youprettythings

Portable Studio

2014-03-05T14:11:00.001-08:00

New portable studio is now up and running. Exciting stuff!

Check out some images at www.mapleimages.co.uk.

Any comments or feedback are very welcome =)

2014-01-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

New Website is finally up and running =) Check it out http://www.mapleimages.co.uk/ and let me know what you think =)

2014-01-17T04:24:00.001-08:00

Check out my Instagram Page =)

Byron Bay

2013-11-10T08:03:00.002-08:00

We used our Train passes to make the journey from Surfers to Byron Bay and we travelled about 5 hours by bus to get there.

We arrived in the early evening, it was dark and raining. We didn't really see Byron in the best light.
The accommodation that we had booked was a half hour walk from the centre of town.... (which was my fault for not really checking the location in too much detail when booking it).

Byron Bay is beautiful. Its a sharp contrast to Surfers Paradise, its very laid back, home to lots of unique art work, book stores and gluten free & vegan cafes and restaurants.

On the coastal path to the lighthouse you will walk through the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland.

As you can see from the photographs it was very very windy! So windy that my raybans were nearly blown off!

We had hoped to go whale watching whilst in Byron bay as we were there in July, during the migration of the humpback whales along the East coast. Unfortunately, the wind was so strong that no boats were able to go out to sea during our time there. We did however brave the coastal walk from the beach up to the lighthouse and back.

Even in gale force winds it was very beautiful and a must do whilst a Byron Bay!

Once you reach the top (if you dont fancy walking and have access to a car, you can drive up to the to Lighthouse) you can take a guided tour of the lighthouse. There is also a small museum inside, which gives information on the history of the area, including history of whaling, which continued up until the 1960's, details on whale watching and accidents that had occurred within the vicinity of the lighthouse.

After a sweet few days in Byron, it was onto Coffs Harbour!

Travel Tip: If you need to store your luggage for a few hours you are able to do so until 5pm at the travel information centre, just make sure you give a few $'s donation :)

Hello Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour & Wyong.

2013-11-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

After leaving Brisbane in July 2012 our next stop was Surfers Paradise on the beautiful Gold Coast.

Before heading to Surfers we had been told a few negative things and even to not bother going there. However, it had always been on our itinerary and we wanted to experience it for ourselves.

We travelled from South Bank to Surfers via train, with a bus connection.

As we had been working whilst in Brisbane we had some $ saved and splashed out to stay in a hotel, rather than staying in shared accommodation.

Surfers is a great holiday town. Loads of bars, clubs, restaurants & shops and miles of beautiful beaches.

Contemplation on the sand dunes at Main Beach......

Q1 Tower by night

Surfers is also home to the Q1tower, the tallest building in Australia measuring 1,058 ft tall. The tower has amazing views of the Gold coast and lots of information regarding the history of Surfers Paradise and its heyday in the 1960's. Even though I despise heights,I braved the tower, just for the view and even managed to walk along the glass blocks on the outer edge of the building.

As we were nearby we had to visit Dreamworld, the largest theme park in OZ. Awesome rides, and even an animal park with kangaroos and koalas =)

We had a great few days in Surfer Paradise, and even saw a few meter maids!

Now onto Byron Bay......

Its been a while.......

2013-11-02T15:50:00.003-07:00

Hello,

It has been a long while since the blog has been updated, apologises for this!
This was mainly due to the sporadic Internet access (& the cost of internet cafes) in Oz & I got lazy and busy.

Soooo.... we are now back in the UK and have been since February 2013.

It seems like the logical thing to do to give you a brief overview of the rest of our time in Oz, so Il start where I left off.......

Brisbane - Retrospective

2012-07-20T19:07:00.002-07:00

We are now at the end of our 2 & 1/2 month stay in Brisbane. Brisbane is an awesome city and we have had a great time here!

The view from the cultural centre to the Wheel of Brisbane.

Things we recommend in Brisbane :

Australia Zoo - Steve Irwin's zoo on the Sunshine Coast. See previous post for photographs & details. http://www.australiazoo.com.au/
Brisbane is the home of the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art & Museum of Queensland. They can all be found in the Cultural centre just across the river from the city. The museum has a section devoted to interesting facts and history of Queensland. From Queenslander houses, strangler fig trees to the History of the Aussie classic 'Waltzing Matilda'.

Queenlands Art Gallery & Gallery Of Modern Art

Corned beef tin cow

The Pancake cafe on Ann Street was one of my favourite discoveries. Its open 24 hours a day and has a varied menu. With pancakes, crepes and even steaks on the menu. The cafe is located in a renovated church, which still has a lot of the original features. Most of the seats are pews and the windows are all stained glass. A nice relaxed atmosphere, some good music and a short stack with plenty of maple syrup = good times! Definitely check out the Pancake cafe if you've got a sweet tooth like me.

Teppanyaki Lovers was another our favourite food discoveries in Brisbane. Located in the Myer centre in the city this little food outlet serves great food at great prices. Everyday they run a special offer between 9am -5pm you can get a large bowl of chicken Katsu curry for $5 - which is cheap! But more importantly the food is really good.

Jamie tucking into a seafood bento box.

Streets Beach on Southbank. Right beside the Brisbane river. Great place to chill out, do some sunbathing and enjoy a free bbq station.

With a great view of the city skyline.

Check out the farmers market in Brisbane square every Wednesday. Lots of local produce and good food. Check out the macaroon stall and definitely try the pistachio and the vanilla! As well as food the market also sells flowers. I bought a beautiful bunch of my favourite flower gerberras (in the above photograph) for $5 - bargain!

If you're going to be staying in Brisbane for longer than a week or two then look into longstay accomodation. Check out Gumtree and other sites for house shares, a great way to save some cash and not be stuck in hostels dorms.

The view from our veranda, with the city skyline in the distance.

A Roy Lichtenstein exhibition is currently on at the QUT Gallery which is opposite the city botanical gardens in the CBD. A really interesting exhibition showcasing some famous prints from the Australian Gallery archives. With Free Admission, its well worth a look!

City Botanical Gardens.

Mr.Whiskers - Our lucky Cat

Laters Brisbane, Hello Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast. Hopefully we'll spy a few Meter Maids sporting their legendary gold bikinis!

read the newspapers....

2012-07-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways to find out what is happening in the area that you're staying in is to read the local newspaper. Of course its a bit difficult if you don't speak the language, but here in Oz thats not a problem.

As we are travellers and are on a budget it can be costly to buy a newspaper regularly, but there are alternatives. Read them online, or pick the free newspapers. Here in Brisbane 'MX' is distributed at stands throughout the city and train and bus stations every week day. It provides you with a brief overview of National and International news and lets you know what is going on in your local area.

It was through reading 'MX' that we discovered that the 'Paniyiri' Greek Festival was taking place in Musgrave Park a few weeks ago.

It was a brilliant day out and great to experience Greek culture here in Brisbane.

Filled with Food stalls selling traditional Greek cuisine, numerous bands and singers and plenty of dancing! We also saw a world record attempt at the worlds largest Zorba, we were going to join in but got distracted by the outstanding Honey puffs!!

www.paniyiri.com

I have been reading Bill Bryson's book 'Down Under', on my Grandmother's recommendation whilst travelling in Oz. Not only is it extremely funny but also a very helpful travel guide. In the book Bryson recommends reading the local paper to find out local news, but also because the politics etc is often filled with names that you don't know, discussing policies and other things that have absolutely no affect on you... its quite a refreshing experience! A lighthearted take on the news.

Finally I wanted to mention 'The Good Guide'. Based in Brisbane its a very cool little book that reveals the local secrets, underground and upcoming places. From restaurants, vintage shops, art, bars, book stores, clubs, gigs, the list goes on.

To quote the ' Good Guide' directly,
"The Good Guide is all about community and localisation. We want to showcase the underground happenings of our flourishing nests… hidden gems to discover and cool cultural events. There’s so much good stuff going on, shops opening, music being made, things being created, fashion being designed… all from our native nests that see the sun shining (well, most of the time!)."

Its published Bi-annually and you can also check them out online @ http://thegoodguide.com.au

You can even subscribe and become a V.I.Pigeon!!

Definitely have a look - Highly recommended!

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

New Farm

2012-06-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Jamie had done some exploring whilst I was at work and had taken the City Cat down to New Farm. He spotted the free bbq's there and decided that we should take a trip on the next sunny day that we both had off work.

It turned out to be a about 3 weeks before we both had a sunny day off together, but last Sunday we did. Which just happened to coincide with the 'World press Photo 2012' exhibition that was taking place in the Brisbane Powerhouse gallery in New farm - good timing!

http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org

We had decided to make our burgers from scratch whilst we were there so we packed our cool bag with micemeat, garlic, oliveoil, onions, bread & cheese, some pepsi max and Bundy Rum and we were all set. Headed to the Southbank terminal to catch the city cat.

Southbank from the riverside.

You can purchase a 'Go Card' if you're going to be traveling on the cities public transport frequently. It works on the trains, buses and city cats. You can purchase them from the train or bus stations and top up as you use them. You 'Touch on' when you get on the bus/train/ferry and 'Touch off' when you reach your stop. Your fare is automatically calculated. It gives a discount on the regular fare price and as they don't do return tickets here, which I find bizarre, do people only travel in one direction here, or never go home...?

Anyway public transport is good and runs regularly. I would definitely recommend using it. I have even been converted to using the bus!

Its about a 30 minute cruise along the river to New Farm and the view is lovely.

Jetskiers tried to race us.... unsurprisingly they won!

Upon arriving in New Farm to our dismay its was extremely busy. Everyone was out to enjoy the sunshine. Groups of families had emptied their kitchen cupboards of all their condiments and commandeered all the bbq stations!

A girl and her dog enjoying the viewing.

We (or rather I) decided that we should check out the photography exhibition and by the time we were finished hopefully we could start cooking, so we headed to the powerhouse.

The World Press Photo 2012 exhibition was superb. A brilliant collection of photojournalism. In my opinion the photographs from the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are breathtaking. No matter

how many times I see them I can't begin to comprehend the devastation that is left behind.

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/gallery/2012-world-press-photo

A great travelling exhibition that you should see if you have the opportunity!

Unfortunately the afore mentioned families had cracked open some beers and had no intention of moving so we jumped back onto the city cat. As we were approaching Mowbray Park I spotted some BBQs not in use so we jumped off and Jamie started cooking!

The burgers were a great success and delish!

A jazz band was playing on the riverbank, the sun shining and we had plenty of Bundy rum, all the ingredients for a top notch afternoon!

The journey on the ferry map.

Temp jobs & long stay accommodation

2012-06-29T00:20:00.001-07:00

So we're in Brisbane, its a very nice city and we could do with earning some money so we decided to try and find some work here. We got some CV's/resumes, printed and started handing them out to anywhere that had vacancies and applying for jobs online. After around a week of no responses it was beginning to feel like tedious job hunting back in the UK, but then we had a realisation! We had been applying for ordinary full/part time job vacancies when we are only here on a Working Visa for 1 year - we should apply for temporary jobs. The following week Jamie had an interview for a temp agency and secured a 9 week contract. I also got work with a temp agency for a few weeks.

Before we arrived in Australia the only work that anyone ever mentioned to us was farm work. Having heard a few bad stories and wanting to live in the city we decided that at the moment farm work is not for us.

There are other options!

Our tips for finding work are :

Don't be picky, remember its not going to be your career.
Some hostels will have job boards etc and will be able to help you find work, so use them!
Check online jobsites.
Be persistent.
Don't give up!

So as we had work here we now needed to find cheaper long term accommodation than the place that we are currently staying in. Most letting agencies require at least a 3month tenancy agreement, usually 6 months so that was not an option for us.

We found our new place on Gumtree. Its another shared house. In a good location, no bond to pay, bills included and reasonable rent.

If you are looking for a place online beware that there are number of scams out there. Asking you to send large security deposits overseas etc.
To be honest they aren't difficult to spot.
So the moral to the story is, if the accommodation and price looks too good to be true - then it isn't real! There are a lot of genuine ads online, but I would recommend a viewing before making any sort of agreement and certainly before handing over any cash.

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Australia Zoo - Crikey!

2012-06-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

As we are in Brisbane we had to see the legendary 'Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin'. Its about an hours drive from Brisbane to Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast.

On arrival we were given a map on the zoo, its a pretty big place and a 'Crocs Rule' badge, which you can see I am stylish wearing on my shorts in the above photograph! The memory and legend of Steve Irwin certainly lives on in Australia Zoo. As you enter the zoo you are greeted by a statue of the Irwin family - photograph below.

The Irwin family.

There are lots of different shows to choose from, from tortoises to elephant feeding, however we really wanted to see what Australia Zoo is famous for - the crocs at the Crocoseum!

'Never smile at a crocodile...'

Don't worry, he's stuffed!

He's a real alligator!

In an earlier post when we were in the rainforest in Cairns I discussed the Cassowary. Fortunately we didnt encounter any in the wild, but we did see some in Australia zoo. We were told in Cairns that they can run very fast and if we encounter one to remain very still and not to try and run away as it would attack. We actually saw the Cassowary in the photograph below chase after a wild turkey and they can run extremely fast and give a mean kick and have very sharp 'Dagger like' claws.
The 'Helmet' or the bone on top of its head is to protect its head as it makes it way through the rainforest.

Not wanting to give them to bad a reputation I must add that the Cassowary is an endangered species. They are under threat from destruction of the rainforest, cars, dogs and starvation. Its diet mainly consists of fruit that is picked off the floor of the rainforest and the seeds that the bird secretes are undamaged, so the cassowary plays a vital part in the dispersion of rainforest seeds.

A sleepy Koala. They really do smell like Eucalyptus-Cough sweets, but are so cute.

Jamie was quite taken with the piglets at the mini zoo.

There is an entire section devoted to Steve Irwin and the Irwin family. Family photographs, newspaper articles detailing his career and his sudden death.

A large section is devoted to messages that people sent to the Irwin family after Steve died. There were messages from all over the world, even a Welsh flag in there! There were also lots of the legendary khaki shirts signed with tributes and messages along another wall.

The Croc show at the Crocoseum.

It all began with some very impressive birds!

Then the croc......

A stuffed barracuda head - yuck, was on display with a number of other parts of other animals.

Shorter than the average human...

'Roo Food' is on sale at the zoo so you can tempt the kangaroos to come over and say hello.

The happiest person to ever see a kangaroo?

The kangaroos were really tame, as to be expected and even posed for a few photographs!

The roos had a shaded 'rest area' to escape from all the visitors. If they were sleeping in the rest area they were not to be disturbed. With the size of their legs I would not disturb them!

This emu did not like having his photograph taken. Firstly he hissed at me and then chased us all the way along the fence!

Nana's are always the boss!

In the African Safari part of the zoo there are elephants, rhinos, zebra, giraffe.

We saw a show at the tiger temple. A huge tiger playing in the water. Australia Zoo raise money to aid the decreasing tiger population in Asia.

Jamie made a friend.

Then it was onto the snake enclosure.......

Jamie casually annoying ' The world's most venomous snake'!!

Funtimes in the gift shop!

Any sort of memorabilia you could possibly want is on sale in the gift shop. From animal masks, as modeled above to Steve Irwin action figures that come with a pack of plastic crocodiles to wrestle with!

Australia Zoo really is great. Really interesting with plenty of animals to see, great shows and things to learn. If your in the Brisbane its a must do and a great tribute to the life and work of Steve Irwin!

Brisbane Library

2012-06-09T07:43:00.002-07:00

I have discovered and joined Brisbane Library. As they have free wifi and a pretty amazing view out over the river I am very content sitting here watching the world go by, reading a few books, learning some more about Australia and updating the blog.

This is my view today.

Not the best of photographs but you can see my point!

As I mentioned the library has free wifi and also has computers that you use the internet from, much better than spending a fortune in internet cafes!

As a member you can also take out books and dvds, which is sweet.

I am interested in learning more about the history of the indigenous and their cultures and had actually looked around a few second hand bookstores. One second hand bookstore on Ann St in the city had lots of signed first editions. Unfortunately I think Im already over my luggage allowance, so didnt buy anything. I shall borrow them from the library instead!

I found an interesting postcard today. Again its not the best photo but you get the idea of just how enormous Australia is in comparison to the size of Europe and particularly the UK.

So far we have travelled from Cairns to Brisbane which is 1748 km which is about 1086 miles and thats just over half way along the East coast...

Happy Birthday Buddha

2012-06-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

The first cultural festival that we quite literally stumbled upon in Brisbane was the Buddha birthday celebrations. An iconic Queensland event that is celebrating its 16th year in Brisbane 2012. The event is held in the Parklands on South bank alongside the river. The first that we saw of the festival was chinese lanterns hanging on the walkway to the river and then the marquees selling Asian cuisine and souvenirs.

We wandered through the marquees and tents, looking at the different foods available, made a mental note to have a look another time and walked to the cbd.
we decided to walk home the same way and it was on our way back that we stumbled upon the opening ceremony beginning - the festival of the light. The Suncorp piazza had been decorated colourfully with statues of Buddha at the centre. There were lion dancers performing and the '7 news team' were there filming. So we sat down and waited for the ceremony to begin.

7 news reporters

Brisbane Big Wheel

2012 is the year of the 'Waterdragon'.
The history of Buddha's birthday dates back over 25 centuries and it is not surprising that the wisdom and philosophies of Buddha have left a big mark on Asian culture.

Back to the opening ceremony - The lion dancers opened the ceremony. They were brilliant.

They were followed by a martial arts performance by a local martial arts group.
Then 'Ou Wei Ting' took the floor. He is said to be the 'greatest face changing magician of our time'. He holds the record of 20 face changes in under a minute. This was his first visit to Australia.

At this point I had a photography fail.... the battery on my camera ran out and I didnt have a spare.

A juggler by the name of 'Yang Yi Chaun' then took the floor, he can juggle 9 objects in 1 hand.

We left the festival feeling suitably enlightened and very content!

We walked through the stalls over the following days and sampled some of the delicious food.

This was a particularly interesting food stall........

I was curious to try the 'VEGETARIAN Pork/ Beef/ Chicken' but didnt brave it in the end. Haha.

Sunday was the finale of the festival and it ended with a huge fireworks display over the river!

We weren't sure where the display was going to happen, we just knew that it was on the river. As we were walking along with a few thousand other people I spotted a good spot on the grass and we sat there. Turns out that we were sat directly in front of the barge from which the fireworks were set off, we had an amazing view.

The crowds at South Bank watching the fireworks.

Happy Buddha Birthday!

A Nepalese pagoda is also located on South Bank, within close proximity to the Buddha birthday celebrations. The Pagado was brought to Australia in 1988 after Nepal agreed during the United Nations year of Peace in 1986 to participate in the World expo in 1988.

It is one of only 3 peace pagodas outside of Nepal. Its cultural importance is paramount. It is a beautiful structure in a calming, peaceful area.

So if you happen to be in Brisbane in May, then you should definitely check out the Buddha birthday celebrations. Its all free and a great experience!
All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Brisbane

2012-06-05T22:44:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon.

Our accommodation here is another old Queenslander, which is awesome. I love these houses. We are renting a room in the house and sharing with 3 other people. In this house we are sharing with Aussie businessmen, rather than travellers. Which is cool, they are very nice but I find it a bit bizarre that they would stay in shared accommodation. Some of them live far away from the city and only stay for the week and go home at the weekend, but it still puzzles me, why not stay at a travel lodge or motel?Anyway we also have a pool... but its only about 22-23 degrees outside, so too cold for a swim.

We were so happy to see a city!
Its been really interesting to explore some of the towns in the North, but we really enjoy city life and shops that are open later than 5pm!
So we celebrated our city freedom by going to the cinema at 10pm.It was nice to leave the cinema past midnight and still see bars and restaurants open.

We are staying in the Highgate Hill area, which is a 10 minute walk to the Southbank and Westend suburbs of Brisbane. Southbank is home to the Cultural centre. Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and Museum of Queensland can all be found in the cultural centre. There are many nice restaurants along the Southbank area and it also home of the Southbank campus of Griffith University. Southbank is also home to Streets Beach. A beachside setting, with sand and a swimming lagoon which look over the Brisbane river and towards the city. So you can go for a swim, then sunbathe on the beach and look out at the city skyline. It really is awesome.

The Brisbane Big Wheel is also on the Southbank. A big wheel like the London eye, I imagine must give an amazing view of the city from the top.

West End is home to lots of vintage clothes shops, book shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs. A really nice area that we are looking forward to exploring!

The CBD sits on the banks of the Brisbane river. As we are living on the opposite side of the river we cross the bridge to get to the centre. There are also 'City Cats', which are catamarans that are like river buses. You can catch them to go from one side to other or to go further along the coast. We have seen some commuters getting on and off the city cat in rush hour... we think that this is one of the best commutes to work in the world.

Like most cities there is plenty to do and plenty of things going on and Brisbane is no different. We cannot wait to do some exploring!

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Bundaberg Rum Distillery

2012-05-27T04:20:00.000-07:00

Bundaberg Rum distillery is about a 30 minute walk from the CBD. Not a very fun walk for us as it started to pour with rain and the ‘trusty’ umbrella that I hadn’t used since we first arrived in Cairns was now missing 3 spokes and only kept half of me dry. When we eventually got to the distillery, we were greeted by a huge model of a Bundaberg rum bottle and inside a stuffed polar bear in a glass case.

‘Bundy.R.bear’ is a white polar bear and the logo of Bundaberg rum.

A few of the advertisements for bundaberg rum released over the years.

The distillery has the option of a self guided tour and a guided tour. The self guided tour allows access to the small museum and the guided tour takes you around the distillery itself. As we are only going to here once we opted for the guided tour. We had a wander around the museum as we had 20 minutes until our tour started.

We learned that there was a large fire at the distillery in 1936. Some rum that was not on fire flowed into the river and the locals were there filling up buckets and cans with the rum, who can blame them!

The rum and methylated spirit flowing into the river proved to much for its inhabitants. For miles the banks of the river were strewn with thousands of dead fish. Catfish, stingray, salmon, barramundi and even sharks. The health authorities had hoped that the tide would wash the fish back out to sea, until then ‘the hawks, gulls and other fish eating birds were having a good time’.

The one question that we wanted to answer was why is a polar bear used as a logo on an Australian rum? It was the clever marketing scheme of a Samuel McMahon. He thought that the polar bear implied that that the rum was a superb drink that could ward off the wickedest chill. The surname ‘Mcmahon’ is also of Gaelic origin and means ‘son of the bear’. Mystery solved!

Our tour guide then came to find us and the tour began. We had to leave our bags and any electric items containing a battery, including watches in a locker, due to the flammability of the alcohol, so no photographs of the distillery itself im afraid.

The history of the rum factory is that it was formed by some clever sugarcane farm owners, as a good use for the molasses, which is a by product of sugarcane.

We were shown each stage of the distilling process and given some molasses to taste.

I lost Jamie for about 20 minutes and found him here 'savouring' the vapours of the distilling process...he could still smell rum a few days later.

The last stop of the tour is the Rum bar, where you can sample 2 different rums. I recommend the red rum (as it’s a bit smoother than the original) and the Royal liqueur, coffee and chocolate flavoured rum that you can only get at the distillery. There are lots of rum related products in the bondstore, where you also have the opportunity to purchase bottles of rum & cans of ready mixed rum. We bought a bottle of red rum and the royal liqueur – beautiful.

Bundaberg Rum bar

Royal Liqueur

So the distillery was a great day out and defiantly worth visiting Bundaberg for. So if your ever in Bundy it’s a must see!

Some parrots just outside the rum factory.

The following morning we boarded the train and headed for Brisbane.

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Bundaberg

2012-05-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

Attempting to sleep on a train is not the most comfortable of places, but not impossible. We each got a few hours sleep and arrived in Bundaberg at 9am Sunday morning. After dropping off our luggage we did some exploring. Bundaberg is quite a small town. Similar to the towns in the further North of Queensland. There are a number of shops in the CBD (the town centre), the usual chains and a number of privately owned shops and cafes which is always nice to see. You wouldn’t really expect the town to have many tourists, as its not really on the coast, and we only stopped there to check out the rum distillery, but there are a large amount of backpackers staying in Bundaberg as there is lots of farm work in the surrounding areas.

Buss Park

Whilst looking in the window of an estate agents we found this.

By far the best real estate advertisement I have ever seen. You’d usually expect it to be listed as a property that needs a little TLC, but not in Bundy! I couldn’t help but think is this possibly the only honest estate agents in the world?

We got some food, but then the train lag caught up with us so we had an early night, as we wanted to be fresh for the Bundaberg Rum distillery the following morning!

Bundaberg is home to some beautiful Queenslander houses.

Laters Airlie beach

2012-05-24T03:59:00.000-07:00

The following day were going going t do some island hopping of our own. There is a ferry service that runs between the closer islands, however the weather and sea reports were not good, so instead we spent the day in Airlie and the afternoon relaxing by the lagoon. The best view of the sea and Whitsunday Islands from Airlie Beach, has to be from the Airlie beach Sailing club grounds. We sat on a rock wall looking out to sea and we saw a stingray and a sea turtle swim by, amazing!

Saturday was our departure day from Airlie, but our train wasn’t until 8pm. The apartment owners were kind enough to store our luggage for us and arranged our shuttle bus to railway station. So we had a luggage free day. However if you are stuck with your luggage there are large lockers in Airlie beach where you can store your luggage for a fee.

Back home we have pigeons sitting on telephone wires, in Airlie beach they have cockatoos!

A local market takes place on a Saturday morning selling local produce amongst other things. There was a stall there full of amazing shells, if I’d been able to carry them I would have bought loads.

Whilst we were staying in Townsville my friend had recommended ‘Cold Rock’ ice cream parlor. If you’re a keen reader of the blog you will know that me and Jamie love ice cream, and have eaten a lot of it, so when we recommend an ice cream parlor it is good! Just so happens that there was a cold rock in Airlie beach! So you pick whatever flavours of ice cream you would like, and then pick from a variety of toppings/ chocolates / sweets to mix in.

I recommend white chocolate ice cream with fudge and peanut m&m’s – Nom nom nom!

Whilst we were waiting for the bus to the station there was the most beautiful sunset, and a huge moon, a fitting end to our stay at the beautiful Airlie Beach.

And so it was back to Proserpine and the 12 hour train journey through the night to Bundaberg.

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Snorkeling Manta Ray Bay, the Stinger & the Sea Turtle

2012-05-19T02:59:00.000-07:00

After a relaxing 20 minute boat ride we arrived at Manta Ray Bay. We’d had a snorkeling briefing on the way.

Jamie and I were still undecided about whether or not to wear stinger suits. After all the stinger season was almost over and we’d swam at Whitehaven beach with no problems. So we made the decision not to have them. At the last minute as we collected our masks and fins and were making our way to the back of the boat to jump in I changed my mind. So we had a very attractive stinger suit each – again.

A bit of spit in your mask (I’m not disgusting this is to stop the masking fogging), fins on and I jumped into the water, closely followed by Jamie. I’d swum about 5 metres from the boat when I came face to “face” with a stinger – a box jellyfish. Jellyfish are one of my worst fears, definitely in the top 5! I froze for a few seconds, just watching it float towards me, not actually believing what I was seeing, then I swam like hell! Once I felt that I was a safe distance away I shouted to Jamie to warn him. So luckily we had changed our minds and had the stinger suits! Needless to say that there are no photos of the stinger!

Then the crew member who was manning the glass bottom boat shouted over to us and gestured to “swim over there”, pointing in the other direction as there was a sea turtle. We swam over and spotted a massive sea turtle gliding majestically through the water. He was huge, and had algae growing on his shell. Jamie swam right up close to him, I snapped away.

There were loads of fish and coral near to the surface and the sea was calm, which made snorkeling so much easier than when we were getting battered by the waves in Cairns. There were shoals of big fish swimming with us, getting really close – it was awesome!

We snorkeled for about 2 hours and then headed back to the boat. There was about a 5 metre swim between where the coral was at its higher levels and the boat, that area was just darkness, you could see some fish swimming, but they very far down… it was scary to think of what might be lurking in the dark depths and it was where I had spotted the stinger.

We got back on board thankfully only spotting some more big fish. Once we were back on board we chatted with the crew, intrigued to find out which fish we had seen. We had seen a really large black fish, the crew told us it was a ‘GT’. A Giant Trevally fish. They have razor sharp tails, if you were fishing them you’d have to wear gloves to pick it up or it would slice up your hand. The large black fish is the alpha male of the group. If the alpha male gets killed, fished, etc then one of the females will become male, turn black and take his place.

One of the crew admired my amber bracelet. He had a necklace with a piece of amber on it. He said that he had found the amber himself on a beach in Queensland. Queensland amber is a darker more orangey red, than any amber that I have seen. He said that after a storm you can find it on some beaches in Queensland – he didn’t reveal which beaches though! I would love to have a go at amber scavenging.

I didn’t have an underwater digital camera with me this time, just an underwater disposable film camera. It was a nightmare to try and look through the viewfinder with a snorkel mask on, however I’m pretty pleased with the photos!

Then we headed back to Airlie. We sat on the top deck with the skipper for a little while, but then the waves started to pick up and we got soaked, so we headed back down. The waves got bigger and bigger and people were falling all over the place, in the end everyone just stayed wherever they landed! The motion of the ocean got the better of one lady who spent the journey back with her head in a bag….. on a lighter note we were fine!

The Whitsunday Islands

2012-05-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

The bus came to collect to us from outside the apartment and after a short drive we arrived at Shute Harbour. There we boarded the the small boat that would take us to the Whitsunday Islands. We sailed for about an hour before we reached the Hill Inlet. The boat anchored a few metres from the shore, we then had to get into a dinghy which dropped us at the shore. The weather was a bit overcast, more clouds than blue skies, but that didnt deter from the breathtaking views that we were about to see. The Hill Inlet is a 20 minute from the beach through the rainforest. On the way up we encountered this........

We think that its part of the Golden Orb variety, but we aren't sure!If anyone reading this does know what variety of spider it is please leave a comment, id really like to know! Jamie was horrified by the size of its fangs, if you look closely theres also a baby spider in the web....yuck.The spider didn't deter us, we continued our walk to the inlet lookout and it was worth it!What do you think of the view?

I could look out at that view all day long and never tire of it - amazing!

We spent about half an hour gazing at the beautiful turquoise sea and white sand before we had journey back down through the rainforest, avoiding the spider, to return to the boat.

Whitsunday Island is the largest in the Whitsunday group of islands and Whitehaven beach, our next stop, is located on the Eastern side of the island, which is an undeveloped National Park.

So Whitehaven Beach - WOW. We have never seen sand like it.

The white silicon sand is minute powder-sized grains of quartz and has been analysed at 99.89% pure. Whcih means that it could be used for glass making and even to make the finest glass lenses for binoculars etc. Its estimated that there is around 800 million tonnes of sand!Over the years there had been plans to mine the area, however the area is now protected under the Whitsunday Plan of management and it is located in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

We spent a few hours swimming in the warm crystal clear turquoise sea and exploring the beach. Actually we walked so far that by the time we got back to the picnic area we nearly missed the bbq for lunch, however the crew were nice enough to save us some!

Just as lunch was over a few more boats and tours arrived, so the tranquility was shattered! Luckily that was our time to head back to the boat and on to Mantaray Bay for some snorkeling and a trip on the glass bottom boat.....

Details of which will be in my next post.... which will be up very soon! So keep a look out for it!

Hello Airlie Beach....

2012-05-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

So after leaving Townsville at 3:30pm, we arrived at Proserpine train station at 9pm on April 24th. A shuttle bus was waiting at the station to take us on the 20 minute journey to Airlie Beach.

As we arrived in Airlie it was a dark so we couldn't really see that much of the town. Thankfully the bus dropped us outside our apartment, as it was up a steep hill and it would not have been a pleasant trek up the hill in the dark with our luggage in tow. The office had closed at the apartments, but the owners had left the light on in our apartment and a welcome note for us on the table, which was a nice touch, made us feel welcome!
The self contained apartments were impressive, excellent facilities and a balcony that looked over part of Airlie Beach Harbour, the view was beautiful.

The following morning we did some exploring. Firstly we met the owners of the apartments and they recommended some tours of the Whitsunday Islands to us - there are so many tours available, lots are very similar, so it helps to have someone in the know to point out the differences between them, the pros and cons. We had a swim in the apartment pool, which also looked over the Harbour which was beautiful, although the pool was freezing cold!

Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef. The town itself quite small however has loads of things to do. Its a very popular with backpackers, but does attract a variety of people. For example, families with children & couples of all ages, as there are such wide range of activities on offer- something to suit every ones taste and budget! There are numerous shops, hotels, apartments, hostels, restaurants, bars, clubs, a swimming lagoon and of course the beautiful views.

During our stay we fell a little bit in love with Airlie Beach.

Laters Townsville

2012-05-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

So we have come to the end of our stay with friends in Townsville. On our last day there we had a bbq at the rockpool at the Strand and we enjoyed some swimming and sunbathing, which was a great end to our stay!

So to sum up Townsville :
When we were in Cairns and people asked us our itinerary, almost everyone advised us not to go to Townsville. However we're glad we did and would recommend it!

The Strand has a lovely Esplanade along the beachfront, the stinger nets were out so you can swim in the sea too.
The Rockpool on the Strand (photograph above) is filled with sea water and is great for swimming. There are also free bbq's at the Rockpool.
Castle Hill is a must see, if you're feeling brave jog up it!
Mt Stuart has amazing views over the whole of Townsville.
If you aren't staying in Townsville CBD then hire a car,as we did. There are lots of out of town shopping centres and its a great way to get around. With your own freedom to see and do what you want.
Townsville CBD has a number of shops, art exhibitions, restaurants etc.
The Riverway is another great place to swim. As the name suggests it is adjacent to the river and consists of two swimming pools. One pool has a lane cordoned off for serious swimmers wanting to do some laps.
When in Townsville you have to go over to Magnetic Island. There are regular ferry's back and forth from Townsville and also a car ferry so you can take your own car across if you wish- however from our experience I'd advise to hire a car there as its so much fun!

On our last night we were sat outside enjoying the warmth when this massive cricket flew at us!

Maggie Island

2012-04-30T01:38:00.000-07:00

Whilst staying in Townsville we had to pay a visit to Magnetic Island, or 'Maggie Island' as its affectionately known as by the locals. Maggie Island is 8 kilometers off Townsville, just a 20 minute ferry ride away. According to local statistics Magnetic Island averages of 320 days of sunshine every year! Fortunately the day that we visited was one of those many sunny days, in fact the weather was beautiful.
The ferry port is in Nelly Bay, and thats where our Maggie island adventure begins!

A map of Magnetic Island

Nelly Bay

So the best way to get around Maggie Island is on a Moke or as we did in a 'Topless Car'. Basically it looked as though we had borrowed Barbie's car for the day - it was awesome!

The island is about 12km from top to bottom and you can only drive on the Eastern side as the middle of the island is dominated by National park and Mt Cook. There are roads that are accessible by 4x4 vehicles and walking tracks, but in Barbie's car we had to stick to the roads. There are a number of secluded beaches, some of which can only reached by foot or by boat.

Our first stop was a picnic at 'Picnic Bay'. As we parked up and walked to the beach we noticed that a boat had hit the shore in shallow waters and had sunk with only part of the mast showing above the water. Two Salvage men were in the water attaching buoys and rope to try and salvage the boat.

We sat on the pier and ate our picnic. The end of the pier was blocked off and whilst we were sat there we heard one of the locals say that a tourist had fallen through the end of the pier the previous week!

Then we headed up as far North as we could go, to Horseshoe bay. The stinger nets were out so were we able to enjoy a swim in the 29c turquoise sea, beautiful.

After dry off with a bit of sunbathing we then headed back Southwards. we stopped to at Forts to walk along a koala spotting trail. Unfortunately we didnt see any koalas or snakes, plenty of butterflies and amazing views though. We didn't quite make it all the way out to Arthur bay as we didn't have the time.

We then headed down to Geoffrey Bay and finally to Nelly bay as we had to return the Topless car and got the next ferry back to Townsville.

A house with an amazing view - overlooking Geoffrey Bay.

We didn't see any frogs hopping around, just this one playing dead.

We had a brilliant day zooming around maggie Island in the topless car. If your in the Townsville area a visit to Magnetic Island is a must!

Townsville from a distance - photograph taken on the ferry on our way back from Maggie Island.

Castle Hill

2012-04-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

In the heart of Townsville sits Castle Hill. A huge pink granite rock. It stands at 286 metres above sea level and is said to be one of the most distinctive natural features on the Queensland coast. It is a spectacular sight.

The drive to the summit of Castle Hill took around 15 mins, up a winding road.

At the summit there are a few viewing points from which you can see the whole of Townsville - spectacular!

My Nana put a card with Rhosilli in the Gower photograph on the front in my suitcase without me knowing. It was a nice surprise to find it hidden away! I was looking at it just before we went up Castle Hill and it really emphasises how different the landscape is here compared to the UK.

Whilst we were driving leisurely to the summit we noticed a few dedicated people jogging up Castle Hill. When we got home our friends advised that loads of locals walk, jog, run up Castle Hill every evening after work to keep fit. Jamie then decided that he wanted to have a go at jogging it, so I agreed to give it a try the following evening.

It took Jamie about 40 mins to jog to the summit, me about 50mins, I walked more than jogged.... By the time we reached the top it was dark but the view was spectacular. I must say that I enjoyed the lesuirely stroll back down the hill more than the ascent. But if your ever in Townsville the view from Castle Hill is a must see, and if you've got a decent pair of trainers have a go at a jog, its an awesome feeling to know that you've conquered it!

Hello Townsville

2012-04-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

So we arrived safely in Townsville and were staying with friends. Easter Monday our friends took us out to Rollingstone and the Crystal creeks. The weather was beautiful so it was an awesome day. Our first stop was rolling stone, a river that runs underneath a bridge and you can swim in it. Jamie was actually brave enough to join in with the locals and jump off the bridge into the river. The water was freezing - too cold for me!

Then we drove up to the paluma range to the Crystals - big & little Crystal Creeks, the best swimming holes in Townsville.

Little Crystal Creek has a beautiful Roman Arch bridge, which we are standing on in the above photograph that was constructed during the depression in the 1930's.

The following day we visited the Riverway swimming pools, which was a short drive from our friends house. It consists of 2 open air swimming pools, which were free to use. As the name suggests they are alongside the river in which you can spot turtles swimming around the lily pads and jet skiers speeding down the river.

The riverway centre alongside also houses an art exhibition.

A friendly possum with a baby in its pouch!

Turtles swimming in the river.

A Giant Spider takes pride of place in Townsville city centre!

The Tilt Train & no internet access

2012-04-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

Apologises for the lack of posts recently. We have not had access to the internet and McDonalds free wifi sucks! So we bought a pay as you go internet dongle, which means that over the next dew days il be updating more posts and photographs of our adventures in Townsville, lets start with the journey there.....

Easter Sunday 8^Th April, the day we left Cairns for Townsville. So we were up early to sort out a final few things. Packed lunch was made and we were on the 10 minute walk to the train station when disaster struck! Firstly one of the carrier bags containing our packed lunch ripped to shreds – food everywhere!

Then Jamie was wheeling my case as it had a dodgy wheel when the wheel snapped clean off and was lying on the pavement! Unbelievable! So much for the 5 year guarantee. Not impressed as we could have missed our train had the station been a further walk away.

Luckily we got to the train in time and could finally sit down and relax.

The train was nice, spacious, with good AC – a lot like being on a plane, the armrests have personal tv’s in them which is sweet!

The Tilt Train

As we booked our journey to Townsville within 7 days of purchasing our East Coast Discovery passes we were able to upgrade to the executive seats on the tilt train for no extra charge.

So the train itself is awesome, very unlike the graffiti covered trains that we see back in the UK, it’s a work of art in itself. 24 indigenous artists were involved in the project which was particularly important to lift spirits after cyclone Yasi. The designs are focused upon travel and how the train would be perceived when moving at speed or stood still.

Whilst looking out the window we sped past a number of people who were waving as the train passed by.

We had pre-booked our tickets so we just boarded the train, put our luggage in the racks, found our allocated seat and sat down – perfect. The view is also very impressive, lots of fields, mountains, banana trees and lots of Queenslander houses. Without a doubt the nicest train that we have ever travelled on. I spent the journey enjoying the view & Jamie was happy as he was able to plug in the Mac.

We drove past so much greenery, palm trees and fields – you can see why its called the Tropical North. I still find the Queenslander houses so interesting, each one is different, has its own character and they are so different to the terraced houses that we see at home.

We left Cairns at 9:15am, not in the best of moods due to the disastrous walk to the train, but arrived in Townsville at 3:15pm. One of my University housemates lives in Townsville and has awesomely invited us to stay with her & her fiance whilst we are in Townsville. She was there to meet us at the station, looking forward to meeting her fiance, having a long overdue catch up and exploring Townsville! Laters x

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