Friday 3 August 2012
Last stop...Melbourne!! <3
Sooo we have arrived at our final destination and i'm sad already! Just got off our plane where i cried because an old guy was waving his granddaughter off at the airport...Oh god I'm gonna be an emotional wreck here..cannot believe this is the end!!!!!
So we've booked ourselves into a cool hostel called Home @ Mansion it was a former Mansion converted into a hostel and it's fab!! Went up to our room were we met a scouse girl! So we were chatting to her for ages! We took the free tram into the city but we could have walked because our hostel is 2 mins away from the centre. We had a good look around and went and bought some supplies for our last few days! So we have spent the last few days going to the museum's and seeing all the cultural sides of Melbourne, we went to the biggest backpacker bar and met up with a guy from Singapore and an Aussie we had a few beers with them then headed back to the hostel.
Tonight we decided to get a tram to St Kilda where you can see a colony of the smallest penguins in the world in their natural habitat! we got the tram down thier ealr and to our surprise after looking arounf for 5 mins we got to see a family of penguins all cuddles up between some rocks! They were soooo cute :D then as it became dusk more people began to arrive on the beach, as we were all looking out to the sea waiting for the penguins to come in 2 little fellas came swimming in and then ran as fast as a penguin can and ran into the rocks to keep warm! It was one of the cutest things we have ever saw, and soo cool because it wasn't in a zoo or anything just sitting on the beach watching them! After seeing many clambering upon the rocks trying to find a warm spot we couldn't stay much longer as we were so cold! So we got the tram back into the city centre and went to watch some of the Olympics were us 'pommys' as the Aussies call us won a gold medal for the rowing woohoo go Team GB!! It was getting late so we headed back to our hostel for our last nights sleep away from home booho!! Today we visited the Famous Victoria Market and got some souvenirs and headed to Melbourne Airport to fly back home :(
We cannot believe our trip has ended..We really have had the time of our lives and have had the best experiences ever..Walking with Tigers, to Elephant Trekking through the jungle, Tubing in Vang Vieng, partying until the sun rise at the Full Moon party, eating Crickets in Bangkok, Seeing Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Skydiving in New Zealand, Driving both island of New Zealand in a Camper, Getting the Camper stuck in snow haha, Sailing on a Yacht around the Whitsunday Islands Australia, Seeing Whales, Dolphins, Sharks, Sting Rays, Little Penguins and Turtles in Australia and Seeing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House! That's just a few to mention! We have met some of the funniest craziest people that we will probably ever meet, and hopefully made some friends for life! Possibly the Best 6 and a Half months of our lives!!! Looking forward to getting home now to see all our family and friends...and hopefully planning the next trip hehe!!! :D xxxxx
Gem n Ben :D xxx
Liverpool - Thailand - Laos - Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand - New Zealand - Australia - Liverpool !!!
30th Jan 2012 - 4 Aug 2012!!
So we've booked ourselves into a cool hostel called Home @ Mansion it was a former Mansion converted into a hostel and it's fab!! Went up to our room were we met a scouse girl! So we were chatting to her for ages! We took the free tram into the city but we could have walked because our hostel is 2 mins away from the centre. We had a good look around and went and bought some supplies for our last few days! So we have spent the last few days going to the museum's and seeing all the cultural sides of Melbourne, we went to the biggest backpacker bar and met up with a guy from Singapore and an Aussie we had a few beers with them then headed back to the hostel.
Tonight we decided to get a tram to St Kilda where you can see a colony of the smallest penguins in the world in their natural habitat! we got the tram down thier ealr and to our surprise after looking arounf for 5 mins we got to see a family of penguins all cuddles up between some rocks! They were soooo cute :D then as it became dusk more people began to arrive on the beach, as we were all looking out to the sea waiting for the penguins to come in 2 little fellas came swimming in and then ran as fast as a penguin can and ran into the rocks to keep warm! It was one of the cutest things we have ever saw, and soo cool because it wasn't in a zoo or anything just sitting on the beach watching them! After seeing many clambering upon the rocks trying to find a warm spot we couldn't stay much longer as we were so cold! So we got the tram back into the city centre and went to watch some of the Olympics were us 'pommys' as the Aussies call us won a gold medal for the rowing woohoo go Team GB!! It was getting late so we headed back to our hostel for our last nights sleep away from home booho!! Today we visited the Famous Victoria Market and got some souvenirs and headed to Melbourne Airport to fly back home :(
We cannot believe our trip has ended..We really have had the time of our lives and have had the best experiences ever..Walking with Tigers, to Elephant Trekking through the jungle, Tubing in Vang Vieng, partying until the sun rise at the Full Moon party, eating Crickets in Bangkok, Seeing Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Skydiving in New Zealand, Driving both island of New Zealand in a Camper, Getting the Camper stuck in snow haha, Sailing on a Yacht around the Whitsunday Islands Australia, Seeing Whales, Dolphins, Sharks, Sting Rays, Little Penguins and Turtles in Australia and Seeing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House! That's just a few to mention! We have met some of the funniest craziest people that we will probably ever meet, and hopefully made some friends for life! Possibly the Best 6 and a Half months of our lives!!! Looking forward to getting home now to see all our family and friends...and hopefully planning the next trip hehe!!! :D xxxxx
Gem n Ben :D xxx
Liverpool - Thailand - Laos - Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand - New Zealand - Australia - Liverpool !!!
30th Jan 2012 - 4 Aug 2012!!
Thursday 2 August 2012
World Famous Sydney!
When we arrived at Sydney we realized we were staying in the party district! Meaning we weren't going to get very much sleep for the next few days :-(. The hostel we were staying in was reasonable and we decided to just cook up some tea watch a film and have an early night so we could get up and out early tomorrow and go exploring!
The next day we headed into the center of Sydney to get some snaps of the world famous Opera House, The Bridge and the royal botanical gardens! The weather was clear and sunny for a winters day (unlike ours!) We seen signs for a free cruise along Sydney Harbor to a nearby island filled with art exhibitions so we thought it was worth a try! The cruise was great and the exhibitions were strange but it was well worth going for the photos of the bridge from on the river :-) That night we chilled out again and realized the Olympics would be starting at 6 a.m. so we were probably going to have to get up for that! The opening ceremony started and Gem was wide awake for the whole thing despite really being remotely interested in the Olympics! :-S I woke up to see Team GB and Paul McCartney play a few tunes (just in time!).
Off out again we went to Paddy's market. We grabbed some much needed souvenirs from this place but wont be saying what they are on this blog because there surprises for family back home ;-). Afterwards we headed over to China town where we got stuck into some cakes and pies and all kinds of tasty stuff! We had dinner in china town and started the long walk back to the hostel!
The next days plan was to head to the famous Bondi Beach where the program 'Bondi Rescue' is filmed. There was a bus that took you directly to the place for a couple of dollars from outside the hostel. For a pretty overcast day Bondi was pretty scenic! We walked down the pier and got some snaps of the place before treating ourselves to good old fish and chips! Felt a bit like Blackpool for a millisecond but it passed...
Our time is Sydney was coming to an end and we were soon packed up and on our way to the aiport to catch ANOTHER flight to the last stop....Melbourne!
The next day we headed into the center of Sydney to get some snaps of the world famous Opera House, The Bridge and the royal botanical gardens! The weather was clear and sunny for a winters day (unlike ours!) We seen signs for a free cruise along Sydney Harbor to a nearby island filled with art exhibitions so we thought it was worth a try! The cruise was great and the exhibitions were strange but it was well worth going for the photos of the bridge from on the river :-) That night we chilled out again and realized the Olympics would be starting at 6 a.m. so we were probably going to have to get up for that! The opening ceremony started and Gem was wide awake for the whole thing despite really being remotely interested in the Olympics! :-S I woke up to see Team GB and Paul McCartney play a few tunes (just in time!).
Off out again we went to Paddy's market. We grabbed some much needed souvenirs from this place but wont be saying what they are on this blog because there surprises for family back home ;-). Afterwards we headed over to China town where we got stuck into some cakes and pies and all kinds of tasty stuff! We had dinner in china town and started the long walk back to the hostel!
The next days plan was to head to the famous Bondi Beach where the program 'Bondi Rescue' is filmed. There was a bus that took you directly to the place for a couple of dollars from outside the hostel. For a pretty overcast day Bondi was pretty scenic! We walked down the pier and got some snaps of the place before treating ourselves to good old fish and chips! Felt a bit like Blackpool for a millisecond but it passed...
Our time is Sydney was coming to an end and we were soon packed up and on our way to the aiport to catch ANOTHER flight to the last stop....Melbourne!
Brisbane!
We have been excited for Brisbane for a while partly due to it being a cool city with all kinds to do...partly cos our fab Irish friends that we met in Asia live here and have invited us to stay with them for the week yay!
So after stepping off the plane and being pleased that the weather was still pretty good we boarded the train and set of to Wooloongabba where the girls have a house! We arrived in Brisbane central and had a walk around it looked soo pretty at night all lit up :D then we got on the bus to the girls house! We arrived and the fab Jean had gave us her bedroom and made up a delicious chicken and broccoli bake yummy!! We had lots of chocolate beer and crisps and waited for Jayne and Lorraine to come home from work, once we were all together we sat around catching up on travels as the last time we were all together was in Vietnam! We stayed up chatting and met the 2 other girls Michelle n Eva who also lived there and they were lovely too! as we had been traveling all day we were soo tired n went to bed so we could get up early and explore tomorrow!
Today we decided to go and explore Brisbane, its a big city that reminded us a bit of Liverpool! The Southbank was gorgeous and they were filming Masterchef live on the esplanade! (Masterchef is bigger then Xfactor here) After watching them film for a bit we realized there was a competition on so it didn't take long for me to want to get involved lol! You had to separate egg yolk from the white add whisk as fast as possible until you could lift it above you head without it falling outta the bowl! Three people would win hehe! I WON YAAAYYY!!! i was made up cheering and everything...then i got to take my prize home..a Masterchef apron hahaha!! Oh well it was deffo worth the laugh :D. We spent the rest of the day wandering around shopping and sight seeing with Jean and Lorraine. That night we bought some Kangaroo
burgers and loads of food n beer for the barbie and spent the night having a BARBIE Aussie style!! We all stuffed our selves with beer and kangaroo burgers and relaxed ahead of tomorrows Sunday all day drinking session!
Sunday had been planned before we arrived and it was going to be a full day drinking day lol! So we all had a good brekkie and cracked opened the beers..at 12pm! Needles to say it was a good day/night we took the bus into Brisbane and went to the Normanby Hotel a cool outdoor bar with a great atmosphere we stayed there all night until we went the Vic (the girls local) Then after it being a long day we headed to Hungry Jacks aka burger King! We went home laughing after a crazy day and decided we didn't want to leave Brisbane at all haha!
Next day everyone woke up feeling a little worse for wear! We only had two days left here so while the other lounged around or went to work we had to go n sight see lol! what a hard life! We went to the museum and cultural centre which was really cool for learning about the aboriginal culture of Australia. After having a wander around we somehow ended up in a theatre watching a musical for free!! Were still not sure how we managed it haha! the musical was really good, one that had recently been written in Australia and was hoping to make iot big internationally! We will have to keep a look out for it! afterwards we went back to the girls house had a domino's and relaxed on the sofa..Bliss after staying in hostels for 2 months haha!
Awww today is our last day! We fly to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. We decided to go up the Gold Coast to Surfers Paradise. A famous beach were the waves are great for surfing! As always we didn't want to do things the easy way and go with a tour agency we decided to get there ourselves on public transport! so after a bus, 2 trains and a bus, we made it!! It was beautiful and the waves really were huuugee!!! We watched some surfers and the skill they have is unbelievable! It really felt like awe were in Australia now watching people surf on the beach haha! We spent the day at Surfers and went back to the girls to get ready for the cinema tonight..the Dark Knight rises woohoo!!! After one cinema selling out we walked to the next one which we luckily got tickets! We piled up with sweets and goodies and watched the film....Amazing! We went home had beers talked and laughed more and then all went to bed after a crazy couple of days!!
Today we leave the girls...boohoo!!! We have had a ball didn't wanna move on, but then we realized we were going onto Sydney and got all excited to see the Harbor bridge n Opera House! something I've been excited about seeing since we arrived in Oz! We got seen off by Jayne and after saying some sad goodbyes we left for Sydney!!!!!
So after stepping off the plane and being pleased that the weather was still pretty good we boarded the train and set of to Wooloongabba where the girls have a house! We arrived in Brisbane central and had a walk around it looked soo pretty at night all lit up :D then we got on the bus to the girls house! We arrived and the fab Jean had gave us her bedroom and made up a delicious chicken and broccoli bake yummy!! We had lots of chocolate beer and crisps and waited for Jayne and Lorraine to come home from work, once we were all together we sat around catching up on travels as the last time we were all together was in Vietnam! We stayed up chatting and met the 2 other girls Michelle n Eva who also lived there and they were lovely too! as we had been traveling all day we were soo tired n went to bed so we could get up early and explore tomorrow!
Today we decided to go and explore Brisbane, its a big city that reminded us a bit of Liverpool! The Southbank was gorgeous and they were filming Masterchef live on the esplanade! (Masterchef is bigger then Xfactor here) After watching them film for a bit we realized there was a competition on so it didn't take long for me to want to get involved lol! You had to separate egg yolk from the white add whisk as fast as possible until you could lift it above you head without it falling outta the bowl! Three people would win hehe! I WON YAAAYYY!!! i was made up cheering and everything...then i got to take my prize home..a Masterchef apron hahaha!! Oh well it was deffo worth the laugh :D. We spent the rest of the day wandering around shopping and sight seeing with Jean and Lorraine. That night we bought some Kangaroo
burgers and loads of food n beer for the barbie and spent the night having a BARBIE Aussie style!! We all stuffed our selves with beer and kangaroo burgers and relaxed ahead of tomorrows Sunday all day drinking session!
Sunday had been planned before we arrived and it was going to be a full day drinking day lol! So we all had a good brekkie and cracked opened the beers..at 12pm! Needles to say it was a good day/night we took the bus into Brisbane and went to the Normanby Hotel a cool outdoor bar with a great atmosphere we stayed there all night until we went the Vic (the girls local) Then after it being a long day we headed to Hungry Jacks aka burger King! We went home laughing after a crazy day and decided we didn't want to leave Brisbane at all haha!
Next day everyone woke up feeling a little worse for wear! We only had two days left here so while the other lounged around or went to work we had to go n sight see lol! what a hard life! We went to the museum and cultural centre which was really cool for learning about the aboriginal culture of Australia. After having a wander around we somehow ended up in a theatre watching a musical for free!! Were still not sure how we managed it haha! the musical was really good, one that had recently been written in Australia and was hoping to make iot big internationally! We will have to keep a look out for it! afterwards we went back to the girls house had a domino's and relaxed on the sofa..Bliss after staying in hostels for 2 months haha!
Awww today is our last day! We fly to Sydney tomorrow afternoon. We decided to go up the Gold Coast to Surfers Paradise. A famous beach were the waves are great for surfing! As always we didn't want to do things the easy way and go with a tour agency we decided to get there ourselves on public transport! so after a bus, 2 trains and a bus, we made it!! It was beautiful and the waves really were huuugee!!! We watched some surfers and the skill they have is unbelievable! It really felt like awe were in Australia now watching people surf on the beach haha! We spent the day at Surfers and went back to the girls to get ready for the cinema tonight..the Dark Knight rises woohoo!!! After one cinema selling out we walked to the next one which we luckily got tickets! We piled up with sweets and goodies and watched the film....Amazing! We went home had beers talked and laughed more and then all went to bed after a crazy couple of days!!
Today we leave the girls...boohoo!!! We have had a ball didn't wanna move on, but then we realized we were going onto Sydney and got all excited to see the Harbor bridge n Opera House! something I've been excited about seeing since we arrived in Oz! We got seen off by Jayne and after saying some sad goodbyes we left for Sydney!!!!!
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Airlie Beach again and onto Brisbane!
We got the bus up to Brian and Judys place - Bush Village where we would be lounging about for the next few days getting over our sailing trip! We moved to bush village to volunteer for accommodation and it really turned out to be a good idea! We had to do a few hours work in the morning (Gem cleaning and making up the rooms for the guests and I was doing the odd jobs about the hotel). They really treated us well giving us an apartment to ourselves including on-suite kitchen, bathroom and dining room! We were made up and thought it was the best place we had stayed the whole trip! We went for a wander into town a few days to try and get some clothes for our trip to Brisbane where we would be meeting the Irish girls we had met in Thailand. We managed to save a lot of our budget by doing the volunteering and would be able to fly to all of our next destinations! Brian and Judy were great hosts treating us to beers in their living room and watching movies with them in the night (feeling like true Australians!). We were gutted to be leaving but excited to be meeting up with the girls again and staying in their home. As usual Brian went out of his way to drive us to the port where we would be getting a boat to Hamilton Island Airport where we would catch our flight to Brisbane Airport. We shook hands and said farewell and hopefully we will see them again some time soon!
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