Category: Travel

Townsville, Australia

Mittens and Sunglasses

Left Airlie Beach this morning, and arrived in Townsville about three-ish. We found a nice motel to stay at, and after settling down in our room, H and I went down to the beach. We had a nice walk, and then swam in the ocean. We found a beach that were stinger protected, which was good. The water was amazingly warm. It was so nice! 🙂

After that H and I went down to the city centre, where we wandered around for a bit, until we ended up here. We will probably find some restaurant later and have dinner, just the two of us.

Not much more to tell right now. Will tell more later. 🙂

Airlie Beach, Australia

Mittens and Sunglasses

First: I forgot to tell you in my last entry that we stopped at Australia Zoo on our way to Noosa. Saw some really cute koalas, among other animals. (Yeah, that’s Steve (The Crocodile Hunter)’s Zoo). I simply love koalas!

We arrived here in Airlie Beach 2 January, about seven-ish. 3 January, in the morning, we went on a sail trip to the Whitsunday Islands (a group of islands in the Great Barrier Reef). I had my first ever scuba dive on Thursday. It was a bit scary, but I would definitively try it again. I also did snorkelling for the first time in my life. I love snorkelling, and I will take it up back home. I know it will be very different, but still.

The snorkelling today was amazing. The corals were very close to the bach we were left, and the minute we started snorkelling we could see beautiful fishes! I don’t even know the names of most of the fishes we saw – they were all colourful. I know the name of one really beautiful one – the Fox-faced Rabbit Fish. I felt as if we were in an aquarium. The corals were beautiful too, and we saw a large, blue clam – it was fantastic!

I am still dreaming of becoming a certified diver. I hope to take a course in Norway at some point. I love the under water life!

Happy New Year from Bundaberg, Australia!

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So, it has been a while since last time I updated my journal here… It’s almost as if I don’t remember what I’ve done. It seems forever since we arrived in Australia, and Norway and it’s -20°C seems very distant and unreal.

We went from Surfers Paradise to Noosa 28 December, but it was quite hard to find a place to stay. There were plenty of motels and resorts, but all showed signs with “NO VACANCY”. Seemed as if all were in Noosa that weekend. We finally found a (quite expensive) place to stay, and decided to stay there for two nights. It was a beautiful place, though, in Tewantin, close to Noosaville. The resort was placed by Noosa lake.

In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant I can’t remember the name of. It was Greek I think. Unfortunately the food wasn’t too great, and they seemed to be a bit stressed, and messed up our order. Well, it was food…

29 December was a quiet day for me. I stayed by the swimming pool for a bit, and read Harry Potter for a bit. We ordered food from Café on Wheels, but unfortunately had huge problems with my food. They didn’t have what I wanted, and in the end, I got my food more than an hour after the others. I felt quite miserable, tired and fed up.

30 December we had to move to a motel in Noosaville, as we couldn’t stay at Noosa Lake Resort for the two next nights we had decided to stay, due to change of plans. I guess we all started to get to each other’s nerves by then, and while the others went other places, I had several hours alone time (finally!). I first had a nap, then went down to the motel’s swimming pool, where I swam and read my book. It was very relaxing and it felt wonderful to be just by myself. In the evening H and I went to have dinner, just the two of us, for the first time this trip. I think that was what we needed too. Everything felt so much better that day.

Yesterday was 31 December, and New Year’s Eve. We had booked a trip to Fraser Island, and had to get up really early. Fraser Island was a beautiful island. It’s all sand, so it’s quite amazing to see the incredible wildlife there. We didn’t see any dingos, as they have killed quite a few of them and tried to concentrate the ones that are left to the northern part of the island. This due to an incident a year ago (or so), where a nine-year-old boy was eaten by a dingo. However, it was a good trip, and Rainbow Beach was very beautiful. Unfortunately, in the afternoon, still on the trip, a headache was approaching, and by the evening, it was intense. I had a paracetamol, and we went to dinner. It was hard to find a place with a table for four, as most of the restaurant were fully booked. Not surprisingly, as it was NYE… Around ten-ish, I still had the headache, and decided to go back to the motel. I fell asleep eleven-ish, but managed to wake up right before midnight. I looked outside to see if there were any fireworks (the others were in the centre of Noosa Heads by this time), but saw none. I turned on the TV and watched the fantastic fireworks in Sydney, even though I had a hard time staying awake. After the fireworks, I went straight to bed, and fell instantly asleep.

H told me there hadn’t been any good fireworks in the centre of Noosa Heads either. This is probably because of the very strict rules about fireworks in the state of Queensland. There had been a small one, though, but rather pathetic, so I guess I didn’t really miss anything.

I woke up this morning with a horrible cold, but felt better after a shower. It’s very hot and humid today (much more than it has been earlier), so sitting in the air conditioned car was rather pleasant.

I think I’ve sweated out most of the cold, as I’m much better now. I don’t know what we will do tonight, but we will probably have dinner at some place at some point…

Surfers Paradise, Australia

Mittens and Sunglasses

First time on a PC since we left Sydney…

Yule Eve

We drove up from Sydney to Newcastle in the morning, and arrived around one. It was very hot and humid. We had a room at a pub. Not a three star hotel. There was only a fan, no air conditioning, and the room was quite small. H and I went down to the beach, but it was very windy, so we gave up, and after a walk, we went back to the pub room. In the afternoon, we went to have a drink (or more) in the pub. It was nice. We then went to have dinner to celebrate Yule Eve. Unfortunately, my meal was not very good. 🙁 Then we went back, and went to sleep.

25 December

We got up fairly early to head north. We drove most of the day. We entered an area where there had been a bush fire. Then, short after, we drove through an area where it was still burning! Then, we were stopped by the police, and told to turn around, as we had to take an other road north. The Pacific was closed due to the bush fire. Finally, we reached Ballina, where we stayed overnight.

26 December

We arrived in Byron Bay before noon, and had breakfast at a café there. After that, I went shopping on my own. I bought a couple of neat thingies, and after I had been to almost every shop there (at least it felt that way), I managed to find the others at the beach. It was cloudy, but still very hot. I went bathing in the ocean, which was wonderful.

After a visit to the light house in Byron Bay, we headed to Nimbin. Nimbin was an interesting place, where you could small the pot all over town.

We arrived in Surfers Paradise in the evening. This is the city where H’s sister normally lives, and where she studies. We had dinner at a nice restaurant, before we went to the Motel and fell asleep.

27 December

I haven’t been doing much today. We had breakfast at a nice place, and then I went browsing some shops. I then felt a bit ill, and went back to the motel, where I wrote a few postcards. After a while, I felt horrible, and had to go to the toilet. I even threw up. I don’t know what that was all about. I feel much better now, but still not well. I have been having problems with my stomach since we came to Australia. I hope it’ll pass soon.

That pretty much sums up what I have been doing the last days. More to come about my trip later…

Last day in Sydney

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Need an update here, if for nothing else, so for myself to keep a track on time.

Friday

Had a walk down to the city centre, and saw the Opera House for the first time. It wasn’t as big as I had expected. To get there, we walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens, which were nice. We saw a bunch of flying foxes (huge, fox like bats) there. Kind of cool, but they seem to be a problem in general, destroying trees and such… We had lunch at a nice pavement cafe thingy, and then we went shopping. I badly needed a new pair of sandals, as the old ones were killing me (giving me a bunch of blisters). In the evening we went to Bondi Beach. It was very nice. We had dinner there as well.

Saturday

We had a very relaxing day at Manly Beach. It was a bit cold, though, as it was blowing, and a bit cloudy. It was nice to take it easy, though…

Sunday

That’s today… We went by the car we have rented to Blue Mountains. Very beautiful! The scenery was amazing! It’s not really a place you can describe with words, you just have to see it. When we got back to the hotel, I didn’t feel well, and had a nap. While the others went to have dinner, I stayed in the room and watched some TV, and then later came down here to the Internet cafe.

***

We are heading north to Newcastle tomorrow, where we will be spending Yule Eve. It will be a bit weird, my first Yule Eve, not celebrating and opening gifts. It will be nice though.

Even though I find it weird to be in a place where it’s sunny and warm in December, I am enjoying it very much. It doesn’t feel like December, and definitely not like it’s almost Yule. But, it’s so nice and relaxing! Yay!

Sydney, Australia

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Arrived in Sydney, Australia, early this, morning, after a couple of days in Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok was wonderful! So different from Norway… We went sort of sight seeing on Wednesday. Paid 10 baht each for being drove around in a tuk-tuk (small sort of bike/car thingy). We stopped by a factory which makes jewellery/gem stones. They are normally not open to the public, but they had sort of a Christmas sale or something, and Wednesday was their last day. H bought me a wonderful ring – silver with an amethyst. I will have to take a pic of it when I come home… We also went to see the golden Buddha (or “The Lucky Buddha” which they called it) where we met a man who told us he was the brother of the Prime Minister of Thailand, the Emerald Temple, and the Great Palace. The Great Palace was absolutely beautiful. It’s definitely a place to visit if you’re in Bangkok. Our hotel in Bangkok was very luxurious. Beautiful and relaxing. It was called the Montien Riverside Hotel. I also bought some beautiful silk and cashmere fabric (purple, 4 meters) at a shop… Temperature in Bangkok was more than 30°C.

Thai food is wonderful! It tastes great, and the menu has a great variety of food. The first evening there, I had fried prawns and cashew nuts. It’s one of the best meals I’ve had. It was a bit spicy, but not too spicy. We were the only western guests at the outdoor restaurant, which I still don’t know the name of. It wasn’t very far from the hotel.

It’s still sort of early here in Sydney. Our hotel room is nice. It’s warm and nice here. Probably about 30°C, or more.

The trip went well. I got my veggie meals at the plane. Not always very good, but eatable. I didn’t get to read as much as I thought. I brought my new Harry Potter book, but have hardly had time to open it.

I am jet lagged as hell. Very confusing. The first night in Bangkok I woke up about two-ish, and couldn’t fall asleep again before six in the morning, and had to get up at eight, as we had a busy schedule… I am quite tired, but will have to stay awake until tonight. Heh. Feeling a bit dizzy too. Looking forward to have a snack. Sort of an early lunch I guess.

One thing is for sure. I do not miss snow and the Norwegian winter.

We are leaving Sydney at Yule Eve, and will go up to Newcastle.

To be continued…

Tomorrow’s Monday 17 December 2001!

Mittens and Sunglasses

That means I will be leaving tomorrow. For Australia! I still haven’t really realised we’re going. I have done most of my packing. It felt weird to pack t-shirts and such. And the bathing suit. Hooha! I am going to wonderful summer! I’m leaving the fucking winter! Feels even better after falling and hurting my leg on the ice today. I so hate Norwegian winter! And I am so happy we’re leaving it behind… if only for a few weeks.

We will be back in Norway 10 January next year (Hah! Next year! That sounds weird!), but I might be able to leave a note in here from time to time. I can’t promise anything, depends on wether I will be at a computer in any way….

The cab will be here about two-ish tomorrow. We will arrive in Bangkok Tuesday afternoon, and will stay there for almost three days (two nights included in the ticket). After that we will arrive in Sydney on 21 December. We will stay there for a few days, before we rent a car, and will use the coming time to drive up to Cairns.