Northern Territory

Wow.. we've been driving for 2 days, but we're finally "here"- sort of. The roads out here are SO straight, and SO long. The speed limit is 130. With the exception of cattle, other travellers and road trains (Which are 50m long transport trucks) there is nottttttttthing to see.

We're in Alice Springs right now. We're driving to Kings Canyon and Yulara today. We're going to do some hiking and site seeing and picture taking. The next few days we're going to Uluru and Kata Tjuta and Docker River where Sharpie lives. It's pretty crazy out here, reminds me a little of Northern Ontario.

Computer is dieing, but I've posted some pictures on facebook.

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Magnetic Island (Townsville)

After Airlie Beach we drove to Townsville. I really wanted to go skydiving but for various reasons (mostly $$) I didn't end up going. Instead we rented jetskis and did a tour off Magnetic Island. It was amaaazinggg!! The tour was 1.5 hours and we got to go around pretty much the whole island and went out to sea. We saw a few sea turtles which was really cool.

The jet skis were SO fast.. the guy said they could get up to 80km/hr.. I only got it up to 50 and I was holding on for dear life. My voice was definetly hoarse from all the screaming, it was so fun.

Magnetic Island is gorgeous, I would like to go back there for a week and lounge around at the hostel they have there. There are a lot of places in Aus that have hostels that you can stay and work 3 or 4 hours a day and get a place to stay and dinner. If (when) I come back here I might do that for a while.. get to enjoy the town where the hostel is and it's basically free.

I'm trying to post some pictures on facebook of the jet skiing and everything else that's been going on lately!

Fraser Island, Airlie Beach

Met up with Sharpie on Monday and we drove to Hervey Bay in her truck. We found a campsite to stay at for the night and caught the earliest barge on Tuesday morning for Fraser Island. Sharpie had never driven off road, and her car had never been off road either. It was AWESOME!! The first bit was really muddy and bumpy and we were bouncing all over the place. The rest, and the majority of the trip was on the beach right on the ocean. It was so gorgeous. We wanted to fit everything in one day- which we did. We did the Champange Pools which are cool fresh water pools in the rocks right on the ocean, Indian Head which is a lookout over the beach and the ocean. Eli creek which is like a big fresh water lazy river surrounded by trees.. it was cool to just lay in the creek and it pushed you down stream. Lake Wabby, another fresh water lake that was surrounded by sand dunes and we also went to Lake McKenzie which was crystal blue and had the whitest sand.
At night we stayed at a campsite called Central Station- we slept on top of the car which was pretty neat. We caught the earliest barge back to the mainland Wednesday morning and then gave Sharpie's car a good clean. The salt water from the driving is horrible for the car so we had to do a good job.
We drove to Airlie beach that day- almost 900 km so we didn't get there till late. We pitched our tent in a campsite and left early in the morning so we didn't have to pay! (We're trying to do everything on the cheap)
We found a great park in Airlie that had an outdoor shower so we finally got to shower after a few day without. We aired out our tent and everything as well. Made me feel a lotttt better!
Then we drove to Shute Harbour and rented Sea Kayaks from Salty Dog Sea Kayaking. We kayaked out to White Rock and did some snorkeling there although the water was a bit murky. Then we paddled over to South Molle Island and hung out on the beach, looked at coral and did some swimming. We camped on South Molle Island for the night and got eaten alllivveeeee by noseeums. I managed to keep my face fairly covered with my sleeping bag but Sharpie didn't. She has red bites all over her face, and we both have them all over our bodies. Stay tuned on facebook for pictures- they're funny! We paddled back early this morning (we're early risers I guess) and we're in Airlie Beach right now. I'm doing some laundry and catching up on some e-mails. We're driving to Townsville today which is only 3.5 hours. We're going to do some more snorkeling tomorrow and look at going skydiving! I think I'll be able to convince Sharpie to jump with me.
The weather has been gorgeous... 27 degrees and no clouds. I can't believe I only have one week left- the time has gone by so fast. But it's been amazing.

I'm looking forward to the next week, a lot more adventures I'm sure. Miss everyone at home, love you.

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Spot X, Australia.

I'm back from my weekend of surfing.. it was AMAZING! The place we went is called Spot X- it has hostels, campground, cabins and teepees. The beach is gorgeous, really big and had great beginner waves.

We got a bus from Brisbane on Friday night and got there late Friday. Our surf lessons were Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning. Surfing reallllyyy takes it out of you; between the waves, the sun, getting thrown around and trying to actually surf- it's definitely a good workout.

On Sunday I managed to catch a few unbroken waves which was really exciting! To learn you start on the broken waves, the white part and then you move up to the more green, unbroken waves. It's hard to judge the waves sometimes and a few times they broke on top of me, or made me nose dive and spun around in the wave. Nothing wakes you up better than a few nose dives into the ocean.

Saturday night there was a big party, the theme was Gender Bender- the boys had a great time putting on make up and dresses... reminded me of theme dinners at camp. There was also a great live band that played during the night. It was a lot of fun.

The weather was GORGEEOUSSS! The forecast wasn't great but it was hot and sunny all weekend. It was a nice change from the rain that has been around for the last few days.

The surf school took a whole bunch of pictures and I some but the way it works is you go online and look at them all and then chose the ones you want. There are a lot of pictures to go through so I wont have them up for a while.

Sharpie flies into Brisbane today! I'm looking forward to the second half of my trip with company! It's another sunny, beautiful day- I hope it stays like that for the rest of the trip! :D

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Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay.

Last few days have been amazing!
After Newcastle I drove to Coffs Harbour. I stopped in Port Macquarie for a coffee- they have some gorgeous beaches there, I really liked that town.
Was my first time driving in the dark here, I was realllly scared of the kangaroos. I saw one on the side of the road- he stared at me and I told him not to jump out... so he didn't. I got to Coffs late so I found a parking lot and slept in the truck. The back seats fold down and I have a mattress so it's actually quite comfortable. It'd be ideal if I was 2 inches shorter but what can you do. I explored Coffs in the morning, it had nice beaches but other than that not much that I could see.
After Coffs I drove to Byron Bay. I've been looking forward to Byron this whole trip- everyone I've talked to said I'd love it. And I did.
I stayed at the craziest hostel- if you can even call it a hostel. I would call it more of a backpackers squatting ground. The whole thing is fenced in, and has some shared dorms and a big camp ground. It's like a huge tent city where some people live for months. They can work doing cleaning and stuff and then they don't pay for accommodations. There are big, tropical birds everywhere (that CAW loudly day and night) and big iguanas that I always worried about stepping on.
It rained at least 2 times a day and then all night everyday I was there. Luckily it was usually pretty nice for the part of the days that I was actually doing things. It rained sooo hard at night it usually woke me up- either that or the loud birds.
The first day I did a surf lesson and LOVED it. I got up a bunch of times and didn't hurt myself- very successful. Loved it so much I booked a weekend trip that takes me to a place called Spot X- at Arrawarra Beach. I'm supppperrr excited to spend the weekend surfing on the beach.
Today I just layed on the beach and did a little souvenir shopping. I got my first sunburn.. I'm very red and splotchy.
I'm now in Brisbane with my friend Renee.. I'm going to explore the city tomorrow and then I'm off on my surf adventure at night. I come back Sunday afternoon and then Sharpie gets to Brisbane Monday afternoon. We'll start our drive North on Monday afternoon. I think first stop is Hervey Bay/ Fraser Island.
I can't wait to have a travel buddy- travelling alone was cool at first but now I'm looking forward to having someone with me.. You can only take so many pictures of scenery and yourself!

Miss you all.
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Newcastle, NSW.

Was back to Sydney last night- stayed with one of Sharpie's friends.. I left this morning for Newcastle. I was definitely nervous at the beginning, the whole left side of the road thing. But once I started I realized it's really not that much different. I took the scenic route, along the pacific highway. It was really nice. I'm staying with another Aussie friend from Alberta.

The weather today was SO gorgeous.. probably 25. I stopped at a beach on the way up to Newcastle. I went for a run barefoot- it was awesome. And then I saw in the ocean for a bit. I probably looked hilarious because every time a piece of seaweed touched my legs I freaked out! I'm definitely going to have to get over my fear of seaweed if I want to learn how to surf.

I'm heading up to Coffs Harbour tomorrow... will find a place to camp- hopefully near the beach. It's supposed to be really nice again tomorrow.

Still having an amaaaazing time! Miss everyone.

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Melbourne.

Leaving Melbourne today, decided to stay an extra day because I had to finish a paper for my online course that's worth 45% and I knew I wouldn't finish it if I didn't have proper internet and a place.

Melbourne is awesome, it's a very trendy, busy, diverse city. I explored downtown a lot, saw the big, old library and the Eureka tower. Took the train and the trams. On Thursday I decided to trek to the beach because I haven't really done the beach since I've been here. Sean dropped me off at a tram stop and said I'd go through the city and then to the beach. I was on the tram for 30 minutes when I finally got to the city.. and then they announced what stop we were at. The beach was stop 147, we were at stop 3. In 30 minutes I had gone 3 stops. I hopped off the tram because I didn't want to spend all day on it and probably get lost anyways. So I roamed around downtown more and watched a bunch of comedy acts- there's a comedy festival on here.

Last night we went to Crown casino and went bowling. I met Sean's work friends and did pretty poorly at bowling. The high point was when I got a spare.

I'm back to Sydney today, picking up Sharpie's car and then heading up. I think tonight I'll stay in Newcastle with my friend from Alberta. Then my plan from there is:
Newcastle to Coffs Harbour (Sun night)
Coffs Harbour (Mon/ Tues night)
Brisbane (Wed/ Thurs night)
Surf Weekend that I was supposed to do this weekend (Fri/ Sat)
Meet up with Sharpie (Sun)

Those plans are pretty loose because I may find a cool place to stay on my way up. I have all the stuff I need in Sharpie's car to go camping but I might stay in a hostel one night to meet some fellow travelers.

Having a great time, enjoying the weather. Looking forward to getting my road trip started!

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