A couple of weeks ago, a few of us went to Maja and Sofia's house to make pizza. Of course, we all made some really good savoury ones, with a wide variety of toppings. It was another good evening with friends.
An unusual aspect to the evening's festivities was what we ate for dessert. We decided that pizza would naturally be the best thing to have, so we made a pizza with fruits on it, which was basically just like a pie without any pastry over the top. We had some pizza dough left, I'd brought some Tim Tams (Australia's answer to Penguins), and Kevin had brought marshmallows and gummie sweets. What emerged out of the oven a few minutes later was a sugary masterpiece of pizza dough, custard, sweets and chocolate. It was so wrong, yet it was so right at the same time!
Most of us could barely manage one tiny slice, but Kevin and I couldn't resist eating another. Who would've thought that pizza could be so disgusting, yet so good at the same time. For those of you who've watched "The Biggest Loser" or any other fat people getting thin TV shows, this pizza was the ultimate temptation!
I left buzzing from all the sugar coursing through my body. One thing's for sure, I'll never think of pizza in the same way again!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Kings of Leon (11th March)
The band of the moment really is the Kings of Leon. They've just about reached super stardom and are becoming a household name. This great band performed in Adelaide and I got the chance to go and see them!
Tickets for their one night only performance in Adelaide went on sale at the end of November last year and were sold out in a few days, but that didn't stop my friend, Tiago. He went to the ticket office every day when he got back to Adelaide, and was able to pick up two last minute tickets. After asking a few people, I was the first to say yes, so off we went to see the Kings of Leon.
The band performed at the Adelaide Oval, which wasn't the biggest concert venue they've performed at I'm usre, but that didn't stop the place having a great atmosphere. Thousands of people were packed into the arena, waiting for the performance to begin.
Whenever I see a band live for the first time, I'm always worried that they'll be crap. So many bands these days sound good on the radio, but sound terrible live. This certainly wasn't the case with these guys. They were more than sensational, and they completely blew my mind. I was in a state of amazement for the whole concert and for a couple of days afterwards!
The band played all the songs they should have, and more, and the audience was in a state of ecstasy for the whole time. Certainly a concert I'll never forget.
Tickets for their one night only performance in Adelaide went on sale at the end of November last year and were sold out in a few days, but that didn't stop my friend, Tiago. He went to the ticket office every day when he got back to Adelaide, and was able to pick up two last minute tickets. After asking a few people, I was the first to say yes, so off we went to see the Kings of Leon.
The band performed at the Adelaide Oval, which wasn't the biggest concert venue they've performed at I'm usre, but that didn't stop the place having a great atmosphere. Thousands of people were packed into the arena, waiting for the performance to begin.
Whenever I see a band live for the first time, I'm always worried that they'll be crap. So many bands these days sound good on the radio, but sound terrible live. This certainly wasn't the case with these guys. They were more than sensational, and they completely blew my mind. I was in a state of amazement for the whole concert and for a couple of days afterwards!
The band played all the songs they should have, and more, and the audience was in a state of ecstasy for the whole time. Certainly a concert I'll never forget.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Womadelaide (8th March)
One of the bigger Fringe events was Womadelaide, a three day music festival with acts from all over the world and all genres were represented.
Myself and a few others went to the festival on the last day, because we really wanted to see The Cat Empire, one of my favourite Aussie bands. The first song they played was "In My Pocket", which many of us listened to along the Great Ocean Road and in Tasmania. if you've never heard of them then you should check them out. They're a great mix of ska, reggae, jazz and rock, all blended together in their own unique style.
After The Cat Empire had finished, we went to see some other performances. The Andi and George Band was fun and they had some good songs, and African DJ Dino Moran was fantastic, and he was a good end to the festival.
Look out for these artists, they were all really good!
Myself and a few others went to the festival on the last day, because we really wanted to see The Cat Empire, one of my favourite Aussie bands. The first song they played was "In My Pocket", which many of us listened to along the Great Ocean Road and in Tasmania. if you've never heard of them then you should check them out. They're a great mix of ska, reggae, jazz and rock, all blended together in their own unique style.
After The Cat Empire had finished, we went to see some other performances. The Andi and George Band was fun and they had some good songs, and African DJ Dino Moran was fantastic, and he was a good end to the festival.
Look out for these artists, they were all really good!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Coopers Brewery (6th March)
Coopers has got to be the best beer in all of Australia. People from home still ask me how Fosters and XXXX is, but I can tell you now that they're crap and non-existent. Fosters is sold virtually nowhere in Australia, and XXXX is just awful beer. Coopers is the best, and I've been told that you can buy it in Tescos!
Thomas got back from Perth the previous day and joined me on a tour of Coopers Brewery in Adelaide. It was great to find out about the brewing process. Our guide told us some rather interesting facts about Coopers and beer in general. For example, brown glass acts as a filter meaning that less sunlight gets into the bottle, and your beer lasts longer in the sun!
Our guide kept praising Coopers over all the other Australian beers. It's the only brewer whihc is family owned and not part of a chain/parent company, and it's the only brewer which doesn't use chemicals or artificial products.
At the end of the tour we had a tasting of all of Coopers' delicious beers. The tour was great and it only cost $20, and all that money went to charity. I highly recommend you do it!
Thomas got back from Perth the previous day and joined me on a tour of Coopers Brewery in Adelaide. It was great to find out about the brewing process. Our guide told us some rather interesting facts about Coopers and beer in general. For example, brown glass acts as a filter meaning that less sunlight gets into the bottle, and your beer lasts longer in the sun!
Our guide kept praising Coopers over all the other Australian beers. It's the only brewer whihc is family owned and not part of a chain/parent company, and it's the only brewer which doesn't use chemicals or artificial products.
At the end of the tour we had a tasting of all of Coopers' delicious beers. The tour was great and it only cost $20, and all that money went to charity. I highly recommend you do it!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Back in Adelaide
It was so good to be back in Adelaide after being away for so long. I didn't realise how much I loved the place until I went back. On the last day in Cairns I was really excited, and felt like a child on Christmas Eve! Here's what happened during the first few days I was back.
The Flight
I was supposed to be flying out of Cairns at about 6am on 23rd Feb, arriving in Adelaide at about 10am. However, JetStar (the airline) made a monumental cock up. To cut a long story short, that flight was cancelled. Myself and my fellow irritated passengers were transferred to Qantas. I thought that I'd be back in Adelaide only a few hours later than intended, but this wasn't the case. My first flight was to Brisbane, and then I got a flight from there to Adelaide. I arrived ELEVEN HOURS later than I was supposed to. The most depressing thing was that all we got in compensation was a voucher worth $8!
House Hunting
As I couldn't afford to stay in my house while travelling, I had to move out before leaving Adelaide. This meant the first week back was largely taken up by finding somewhere new to live. I certainly didn't want to stay in the hostel I was in forever (even though it was a good one). I ended up looking at seven houses, and it was hard work calling landlords and travelling to one house after another. All of them weren't what i was looking for, they were either too shabby, too far away, the people weren't good or supposedly essential things (such as a living room) were missing.
However the last house I looked at was definitely the best house! The second I went inside I knew I wanted to live there. It's in a great location, in the city! That means I can easily get everywhere without having to walk for ages or get a bus. The house is right near the bustling Central Market and Chinatown, so I'm really close to one of the best areas of the city. The house itself is awesome. It's modern and has everything you could possibly need. And my housemates are a great bunch. Toby and Sarah from Australia, and Owen and Lyndsey from the US are really cool, easy going people to live with, and they have some great friends that have become my friends too.
Meeting up with old friends
The best thing about being back in Adelaide was seeing friends again. They say that if you spend a day in Adelaide and don't bump into at least one person you know, then you don't know enough people! I met up with most people who were left in Adelaide from last semester, and even though a large proportion of us went home, there is still a lot of us left here. Meeting all these people from different parts of the world has been an experience in itself. It was great to share stories with everyone about how they spent their summer.
The Fringe
Sleepy Adelaide woke up! Febraury and March is packed with activities going on in Adelaide. This is when South Australia lives up to its nickname as The Festival State. The Adelaide Fringe is the second biggest cultural festival after Edinburgh, and it all started with a parade and concert just east of the city. Some of us went to see this, and it was a good evening. The parade lasted for a couple of hours as people from all the events happening during the Fringe paraded down the streets, and the concert lasted well into the night.
Look out for entries soon on more crazy goings on in Adelaide!
The Flight
I was supposed to be flying out of Cairns at about 6am on 23rd Feb, arriving in Adelaide at about 10am. However, JetStar (the airline) made a monumental cock up. To cut a long story short, that flight was cancelled. Myself and my fellow irritated passengers were transferred to Qantas. I thought that I'd be back in Adelaide only a few hours later than intended, but this wasn't the case. My first flight was to Brisbane, and then I got a flight from there to Adelaide. I arrived ELEVEN HOURS later than I was supposed to. The most depressing thing was that all we got in compensation was a voucher worth $8!
House Hunting
As I couldn't afford to stay in my house while travelling, I had to move out before leaving Adelaide. This meant the first week back was largely taken up by finding somewhere new to live. I certainly didn't want to stay in the hostel I was in forever (even though it was a good one). I ended up looking at seven houses, and it was hard work calling landlords and travelling to one house after another. All of them weren't what i was looking for, they were either too shabby, too far away, the people weren't good or supposedly essential things (such as a living room) were missing.
However the last house I looked at was definitely the best house! The second I went inside I knew I wanted to live there. It's in a great location, in the city! That means I can easily get everywhere without having to walk for ages or get a bus. The house is right near the bustling Central Market and Chinatown, so I'm really close to one of the best areas of the city. The house itself is awesome. It's modern and has everything you could possibly need. And my housemates are a great bunch. Toby and Sarah from Australia, and Owen and Lyndsey from the US are really cool, easy going people to live with, and they have some great friends that have become my friends too.
Meeting up with old friends
The best thing about being back in Adelaide was seeing friends again. They say that if you spend a day in Adelaide and don't bump into at least one person you know, then you don't know enough people! I met up with most people who were left in Adelaide from last semester, and even though a large proportion of us went home, there is still a lot of us left here. Meeting all these people from different parts of the world has been an experience in itself. It was great to share stories with everyone about how they spent their summer.
The Fringe
Sleepy Adelaide woke up! Febraury and March is packed with activities going on in Adelaide. This is when South Australia lives up to its nickname as The Festival State. The Adelaide Fringe is the second biggest cultural festival after Edinburgh, and it all started with a parade and concert just east of the city. Some of us went to see this, and it was a good evening. The parade lasted for a couple of hours as people from all the events happening during the Fringe paraded down the streets, and the concert lasted well into the night.
Look out for entries soon on more crazy goings on in Adelaide!
Cape Tribulation (21st and 22nd Feb)
The last part of my journey was to Cape Tribulation. As we no longer had the car, and because the roads got worse north of Cairns, Thomas and I went on a really good two day tour with Cape Trib Connections.We were picked up from Gilligan's by our tour guide, Peter. This guy was really chilled and new a hell of a lot of stuff about northern Queensland, but he wasn't boring to listen to like some of the guides I've met while in Australia. He repeatedly told us to "Kick back, relax, take in the secnery, no worries guys. Let's Do It". This phrase (and variants of it) was said by Peter at the end of every little thing he said whilst driving.
On the first day, after being instructed to kick back and relax, we drove north of Cairns, and a few minutes later civilization, according to Peter, had ended, as we drove past the most northerly McDonalds in Australia!
We headed to the first part of the Daintree National Park, which was Mossman Gorge. Now, some of you might ask, "Why visit the Daintree and Cape Tribulation?" Well, you really should, because:
It is the oldest continuously growing rainforest in the world. It's been there for about 120 million years.
It contains some of the oldest plant species in the world. There were 400 million year old trees and mosses which have been on earth for around 1 billion (yes billion) years!
It's home to the Golden Orbe Spider; the largest web-weaving spider in the world, and can grow to the size of dinner plates.
It's home to the Hercules Moth; the largerst moth in the world (one wing is the size of a dinner plate).
And it's also home to the Jackfruit, the world's largest fruit.
Two thirds of Australia's bird species call it home (including the rare Cassowary).
One hectare of the rainforest contains more different plant species than the whole North American continent.
Everything north of Cape Tribulation has depressing names (e.g. Mount Sorrow, Cape Fear, Mount Misery) as Captain Cook had really bad luck on this part of his expedition. Tribulation is an old word for trouble, and Cook named the area Cape Trib because this is where his troubles began.
There were many other interesting facts, but there's too many to list here! Mossman Gorge had some spectacular rapids, with massive boulders littering the rapids' path. Here's where it started chucking it down with rain, as Peter took us on a tour of the rainforest, pointing out all the amazing things there were to see. Mossman village itself had an interesting story to tell. It's home to a large Evangelical Christian community, who share the village with a large nudist resort!
That day we also crossed the Daintree River. In order to cross you had to go on a cargo ferry. It would seem simple to construct a bridge over the river, but as the ferry generates $30 million a year, I doubt that will ever happen! On the other side of the river, we entered the Cape Trib area, which is infamous for its lawlessness. There's no police station north of the river, asnd they only visit it a couple of times a month, so minor crimes like drink driving are common.
It was then a short rainy drive to our hostel, the Cape Trib Beach House. The whole place was surrounded by the rainforest, and giant spiders had found homes in every corner. Thomas and I went down to the beach to see Cape Trib itself. We had made it! 'Adelaide to Cape Tribulation' was over!That night we went on a fantastic night tour through the rainforest. Being wet season, it was a great time to see wildilfe, as they all came out at night after the rain. We saw a python, lizards, a myriad of different frogs and creepy crawlies. The spiders were fascinating, the most interesting being the trap-door spider and net-casting spider. We also saw some glow-in-the dark mushrooms. We turned of our torches, and the floor looked like the night sky, with dozens of little lights glowing through the darkness. This was a very magical experience.
Also on the first day, we stopped at the Daintree Wild Zoo, which was a rather unimpressive widlife park, unless you include the saltwater crocodiles they had! We went past a pond overgrown with weeds, and Peter threw a few stones down at the nearest corner to us. Out popped a crocodile head, which made us all jump! Apart from some sexually frustrated kangaroos, that's all we saw at the zoo.The next day Peter picked us up with some other intrepid backpackers, and we kicked back and relaxed south to Cairns. On the way we stopped for some delicious and unusual ice cream, and went on a boat tour on the Daintree River. Sadly we didn't see Fat Albert or any of the other crocodiles that lived in that area, owing to the fact that it was raining, so the river banks they usually rested on were underwater, and it was mating season, so they were in the forest getting down to business.
After a brief tour of Port Douglas and stopping at a fantastic lookout, we were back in Cairns.
So that's it, my part of the journey was over, and the next day I flew back to Adelaide. Thomas headed to Darwin, and would then go to Perth, before coming back to Adelaide for a few days and then flying back to Germany.
After two and a half months, 8750kms, and so many incredible experiences, my summer travels had come to an end.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Second Saga: Selling the Car
Well as I said, I would be talking about selling the car, and it was such a hassle trying to get rid of it.
When we arrived in Cairns we spent the first couple of days advertising it. Poor Thomas spent the best part of a day on a 'scenic tour' of Cairns. He walked around the whole town centre placing an ad in every window he could. I joined him for the last bit, and by the time we were finished we were completely exhausted, especially due to the awful humidity.
We got a couple of people interested, and they had a look at it, but we had a problem, we were going to the reef for three days. So one person made us an offer, and said he's take the car when we got back, but by the time we were back, he'd found another car! We had only two days to get the car sold in time to change the registration from SA to Queensland. We went to some dealers, but the best offer we got was about $500, and considering we bought the car for $3500, that wasn't a good deal.
We made one last ditched effort to sell it privately, and one guy said he'd buy it for $2000, but when we found out that you had to buy a completely new registration, instead of changing the SA one into Queensland registration. So the guy said he'd buy the car for $2000 minus the cost of the new registration. So we sold the car for $1600.
It was such a shame that we couldn't get any more for the car. We would've tried to get a higher price, but we just had to get rid of it, as we were leaving Cairns a couple of days later. But looking on the bright side, the car (which became known as the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) was a reliable way of getting everywhere, and it didn't let us down at all. It was cheaper than renting and you had more freedom than if you travelled via public transport. So overall it was worth it. I miss that car! Thomas and I saw the whole East of Australia from Adelaide to Cairns in it, and we travelled 8750kms!
Also, it was good that we got some money for it, as every year Cairns Council pick up heaps of cars that were abandoned by backpackers who couldn't sell them before going home!
The last part of my trip was to Cape Tribulation, which is in the next entry...
When we arrived in Cairns we spent the first couple of days advertising it. Poor Thomas spent the best part of a day on a 'scenic tour' of Cairns. He walked around the whole town centre placing an ad in every window he could. I joined him for the last bit, and by the time we were finished we were completely exhausted, especially due to the awful humidity.
We got a couple of people interested, and they had a look at it, but we had a problem, we were going to the reef for three days. So one person made us an offer, and said he's take the car when we got back, but by the time we were back, he'd found another car! We had only two days to get the car sold in time to change the registration from SA to Queensland. We went to some dealers, but the best offer we got was about $500, and considering we bought the car for $3500, that wasn't a good deal.
We made one last ditched effort to sell it privately, and one guy said he'd buy it for $2000, but when we found out that you had to buy a completely new registration, instead of changing the SA one into Queensland registration. So the guy said he'd buy the car for $2000 minus the cost of the new registration. So we sold the car for $1600.
It was such a shame that we couldn't get any more for the car. We would've tried to get a higher price, but we just had to get rid of it, as we were leaving Cairns a couple of days later. But looking on the bright side, the car (which became known as the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) was a reliable way of getting everywhere, and it didn't let us down at all. It was cheaper than renting and you had more freedom than if you travelled via public transport. So overall it was worth it. I miss that car! Thomas and I saw the whole East of Australia from Adelaide to Cairns in it, and we travelled 8750kms!
Also, it was good that we got some money for it, as every year Cairns Council pick up heaps of cars that were abandoned by backpackers who couldn't sell them before going home!
The last part of my trip was to Cape Tribulation, which is in the next entry...
The Great Barrier Reef (16 - 18th Feb)
Thomas and I went on the most amazing diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef, with Cairns Dive Centre.
On the first day the small boat, Sunkist, took us out to the reef, which was about 90 minutes out of Cairns. We then boarded the Kangaroo Explorer, our home for the next two nights. The Kangaroo Explorer was a surprise, considering how much money we spent for the trip (which wasn't a lot). Thomas and I had our own en-suite cabin, the food (which didn't cost extra) was fantastic. We stuffed our faces at every meal. On the top deck was 'The Library', where the ship's crazy videographer, Simon, edited all the films he made of everyone on the ship. The ship was a good base to explore the wonders of the ocean below.
And there really were wonders to see down there. Once again, one of Australia's greatest landmarks lived up to its reputation! The water was so warm, it felt like we were in a bath most of the time! The coral itself was beautiful, and so varied, and amongst these were some of the most incredible fish ever. A myriad of shapes, colours and sizes, the fish were captivating. I loved the Giant Clams. These clams were hundreds of years old, and the largest were a couple of metres wide. Their flesh was brightly coloured, owing to the bacteria that live underneath their skin. The parrot fish were also awesome, with their various colours and sizes.
The most memorable moment was when we saw a turtle. On one of our day dives, Simon came down with our group to film us, and he told us to dipserse around him so he could film us. Then I noticed everyone crowding round one point, and there was a turtle. She was loving all the attention as we scratched the back of her shell. It was a great experience.
We found Nemo! Clownfish were everywhere on the reef, and there's an interesating fact about them which Disney and Pixar conveniently left out of Finding Nemo. In their anemone (which the fish live in in exchange for keeping it clean), there's one female with a few males. When the female dies the largest and strongest male changes its sex to become the new female! (imagine explaining that to five year olds!).
We did see sharks, but as they're incredibly fast swimmers, and they're terrified of people and the bubbles from our underwater breathing, those we did see swam away within a few minutes of us spotting them.
While on the boat, Thomas and I did our advanced course. This involved, amongst other things, a deep dive. We went down to about 25m and sat there, while our insructor gave us some simple questions to see if we were narked or not (when you dive deep, the nitrogen in the iar ou breath can make you 'drunk'). He took down an empty plastic bottle with him to show how much pressure there was down at that depth (the bottle was completely squashed flat!) We also had to use a compass to navigate, learn how to identify fish and we did some photography too.
As part of our course, and also just for fun, we also went on night dives. This was an interesting experience, being down there with a torch swimming into the darkness. Despite being told that there would be a lot of interesting stuff down there, but where we dived was just bad. On the first night dive, all we saw were Red Bass, which are about a metre long and are the main predators at night. If you shone your torch on a little fish, chances were that a Red Bass would zoom over and eat it. Thomas had great fun shining his torch on fish and seeing them get eaten, but of course he would enjoy seeing innocent creatures being killed, being German :P.
It was very hectic schedule with 10 dives over the space of three days. By noon each day we'd already been diving twice and had breakfast! It was really exhausting, buch it was such a great experience. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the must see things in Australia!
On the first day the small boat, Sunkist, took us out to the reef, which was about 90 minutes out of Cairns. We then boarded the Kangaroo Explorer, our home for the next two nights. The Kangaroo Explorer was a surprise, considering how much money we spent for the trip (which wasn't a lot). Thomas and I had our own en-suite cabin, the food (which didn't cost extra) was fantastic. We stuffed our faces at every meal. On the top deck was 'The Library', where the ship's crazy videographer, Simon, edited all the films he made of everyone on the ship. The ship was a good base to explore the wonders of the ocean below.
And there really were wonders to see down there. Once again, one of Australia's greatest landmarks lived up to its reputation! The water was so warm, it felt like we were in a bath most of the time! The coral itself was beautiful, and so varied, and amongst these were some of the most incredible fish ever. A myriad of shapes, colours and sizes, the fish were captivating. I loved the Giant Clams. These clams were hundreds of years old, and the largest were a couple of metres wide. Their flesh was brightly coloured, owing to the bacteria that live underneath their skin. The parrot fish were also awesome, with their various colours and sizes.The most memorable moment was when we saw a turtle. On one of our day dives, Simon came down with our group to film us, and he told us to dipserse around him so he could film us. Then I noticed everyone crowding round one point, and there was a turtle. She was loving all the attention as we scratched the back of her shell. It was a great experience.
We found Nemo! Clownfish were everywhere on the reef, and there's an interesating fact about them which Disney and Pixar conveniently left out of Finding Nemo. In their anemone (which the fish live in in exchange for keeping it clean), there's one female with a few males. When the female dies the largest and strongest male changes its sex to become the new female! (imagine explaining that to five year olds!).We did see sharks, but as they're incredibly fast swimmers, and they're terrified of people and the bubbles from our underwater breathing, those we did see swam away within a few minutes of us spotting them.
While on the boat, Thomas and I did our advanced course. This involved, amongst other things, a deep dive. We went down to about 25m and sat there, while our insructor gave us some simple questions to see if we were narked or not (when you dive deep, the nitrogen in the iar ou breath can make you 'drunk'). He took down an empty plastic bottle with him to show how much pressure there was down at that depth (the bottle was completely squashed flat!) We also had to use a compass to navigate, learn how to identify fish and we did some photography too.
As part of our course, and also just for fun, we also went on night dives. This was an interesting experience, being down there with a torch swimming into the darkness. Despite being told that there would be a lot of interesting stuff down there, but where we dived was just bad. On the first night dive, all we saw were Red Bass, which are about a metre long and are the main predators at night. If you shone your torch on a little fish, chances were that a Red Bass would zoom over and eat it. Thomas had great fun shining his torch on fish and seeing them get eaten, but of course he would enjoy seeing innocent creatures being killed, being German :P.It was very hectic schedule with 10 dives over the space of three days. By noon each day we'd already been diving twice and had breakfast! It was really exhausting, buch it was such a great experience. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the must see things in Australia!
1 German, 1 Brit and an American in a Car: Airlie Beach to Cairns
Luckily the weather improved the next day and we were able to leave depressingly wet Airlie Beach. This had been the furthest anyone could go previously, as the roads north were flooded in several places. Travis decided to drive with Thomas and myself on the last leg of the journey. We decided to just head straight to Cairns in case the weather got worse and we were standed.Along the roads on the way we could see plenty of evidence of how bad it had been. The rivers we saw were all extremely full, the fields wre waterlogged and there were warning signs everwhere. Roadworkers were busy clearing up the roads after the water had lowered, and at some places there was still some water on the road.
The journey to Cairns would've been uneventful if it wasn't for all the amazing BIG THINGS we saw on the way! First, we saw the
Big Mango, which was just randomly on the side of the road, as was the case with all the big things we've seen so far! The Big Crab was big, but compared to everything else, it was tiny, but still just as bizarre and random as all the others! The Big Gumboot had a story to it. It was in the town of Tully, which holds the record for the largest amount of rainfall in Australia (and the world? I can't remeber!). The gumboot was 7.9m tall, which was the amount of rain Tully had in one extremely wet year! What would Australia be like without these big things?We also drove through the Girrugin National Park. Up some windy roads, we found the most spectacular views. Mountains and lakes, and endless green could be seen for miles around. The crash barrier at the lookout was covered in graffiti from people who had gone past, and the three of us added our names to it.
Townsville was really really boring,
so we just headed to Cairns, getting there in the early evening. Our hostel, Gilligan's, was more like a hotel. The rooms were all modern and clean, every florr had a kitchen, so you never had to compete with every hostel guest, there was a nightclub, great pool and a bar.Cairns itself isn't that amazing, the real draw (like with Airlie Beach and Hervey Bay) was what was beyond the coast. We spent the first couple of days advertising our car, which we intended to sell there (I'll talk about this later). There was one final big thing. In Cairns, on the Captain Cook Highway, was a giant statue of Captain Cook, several metres high!
While Travis started his open water course, and went to Cape Tribulation, Thomas and I went on a 3 day trip to the Great Barrier Reef!
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