So, we've had alot of people asking about when we're going to update our blog. I think on our final day in Australia it's about time! This will only be short and sweet, sadly, we had planned on updating every few days but with long travelling days, lack of regular internet access and just having too much fun it has been a bit impractical keeping a blog! Maybe we were a bit ambitious in thinking we could keep everyone informed on our weekly movements...although we have been doing that on Facebook, we're keeping journals so we don't forget anything...which we're about 2 weeks behind on! So we'll give you a run down on our trip so far, where we've been and what we've been up to!
Hong Kong - we had an amazing time, despite the unseasonably cold weather! It's such a vibrant city with lots to see and do! The amazing skyline and light show and a harbour trip on the star ferry. Hong Kong History Museum. The absolutely huge 'Big Buddha' the worlds largest Buddha Statue, Po Lin monastary. The weird smelling - and sounding - food (boiled fish brains anyone?). Hong Kong park was a highlight we went on probably the warmest day and sat in the greenery surrounded by huge sky scrapers, a bit surreal. The tram to Victoria Peak where we could see over the whole of Hong Kong and watch the sun set over the sea. It was really beautiful...shame we were rather underdressed for the trip back to the hotel where the temperature plummeted and the freezing wind caught out the people queuing to get on the tram including us! Hong Kong is an amazing city and after initial trepidation we came to love it, ending our trip on a high with a free concert on the harbour at sunset before we headed to the airport. Fantastic!
Australia - where do we begin?! It's been awesome, fair dinkum! As the Aussie's would say! We've seen loads considering we've only been here for 6 weeks...(only?!). We've started and ended at my aunt's house on the Central Coast (about an hour and a half north of Sydney) and it's going to be really sad leaving! We went to visit my friend Tanya in Manly, and spent time on the beach and checking out where I lived for a while when I was younger which was weird and nice at the same time. We were lucky enough to spend Australia day in Sydney with another friend Ally who showed us all the sights, we ate great food and listened to great music all around the city for free topping the day off with brilliant fireworks at Darling Harbour! I think the word we've said most over the last few weeks is 'lucky', after our fab Australia Day adventure we went back to Sydney to see Carmen at the Domain (an park where they host events in the City), the same production currently showing at the Opera House. It was amazing, Ally took us and we had a picnic waiting for it to begin, there were thousands of people there and we had a great spot with a view of the stage and the screens!
Next stop - Melbourne! Its such a cool city with loads of shops and cafe's, although we weren't overly impressed by the 45 degree heat and hair dryer wind when we first got there it soon cooled down and we had fun exploring on the tram and meeting up with my friend Rob for a barbecue on the Yarra! We went to the Suzuki night market for more free music and loads of food and craft stalls - excellent! Then on to collect our van to drive the GREAT OCEAN ROAD!!! We had a brilliant time in 'Mouldy Margaret' seeing the South Coast stopping at cute little towns, camping, getting lost on the odd occaision, spotting Koalas, off roading, seeing the 12 Apostles, rainforest walks, the bluest of blue lakes and brief stops in weird 'Bogan' towns! We...well Rhi, drove all the way to Adelaide where we stayed with Ben and Jane (my other cousin and his wife) before our next destination....
Cairns - our first impressions weren't great (due to the torrential monsoon rain...we didn't know it was wet season and the slightly odd hostel guy) and we were left wondering why we decided to stay for so long! But we soon came round after our incredible trip out to the reef! It was the most amazing day, we went initially thinking we'd only go on the glass bottom boat, but after we went on it and saw how shallow the reef was we decided to get snorkelling! It was like being in an aquarium!! After much badgering from one of the crew we decided to give Scuba Diving a go! I couldn't get used to the breathing underwater thing but Rhi did and conquered her fear of open water by Scuba Diving for 40 minutes! One of our favourite days by far! We hired 'Horace Hyundai' for 3 days and drove up to Cape Tribulation stopping off at Mossman Gorge and Port Douglas. It was beautiful...and a bit scary to be out in the Daintree Rainforest - well I was scared when we went looking for a Crocodile in the wild and chickened out! We spent the other two days exploring the Tablelands, the awesome Barron Falls and taking pictures trying to do the 'Timotei Hair Flick' at Millaa Millaa. As we headed back to Cairns for our last day we drove near Innisfail and saw all the damaged Banana trees and few missing rooves from Cyclone Yasi.
Back to Sydney and the Central Coast for our last week in Oz! We booked tickets to see Madame Butterfly at the Opera House and were 5 rows from the front! It was fantastic!!! The next day we went to the Blue Mountains with Ally, the views were beautiful, we laughed so hard we cried and we watched the sunset over the 3 Sisters eating pizza. We stayed there until the stars came out and lay watching them until we were frozen!! Another excellent day! The very last few days we've spent with my cousin Jenny and the kids and my Aunt and Uncle's house. We had a final trip out to the Hunter Valley to some winery's and cheese..ery's and tried some Butterscotch and Chilli Schnapps...interesting. We'll be sad to leave but really excited for New Zealand! It's going to be amazing!!
Check out our pictures on Facebook! Hopefully we'll update you on New Zealand soon!
Love,
Soph and Rhi xxxxx
