Austraila or bust.

Back to Brisbane.

2007-02-17T17:18:59Z

Well I can’t believe are month in Australia is nearly over.
All we had to do was make our way back to Brisbane and drop off the mobile home. Which we did after only a few hours drive, mobile home dropped off and new little car picked up for the last two days in Australia before we go home.
Sunshine coast that’s where we will go, seen plenty of the gold cost and I had been given a little place to visit called Dickies Bay.
Don’t know how we got there, as we had no map we just went off the main highway and rolled into Dickies Bay, luck or what.
Booked in for our last two nights in oz and was a little sad that our stay was coming to a close.
But hey what a place to stay for the last two days we really enjoyed it,

nice place to chill for the last couple of days.

the beach was lovely and we even walked to the next beach where I did a spot of fishing moffat bay I think they called it, see what you think.

yep that me in the surf fishing.

We visited the surf club on the evenings for a lovely evening meal and did our last bit of gift shopping, well to be honest we had not had time to do or buy gifts so looks like the family at home will have to make do with what we have already bought them.
Well the last two days went all too quickly and before we knew it we were back at Brisbane airport for our trip home.
We just chilled out on the beach for the last two days and was very unfortunate not to have met another TPer who had given Hilary and myself the information about not only the blue mountains but several other places too including Dickies Bay which she says is a favourite place for her family (thanks Pauline, Sorry we missed you and Graham and many thanks for the information you gave me hope the house is coming along ).
Ill not bore you with the details of flights and trip home.
But I will take this last chance to thank everyone from the Travellerspoint gang for all the encouragement, information and well wishes for our trip, all the people that took us in while over there, many many thanks to George and Mollie in Brisbane (you made our stay a fantastic one, all our love to you and all the family) and all the friends who took us in.

It was the fact that you guys on tp and especially Pauline and James from Sydney that inspired me to write this blog, sorry about the many spelling mistakes but as you know that’s me all over, I just hope that the information and photos help someone on the trip to Australia.
I do know this, we will be going back. and for anyone who is thinking of going or may be put off by the distance and time it takes to get there,,,,,,,,,,,,
It’s worth every minute of it
Hilary and Garry.

Back to Brisbane. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Lennox Head next.

2007-02-14T19:25:07Z

Well with what we had seen of the east coast of oz both Hilary and myself thought we had seen the best, but not so !!!!!!
first time we had run into any bad weather on our holiday , so we thought if we had to travel why not travel while the weather is bad, off we went.
We made our way up the coast road and Hilary had a wish to call off at a place called Stuarts Point....cant tell you why, just that she likes Home and Away ......and Alf stuart likes it up there ???? (sorry guys but this must be a women thing).

Any way we called in and would have stopped off for the odd night around the area or even Nambucca Heads but it seemed as we were traveling up the coast the rain was following us, so we pressed on, in fact the weather kept with us till we got to Coffs Harbour so we only managed a quick look at the pier then we moved out.....sorry Coffs Harbour we did not do you justice.

But the upside of missing Coffs Harbour was that we stumbled on a little place called Red Rock.........only small but I tell you DO NOT MISS. a little jewel.
great little place which if we had not been told would never have stumbled on to, no way! it was about 15 miles from the main coast road and only went to Red Rock.
Red Rock was quite to say the least and the camp site only had about 6/7 campers on the site. it was a nice little river which ran into the sea and there was a lovely sand bar when the tide was out, and just over the hill about 200 yards was the most fantastic beach ever, it went for miles ,with no one on, and no one in sight.....

we stayed there the night but the rain followed the next morning and with the first spot of rain off we went again up the coast with Brisbane in our sights.
We got to Ballina and to be honest the place looked realy nice too and while looking for a camp site we stumbled on Lennox Head.
we had 2/3 days there and to be honest this place is second to none we parked our motor home about 50 yards off the beach, (and this is getting boring now you guys in oz ) the beach went on for miles and miles then miles again. for those that likes a bit of sport the hand gliding was on the hill just outside Lennox Head, the surf was good but the fishing crap.....then again I think that was me.

one point I will make is....Hilary was reading the national paper last week and a surfer was attacked on the same beach....gulp gulp !!!!!

But then what do you expect me to catch when I was hamperd with 2 sea eagles that kept swooping for my bait....yep eat your heart out those of you that like the sight of eagles. sorry about the photo and it was only about 20 feet above me.

We walked miles on the beach first thing on a morning.

Hey we even had a fresh water lake to swim in only 25 yards from the motor home......even though it seemed a little strange,,,,,,,the water
was a deep red colour, the colour came from the tea trees all around the lake and the water was supsoed to be good for you ?????? hope you ozzies were not taking the mickey !!!!!!
I guess this was the best camping spot we had stopped in while touring with the motor home..........then again they were all good.
We where only a few miles out of Byron bay too and went there a couple of times, nice place but to be honest we liked Lennox Head better but here are a couple of photos of the lighthouse at Byron bay and the beaches both north and south of Byron bay.

the veiw from the lighthouse towards Byron bay.

this was the view looking from the lighthouse towards Lennox head.
but alas we had to head for Brisbane and return the motor home.....Brisbane next.

Lennox Head next. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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North Haven Next

2007-01-22T09:41:17Z

Well up we go, had a nice breakfast then planned our route out of the blue mountains, we were hamperd a little with the bush fires that were curently raging so decided to make for the coast.
Hunter valley Via Wisemans Ferry was the route we chose, (ok then a friend suggested it) nice trip and some lovely places down the Hunter valley but we needed to press on, I was a little confused but we had to cross on a ferry to get to Wisemans ferry, this threw me off a little (blonde moment)but the trip was nice taking in some lovley views along the way.
Wisemans ferry apeared out of the blue,,,,big river too and was not expecting the place to be so nice.

this is the veiw on the ferry we used to get to wisemans ferry.

on the ferry crossing at wisemans ferry.

some nice bush and landscapes followed but we needed to press on to a camp site.
Singleton was the place we ended up. sorry Singelton but we rushed through a little and we did not give the place the time it needed for us to see things,
Following morning we set off for the coast again and finaly made it to North haven.
What a camp site, lovely place in fact we stayed 2 nights.
There was a cracking beach and estuary where I could not resist the tempation of having a go at fishing.

yep, sorry for those of a faint disposition, I should have given a warning!!!! thats me fishing.

I must have looked like I knew what I was doing, unless the Pelican came to laugh at me.

even the dolphins came to laugh at me. sorry for the poor picture but catching a dolphin with a didgy camera.....not on.

Yes i put all the fish back, we went to the supermarket and bought meat for the barbie honest.

Can i just say at this point, the Barie facilertys where second to none,

back in the uk we had never seen the likes and we found the Barbies to be great fun.
Even Hilary thought they where spot on and also enjoyed my cooking,,,,,its a mans thing the barbie.
we did quite a lot of walking on the beach and even walked from the camp site round to Laurieton I think they called the other side of the estuary,,,,,,God my Hilary made me have it with the walking that day. and it was red hot too.
could not fault North Haven and hope it stops like that forever.
We had to retire to the bowling club for lunch and beers that evening, we were getting into the swing of things now.

North Haven Next remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Blue Mountains, Three Sisters.

2007-01-13T21:48:37Z

Well thats it nothing else can go wrong after the carpark, we set off for the Blue Mountains and I had a couple of places to visit recomended by Friends and a fellow TP,er. (Thank you Pauline from Ipswich.thank you for taking time out to respond to my emails).
we set off in our motor home nice and steady, up to the Blue mountains, well not much of a mountain I said to Hilary more like a big hill, but some nice veiws on the way and even had time to stop for coffee, nice this pull up anywhere and get the kettle on.
We needed to find a place called Katoomba,(I think !!!) Hilary was on top form with her map reading, we finaly pulled up at the Caravan park at the Three Sisters, paid our dues and took a look around.
Football/Rugby pitch and a little cafe over the road did not seem to be too much to see. Had to look round and find the nearest bottle shop.
God the car park had a height ristriction on it too!!!!!!
"Huh once bitten, twice shy I thought", old Garrys not going in there ive seen the trailer.
Parked elsewhere, got my bottles then away.(always nice to stand in the cold room where the beer is kept).
Then went back to the Three Sisters Camp site.
We thought we would take look at the veiw over the road.
but it was getting late afternoon. Went anyway.
Well Which way do we go ?? not sure just went down a path and all of a sudden from behind the bush was a vast Canyon.
Hundreds of feet wide and could not guess how deep and how far is went back in the bush, what a veiw, honest it takes your breath away.

There was a Sky rail running from one side to the other at the top and there was even a train that could take you down to the base of the walk and bring you back.
Thats it I said lets walk down and catch the train back up (you see Im built for comfort not speed),
But be careful warning Hilary "Pauline said she fell on her way down" in fact translated to broad Yorkshire I said "Pauline went arse over tit" (no honest those were notPaulines words they were mine).
We could not wait to set off, there were little paths off the main track down the walk to some nice veiwing spots, heres one.
Three Sisters nice eh!!!!! The photos dont do not give the veiw justice.

I Will say some of the steps cut in the rock for the walk down were well dodgy, at one point there was a couple of sets of steps which you could almost call ladders and were bolted into the rock with rusty old bolts Hmmmmmmm, "you ok Hilary" I said as we were going down, she really put her mind to it and once again I could not belive she was scaling down a rusty set of steps with a drop of what looked like hundres of feet below us.....The white parrots flying all over from tree to tree bellow us, and could be seen in the tree tops, totaly weather was totaly differant from the Rain forest in Cairns a lot dryer, as we desended the lower we got, the cooler it was, we were in the shade and that was nice, we went along another path to veiw a water fall, (eh in the middle of the mountains where forest fires were raging water fall !!!)

Not much water but you could see imagine if there was rain.
We enjoyed every step down the walk and in total with the divertions on the little veiwing paths it took us about an Hour and Half to walk down and enjoyed it all.
Just about at the bottom now I said to Hilary, bet we get some nice photos on the way back up on train eh!
Just as i said that a young couple were coming back up the path from the base of the mountain. In my best ozzy accent I said with a big cheesy grin. "gooday mate" (hey told you I was getting good at the ozzy phrases) "What time is the next train", (the one that takes you back up, bet he was well impressed with my accent or thought I was local)
"sorry mate the last train was at 4:30" GULP!!!!!!GULP!!!!!BLOODY GULP!!!!!!
soon brought my broad yorkshire accent back and knocked any sort of smile off old Garrys face. "Your joking" "your bloody joking" I said. then i looked at them with eyes like a puppy dog.....
"no mate the trains stopped running"
I put on a brave face and pretended the walk back up did not bother me,,,,, I said "cheers mate"
as soon as he got out of sight I turned to Hilary and nearly broke into tears,,,,,,"the bloody trains stopped running" the bloody trains stopped running" at this point you tend to look for someone to blame dont you. One thought came to mind (Pauline if I have a Chuffing heart attack on the way back up you can get ready!!!!!only joking Pauline)
Well we both looked one another and Hilary said "and you know how fast it drops dark" that was true we needed top get back up the mountain a.s.a.p.
come on lass I said as we set off back up them steps,,,,,,and there were a very, very, lot of steps too, we did not bother with the sights on the way back up, only stopping to sit on the odd rock to catch our breath now and again, and have a little drink of water. (well thats if I could hold my hand steady enough to get the bottle near my lips). anyway i could not have taken any photos on the way up as my hands and legs were shaking like mad......it was probley the speed we assended at, in fact we came back up the mountain that fast we were in fear of getting the bends!!!!!
Well we landed back at the top of the mountain with a sigh ill tell you, Got a nice shower and had to steady myself with a couple of cold ones.
But dont miss it it was a fantastic experiance and one we will remember all our lives.

Blue Mountains, Three Sisters. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sydney To The Blue Mountains Via Penrith.

2006-12-31T17:11:07Z

Up early, and had an extra piece of toast as I was doing the driving when we picked the motor home up.
Taxi from our digs at the pub to pick the Motor home up....near the airport, god the roads were busy, I told Hilary that there was no way was I driving a Great big motor home through Sydney in that traffic !!!!!!scarey or what.
We picked the motor home up and within 5 mins we were lost.....
"Gordon Bloody Bennet" we were passing the hire shop again for the second time where we picked up the Bloody Motor home from!!!!!! looks like we will be spending our 8 nights riding round Sydney or trying to make our way out of it.
Woe Woe Woe thats a sign for the Blue Mountains.(and only passed the hire place twice)
All looks good now keep your eyes on the road and follow that sign for the Blue Mountains Garry lad,,,,,,
(Pauline gave me the information for this bit of the trip, 3 sisters, chuff me,,,, I had 2 sisters at home i must be mad)
Ah the open road, nowt to it now Hilary just keep your eye on the signs......Penrith,Penrith, Hey thats where my best mates aunty Dot lives !!!!!! and we have to go through it to get to the Blue mountains, Hmmmmm I wonder, dare we visit, No we had no contact number anyway.
Got to Penrith and we stopped to go to the super market to fill up the fridge in the motor home...and a few tinnies too, The parking was a nightmare, yep a bloody nightmare !!!!!! I tried to park in a multi storey carpark that was not high enough for me to get the Mobile home into .........Great big sign that could not be seen from the road 2.1 mtr height ristriction Fxxxk the motor home was 2.4 mtrs high (thats what it said on the sticker on the windscreen), I could risk it and come out with a open top motor home ??????
best not. Not only could I not get the motor home in the carpark to get the bloody thing out,
I had to reverse out of the bloody carpark into the middle of some trafic lights that was on a dual carrage way, tempers got a little fraid here, 42 degrees it was......people shouting "get in mate and do a U turn", but there was no way was the Motor home going in and coming out the same height.
(thanks for the advice mate) Im shouting at the top of my voice in broad yorkshire "the vans too bloody high" (that was the censored version).
No the only way out was, yes, the way I came in !!!
I have to reverse out with my Hilary trying to stop the traffic or was she shouting stop to me ????
Bugger it get on with it Garry lad its the only way !!!!! so i did. I managed to stop all the traffic while I heard ozzy shouts of encouragement (I think) anyway after what seemed like 1/2 hour of trying to get out of the car park We did it...Hilary jumped in the motor home while still rolling with a red face an preceeded to give me an ear full for getting us into that situation !!!
Me, well I cursed my best mate Bob, it was his aunt Dot we were going to see !!!! his ears must have been burning, I cursed him and cursed him again for not being able to get the Motor home in or out of the mouth of the carpark.........not his fault but he seemed the best person to blame at the time.
"See no problems" I said to Hilary once back on the road (see im picking up the lingo now).
Finaly got a carpark with no height barrier and got parked.
Well once in the supermarket would you belive it,,,,the old moblie phone goes, its my mate Bob!!!!! God you have some bottle ringing me now mate I told him,,,,whats up he said ,so I told him about the parking, he just found it very funny.
Hey I said what you ringing me at this time its 12:30 pm back in the UK,,,,just wanted to know if you were calling at my aunty Dots......timimg eh. I told him we were in Penrith and he said , dont move !!!!! within 30 mins his aunty Dot was here taking us for a coffee and a beer, she did not even know me but becouse I knew Bob she could not do enough for me....Aunty Dot many thanks and we love you to bits.
Sorry i was digressing a little there.
Left Aunty Dot and headed for The Blue Mountains.

Bet it takes some parking Garry lad, bigger than what you think!!!!

just big enough for 2....and ive kept it clean.

Sydney To The Blue Mountains Via Penrith. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sydney here we come.

2006-12-17T20:14:40Z

Sydney,
(the hotel we were staying at was recomended by a fellow TPer James)
Set off from the Gold coast on our way to Sydney, only 3 days here so best make the best of it Garry lad. hey wonder if the James guy will turn up for a beer ????? Hope the Hotel is ok he recomended ???
Off the plane and into a taxi to our Pub/ hotel The Australian Hotel.
not too bad James,
In the right spot. The Rocks...Right next to the Sydney bridge, and bet I could throw a stone to the Opera house too. What more did we need for 3 days.
Unpacked and had a beer in the pub then off we went, took all of 5 mins to get to the opera house and about 3 mins to get onto the Sydney bridge from our little pub. and it did meals, mainly pizza sounds good to me.
Over the bridge we went and over to the otherside, found a little place to buy food from and we had a picnic looking over towards the Opera house and Sydney bridge. What a veiw, the sun was shining what more could we want.
Following day we got up and had breakfast then hit the ferrys,we went to Manly. And that was a nice trip in itself about 30 mins on the ferry, we walked through manly to the Surfing beach.
from there we turned right and took a walk along the sea front to a little beach where we spent the afternoon, not sure but I thing they called the walk to the beach, the cabbage patch bay walk. I think.
then in the afternoon we were invaded with school kids having there surfing and swimming lessons, wish I was one of them, it made us smile and wish that our kids had been given the same bringing up. But for that we needeed the weather.
Had lunch in Manly square under the trees before setting back to Sydney. late afternoon Hilary took me shopping (my favourate pastime.....NOT ) but with it being Sydney it was a change and Imanaged to keep my head.
Following day we hit the ferrys again, they are fantastic value, you can get like a day or week rover which alows you to ride the ferrys, the trains and the busses till your hearts content.and there is even a monorail to have a go on. Well my Hilary wanted to go on the lot, so we did!!!
We went to Darling Harbour, The Sydney aquarium and walked all over the city too. But 3 days goes fast and it was our last night in Sydney before we picked our Mobile home up for 8 nights.
Tonight was the night that that James Chappy was coming over for a beer, wonder if he will turn up.
Yep he did, we had chatted on the TP and Emailed but that was it. We met and we were like old friends and chatted away while sinking a few beers, we talked about most things, how was our trip, where had we been and were we were going next, oh even mentioned Isa....your ears picked up now Gretchen....he he he, all nice stuff dont worry, ok mentioned Kriss too.
It was at that point that as a yorkshire man I got a little giddy.
(For those who dont know we are a little carefull with our money, some relation to the Scotish i think). I must have had a rush of blood and bought the beers, twas only afterwards that I reflected on what I had done and my bottom lip started quivering and I started to shake as I checked my money purse to see how much it had spent.............no that was a joke, The night went well and to be honest if it had not been for James and a few more fellow TPers I would not be doing this blog.
I asked myself why would someone go out of there way and help someone they dont know, someone that they would never meet ??????? it just shows the caliber of the people who use this site and how kind people can be.
I said to myself and at this point, If I can help anyone or pass on information I will do, The blog seemed to be the best way to do this, just hope someone reads it as the kis at home think im mad tapping away on the computer, and kepp calling me a saddo.
At this point I would like to thank a few people for all there advice and sugestions and good wishes who have all helped make my trip a fantastic trip. James,Gretchen and Kriss, Pauline, Flo, and Claire all who have given time and effort which have made our trip the trip of a life time i thank you all. and anyone else who have helped and i have missed, sorry for not giving you a mention.
Right Garry lad, get your Hilarys cases and pick up that Motor home and get in the Blue mountains in the morning.

Sydney opera house from the bridge.

Sydney bridge.Nice place for a picnic.

I held my breath till the shark passed........God im brave !!!!!

Bloody Hell whats all the red shirts for !!!!! surf and swimming lessons.

veiw from the Opera House looking at the city.
Our hotel/Pub was just out of the picture top right above the boat.

Sydney here we come. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Brisbane Next

2006-12-17T18:08:44Z

Brisbane next,
booked the flights back in the uk, got a good deal I think cost me about £95.00 for the 2 tickets from Cairns to Brisbane, nice flight tmes so off we went.
I had been chatting on the email over the last few months to my parents best friends who went out to Australia 38 years ago, they live in Sanctory cove, They offerd to put us up for the week, little scairey, not seen them from being a little lad,I feel excited about staying with them. So off to the airport we went. When we got off the plane at Brisbane and picked up my hire car for the week at the airport, made our way to Sanctory Cove........Gulp we both thought, another world here,all behind closed doors, a village with waterside views, very nice, loads and loads of dosh about everyone had big houses, boats and swimming pools, golf buggys to run around in throughout the day. We Knocked on their door and was greated as old friends, just like we had known each other all our lives, that was fantastic, we settled in and were given guest bedrooms to die for.gin and tonic and wine in the afternoon you know how it goes, my poor Hilary doe not drink but she did me proud and never complained and did her best with the drink, after a couple of days we brought them down to our level. We were on beer.
They showed us round the area south of Brisbane for a couple of days then off we went in our little hire car to explore.
Runaway Bay, Surfers Paradise and down as far as Tweed Head and the lighthouse on the point.
All the suefers hang out on the point of the bay and wait to catch there dream wave while the shools of Dolphin swim past. what a sight.
Runaway Bay, nice, the pelicans all in the little bay and could not belive how graceful they could be.
Surfers Paradise a little busy for us but Tweed Head was a lovely sight.
Tanborine mountain was nice, lovely ride up and nice walks in the forest there with waterfalls. just round the corner there is a fantastic view over the countryside where all the hand gliders take off from.
we even went to the opera in the park at Paradise point. this was a lovely evening, all the opera stars go there 4 times a year and put on a performance. we were well impressed with the evening.
the next day it was the markets,,,,what a contrast.
The week went all too fast, dinner partys the lot. but time to go and get on with our next part of the trip and tie up with a fellow TPer in Sydney so it was pack them bags again Garry lad and off to the gold coast airport.

Runaway Bay

Tanboureen Mountain....would you jump off this ????

Cant Knock the beaches can you !!!!!

Fingal Head.

Brisbane Next remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Cairns next stop.

2007-01-13T21:54:55Z

Well this is it,
up we got and had a good breakfast as we had a long trip ahead of us. The only thing I was worried about was.....did we have the right sort of clothes in our 3 little suitcases,,,,and my netto bag, yep I could carry mine in the netto bag !!!!! no thats not fair, Hilary did all the packing and sorting out along with the important things like handbag with all the travel information in, shes good at that and the passports were tucked away nicely.
all ready now.
Hmmmm electronic ticket,,,,Visa, (nothing to see they said, all the information was on computer linked to your passport), a couple of doubts creeping in here garry lad. What if there is something wrong, you know how it goes. "Bugger it I thought" lets get off.
Manchester to Heathrow 1 hour, Heathrow to Hong Kong 11 1/2 hours, steady 4 hour wait in Hong Kong before our 11 hour trip to Cairns.
Hey we made it.....eyes like pee holes in the snow but in one piece.
Cairns.....
Stayed in a B&B in Kewarra Beach, Fantastic,next to Palm Cove about 20 mins north of Cairns.
We hired a car for the week and started looking around the area.
Daintree trip was a little dissapointing just a little village on the river, no crocs on the river trip, but the following day we went to Cape Tribulation which included a trip over the Daintree river, the beaches and views were great.
Sky Rail at Kruanda.....DO NOT MISS THIS....Over the Rainforest.
Several ways to do it, Gondolla, Train, Coach or a mixture of them. We went on the Sky Rail Gondolla both ways. The views were out of this world and never to be forgoten. The trip from start to the far enn of the Sky rail took about 2 hours as we stopped at the intersections and looked at the Rainforest and water falls and all the rest of the magnificent views. Once at the far end there is a nice village to look round and several lovely walks through the Rain forest with lots to see, including a Bat Sanctuary which was intresting, with the size and number of bats we saw in Australia we had to call in.
The Mossman Gorge. this is another DO NOT MISS....the walk round the Rainforest was stunning with waterfalls and majestic trees which look to grow miles high, take a picnic and you can make this a full day trip.
The Tablelands, We did not see too much of these although we did come back from the Mossman Gorge via the Tablelands down into back down to Cairns. it was a nice car ride with some very nice views.
The Great Barrier Reef....WHAT CAN I SAY...DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT GOING THERE IF YOU CAN SWIM.
Hilary totaly shocked me when she said she would like to go on a boat trip on the Great Barrier Reef.
Off we went to a recomanded boat and had the most fantastic day ever.
We got on the boat at 08:30 in the morning and got off the boat at 5:30 at tea time and the day was a blur.........Had we missed anything....no i dont think so Garry lad think we saw the lot.
The day started by boarding the boat with toatl strangers...being divided into people who wanted to snorkell or scuba dive, (dont underestimate the snorkelling)
We did the snorkelling, the guy who did the presentation and introduced us to the crew and infact everything you wanted to know about snorkelling was fantastic, funny and very informative, the whole of the trip out he talked us through what was going to happen and what to do while snorkelling, he put everyone at ease.
we were to have 3 hour long snorkells in the Agincourt System. Wreck bay, Blue Lagoon and Just magic, and can i say they wre just magic.
I had snorkelled before but not Hilary.
The first stop was the most memorable one, me in the water with my rented underwater camera (was i going to shoot some photos) shouting to Hilary come on wet in the water, im on my way she replied, when she finaly got in the water and swam over to me all she had to do was put her mask on and in with the snorkell. The first ever look under water for Hilary was followed by muffled screams,,,,,,God what was she on about...I looked into the water and Gorden Bennet (well in fact i thought Fxxxxx Hell) its a shark about 4 ft long, armed with only the underwater camera I took my best shot,,,snap, got him, on my camera too.
I waited in antisipation.....i thought if my Hilary is getting out so are you Garry lad.....she stayed in the water and never made another muff about the sight.
we took picutes of everthing we could and about 200 of them. ranging from the shark to little nemo in his little underwater home.
what a fantastic day we had.
The trip to Australia had been worth it if we did not see anything else and turned round and went home now......PLEASE DONT MISS A DAY LIKE THAT.
Cairns....big city...plenty to do...Eating out ..loads of places where do we eat.
My Hilary came good again. (she is a very plain eater to say the least) lets go to the night market she said, Me ill eat anything the night markets were great value. fill your plate with anything from $6 upwards. we went about 3 times and never had a bad meal.
Well time was running out and our next leg of our trip involved a flight to Brisbane.....back to the B&B and pack pack lad.

up to now everything was perfect,,,,not a bad thought to be had.

Barrier Reef, come on lass get in the water !!!

Barrier Reef. the Shark !!!!!! should we still be in the water ? Hilary if you get out im out too.

Big fish

Little Nemo

Sky Rail over the Rain forest

Sky Rail over the rain forest.....yep its high.

the old didgy camera !!!! little joey was stood next to mum when I took the photo.

Cairns next stop. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Australia or bust

2006-12-13T22:49:40Z

after weeks of searching and asking questions not only at home and on TP for intresting places to see and nice places to go while in OZ, my Dad reminded me of his best pal of some 40 years ago who now lives in Brisbane,
After countless emails and telephone calls i finaly located him and now lived in Sanctory Cove, Brisbane. he also gave me the benifit of his experiences of the country. Oh and the offer of a week at his house and the chance to say hello to someone i had not spoken to or seen for over 35 years, Thats it I thought come on lad take your hilary to OZ (hilary my wife).
Cairns was to be the first port of call,
Then Brisbane and the chance to meet my Dads best pal was next on the agenda, i was now buzzing about the trip.
Then Sydney, and now after chatting to quite a few people on TP I also had a Mr James Hamilton to meet,,,Hes a local Sydney lad Who wears a suit, and has a well paid responsible job in the city.
(ok that James). had I somehow lost my way as a true Yorkshire man ?....... I promised to buy James a drink or too. Im still coming to terms with that and having sleepless nights too James, buying drinks, whats up with you Garry lad.
The Blue Mountains, This is my Hilarys bit,,,The motor home and the reason we were going to Australia in the first place, another young lady from TP gave me some fantastic information regarding the Blue Mountains, thank you Pauline.
we would travel from Sydney to the Blue Mountains make our way back to Brisbane via the Hunter Valley and then up the coast back to Brisbane before going home.
The best I could manage was 1 month in total to see a little bit of Australia so had to pick my route and places to see carefuly.
Before Hilary could have second thoughts about the trip i booked the flights out.Why not were only here once I thought go on spend your brass,
Not only had i booked the flights to australia I booked internal flights from Cairns to Brisbane, and from Brisbane to Sydney, God I was on a roll here, I found myself throwing caution to the wind and even booking a Mobile home.
Thats it theres no going back now Garry lad. 2nd of Nov to 2nd of Dec.
Australia here we come.

yes Hilary and I met up with James Hamilton in Sydney for beers and pizza. if you look closely you can see my bottom lip quivering as i had to buy the beers.

Australia or bust remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Australia,,,Hmm Why not.

2006-12-13T22:40:33Z

Well 25 years married and not sure what to do for our silver wedding, I thought we sould do something special, then one of my kids said, "Hey dad Mum has always wanted to travel a little in a motor home in Australia".
I stood back in amazement. Well she never told me i said. "I thought Hells Bells thats not going to be much fun" (but how wrong i was)
So off i went looking for information about Australia.
Thats what brought me to Travellerspoint searching for information for our trip and this is my story of our littlr trip down under.

somewhere around the mossman gorge.

Australia,,,Hmm Why not. remains copyright of the author garry moll, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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