Click here to see the previous post!
After visiting Sydney and Cairns (see the previous posts), we have come to Port Douglas:
Our journey to Port Douglas began after we left our apartment at the Cairns Colonial Club. The shuttle bus took us up the long windy road that we had been on the day before, for about an hour or so while we viewed the sights such as Snapper Island - a piece of land out at sea that looks like a hippo coming out of the water, or as our bus driver said, Dolly Parton lying down!
Arriving at the hotel was a pleasant surprise - it was sooo posh! Walking up to the entrance, we were stopped by a concierge who took our bags from us and delivered them to our room while we checked in. The lobby was vast and inside were a small selection of designer shops, a restaurant down the steps, a grand piano which I would later play and of course, the reception.
After checking in, we made our way outside and we found ourselves at loads of sandy edged swimming pools. There was a bar by the pools where we were served a cocktail each (non-alcoholic may I add), made from local fruits. The hotel was right on a STUNNING beach; there were fresh coconuts everywhere and lush scenery!
Most of our day was spent by the pool or on the beach after we had been around the hotel a few times. At tea time we tried a selection of food from the buffet at the hotel and the service was wonderful: they came round and refilled our drink (although one of the waitors spilt it on the table, bless him!)
The second day was also very similar. The majority of the day was spent by the pool writing postcards to our loved ones back home. Later on in the evening, we went for a long walk down the beach and in to the town of Port Douglas itself where we visited Dave's Takeaway. Anyone who I know that reads this blog will probably know that my father's name is David, so he was able to have a Polaroid picture taken and it is now on the Wall Of Daves. If you are visiting, be sure to look out for him!
Day three was the first time that we stayed out of the hotel for the full day. In the morning we walked down the beach again and into Port Douglas. We began by walking right up to the very top of the town to sight-see. As it was so hot, we had to go back down to the town to get a drink and then the rest of the day was filled with shopping and eating!
Unfortunately, the fourth day in Port Douglas was our last. To make the most of the hotel before we left, my family and I spent the morning around the pool again after having a buffet breakfast. We also had a family competition of table tennis... I was obviously the champion! ;) In the afternoon, we returned to the room and got ready to board the plane to Darwin. I was particularly sad about this journey as it meant that I had to leave Port Douglas, my favourite place that we had been after Kuranda. On the bright side, it was on to Darwin!
Arizona
Sunday, 30 August 2015
Saturday, 29 August 2015
Australian Adventure: Cairns
Click here to see the first blog of this series!
Hello!
Hopefully you have arrived here after having read my first blog post of this mini series which you can find on the link above. If so, please enjoy the second section of my trip to Australia!
After visiting Sydney and all it's wonderful sights, my family and I headed to the airport via a shuttle bus. We endured three hours on a very bumpy flight - the turbulence was so rough that even the air stewards were struggling to stand up and serve refreshments - and finally arrived at the Cairns Colonial Club Resort, a beautiful apartment hotel surrounded by palm trees and Australian countryside. We were very relieved to jump into the chill of the pool to be refreshed after being in the warmth of the sun.
In the evening, we headed out to a local League Club where we experienced the local culture and tasted some fabulous foods in the buffet such as Roasted Pumpkin and a lot of prawns!
Our first full day in Cairns was another chance for me to fulfil one of my life long dreams - snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef! We boarded a boat down by the harbour and were given our flippers and snorkels.
Here's a slightly gross tip for snorkelers: if you want to stop your goggles from steaming up in the water, rub your spit on the lenses and then dip them in the water. The spit on the lenses will improve your visibility because of its properties! Thank me later...
The boat trip took us out to a reef about an hour and a half away from the shore. At this point we realised how scary the reef snorkeling would actually be. We were literally in the middle of the sea with no protection from danger except from a couple of the boat crew looking out for sharks. There was virtually no briefing on how to snorkel apart from the obvious, breathe through your mouth! The sea was very rough and the waves were as tall as me. Our adrenaline was through the roof. Stepping off the boat was like leaving your parents on the first day of school; no one knew what to expect, we were all nervous and no one really enjoyed it.
After our first reef experience, the boat continued to another reef. Fortunately this experience was a lot better. We were told how to use the flippers and the sea was calmer which of course meant that we were calmer! My Dad and sister were very quick to jump off the boat and start swimming to the reef about 20 metres away. My mum and I took a lot more convincing, especially me as I was worried about drowning! However, the fish were beautiful. They were absolutely incredible and I could not have been happier to have snorkeled over the world's greatest aquarium.
Moving on from the reef experience, the second day was by far one of my favourites. This day was made up of a ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a stunning ride up through the mountains, into the village station at Kuranda - aka my future home town. It was a really pretty hippy village, with the most wonderful looking people. Everybody's hair was dreadlocked and their style was totally unique. The culture was incredible. At one of the shacks I even got a dreadlock of my own in the under layer of my hair which remains while I am typing this up almost a month later! In addition to the train and the village, we also floated across the skies in a 7km long series of cable cars, some of the tallest and the longest in Australia. It was a day spent filled with good fear and excitement. I would definitely go back!
Finally, our last day in Cairns came, another that I had been looking forward to. We started out day by clambering onto the bus at about 7am. After the hotel pick ups, we travelled along a spectacular scenic road for about an hour or so, taking in the views of the coral blue sea. The time flew by and we soon stopped off at a wildlife park near Port Douglas. Walking through the entrance, we were met by an abundance of friendly wallabies and kangaroos, along with koalas, crocs, birds, lizards, butterflies and so much more, all of whom where wandering free in the park. (Don't worry, the crocs were under a bridge that we walked under and so were not a danger to anyone). Next, we took a stroll through a forest and enjoyed lunch in a treehouse cafe near the beach where I'm sorry to say that I ate a kangaroo steak (BUT IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!).
Lastly, we floated down the Daintree River searching for and finding crocodiles with the people from the bus, before returning back to the hotel.
Watch this space for my next instalment of my little Australian Adventure series!
Arizona
Hello!
Hopefully you have arrived here after having read my first blog post of this mini series which you can find on the link above. If so, please enjoy the second section of my trip to Australia!
After visiting Sydney and all it's wonderful sights, my family and I headed to the airport via a shuttle bus. We endured three hours on a very bumpy flight - the turbulence was so rough that even the air stewards were struggling to stand up and serve refreshments - and finally arrived at the Cairns Colonial Club Resort, a beautiful apartment hotel surrounded by palm trees and Australian countryside. We were very relieved to jump into the chill of the pool to be refreshed after being in the warmth of the sun.
In the evening, we headed out to a local League Club where we experienced the local culture and tasted some fabulous foods in the buffet such as Roasted Pumpkin and a lot of prawns!
Our first full day in Cairns was another chance for me to fulfil one of my life long dreams - snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef! We boarded a boat down by the harbour and were given our flippers and snorkels.
Here's a slightly gross tip for snorkelers: if you want to stop your goggles from steaming up in the water, rub your spit on the lenses and then dip them in the water. The spit on the lenses will improve your visibility because of its properties! Thank me later...
The boat trip took us out to a reef about an hour and a half away from the shore. At this point we realised how scary the reef snorkeling would actually be. We were literally in the middle of the sea with no protection from danger except from a couple of the boat crew looking out for sharks. There was virtually no briefing on how to snorkel apart from the obvious, breathe through your mouth! The sea was very rough and the waves were as tall as me. Our adrenaline was through the roof. Stepping off the boat was like leaving your parents on the first day of school; no one knew what to expect, we were all nervous and no one really enjoyed it.
After our first reef experience, the boat continued to another reef. Fortunately this experience was a lot better. We were told how to use the flippers and the sea was calmer which of course meant that we were calmer! My Dad and sister were very quick to jump off the boat and start swimming to the reef about 20 metres away. My mum and I took a lot more convincing, especially me as I was worried about drowning! However, the fish were beautiful. They were absolutely incredible and I could not have been happier to have snorkeled over the world's greatest aquarium.
Moving on from the reef experience, the second day was by far one of my favourites. This day was made up of a ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, a stunning ride up through the mountains, into the village station at Kuranda - aka my future home town. It was a really pretty hippy village, with the most wonderful looking people. Everybody's hair was dreadlocked and their style was totally unique. The culture was incredible. At one of the shacks I even got a dreadlock of my own in the under layer of my hair which remains while I am typing this up almost a month later! In addition to the train and the village, we also floated across the skies in a 7km long series of cable cars, some of the tallest and the longest in Australia. It was a day spent filled with good fear and excitement. I would definitely go back!
Finally, our last day in Cairns came, another that I had been looking forward to. We started out day by clambering onto the bus at about 7am. After the hotel pick ups, we travelled along a spectacular scenic road for about an hour or so, taking in the views of the coral blue sea. The time flew by and we soon stopped off at a wildlife park near Port Douglas. Walking through the entrance, we were met by an abundance of friendly wallabies and kangaroos, along with koalas, crocs, birds, lizards, butterflies and so much more, all of whom where wandering free in the park. (Don't worry, the crocs were under a bridge that we walked under and so were not a danger to anyone). Next, we took a stroll through a forest and enjoyed lunch in a treehouse cafe near the beach where I'm sorry to say that I ate a kangaroo steak (BUT IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!).
Lastly, we floated down the Daintree River searching for and finding crocodiles with the people from the bus, before returning back to the hotel.
Watch this space for my next instalment of my little Australian Adventure series!
Arizona
Monday, 10 August 2015
Australian Adventure: Sydney
G'day mate!
I'm so happy to be able to tell you that I CONQUERED AUSTRALIA! Ahhh!
As most of the people that read my blog often might know, my family's trip to Australia has been years and years in the making! (See my previous blog). Ever since my parents went on their honeymoon to Australia it has been on their (and my) bucket list to go back and after nineteen years, we were lucky enough to be able to tick it off.
Our Australian adventure started with a 20 odd hour plane journey to Sydney and we stayed in a lovely apartment hotel on the 26th floor in Darling Harbour. Boy was I glad to get to that hotel! While in Sydney we went on some stunning day trips to places such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach (a short boat trip from Sydney Harbour), along with some sights that the locals enjoy like The Rocks, an area of Sydney where the first fleets of ships landed and the slaves and poor people carved stone for buildings. We were also taught about the window taxes that buildings had. The more windows you had, the more tax you had to pay so people often bricked their windows up during construction to avoid having to pay. The tour guides were welcoming and their accents and dialect were very endearing.
In addition to this, I was able to achieve another of my dreams which was to go to the Blue Mountains. This is perhaps a less known area of Australia, but none-the-less one that is renowned for it vast landscape of trees, mountains and waterfalls. It also has the steepest train ride in the world at a 52 (correct me if I'm wrong) degree angled slope and it recently had a renovation for over $30 million (AUS). Another two of the attractions in the mountains were the cable cars and skyrails; these are some of the highest cable cars in the world so I think I can also say that I'm just about over my fear of heights!
In conclusion, Sydney was a wonderful welcome to Australia with its friendly people, culture and warm weather - although I understand that the locals thought it was freezing! Being a true Brit, I was walking round in shorts turning redder and redder by the day while they were sat around heaters and bonfires in winter clothes. The food was fantastic, the boat cruises and trips we went on were very well catered for and well planned and the atmosphere was friendly. I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to go there and indeed I would recommend a visit if there's ever an opportunity.
Arizona
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