"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

Ben and Sarah meet Carcaradon Carcharias

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Sunday 30 January 2011 20:35

I love scuba diving and I'm also fascinated by sharks! When you think of sharks, the Great White automatically comes to mind. The brutal mindless killer!? I'd quite like to get in the water with one of those! After reading that you can dive with Great Whites in Australia I decided that we must do it while we are here. It turns out that the one and only place in Oz that you can dive with them is in the Neptune Islands 40 miles off the coast of a little place in South Australia called Port Lincoln. Up at 0530 on the day of the dive to be at the marina for 0630, it's been a long time since I've seen the sun rise so that was cool. We were greeted by a lady with a video camera, you can buy a highlights package at the end of the day. We boarded the Calypso Star and set sail for the Neptune Islands. We were fed croissants with ham and cheese, which was nice. They put on a DVD (not Jaws) about the company and what we were going to see, the rest of the DVD was clips from TV shows that they've been on, like Top Gear Australia. The hostess was asleep on the sofa next to me. A bit strange i thought. They could have spent the time telling us about the sharks! So after 2 and a bit hours we arrived at the Neptune islands. They put the cage in the water and the captain explained a few bits and bobs about safety, i think he said something about not putting you arms or head through the gap in the cage. Not sure why!? He asked who wanted to be the first in the cage, obviously I volunteered Sarah and I. They send in four people at a time so we had to share the cage with two Germans who had spent the boat trip eating sour crout and bratwurst, then feeling very sea sick, more on this later! Off we went to sign our insurance wavers and put on our 7mm wet suites. Then from the crows nest someone shouted 'Sheep' I was very confused by this, it turns out I'd just misheard them and a shark had actually arrived. I jumped into the cage, Sarah and ze Germans followed swiftly behind. We all stood there waiting for the shark to swim past. We waited... and waited after about 20 minutes of not seeing anything Sarah and I started sharing 'looks' I was getting a little worried at this point. One of ze Germans kept going to the surface. I thought they must be eating more sour crout, turns out it was the opposite! They were sick right above our heads! Chunks of cabbage and bratwurst were floating around us! disgusting! We continued to look around and then finally without warning. A Great White came from nowhere and smashed into the cage right where Sarah and I were standing. It really got the adrenaline pumping! Sarah being Sarah was screaming alot. Captured on video but it won't let me upload it. Rubbish! After that the action came thick and fast. The captain and a deck hand stood with bits of tuna attached to rope baiting the sharks. It was one of the best 30 minutes of my life! They are so graceful in the water, then in a flash they turn on the power. Sadly we had to get out of the cage, i could have stayed there all day! The action didn't stop all afternoon. It was almost as good watching them from the surface breaching the water to munch on some tuna. I'd been watching the action for so long that I missed lunch! I don't miss lunch, it's one of my favorite times of the day. We set sail back to Port Lincoln most of the others on the boat had a sleep. I just sat and looked at my photos! They put a highlights DVD together and played it on the way back. You could buy it for $50, It was shite! All the footage of sharks was library footage, they didn't even film underwater that day! I didn't buy it. We arrived back in port and decided in the spirit of the day we'd visit the local Michelin starred sea food restaurant! We both had shark steaks! Only kidding! We went to MacDonald's. I had a Big Mac! We were both knackered after getting up at 0530 so had an early night. What a great day! Oh wait how could I forget, after being asleep for a few hours we were rudely awoken to the tent being almost blown over. It was blowing a hooley as Sarah would say! I ended up having to drive the car in front of the tent and tying guy ropes to it! So there you have it. Today will go down in the annals of time as the day that Ben and Sarah dived with Great White sharks.

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Friday 28 January 2011 00:53

After the skype date with the family on Monday we packed up in good time and got on our way, however it was slow going getting out of Adelaide! Once we were out of the city and on our way it was plain sailing all the way to Port Augusta, stopping for lunch in Port Pirie which was rather nice! We have managed to stop in lovely places for our lunch everyday, and Port Pirie was no exception. We sat by the water eating out sandwiches (made there and then obviously!) and watching the world go by for a few minutes.

Port Augusta is a very hot place, and is referred to as 'the gate to the outback' in this region, so you can imagine the landscape! We couldn't do anything before getting into the pool as it was far too hot! After a refreshing dip in the pool we felt ready to attack the tent. We pitched the tent in bright red sandy earth that was very hot and hard! It was incredibly dusty! The campsite was not busy at all, as it really is not a place many people would ever go to, we were only there on our way to the sharks! Had the ferry been running that takes you across from Adelaide to Cowell, we would have been on it, as it's only a short drive to Port Lincoln after that, but as it was not we found ourselves at Port Augusta driving the 650 km trip! The campsite did have the BEST camp kitchen we have ever seen, and it was air conditioned! It was soooooo nice to go in and sit down for a while, but then absolutely terrible once you came back outside! It was all decked out in stainless steel, and looked like a professional chefs kitchen, so Ben was in his element! After pitching the tent we got back in the pool to cool off! Then off to the supermarket for something for dinner! We could not believe how hot the ground was, and it stayed that way all night! We were just settling down for bed at about half ten, when Ben complained about how I had not pumped up the bed enough. However, we had both been sat on it reading and emailing etc, and it had been fine, then we suddenly realised it must have a puncture, and it started to go much faster and we could hear it! So, I had to get out of bed and hunt around in the car for the puncture repair kit, then we had to get all the air out, and patch it up and wait, sat on the hot ground, for half an hour before we pumped it up again! We decided to put our sleeping bags under our sheet as a small comfort incase it deflated in the night! So, off we went to bed not knowing what state we would be in come the morning! It became apparent after just five minutes that it was now a very slow leak, and we were glad we had put the sleeping bags underneath for the little bit of comfort they might provide! Come the morning the bed was pretty flat, but not completely, and remarkably we both slept ok which was a blessing! We googled K Mart (a cheap shop here) to see if Port Lincoln had one, and it did, so we knew we'd be stopping there for a new bed!

So we got up very early as it was going to get pretty hot very soon! The guy in the office said we had been lucky yesterday as the temperature had only hit 37 as there was a good wind, but today was going to hit 45, so we thought we'd better get moving pretty quick! We drove all the way to Port Lincoln, stopping off for lunch by the sea again! We arrived at Port Lincoln in the early afternoon and were pleased we would have a whole afternoon to relax, but alas that was not meant to be! The camp site is a big site right on the sea, and it's a tiered site up the cliff side and it is pretty windy! We took a while working out which way to face the tent, and once this was decided we got on with it, but the more we put up the worse it became, the whole side of the tent was folding completely in on itself under the wind. We were both very concerned, it was crazy windy and the tent was becoming half the size being battered by it! The tent was mostly up apart from a couple of pegs, but we decided to go and ask if there was a more sheltered spot! There was inbetween two big vans so we decided to relocate! So we put the tent down, quite tricky in the crazy wind, and moved over to the other spot! We began putting it up, and it was a much more sheltered spot, still with a bit of wind, but the issue we had here was how hard the ground was! Ben was having great difficulty banging some of them in, as it was gravel and rock hard underneath, and many pegs got bent! A kind man who had lent us his mallet (as we only have a hammer!) came over to see how we were getting on, and had a go at the last peg that was not going in at all and couldn't do it either! He bought over a really thick peg, and even that bent! We ended up banging it in slightly in the wrong place, but at least it was in! So, tent finally up most of the afternoon had gone! However, we ventured to the information centre to find out where the K Mart was, and what else there was going on here. The lady was really helpful and informed us that it was the 5 day festival of 'Tunarama' here!!! They are big on tuna here, and have this festival every year, and this year was special as it was the 50th anniversary! We had missed the big stuff over the weekend like the tossing of the tuna! But we were in time to see the watermelon eating contest on Wednesday and the slippery pole contest! We bought oursleves a new bed and had a relaxing evening. We went for a walk along the sea front and Ben threw stones and rocks into the sea, what is it about boys throwing things?!

On Wednesday we enjoyed not having to get up and pack up the tent etc!!! Had a lazy morning and after smelling bacon on lots of mornings and wishing we had some, we got some yesterday and enjoyed a bacon and egg sandwich for brunch! Did a load of washing and then got everything sorted for the next day - Shark day! We went to find the parking for the place, and found the office but they were shut for lunch and it said be back at 1pm, it was now 1.15pm, so we left and went to check out the Tunarama festivities. On our way we had the radio on and the lady said something about coming up to 1pm, and we both looked at eachother and wondered if we had missed a time change when we crossed over into South Australia days ago!!!! We really needed to find out as we had the shark dive the next day!!!! We went to the information centre and asked the time, and it was half an hour earlier than we thought!!!!! We had spent days on the wrong time zone, but had never noticed! Lucky we did today, or we would have been very early for the shark dive and might have thought it was cancelled! No wonder the shark dive office was still shut for lunch when we turned up! After moseying around the Tunarama and seeing a bit of the slippery pole contest and the kids watermelon eating contest we got dinner for the evening and tomorrow as we could be back late, and packed our bags up ready for the early start! We had to meet them at 6.30am, so alarms were set for 5.30am!!! Definately on the right time! Three alarms to be precise! I had a skype chat with school which was excellent! It was my old class, now in year four, and the next door class too! They all looked grown up and it was so funny feeling like I was back there, but I was sat outside in a campsite in Australia! They had prepared some questions for me which I did my best to answer! They were celebrating Australia Day so it worked really well! After that was done it was time to shower and get to bed ready for the day ahead!
I will try and get Ben to blog about shark day very soon!
Sarah x

Mt Gambier, Robe and Adelaide!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Sunday 23 January 2011 23:15

On Saturday we got up and did our little routine, shower, put tent down, breakfast and get on the road. We can usually achieve this in under an hour now, getting good! We were headed for a little place called Robe for the night, and when I enquired at the campsite office about any roadclosures that might affect us, she asked if we had booked at Robe as it is very popular! We had not, so first job was to call ahead and book a spot, which we did not problem!
After a quick trip to the supermarket we were on our way. Ben likes to take the first shift of driving, and got us all the way to Mt Gambier where we decided to stop for lunch. Mt Gambier is famous for it's Blue Lake. There is an extinct volcano there, with the Blue Lake in a massive crater. There is a road that goes all the way around the 5km circumference, so we came upon it, and it shocked us just how blue it really was! The info said that through the winter it is a steely grey colour, and then as Summer comes it changes over a couple of days to this amazing cobalt blue, it is absolutely stunning! So we found a nice patch of grass and had our little picnic Mum style! This basically means make it on arrival and not before, and if you have no 'sad table', a lap will do! After yummy 'made on the spot sandwiches' we got back in the car and I completed the last leg of the journey to Robe. Robe is a lovely seaside place famous for it's crayfishing. We had a scout around and looked at the beach and then went back to the site to put the tent up. Once that job was done we headed back to the beach for some relaxing in the sun! It was a very windy little place and I did get covered in sand as it blew across the beach, but it was lovely anyway! We had a wonderful evening, and Ben joined me to eat a 'Fisherman's Basket', as it was the same price as two lots of fish and chips, but you got loads more! For those of you who don't know, Ben does 'not like fish', however, he gave it a whirl, along with the scallops, calamari, and salt and pepper squid and found he actually didn't mind it! Of course we had Heinz ketchup and coke, and a perfect view, bliss!

The next morning we completed our pack up routine (with a wet tent as it had rained in the night!) and were on our way to Adelaide! We booked our campsite and were on our way. We stopped at a nice spot called Tailem Bend for a quick sandwich and headed on into Adelaide. It was a very hot day! We decided to change the campsite we had chosen as it was inland and didn't have a pool, for one on the beach with a pool for a few extra dollars. We are SO glad we did! It was an enormous campsite, but very nice. We were just over the sand dunes from the beach, which we opted for as the pool was very busy! Had a lovely afternoon on the beach and we both had a little doze in the sun! We got to Skype with Carol and Mike in the evening which was great, so we caught up on all their news and vice versa. In the morning I also got up early to Skype with Mum, Dad and Emma which was lovely. It had been a while since we last skyped so I really enjoyed it! Although we are having an amazing time, I am already super excited about the day we get home and all the hugs and catching up that will be done!

How could I forget?!!!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Friday 21 January 2011 17:16

So, on our way into Lorne on Friday we went past the campsite turning and had to carry on the road to find a place to turn around, and there on the roadwas a policeman stopping people and pulling them over to do random breath testing!! So Ben was breath tested and I managed to get a photo (I asked permission first obviously!) and a little bit of video clip by accident! Ben was so funny, he told the police officer we were trying to turn around, which made it sound like we were trying to avoid the road block! So I quickly explianed that we were trying to find the campsite, not avoid the police! Here is the picture, and Ben wants me to stress he had a reading of ZERO! So we were allowed to go on our way! Another experience to add to the list!

Melbourne and beyond!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , 03:34

So, it's now Friday and I need to recall events from Tuesday onwards to update the blog! Tuesday was a great day, we went to the Australian Open and got to see Andy Murray play! I have never actually been to a big sporting event, so this was quite a big deal for me! We got the tram into the city and it was a short walk to the arenas. On our way Ben discreetly informed me that Andy Murray's mum was walking towards us! It felt like a celeb spotting moment, then I realised that it really wasn't, but pretty cool all the same!
So, we had a look around the whole place, which was huge, lots of advertising stalls and sponsors etc, and then we found our seats. We were in the Hisence arena. First on was Tomic (a young Australian who obviously had lots of fans in the crowd!) against Chardy, a French hopeful. Tomic won much to the crowds delight! Then we had Jelena Jankovic against some Russian woman, Jankovic won! Then what we had all been waiting for! Andy Murray against Karol Beck. There was a lot more noise from the crowd and Murray had lots of supporters! It was a good game, however, Beck had an injury and had to have treament to his shoulder for a while. We were entertained by Murray's supporters in the audience who had lots of chants to keep the atmosphere going! Beck did continue after this and I reckon Murray was going to win, however, we did not get to find out, as Beck had to retire due to his shoulder, which was a bit disappointing! But it was a great day and I am glad we went! Headed back and decided to stay another night before driving the Great Ocean Road as we had a few things to do and also wanted the best weather day for the drive, which looked like it was not going to be Wednesday!
So on Wednesday we paid in the money from Gunther's sale and posted all the car paperwork and boring erands like that and I had a lazy afternoon by the pool sunbathing while Ben watched the tennis in the TV room! That night we went to the night market, (recommended by our friendly old neighbours) and had a great time! It was very busy, but had a great atmosphere, and we had a lovely chocolate brownie from a cake stall that was divine!
On Thursday morning we packed up the car, and said goodbye to our friendly neighbours! We decided to just drive a couple of hours to get to Lorne and stay overnight. That way we could do the Great Ocean Road over two days and enjoy the scenery and stop at all the lookouts etc! We stopped at various places along the way and enjoyed the beautiful weather! We stopped for lunch in a small place called Anglesy and got to Lorne not long after. After heading to the orginal camping spot we had booked and finding a tent already in it, we went to the office and asked for one closer to the beach, which we got, so that worked out well! We put the tent up and then headed to the beach for the rest of the afternoon! It was a lovely lazy beach afternoon with lots of reading of my book, and a bit of playing catch with Ben to keep him happy! On our way back to the tent we saw a big screen had been erected in the field next door, and found out there was an open air cinema night that night! So, we got to watch The Goonies at the outdoor cinema which was fun! We were both pretty cold, so we had our sleeping bags wrapped around us! As we go further south the nights are getting colder, so we are glad to have sleeping bags and a duvet on top!!!
This morning we got up and packed up the tent (which we are getting quite good at now!) and got on the road. Before leaving Lorne we haded to the Erskine Falls, which is a 30metre drop waterfall. We walked down the 250 steps to the lookouts and took some pictures and it was very pretty, but then had to walk back up the 250 steps! We drove along the coast, which was spectacular all the way to Apollo Bay where we stopped for lunch! We saw meat and veg pastys that had won 3rd best in Aus, so we thought we had better try them! We took them to the beautiful beach, which was gorgeous! The pastys were ok, but nothing compares to the real thing!!!! We drove on along the Great Ocean Road and stopped at The 12 Apostles which is a famous landmark rock formation. The whole coast is limestone, and the erosion has left huge stumps of rock along the coast, and on this stretch there are, you guessed it, 12! It is a spectacular sight and well worth the visit. The photos just don't do it justice! We also stopped at 'London Bridge', which used to be a bit or rock making a 'bridge' out to a large stump which you could walk across on. However, in 1990 it collapsed just after a couple had walked across it!!!! They were rescued by helicopter, and ran away from the media as they were actually having an affair and were both married!!!! We also drove out to a lighthouse we had read about and saw signs for the turn off, but when we got there it was nearly $20 each to look at it, and you couldn't get anywhere near it without paying, and we didn't think it was really worth it, so we headed back to the main road. It seemed a bit of a waste of our time, however, it turned out not to be as we read that the stretch of road was good for spotting Koalas in the wild, so we stopped and saw loads!
So, after a day of fantastic driving and amazing scenery we arrived at Warrnambool and took the last camping site they had at the campsite! It was an 'ensuite' suite which means you have your own little toilet and shower block next to your site! Lovely but quite un-necessesary, we only did it because there was nothing else! Musn't get used to it!!! Headed to the little market we saw going on and moseyed around before pitching the tent and sorting dinner! Then spent the evening reading, blogging and emailing as we have a powered site, yay! Must go now as it is very late and I have been on here far too long! Will add pictures tomorrow!
Sarah x

Melbourne!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Sunday 16 January 2011 02:19

So, it's been a few days since I last blogged and lots has happened! We stopped in a place called Goulburn for a night, and then drove lots the next day, and then stopped in a place called Albury. The driving was mostly in the rain, torrential at times, and listening to the awful reports on the radio. It's a terrible time here in Australia for lots of people. We were having to stop about every 200km to put more oil in Gunther, and it seemed to be getting worse and worse!It was making us both a bit stressed and worried about breaking down in the middle of nowhere! So we decided on a plan which made us feel much better! We decided to try and sell Gunther for a bit of cash for someone as a doer-upper, and buy a car. We have all our camping equipment from Gunther, so a car is all we need, and they are generally cheaper than campervans! We looked on Gumtree and found a few to ring and look up for when we arrived in Melbourne. While we were discussing our plans in the campsite pool a lady overheard us talking about the Great Ocean Road, and told us it was shut due to a landslide!!!! It is hard not feel like nature is against us right now! However, we don't need to drive that road for a while, so we're pretty sure it will be cleared and open again by then! So, we booked a campsite and drove a final day towards Melbourne! We arrived in good time and headed to the campsite, however, as we were driving into the site there was a river next to the road that was obviously a lot higher than usual and flowing rather fast!!! When we arrived at our site, it was like a little lake, and was very close to the river! Ben got out and was stood in an inch or two of water, there was no way we were pitching a tent! We got a refund and found another campsite which was sooo much better! Luckily the weather improved and came out lovely an sunny! We pitched the tent and then went to look at one of the cars we had seen. We had to drive all the way through Melbourne centre in rush hour, which was crazy, but we managed it! We took cash ready as we were pretty sure we'd buy it of we could get the price down a bit, and we did!!! So, we now own a Toyota Camry! Ben has named him Macademus, but I am not sure I like saying that in public, so might try Macky, or Big Mac, we shall see! So Ben drove the new car and I drove Gunther home, Ben did a spectacular job of driving and navigating and got us back to the campsite! So when we got back we got straight on to putting Gunther on Gumtree! The next day we had a lovely lazy day at the campsite, it was so nice not to get up early and pack away a tent! We went in the lovely pool to cool off as it was a lovely scorching day! We got some washing done and had a lovely relaxing day!

Today we got up and went into Melbourne on the tram! We got our tram tickets from the campsite office, and were just heading out to walk the fifteen minutes to the tram stop when the older couple camped opposite us pulled up and asked us if we wanted a lift to the tram stop! It was so nice of them! So we hopped in, and they told us they were "Grey Nomads", they had a house in Melbourne, but had rented it out for three years and were touring around in their caravan! They had also been to the UK and lots of Europe last year! They kindly dropped us at the tram stop! It was a lovely sunny day, and I really like Melbourne city, it's lovely! Ben had read about the old Gaol there, so after a bit of walking around we found the Gaol and decided to pay and go in. The ticket included entry to the Gaol, a re-enactment of Ned Kelly's trial, and also the Old Watch house, where they kept people for drunk and disorderly, or stuff like that waiting to see magistrate. We went to see the trial first, and apart from a lady who oversees the proceedings, acting parts are taken by the public! They read off a script and have a bit of a costume! It was very good! Parts are shown on a projector on a wall to give a bit more info etc, and the rest is acted by the public, and helped along by the lady! The Gaol was very interesting, you do a self guided tour, reading all the info etc, and in each cell was a story of an inmate and a death mask! So Gross! They would take a cast of each person they hung after, as the study of skull size etc linked to behaviour was very popular! So we saw Ned Kelly's face, and lots of others, pretty morbid!!! We saw the gallows where he was actually hung, and read lots of stories. The Old Watch house was opened in 1909 and only stopped being used in 1994. For the half hour of your visit you get treated like a criminal, taken through, entered into the log book, searched, put in a cell, lights out etc! It was really good! We got to see the padded cell as well (see Ben inside!) and have mug shots taken! Really enjoyed the whole experience! During the day we had a couple of enquiries about the van and met a man at 6.30pm in the Woolworths carpark to show him. He wasn't a backpacker and was hoping to do it up, and knew it need a bit doing to it! So we struck a deal and I think he did well, as did we! I feel better knowing that he isn't relying on it to get him to Perth or anything, and is going to spend a bit of money on him! He is paying cash tomorrow night when we hand over Gunther, so fingers crossed it all goes through! Driving Big Mac is funny as it is so much lower down, and he is also an automatic! I feel like I am driving a go kart! I am so anxious to out the clutch down when I brake for traffic lights, it is very strange! I am sure I will get used to it, and then find driving a manual funny when I am home! Unfortunately the cigarette lighter in Big Mac does not seem to work, so at the mo we cannot charge things easily, having to sit in the camp kitchen to charge stuff! However, we are going to try a garage tomorrow and hope it is an easy job to fix!

Well, I had best be off, that was a mammoth blog! Off to bed me thinks!

Night Night! x

Byron Bay and Beyond!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Tuesday 11 January 2011 02:26

We got up and decided to pay for an extra night to stay in Byron so we could actually spend some time and see a bit of Byron! We drove up to the lighthouse, which is the most easterly point of Australian mainland. We drove up and around, and there was no parking, so we decided to head back into town, but then found a car park on the way out, so we decided to stop and walk around. We walked up to the lighthouse which was quite a trek, and then down to the sign which shows you are at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland and had a photo! The weather was drab, and it kept threatening to rain, however, the breeze was very welcome, as we ended up walking a lot farther than we had planned! We walked down a ton of steps and out onto a headland, where there were some awesome waves crashing against the rocks! Then we had to walk back up all those steps! After that we drove into Byron and had a poke around all the shops and went to the beach and watched some surfers who make it look so effortless! We had some lunch on the go, that is the great thing about having Gunther, you can but some ham, open up the van and make your sandwiches and away you go! We decided to head back out to Lennox Head (where we had our surf lesson) as it was such a nice place! It started to rain as we drove, but that didn’t deter us! Ben even had another swim in the tea tree lake, and the rain eased off! We had a relaxing evening, meatballs and pasta in sauce for dinner, with a glass of wine for me and a beer for Ben!

Back on the road again!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Sunday 9 January 2011 23:55

We both finished working on Friday, so Saturday morning we packed up Gunther and got on the road again! Our original plan was to travel north, however, all the flooding means that is not really possible, and the weather is much better south, so that is where we are going! We decided to drive a couple of hours to Byron Bay, which is a lovely seaside place where lots of backpackers go. We made some CDs for Gunther from Sam and Kelly’s massive music collection, so we drove down blaring the music out, and driving through the rain! We arrived mid afternoon, (New South Wales are an hour ahead for daylight savings!), and headed straight to the information centre. We got a list of campsites and gave them all a ring, the prices varied a lot so we went for a cheaper one, still more than we paid in WA as it is peak season being summer and Christmas holidays!

We then had the fun task of setting up the tent, which went ok, taking a little longer than the 10 minutes the man in the shop said, but I am sure we will get it down to a fine art! We were grateful we had bought an electric pump for the airbed, it just plugs into the cigarette lighter, and was done in seconds! Once the tent was set up we decided to take a walk to the beach, which was apparently a 10 minute walk from the campsite. It turned out to be more like 20 mins through a bog, and when wearing flip flops, the effect is similar to splatting mud all up your back and in your hair! Ben was sensible enough to take his off, which I did in the end, but a bit late! We got to the beach eventually, and it started to rain, haha! We stayed for a while and enjoyed the view, it is a lovely beach. We walked back a different way on a tarmac path which was much better! I had a shower, and then tried to wash the mud out of my white top! Ben cooked dinner on the little stove, a tin of lamb hot pot stew stuff, and some added tinned potatoes! He had a few bottles of beer and I had a couple of glasses of wine and we played cards by the light of our little camping lantern! We are definitely going to have to get a better light! We skyped with my family and then went to bed, our first night in a tent in many years!

It rained a lot in the night, and one of the seams of the tent is not very waterproof, so a little rain comes in, but it’s only a little, and not too bad at all! When it was dry we covered the seam with surf wax, which was a free gift when shopping the other day, so that came in handy! The weather was iffy and didn’t seem to be able to make up its mind, so we decided to book a surfing lesson for the afternoon! So we had a lazy morning, went into town to get some ham for lunch, set up our camping table under a tree (as the sun had come out!) and had a lovely picnic lunch! We got picked up for our lesson at 1.15, there were 4 more people in the bus and the guy took us all up to Lennox Head to overlook the beach and show us the area. We got down to the beach and another couple met us there, so that was 8 students in total. Another instructor then turned up and we all headed down to the beach.

We warmed up, doing different stretches etc, and then sat on the end of our boards to listen to the instructor. They talked all through safety and rip currents etc, and then showed us how to get out to the waves, by tipping up the front of the board and going towards the wave straight on. Then they showed us how to get on the board, and hang our feet on the edge, and slide up the board and put our hands flat under our shoulders. After we had all practised with our boards on the sand it was time to practice in the sea! I think our bit of body boarding in Cornwall helped a bit with confidence and timing of the waves and we were both catching waves and sliding our bodies up the boards, hands under shoulders and heads up! The waves were pretty rough, and the guy told us the conditions weren’t the best, but we all enjoyed ourselves! After lots of practising, they got us back on the beach to show us how to turn, which was helpful as I had a very near miss colliding into Ben while he was walking back out towards the waves and I was heading in on one! They showed us how to slide back and put our body weight on our hip, which we all practised on the sand again, and then back into the sea. We were all doing well as winding this way and that on our boards! The weather turned bad and started to hammer it down on us, which was quite funny! It was totally exhausting getting back out towards where the waves were breaking after you’d caught one in, and I was getting so tired! They got us out onto the beach one final time to show us how to get to a standing position! We practised lots on the beach first, and myself and another girl stayed back to practise a bit more with the instructor before getting in the sea, and I could not get in all in one swift movement like necessary! She showed me in was because I wasn’t using my toes to slide my feet up, so once I did this it was much easier! Off we went into the sea to practise! The first step is sliding up onto your knees, which was fine, I could manage that most times! However, it all started to fall apart when we tried to get into a standing position! We’d topple and then crash off the board into the sea most times! However, Ben and I both managed to stand up for at least a few seconds a couple of times! I think Ben was really getting the hang of it and working on his technique by the end, and it was a shame the session finished, but I was kind of pleased as I was so whacked! We all went for a swim in the fresh water lake across the road from the beach that is lined with tea trees, and has stained the lake so the water looks this nasty brown colour, but it is just full of tea tree and smells delicious, and is really good for your skin! It was very refreshing! WE got dry and the guy took us to their shop to look at hire boards etc, and then to a place called “Mavis’s Shop” which is this little old lady’s (I assume Mavis!) shop, and she was selling chocolate brownies for 50cents! So of course we had to have one! We got chatting to one of the couples with us, who were only in Australia for a month. They had arrived in Cairns (north) and booked a campervan to travel down to Brisbane, so they picked it up and signed and paid etc, only to be told they couldn’t drop it to Brisbane as planned as no one get to Brisbane due to all the flooding, so they had a campervan for 10 nights, and just had to drive around and in and out of Cairns! Unbelievable! So they ended up flying to Brisbane and have another campervan to do the rest of their trip! This weather has a lot to answer for! The guy dropped us back at our campsite and we went to get some sausages (snags if you’re Australian!) for dinner! We both cooked dinner, Ben did the sausages and I did the pasta, and sat in the awning of our little tent! We had quite an early night as we were both so tired from our four hour surfing lesson, and it was pouring with rain anyway! It was a very blustery night with lots of rain, but the tent survived and so did we!
I will post some pics to go with this soon, we need to charge the laptop when we drive a long distance, and then we can get the pics on from the camera!
Sarah x

New Years and inbetween!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Wednesday 5 January 2011 17:39

So the week between Christmas and New Year went pretty fast as it always does! We spent Boxing day visiting the new penguins at Sea World which were amazing! We spent some time in the Boxing Day sales which are a pretty big thing here, and also bought a tent! We are keeping Gunther, don't panic! But if it's hot (hopefully it will be, we are sick of the rain!) there are no windows in the back of Gunther, so it's too hot to sleep in when it's very warm, so we decided to get a pop up tent for those occassions, and also for if it's wet! We bought one that you can just about stand up in, and it has a little awning bit at the front, so if it's raining we have a bit of space we can stand in and take cover! We are looking forward to putting it to good use, hopefully in the sunshine! We also went to see Meet the Little Fockers which was good, I don't think we have ever been to the cinema so much!

Ben went back to work on Wednesday, and the weather did pick up which was good (not so much for Ben who was at work!) so I made the most of it and got myself outside! I bought a pair of trainers in the sales and have started walking for an hour each day, hope to keep it up! After work each day we also went for a walk to enjoy the sunshine, which was lovely!

On New Year's Eve Sam went up to his Uncle's again, so it was just the two of us. We had a pizza feast from the take away place and watched a movie, before we headed off to Surfer's Paradise beach to see in the New Year! It was very busy and it was great to soak up the atmosphere! There was a great fireworks display, it was so nice the weather had been so good and we were able to be at the beach on NYE, quite different to previous years!

Unfortunately New Years day was back to being rainy - surprise surprise! So we had a very lazy day watching movies and lounging around! Luckily the weather cleared up on Sunday and Monday and we were able to enjoy the sunshine! On Sunday we headed to Surfer's to visit the information centre to get some info about travelling south, but the info centre turned out to be a little booth and it wasn't up to much! So we headed to the beach and had an hour or so in the sunshine! On Monday we had a 'proper' beach day where we made up a picnic, filled up the 'esky' (that's the cool box to you and me!) and drove to Burleigh Heads. It was tricky to find a parking spot, we were lucky to find someone leaving just as we arrived, as it's peak time here, being the Christmas and Summer holidays! We had a great day, sunbathing, reading, and Ben of course loving being in the sea!

I started back at the call centre on Tuesday, just for this week for a bit of extra cash. On Saturday we are planning on driving south and stopping anywhere that takes our fancy, until we get to Adelaide, and then back again! We were planning on going north first, however, the flooding has changed our plans. It has been awful, lots of people have lost everything, loads of the towns up north have been submerged. So, we are going to go south on Saturday! I am really excited about getting back to our adventures, and hopefully the sunshine!
Sarah x