Valley deep, Mountain high.....

Interesting fact number one. The Blue Mountains, (2 hours west of Sydney) are so called because of the Blue haze created by the oils evaporating from the eucalyptus trees and mixing with the mist in the valleys.

We have literally just returned from two days in the Blue Mountains (very busy due to the labour day bank holiday weekend). It was extremely windy and biting cold compared to what we have been used to, but also extremely beautiful and as blue as the postcards make them out to be.

The days consisted of bush walking and the nights of boozing and playing pool. Interesting fact number two, or rather highlight to mention, was that myself and the lovely Karen Wells smashed James at pool after having consumed two bottles of wine with dinner. Booze or no booze we were the better team - rock on girls.

So since climbing the bridge we also visited the Hunter Valley, one of Australia's premier wine regions. Interesting fact number 3; American oak is now so expensive, that wineries are using alternative methods to 'oak' their wines to avoid having to store them in pricey barrels. One of the methods involves brewing in a metal vat and dipping a bag full of wood chippings into it to give it the oaky taste. This is also referred to as 'tea-bagging'.

The Hunter Valley tour basically involved visting four boutique wineries, one cheese and one chocolate house and basically getting unavoidably tipsy....oh and buying lots of lush wine.

Kayaking, surfing and a farewell dinner tomorrow... expect to see pics of me effortlessly riding the Australian waves whilst James struggles to stay afloat shortly.

Next stop - Melbourne.

The Climb of Your Life: Sydney Part 1

The pic to your right is Nadia and I atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge this afternoon. The 2hr climb over narrow walkways anywhere between 50 - 150 metres above the earth indeed confirmed that I still do have a massive fear of heights, however it was well worth it. Spectacular views on a spectacularly sunny day made me put fear of death to the back of my mind and enjoy the experience. Note the nice grey star trek style jumpsuits...these are apparently to make you blend in with the bridge so as not to distract drivers below...tres fashionable I'm sure you'll agree - oh, and that's the Sydney Opera House in the background of course.

Anyway, we got into Sydney last Thursday after a mammoth 13hr overnight bus trek (complete with crying babies) from Byron Bay. It is a bit strange being back in a city after hugging small coastal towns and islands for the last 5 weeks but a cool change nonetheless.

Top 5 highlights so far:
1. Obviously seeing our excellent host Karen Wells and her awesome (and massive) flat, complete with swimming pool, spa and sauna, in Pyrmont
2. Visiting the Palms on Saturday night, Sydneys premier gay nightspot, for one of Karen's friends birthdays. The evening was spent being served by men in their underpants at the bar and generally trying to avoid eye contact with any man in the place, especially the topless ones. I even got Nadia to accompany me to the toilet (I'd like to point out this was my first gay bar experience and, after a beer or two, i was obviously assuming i was irresistable to members of the same sex)
3. The ferry to manly to eat fish and chips on the beach and have beers with some old friendly faces
4. Sydney Harbour - the bridge (and climb obviously), the opera house etc. a cliche, but as specacular as it looks on the telly
5. A visit to Cooje and Bondi Beaches...which we will be surfing/drowning at later in the week

So considering the trip so far had mostly consisted of early nights and active days, Sydney has swayed back towards boozy nights and leisurely sightseeing. We even managed to stay up past 10.30 on more than one occasion.

Busy week ahead - Hunter Valley, Surf lessons and the Blue Mountains to come. Expect plenty more posts from Sydney.

Four Wheeling around Fraser

Just back from two days on the very magical Fraser Island. This beauty is the world's largest sand island, accesible only by 4WD... We decided to hire a very compact yet robust little jeep (well mini-jeep). Credit has to be paid here to James' driving skills. Move over Knightrider, James Dean, Michael Schumacher and The Fall Guy... The inland roads were more than just a little bumpy. Rocks, tree roots, sand dunes and creeks - you name it, we crossed it. Slightly more fun was the beach driving - think the red 4x4 in Baywatch and you'd be halfway there....

So, day one was spent initially getting to grips with the driving experience (and staying alive) before heading to Lake Mckenzie - a huge freshwater lake with white sands and crystal clear water. On a near par with Whitehaven... It was then on to Lake Wabby - this drive we later learned is usually saved for day two once the driver has had a chance to get used to his new mean machine... we ploughed on. The views from the lookout point were something else...

We passed the afternoon back down by the beach, past the Maheno shipreck and on to Eli Creek, one of the island's larger creeks that you could walk around and then literally float down as the current took you back to the ocean - freezing but brilliant.

Day two was slightly more off the beaten track. We decided to abandon the scheduled itinerary and set off for Indian Head (the peak of the island) with a group of energetic slovakians met at the lodge accomodation the night before. We set off early - it needed to be as you are not permitted to drive along the beach during high tide. For one you physically can't as the water washes away the hard sand road and secondly any salt water can get in to the engine and ruin it and/or rot the bodywork which incurs a hefty fine.

So we set off for the hour's drive, only to realise about twenty minutes into the journey that the fuel guage was on a quarter full... "Ummm James didnt they say in the induction not to let it drop below a quarter"..."Did they? Oh s**t".... Then as we continued to drive the tide seemed to be working to a tide limit of its own creeping up higher and chasing us along the way. We managed to reach our destination in one piece and with functioning vehicle. It was when we saw a mini-bus being pushed in vain by ten backpackers whilst the driver tried to reverse out of the soft sand that we decided to park up...

We spent a few hours whale and dolphin watching from the top of Indian Head and then once the tide had retreated made a break back to the barge terminal to catch the ferry home. (Boo)

Lots of fun and another highlight although realise that every entry has been described that way...

On to Byron Bay....

Cruising, Cocktails and Cricket in the Whitsunday's...

The picture to your right is a snap of an enthralling England/Australia beach cricket match that took place on Whitehaven beach in the Whitsunday's yesterday.

I am at bat, in the white shorts about to spank that ball into the sea for a six (or let go of the bat and send it careering at a member of the opposition depending on whose version of events you believe).

Before I get ahead of myself we've just returned from a four day three night luxury cruise around these islands which, for those who haven't been, are pretty special.

We arrived in Airlie Beach last Tuesday to more gales and torrential rain and to the news that our initial trip - on the Waltzing Mathilda - had been cancelled. Nadia and i were more than a little crestfallen and marched into the booking office ready for a fight until the kind lady informed us we had landed an upgrade to the Pacific Sunrise - basically top of the range cruise boat which would have cost beaucoup de $$$$ had we not been so fortunate.

We've both agreed its the best thing we've done since we've been away. A brief summary of the cruise....the first evening wasn't too strenuous - we pulled into a little bay for drinks and dinner with our ten fellow sailors and a low key evening was rounded off with a playful dolphin that spent a half hour swimming round the bottom of the boat.

Day two began with a bit of sailing before we pulled into a couple of bays and snorkelled the inner reef. The spectacular underwater life more than made up for the FREEZING waters...and we saw some very big and colourful fish. Whales were also spotted swimming off the bow as we moved onto our rest stop for the evening.

Day three was all about Whitsunday Island which was pretty awesome - the afternoon was spent on Whitehaven beach with beach cricket (see pic) and baking in the sun the main focus of activities. The sand was made up of 98% silica (i think) which meant it was whiter and finer than we'd ever seen before. Oh, and we saw a reef shark swimming in the shallows. Back on the boat we also had an encounter with three playful dolphins who were swimming along the bow and diving in and out of the waves as we motored to our next destination.

The last three days have been top quality - lots of sun, fantastic beaches, ink blue water, more marine life than you could shake a stick at, great food, plenty to drink and good company amongst the other couples on the trip. We are now back on dry land, but are both still swaying.

Forgot to mention we also had a trip to Magnetic Island before arriving in Airlie Beach. Again, lots of fun - we even saw a Koala!

Mammoth trip to Brisbane tomorrow then a couple of days break before we work our way down to coast to Sydney.

Underwater adventure....

Today has been the unrivaled highlight so far on our trip. After several patchy days (yes more rain and clouds...) and sailors warnings that the 30 knot winds might not drop making reef trips impossible, we finally made it out for our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.

It was a bumpy 1.25 hr ride to the outer barrier reefs (and something of a vomitfest with men, women and children losing their breakfast - but not james or i...we are clearly built of sterner stuff) on the SilverSwift boat. Once we were there the wait was beyond worth it. It was an introductory dive for me (see pic), whilst James swam off on a snorkelling adventure. Both trips were as wildlife infested as each other. Visibility was clearly impressive (excuse the pun) and five hours out exploring Australias most impressive collection of marine life has left us both swaying slightly in our seats.

The highlight of the day was swimming just a stone throw's away from a playful sea turtle who decided to surface from the sea bed and swim just a meter ahead of our fins. Very very cool. Other marine life sights included stingrays, more sea turtles, lots of massive and colourful coral fish, 2 giant clams Oh...and the Reef itself which is pretty amazing and as great as everyone makes it out to be.

We head south to Magnetic Island tomorrow then onto the Whitsunday's for the rest of the week. Best get an early night...all that sea air has wiped us out.

Beware! We Bare

The pic in question is the sight that confronted us in the bar area of the White Cockatoo in Mossman (a quiet resort on the way to Cape Trib) - essentially the hotel's glory coverage from recent years.... In short, a very nice, rainforest set b&b that in winters months is fine for the family but doubles as a nudist colony/swingers retreat (thankfully we were out of season!)

We have spent the last four days on a road trip to Cape Tribulation. Recent adventures include:

• A meat feast cooked by James on a real Australian Barbie
• Crocodille spotting down the Daintree river (although James was dissapointed we only saw one)
• Lots of beach action (windy but good for kite sailing)
• Walking the Mossman Gorge (deep rainforest area just off the north east coast)
• Exploring the creeks and avoiding Crocodiles (warning signs were scary but quite exciting)
• Avoiding Cassawaries (large turkey creatures that charge at the sight of food and are more common than we initially thought)

Wildlife update since our last post:

• 1 large black Feral pig (in the Mossman rainforest - it snorted, we shat our pants)
• 1 large but not deadly spider (in the girls toilet but big enough to be considered a threat)
• 1 flying fox (fruit eating - James fed him some apple)
• 1 Cane toad ( it jumped out under the torchlight whilst we trecked accross the campsite)