Category Archives: Travel

Day Twelve – Cairns to Townsville – Family Reunions

Posted on by

0

I had yet another hangover this morning proving I’m only burning the candle at both ends. I had to be up early to make it down to the bus stop to catch my bus to Townsville. With pack on my back I walked down to the fleet terminal and waited for the 6hour bus ride.

Once on the bus I slept laying down for as long as possible until a guy had to take the seat next to me. So I spent the rest of the journey listening to music, looking out the window and thinking about the amazing times in Cairns. It’s just constant sadness here where you have to leave but you soon forget it and get over it. Then you realise that something else incredible is going to happen and you never know what to expect. It was s good journey and a good time to reflect.

I arrived in Townsville around 2pm and Emily (my sister-in-law) picked me up from the bus station. We ran a few errands before taking me back to the apartment. I waited on the sofa while she went to go collect Matt (my brother). I should probably say again that the main purpose of this trip is to come to Australia to surprise my brothers. So as I’m sat on the sofa I hear them coming in through the door. Matthew looks at me in sheer confusion not really recognising me and then runs at me and gives me a massive hug. It’s definitely a bigger reaction than I expected and it really touched me. It was so good to see family and a real familiar faces.

We got changed and went out for dinner in The City Lanes Townsville. We had some amazing Japanese food and some cocktails in quite a hipster area of town. Not a concept I thought existed in Australia but I loved it. It was damn hot and we were all tired especially me who was running a ten day hangover so we went home and I slept the best I had slept in a long time. Exhaustion mixed with contentment formed the perfect basis for sleep. Yet again I went to bed beaming from ear to ear.

Day Eleven – Cape Tribulation to Cairns – Last Night in Cairns

Posted on by

0

Woke up after an amazing night in the rainforest. Had a quick box of cereal for breakfast and then chilled by the pool for a couple of hours. I said goodbye to Jordan and the rainforest and then got picked up by the bus to leave.

We headed to get some rainforest ice cream before going to a cultural centre and getting a talk about native plants and medicines. We then went for a swim in a river which involved cliff jumping and I was in my element. After this we had a whistle stop tour round Port Douglas before heading back down into Cairns. We arrived in Cairns quite late so I quickly showered and got changed to meet Danni, Josh and Tom. There was a French guy (Anton) in my room who was so happy to meet me. He said I was a ‘fun girl’ because I was listening to music which made me laugh cause he must be meeting some really boring people. So I took his number and said I’d give him a call when I was out. I went down to meet Danni and while in the reception bummed into Jack, T, Tom, Cath, Dorinne, two guys from Townsville so we made a big plan to meet up later.

The guys from Townsville, Cath, Dorinne, Danni and I headed to the Jack for a 3 dollar meal including a free drink. It wasn’t bad, pork chop and rice, I wasn’t complaining. A beer pong completion started so Dorinne and I made up a team and we were first up to play two Canadian girls. We obviously lost, Canadians national sport is beer pong. But it was fun nonetheless. Josh and Tom won their first match but were knocked out on the second round. It was Tom’s birthday so even though I wasn’t supposed to go out I ended up getting pretty hectic.

We headed to Gilligan’s and met up with Jack, Tom, Cherie and Anton and his friends. It was so nice cause I could flit between groups of people and just felt so much like I had made so many good friends in Cairns and this is now home. As this was my last night in Cairns I just had such a good time with everyone celebrating at the woodshed and then got proper emotional to leave at the end of the night. I actually had a little cry in bed after! But as they say, don’t be sad it’s over, be happy it ever happened.

Day Ten – Cairns to Cape Tribulation – Dreamy Daintree, Romantic Rainforest

Posted on by

0

I woke up this morning extremely hungover and had to pack a lot of my stuff all up. I properly struggled but I managed it and went down to check out. I spent a good half an hour chatting to people and stuff before someone told me I had my stamp from the night before on my face. How embarrassing but oh well. It was nice cause Bill, Tom and Josh were on my trip so I knew some people and they’re so nice to me and really funny so I felt like I was just travelling with a few mates. We headed up north to the Daintree rainforest to Cape Tribulation.

On the way up there was a beautiful jungle/coastal drive which was so bizarre to have jungle meeting the ocean. It felt pretty incredible and also pretty sad because I’m sure many places on earth were like this before humans destroyed the areas. We went on a boat trip to see crocs and saw two at least 2.5m long which was pretty cool. After that we took a little walk in the rainforest. We didn’t see too much but it was still nice and just good to stretch the legs and have a chat. We then got taken to our accommodation. I stayed at the Cape Tribulation Beach House which was a hostel on the beach with dorms in little beach houses. It was pretty cool. We hung out by the pool for a while and went to the beach playing balls games.

We had heard that there was a lookout near but that we should instead go for a wander up some rocks. So Bill, Nadja, Carly, Ash, Danni and I all took a little hike down the beaches, through the rainforest and up some cliffs. When we got up there I was exhausted and sweaty and the hangover was taking its toll so I felt a little disappointed. But suddenly out of the blue (literally) we look down and see two turtles swimming together and then two little sharks appear with a bigger “mummy” shark in tow. It was so incredible. We were about 30m high but the water was so clear and fresh we could just see these animals cruising around.

The sun started to set so we headed back. I showered and changed quickly and decided to buy dinner as the hangover was making my tired and hazy. It was nice to sit by myself and have time to myself. I actually realised that although I am travelling alone I haven’t really been alone too much and I needed it. I didn’t even think cause I was too tired I just sat and relaxed. At around 9pm the hostel put on a beach BBQ down on the waterfront. I took a few beers and headed down.

It was pretty amazing. First we watched the moonrise which was so beautiful and something I’ve rarely seen. Then we just sat and chatted. There were two guys from Manchester, Harry and Jordan who worked and lived in the hostel. I got chatting to one of them and it just sounded so amazing. They really are living the dream, just living so remote with an incredible outdoor playground at their feet. It’s so hard not to view the rainforest through romantic eyes. It was a pretty breathtaking night and something I will remember for a long time.

Day Nine – Cairns – Relaxing Day

Posted on by

0

Woke up to an empty room which made me feel sad. T, Tom and Ryan headed off into the rainforest for a night. I’m a bit gutted I didn’t book the same trip as them. I knew they were going but I felt like it was too soon so I booked mine for tomorrow.

I took a long time getting myself together enjoying having a room to myself. Then headed down to the lagoon where I met Krystale for a dip in the pool. We then met up with three Welsh guys she knew from the Whitsunday’s and decided to go to a free pool bar. One of the guys was from Slough so we had a lot to talk about. It was nice to do something a little different and play a few games of pool. After this I went to go buy some goon and some food for dinner.

I was a bit nervous about this night out cause it was a lot of different people who didn’t know each other and the main guys weren’t there. But it was actually a lot of fun! It’s so nice to have met fun girls cause most of the girls I’ve met have been very self aware and a little uptight. It was just a nice chilled day with good people.