Magnetic Islands March 29 - 30

Heading south, I decided to head to Magnetic Islands for a Full Moon party, and if you have never been to one, these are definately a bunch of fun because its a huge party on the beach....well I did do one in Sydney but I made it a night to late for the Full Moon party, other then that, the island was a really beautiful island with some really nice secluded bays and some really cool look out points. Again I hired a car with some English ladies and one American I met in Cairns and toured the island!! Great fun and some really nice pictures!!

Cairns March 20

There really wasnt much exciting to see at Cairns but the lagoon and do some day trips from the city. I did make it out to the Great Barrier Reef and saw some amazing fish and other sea creatures!! Unfortunately for me, I did that day trip with some friends and miss out on hiring a underwater digital camera but still, I have the images of the reef in my head and the experience on my back!! Here is a pic from the lagoon at night!!

Totally Random Road Trip March 24

So......after totally pissing the night away with some mates, my friend Rene (Doichland) working at the hostel barges in my room and wakes me up during the ass crack of the morning, haha 9:30 am, I was acutally planning to do some important things but traveling you have to be able to roll with whatever you get presented!! Haha but yeah after getting up, we all meet up again in the reception, while I was waiting for the bus and he goes, "Texas you up for a road trip?" so i think for a few seconds and go....... "ehhh why not" haha which I am totally glad I did because it was such a good fun time, I am still waiting for some pictures from friends but here are just a few, 5 of us hired a car (3 Americans, which is rare to see Americans and 2 Germans) and went to the Boulders, Josephine Falls, Milla Milla Falls and Lake Eacham, then did a fun drive on the serpentine highway at night. I love doing random things like this because they are the most fun but here are some of the pictures!!

Here are the Boulders, it was really nice here, the first pic is of the group pic and the second one is of where we went swimming. I have to add that while swimming it drizzled a bit and just added to the experience the water was a bit cold but still really worth getting in and having some fun!!





Here is Josephine Falls, this was equally as nice and just as fun because you could get on the rocks and slid down them into the main pools, a really fun time that made me feel like a kid again!!





Here is a picture of Milla Milla Falls, this was really pretty also but we decided not to do any swimming here because we spent too much time at the other places and it was getting late!!!



Lastly we ended with Lake Eacham, this was a really nice lake, but I was expecting it to be like Blue Lake in my other posts, it was nice to see a sunset here and take the serpentine roads home afterwards!!

Alice Springs, Ayres Rock, Olgas, Kings Canyon

Leaving Adelaide because there really wasnt anything to do there we took a bus up towards Ayres Rock, on the way, the bus stopped in Cooper Pedy, where we stayed in an underground hostel, this was really cool and it was actually cool underground. There are tons of opal mines in the area and they turned the unused ones into places for people to live, really interesting!!

After spending the night in Alice Springs, Pierre, Milly, Hanna and myslef hired a car and drove to Ayres Rock (Ulura) and the Olgas, It was really nice when we got it, haha it normally was $25 to get into the park, but me thinking of ways to save money jumped in the boot of the car to save the money, budget traveling, so yeah here is a pic of me in the tiny boot of the car, funny thing is that the tallest person was in the smallest part of the car, but it was worth it as you can see by the pics!! Haha, the reason for the finger was cause it was really, really hot and took them some time to get me out of the boot because we didn't want to get caught by the guard, haha, oops!!



Here are some pics of Ayres Rock, it was really nice seeing a sunset here becasue the rock would change different colors and it was just a really great atmosphere.....other then the flies, which I will address later, haha!!





After Ayres Rock, we check out the Olgas, which is pretty much a sister to Ayres Rock, here is the pic!!



Look at the two bombers walking up, Ayres Rock BOOM!!! haha thats what Pierre and I were saying when we did this, but there was logic behind it all, there were TONS of flies everywhere and the only way to get them off you face was to wear a net or something, and we decided to make our own nets, so yeah hence how the Bombers were walking around, haha really cool though, Im amazing I know!!





Here are some really cool pictures from Kings Canyon, it was hot but we still had a great time walking around!!






Here is a pic to give you an idea of how big the Road Trains were, there were everywhere!!



Off to Carins on the East coast for the Barrier Reef, fun in the sun!!!!

Melbourne to Adelaide Via Great Ocean Road

Here is one final picture of some of our sleeping conditions in Melbourne, haha it was 6 people sharing a twin dorm, made for 2 people MAX, it was pretty fun doing this cause we had some crazy parties and it was only $12 each a night versus $27 so yeah budget traveling to the finest, haha!! There were 2 others that were on the bed where the picture was taken from!!!



ROAD TRIP ON THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

We stopped and spent some time in Bells Beach, it was absolutely awesome because there is beach then mountains right there, it was really nice but the water was rather brisk, but still it was nice spending some time at the famous Bells Beach, the sand was really interesting, really fine, kind of like dirt but with sand characteristics!!



Here are a couple pic of the sunset that was on the Great Ocean Road, it was an amazing drive with winding turns and beautiful scenery, and on a couple occasions it would be cold outside then we would get a warm breeze then it would be cold again, but still a great experience and these pictures do not give justice to what we actually experienced. I know the second pic is sideways but ill fix it when I get a better comp!!

Here is the whole group again in front of the sunset!! So AMAZING!!!





On one of our campsites, there was talk about seeing wild koualas, so we were really excited about seeing them, unfortunately there was not any at our campsite, but while driving we did come across some on the side of the road, it was really cool to see them in their natural habitat!!



Here are some pics of the famous 12 Apostles, the Arch, and London Bridge!!








Finally ending our trip with a trip to see the......Im sure you can guess the name of this lake, I think the water gives it away, but just incase you didnt get it, it was called Blue Lake, really pretty and amazing!! I know its sideways but Ill fix it later!! =p

Melbourne Feb 28th

After a few nights of camping and a couple days of driving we finally arrived in Melbourne. It was pretty cool here considering it is compared to Cali, where Sydney is compared to NY, I personally liked Sydney more, but there were still some really interesting things to see here. The whole cits was pretty much laid out in blocks, but still really nice!!



Here is a picture of the main staion right in front of Federation Square, it was really busy here but the rest of Melbourne was rather slow!!



There are parts of Melbourne where grafitti is legal, some of the drawings were really pretty and very elaborate, everything is pretty much hidden in this city, meaning pubs and other really cool places, but here is a pic of some of the grafitti!!



Not to mention, it was really cold the first day I arrived, then it got really hot. Pierre and I shared a hostel with some friends, so we pretty much stayed for free and ate the free breakfast at the place, haha staying in his van was pretty cool and really cheap!!!

I did get to meet up with my friends that I met in Fiji (Hanna and Milly)

Syd to Melbourne Feb 26 - 28

Here is my first road trip and it turned out excellent. I met a French guy (Pierre haha) and we both took his van south through some really beautiful sight and great terrain. We first headed up through the mountains which was amazing, it was just south of Sydney, this was an interesting experience because they were extremely windy roads with no barriers or even a center line. I didnt get a chance to take a picture becuase we were both concentrating on the turns and everything that was ahead, some of the turns were like 20k/hr turns, but yeah I would look out the frot or side window and would just see the van, a yellow line and then the cliff, pretty scary but fun at the same time. I was finally able to drive and this was pretty cool and easy to get used to because everyone is going in the same direction but the spacial awareness was interesting, but here is a pic of me driving his van!!



I finally saw my first roo.....but he was dead on the side of the road, sorry to say but he was really red and pretty big, im still looking forward to seeing some roos on the side of the road that are alive!! We passed many road trains which were about the size of 2 18 wheelers in the states, when you pass them make sure to hold on the the wheel because they are pushing a ton of wind in front of them.

We did pass through a really small town called Eden, here we had something to eat and some time to just hang out, it was really pretty and here is a pic of Aussie's Eden.



This is pretty much how we camped on this trip, it was really fun and we were able to make a huge fire....even though there was a complete fire ban, haha oops, but yeah this night it poured down rain and out ghetto rig worked pretty well!!!



Here is a couple pictures of some beaches at Phillip Island, it was really cool, there were penguins and seals out on the island!!

Sydney Night Pics

Here are just a couple of pics of Sydney at night, really pretty to head down to Circular Quay and other places in Sydney. It was absolutely beautiful and a great atmosphere!!