Adventures on the East!

G’day all,


It’s time for my first blog outside of Western Australia. A quick word of warning though, I’m in an internet cafe with limited time and a lot to say and in addition to that, I’ve got a bad neck/back which I’ll get into later so I don’t know how good this blog will be, sorry!


So, when I last left you, I had just returned from an average road trip down south in WA, after that there wasn’t a lot to write home about of my last week in Perth apart from one day. On the 20th of November, I met up with a friend and we went to a ‘wildlife reserve’ where you’re given the opportunity to hold/cuddle a koala! As you can imagine, Alex (my friend I was going with) and I were pretty excited about this because of how cute Koalas look! We weren’t disappointed by the koala cuddling but the rest of the reserve was awful and I quickly forgot the amazing koala experience because of it. We got about 15minutes each to hold and at the same time feed a gorgeous little koala called Jackson. He was so cute and extremely soft, it was a little like holding a teddy bear or a new born baby, it was a truly amazing experience. However, what followed it was far from ‘amazing’. We walked around the rest of the park and quickly noticed what a bad condition the park was in, it seemed as if they only cared about the koalas and not about any of the other creatures there. Most of the cages or pens that the animals were kept in were filthy and many of the animals looked mal-nourished and some injured. To be honest, I was quite annoyed and pissed off (excuse my French) about this all and left the reserve pretty soon.


That evening, I took Dilip uncle, Ina aunty and Beni out for dinner to a lovely Thai restaurant just as a small toke of my appreciation for accommodating me for the past 5months or so! The next evening (my final night in Perth) I went with Dilip uncle and Ina aunty to one of their family friend’s house. It was a pretty good evening and for all those that care, I haven’t lost my touch at Mario Kart Wii!!! On the 22nd of November, I departed Perth with Alex for a city on the East called Cairns and that is where the real adventure begins…


On the 23rd of November, we landed in Cairns at 4am and walked out of the airport to feel 26degree heat, yes it was that hot at 4am and to the astonishing news that Spurs had just beaten Wigan 9-1 (thanks Chetan and Nihal)! We had to hang around the airport for 3hours waiting for our transfer to the hostel, I’m so glad Alex was there because I would have got so bored without her! When we got to the hostel, we were pretty exhausted and just wanted to rest but we were told our rooms weren’t ready yet, so we went and had some breakfast and sat by the pool for a few hours waiting for the first bus into town! We headed into town at about 9am and wondered around it, I have to say that I was pretty unimpressed by Cairns which the Aussies regard as one of their liveliest cities! After a few hours of aimlessly walking around town, we got some lunch and headed back to the hostel and waited for Alex’s friend Hester to join us (she was on a later flight from Adelaide). Our first night in Cairns was pretty low-key as we were all knackered and had to be up early the next morning. We went for a few drinks in town then a couple more back at the hostel before hitting the sack!


The following day, I was up early for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. I found out in the moring that the three Swedish guys in my room were on the same trip as me, so at least I wouldn’t be on my own! We got to the port and onto our boat ‘Ocean Freedom’ and sailed about an hour out of Cairns to stop at a certain part of the reef. On that hour long journey, the scenery was stunning, but when we got to our stop, my jaw dropped. I can’t explain to you how many different shades of blue there were surrounding us and pictures really do not do justice to the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. We went snorkeling for about an hour an a half and it was an incredible experience. I saw so many different fish and the actual coral is amazing! I kind of regretted not doing a scuba dive course and diving on the barrier reef, because that would have been one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done! I could have spent ages in the water (apart from the sound of my own breathing underwater was beginning to make me feel like Darth Vader) but we had to get out to go on a tour around the coral in a glass bottom boat. This little boat trip once again highlighted the beauty of the coral and we were given some background to how the coral was formed and its significance.


Despite these amazing experiences, the real ‘WOW’ moment was to come after lunch when we sailed to an island. We got about 50meters away from this island and the boat stopped. We looked out into the sea to see a tiny sand island probably about 15metres in diameter with nothing and nobody on it. We went on a small dingy to this island and I just sat there for an hour feeling the most relaxed I’ve ever felt! It was beautiful, no other word to describe it. On the way back to Cairns, I got destroyed at some Swedish card game that my room mates had taught me and I had a pretty funny hour an a half with them! I got back to the hostel, had a shower and waited for Alex and Hester to return from their diving course. When they got back, I made them dinner and we had a few drinks at the hostel before heading off to bed for a relatively early night.


The next morning (25th November) I was up early again to go on a tour into the rainforest just outside of Cairns. I was picked up at an un-Godly hour by our Rastafarian tour guide who turned out to be a very funny and friendly guy! Our first stop was at a tree called the ‘Cathedral Fig Tree’ and it has to be one of the strangest trees I have ever seen (Ill try and put a picture up but if not, have a look on my facebook pictures). From this tree we went on a small walk into the rainforest and as all of you probably know by now, I’m horrifically scared of snakes so the whole time I had my eyes wide open and my legs ready to sprint incase there was one slithering around near us! The rainforest itself, was pretty amazing, there are so many different types of trees and plants and they combine together to create some spectacular scenery. Other highlights of the day include stops at a volcanic lake, a huge hole in the ground and a few waterfalls. However, the most exciting moment of the trip was a visit to the waterfall where Peter Andre filmed his video for ‘Mysterious Girl’… I know there are some of you going on to youtube now to have a look at the video. As annoying as that song is now, at the time I know all of you reading this loved the song and I know the girls reading this probably loved Peter Andre’s 8pack and his curtains! That same waterfall is also where they film the Timotei Shampoo adverts where the girl emerges from the water and creates a rainbow effect with the swish of her hair, so being a proper tourist, I tried to re-create it myself! After this excitement, we got to the hostel where a couple of us would be spending the night while the others headed back to Cairns. The three of us who were staying went Platypus spotting and saw too before having dinner, some drinks and heading off to bed.


The following morning, we had a bit of a lie in, well it was a lie in compared to the silly times I had been getting up the previous few days! We had a big breakfast before starting our day of adventures. The day began with what was meant to be an 18km bike ride but it got cut short by about 9km because of me. After about 9km, there was a downhill section and I can't really remember what happened at all but the German girl behind me saw it all... She said I took the corner fine and was going down hill fine but then my back wheel hit something on the road she thinks it may have been a stone and I lost control of the bike and came off it. I hit my head so hard on the road that the helmet (not just the plastic outer casing but the hard foam too) actually broke on the impact. Luckily I didn't black out or anything but the girl said I was lucky to not have a head injury considering how hard I hit the ground. I escaped the accident with just cuts on my arms and elbow and I was taken back to the lodge to be patched up. They had to cut me out of my t-shirt because some of it was stuck in a cut. Once I had been patched up, I decided to soldier on and continue with the day thinking that the damage was only cuts and bruises.


We went for lunch and then headed to the depths of the rainforest to see some beautiful waterfalls, that you would never be able to find without a tour guide! Following this, we went canoeing but because of the cut on my elbow, I just sat in the canoe while our tour guide paddled the canoe by himself. We stopped off at a small stream where the water level dropped dramatically and we found a special rock that when mixed with water creates a paste which the aboriginal people use as a face paint. SO inevitably, we had some fun with these face paints before heading back to the hostel and then on the hour long journey back to Cairns. The whole time, I was feeling fine, just a little sore and when I got back to Cairns and the hostel I was staying at, I had a couple of drinks with my Swedish mates before heading to bed.


The next morning, I woke up and couldn’t get out of my bed because my neck and back were in so much pain. Eventually, I forced myself up and got ready to go into town to find a doctors and buy a new camera as mine was destroyed in the accident. Thankfully I had cancelled the white water rafting that I was scheduled to do that day, because there is no way I would have been able to do it! In the morning I saw one doctor who told me that I probably just had bad whiplash but he’ll refer me to another doctor in the afternoon. I killed a few hours in town before seeing this other doctor who scared the life out of me when he said there is a strong chance that I may have fractured my neck and he sent me for an X-ray. However, when I came back from the x-ray he had gone home and as I was leaving Cairns the following day, I would have to wait until Monday (today) to find out the extent of the damage. In the evening, I went out for dinner with my Swedish mates and then a couple of drinks to num the pain. We got back to the hostel and played some card games which I was much better at than the day on the boat!

(Im running out of internet time so I’m going to have to rush this final bit)…


On the 28th, I woke up in more pain but I was leaving Cairns to begin the journey down south on the East coast. I got onto the Oz experience bus and our first stop was at a beautiful section of rainforest which had a very calm and relaxing stream. From here, we went to a small town for breakfast and a briefing on how the Oz Experience Buses work. We drove for about an hour more until we got to our next stop a crocodile farm. I was sitting near the front of the bus and when we pulled up at the farm one of the staff from there got on a bus with a snake around his neck. He could immeadiately tell I was scared so he came right over to me and was about to put the snake into my lap before I swore at him not to! After this heart stopping experience, we went around the farm and the staff fed the crocodiles in front of us. They were crazy, they got into the croc cages and angered the crocs so that they would chase them around the cage! At the park, they also had dingos, kanagaroos and birds that we were allowed to feed and hold!


We left the crocodile farm and continued on our journey to Townsville. We picked up some more people from a place called mission beach and these guys were big football fans (although they supported Darlington) so we played a footballer naming game. They were astonished with how many footballers names I knew and I think they were a bit annoyed with the random European ones I was naming! Anyway, the journey passed quickly and we soon got to Townsville. I don’t really know how to describe this place but I’m just going to say, don’t go there!!!! The hostel was like a council estate and I carried round all my valuables with me, even to the bathroom!


The next morning I was up early again to get on the Oz Experience bus heading for Airlie Beach. We drove straight to Airlie Beach whilst playing some games on the buses. We got to Airlie Beach late afternoon and then in the evening, everyone on the bus arranged to meet up at a bar for dinner and some drinks. I was commended on my beer drinking ability by two Irish guys that were with us. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that my New Years resolution (starting when I return from Australia to the UK) is to stop binge drinking, meaning that I’ll have up to 3pints, but after that I’m not going to drink any more. The bar shut early and I went off with the Irish guys looking for a club, we walked into one but 5minutes later we were out of there again. Airlie Beach is meant to be one of the party hotspots in Australia but if that is true, I’m extremely disappointed! It was so over-priced and full of kids on ‘schoolies month’.


Today, I decided to get my back and neck sorted out seeing as I had a free day. I went to the doctors and she had a look at my x-ray. She said luckily the damage wasn’t too bad or too serious but it will cause me some discomfort over the next few months so just be careful with it! Basically, I hit the ground so hard coming off my bike that my neck and spine are now slightly out of line with eachother, but not too much to be a serious back injury!


Anyway, I have very limited time left and I want some dinner now! Sorry for how rushed the end of my blog is, but everything in Airlie Beach is over-priced including the internet! Tomorrow I get on a boat for 3days around the Whit Sunday islands which are home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world!


I hope all is well, I’ll be back home before you know it!
Mihir