Australian Adventures Begin!

So I am now in Australia, country number 9 on this trip so far. The last few days in Auckland were actually pretty fun considering the tonsilitis. I met a really nice group of people in my dorm, went to a chinese lantern festival and went to Auckland Zoo, where I finally got to see a live Kiwi bird :). By the time I left though I was looking forward to getting to Australia and meeting Jude (who I'd previously met in Peru and had arranged to travel round Oz with).

The first day I arrived in Sydney I was on my own so went for a wander around Darling Harbour, the weather wasn't great which was a bit of a let down but on first impressions I really liked Sydney as far as cities go.  The next day Jude arrived and we began planning our Australia adventures. We went into a travel shop and managed to book a  camper van to leave the city two days later with the aim of making it to Adelaide and back in 2 weeks (a little ambitious according to everyone...but we made it!). After booking the camper we headed out to meet Andy, a friend that had been on our tour in South America, and he took us for lunch where we made arrangements for him to pick us up from Bondi Junction the next day to drive us around and show us the key sites. After lunch Jude and I popped into Peterpans travel agents and booked our east coast trips, we got a really good discount when we booked them all together which was great and we settled with: Fraser Island, Castaway trip, an outback adventure trip, Whitsundays, a 3 dive day trip from Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef and 2 nights on Magnetic Island plus our Greyhound pass from Sydney to Cairns. Finally we booked a flight from Carins to Darwin and then had all our plans pretty much sorted...much easier than I expected! That evening we went out for a few drinks with Hannah and Lawrence, some friends from home which was nice.

The next day Andy showed us around and took us to Bondi Beach where we planned to stay for two nights after we returned the camper, we drove over the Harbour Bridge towards Manly and stopped for an amazing seafood lunch, we also visited 'Summer Bay' and Whale Beach before stopping for a drink in a bar overlooking the jetty where they flim Home & Away. Andy showed us his parents (amazing) beach house and then dropped us off in Manly where we got the ferry back to Circular Quay...it was a really good day and great to see things outside of the city centre that we otherwise wouldn't be able to! On the ferry back into Sydney we saw the Harbour Bridge and wandered through the Botanical Gardens. We got sushi for dinner (SO much nicer here that back home!) and made a rough itinerary for our two weeks in the campervan.

The next morning we arrived at the campervan rental place (after walking in the wrong direction for 10 mins in the rain!) and were told that we had been given a free upgrade. We got upgraded from Travellers Autobarn's 'Chubby' van to a Toyota hitop. The upgrade was really great news as it meant we could stand up inside the van, had a fridge and proper kitchen (including a microwave that could be used when we plugged into charge) and more space...it did mean that I had to drive a pretty big van though! After getting shown around the camper it was time to set off so we decided to take it around the block a few times so that I could get used to it. It was really easy to drive and manouver apart from the odd wrestling match with 3rd gear, so we quickly set off in search of a supermarket and then onto the Blue Mountains. It took us 2 hours of driving in circles before we finally got out of Sydney and drove onto Penrith where we stocked up in a supermarket and filled our cupboards in the camper...it was starting to feel like home already. We then continued on to the Blue Mountains arriving at around 5:30pm...we couldn't find a free campsite anywhere in the vicinity so had to pay $27 for just a grass pitch, no electricity! The next day was an early 6:30am start to see the Blue Mountains before heading on towards Melbourne. We managed to fit in a lot of the viewpoints between Katoomba, Wentworth and Blackheath, alongside the 2 sisters and the scenic railway which was good. The Blue Mountains were really lovely and it was great to have the freedom of the campervan even if the weather wasn't too wonderful. The next day we began the drive to Melbourne, stopping to camp in a free campsite just outside of Wagga Wagga (pretty much besides the highway).  We ended up with a bit of an evening routine in the camper each day...we'd arrive, have some goon (amazingly cheap boxed wine - not the nicest but great value :) )then we'd cook dinner before a bit more goon, set the bed up and be asleep before 10 when it was dark and there was nothing else to do! We did make a real effort with meals though seeing as we had nothing else to do and cooked curry, kangaroo steaks and tuna salads...much better than the food you cook in hostels.

The next day we arrived in Melbourne by 3:30pm, we were staying 2 nights with Harlan, another person from our trip in South America. Harlan showed us around before we headed into St Kilda where it was the end of a week long festival. We sat outside and had some curly potatoes on a stick and then headed to a bar for some sangria and $2 tacos. The next day Jude and I went to take photos of 'Ramsey Street' (Pinoak Court) before going to shopping in Chadstone Shopping Centre for the afternoon. We bought the ingredients for dinner: Lasagne and banoffee pie :) and then went for coffee with Filippo, another friend from home. Everyone seems to be in Australia! After that it was back to Harlans to meet Caroline (another person from the South America trip). Harlan had put his Tomtom Australia on my iPhone which was brilliant to naviage around Melbourne  (the map we had was useless) but it unfotunately died on the way back but with joint directions from Harlan (on his way back from work) and Caroline (sitting outside Harlans) we made it back eventually! We had a really nice evening chatting away and catching up, and the lasagne and banoffee pie went down well - until we found a live caterpilar in the salad...at least we had already eaten!
The next day it was time to leave Melbourne and head on to the Great Ocean Road. We dropped Harlan to the station in the morning and then packed our bags and loaded them into the campervan before we set off. We stopped in Torquay to buy more food stocks and see the beach (where surfing first began) before having lunch on Bells beach. We stopped on the way to our campsite to see some wild kangaroos that live on a golf course in Anglesea and went to a viewpoint before finally arriving at Big Hill Campgound. The campsite was tucked away in the forest, it was really nice and free! The toilets were basic but we were going to have to get used to that, that and the lack of showers...we soon became pretty inventive there and made good use of our hose pipe and taps. The next morning it was another early start at 7am, we packed up the bed, had breakfast and headed further along the Great Ocean Road. The first stop was Erskine Falls followed by several viewpoints along the way. After the falls we headed to Kennet River to see the wild Koalas (I want a pet one!!) and we managed to feed a small, friendly parrot which was really cute! The koalas was definitely the highlight though! After that we did a short rainforest walk where there were lots of bugs and then it was onto Joanna beach campsite where we had lunch and planned to camp that evening. We spent the afternoon on Joanna beach which was nice and came back to the campsite in the afternoon to have a hose-pipe shower...it worked pretty well and got us clean! That evening we were on a bit of a slant so wasn't one of the best nights sleep.

The next day we carried on along the Great Ocean Road, stopping to see the 12 Apostles and Gibsons Steps. The weather had changed and it was a bit clousy but still amazing views! We then continued on to London Bridge, the Grotto and Loch Ard Gorge to take more photos from the viewpoints and then it was onto the Bay of Islands and Bay of Martyrs before Port Campbell where nothing was open so we carried on to Warrimbol. Here we restocked on goon and went to a cheese factory where we were pretty excited to get free cheese samples...cheese is not in the backpacker budget in Australia! After that we went to to Tower Hill where we saw wild emus (one chased us for our lunch) and more koalas :). That evening we had to pay for a campsite because our second battery in the camper had reached the point where the inside lights (that we use of an evening) didn't work...we found one 4km sourth of a little place called Yambuk - it was empty. There was another set of campers and then a weird guy who was sleeping in his car who told us to go down to the beach becuase it was now empty and we would have it all to ourselves at sunset - very weird and creepy!

The following day we drove the final 650km to the outskirts of Adelaide, stopping at the 'Big Lobster'for lunch on the way. That evening we found a brilliant free campsite called Frank Potts Reserve and ended up stopping for three nights...it had a fully flushing toilet with NO bugs or spiders - a luxury! The following day we spent on Carrickalinga beach...possibly the nicest beach ever and amazing crystal blue sea - whilst we were swimming dolphins came past in the water, only about 100 metres from us!! We had another hose pipe shower, this time by the beach before heading back to the campsite for dinner. The following day we went to Cleland Wildlife Park where we got to feed kangaroos, cuddle up to a koala (!!) and hand feed some little bandicoots. It was great fun and we even got to see a little joey in its mothers pouch - much better than all the dead kangaroos we'd seen beside the road recently! After that we had our final night at the Adelaide campsite before the journey accross the edge of the outback to sydney. The first stop on the journey back was Mildura, passing Wentworth which we then went back to the following morning to visit Perry Sand Hills - some sand dunes which were pretty cool. In Mildura we had to re-charge the electricity so got a pitch in a campsite and even had a pool, we made the most of it and had a lie in until around  8:30 the next morning. After that we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon driving to Hay where we where we found another free campsite right on the river. Again the next day was mainly driving back, stopping to camp just outside Cootamundra, this free  campsite was again really nice and we were happily sunbathing until a giant scary wasp like thing spent the afternoon taunting us. There was a huge storm that evening and we were really worried about driving off the grass the next day...I'd accidentally parked next to the storm drain - not the best of ideas but it all worked out ok once the grass dried out. The next day was the final one in the campervan and we headed closer to Sydney, camping at Flat Rock campsite, the next morning we were up at 7:30am cleaning out the van before we had to return it at 3pm to Mascot in Sydney. As we were driving along an oil warning light popped up on the dashboard which meant we had to stop to buy oil...but becuase the engine was hot we couldn't open the oil cap so had to take the oil with us back to the hire centre for them to do it. We also got a bit lost back in Sydney and by 3pm we still hadn't found a car wash for the camper - they are all under 2.25m and we were 2.7m! We finally found one for $35 (!!) and managed to return the camper just after 3pm. By this point we had done 4800km and had the most amazing two weeks, we really did not want to give the campervan back!!

That evening we took our backpacks (not fun having to carry those again after 2 weeks of personal transport!) and headed to Bondi Beach where we had two nights in Noah's Backpackers - pretty basic but friendly hostel. We spent a day on the beach there and also caught up with Gemma, a friend of my sisters from home. The next day we had our overnight Greyhound bus at 11pm to Byron Bay which is where we are now. The night bus to Byron wasn't the best, far worse than the nightbusses in South America but we saved on a nights accommodation and arrived at 11am the next morning. We dropped our bags off a Nomads hostel before going for a wander around town. Byron Bay is a really nice, pretty small town right on the beach so we have spent the past two days topping up our tans and exploring the town...accompanied by drinks in the evenings.

Tomorrow we head to Surfers Paradise for a night before Noosa and then all the activities begin, with Fraser Island to start with! We also managed to book the majority of our accommodation with Peterpans in Byron and got 9 nights to average out at $17 per night - super cheap for Australia! VERY excited for the upcomming few weeks!!

Photos:
New Zealand: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150514315296491.372224.516011490&type=3&l=88e9e0ab4e
Australia: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150560453781491.377817.516011490&type=3&l=91a86c3ef5

Will try and not leave the next update so long...!

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