8.50am, packed and ready to go with the car telling us it’s already 30 degrees celcius!

First stop today the cafe in the garage next door! The petrol stations here seem to have little sit down cafes so I had a bacon sandwich and strawberry milkshake – not a bad way to start the day Andrew had something disgusting coated in BBQ sauce – I just don’t understand what the BBQ sauce on breakfast thing is all about!

Second stop was the Billabong Sanctuary where we got to see Koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles, cassowaries and lots more.

Billabongs are permanent water sources that attract many waterbirds and wildlife. The Billabong forms the centrepiece at Billabong Sanctuary and is one of the main attractions of this wildlife park.

By 11am it was very hot and I was getting very tired so we got back in the car for a bit more of a drive.

Mt Inkerman’s Lookout which, whilst giving us a good view of where we’d been, was covered with trees to the view of the sea! Back in the car the clock was showing 34 degrees celcius – HOT, HOT, HOT!

I don’t know where the next stop was other than beside a big mango! But, Andrew got very excited as it was our first view of the sea/beach on our left – naively we had both thought we would see this sort of a view most of the way down from Cairns, we were wrong!

No idea what time we finally arrived at Airlie Beach , all I remember is the beautiful view across the harbour and out to the Whitsundays from our room! We were staying at Sunlit Waters Apartments (review coming soon) and the view from our balcony was like looking through (or into?) a postcard

It’s quite nice to just take a moment every once in a while and just stop and relax, Airlie Beach definitely gave us that moment! I got to catch up on writing my holiday journal and soak up the amazing view! I think Andrew was enjoying having a bit of time to relax as we have done quite a bit of driving and flying over the past week!

The only thing that disturbed that peace was our neighbours! Before heading out for the evening we got about half an hour of this…

Once they had gone we opted for a quiet night with dinner in the room and I was so tired I fell asleep before 10pm and didn’t wake up till the next morning!

Scenic (apparently) viewpoint just outside Ingham

Awoke to 15 new bites on my legs this morning and Andrew was about the same too. I swear the unhygienic conditions of our room played a part in this!

We were packed an in the car by 9am – temperature 29 degrees celcius.

On the way to Ingham yesterday I spotted a viewpoint just outside the town so we decided to drive back and take a look at it…unfortunately it turned out to be a little overgrown and not worth getting the proper cameras out for! I did enjoy reading various messages written on the barriers there though…

Messages on the barriers

Messages on the barriers

Next stop today was Lucinda. A small village with an apparently lovely 6km long pier used to transport sugar to the ships. Well, contrary to what Lonely Planet say, it’s not lovely! However, I did enjoy seeing it so it wasn’t a total waste of a trip!

Famous Lucinda Pier

Side note: I’d be interested to know what the flat topped trees with red berries on that I keep seeing are called…any ideas?

Our next scheduled stop was Jourama Falls but, despite the 3km walk, I decided against it because of the rain.

Instead we checked into the Coolabah Motel (review coming soon) and headed into Townsville for something to eat.

I was surprised to see pretty much everything was closed, it seems Australia doesn’t function after lunchtime on a Saturday till Monday morning! We finally stumbled across Molly Malones, an Irish bar famous for its crumbed steak, apparently. So, as it was famous, we had to try it.

Two Decent and well cooked portions of steak in breadcrumbs with lashings of gravy and chips – lovely.

After lunch I popped to the Museum of Tropical Queensland to get myself a book on wildlife you can find in Queensland. It was driving me crazy not being able to identify most of the bugs etc we were seeing and I’d given up asking Andrew…it seems the phrase ‘older and wiser’ doesn’t apply to him

Believe it or not we actually got back to the hotel and fell asleep around 4pm! We didn’t wake up till about 7am the next day either!

Breakfast Fruit Platter, Abbey's Guesthouse

When we got up Abbey had prepared a lovely fruit platter – it looked and tasted great (checkout the photo) and set us up till lunchtime. We also had fresh fruit smoothies and toast with tomato jam – which was delicious!

We had a visitor at breakfast too…

Green Whizzer Cicada

Green Whizzer Cicada

Green Whizzer Cicada make the high pitched buzzing noises, often in the heat of the day that can be heard in rainforests. Sometimes with the larger sizes the pitch is so high that it reaches the limits of pain that the human ear can tolerate. In fact, some Cicadas we can’t hear at all because they are beyond our range of hearing. Quite amazing really.

Green Whizzer Cicada wing

They also, for a reason I can’t seem to find, shed their wings and grow back new ones…I think it must have something to do with how clumsy they are as they seem to ‘whizz’ around hitting everything in their path!

After breakfast it was time to pack the car again and, as if it had been waiting, the heavens opened and soaked Andrew as he took all the bags out! I took a video and Abbey has insisted that we report this as a sun shower (see video below!). As we were in the wet tropics Abbey said we would have to see a proper downpour to call it rain!

Sugar Cane field

Pretty soon we were in the car and on our way to Ingham. The weather was hot, humid and overcast. Plenty of low lying cloud which I assumed was something to do with the rainforests…oh, and, we got our first glimpse of sugar cane fields (if only it had been the last as well!)

First stop, Babinda Boulders.

I was expecting loads of large (and boring) rocks but was pleasantly surprised to get my first experience of a rainforest (Tropical World in Roundhay Park doesnt count!).

The noise from the various things living in there was deafening at times. We walked to Devils Pool which was about 600m from the car and by the time we got there I was absolutely soaked with sweat! Nice (not)! The only consolation was that Andrew was too!

Babinda Creek

Click to view larger

The Boulders are a large collection of rocks surrounded by water and the two together make lots of small waterfalls. I think we stayed there about half an hour but in the heat that felt more like 5 hours!

The Babinda Boulders holds great significance for local Aboriginal people.

According to legend a beautiful girl named Oolana, from the Yidinji people, married a respected elder from her tribe named Waroonoo. Shortly after their union another tribe moved into the area and a handsome young man came into her life. His name was Dyga and the pair soon fell in love. Realising the adulterous crime they were committing, the young lovers escaped their tribes and fled into the valleys. The elders captured them, but Oolana broke free from her captors and threw herself into the still waters of what is now known as Babinda Boulders, calling for Dyga to follow her. As Dyga hit the waters, her anguished cries for her lost lover turned the still waters into a rushing torrent and the land shook with sorrow. Huge boulders were scattered around the creek and the crying Oolana disappeared among them.

Aboriginal legend says her spirit still guards the boulders and that her calls for her lost lover can still be heard.

I don’t know about that but I do know the place has a lot of warning signs about jumping in…

Once we got past all the spiders and back to the car it was straight on with the air con and an attempt to return to some sort of normal temperature!

Next stop – Josephine Falls

The Josephine waterfalls are ranked among the most beautiful in the Tropical North Queensland, and have been used in many television commercials.

Josephine Falls - by Andrew

A short walk through another section of rainforest took us to the falls which had two ‘swimming pools’ with waterfalls above both.

Josephine Falls - by Natalya

Josephine Falls - by Andrew

Ictinogomphus Australis

Whilst we were there I saw a few geckos and a very big dragonfly (see photo) which I would try to identify later!

When we got back to the car it was 3pm and 31 degrees celcius…a tad warmer than the UK!

Back on with the air con and headed for our destination for the evening, Lee’s Hotel in Ingham.

There is just one way to descibe this place – SHIT HOLE! You can read our review here.

In an attempt to forget about the disgusting room we’d have to sleep in we decided to go out and find something for dinner…too long in that room and goodness knows how many bites we’d have or what creatures we might see!

A very short stroll away was a lovely chinese restaurant, it was pretty busy and the food was nice One thing I do remember from this meal was not being able to get up out of my chair on the first go…before you say anything, it was nothing to do with drink! Just as I made my second attempt with the aid of Andrew a gentleman came over and offered to help…stubborn and independent me tried to do it Andrew’s help but ended up with the both of them…I was having a wobbly moment

Andrew managed to capture another downpour whilst out on the ‘balcony’  having his last cigarette of the day…

Bedtime…yuck! No way was I getting in that bed so I put a towel on top and a towel over me, closed my eyes and hoped I wouldn’t feel anything crawling on me during the night!

After getting home at 1.30am, getting up again at 6.30am was NOT the best start to 2010! But, we had a flight to catch so after finishing packing we got a taxi at 8am and headed to the airport.

Andrew and I still aren’t sure how, but, our luggage seemed to gain 6kg since we left London and we hadn’t bought anything new! It was either £30 or $30 AUD that we had to pay in excess! If that wasn’t bad enough, the online check-in asked if we had any sharp objects in our hand luggage and I had pressed yes as I had the needles in with my medication. When I said this to the check-in lady she proceeded to tell me that needles had to be in our checked in luggage, I said that wasnt the case and that all my medication and needles had to be in my hand luggage…nope, she said, knitting needles have to go into your checked in luggage…knitting needles? WTF! Syringes, with little needles on the end, ones you jab in your arm/stomach/arse or wherever else you can think of…”oh yes, they need to go in your hand luggage”…feckin Qantas check-in staff at their best (again)!

Going through security was relatively easy this time, they only searched me once! After breakfast – which I didnt eat cos Aussies put BBQ sauce on everything – we boarded our plane to Cairns. That didn’t go so well. Despite having received confirmation from Qantas that seating had been arranged we were put in normal seats and I had to request to be moved. The cabin crew were great and sorted it out straight away for me. So far I have been very impressed with Qantas cabin crew…shame the office and check-in staff can’t be the same way!

The flight seemed to fly by (excuse the pun) and as we touched down in Cairns I prepared myself for the horrendous heat everyone had warned me about. Thankfully it wasnt as bad as I was expecting!

We collected our luggage and headed to Avis to collect our hire car. I think we got stuck with the most annoying (and probably boring) assistant Avis in Cairns have! About an hour later, and after haggling over a GPS and electric seats, we got the keys and headed for the car (as quick as possible!).

Job 1: Whack the air con on!

It took us just 10 minutes to get to our B&B from the airport. Abbey’s Guesthouse was a lovely, and what I assume to be traditional house for the area with its very own slice of the rainforest in the backyard. The owner, Abbey (funnily enough), was a very sweet lady who made us feel right at home from the moment we arrived.

Andrew and I were absolutely shattered! It would normally take me about a week to get over travelling like we had the last few days so food and sleep was about all we had the energy to do…so if you’re looking for pictures of Cairns, you aren’t gonna find very many here lol

I have to admit that I wasn’t keen on opening the windows in the room to let some air in as Abbey suggested…what about the spiders!? So, we put the fan and air con on instead…when we eventually found it!

Once we had unpacked and cooled down we headed into the town. I was expecting a great beach but it wasn’t golden sands…more Southend-on-sea with some heat lol They did have a very busy lagoon though and lots of nice places to eat.

After dinner we went back to Abbey’s for an early night…hopefully uninterrupted by creepy crawlies!

You can read a full review of Abbey’s House in Cairns HERE

Part 1…

Part 2…

Midnight at The Oasis, Sydney

We got the bus into the city around 3pm and began our search for the entrance to Mrs Macquaries Point…quite a popular viewing point for NYE so we thought it’d be easy to find/get to…

Because of all the street closures etc, it took us nearly an hour and a half to get there! When we did finally arrive we had to queue for about half an hour. Luckily the people in front of us asked for a chair for me which was nice of them

I was so excited as this has been a dream for me for a long time (and something D and I discussed many, many times) – sort of like I was doing it for the both of us

Andrew, however,was being miserable and at one stage even said he would prefer to WATCH IT ON TV!!! I could have smacked him one! (And don’t intend to let him forget it either!)

Through the gates at last!

Gates opened at 6.30pm and whilst Andrew walked to our seats I was ‘chauffeur’ driven (in a golf buggy!). I arrived to a red carpet, glass of champagne and the most amazing view I have ever seen, far greater than anything I had imagined!

We were seated on table 176 and it wasn’t long before we were joined by a lovely French couple. Not sure why but , although we chatted througout the evening, we never exchanged names!

Our starter was Salmon, salad, roll, breadsticks and some sauce none of us could workout…tasted OK though!

However, I was just in awe of the completely breathtaking view in front of us. There were many occasions through the evening when I had tears in my eyes!

An Arty View - by Andrew

Around 8pm indigenous vessels appeared on the water to cleanse the harbour of negative spirits, it was quite cool to watch the coloured smoke floating over the harbour.

9pm signalled the start of the real fun though!

9pm Fireworks, Sydney – by Andrew

The harbour of light parade and family fireworks gave us a chance to practice our firework photography. Thankfully I was allowed to sit on my chair by the edge (something your not normally allowed to do…thank you security people) Our first attempts turned out pretty good and we were impressed as the 9pm fireworks were already better than the UK’s midnight ones!

Nothing could have prepared me for just how awesome the midnight fireworks were though.

11.55pm - by Andrew

The video and pictures we took tell this part best…pictures today and videos tomorrow (waiting for YouTube to do it’s stuff ) …

Midnight Fireworks in Sydney - by Natalya

Midnight Fireworks, Sydney - by Andrew

Midnight Fireworks, Sydney - by Natalya

Midnight Fireworks, Sydney - by Andrew

Midnight Fireworks, Sydney - by Natalya

Midnight Fireworks, Sydney - by Andrew

The worst part of the evening was the walk to the bus stop – with 20,000+ other people! Luckily when we arrived we got let straight on the bus – being disabled comes in handy sometimes!

February 12th 2010 – Adding pictures to this diary entry has got me remembering just what an awesome evening this was for me. I’ve watched the video quite a few times since and I still get a bit emotional …of course the same can’t be said for Andrew (blokes, feelings, talking…they just don’t do it)

VIDEO’S WILL BE ADDED TOMORROW!

You can read a review of our Sydney hotel here.

View from the Sydney Tower - by Natalya

Had a fairly early start and caught the bus into the city on my own to visit the Sydney Tower (Andrew was being a boring old fart and stayed at the hotel).
Actually hopped off the bus early as I saw a camera shop and wanted to see if there was any chance of getting a shutter release cable before tonight…had I gone into a camera shop (jessops!) in the UK asking the same question they’d have most likely looked at me like I was crazy or told me it’d take weeks to arrive! This shop in Sydney, whilst only being small, had exactly what I needed! Result!

Took a stroll from there down to the tower and was surprised to see the streets remarkably quiet, except for the occasional group of people with foldable chairs, coolboxes and a little bit of alcohol

Up the tower I also caught a glimpse of the queues for the open access areas around the city for the NYE fireworks and was SO glad we didnt have to start queuing at 9am for our spot! I was quite impressed with the orderly queue as so far Sydneysiders have clearly shown they can’t queue for anything, particular buses!

Queue for one of the open access areas on NYE

I did manage to zoom in a bit and see the seats we’d be sitting on in the area we’d bought tickets for and was excited to see that the view from there looked pretty damn good (so it should be for the price!).

Our NYE Seats!

Moore Park Hotel, Sydney

After leaving the tower I decided to head back to the hotel and see if I could get grumpy to cheer up a bit, beer and food did the trick! We headed to the pub a short walk away from our hotel, Moore Park Hotel (I think) and I had the best Steak sandwich I have ever tasted!

If you ever stay in the Waterloo area of Sydney I highly recommend this place…it’s also the nearest bottleshop for the area too – none of the guidebooks mention that you can’t buy beer in supermarkets over here!!

Steak Sandwich and Burger at Moore Park Hotel...mmmm

Sydney Opera House by Andrew

Our first day in Sydney started with watermelon followed by crumpets – not a bad start (thank you Andrew)! We then got ready and headed for the bus stop near our hotel to catch a bus into the city.

It was a reasonably short journey and the bus went through some lovely streets with rows and rows of tiny little terrace houses (mostly 1 storey)). I later found out that the early settlers built them to be like the rows of terraces in some places in the UK. Apparently it made them feel more at home! (Don’t know who told me that though so it might not be true!)

Two Storey version of the nice houses - by Andrew

It took us about 20 minutes to get down to the Circular Quay from our hotel. First stop for us was the Sydney Opera House. It was SO busy as people were in the city for new years eve and various areas around the opera house were being prepared for the NYE celebrations so photographs were nearly impossible!

Fisheye down at Circular Quay - by Andrew

I did sit down and have one of those ‘WOW’ moments, the Opera House is very different and something you don’t really appreciate until you are there and you see the intricate detail of the roof. My sit down also gave me the chance to do some people watching, funny what you see when you stop for a moment and let the world go by…

The Perfect Photographers Stance - By T

After the Opera House Andrew and I decided to go see different things (he’ll have to write his part up himself!). I got on a ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour (and return). I love being out on the water, you see so much more and notice lots of things you may have missed on land. The Opera House looked even better from the water and seeing the Harbour Bridge up close is pretty cool.

Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from Luna Park - by T

Sydney Harbour Bridge from The Rocks - by Andrew

The boat took us down to Darling Harbour where we got a great view of the city skyline with the Sky tower dominating the scene. I’m going to give the tower a go tomorrow morning, hopefully it wont be too busy as most people will be queueing for places for the evening!

Sydney Skyline- by T

Following the boat trip I was a bit tired so headed back to the hotel and when Andrew returned we headed out in search of food.

Probably the only bad thing about the area our hotel was in is that they have a map with restaurants on it but most of them aren’t where they say there are! In the end we settled for a small Thai restaurant and set our mouthes on fire with a Thai curry!

Early night tonight as tomorrow is going to be a very big day!

View from the boat - by T

You can read a review of our Sydney hotel here.

All photos will be uploaded to our flickr gallery soon, in the meantime please feel free to leave comments here

I wasn’t looking forward to the next 24 hours at all.

Security wasn’t too bad this time round, I think they only searched me twice which was better than the trip to the USA and quite good considering we had extra security in place following the failed Christmas Day ‘attack’.

We boarded at 10.20am and I felt much better once I saw we had the seats that Qantas had (finally) offered me. Next stop for me was the bathroom for my clexane (blood thinner) injection. It was a little off putting having to watch yourself in the mirror of the toilet on the plane, Andrew being scared of needles was a pain but the injection was surprisingly painless

We were quite pleased to be flying on the new Airbus A380-800. It was a lovely plane with plenty of space and the most comfortable seats of any plane I have ever sat in! (visit our review section for more of a write up on the Airbus).

A peek into First Class!

Plenty of legroom

Packed in!

Our Plane (we're inside!) from the Airbus A380's tail camera!

11 hours later we stopped in Singapore to refuel (bit of a farce getting off and almost straight back on the plane but suppose it’s for our safety during refuelling as much as anything.

22 hours after we left the UK we got our first glimpse of Sydney as our plane came in to land…

View over Sydney from the Airbus A380

All images taken on our ickle point and shoot camera

Diary posts will be appearing here over the next few days along with photos so, watch this space!