Monday, May 29, 2006
I survived the crocs!
Hi everyone,
I never realised how bad and broken this blogged looked through internet explorer. Yet another reason to use firefox! Still.. there isn't much I can do about it at the moment - so I apologise for the months that it's looked awful.
So after surviving the sharks and killer jellyfish at the Whitsundays, we have now arrived in Cairns. We returned our little car today, so now have until Thursday up here before flying back to Sydney. Sophie leaves to go back to the UK on Saturday. I'm going to be back at work sometime after that (for what work there is as they still haven't had any rains out west).
We left Townsville two days ago, and it was a long 4-5 hour drive up to here, though we did stop at the quaint little village of Mission Beach, now rather windswept after the wrath of Cyclone Larry a few months back. It was worse further North at Innisfail where it seemed most of the houses had taken a battering from the winds, with most roofs covered in tarpaulins, and many road signs bent, or simply missing. Cairns is good though. We found a nice studio apartment with a decent rate quite close to the town centre (and by sheer luck one block away from the car rental place).
Two days ago we had quiet day, driving around the sights just outside of Cairns. We went to the crystal cascades, which had a really nice walk and even saw two big monitors (big reptiles) sunning themselves. We also drove up one of the gorges to see some white water rafting in action.
Yesterday we drove up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree National Park. This huge area of rainforest is renowned for its closeness to the reef, and you can literally follow a stream down the forest (being very very wary of crocs), down onto the beach and see dry and fringing reef at the sea's edge. Saw some sea snakes, lots of blue and yellow tailed fish and other things. Not nearly as impressive as the Whitsunday snorkel, but as far as rock pools go - very cool! While I was exploring to my little hearts content, Sophie did a few hours of horse riding through the jungle and on the beach. Cape Tribulation was famous for being the place where Captain Cook hit the reef and made a hole in his boat, before fixing it later - but there was rather little evidence of him being there at all...
Today I'm going to be busy with my application for uni. Sophie I believe is off to the waterfront lagoon for, whatever you do at waterfront lagoons. Then there are just four days to go before our holiday is over.. :(
Must go I suppose.
Jan.
I never realised how bad and broken this blogged looked through internet explorer. Yet another reason to use firefox! Still.. there isn't much I can do about it at the moment - so I apologise for the months that it's looked awful.
So after surviving the sharks and killer jellyfish at the Whitsundays, we have now arrived in Cairns. We returned our little car today, so now have until Thursday up here before flying back to Sydney. Sophie leaves to go back to the UK on Saturday. I'm going to be back at work sometime after that (for what work there is as they still haven't had any rains out west).
We left Townsville two days ago, and it was a long 4-5 hour drive up to here, though we did stop at the quaint little village of Mission Beach, now rather windswept after the wrath of Cyclone Larry a few months back. It was worse further North at Innisfail where it seemed most of the houses had taken a battering from the winds, with most roofs covered in tarpaulins, and many road signs bent, or simply missing. Cairns is good though. We found a nice studio apartment with a decent rate quite close to the town centre (and by sheer luck one block away from the car rental place).
Two days ago we had quiet day, driving around the sights just outside of Cairns. We went to the crystal cascades, which had a really nice walk and even saw two big monitors (big reptiles) sunning themselves. We also drove up one of the gorges to see some white water rafting in action.
Yesterday we drove up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree National Park. This huge area of rainforest is renowned for its closeness to the reef, and you can literally follow a stream down the forest (being very very wary of crocs), down onto the beach and see dry and fringing reef at the sea's edge. Saw some sea snakes, lots of blue and yellow tailed fish and other things. Not nearly as impressive as the Whitsunday snorkel, but as far as rock pools go - very cool! While I was exploring to my little hearts content, Sophie did a few hours of horse riding through the jungle and on the beach. Cape Tribulation was famous for being the place where Captain Cook hit the reef and made a hole in his boat, before fixing it later - but there was rather little evidence of him being there at all...
Today I'm going to be busy with my application for uni. Sophie I believe is off to the waterfront lagoon for, whatever you do at waterfront lagoons. Then there are just four days to go before our holiday is over.. :(
Must go I suppose.
Jan.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Whitsundays
hello,
We safely survived the rain and thunder and cold weather of the Whitsunday islands. Seriously though, we had cloud the first few days and strong winds which made it a bit chilly, and the scenery a bit dull. We got on board the Alexander Stewart for a three days two night cruise/sail. We did get to see the magnificent Whitehaven Beach, sea turtles, dolphins and more. The highlight though was the first day snorkeling off Hayman island. It really is as good as you see on the tv. Beautiful coral, colourful fish - truly amazing. And to cap it all off, the deckhand who was feeding the fish from the dinghy managed to find us a gigantic Maori Wrasse, a good metre across and almost just as tall. Pretty incredible swimming with that thing.
Yesterday we got off the ship at 3pm and had a not so nice three hour drive up to Townsville where we are staying a few nights, before pushing up the last little bit to Cairns. Townsville is really nice, quite a large city (100k+ people), but its all green and, well, tropical.
Not sure what we are doing yet.. Going to have some lunch and probably see some more of the sea. (I want to do more snorkeling!)
Anyway, must go.
Jan.
We safely survived the rain and thunder and cold weather of the Whitsunday islands. Seriously though, we had cloud the first few days and strong winds which made it a bit chilly, and the scenery a bit dull. We got on board the Alexander Stewart for a three days two night cruise/sail. We did get to see the magnificent Whitehaven Beach, sea turtles, dolphins and more. The highlight though was the first day snorkeling off Hayman island. It really is as good as you see on the tv. Beautiful coral, colourful fish - truly amazing. And to cap it all off, the deckhand who was feeding the fish from the dinghy managed to find us a gigantic Maori Wrasse, a good metre across and almost just as tall. Pretty incredible swimming with that thing.
Yesterday we got off the ship at 3pm and had a not so nice three hour drive up to Townsville where we are staying a few nights, before pushing up the last little bit to Cairns. Townsville is really nice, quite a large city (100k+ people), but its all green and, well, tropical.
Not sure what we are doing yet.. Going to have some lunch and probably see some more of the sea. (I want to do more snorkeling!)
Anyway, must go.
Jan.
Friday, May 19, 2006
The middle bit..
The middle bit involved much travelling!
Anyway, weare about 1000km further up the coast, in the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands. We have a room for a few nights at Airlie beach, on the mainland, are off this afternoon to book a 3 day, 2 night sailing adventure with Aussie Adventure Sailing. Not entirely sure which vessel yet, as it depends which ones have room on standby rates. In any case, I'll tell you all about that little adventure when I get off the boat.
Since I last updated we managed to get over to Fraser Island. After visiting Bundaberg Rum Distillery, we drove down back to Hervey Bay, where we stayed a couple of nights before catching a day package over which included a flight and about 6hrs of 4WD hire.It was a really good day,except for the unfortunate puncture,which lost us a bit of time especially since the spare wheel nuts were rusted on! However, we got to swim in the glorious Lake McKenzie and yes it does really look like that! I saw a big goanna too (about 1 metre long) and we had a good drive on the beach, before catching our plane home.
Next stop was Emu Bay, with the intention of hopping over to Great Keppel Island. However it was pouring with rain, so instead we opted to drive yet further, within range of the Whitsundays. Because it was raining, and apparently you don't go to the beach when it rains, we opted to head inland for a few days to the very beautiful Eungella National Park, where we have spent the past 3nights at the very cozy Broken River Mountain Retreat. It is an eco style cabin/lodge resort, with it's main attraction being the colonies of platypus in the river next door. We saw loads of them, in addition to turtles, river rats(yuck!), flocks of macaws and a whole host of rainforest related creepy crawlies. We went on a nighttime spotlighting tour with a local guide which was really good, except our lack of finding any of the bigger wildlife such as wallabies and tree gliders.
Anyway, I suppose I better go. I have a return flight booked for 20th of August. So I'll be back pretty soon. Not far to Cairns now!
Hope your summer is beginning!
Best wishes,
Jan.
Anyway, weare about 1000km further up the coast, in the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands. We have a room for a few nights at Airlie beach, on the mainland, are off this afternoon to book a 3 day, 2 night sailing adventure with Aussie Adventure Sailing. Not entirely sure which vessel yet, as it depends which ones have room on standby rates. In any case, I'll tell you all about that little adventure when I get off the boat.
Since I last updated we managed to get over to Fraser Island. After visiting Bundaberg Rum Distillery, we drove down back to Hervey Bay, where we stayed a couple of nights before catching a day package over which included a flight and about 6hrs of 4WD hire.It was a really good day,except for the unfortunate puncture,which lost us a bit of time especially since the spare wheel nuts were rusted on! However, we got to swim in the glorious Lake McKenzie and yes it does really look like that! I saw a big goanna too (about 1 metre long) and we had a good drive on the beach, before catching our plane home.
Next stop was Emu Bay, with the intention of hopping over to Great Keppel Island. However it was pouring with rain, so instead we opted to drive yet further, within range of the Whitsundays. Because it was raining, and apparently you don't go to the beach when it rains, we opted to head inland for a few days to the very beautiful Eungella National Park, where we have spent the past 3nights at the very cozy Broken River Mountain Retreat. It is an eco style cabin/lodge resort, with it's main attraction being the colonies of platypus in the river next door. We saw loads of them, in addition to turtles, river rats(yuck!), flocks of macaws and a whole host of rainforest related creepy crawlies. We went on a nighttime spotlighting tour with a local guide which was really good, except our lack of finding any of the bigger wildlife such as wallabies and tree gliders.
Anyway, I suppose I better go. I have a return flight booked for 20th of August. So I'll be back pretty soon. Not far to Cairns now!
Hope your summer is beginning!
Best wishes,
Jan.
Friday, May 12, 2006
The rain arrived!
Hello all,
Today the rain came down for the first time since Sophie arrived, and for me, the first time since this time last month. Which was a shame because we were spending a few days just north of the Sunshine coast at rainbow beach, and due to pick up a 4wd and tour Fraser Island. After days of planning and finding the cheapest rental companies, doing itineries and organising camping gear we were foiled by the morning rain.
Since the last update we've picked up a car from Brisbane, and are slowly making our way northwards. After leaving our lovely apartment on Wednesday morning, we spend two days on rainbow beach enjoying the scenery and collecting all we needed for the island. I can't remember if I mentioned before but we visited Australia Zoo, which was excellent and also went to Eumundi markets while we were on the Sunshine coast, and also took in some views of the Glasshouse mountains on the way back from Brisbane.
Rainbow beach was really really nice. Pretty far out of the way, it has glorious coloured sand cliffs, an endless beach and just a very nice laid back attitude. We also managed to find a really nice little apartment to stay in, and after some clever bargaining by Sophie, got a really good price there too!
Currently we are in Bundaberg, deciding to drive North during the rain. Tomorow we plan on visiting the famous Bundaberg Rum distillery (another distillery!) and take a look around town, hoping for the weather to clear to travel South back to Hervey Bay to see if we can get onto the island then. We are staying in a cabin at Mon Repos beach, a turtle hatchery beach place, however there are none home at this time of the year.
I think that's all for now. Catch up when I can. Fingers crossed for good weather!
Take care,
Jan + Sophie.
Today the rain came down for the first time since Sophie arrived, and for me, the first time since this time last month. Which was a shame because we were spending a few days just north of the Sunshine coast at rainbow beach, and due to pick up a 4wd and tour Fraser Island. After days of planning and finding the cheapest rental companies, doing itineries and organising camping gear we were foiled by the morning rain.
Since the last update we've picked up a car from Brisbane, and are slowly making our way northwards. After leaving our lovely apartment on Wednesday morning, we spend two days on rainbow beach enjoying the scenery and collecting all we needed for the island. I can't remember if I mentioned before but we visited Australia Zoo, which was excellent and also went to Eumundi markets while we were on the Sunshine coast, and also took in some views of the Glasshouse mountains on the way back from Brisbane.
Rainbow beach was really really nice. Pretty far out of the way, it has glorious coloured sand cliffs, an endless beach and just a very nice laid back attitude. We also managed to find a really nice little apartment to stay in, and after some clever bargaining by Sophie, got a really good price there too!
Currently we are in Bundaberg, deciding to drive North during the rain. Tomorow we plan on visiting the famous Bundaberg Rum distillery (another distillery!) and take a look around town, hoping for the weather to clear to travel South back to Hervey Bay to see if we can get onto the island then. We are staying in a cabin at Mon Repos beach, a turtle hatchery beach place, however there are none home at this time of the year.
I think that's all for now. Catch up when I can. Fingers crossed for good weather!
Take care,
Jan + Sophie.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Sunshine Coast (It never rains!)
We are currently on the Sunshine Coast, just North of Brisbane in Queensland. We have rented an apartment in Caloundra, with gorgeous views overlooking Moffat Beach and the Coral Sea. We've been here since last Wednesday and have spent most of our days on the beach or wandering around - temperature around 25C. Yesterday however we went to the fabulous Australia Zoo, home of the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin. It was really good - not your typical zoo - but a hands on, entertainment focused experience with a few serious educational messages thrown in. The crocodile show, obviously the highlight, was really good, but there were also tiger, snake and birds of prey displays. Plus I got to discover quite how poisenous those black snakes I saw in the bush really are...
Anyway, there isn't a whole lot to report. We are taking it fairly easy. Tomorow we head to Brisbane for the day to take a look round, and also pick up our hire car. On wednesday we leave the apartment and will probably drive to Rainbow Beach, just on the mainland across from Fraser Island. Plan to spend a day on Fraser Island in a 4x4 and then continue our journey North. No firm plans, for now, after that.
Quick hello to Dad (Struggling in Estonia), Mum (coping with a stressed El in Fife), and everyone else who reads this. (You can leave comments below - it makes me feel less silly typing this on my own in a strange internet cafe).
Anyway, must go and build sandcastles (sand dams) on the beach before we are all swept away!
Take care,
Jan. (& Sophie)
Anyway, there isn't a whole lot to report. We are taking it fairly easy. Tomorow we head to Brisbane for the day to take a look round, and also pick up our hire car. On wednesday we leave the apartment and will probably drive to Rainbow Beach, just on the mainland across from Fraser Island. Plan to spend a day on Fraser Island in a 4x4 and then continue our journey North. No firm plans, for now, after that.
Quick hello to Dad (Struggling in Estonia), Mum (coping with a stressed El in Fife), and everyone else who reads this. (You can leave comments below - it makes me feel less silly typing this on my own in a strange internet cafe).
Anyway, must go and build sandcastles (sand dams) on the beach before we are all swept away!
Take care,
Jan. (& Sophie)
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Safe arrivals
Hello folks,
As I'm typing this I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Haymarket, Sydney, while poor Sophie is off finding croissants for breakfast. We've been here a few days now, me having arrived back in Sydney late Friday night, and she arriving from Scotland (via Dubai and Bangkok) on Saturday morning. But before I go into that, I'll update quickly on what the past two months of work have been like.
Since I last posted, we've been getting busier at work by the week. We moved from mainly ground prep into the early planting season. This involved getting the trashworker cultivators ready with seed boots, airhoses and a few other modifications, servicing the flexicoil aircarts, and a few other logistical issues (such as transporting these big machines over the highway to where we were working (some 100+km away from North Star). All day on the road getting the tractor back, and then a full day back towing the machines. I've got lots of pictures, and if I have time I'll try and post a few once I've finished typing. We also moved from being predominantly based in North Star, to being based at the share farm property 80km West from Moree just off the Gwydir highway (on the road to Mungindi).
In total we planted around 100Ha of oats at the share farmed property out West, and also around 200Ha of beans at the same property. The beans were planted fairly deep (approx 7 inches), and the ground was then lightly cultivated with the kelly chain. In the last couple of weeks, we began with some early wheat planting, covering some 800Ha at a very large property some 50km West of Moree.
Away from the farming, life was tiring but pretty good. Working 11-15 hour days leaves little room for relaxation, but thankfully the people I was working with were all very pleasant and we all got on pretty well. Most of the time the food was cooked for me, and just had to look after my own sandwiches and laundry. Saw a few black snakes out there, but they mainly keep themselves to themselves, and also a bunch of other creepy crawlies, wild pigs, emus and hawks.
So in any case, last Thursday I worked nightshift till 6am, then got Nic (the boss) to take me to the train station for 8am, and caught the train back to Sydney. After checking into The Pensione Hotel on George Street (on the edge of China town, and 5mins from the CBD), I caught some sleep and was up early to collect Sophie in the morning.
Saturday was a nice day. It was really good to see Sophie again. However after a few hours walking round the city centre, opera house, bridge and all that stuff, we were both exhausted. She from jet lag, and me from the lack of sleep over the previous week. On Sunday however we spent the day looking round the Eastern suburbs, doing some shopping at Bondi Junction, then a few hours on the beach at Bondi, before walking the coastal route to Coogee and having a nice lunch and beer there.
Yesterday we spent the morning in Darling Harbour, and then caught the ferry to Manly, which was good, except that by the time we arrived there, it had clouded over and was relatively cold. However at night we dined at a very nice restaurant at the quayside, overlooking both bridge and opera house. Really nice.
Today is our last day here in Sydney. Not entirely sure what we are doing yet, but probably going to spend some time round the Hyde park area and botanic gardens. Tomorow early we catch a flight up to the Sunshine coast airport, as we have an apartment booked in Caloundra for a week. I should have time to catch up with everyone again up there.
Good luck to El for when her exams start.
Hope everyone is well,
All the best,
Jan.
Photo link:http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=94742
Description of photos in order(I hope!): Tasmania, Tasmania, Tasman Peninsula Tasmania, Clouds at North Star, TJ450 Cindy + Trashworker, TJ450 C + TW, House out West, Aircarts, TJ450 Dana + Kelly chain, Chain on road + escort, Trashworker on road, Convoy on the road.
As I'm typing this I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Haymarket, Sydney, while poor Sophie is off finding croissants for breakfast. We've been here a few days now, me having arrived back in Sydney late Friday night, and she arriving from Scotland (via Dubai and Bangkok) on Saturday morning. But before I go into that, I'll update quickly on what the past two months of work have been like.
Since I last posted, we've been getting busier at work by the week. We moved from mainly ground prep into the early planting season. This involved getting the trashworker cultivators ready with seed boots, airhoses and a few other modifications, servicing the flexicoil aircarts, and a few other logistical issues (such as transporting these big machines over the highway to where we were working (some 100+km away from North Star). All day on the road getting the tractor back, and then a full day back towing the machines. I've got lots of pictures, and if I have time I'll try and post a few once I've finished typing. We also moved from being predominantly based in North Star, to being based at the share farm property 80km West from Moree just off the Gwydir highway (on the road to Mungindi).
In total we planted around 100Ha of oats at the share farmed property out West, and also around 200Ha of beans at the same property. The beans were planted fairly deep (approx 7 inches), and the ground was then lightly cultivated with the kelly chain. In the last couple of weeks, we began with some early wheat planting, covering some 800Ha at a very large property some 50km West of Moree.
Away from the farming, life was tiring but pretty good. Working 11-15 hour days leaves little room for relaxation, but thankfully the people I was working with were all very pleasant and we all got on pretty well. Most of the time the food was cooked for me, and just had to look after my own sandwiches and laundry. Saw a few black snakes out there, but they mainly keep themselves to themselves, and also a bunch of other creepy crawlies, wild pigs, emus and hawks.
So in any case, last Thursday I worked nightshift till 6am, then got Nic (the boss) to take me to the train station for 8am, and caught the train back to Sydney. After checking into The Pensione Hotel on George Street (on the edge of China town, and 5mins from the CBD), I caught some sleep and was up early to collect Sophie in the morning.
Saturday was a nice day. It was really good to see Sophie again. However after a few hours walking round the city centre, opera house, bridge and all that stuff, we were both exhausted. She from jet lag, and me from the lack of sleep over the previous week. On Sunday however we spent the day looking round the Eastern suburbs, doing some shopping at Bondi Junction, then a few hours on the beach at Bondi, before walking the coastal route to Coogee and having a nice lunch and beer there.
Yesterday we spent the morning in Darling Harbour, and then caught the ferry to Manly, which was good, except that by the time we arrived there, it had clouded over and was relatively cold. However at night we dined at a very nice restaurant at the quayside, overlooking both bridge and opera house. Really nice.
Today is our last day here in Sydney. Not entirely sure what we are doing yet, but probably going to spend some time round the Hyde park area and botanic gardens. Tomorow early we catch a flight up to the Sunshine coast airport, as we have an apartment booked in Caloundra for a week. I should have time to catch up with everyone again up there.
Good luck to El for when her exams start.
Hope everyone is well,
All the best,
Jan.
Photo link:http://www.yourfilelink.com/get.php?fid=94742
Description of photos in order(I hope!): Tasmania, Tasmania, Tasman Peninsula Tasmania, Clouds at North Star, TJ450 Cindy + Trashworker, TJ450 C + TW, House out West, Aircarts, TJ450 Dana + Kelly chain, Chain on road + escort, Trashworker on road, Convoy on the road.
