I am determined to complete my Australian Adventure blog, not because I want to rush over it, but there is so much to report on the reef action and I want to make sure that I get it all down! Plus it is now mid February and I have done so much more that I want to write about. The time is going so fast, I will forget things that I notice – yes I should have made a note of them all but I didn’t – and soon I will be on my home trek 😳.
So my last post ended at Hervey Bay and The Woolshed Eco Lodge, which was actually really nice but full of biting insects! As it was a weekend, I was able to speak to Rajiv and Ajay which was a most wonderful treat!
From Hervey Bay I made my way to Rockhampton as a mid way stop, apparently the beef capital of Australia! Once again I was faced with a very odd town, where I expected the cowboy to ride down the street! I was a stop off on the way to Mackay, decent motel where I was able to do laundry!
Looking back, I don’t really recall why I took the route the I did, but I just went with it!
The British colonisation of the Rockhampton area began in 1853, when brothers Charles and William, who were seeking grazing lands arrived in the Rockhampton area. The Fitzroy river provided a convenient waterway for shipping of supplies and produce. With abundant grazing lands and waters from the Fitzroy River and its many tributaries and lagoons, the region continued to expand rapidly. In 1858, the town of Rockhampton was officially proclaimed. The town was surveyed at this time and the first sales of building allotments were held that year. In 1859, gold was discovered at Canoona. Miners rushed to the new field, using the site of Rockhampton on the Fitzroy River as the nearest navigable port. The Canoona field proved to be very disappointing and thousands of would-be gold seekers were left stranded at Rockhampton. Although many returned south, others stayed, adding to the new town’s population.
During the 1860s and 1870s, Rockhampton developed as the main port for the developing Central Queensland hinterland, the main export at that time being wool. The significant gold deposit found at Mount Morgan to the southwest was discovered in the 1880s, meant that Rockhampton became the main port through which the wealth of Mount Morgan gold was channelled.
Strong shaking was felt in Rockhampton when the “Great Queensland Earthquake of 1918” occurred on 7 June 1918, and on 2 March 1949, Rockhampton was severely damaged by a cyclone.
Anyway, that is as much of the interesting fruity that I have found out about Rockhampton, aka Rocky. Driving there was fine and I thought that it may be good to do some videos about being on the road! I may have posted these before so sorry if I am repeating myself!
I was only there a night but it was good to get my washing done and also go to Yeppon which is a nice seaside place. As you will see from the pictures, the weather varied greatly, one day 38 degrees, the next day – storms!
So then cam Mackay and the great surroundings, except it was Christmas and everything was closed! I saw no one and everything was shut – yes I know I should have known but hey! I had an AirBnB which was fine as I had done my shopping etc, and I actually made sure that I went for a swim! I saw some people out in the park, BBQ etc, but I greeted people with Merry Christmas and I got no response! Very strange, so I just went back to my place, cooked, watched tv and relaxed. Will admit that it was fecking strange!
So I chose to stay in AirBnB’s over Christmas and New Year as I wanted to be comfortable, have my own space and bathroom. Looking back, I should have gone somewhere else over Christmas, but that’s the thing with hindsight! I have no idea what is going on with AirBnB places, it is like enrolling in boot camp – so many rules!
- please make sure you run the dishwasher and empty it before you leave
- Please take out the trash before you leave
- Please leave the key card in the flat when you leave (but forget to say that you need to have the key card to keep out of the building and the car park .
I mean I get the whole don’t leave the AC on, no smoking, turn off lights etc, but if I am paying £100 per night, I do not expect to be asked to empty the bins! In fact I never did so and I got my knuckles rapped, via message! Bloody ridiculous!
In the hostels, we are asked to wash up our stuff and put it away, agree. We are asked to take our sheets off the bed and put in the basket – no problem, you expect that at a hostel but surely not when you are paying those princes for an apartment – or am I acting entitled?
Rant over, although I do have quite a few that will pop up going forward 🙃. From Mackay I went to Airlie Beach which is one of the points to access the Great Barrier Reef, so geared up for that market. I stayed at Magnums, when I arrived I thought I was in Kareoke land but the lodge area was towards the back and had rooms that were fairly quiet. I was only there 1 night as I had booked an excursion with Mayfair Whitsundays which was an overnight thing. The Mayfair was a racing yacht and it made it sound better than it was and I thought ok, it is nearly $600Aus so can’t be that bad! I was just really keen on getting out to the reef. It was fine to be honest, a cool bunch of people on board from everywhere and of all ages, although I think that they are more growers up for the younger backpackers. I was worried about the weather as it had been dreadful the days before but we set off fine. The boat was extremely basic, 2 loos and that’s all for 20 people, bunks which is fine but I was on a single bunk amount a double bunk and I kept standing on their feet!!
Everyone was very friendly and we all got on and just got on with it! We had to wear stinger suits, like thin wet suits, as it was stinger season. With all my complaining, I have to say that we saw some amazing ocean life, the different coral, colourful fish, ray, turtles, was cool.
The above videos are a few of the ones I took and I used my phone in one of those pouches that worked well, but I was not great with it. I decided then that I wanted to get a GoPro or something so the I could capture things better.
So we had a couple of snorkel sessions over the day which were spectacular, the rain came in during the evening but it was ok. We were warned that we would be woken at 5am the next day as there were a couple of good snorkelling sites that we needed to get to before getting back to Airlie Beach. Carina who was another solo traveller thought they were joking… oh no! The engines came on at 5am and after a hot and uncomfortable night, we got up! I met this lovely group of 4 that were out local and then from UK too, I complained that I was not able to sleep, and one of them Pete, said that he heard me snoring from sleeping up on deck!!!! Yes, I know I snore – can’t do much about it but we had a good laugh about it! Apparently my room number from now on is 104, as in 10snore…..!
Snoring has become a reoccuring joke with those around me for years, I guess that because I live alone, I have not had to do anything about it. When I do share a room or a dorm, I am really aware of it and I do get worried. Pip asked me if I ever woke my self up – err, no! I think that I take after Dad who was always a prolific snorer, which he always denied. It does upset me when people take the piss or make fun of me as I really don’t know what to do about it, but I have to accept it.
After we had done our trip to Whitehaven, we did have the chance to do another snorkel where the grass coral was amazing. Not sure I managed to capture it on video though. There is also the most instagrammed tree on the beach, something about storms and it was the only thing left. I tried to take some videos of the Lemon Sharks and stuff, you will have to look closely though. The water was rather murky as there had been bad weather the previous few days the churns up the water and makes visibility hard.
I also took a video of our sleeping quarters, just to give you an insight into the experience!! I also took a video of my AirBnB in Mackay that I forgot to include before, as I have said before, I have no idea how to go back and edit paragraphs, I should look it up I suppose!! I will just add a few videos and pictures, I am writing this on February 24th and I have to admit that I am really enjoying looking back at the media and reliving it all. That is the point of this blog I suppose, as I only have 6 ish weeks left on this trip and I cannot believe how fast it has gone, but also how much I have experienced – good and bad. The trip will have a profound effect on me, and of course I am looking forward to going back and seeing my boys and girls and becoming a Dadi Ma, seeing my friends, a couple of whom have lost parents and so I am keen to give them a hug, but in a way I am also dreading it as I know what I am like and the itchy feet will return. Let’s not think about that now.
The Sunday pm on the boat was very wet and most of us went below deck as there was no real cover on deck, we had been up so early that I think that most of us slept! I did pretend to read for a bit but gave that up after 10 mins…!!
Whilst I don’t think that I would do that kind of trip again, it was a great experience, very basic but we were there to see what the reef had to offer
So this is where I just add videos and pictures, feel free to ignore!!
After Airlie Beach I went up to Townsville and I had booked an AirBnB for 5 nights as it was over New Year and I really wanted to get out to Magnetic Island as it is famous for its’ Koala population, beaches and water wildlife. Little did I know that as soon as I arrived, I was in the middle of a storm. I don’t remember if I had said before but JoJo in Sydney had messaged me whilst I was on the Matador to see if I was ok as there had been a cyclone over south Queensland. I obviously was on the boat and could not respond and she, full of worry, called the police. Yes it does sound funny but she was that worried about me that she wanted to see what she could do. I called her as soon as I got back to land and we hang a laugh about it, although secretly I was chuffed to bits that she was that concerned!
Anyhoooooo, I had this very nice apartment in Townsville and it rained torrentially for 5 solid days and I could not even go out. It was a beautiful location so I enjoyed that, but no boat trips were running, I could get to Magnetic Island but no boat trips were happening. I went to the ferry terminal and the young chap behind the counter, who was a marine biologist (?) said that the water would be unsafe and to murky.
I had noticed that a lot of the buildings had metal roofing, apparently that is what most of the roofing is like in NZ, not sure what material is underneath, but what the results in is noise! I was in a top floor flat and at times I could not hear the TV! I did go out every day to the shopping mall, undercover, wandered around, had lunch, bought supplies etc, but was very disappointing not to be able to explore the reef as much that I had wanted to. New Year was very quiet, I don’t think that I even stayed up!
I didn’t dislike Townsville, it was very quiet and old fashioned in parts, similar to the other towns really. The part where I was, Belgian Gardens, was actually really nice so I felt quite content being there. It is quite an industrial town that has some of the government administration office for the north area and is home to one of the largest zinc refineries in the world, it is also the national hub for renewable energies. During WW2, it became the most important naval base in the country with American and Australian troops and air crew were stationed there, it became a major staging point for battles in the South West Pacific.
I felt that I had to write something about Townsville as I really did not experience much in the area!! But I have some pictures – obviously!
It was the Townsville AirBnB owner, Will, who is in the airline industry, told me off for not taking the trash out… puhlease, I am paying you £100 a night, you take the trash out!!
From Townsville I went to Cairns which was due to be my last stop. I stayed at the YHA, which you will see from my video, I had the whole dorm to myself! At the time I wished that I had allocated more time to Cairns as it is a really cool city and I would definitely return should the chance arise. I just thought it is yet another city and that I would get to do more in Townsville. The weather had calmed so I was able to book a trip out to Green Island It was one of those tourist places that had been set up to take boats and arrange water sports etc. Bit naff in the end but I was able to go out on a guided snorkel, which I all I wanted really, and I had my new GoPro, not that the quality of my filming was any better, but I have been improving.
I got talking to some nice people on the boat over, locals and tourists, and had. Good time. I am pleased that I went as I love the ocean! Again, I have learnt things about myself, I don’t think that I am a city person anymore, I am more of an ocean person and feel more comfortable in less developed areas – if that makes sense? I like to ask questions about a place, the history, the community, how it all works – sometimes I can probe too much. I am still trying to work out if I am a loner, or if I like company, or maybe somewhere in between?
I have noticed that staying in hostels is not what I thought it might be, some have been friendly and I have interacted with room mates and fellow travellers, but I will admit that the majority have been difficult in that people do not even acknowledge you as you walk past or if you are in the kitchen at the same time. Room mates have been ok and will say hello or good morning but my last dorm in Rotorua, there is this girl who refused to say anything and if I walked into the room, she would close her curtain, it was horrible. I did want to as her what her problem is but most of the time she was on her phone playing some game and talking to people on the game too. Having said that, there have been a couple of places where I have met some great people – more on that when I write about that area!
So that was Cairns and the end of the Australian road trip, I am so glad that I am writing this blog as it has given me the chance to relive the moments, to appreciate what I have seen and done. These blogs take me ages but I enjoy looking through them once I am done – even with the typo’s!
From Cairns I flew to Brisbane for the night and then off to Auckland for the next part! I will leave you with 2 pictures, one showing how many km’s i did and then one of my back pack having a shower as I did not pack wine bottles adequately and one broke!!!
The next blog will start in Auckland……!!!! Until then, be good!
Adventures of Nisha 