Annas diary
Jag tänkte skriva en liten dagbok som mina nära och kära kan följa, om de känner för det. Jag befinner mig ju på andra sidan om jordklotet, så det kan ju vara ett sätt att ändå underrätta lite om vad som händer i mitt liv =)
Diary Wednesday 24 November
Now, it is a long time since I last wrote. I will do my best to remember it right.
I arrived in Rainbow Beach the 11th of November and stayed there for two nights. I met those funny Aussie blokes that had a view of women that well - it was amuzing. Seemed like they thought it would be easy to get sex with backpacker girls. There was quite a lot of talk about sex. Funny...
The second day, I went on a kayak trip (quite short) to see some dolphins. I had my underwater camera with me. There where quite a few dolphins, the guide said something about that 60-80 dolphins would be around. I took a photo where three dolphins where jumping, playing in an incoming wave. Unfortunately, one of these aussie guys was friendly enough helping me when I couldn't rewind the filmroll - that is, he opened it and probably ruined my film... I gave that camera away, it was the second filmroll out of two being ruined for me.
I went to Brisbane on Saturday the 13th of November. I was really tired and it was to hot to do anything, so instead of going out shopping some food for the evening, I slept until the supermarkets were closed. Ended up eating at Hungry Jacks, or Burger King. Not the best kind of food.
For the first time during my travels, I stayed in a really big dorm; 16 beds. That was quite alright, not much difference from an 8 bed dorm, and it was cheap. Was a bit warm though, most people didn't even use their top sheet while sleeping.
I went to the South Bank and the Botanic Gardens on the Sunday. Took a lot of photos of birds and flowers, had a good time. The Botanic Gardens were beautiful.
I left Brisbane on Monday the 15th. It took me almost 17h to get to Sydney. I didn't stop on the way, didn't think there would be anything for me in Noosa, Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay etc. I arrived in Sydney early on Tuesday morning and stayed in the expensive YHA. A very good hostel, almost like a hotel. I never used their swimming pool or the sauna. In this hostel, I saw normal washing maschines (not top loaders) for the first time since I arrived in Australia. They would probably even clean your clothes! ;)
Wednesday the 17th of November, I went to Katoomba in Blue Mountains. Stayed in the great YHA there as well. The first day I did the Prince Henry Cliff Walk with Yonatan from Israel. It was great! Saw the Three Sisters (just three rocks, used to be seven), Katoomba Falls and Witches Leap. In this place, it really felt like walking in a rainforest in the end of the walk, it was a lot cooler during that last part and it was beautyful. On the Thursday, me and Yonatan managed to get a ride with Sandy (Australian) to the Jenolah Caves. If this opportunity wouldn't have arised, I wouldn't have gone to the caves, but I'm glad I did. We did a bush walk that was really nice, even though we missed our tour because we just kept walking, hoping we would be able to do a loop back to the caves, just to decide - after walking for one hour - to give up that idea and walk back. Instead of going to the imperial caves, we did a tour in Chifley cave. The guide was really great, I didn't think i t would be that interesting but it was good.
Friday 19/11, me and Yonatan took the bus to a drop off point where we started our Grand Canyon Walk. It took us a couple of hours. I was a bit worried about water, I didn't have any time in the morning to by new water so I only had 600 ml for our 6 hour walk. I was quite tired, and thirsty, afterwards!
I took a day off from walking during the Saturday, just reading my book and going to the pub together with Richard and Peter (from Isle of Man), Steinar (from Norway) and Anna (from Germany) in the evening. The weather was really bad, it was so misty you could hardly see anything, and it was raining a bit. Mark (from Germany) and me went to a buddhist temple during the afternoon, quite relaxing. Met a couple (+ there two children) from Sri Lanka there. They offered us tee and bisquits and talked a lot with us. Nice!
During Sunday, me, Anna and Steinar did the Ruined Castle Rock nearby our hostel (5-6 h return). On the way back, there had been some landslides and it was really hard to find the way at times. I managed to lead my two friends, climbing up ca 10 meter and then down (getting down was really difficult, easy to slip), just to discover the path easily from the other side. Our little climb correstponded to about 5 meters on the path =) We took a ride with the Sceniscender back up not to have to walk any more. Anna was really exhausted.
I went back to Sydney on Monday, together with Anna. For some reason, nobody had to pay for transport that day (which we didn't know before someone told us at the rail station). That was great for us. Went to a guy bar together with three guys (Shane, Tom and Noni) in the evening. That was interesting! =)
During Tuesday, I went on a guided tour in Sydney Opera House, took a walk in the Botanic Gardens and tried to find Fox Studios to maybe by some books about photo. The last one was hard to find. Went to the same gaybar together with the same guys in the evening. Those guys didn't behave so gay during the Monday, but this night, they did. Still interesting.
Today, I might go either to Bondi Beach, (surfing) or to the Sydney Aquarium.
Diary Thursday 11 Nov
Between Monday 8/11 to Wednesday 10/11, I was in Fraser Island nearby Hervey Bay, a place highly recommended of most people I've met. We travelled in two 4WDs. In my car, there were ten people (Danni, Laura, Jill, Gaby, Julie, Charlotte, Helen, Rhiannon, Kate, and me) - all from Canada, US or UK - and in the other car, there were 11 people from Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK (Never learnt all there names). Unfortunately, I didn't think of bringing my driving license so I never got to try driving a 4WD.
During the first day, we stopped at Lake McKenzie. That place is considered as being amazing, but the weather wasn't really perfect (it was raining a bit). It was nice, the sand was really white and the water was really blue. Didn't see any turtles =(.
We camped at the beach, grilling sausages, burgers and vegetables in the evening. During the night, I felt really miserable. Because I haven't used any duvet or sleeping bag during my whole stay in Australia (in Kakadu, I threw my sleeping bag aside because I couldn't even sleep on it!), I only rented a roll matrass. Bad idea! It was really hard, I think I would have better off without it, and it was cold. The only way I could sleep was on my stomach, but after getting cold and getting a blocked nose, not even that was an option. I even tried to sit and sleep in the tent! Wished I could sleep outside the tent, on the soft sand, but figured it wouldn't be a good idea because of the dingoes. I didn't want to wake Rhiannon up, so I stayed awake between 2 and 4 am. Woke up Rhiannon when our tent started leaking and, while running to the car to get some sleep there, I got soaking wet. All my clothes were wet! I was so grumpy the day afterwards and was really enoyed when people di dn't want to pack the stuff and leave because it was raining... The dingoes visited us during the early morning - they were hard to get rid of.
During day two, we passed the Moheno Wreck (think it's called something like that) and we went to Indian Head, where we could see sharks, dolphins and turtles on some distance. I had expected that it would be like looking down an aquarium, but it wasn't quite like. We didn't really now what we saw, we just think we saw both sharks and dolphins because of the way they moved. Some in the group (e.g. me) took a 40 minute walk on the beach and up some cliffs to the Champagne Pools. Saw someone getting stuck with his 4WD on the way back.
The camping ground we found for night two was a lot better than the first place; more grass = a bit less sand. We played some volley ball and some drinking games during the night (I wasn't drinking any alcohol). Me and Rhiannon slept in the car during the night, I refused to even consider sleeping in the tent again. Even though I had to sit and sleep to keep some body heat, I slept quite well and was so much happier during our third day, even though it was raining and I had forgot my rain coat. Walked around in bikini - a bit cold. We went to the green Lake Wabby. I liked that place, it was really cool running down the sand dunes, but I left quite early because I was feeling quite cold in my bikini. The water was warm, but as some people reading this diary might now, I start freezing quickly in the water.
I was relieved when we got back to Hervey Bay. It felt like that was the last time I go to an island made up of sand, I declared war to that sand and cleaned the car as good as I could so many times. All but two people in our croup went to the pub to eat some dinner. I bit over my budget, but nice. I even had some wine! Before leaving, we played some pool on a round table, something I've never seen before. An advantage for me, I suck whatever the table looks like but for some of the others, it made a big difference. ☺
Now I'm in Rainbow Beach, doing my laundry and having a look at a place nobody talks about. Next stop is probably Brisbane.
Diary 6/11
Arrived in Agnes Water on Friday 29th of October. Have the feeling I didn't really get the dates right last time I wrote my diary, feel a bit confused about weekdays and dates.
I really missed both Erik and the people in Magnetic Island, and I had a thoughtful day. Agnes Water and Town of 1770 are two really calm towns, not much to do if you don't know anyone. Went on a free guided tour in a 4WD during the first day plus watched a lot of films. The day afterwards, I went on a guided scooter tour. Saw a couple of wallabies. It rained on us during the last bit, all my clothes (also the ones on the laundry line) were soaking wet afterwards. That was the first time for a long time a saw any rain.
During the Saturday, I showed some guys how to with cards and finally got a chance to use my poor knowledge about Irish Dancing. There were some Irish guys partying a bit to loud and they were nearly thrown out, but I danced a bit with one of them and had a long talk with another of them during the night. Was offered to go with them to Airlie Beach; a very tempting offer, but I wanted to stay and learn how to surf plus go to Lady Musgrave Island. I went snorkling by the island on Tuesday the 2nd of November and I loved it! Felt free being on my own in the water, not having to care about any other people and without having any tank or regulator restricting my movements. Think I even managed to impress a few people because of my ability to go fairly deep and stay under the surface for a while :) Not that I'm nearly as good as Erik, though, think I went to about 5-6 meters depth, but it's quite hard to appreciate. Saw a couple of turtles in the water. I had bought an underwater camera and the first turtle I met didn't seem to be to happy about me following him around, trying to get a photo. Played with that camera all to much and ran out of photos long before I saw the best parts...
Went to the pub together with one of the guys from the crew plus a bunch of people from the hostel that I dragged with me ;) Those locals where funny, they really liked "showing us there world". This day was a bit special, there had been some horse race earlier that day and everyone was partying (the women wearing funny hats).
I left Agnes Water and Town of 1770 on the Thursday (4/11) to go to Bundaberg. Nice city! Went on a guided tour in the Bundaberg Rum Destillery together with one of my "dorm-mates" (Leah from England) the day after. That was interesting, especially that sweet smell that one felt everywhere. I tried the Dry & Lime Rum after the tour. In the evening, most of the people in my dorm (most of them Korean) went to the pub together. Had fun, even though it sometimes is hard to speak because of many misunderstandings.
Right now, I'm in Bundaberg. I wanted to send some stuff and letters back home, but I forgot that it's Saturday. I guess I have to send my stuff from Brisbane...
Will go to Hervey Bay tomorrow, leaving at 9 am.
27th of November - Townsville
Much has happened since I wrote the last time. I lifted with a Australian guy named Jim between Darwin and Townsville. There was also a British girl named Suzi with us. It was really hot during the days, the bus didn't have any air condition.
We were heading for Cairns, but the bus broke down 50 km from Townsville, so Jim had to pay for towing of the bus to a camping 15 km from Townsville. I helped Jim cleaning the bus a bit, he was going to sell it, but after two days I couldn't stand staying on that camping anymore. On Saturday morning, the 16th of October, I went to the office in the camping and asked if anyone could give me a lift into Townsville. Two brothers offered there helped, so off I went. The whole thing - finding a lift and pack my stuff - took about 5-10 minutes.
Finally, I was in a town where I had reception and could make some phonecalls! It felt great! I went to Magnetic Island on the Sunday and started reading my dive books immediately. The course was three intensive days between Monday and Wednesday. (Dive instructor - Rob Webster, Course mates - Mary, Jessie and Tilly). I took a day off from diving during the Thursday, going to the Koala Park in Horseshoe Bay and doing some snorkling in Arthur Bay. Saw e.g. a blue spotted lagoon ray and a threadfin butterflyfish. I really liked the little Koala Park and had a long shat with one of the cockatoos, Snowy (He couldn't talk, but some of the others could).
I used my two free dives, diving by the Moltke wreck in Geoffrey Bay on the Friday afternoon and diving by Alma Bay. The divemaster was danish Thore during both of these dives. We went to the open air cinema in Horseshoe Bay - saw Fahrenheit - during Saturday night. With us were also Duncan (Scottish), Mark (Australian) and Freddy (Swizz). The day afterwords, me, Duncan and Mark went first to Alma Bay and after that, we did the Fort Walk (nearby Arthur Bay). Mark was a great Koala spotter, which could be explained with that he works in the Koala Park.
During the Monday, I went to the reef. It was nice, which I said to one of the dive masters - Stephan (germanspeaking Italian) - who told me I should use words suchs as phantastic, amazing etc. I guess I'm hard to impress... =) I managed to loose my second pair of sunglasses during two weeks, probably forgot them on the boat. Will not by any new ones, but got second hand sunglasses for free from the car ferry reception when I checked if they had my old sunglasses. I could take a pair that had been there for a very long time. Lucky for my eyes, feel like I shouldn't by any more because I keep losing them.
Now, I'm in Townsville, will take the bus to 1770 tonight. It felt weird leaving the island, I've been hanging around with these people for a while and it feels like I stayed on the island for more than 1 1/2 week. I felt lonely and called both my mother and Erik today. I finally found I telephone where I could use my phonecard, not so easy as one might think!
Friday 8th October
Erik and me went separate ways on Sydney Airport Wedneysday 29 of September. I took a plane to Darwin in The Northern Territory. I felt so lonely and miserable the first the after we were splitted up.
I went on a guided trip in Kakadu National Park during Sunday 3/10 - Tuesday 5/10. It was good fun, even though I had expected that we would walk more and that we would see more than normal tourist attractions. It was really hot, so we walked less than they normally do on their trips. Eric was very satisfied when he did a trip with this company a few years ago, but since then it has changed owner (maybe because of one German girl being eaten by a crocodile during one of Gondwanas trips).
Our guide was quite young and had only worked for four months, so she was a little bit unpatient and grumpy when people didn't understand her. I can understand her, but it did destroy a bit of my joy.
The attractions we saw were for example: Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls, Nourlangie Rocks (aboriginal rock art) and Ubirru Rocks. I drove a boat last day on Mary River, where we saw many birds and some estuarine crocodiles.
After coming back again, I had made new friends during the trip and we spent a lot of time together. We celebrated Nereas birthday on the Wednesday (me, Nerea, Dania, Koki, Yuju and Emi - Jakobin had already left) and on the Thursday, we all went to Mindil Beach Market, where we could listen to music with didgeridoos and try to play with some toys (like joggling toys). I could finally manage to use a didgeridoo! ☺ It was all great!
Diary from New Zealand