Hong Kong

Day 1:

We landed in Hong Kong very early and tired after the long flight from Cairns. Made our way to the hotel, dumped the bags and set off to explore. I must say I wasn't very impressed at first, but after an hour's sleep and something to eat, everything started to look a bit better. We got the metro to Kowloon, arriving after only one mishap, where we went through the wrong gate and ended up having to pay twice!

Found a night market and bought a few bits of tat. Then had our dinner at a pavement cafe. It was all very good. Hong Kong at night looks just like the photos we see of it at home. Metro back to the motel, we've got the hang of it now.

Day 2:

Got up on Saturday to a grey and misty day which was unfortunate as it spoiled the views of the city. Took the metro again - it's really good and very cheap. This time we made our way to the cable cars which took us up the the village of Ngong Ping and the statue of the Big Buddha. There are 250 steps up yo the Buddha and then a few more at the top to walk around it.

Had a look around one of the many shopping malls. Full of designer stuff. Nothing cheap her, but the shops are so busy and everyone seems to have loads of carrier bags full of stuff. No recession here I think!

Day 3:

Another grey and misty day. First had a look around the botanic gardens on the Hong Kong side. It's amazing the way they make use of the little space available here, with various bits and bobs squashed into small spaces, making use of building upwards where they can. We were told that there are over 7 million people living in Hong Kong, in an area much smaller than London or New York. I must say that that will be one of my lasting impressions of the city, the crowds everywhere. We travelled on a metro train at about 6pm on Sunday evening and it was absolutely packed. I have a picture which I will put here as soon as I can. Travelled back to the hotel at around 10pm, and it was exactly the same!

Anyway, I am jumping ahead. After the botanic gardens, we intended to take the tram to 'The Peak', which is the highest lookout point for city views. After deciding that we didn't want to queue for 2.5hrs for tram tickets, we caught the number 15 bus instead which took us there in about 20 minutes. Buses are also very good and very cheap. The 15 cost £1 each instead of £40 on the tram!

Misty views from The Peak, bet it's glorious on a good day!

Back to the hotel for a quick rest, then out again for the light show, which occurs every evening at 8pm. The buildings on the Hong Kong waterfront are lit up with lasers and flashing lights. To view you need to get to the clock tower on the Kowloon side, so we took the famous Star Ferry across the bay to watch.

 I must say that the light show was a bit disappointing, but we needed to see it, and I enjoyed seeing all the buildings lit up from the ferry and Kowloon. So back to the hotel and to bed on the last full day of our trip!

Day 4:

Took the A11, another great bus, back to Hong Kong airport. Time of trip, about 30 minutes, cost £4 each, made Andy's day! Had to get here around midday as Andy's flight to Hanoi leaves at 14.30. Unfortunately, my flight to London leaves at 23.30 so I have a long wait at the airport. Never mind, can catch up with the blog and do a bit of reading. Looking forward to getting to London tomorrow.

So, today I said goodbye to my travelling companion of the last 9 months. Can't believe how quickly it has gone by. Will see Andy again in 2 weeks time in Grange, where we can see what has happened to the house whilst we have been away. Looking forward too to catching up with family and friends very soon.

So that's it, the Big Trip is over. How lucky we are to have had the opportunity to see so many different places :), where next?

The Great Barrier Reef

There was rain like I have never seen before overnight, and it was still raining this morning as we went to join the boat for our trip to the reef.

 We were both dosed up with travel sickness medication. Unfortunately not everyone else was! Choppy seas until we reached the pontoon at the reef. However, once we were there the weather was kind to us with no further rain and even some sunshine in the afternoon.

Had a go at snorkelling which was great fun. Then went out on a semi-submersible and a glass bottomed boat to observe the reef and the beautiful fish. There is an almost tame reef wrasse called Wally, who stole the show. He enjoys being stroked and likes to be in on all the action! 

This is Wally...

Here are a few of the many pictures we took.

Another great day out! Here we are on the way home, which was far less choppy thank goodness, but it was still raining in Cairns when we got back.

Today was our last full day in Australia as we set off for Hong Kong tomorrow morning. We have had a think about the things we like and the things we don't like about Aussie. Here is a list.

The good bits...

1)  Sydney

2)  Melbourne

3)  weather South of Brisbane, thereafter too hot and humid

4)  Echo Point in the Blue Mountains

5)  Effortless driving on nearly empty roads

6)  Koalas

7)  Abbreviations eg Ambo. Ute, Oz etc - leaving time for beer!

8)  Conservation, even snakes and spiders!

9)  Beautiful beaches

10) Fishing

11) Virgin Australia

The bad bits...

1) Flora and fauna - most species are out to get you in some way!

2) Snakes - 7 of the 10 most deadly in the world!

3) Big spiders - Andy hates them!

4) Crocs and Box jellyfish render northern beaches unusable for much of the year. Sharks do the same for the rest!

5) even some of the plants release neurotoxins if touched!

6) Soulless Brisbane 

7) Ayr, small town north of Brisbane with no redeeming features and the worst meal of the trip!

Cairns

The drive to Cairns was fine. Some gusts of wind and a bit overcast, but we drove the 350km in about 4.5 hours including a stop for breakfast! We arrived in Cairns to hazy sunshine and spent the afternoon exploring and swimming in the pool.

Day 2.

A similar day, overcast but with the sun breaking through at times. We took a trip to the rainforest. Took the scenic railway up through the hills to Kuranda. The train ride was nice and very informative. Up to 1500 men worked on the line, digging out the 55 tunnels by hand. It took only 5 years to build the train line, an ambitious project to revive the fortunes of Cairns, which had faltered after the gold rush. 

Kuranda itself was disappointing. A tacky little place full of expensive tourist tat.

Next stop was the Rainforest station where we took an old army duck over land and water for an informative trip through the rainforest.

Learnt that it's not just the insects, reptiles and sea creatures that are trying to injure or kill you, but so are the plants! One we saw will give you a sting containing a neurotoxin, which can take 6 months to resolve!

Also saw some lovely ferns some of which are epiphytes, including that word so we don't forget it. This refers to plants which make their home on another plant without damaging the host. They also have tree ferns in Australia, much like the NZ ones,

Made the trip back to Cairns on the sky train, a 7.5 km cable car ride, high above the trees. It was lovely. We were able to make 2 stops on the way down, for photos,

Day 3.

The worst day yet, weather wise. It has been cloudy all day with some rain too. Have booked to go to the reef tomorrow so hope it cheers up.

Townsville

Left Airlie Beach quite early for the 260km drive to Townsville. Thought we'd stop for brunch on the way and unfortunately stopped at a place called Ayr. Ayr is an awful place, worse than Brisbane and the brunch was equally bad. Made me a bit apprehensive about what we would find in Townsville, but we have been pleasantly surprised.

Had booked a couple of days in Townsville to break the journey. The weather has been getting increasingly overcast on the way here, but it is still very hot and humid. Spent the first afternoon exploring the strand, Townsville's promenade, which is full of water parks, pools and fountains. Also quite a few restaurants and coffee bars, very nice area. 

Then went back to the hotel and spent a while by the pool, which is really pretty and set out as an oasis.

Day 2:

Andy has been worrying me about Ross River Virus, which is unique to this area and similar to Dengue fever (bad flu). No signs of it yet though!

Spent a couple of hours at Reef HQ this morning. Enjoyed it very much. Reef HQ has the largest aquarium based reef in the world, and large tanks of reef fish including sharks, rays and all the colourful reef fish. 

It also has a turtle hospital where sick turtles are brought to get them better and hopefully released back into the ocean. Turtles suffer from gut problems often from eating plastics which pollute the sea. Turtles mistake things such as plastic carrier bags for jellyfish, which they try to eat and then get into trouble.

This turtle is being treated in shallow water as it had floating syndrome which stops it being able to dive for food.

The tropical storm hasn't materialised yet and is now forecast for tomorrow afternoon. We are going to set off early tomorrow and make a dash for Cairns. We hope to get there before the cyclone hits, but understand that Cairns is expecting many cms of rain over the next few days. If so, we may not get to see the barrier reef which will be disappointing. We'll have to see what happens.

Fishing in the Whitsundays

A very early start today, Richard, our skipper, picked us up at 6.30am! Picked up one other chap, Tony, from his hotel and then set off for the bay. The light was lovely as we reached the boat slip...

And even nicer as we set off...

As the sea was still rough today, the plan was to fish in the river estuary, where it would be calmer. However, the first task of the day was to drop the crab pots. Richard loaded 4 pots with bait and dropped them into the shallow water around the estuary. The water was sometimes so shallow that he had to get out and push the boat along! 

We then had a hour or so fishing in a calm bay while we were waiting for the tide to come in so that we  get to our main fishing ground. Here Andy was fisherman of the day, landing his first ever salmon!

Time then to move on to the estuary. I was a bit apprehensive as Richard said he had seen crocodiles in the area! Soon forgot about that though as the fishing began in earnest. Not much luck for Tony or me but we did see a turtle swim by. Andy had catch of the day again, managing to land this barramundi...

I don't know who looks more nervous, Andy or the fish! We reckon that it weighed around 7kg, but as Richard had already caught a smaller on, we let this one go. He's a lucky fish though as we were told that a fish that size could fetch about $100.

Our final task of the day was to collect in the crab pots. 2 pots were empty, but there were 3 mud crabs in the other 2 pots. One crab was a female, which had to be put back, but that still left 2 good size males to share between us. So it was mud crab, blue salmon, barramundi and estuary cod for tea, with chips of course.

What a good day!

Expecting a cyclone off the Queensland coast in the next couple of days. Watch this space. It is possible that the road to Cairns may be flooded so plans may need revision.

The Whitsunday Islands

After a long drive we arrived in Airlie beach and headed for the information centre to book up trips for the two days of our stay here. I wanted to have a look around the islands and Andy was keen to fish. The weather has been a bit iffy around here with high winds making the sea a bit rough. For that reason it was suggested that we use a company called Ocean Rafting to get out to the islands. Ocean Rafing run large ex lifeboat, rib style boats which can crash over large waves and are popular with young thrill seekers!

At the boarding desk they suggested that people who were old or had bad backs or necks shouldn't travel today due to the large waves. Luckily we don't fall into either category, so off we went with all the other back packers! However, we were at least 30 years older than all of the other passengers, probably nearer 40 years older than most!

On the way out, there was a 3 metre swell and winds of 60km/hr. An exhilarating, but somewhat drenching experience. First stop was for a spot of snorkelling. Saw quite a few different types of fish and some lovely coral, but unfortunately the visibility was reduced as a result of the rough seas. So on we went to another Island for a short bush trek with glorious views.

Had lunch on Whitehaven beach which is 7km long and consists of beautiful white sand. Time then to move on and have a quick look at some of the other islands including Hamilton Island, where George Harrison once lived.

The trip back was just as exhilarating, however the winds had dropped a bit so they decided to do a few tricks. First we did some wake riding - crossing the wake of the boat in front at high speed.  Then a few wheelie spins just before getting back to port! It was really good fun.

The drive north

Spent most of the day driving, so not a lot to report. However, we did spot a couple of signs which wouldn't exactly encourage you to come to Queensland!

This was at the beach where we had hoped to have our lunch.

And this one was at the swimming pool

Did also see one interesting sign today. How about this, a first for us both!

Had an overnight stay in Rockhampton. Not a particularly nice town, looking a bit down at heel, but it known as the beef capital of Australia, so we guessed the chances were we could get a good steak. We were right, had a great meal and a bit too much red wine to go with it!

Long drive again tomorrow.