Down Under
July 27 continued
The guys didn't catch any fish, and Scott got sea sick, I guess I didn't miss anything.
July 28
Today we tour some other areas of Bali. The other guys set up a tour with a driver to take us to some areas where there are better views and snorkeling areas. At first I don't think I want to bother with snorkeling after scuba diving, but it was cheap enough. We were taken from shore on the north side of the island on two tiny boats with outriggers and taken to a shallow reef. It was a relaxing afternoon. Afterwards we went to a large waterfall and took the opportunity to do a little swimming and found a couple spots to climb up and dive into the falls. Next stop was a temple on the coast that is supposed to be beautiful at sunset. Unfortunately our driver failed to get us there in time and the sun was pretty much gone by the time we arrived. It was nice to have a relaxing day and just enjoy the island.
July 29
Today we fly to Sydney, but not until 11:35 pm, so we still have most of the day to enjoy the beaches and take advantage of the cheap shops. We get to our flight in plenty of time and fly to Sydney.
July 30
We arrive at about 6:30 am in Sydney with a vague plan that we want to go to Cairns. It takes us several hours to figure out how to get a flight and eventually book a not-so-cheap flight that leaves in the afternoon. We arrive in Cairns that evening and since we don't know where to go, we book a hostel from the airport. We arrive at Gilligan's, which seems to be on the upper end of hostels, complete with its own tourist office, pool, bar, and pizza cafe, and none of it is cheap for what I would consider backpacker accommodations, but since we failed to do enough research to plan things ahead of time and we are carrying around large amounts of luggage, we have top take what we get.
July 31
Today we get a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. This boat tour out to the reef offers snorkeling and scuba diving. At first I think I might skip diving to save money, but since I have already paid for the boat ride, and I already have my scuba divers license, its hard to justify saving $20 to not see the reef up close, especially since some of the other guys are actually interested in trying the dive this time. Ryan and Jon could not dive, unfortunately, because they were still taking their Malarone medication to prevent malaria, which I had stopped taking in India when I discovered there were no mosquitoes. I do get to dive with Scott and Rory though. The sea life here seems similar to that of Bali and Thailand, but there are many new things to discover. The giant clams are new to me, and I saw many diving here. When you touch the mouth of the shell they clamp part way shut. The day was full, when I wasn't diving, I was snorkeling or eating the all-you-can-eat food on board. That night we made special effort to plan the rest of the trip in Australia to make life easier. We booked a sailing trip in the Whitsundays and a flight back to Sydney and decided that tomorrow we'd find a camper to rent and see the tablelands for a few days before we hit Airlie Beach for our sailing trip.
August 1
Even after a night of planning, we still suffer another day for our lack of planning. We wondered the sprawl of Cairns for about 6 hours, from our hostel all the way to the airport and back only to discover that literally every single camper in Cairns had already been rented out. Even just renting a car was difficult, but we eventually succeeded in finding a nice Mitsubishi sedan that was just big enough for all of us and our stuff that we could drive to Airlie Beach. We packed the car up tight, and headed inland over the mountains. Its very nice to have the freedom of a car to stop when and where you want. Our first stop is Mareeba, a small town on the edge of the table lands. We stop at a small gorge with some nice views and rock formations. The main attraction seems to be the rock wallabies, which seem to have been virtually tamed as pets as the owners of the property seem to encourage feeding the animals. We made the rest of the way to Atherton, a bit further south, where we were able to find a cheap room above a bar and get some cheap pizza and beer after our day.
August 2
We get up early and head south. We stop at some waterfalls near the mountains before continuing southwest further into the outback towards Undara National Park to see their lava tubes. After Ravenshoe, the traces of civilization begin to disappear. The road turns into one lane of pavement with soft shoulders for passing. Upon arrival, we find that the tour of the lava tubes that day is booked (they don't allow people into the tubes without a guide), but we get one of the next day, and spend the afternoon doing some sort hikes in the park. We spend the night in the tent village.
August 3
Our tour starts at 8:00 am, but I wake at 6:30 and hike up to the bluff to see the sunrise over the bush before the tour. Our tour is very strictly guided under tunnels of volcanic rock, but its educational and interesting. After our tour, we hit the road and head a little deeper into the bush to Porcupine Gorge. Shortly after leaving the National park, our quarter of a tank of gas falls dramatically to "E." The next gas station isn't for a good 90 km. After studying the car's computer and driving conservatively and checking maps, we decide there is a very real possibility we won't make it to the next station. The computer shows that our range on our remaining fuel is 40 km. The one lane road is smooth sailing on the flat table lands, but as soon as I have to go off the road for a passing 50 meter long road train, the range drops to 20 km. We see signs for the next gas station, 35 km. Eventually the range indicator changes to three blinking lines, it doesn't even go to zero, and we are on fumes. The car lasts surprisingly long on three dashes, and we make it to the station, which is the last station for the next 275 km. We fill up and hit the road again. Now the road turns to pure gravel, which changes in consistency as we pass through different areas. Some areas are soft dirt, others are loose gravel, and others are more hard pack, which is great until the occasional rock or pothole comes into the view at the last second and you either just swerve to miss it or nail it and bottom out. The trucks on this road have no problem, but this car wasn't quite designed to carry 5 full grown males and all of their luggage off road. Another slight issue, the car insurance doesn't cover anything off of paved roads. After a few hours of tense driving and the occasional wince after a thud or pothole, we arrive at porcupine gorge. We do a little hiking, we see some beautiful vistas, we see some interesting rock formations in the gorge, and we get back on the road. We head back towards the shore and spend the night in another tiny town.
August 4
Today we drive to Townsville, a city on the coast a little more than halfway between Cairns and Airlie Beach. We get stop for groceries and stop in the city for a little while. Now we are waiting for the ferry to take us to Magnetic Island where we will spend the night. The ferry Terminal has free internet here, so I'm taking advantage while we wait to update the weblog. The ferry leaves in about 20 minutes, so I should give this a brief spell check and get moving. Only one week left before we fly home.
The guys didn't catch any fish, and Scott got sea sick, I guess I didn't miss anything.
July 28
Today we tour some other areas of Bali. The other guys set up a tour with a driver to take us to some areas where there are better views and snorkeling areas. At first I don't think I want to bother with snorkeling after scuba diving, but it was cheap enough. We were taken from shore on the north side of the island on two tiny boats with outriggers and taken to a shallow reef. It was a relaxing afternoon. Afterwards we went to a large waterfall and took the opportunity to do a little swimming and found a couple spots to climb up and dive into the falls. Next stop was a temple on the coast that is supposed to be beautiful at sunset. Unfortunately our driver failed to get us there in time and the sun was pretty much gone by the time we arrived. It was nice to have a relaxing day and just enjoy the island.
July 29
Today we fly to Sydney, but not until 11:35 pm, so we still have most of the day to enjoy the beaches and take advantage of the cheap shops. We get to our flight in plenty of time and fly to Sydney.
July 30
We arrive at about 6:30 am in Sydney with a vague plan that we want to go to Cairns. It takes us several hours to figure out how to get a flight and eventually book a not-so-cheap flight that leaves in the afternoon. We arrive in Cairns that evening and since we don't know where to go, we book a hostel from the airport. We arrive at Gilligan's, which seems to be on the upper end of hostels, complete with its own tourist office, pool, bar, and pizza cafe, and none of it is cheap for what I would consider backpacker accommodations, but since we failed to do enough research to plan things ahead of time and we are carrying around large amounts of luggage, we have top take what we get.
July 31
Today we get a tour of the Great Barrier Reef. This boat tour out to the reef offers snorkeling and scuba diving. At first I think I might skip diving to save money, but since I have already paid for the boat ride, and I already have my scuba divers license, its hard to justify saving $20 to not see the reef up close, especially since some of the other guys are actually interested in trying the dive this time. Ryan and Jon could not dive, unfortunately, because they were still taking their Malarone medication to prevent malaria, which I had stopped taking in India when I discovered there were no mosquitoes. I do get to dive with Scott and Rory though. The sea life here seems similar to that of Bali and Thailand, but there are many new things to discover. The giant clams are new to me, and I saw many diving here. When you touch the mouth of the shell they clamp part way shut. The day was full, when I wasn't diving, I was snorkeling or eating the all-you-can-eat food on board. That night we made special effort to plan the rest of the trip in Australia to make life easier. We booked a sailing trip in the Whitsundays and a flight back to Sydney and decided that tomorrow we'd find a camper to rent and see the tablelands for a few days before we hit Airlie Beach for our sailing trip.
August 1
Even after a night of planning, we still suffer another day for our lack of planning. We wondered the sprawl of Cairns for about 6 hours, from our hostel all the way to the airport and back only to discover that literally every single camper in Cairns had already been rented out. Even just renting a car was difficult, but we eventually succeeded in finding a nice Mitsubishi sedan that was just big enough for all of us and our stuff that we could drive to Airlie Beach. We packed the car up tight, and headed inland over the mountains. Its very nice to have the freedom of a car to stop when and where you want. Our first stop is Mareeba, a small town on the edge of the table lands. We stop at a small gorge with some nice views and rock formations. The main attraction seems to be the rock wallabies, which seem to have been virtually tamed as pets as the owners of the property seem to encourage feeding the animals. We made the rest of the way to Atherton, a bit further south, where we were able to find a cheap room above a bar and get some cheap pizza and beer after our day.
August 2
We get up early and head south. We stop at some waterfalls near the mountains before continuing southwest further into the outback towards Undara National Park to see their lava tubes. After Ravenshoe, the traces of civilization begin to disappear. The road turns into one lane of pavement with soft shoulders for passing. Upon arrival, we find that the tour of the lava tubes that day is booked (they don't allow people into the tubes without a guide), but we get one of the next day, and spend the afternoon doing some sort hikes in the park. We spend the night in the tent village.
August 3
Our tour starts at 8:00 am, but I wake at 6:30 and hike up to the bluff to see the sunrise over the bush before the tour. Our tour is very strictly guided under tunnels of volcanic rock, but its educational and interesting. After our tour, we hit the road and head a little deeper into the bush to Porcupine Gorge. Shortly after leaving the National park, our quarter of a tank of gas falls dramatically to "E." The next gas station isn't for a good 90 km. After studying the car's computer and driving conservatively and checking maps, we decide there is a very real possibility we won't make it to the next station. The computer shows that our range on our remaining fuel is 40 km. The one lane road is smooth sailing on the flat table lands, but as soon as I have to go off the road for a passing 50 meter long road train, the range drops to 20 km. We see signs for the next gas station, 35 km. Eventually the range indicator changes to three blinking lines, it doesn't even go to zero, and we are on fumes. The car lasts surprisingly long on three dashes, and we make it to the station, which is the last station for the next 275 km. We fill up and hit the road again. Now the road turns to pure gravel, which changes in consistency as we pass through different areas. Some areas are soft dirt, others are loose gravel, and others are more hard pack, which is great until the occasional rock or pothole comes into the view at the last second and you either just swerve to miss it or nail it and bottom out. The trucks on this road have no problem, but this car wasn't quite designed to carry 5 full grown males and all of their luggage off road. Another slight issue, the car insurance doesn't cover anything off of paved roads. After a few hours of tense driving and the occasional wince after a thud or pothole, we arrive at porcupine gorge. We do a little hiking, we see some beautiful vistas, we see some interesting rock formations in the gorge, and we get back on the road. We head back towards the shore and spend the night in another tiny town.
August 4
Today we drive to Townsville, a city on the coast a little more than halfway between Cairns and Airlie Beach. We get stop for groceries and stop in the city for a little while. Now we are waiting for the ferry to take us to Magnetic Island where we will spend the night. The ferry Terminal has free internet here, so I'm taking advantage while we wait to update the weblog. The ferry leaves in about 20 minutes, so I should give this a brief spell check and get moving. Only one week left before we fly home.
posted by James Dixon at 11:00 PM
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