Weeks Twenty-four and Twenty-five: The Great Australian Adventure (Part 1)

First off, I apologise for the belated nature of this post - I have been busier than the hypothetical bee for the past few months, as this entry will surely illustrate.

On the 19th December 2011, I met Hugo at Sydney Airport on the first day of our trip up the east coast, through cities, beaches, ocean and rainforest. The first day was spent fighting the inevitable jet-lag and doing the typical tourist thing - cue scores of photos of us in front of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge!

Exhibit A.

Sydney was all decked out in full glitzy Christmas paraphernalia, with a giant Christmas Tree in  Martin Place, and big banners throughout the city centre. The weather was more suited to Northern Hemispheric climes, however, with grey skies and fairly torrential downpours. Welcome to Australia!

Festive!

The rest of our time in Sydney was spent on Bondi Beach; walking from Bondi to Coogee along the gorgeous coastal path; browsing Paddy's Markets; watching the Christmas Lights on St Mary's Cathedral and enjoying the sunshine which finally made an appearance.

On the Thursday, we got the looooong train up to Newcastle, to show Hugo the sights of my adopted hometown. In the sunshine, Newy is gorgeous: all blue skies, clear water and beaches galore. In the rain, however, it's just a bit... grey. In true, unpredictable, Aussie weather fashion, however, the skies darkened and the rain started to pour as our journey started, and it continued for most of the day. Undeterred, I took Hugo to Bogey Hole, and along Bather's Way to Nobby's Breakwater, my happy place! In the afternoon, my remaining fellow Churchies and I introduced Hugo to some of Newcastle's culinary delights: namely, Wedges from the Grand and hazelnut hot chocolates from Coco Monde! As the sun set, we made our way to the bus station to catch our Greyhound up the coast to Byron Bay!

We arrived in Byron Bay in the early morning, and headed straight to Main Beach to nap and take in the views. Over the next two days, we spent a lot of time on the beach, making the trek up to Cape Byron Lighthouse and relaxing. We had a skydive booked for Christmas Day, which was unfortunately postponed until Boxing Day due to high winds. 

Byron Bay!

Surfer boy :)

When Christmas Day dawned, there was nothing for it but a day of surfing and sunning on the beautiful beach. In true Aussie fashion, the weather had other ideas, with a cyclone off the coast causing swells so high that the entire beach was flooded! Nevertheless, we set up camp on the grassy knoll overlooking the ocean, popped the champagne cork and turned on the Christmas playlist on my iPod. The waters receded in the afternoon, necessitating a mass rush of Santa-hat clad revellers into the water. It was pretty surreal, listening to 'jingle bells', wearing Christmas hats and supping champagne - whilst in bikinis and boardies!

Merry Christmas!

In the evening, we got all dressed up and headed out to Mokha Cafe for an incredible Christmas dinner of Swordfish with Mango salsa (for Hugo) and Pumpkin, Spinach and Ricotta risotto (pour moi). I love the food here in Australia, it's always so good! We had yet more booze, and watched Avatar, so ending our sunny, hot and more-than-a-little tipsy Christmas Day Down Under!

Boxing day was time for Skydiving attempts number two and, unfortunately, three, as our second attempt was once again thwarted by high winds. Finally, though, we took off and fell out of the sky from 9,000ft! It was gorgeous - you fell right over the beach and the views were amazing. It was such a rush!

Pre-jump!

That afternoon was our bus to Brisbane, onto the Queensland leg of the trip. I love Brisbane, so was really excited to show Hugo around. On our first day we went out to Groove Train for an amazing breakfast of French toast (me) and Bacon-Avocado burgers (Hugo). We went to Southbank and I introduced Hugo to his first Boost Juice, with our feet dipped in the Lagoon. We went for an explore of Queens Street Mall and a quick shop, too. The next day, we headed to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, for Hugo's first up-close encounter with Aussie critters. We fed Roos and cuddled Koalas and took many a tourist photo :)

Koala cuddles

The Roo whisperer!

From Brisbane we headed up to Rainbow Beach, a sleepy little town of one main street and a long stretch of sand, from which we would launch our expedition to the largest desert island in the world: Fraser Island. There wasn't much to do in Rainbow Beach, so we whiled away the time on the Beach. We had an early start to head off to Fraser Island, for three days of lakes, camping, and sand, sand, sand. We were sorted into groups of eight, and we'd drive our own jeeps across the long beaches. First stop was Lake Wabby, the deepest lake on the Island. After a long, hot walk through the rainforest and across the sand dunes, we got to the top of a hill, from which you looked down into the dark green waters of Lake Wabby.

Lake Wabby

:)

We set up camp before sunset, then made dinner and settled under the tarp with cider and goon, ready for New Years Eve: Desert Island-style. There was no light pollution on the island so the sky was alight with stars, it was incredible! We rang in 2012 sat on the beach under the stars, with cups of goon and many drunk irishmen!

In the morning, Hugo was the driver, and we headed off for Eli Creek, a sort of natural lazy river cutting through the sand. As we set off from Eli Creek our jeep died, so we had to split up and hitch rides in other jeeps on the way to Indian Head. From the cliff-top, there were panoramic views of the whole island, it was gorgeous.

:)

On the way back to camp, we stopped off at the wreck of the SS Maheno, a cruise liner which had come aground decades ago, and since been used as WWII target practise for the Australian Army. 

SS. Maheno

The tour guides saved the best for last... On the third day we headed to Lake Mackenzie and I drove the Jeep(!) along a verrrrrrry bumpy rainforest track. The Lake was like nothing I've ever seen: the most insanely turquoise, crystal clear water and white sand. As it was freshwater, you could swim along with your eyes open underwater, and see right to the bottom!

So clear!

From Lake Mackenzie it was time to head back to the mainland and Rainbow Beach for one last night, before continuing up the coast to Airlie Beach, the Whitsundays and Cairns.