Oct 2007

'While we're living, the dreams we had as children fade away' - Fade Away, Oasis

G'day blog fans, sorry for the long delay since the last blog, we've been travelling down the South West of Australia in a campervan, check out www.wickedcampers.com for a look at the amazing selection of individually spray-painted campers they have on offer.

We had a fab week and it reminded me of being younger and travelling down south on holiday with our caravan. Memories and dreams of old came flooding back and when the classic old Oasis tune 'Fade Away' came on our camper stereo I couldn't help but pick up on the lyric above. Travelling lifts a huge weight off your shoulders, no mortages, bills, deadlines, this, that and the other. It gives you time to think and dream, reminisce and make plans.

Anyway, enough hippy talk, we've got a lot of catching up to do so here goes....

Thursday 18th -Sunday 21st October
We had a very lazy time during this period, staying at Lynn's friends Amy and Simon's place 6km from the centre of Perth. We caught up with a load of washing, booked a campervan for 22nd-29th October, I cooked dinner one night, we went out one night and Lynn got her first haircut in 4 months!

We visited the Perth Royal Mint museum and it was really cool to watch a gold bar being made right before our eyes. The moulten gold was poured into a mould, cooled for only 30 seconds, and then a solid gold bar had formed. It was beautiful! While Lynn was visiting the hairdressers I also bought some old Northern Soul compilations to play in the campervan we had booked.

Monday 22nd October
David Taylor's 32nd birthday.

After catching up on some sleep and chilling out for a few days it was time to hit the road in our fab Wicked Campervan. We picked it up around 12pm and after getting some shopping for the Eski (coolbox) we hit the highway to Albany. We cruised down long straight roads, passed by National Parks and wineries and arrived in Albany just as the sun was setting. We decided to get most of the driving over with on the first day so we could take our time cruising back up the coast to Perth over the next week.

We checked the van into a campsite just outside Albany and headed into the small town for some noodles, which we ate in the back of the van. Very romantic! We headed back to the site and read some local brochures before having an early night.

Tuesday 23rd October
Ross Lang Easton's 29th birthday - enjoy your last year in your twenties!

We both slept well and woke at 7am, had breakfast and checked out just before 9am. We then drove 20km out of Albany to Two Peoples Bay. It was appropriately named as for a while we were the only two people there! We then went on a 3km coastal walk around to a little beach named, oddly enough, 'Little Beach'. It was stunning. Pure white sands, some rocks for climbing on and crystal clear water. I did go for a dip but didn't last long as the water was freezing. The West Coast is decididly cooler than the East.

We walked back to the van and drove to Emu Point and Middleton Beach. Lynn then took over driving duties and we drove the coastal route to Albany, bought some food for lunch and dinner and then stopped on the coast for lunch, looking out at the ocean.

It was back on the road to a lovely little town called Denmark, 50km west of Albany. Denmark is a lovely little place that I would recommend to anyone visiting Western Oz. Indeed South West Oz is full of quaint little towns and villages, beaches, rivers, national parks and wineries. It's beautiful. Western Australia is 5 times the size of Texas and only 2 million people live there, with over 1 million living in an around Perth. As a result the South West (and North although we'll need to come back to do that) are beautiful, undeveloped and stunning. Clean air, clean water, millions of hectares of protected park, it's lovely.

We drove out of Denmark after a walk round town and headed to Green Pools and Elephant Rocks and enjoyed an hour or so clambering about. I went for another quick dip but didn't last long as the water was very fresh! We headed to the Valley Of The Giants and booked into a campsite for only $16aus per night. I cooked Pasta using a gas stove but the gas ran out before I could stir fry the onions, peppers and sauce!

Wednesday 24th October
Woke up at 7am but didn't roll out of the campervan until 8am for a shower and breakfast. It was only a 6km drive to the Valley Of The Giants national park and the tree top walk. I'll stick some photos on the flickr site but check out www.valleyofthegiants.com.au

The tree top walk is 600 metres long and costs $8aus per person. It was well worth it and we ended up going round twice, no need to pay the second time. At the highest point the walkway is 40 metres above the forest floor. The scenery and giant trees were stunning. After that we did the Ancient Empire walk through the massive red tingle trees and took a few photos at the foot of massive trunks.

We then drove the shorr distance to a town called Walpole and had a picnic lunch before heading on to Pemberton to climb the Gloucester Tree - 61 metres high and not for the faint or weak hearted! I'll stick some photos on flickr but check http://www.pembertontourist.com.au/pages.asp?code=130 for a great photo of the climb. The Gloucester Tree lookout was built in days gone by so locals could look out across the land to spot bush fires. The view from the top was breathtaking, in more ways than one!

We decided to drive to Augusta to save time the next day and we bought a 3-cd collection of Johny Cash songs for the trip at a gas station. Towards 7pm the sun was setting and it went a marvellous shade of pink, red and orange. It was gorgeous, although it was hard to drive in at times, blinding.

We arrived in Austa just after 7pm and had fish'n'chips at a local cafe. The campsite on the outskirts of town was closed and after driving around we decided just to park in a public carpark for the night with toilets nearby! Lucky Lynn is a cheap date!

Thursday 25th October
We woke up at 6.45am after a good nights sleep in the carpark. We packed the van and headed to Cape Leeuwin where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. We had breakfast looking out at the crashing waves and then had a paddle at a nearby beach before heading to the lighthouse. The lighhthouse had one of those signs that tells you the distances to various places in the world and it was roughly the same distance to Sydney as it was to the South Pole.

We headed back into Augusta and out the Caves Road towards Margaret River, stopping off to visit the 3 mains caves - Jewel, Lake and Mammoth. http://www.australiassouthwest.com/en/Natural+Wonders/Caves/default.htm

The caves were fascinating. Our muscles were sore from climbing down and into them after the Gloucester Tree climb the day before. I think we'll need to book into a gym at some point.

We then drove along the coast to Margaret River, one of Australia's main wine regions. We arrived at 3.30pm and booked into the Riverview Caravan Park who also arrange wine tours. We booked on to one for the following day and got a $15aus discount as we were staying there - ideal.

As we had stayed in a carpark the night before we immediately made use of the shower facilities! We went into town for a beer at the excellent Settlers Tavern before having Pizza and a bottle of wine at Goodfellas restaurant.

Friday 26th October
It rained last night! I'd forgotten what rain was like. It was quite cold during the night and we were glad of our sleeping bags. We've used them quite a lot on the trips we've being doing in Oz and it justifies us carrying them around SE Asia for 3 months.

After breakfast and a bit of reading we headed down to the BBQ area to meet the rest of the people going on the wine tour with us. We had a BBQ lunch and the tour guide told us the best way to taste wine. Pour a little into your glass, swirl it around for a bit to let the scents come flooding out and then smell it. Repeat this two or three times and depending on the wine you might spot a different smell each time. When tasting wine you don't need to swallow it, the taste comes from allowing the wine to rest in your mouth, however if you want to get drunk then swallow.

After lunch and the all important advice we headed by bus to some wineries, a cheese factory, a chocolate factory, a venison farm and a brewery - not a bad day for $50aus each!

At the first winery - Zanadu we tasted 4 whites and 3 reds before heading on to Redgate winery for 3 whites, 2 reds, 2 rosies and 2 ports. Our group mainly consisted of 'older' people in their 50's or 60's. SW Australia is full of retired Australians travelling round in amazing campervans or caravans (some have satellite dishes) 'spending our kids inheritance'. Good one them, we met loads of nice people walking around towns, in camp sites and on the winery tour.

Due to the fact that some people were getting a little tipsy it was probably a wise decision to visit the cheese factory and the venison farm next. We bought some cheese, sausages and pate for the campervan. Next stop was the chocolate factory and it was fab, a kids dream. Chocolate buttons were free and after several handfuls I could feel a sugar rush coming on. We bought milk chocolate and white chocolate to satisfy our cravings.

The last winery was my favourite and was called Woody Book, a boutique winery. A winery is considered boutique if it produces less than 250,000 tonnes of grapes each year. The Woody Brook is run by an English couple and we were very lucky to have one of them as our host. She told us about all the awards they had recently received and that due to the fact they only produce 50,000 tonnes of grapes per year, they are very boutique. The wines were lovely and our hostess was charming and friendly. On the way home we stopped at a brewery but Lynn and I both agreed that Aussies should stick to wine, Toohey's New excepted.

We had toast, beans and venison sausages for dinner and talked to a nice old guy in the kitchen who was touring round Western Oz with his wife for 4 months. The couple across from us in the park had sold their house, bought a caravan and were travelling around Australia for 4 or 5 years! It is incredibly easy to get work out here.

Saturday 27th October
It was cold and wet last night and there was even a clap of thunder during the middle of the night. We got up at 8am and checked out by 10am, heading to Prevally Point where the Margaret River meets the ocean and there is some of the best surf in the world. The waves crashed into the shore and it would have been nice to have stayed a week to see a surfing competition, but on we went.

We drove up to Busselton to visit the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere http://www.busseltonjetty.com.au/

It was really windy and we were glad to reach the end of the jetty, 1.8km from shore, and get into the warmth of the underwater observatory. The jetty is so long as the ocean is so shallow at Busselton. It's only 8 metres deep 1.8km out to sea. Ships now dock at Bunbury so Busselton Jetty was unused for a while before being restored and an underwater observatory put in at the jetty head. We went down into the obsevatory to look at the spectacular fishes and coral that have made the jetty home.

We then braved the wind to get back to the shore where we had lunch and then decided to drive to Bunbury and Busselton didn't look very lively for a Saturday, although it is a lovely town.

Bunbury didn't look incredibly lively either so we decided to drive to Freemantle. As we didn't arrive until late we again had to use a carpark as our home for the night. We got a Thai takeaway and a couple of beers and parked down by the beach.

Sunday 28th October
The clocks went forward and we woke up at 7am. As we were practically on the beach we got out and went for a nice walk along the beach. We then checked into a camp-site, had a shower and got a bus into Freemantle. Freemantle is a lovely old town, full of old style buildings and heaps of cafes and pubs. We had lunch and a beer at the 'Sail & Anchor', walked around the market and walked around town for a while.

As it was a sunny day we decided to go back to the campsite and get some beer and food to sit outside. It was very relaxing sitting outside our campervan with a beer and the Sunday papers. I think we might buy one when we get home!

Monday 29th October
We had a nice relaxing night, checked out at 8am and headed 20km up the coast to Perth to hand back our home for the last week. We've had a brilliant week and campervans are a great way to get around Australia and see as much as possible. It would have been nice to have had the time to go up north-west but time is marching on and tomorrow we fly to Adelaide where we will probably stay the night before hiring a campervan to drive to the Great Ocean Road and then along that to Melbourne over 2 or 3 days.

We're now back at Amy and Simon's catching up on some washing and gossip. I'm about to doa bit of research into campervans and also a music festival being held this Saturday on Phillip Island, 120km out of Melbourne. www.chillisland.org

Hope all is well wherever you are.

Lots of love and lemonade
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'Do you realize the sun don't go down, it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning around' - Flaming Lips

Hello from Western Australia, Perth to be precise. We have arrived at Lynn's friend Amy's house and have got up early as Amy and Simon have gone to work and we have a pile of washing to do after a dusty few days in the outback. I also wanted to check the Scotland score from last night, sadly they lost to Georgia meaning that European Championship qualification comes down to the last game against Italy at Hampden. The atmosphere for that game will be electric. COME ON SCOTLAND!

We had a great 2 night/3 day trip to Uluru in Central Australia, so stand by for an update.

Sunday 14th October
Got up at 5.30am and it was still dark outside. Our bus was picking us up outside the guesthouse at 6.10am. Early starts are common on most tours in Australia, so you have been warned if you are thinking of coming! Outside the guesthouse was a group of 5 Irish lads who were on our trip and they hadn't been to bed! They had stayed up at the local outback pub to watch the England v France rugby match, which England sadly won. To say they were a little rough, tired and still pi$$ed would be a bit of an understatement. They were well up for a craic though!

Our guide was called Dom and he was a cheery bloke, full of useful information and a wicked sense of humour. As well as the 5 Irish lads our group consisted of - Gronia and Yvonne who were also from Ireland, Yvonne's folks Padder (more of him later) and Evelyn who were out on holiday for 2 weeks to visit Yvonne, Hayley and Giovani from England, 2 very grumpy German girls - I hadn't seen Germans so moody and grumpy since 26th May 1999, a German couple. a French girl, a Dutch girl and a trooper of a 66 year old lady called Brenda from Lincolnshire.

We had quite a drive to get to our first stop, Kings Canyon. 30 minutes after leaving Alice Springs the radio reception cut out and Dom asked if anyone had an IPOD he could plug into the stereo. Thankfully I had brought mine and we cruised through the outback listening to The Beatles and some classic Motown - ideal.

We arrived and climbed a steep hill, known locally as 'heart attack hill' and had a picnic lunch up the top in the little shade we could find. We then hiked for a further 3 hours through the sandstone domes and gorges that make up Kings Canyon, stopping halfway for a refreshing swim in a freshwater pool called the Garden Of Eden.

After the hike it was a 2 hour drive to camp, stopping to collect firewood on the way. Dom cooked a lovely meal of chilli, rice, potatoes and veg. We sat around the campfire and chatted to our fellow travellers under a beautiful blanket of stars. Lynn and I sat next to Brenda and she told us that she had always wanted to come to Australia and 6 years ago, she and her husband had booked tickets. Sadly, just before they were due to fly, her daughter was involved in a car accident and was in a coma for 6 months. She came out of it but she is severely paralysed and has the mental age of a 4 year old. Her husband is now badly affected by arthritis, so couldn't join Brenda on the trip but she was determined to get to Australia. Listening to her story made me realise yet again how lucky Lynn and I are. It was also very interesting to listen to her views on euthanasia.

Dom brought out his digeridoo and guitar and pretty soon Padder was singing Irish folk songs and a bit of Johnny Cash to get us all singing. Brenda then told us that it was her 46th wedding anniversary today and Padder played 'Danny Boy' for her as she sang along in a beautiful high voice. It was quite moving and Brenda had a tear in her eye and thanked us for giving her such a great night.

I know I said I wouldn't have anything to drink until Perth, but I had a couple of beers around the campfire, underneath the desert stars, singing songs. It was a great night.

We slept out underneath the stars in our Swags - a massive sleeping bag with a mattress inside. We also had our own sleeping bags for extra warmth as it was quite cold during the night. It was a great experience.

Monday 15th October
It was a 6am start and we had breakfast of cereal, tea and toast around the campfire. We headed to Kata (the valley of the Winds) and hiked for 3 hours in the blistering outback sunshine, marvelling at the rock formations out in the middle of nowhere. It was so warm that I out on a long sleeve top to cover up, the Australian sun is a force to be taken very seriously.

We had lunch and got back on the bus to head to the Aborginal Culture Centre next to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It was very interesting to see their artwork and learn about their cultures and traditions, although many acyually remain a secret as they are only passed down from father to son. The Aboriginies view Uluru as a sacred place and ask tourists not to climb out of respect. Of course the vast majority still do, but their story made me contemplate whether or not to climb the following day.

We drove to the Rock and walked around it for a bit and Dom told us a little more about the history, how certain areas had been for women, some for men, some communal cooking areas and some for ceremonies including the most important one when a boy became a man after spending2 years in the outback and then climbing the Rock with the men of the tribe.

We then drove a short distance to a sunset viewing area and watched the Rock change colours as the sun went down. It was fantastic to watch and I don't think our photos will do it justice.

It was chicken satay for dinner, although tonight we were staying in a registered camp site so there was no camp fire. That didn't stop Padder singing a few Irish songs. We both though of two of our best mates Colin and Scott who would have been in their element on the trip as they love Irish music. Padder looks like Christy Moore and is a real character, full of life, spirit and passion. We slept in our swags but didn't get a great sleep as we were getting up very early for sunrise.

Tuesday 16th October
Dom woke everyone at 4.30am. Yes, you read that correctly. After a quick breakfast we drove back to the sunset area. We had the area to ourselves as most tours go to the sunrise area to watch the rock change colour as the sun rises. However, we had a group vote to go back to the sunset area so we could watch the sunrise from behind the Rock. It was good, although I prefer sunsets.

We went back to the Rock and 3 people decided to climb it, while the rest hiked around it. Lynn and I took our time and marvelled at the size and diversity of the Rock surfaces, colours and textures. I had been tempted to climb it but after the stories about it's culture I decided not to. Lynn had actually climbed it 11 years ago, so she said she would do whatever I wanted to do.

After the Rock it was a long drive back to Alice Springs, stopping off for lunch on the way. We slept and I played some tunes on my NANO as we sped through the outback. We got back to Alice Springs just after 5pm and had a shower and attempted to have a nap before meeting the rest of the group again for dinner at 8pm. We had dinner but didn't stay out as we were shattered and went to bed not long after 10pm, leaving the Irish crew to go partying off into the night.

Wednesday 17th October
We had a realtively long lie, getting up at 7.30am! We got a taxi to the airport and it seemed to be shut. There was only two other people in the whole place and it turned out to be a Scottish couple from Edinburgh. They said that they had had to bang on the door to be let in!

The place soon filled up and staff arrived at 8.30am to check us in. The flight from Alice to Perth was around 3 hours and there was a bit of a time difference. We arrived in Perth and got the bus into the centre. The driver was an elderly English guy called Austin who sounded like Austin Powers. He was a bit crazy and was constantly on the radio to two fellow drivers telling them where to go to pick up passengers at the airport. He kept confusing their voices and lost the plot at one of them and yelled out 'I don't need this sh*t' before turning round to the passengers on the bus and saying 'Sorry about that, their Korean, nice people though'. Lynn and I looked at each other in disbelief and killed ourselves laughing.

We arrived in Perth and had stuck our big rucksacks in left luggage to walk round town before meeting Amy after work. Perth is pretty small and we covered most of the main streets in the few hours we had.

We met Amy just after 5pm after taking the train a couple of stops outside the centre. Amy and her boyfriend Simon picked us up and we drove to their house for dinner and a couple of glasses of wine and a good chat. We also played cards and Lynn and I taught them how to play the game 'Hearts' that we had learned from our friends Kay and Frank. I amazed everyone by getting a run!

Thursday 18th October
Amy and Simon are off to work and Lynn and I are going to chill for the day, planning what we are going to do in Western Australia and also catching up with several loads of washing as Central Oz is a very dusty place! Simon cooked last night and it's my turn to cook tonight for the first time in 4 months!

We got up early today as I wanted to check the Scotland V Georgia score. Sadly Scotland's fabulous run of results ended in a 2-0 defeat, meaning that we have to beat the Italians at Hampden in November. What a game that will be, Hampden Park will be rocking and I really hope Scotland win to qualify for our first major finals in 10 years. COME ON SCOTLAND!

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'Just what is is that you wanna do?'
'We wanna get loaded and we wanna have a good time, and that's what we're gonna do' Primal Scream - Loaded

G'day from Central Australia. We've just arrived in Alice Springs ahead of a 3 day/2 night tour of Kings Canyon and Ayers Rock. We're both looking forward to it. Stand by for an update on what we have been up to...

Monday 8th October
We got up at 7am for breakfast as the guesthosue bus was taking us into town at 8am to catch the courtesy bus to Australia Zoo. The bus was very modern and a double decker. On the way they played a Crocodile Hunter dvd and I have to admit that I felt quite emotional, big kid that I am. For those of you that have never seen the Crocodile Hunter it's on the Discovery Channel on Sky and features the late great Steve Irwin whose main aim in life was to educate people about wildlife conservation. His passion shone through and made it essential viewing in our flat back in Glasgow.

We arrived at the Zoo and we learned that it's still relatively new. Steve's parents set up the zoo with only 4 acres of land. The zoo is now spread over 72 acres and Terri Irwin has a 5-year plan to expand to 500 acres! The highlight of the zoo was definitely the Croc show, but the tiger cubs were really cute as well.

There was a tribute wall to Steve and loads of his friends, colleagues thousands of his fans from around the world had written messages to Terri and the kids on old shirts of Steves. People had drawn pictures or left flowers. Steve had a big impact in his life and it's a real shame that he is no longer with us, his spirit lives on though.

When we got back to the hostel we met Anna from the Whitsundays and Fraser Island. We chatted for a while and then went for a really nice dinner at a place called Vanilla.

Tuesday 9th October
Not a lot to report from this date as it was spent travelling all the way from Noosa to Sydney by bus. As I had finished the Motley Crue book I was reading I nipped into the Noosa bookstore before our 10.15am bus and bough Alex James 'A Bit Of A Blur'. The bus headed out of Noosa towards Brisbane where we quickly switched to another bus to take us to Sydney.

At 6pm we stopped off in a small town and bought a cracking pizza. Very nice. The bus stopped a few times and we made sure we got out to stretch our legs. We dozed, read and I listened to The Beatles, New Order and Futuristic Retro Champions.

I woke just after 5am to find that we were on the outskirts of Sydney and the sun was rising. The sky was a wonderful shade of orange and as we headed down a hill I could see the Opera House and the Bridge in the distance. We drove over the bridge and around to Central Station where we were dropped off.

Wednesday 10th October
As it was still before 6am we decided to walk to our hostel - G'day Backpackers- situated on Forbes Street. Thankfully the staff were in at the back of 7am so we didn;t have to wait until the 8am opening time. We checked in and had a few hours sleep before heading out to explore the city. We walked to the end of our street, turned left and within 10 minutes we were walking through Sydney's stunning Botanical Gardens. The sun beamed on to the Opera House and I have to say that it's as impressive as it looks. We will do a tour of the Opera House when we return to Sydney for our flight to NZ on 16th November.

We walked round to the bridge and through the cool Rocks area of Sydney and had lunch in the cafe where Lynn worked 11 years ago when she spent 3 months in Oz! We walked right under the bridge and all the way to Darling Harbour. On the way back we were walking by Hyde Park when I spotted a cool shop with Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder t-shirts. We walked in and found that they also did suits - 60's mod-style suits that looked fantastic. I spoke to one of the staff memebrs and asked how much the suits were as we have two weddings to go to when we get back next June. He replied that they were around 1,800 Australian Dollars. I said that I would maybe stick to the t-shirts!

5 minutes later when we were still browsing he came up to me and said he could do me a deal on a couple of suits he had cut that were my size. 50% off. I looked at Lynn and she raised her eyebrows! She could tell that I wanted one of these cool suits, the material and cut were just fantastic. I slipped on the first jacket and it felt great, but the second one felt and looked even better. I tried on the trousers and also a shirt and tie and felt like a million bucks - or maybe around 1,000 Australian! After 4 months of backpacking I looked like a different person in a sharp suit. I bought it, and the tie and shirt! I think I'll get my moneys worth out of it at the weddings and job interviews I'll have when I get back!

The guy in the shop was a real gent and recommended some good pubs for us to check at night, so we did! Crown Street in Sydney is a very cool area, there are retro/vintage shops, cool deli's, bars and hotels. We had a few drinks and an Indian buffet before heading to bed. It had been a long day.

Thursday 11th October
We woke at 8.30am with the sun streaming through the windows. It felt like the first day in ages that we didn't have anything planned. We wandered down to Paddy's Market but were not too impressed with it. We got the light rail to an area called Glebe, which is very nice, and wandered round there for a bit.

Sydney is a great city. It has loads of modern buildings, but also lots of areas with 2-storey buildings and beautiful old houses. It reminds me of Glasgow and New York in some ways. If that makes sense!

We checked our e-mails and priced some flights in South America, so we can get to Rio for the carnival, but we didn't book anything just yet. We need to spend a bit of time working out our route.

We wandered back via Crown Street and Lynn bought a jacket and skirt/top while I bought a shirt and a pair of retro trousers to wear out at night. We went back and changed into our new clothes before heading to a night out at Sydney's top Indie Club night - Loaded!

Loaded is in a cool converted mansion located on Bayswater Road, just off the notorious Kings Cross area of Sydney. After a few drinks we were soon up on the edge of the dancefloor, nodding along, singing and tapping our feet to 'True Faith' by New Order and 'She Bangs The Drums' by The Roses. Hot Chips 'Over and Over' came on and we were soon on the dancelfoor jumping about like looney's, only coming off to go to the bar or the toilet. It was a top night, although I made the mistake of drinking pints rather than bottles. I paid the price for that the next day!

On the way home I got two slices of New York style pizza and proclaimed them to be the best pizza slices in the world, ever!

Friday 12th October
We got back at around 1.30am and I woke Lynn up at around 3am by running to the sink in our room and vomiting up the two best pizza slices in the world ever, along with 7 or 8 pints of beer! Lovely! If I ever doubted the fact that Lynn loved me I needed no further proof than the fact that she cleaned up the sink while I went to the toilet after I ahd composed myself.

It was the first time I had been sick through alcohol in a long time. We do tend to have a couple of beers at night but in the 4 months we've been travelling we have only really been drunk 3 or 4 times. We're too old for that now and don't want to waste the next day with a hangover.

Needless to say, I wasted quite a bit of the next day with a hangover!

Lynn went out a wander at 11am and I stayed in bed until 2pm. We then went out a wander round Sydney. The 3 days we spent there were really cool. We had no fixed plans for the first time in 3 weeks, so we made the most of it, wandering round, checking shops, chilling out.

We had a quiet night and I have vowed not to drink again until we get to Perth on the 17th, when we will probably have a bottle of wine or two to catch up with Lynn's friend Amy.

Saturday 13th October
We're now in Alice Springs and now that I have updated the blog we're going to go a wander and check the town. I don't think it will take long as it's only got 5 streets! Scotland play Ukraine today in a massive European Championship qualifier. COME ON SCOTLAND!

We head to Ayers Rock tomorrow so I'll update the blgo when we get back or when we get to Perth on the 17th.

May the force be with you, always.
Murray and Lynn
xxx

'Hey, it's the sun, and it makes me smile' - Polyphonic Spree

G'day blog fans

Well we are now in the funky East Coast Village of Noosa after an amazing 3 days and 2 nights on the largest sand island in the world - Fraser Island. The last two tours we hav been on - sailing in the Whitsundays and camping and 4-wheel drivig around Fraser Island have blown me away. They have been fantastic. The beauty of Fraser Island has to be seen to be believed - gorgeous fresh water lakes, stunning sand dunes, beautiful forests and staggering diversity. If you can go - GO!

We met quite a few backpackers in SE Asia (snobby ones) that said we should avoid the East Coast of Australia because it is too 'touristy'. Bollocks, it's f**king gorgeous and no wonder people want to come here. These people would probably tell you not to go to the Eiffel Tower in Paris or go on the London Eye in London.

The East Coast of Australia is one of the best places I have ever been to. The Reef snorkelling off Cairns was just outstanding and I think I've already made my feelings on the Whitsundays and Fraser Island clear.

Our Fraser Island tour was not without it's fair share of craziness and adventure, so read on for an update of what we have been up to since I last wrote.

Tuesday 2nd October
Well our overnight bus journey from Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach went quite well. We slept for a reasonable time, I read my new Motley Crue Autobiography - I don't own any of their records but this is one story of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll well worth reading, there are some crazy stories - and we stopped off for food and leg stretch breaks along the way.

We arrived at Rainbow Beach at 7.30am and our hostel/guest house was right across the road from the bus-stop - ideal! We actually couldn't get into our room until after 10am (check out time), so we ditched our bags and went for a wander round town. It didn't take long as Rainbow Beach has a population of less than 1,500. We walked along the beach for a bit and then came back to the town (well, the main street) and got some fresh juice shakes and some lovely wraps for breakfast/lunch.

We checked into the hostel and we had a double room, actually situaed across the road from the hostel and above a shop. We had a snooze and a shower and then bought some sausage rolls and juice to take to the beach. The beach was lovely and pretty packed as it is the end of school holidays. We had a great time jumping about in the huge surf waves before heading to the supermarket for some food to cook in our room/flat. Lynn had cheesey beans on toast - the simple pleasures!

Wednesday 3rd October
The alarm went off at 5.40am as we had a free dolphin kayaking tour fo free as part of our tour deal. It was a bit of a waste of time as we didn't see any dolphins. I would rather have stayed in bed. Still, the exercise did us good. We went for a snooze and then got some more fruit smoothies and wraps to take to the beach for lunch. More fun jumping in and out of the ocean waves.

We met Anna from the Whitsundays who said she had managed to change her Fraser Island tour dates so she could come with us. That was good news as Anna is a top girl and good fun, she also turned out to be a great cook on Fraser!

At 4pm we had a meeting at our guesthouse to watch a safety video about camping and driving on Fraser Island and meet up with our fellow campers. Jason and Angelique from the Whitsundays had now arrived as well. Our group consisted of me, Lynn, Anna, then 3 guys from England Nick, Dan and Bryan, Daniel and Martine from Germany and Tina and Michael from Czech Republic. We had a goopd group and we all wen to the off license and supermarket to stock up on food for the trip. We then went back to the guesthouse (Pippies) for a BBQ and a couple of beers with the othe two groups - Jason's group and a group of young Americans all over in Australia on a student exchange program. We then had an early night.

Thursday 4th October
6.30am and the alarm went off. We chucked our big backpacks into the storage units and packed up the big 4 wheel drive (4WD) with our small packs, food, beer and wine (known as 'goon' over here - cheap wine). I drove the 4WD to start with and Nick, Lynn and Anna were also registered as drivers.

We got the ferry across and within 100 metres of getting off we became bogged in deep sand. Then nothing happened when I tried to reverse or go forward. Turns out that the clutch was f**ked, the official technical term used by the mechanic, and we had to phone the company for a new 4WD! So we were 1.5 hours down on time by the time we got going again and had transferred all our gear!

We drove for around 20km along a bumpy stoney road and then on to the beach. As we were late the tide had came in, so it was quite a tough drive through some deep sand.We took a fine sandy track to Lake McKenzie and suffered another small delay when we got stuck behind a bus that had become bogged in the sand!

We eventually got there and it was worth the wait. I couldn't wait to get into the crystal clear fresh water and ran down the steps to the beach, coming over all Alan Partride when I caught sight of the beach and the lake. 'Back of the net' I thought to myself as I took in the beauty of the Lake. I jumped in and immediately felt refreshed. Lynn joined me and we headed out to a small sand island to the left of the lake. By this point a lot of the day tour companies were leaving so it soon became pretty quiet. We swam and lay in the sun for a bit before setting off towards our camp site for the night.

The roads to the camp site were a little easier now I was getting the hang of the 4WD and the sand. We camped near the American group and sat on the sand dunes looking out at the ocean at night. Lynn and I were sharing a tent with Anna, and the two girls decided on an early night while I sat up having a few beers with Zak, Tina, Michael and Bryan. Despite the setback of the clutch burnout (not my fault) we had a superb day.

Friday 5th September
Another 6.30am start. The sunlight and the heat of the tent woke us. We had cereal for breakfast - milk and other things we needed to stay cool, like beer, wine, bacon and ham were stored in coolers that we filled with ice from the Fraser Island shop. We headed off for Lake Birabeen with Nick driving. Like Lake McKenzie. and indeed all of Fraser Island, it was just picture postcard perfect. We swam and lay on the beach. I played volleyball and football with the 3 English lads and we had a magic couple of hours.

We then headed to a picnic area nicknamed Central Station and enjoyed hame and cheese sandwiches before heading North along the beach to Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby was only accessible after a 45 minute hike, so everyone apart from the German couple (Daniel wasn't feeling well) hiked along a sandy track, surrounded by rainforest. The hike was worth it and Lake Wabby was probably our favourite lake. On one side you had lush green trees, in the middle another fresh water lake and on the other side, that we were now on, desert style dunes. It's places like this that occassionally make me think that there might be a God. It was staggeringly beautiful. I know I keep using the word 'beautiful' but who cares, it is!

We swam and climbed the dunes and lay in the sand and at one point we had the place to ourselves. I like to think that Lynn and I will return to Lake Wabby and Fraser Island at one point in time. It's too good to only visit once.

We headed back to the beach to set up camp and have our BBQ dinner of burgers, sausages and steak. Lynn and Anna did a grand job cooking on thge camp stove and we all had a few beers and some goon. While eating a dingo came up pretty close to us, but it soon went away. Dingo's are wild dogs that roam Fraser Island. They tend not to bother humans but there have been incidents in the past.........

After dinner we all headed to the beach to sit under the blanket of stars and watch the ocean waves in the moonlight. We had some beers and had a good laugh. At one point we all turned our torches off and when we turnedf them back on Lynn and Anna found a Dingo only a couple of metres from them. The light from the torches scared it off though.

Anna decided to go to bed at 9.30pm and we stayed up on the beach drinking and marvelling at the tracers left in the wet sand when we slid our feet along the surface. All of a sudden Anna came running down the dunes yelling about a Dingo attack and we all leapt to our feet and raced back to camp.

Anna had, stupidly, left some biscuits in her bag in the tent. A Dingo had ripped a hole in the tent and taken out her Ginger Nuts and toilet bag, attempting to eat some toothpaste and scattered her belongings around the camp. There was no other damage but Anna elected to sleep in the 4WD, leaving Lynn and I to sleep in the tent with the hole blocked to prevent any Dingo's from entering!

Saturday 6th October
We woke at 6am and had a brilliant breakfast of bacon rolls and egg. A ranger came along as we were packing the 4WD and asked us if we had had any bother with Dingo's. We told him about the previous night (missing out the part about the biscuits) and he told us that this camping area had had it's fair share of dingo incidents over the last few months. Still we were all safe and well..........

I drove off along the beach, marvelling at the ocean waves and a couple of whales surfacing in the distance. Everyone wa in a good mood, laughing about the previous nights incident and looking forward to reaching Indian Head. The windows were down, the wind was blowing through our hair, the beach stretched out for miles ahead of us. And then........

I couldn't believe it, a huge f**k off spider 'flew' in the drivers window and nestled on the windscreen directly in front of me. I kid you not when I say that this thing was massive, hairy and pretty god damn evil looking. See www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn for proof. I braked and jumped out of the drivers door yelling a everyone to get out. Amazingly no-one else saw the spider at this point, when the girls did they bolted for the back door. Everyone got out and Daniel managed to ensure that the spider was left well away from the 4WD when we all got back in. It turns out that it was a Huntsman spider, not poisonous, but I didn't know that at the time! Thankfully we were on a beach and I reacted calmly, well relatively. If we had been on a rainforest track I could easily have swerved off the road.

We drove right up to Indian Head and climbed the rocks to look out to sea, watching a couple of whales and dolphins swim in the distance. The view was, yet again, breathtakingly gorgeous. We chilled out for a bit and then drove back down the beach to Eli Creek, walking along in the creek and plunging into the deep parts to cool off.

Sadly, it was then time to head back to mainland Australia. I would not be surprised if Lynn and I return to sail the Whitsundays and visit Fraser Island again - definite highlights!

We had a very quiet night after returning the 4WD. A few beers with the group and then a takeaway pizza and chips beore heading to bed.

Sunday 7th October
We got a 2 hour bus to Noosa. I continued reading my Motley Crue book while Lynn dozed. We've checked in to the very pleasant Noosa Backpackers and booked day tickets to Australia Zoo tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that. We went for a nice stroll round town and we've just updated the flickr site and this blog.

We'll chill tonight as we have been very busy lately. Tomorrow we need to decide whether to travel to Syndey in one go, or break it up and stay a night or two in Byron Bay or somewhere like that.

Hope all is well wherever you are.

Lots of love
Murray and Lynn
xxx