a cuddle and photo shoot with the kangaroos etc. Louis was in his element!

Next stop was Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. We did the self drive option - 5 of us in a jacked up 4WD toyota land crusier roaming around the island and down the 75 mile highway (the beach) for 2nights/3 days. Great fun! I even did a bit off road driving - slightly different from driving the mini! The weather was great on the first day, so we saw the beautiful lake mckenzie at its best (check out the facebook photos) but unfortunately the weather faded on the last two days. Still had a great time, saw all the sights - Indian head point, the champagne pools, the shipwreck, lake wabby, eli creek etc. We camped out the first night but had the luxury of staying in a Rotunda on the second night in an aboriginal campground - lucky as it was pissing with rain.

After Fraser we headed to the town of 1770, a little place in the middle of nowhere on the coast. You come here for one reason - to ride the scooteroos! Like mini harleys, we went cruising around 1770 in a big group like the Hells Angels (well, almost). We rode out to see the sunset and spot some kangaroos. Definitely worth the $50! Also stayed in one of the best hostels ever here - 1770 backpackers - they gave me pink mermaid quilt cover - a quilt, not a sheet! - and had toilet paper with puppies on it! Was also nice and clean which is always a bonus!

From 1770 we took the overnight bus upto Airlie Beach, party town and gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Spent a night in Airlie before leaving on our Whitsundays sailing trip for 2nights - boat was Pegasus, highly recommend it. Again, our weather on this trip wasn't the best - I thought the sun always shone in Australia, apparently not - but it stayed dry. We had a great group of about 20 on our boat, and we even got our own little room - the advantages of being a couple means that w've had quite a few free upgrades! We didn't make it the beautiful Whitehaven Beach cos of the weather, but we saw some other beautiful spots, especially when the sun peaked out on the second day. Did some good snorkelling, got a free 'dive experience' (but saved our proper dives for the Great Barrier Reef up in Cairns), and partyed the nights away under the stars on board the boat. Luckily didnt get sea sick, wouldn't have been fun the next morning!

Continued up the coast, stopped in Townsville for a few days to get our final jag - now all protected for Asia hopefully, and to catch up with a couple we met in Fiji who live there. Then onto Mission Beach, another small "town" on the coast, where days are spent sunbathing (weather permitting) and nights spents playing cards and drinking goon. Its the skydiving capital of Australia, so we were tempted to have another go, but couldn't quite justify the money - think one in NZ is enough for the moment! Final stop on the east coast was Cairns. We spent 5 days here, mainly relaxing and attempting not to spend much money, other than doing our dive on the Great Barrier Reef! We had wanted to do our PADI but to save money decided just to do introductory dive day trip - might consider getting certified in Asia where its cheaper. It was amazing, and less scary than I thought. The two of us went down alone with one instructor to about 12 metres, played with a Giant Maori Wrasse fish for a while, then swam about seeing all sorts of beautiful coral and fish - and a reef shark on the sea bed! Loved it so much that we did another one in the afternoon.

We arrived in Darwin last week from Cairns. Hired a 4WD camper for 3 nights to go and explore Kakadu National Park for a few days. Just got back yesterday and possibly our fav place in Australia so far. Its the biggest NP in Australia and owned by the Aborigines. Did lots of hikes to amazing lookouts and water falls, went swimming in clear rock pools and plunge pools on the cliff edges, and at the bottom of huge falls. Managed to dodge all of the crocodiles which inhabit the area, but did spot a wild one when crossing a bridge over a creek. Also saw lots of aboriginal rock art, which dates back thousands of years ago. The whole place was really spectacular, highlights were Ubirr, Jim Jim Falls and Gunlom.

So we're back in Darwin now for our final days in Australia - can't believe its time to leave already, but think we're both ready for some new adventures (and cheaper living!). Not sure how up to date I'll keep this thing in Asia, but will still be keeping touch through email and facebook. Back in the homeland on the 29th of September so looking forward to catching up with everyone!