Thursday 18 December 2008

Day 71 Surf Camp 3

17th December 2008

Surf Camp 3

Day 71

I was told this morning that last night I shouted out in my sleep, 'it's OK everyone, I'm beginning to feel better now!'. I think all the sea water that I am swallowing whilst trying to surf is helping my throat.

Am feeling better about the Christmas thing too. I checked my emails. Katie and Gemma (who I met in Cairns and was meant to go to Port Douglas with but never did) have invited me to go with them to Bondi Beach for Christmas day :-).

The surfing isn't going too well. Surfing is better when you don't have tonsillitis. I have tonsillitis. Plus sunburn that makes it look like I've dipped my arms in red paint. Not a good look.

Day 70 Surf Camp 2

16th December 2008

Surf Camp 2

Day 70

I stayed in all last night, which was a bit shit. I want to get better fast and all but I'm also scared that I'll be spending Christmas on my own. I don't want to spend Christmas on my own. That's what I'm worrying about.

There's lots of people I met onmy travels who are in Sydney for New Year like Erik (Brisbane ginger ninja), Tim (Fraser Island) and Lisa (Cairns), but they aren't in Sydney for Christmas.

And it's not like I can make any friends here when most of the time I am lying in bed.

Some of the guys I met in Surfer's Paradise are in Sydney for Christmas but I don't want to be like a tag along and invite myself to join them. This is the problem with only spending a few days in each place I visit - it's really hard to make good friends that fast. Maybe I am overthinking the whole thing but if I'm on my own for Christmas I'll be crushed.

Day 69 Surf Camp 1

15th December 2008

Surf Camp 1

Day 69

Feeling slightly better than I did yesterday morning, which is good.

I have started a 5 day surf camp, going from Bryon Bay to Sydney. It's mad that I have Tonsillitis and am going surfing as energy levels are so low. It was cool though - I managed to stand up and surf once at the beginning of the lesson. After that I had no energy to physically swim and jump up on the board again, but it was good fun.

When I got back to the camp, I slept and stayed in bed. I still feel ill. Can't drink either on these Penicillin tablets. Wank.

Day 68 Tonsillitis

14th December 2008

Tonsillitis

Day 68

Last night I kept waking up and lay in bed awake for hours freezing cold. I had developed a fever and slept in a jumper. This morning I had hardly any energy and my head was all over the place. The receptionist gave me the phone number to the hospital who had one doctor there so I called a taxi and went to see the doctor.

Turns out I have Tonsillitis. Sexy.

From Byron Bay, most people go to Nimbin and get cannabis and magic mushrooms. I on the other hand went to the hospital and got aspirin and penicillin.

Today I must have been the only person around for miles wearing a cardigan.

Am staying in tonight and trying to recover as much as possible for Surf Camp tomorrow.

Day 67 Ill

13th December 2008

Ill

Day 67

:-( Headaches all day. Very ill.

Day 66 Byron Bay

12th December 2008

Byron Bay

Day 66

Said bye to everyone. They're staying in Surfer's Paradise a little longer and I'm off to Byron Bay today.

Now it is raining :-(.

I arrived at my hostel 'the Arts Factory' and I must say it looks quite cool and really hippy. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the overwhelming smell of weed. Some people were getting high in the common room and the smell came all the way through to reception. The staff didn't seem to mind though.

In the day I slept quite a bit. When I got up I felt so depressed and wish I had extended my stay with eveyone in Surfer's Paradise. Plus I quite fancied Chris, I guy I met there too.

It seems like so much effort to meet different people all the time and getting on really well, only to say bye 2 days later. Depresses the hell out of me so I went back to bed. Then this eccentric Italian guy burst into the room and said, 'I think you sleep too much', as he saw me earlier in bed too. He was quite funny and told me I needed to go outside, so I did and ended up going into town for a drink with some German girls.

When I got back to the hostel there was a girl walking around who looked really confused. Apparently she had had too many magic mushrooms.

Friday 12 December 2008

Day 65 Holidays are coming

11th December 2008

Holidays are coming

Day 65

Spent the day at the beach with everyone (the people I went out with last night).

At night we cooked spag bol and chatted at the hostel whilst Christmas songs played on someones ipod - the 1st time I've felt Christmassy.

These guys I am here with are fab! There's Jennie, Natalia, Emily, Chris, Ian, John, Steve and Claire. Most are in Sydney for Christmas and New Year so will hopefully meeting up again.

Day 64 Surfer's Paradise

10th December 2008

Surfer's Paradise

Day 64

Woke up in the airport. Had quite a good sleep considering it was in an airport. Got a 2 hour plane to Brisbane, then a train to the city centre, then a Greyhound coach to Surfer's Paradise, then the shuttle bus back to the hostel.

I was knackered.

Was meant to have a quite night in (yeah right). Let's put it this way - I ended being pushed back to the hostel in a shopping trolley in the early hours of the morning.

Day 63 Super cool day!

9th December 2008

Super cool day!

Day 63

The American guys got my note and came to the hostel this morning. 1st we broke into some coconuts and drunk the milk, then we licked some green ants (a better source of vitamin C than oranges, we really did this), then we went to the Mingin swing that Sam won yesterday, but as they had been on it already they let me go on it. It was so cool!





Then we ate some lychees and went to a place called Crystal Cascades and swam in the pools and went sliding down the waterfalls.






At night they dropped me off at the airport, where I am going to sleep. Getting a flight at 6am then it's off to Surfer's Paradise!

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Day 62 Chilling

8th December 2008

Chilled out all day



Day 62

Yes it was one of those 'I did nothing all day' days again...

In the evening I went to the BBQ at the hostel. The American guys, Sam and Rob went too. The Scottish girls Lisa and Wendy, left today though to go to Airlie Beach. Hopefully we will meet up again in Sydney.

Sam won a digeridoo competition and won a bungy swing ride and the guys said I could go out with them for the day tomorrow as they have a hire car and maybe they felt sorry for me as I did nothing all day today.


Then some of us went into town for a few drinks, but the American guys didn't show up and I didn't want it to be like a few days ago when I missed going out for the day with Gemma and Katie. So I walked to their hostel and left a note on their car windscreen. Hopefully they'll get it and get in touch about tomorrow. I'm in the frame of mind right now that you have to make the effort to get anything back.

Day 61 The Cape Tribulation Thing

7th December 2008

Trials and Tribulations in Cape Tribulation

Day 61

I woke up outside as the old man in my room was snoring so loud last night I had to take my pillow and get some sleep on the bench outside my room.

Went on the Cape Tribulation tour, which was meant to be 2 days and 1 nights accommodation up there - but I am back in Cairns now. When I did the first part of the tour, I was dropped off at the hostel in Cape Trib that I was meant to be staying at. I got to my dorm room and it stunk of mould. It really did stink too and the other people who were put in the same room as me weren't impressed and tried to get the hostel changed. I went to the receptionist and she said she couldn't move me to a different room. I knew there were spare beds at the hostel, but she said no. Then I spoke to the house keeping person, who I think was a woman, and she said there was no chance of me moving and the rooms smell because of the humidity. I said 'do all the rooms smell then?' and she said 'yes'. So apparently I had no choice...

Anyway they basically tried to give me no options and I thought 'I don't have to stay here', so I checked out and ran to the coach that was just about to leave and the guy who was driving the coach let me get on back to Cairns! It was so liberating to just leave, and not be bullied or made to stay somewhere I didn't want to stay.

So it was off to Cairns with no accommodation booked there. I went back to Traveller's Oasis. They were full but I managed to get in a place called Tropic Days, which is the sister hostel of Traveller's Oasis... AND I HAD SUCH A GREAT NIGHT! Straight away I met these two Scottish girls and was given a free meal voucher for a pub in town. I asked if they were going and we all agreed to go. Then just as we were about to get the bus, these 2 American guys came to the hostel reception. We asked if they wanted to come too and they did. So we all went to the Woolshed pub and had some food. Stayed there for a while then went back to the hostel and played cards and (inevitably) drinking games. Then we all had a swim in the pool. It was such a great night, it really was. So glad I left Cape Tribulation. Moral of the story, no one can make someone do something you don't want to.

We are all going for a BBQ tomorrow. Yum.

Day 60 Cape Tribulation Tomorrow

6th December 2008

Cape Tribulation Tomorrow

Day 60

Booked a tour to go to Cape Tribulation tomorrow. Not bad seeing as I never planned to go North of Brisbane (Cape Tribulation to Brisbane is over 1600km).

Day 59 Walking

5th December 2008

Walking

Day 59

I was meant to be going to a place called Port Douglas today with some girls called Gemma and Katie who I went the night market with last night, but I looked for them and couldn't see them this morning so I guessed they already left. I went walking around the town for the day.

When I got back to the hostel, John the receptionist said they had come looking for me after I had left. Bummer. They left a note anyway and we are meeting up in Sydney around Christmas time.

At night I had another stroll around the town. I saw a man get punched and decided it was time to go back to the hostel.

Day 58 CAIRNS

4th December 2008

CAIRNS

Day 58

6:05am I arrived in Cairns. Said bye to Whitney and went to my hostel, which is the nicest hostel in the world! It's fab. I like Cairns.

Went the night market tonight with some people from the hostel including Jamie (who I went to Fraser Island with he just happened to be in the same hostel as me).

Day 57 Leaving Airlie

3rd December 2008

Leaving Airlie

Day 57

Managed to pay the cash into the hostels bank account, thank God.

Chilled out all day with Whitney and Sean. We played cards for hours, even played UNO with a standard pack of cards. It can be done.

My Hreyhound bus was at 8pm. Whitney and I are getting the same bus to Cairns. It's only a 10 hour drive.

Day 56 ARGH!

2nd December 2008

ARGH!

Day 56

Oh my God it's so stressful! My booking for the accommodation I'm staying at in Sydney fir Christmas and New Year may have been cancelled. While I was out on the boat, the transaction did not go through properly. I booked it in September but they take the money out on 1st Decemver. There have been a million (about 6) problems today with the whole paying thing. Not going to go into each problem but there were loads! Now I have to take the cash to the National Bank of Australia and pay it into the hostels bank account tomorrow. Hopefully it will all be ok.

Thursday 4 December 2008

Day 55 Sailing on the Whitsundays

1st December 2008

Sailing on the Whitsundays

Day 55

Woke up on the deck of the boat. Went scuba diving today again. I love it!

Tonight I decided on giving sleeping below deck a miss, as did nearly everyone else. Took my sheets to the deck and slept on one of the sails. Laid back and stared at the stars. Every now and again a shooting star would go past. I've never seen a shooting star before. The Canadian guy next to me said that shooting stars are actually debris burning up when entering the Earths atmosphere. Doesn't sound as nice as a 'shooting star'.

Every now and then I would open my eyes - a little confused, see stars, look around and be like 'oh yeah, I'm sleeping on the deck of a boat in the Whitsunday Islands' and fall back asleep.

Day 54

30th November 2008

Sailing away

Day 54

Off sailing today on a Whitsundays cruise. Spent the morning chilling out with Tom, then off on my boat the Matador.

It was cool. I went scuba diving in the fringe areas of the Great Barrier Reef. When I got in the water, I was shocked by all the coral, colours and fish. Never did I expect it would be this good. Then 2 giant turtles swan past. It was fab!

Spent the evening playing card games with some people on the boat. It was so hot in the sleeping areas though, like an oven. I didn;t last long before taking my pillow and sleeping on the deck.

Day 53 Ill

29th November 2008

Ill

Day 53

Not feeling too well today. Everyone went to the lagoon and I stayed in the hostel. God I felt ill. I had drunk some goon last night but only a little - it doesn't matter though as goon is evil. It made me feel ill. Evil, evil goon.

Most people in the room stayed in this evening due to being sick of drinking or early departures in the morning. There's a tv in the room so we watched Jurassic Park and Team America.

Day 52 Walking around Airlie

28th November 2008

Walking around Airlie

Day 52

Tom and I walked to Coles (a supermarket like Tesco). It took quite a while and was so humid that when we got there, the air conditioning was like a God send. Spent quite a while in there just walking around.

We played the longest game of 'would you rather' on the way back to the hostel with questions like 'would you rather have human size chicken feet or chicken size human feet?'. Obviously it would be human size chicken feet, I think so anyway.

Day 51 Airlie Beach

27th November 2008

Airlie Beach

Day 51

Got to Airlie Beach at 6am. Not able to check into the hostel until 12pm so had a walk around for a while then went back to the hostel and fell asleep on a bench like a tramp.

Chilled out in Airlie and went to some bars with Tom and JD, who are staying in my room.

Left a bar at 1:30am (I'd been on diet cokes after still not being able to drink alcohol since Fraser Island) and went for a swim in the lagoon til 4:30am, which was so cool.

Day 50 Myella Farmstay 2nd day

26th November 2008

Myella Farmstay

Day 50

We had the chance of riding the horses again this morning. As we were waiting for everyone to get prepared for the horse riding I realised that I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. The Dutch guy wasn't riding today. I asked him why and he said he didn't feel too good riding the horses and felt a bit shakey.

To be honest, yesterday I found sitting on a horse for a few hours trotting around alright, but once is enough. Twice would be boring. The thing was I felt really bad and a little ungrateful. It was like I felt I should do it, but didn't want to. So I decided not to go. I told the farmer man (the one with 2 eyes) and asked what could I do instead. He said anything. The Dutch guy and I said we'd go out on the motorbikes, and as there was two of us we could go around the acres of farm surrounding the main farm.

I told the Dutch guy that I didn't want to go horse riding as I found it a bit boring and he said he didn't want to go for the same reason too but he didn't want to say it. We went speeding off and it was fun. On going around the track, I thought 'I can do this faster' and ended up in the grass.

A group of us left Myella farm and went back to Rockhampton. Then I had a 6.5 hour wait for my Greyhound coach to Airlie Beach. Selena, a girl who was at Myella is getting a coach a little after mine has departed so instead of sitting around doing nothing we went to the cinema to see the film Australia. It was good, Nicole Kidman was so funny in it.

It all worked out with pretty good timing - and now off to Airlie Beach.

Day 49 Myella Farm stay

25th November 2008

Myella Farm

Day 49

6:30am - bus to Myella. Myella is a farm stay place that I booked through the jostel last night. Got there in the morning and today I rode a horse called Trigger. Was trotting along but I don't know what I'm doing.
Later that day we got to go on the motorbikes. This is more my thing! There was a speed limit of 35km per hour, but once I passed my little test and deemed good enough to ride around the farm I got it over 60km per hour. Loved it!


Later that day I was about to start driving on my own again but when I started the bike fell on me. Luckily no one saw.

There was a man in charge of the farm. He had one eye. The other eye was missing and his eyelids had folded inwards but were slightly open. When the normal eye blinked, the eyelids of the other blinked a little too.

In the afternoon, I fed some chickens and milked a cow.

At the farm they had 2 parrots too. One they rescued from a fence and it had half a wing on one side. It was a bit manky. The other bird was the most ugly bird I have ever seen in my life. It had beak and feather disease. It couldn't fly but just walked around the dining area and in and out of its cage. Some people said it was cute, they must have been crazy. Look at this-

Day 48 Crocodile Farm

24th November 2008

Rockhampton and Crocodile Farm

Day 48

Had a great nights sleep and have transferred to a girls dorm room for tonight. There were some English girls in the room and we went to a crocodile farm today. At the croc farm they breed the crocodiles and are Gucci's main supplier of croc skin apparently.

The guy who was doing the tour got in the enclosures with the crocodiles and fed them. Crazy man.


Then I went to the Botanical Gardens and Rockhampton Zoo. There wasn't much there to be honest but it was nice. Waited for the last bus back to the centre of Rockhampton but it never turned up so had to get a taxi.