On Wednesday we drove to Te Anau, a small place half way between Queenstown and Milford Sounds. We were quite sad to say goodbye to Queenstown as we love it so much, but decided we would come back that way, so it was not goodbye for long! Jucy, the campervan re
ntal company, have been running a great deal with free camping in 'Family Parks' which they have none of in Queenstown, but they do in Te Anau! So we were able to take advantage of a free night which was awesome! The drive there was very picturesque, and we saw lots of sheep!!! We got to the campsite and then went out to explore! We went to the information centre to book our Milford Sound cruise which we got buy one get one free with Jucy, and the nights accomodation in Milford. Then we went for a lovely walk along the edge of the lake. The walk was supposed to take about an hour, but after 15 minutes we came across a lovely pebble beach and could not drag 
oursleves away! The weather was absolutely amazing, and it was just beautiful to sit in the sunshine in the peace and quiet, it was so still! Ben went for a paddle, but didn't get very far as it was pretty cold! I love the picture of him with the ripples of water radiating from his feet!
We had a nice evening in the van, and rented Lord of the Rings, which I can't say I'm a fan of, but it was cool to see all the scenery in the film we have been seeing in real life!
On Monday we had a lazy morning, early lunch and then went for a walk. We walked along the lakeside the other way, and came to a good walk we had seen on a poster in the campsite, so we decided to take it. It let us past the old Pumphouse, and up and up and more up! It was pretty hard going, and I am glad we had packed a bottle of water! It was all uphill, we were basically
climbing up the mountain side! As we progressed, more and more layers of clothes had to come off! Because the sun goes down behind the mountain it started to get darker and eerier, and a couple of times we weren’t sure whether to carry on or head back, but we pushed on, and eventually came to the clearing where we had to take a different path back down. We saw quite a few mountain bikers having a great time (they have a different track) whizzing down the mountain side! If we had carried on the same track upwards, we would have eventually come to the top of the mountain where the gondola takes you, but it was getting late and we were ready to walk back down! The pic is Ben charging off into the distance while I huff and puff behind!!!!
On Tuesday we booked to go up the mountain on the gondola and go on the luge ride that it
up there. We had an early lunch and off we went. It was a short uphill walk to the gondola station, and then we boarded our gondola and went all the way up the mountain! It was a spectacular view, and because it was just the two of us in there, it was a totally uninterrupted view. We could see all of Queenstown and the lake and the mountains! When we got to the top we had a little explore, there is a lot going on at the top of the mountain! We found the luge ride, which is where we picked up our helmets from, I became Red Top again, but sadly Silver Bullet had to wear a blue one! We then had to ride a ski lift type thing to get to the luge. We had bought 5 rides, and got one free, so we were planning to have our first go and then race best of 5 for the rest, however, we had to do our first go on the 'scenic route', so it kind of thwarted the plans! The scenic route was still great fun, you can really get up some speed on those things! Taking a corner at a high pace got a bit dicey! After our first go we went on the 'Advanced' track, which was even more fun! Lots of fast corners and down hills for gaining speed! On our third go there was a little boy coming up beside Ben so I warned Ben to be careful, but I needn't have, the kid was racing us both, and winning! There I was worried for this little boy, but there he was whizzing past us and loving the race!!! The kid one
that one! We had another go, and I overtook Ben on a corner bashing him a bit, and his luge toppled and he had to put his foot out to stop himself tipping over completely, producing the smell of burning rubber from his walking boots!!!! Needless to say, I won that one!!! We decided to go for a walk before our last couple of rides. We went up the ski lift to the top and did the rest of the trail from the day before. It was really tough going and all uphill obviously! We eventually got to the top, and it was definitely worth the hike! Once we had enjoyed the breathtaking views of
Queenstown and the mountains we went back down for our final rides. I think Ben won the first one, so it all rested on the last ride! We got to the starting line, and Ben made a foul up with his brake, so I got the lead, and held it all the way . . . until we caught up with a slow lady, and I was being safe, and Ben took the oportunity to whip past us both and won!!! The photo is just after that moment, you can see the grin on his face, and me yelling and laughing at him! We really enjoyed that afternoon!
So, it has been another long break since blogging, but that has been because we have been up to so much!!! We have also had limited internet access which doesn’t help! I am having to post this before Ben has posted his blog about the bungy jump as he still hasn't finished writing it! He did start it the day after the jump, but it's still in progress, so here is all the excitment that followed!
So, back to Sunday 17th April, the day after all the bungy excitement!
We were booked on the Jet Boat at Shotover Canyon for 10.30am, so got up earlier than usual to be up and ready for that! Sadly the weather wasn’t looking great, but luckily it wasn’t a weather dependent activity! We were loaded onto the bus and driven the short way to the Shotover River, where we were taken to a building on the river’s edge to be kitted out with a nice long waterproof trench coat and life jacket. Then it started to rain! I had been really looking forward to this trip as it 
was more my kind of adrenaline rush, just a thrilling ride to enjoy!!!! We got into the boat and met our driver, who then proceeded to drive us around at very high speed and doing 360 degree spins in very small places! The river is not very deep at all, and the jet boats are built specifically for this, they literally skim over the top of it, so we were hurtling over pebbly shores and it looked like we’d get beached, but not at all! The river runs through an amazing canyon, with huge jagedy rocks on each side, and our driver enjoyed taling us as close to these as possible, and at very high speeds! The rain was very cold and felt like spikes on our faces due to the high speeds, and Ben’s head suffered! However, the rain subsided, and we had a great thrill ride and bought the pics at the end to remind us!
In the afternoon we went for a lovely walk through the park, and around the lake side, it got pretty windy when out of the shelter of the park! It is so lovely to be here in Autumn, which we missed in England! The trees are such amazing colours, and the backdrop of the mountains makes it even more beautiful! We had a lovely dinner, cooked by Ben, of lamb stew. We have had some great meals since being in the campervan, mostly eaten in a bowl with a spoon! Stew, stir fry or bolognaise! Naturally Ben cooks, and then I clear up, we seems to have quite a good system now! Likewise, I make up the bed at night, and he puts it away in the morning!
Here is Ben's latest blog offering, about the day he did a bungy jump! It has been nearly three weeks in the making, but better late than never!
When in Queenstown the adventure capital of the world, it would be rude not to partake in some of the sedate activities on offer! I am an adrenaline junkie and will do anything, so on Saturday 16th April I decided it was time to throw myself off something high attached to a bit of elastic! You have three choices in Queenstown; the ledge bungy, the Kawaru bungy (both 40 odd metres) and the Nevis bungy (134 metres) I wanted to do it properly so opted to do the Nevis bungy! I was booked on the 1320 bus. Its a 40 minute drive through the mountains on some very trecherous roads. I've forgotton to mention the my sidekick 'Shit scared Sarah' was with me, she is a massive wimp so was just coming along to watch. Or so she thought! Ha Ha Ha Ha Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! More on that later! We arrived at Bungy HQ and got fitted with our harnesses, then we got weighed! I have put on 8 pounds since we arrived in Australia six months ago! I know this because I was weighed at Wet and Wild on the Gold Coast to make sure I wasn't too heavy for their water slide! What a heffer! Those Aussie pies were damn good though! Had an amazing one in NZ today for that matter! Venison! Mmmmmmmm, again more on that some other time! So I've got my harness on, I've been weighed, they write your weight on your hand, just to remind you how fat you've got! Bastards! We were then sent out to the edge of the gorge. 
There is a cable car in the middle of the gorge, we arrived just in time to see someone jump! My goodness that's a long way down! Once the group that had just jumped had arrived back, my group was sent over in this little cable car! Everyone in the group was doing the jump! Oh hang on a minute, Sarah wasn't! Thats because she's a wimp! We arrived to the car in the middle of the gorge, it had a glass bottom so you could see exactly how high you were. War of the Worlds music was playing, which was nice. They send you off the edge in weight order, I was the forth fattest so had to wait a little while. It was good to see everyone was a nervous as I was! After about ten minutes it was my turn. They get you to sit in a chair attach some stuff around your legs, wasn't paying much 
attention at this point. Then they stand you up, get you to smile for the camera, shuffle you to the edge then count down 3...2...1 go. I must add at this point that it was always my plan to stand on the edge for a while and take in the view. This did not happen! I just Jumped! No goodbye for 'Shit scared Sarah' I just went. I'm glad Sarah got it on video because my mind goes pretty blank at this point. Must be the adrenaline! I do remember that it was amazing and just the adrenaline rush I was looking for! Definately better than sky diving!
Bungy DONE!
Still floating in my adrenaline haze, someone said I could do It again for $70! Thats a quarter of the normal price so there was no way I was missing out on that! Or so I thought. They same lady then tells me that I could do the canyon swing as a tandem attached to 'Triple S' (Shit scared Sarah!) Triple S was surprisingly willing to do this, I'm not sure she actually knew what she had signed herself up for. So off we went to another platform hanging out into the canyon. I had some idea what we were about to do, Triple S clearly did not! A canyon swing is basically exactly what it says on the tin! A bloody massive swing! What Triple S didn't realise was that you freefall for 80 metres before you do the swing bit! So they attached us up to bits via our harnesses, I went backwards so I could enjoy the spectacle close up! For all of you that have seen 'The Video'! you know that Sarah was the spectacle! I'm sure the people spectating thought we were being executed or something. The bloke in charge was good, he was adding to Triple S' fear by prolonging her agony! Telling us to smile for camaras and telling her something wasn't attached. Finally he pressed his button and off we went. It was pretty cool, not a patch on the bungy though! Sarah made lots of noises and informed me that she thought she was going to die. They hoisted us back up and off we went to look at the photos. I should probably say at this point that Triple S will no longer be refered to as such! I was quite impressed that she did it!
So that was enough trying to kill ourselves for one day so off we went on the bus to Queenstown for a well deserved beer and a Ferg Burger. FERG BURGERS ARE AMAZING! I had a Ferg Burger, basically a posh beef burger. Sarah had a Wild Fiordland Deer Burger and plum sauce, aptly named the 'Sweet Bambi' she says its the best burger she's ever had. I would question this because NO BURGER will ever beat the mighty BIG MAC! FACT
Then we went home and went to bed
THE END!
Ben
ps. if you want to see what we did go to http://www.bungy.co.nz/the-nevis
We flew into Queenstown, NZ on Wednesday 13th April, and there were the most spectaular views from the plane I have ever seen! We flew over gorgeous mountain ranges, like nothing I have ever seen before! We landed and were pleasantly surprised by the temperature as I was terrified it was going to be freezing! The sun was shining and I had a t shirt and zip up hoodie on and felt fine! After the duty free where Ben felt it would be rude not to buy his favourite Mount Gay rum at such a special price, we collected our bags 
and went to the Jucy Campervan counter. We were sent over to get our van! After checking it over and being briefed about it, we noticed that the front two tyres were really bald! They were really apologetic and said it should have been picked up on the inspection, so we arranged to come back the next day for it to be sorted while they gave us a hire car for a couple of hours. It wasn't a problem as we'd been planning to stay around Queenstown anyway. We went shopping and found a campsite and settled in to our new home for the next 5 weeks! Walked into the town for the evening, which is such a lovely picturesque place! There is lots going on, and all the little shops are open until quite late, so it was lovely to mosey around and have a walk around.
When we went to sort out the camper we were given a 'JuceBox' as they called it, which is the same as Dad's car!!! So we had great fun whizzing around in that, and
stalling a few times as it was a manual!! Went and checked out the charity shops for warm clothes, but didn't actually find anything! However, found a shop called the Warehouse, a bit like Big W and got some cheapish necessities there! Also picked up some cheap DVDs as the van comes with a DVD player, and you can swap DVDs with other Jucy Campers! We went on a lovely walk though the park, and saw a great game called
Golf Frisbee! We went and booked Ben on bungy jump for Saturday, and of course it had to be the highest one, 134 metres (the others are only 42 metres!) I did NOT want to do that!!!!
Queenstown is definitely one of our favourite places, it is breathtakingly beautiful! When we went shopping and came back out to the car the view took my breath away again, and I wondered how long I would have to stay here before that wore off! It is absolutely spectacular!
Sarah x
We drove from Tin Can Bay to the Gold Coast, where we planned to sell the car, stopping on the way to visit Alan and Clarice again! We had a lovely tea stop with them, a
nd their son Geoff and granddaughter Bluebell were visiting as well as Wibby, Charlie and Sahara who we met last time! Made sure we got a few pics this time! It was lovely to stop in and see them again, but had to get on our way to try and find Wallaby Way (Finding Nemo) for Rachel Stevenson. We had googled it and found there w
as a Wallaby Way not too far off the highway for us to make a detour, so off we went! We drove for a while and found it, but could not believe it when there was no street sign!!! I was so gutted as I was so looking forward to getting a photo, but it was rather funny, so we took a photo anyway! After our little detour we set off for the Gold Coast and found the campsite we had booked. We had decided that the Gold Coast would be the best place to sell the car as we had spent a lot of time there and knew it well. We had booked two nights in a campsite and then our last two 
nights in a hotel in Surfers Paradise which we got a great deal for, and the thinking was we would hopefully have sold the car and tent etc by then! We set up the tent, checked the Gumtree website to see how many people had looked at the car, and used a white glass marker thingy to write 'For Sale' on it, hoping to get some interest that way too! We went out for a lovely meal and a few drinks with Kelly and Sam which was lovely and so good to catch up with them about the last few months!
The next day we spent time unpacking the car and sorting all our crap and getting as much washing done as I could. We had a few calls about the car, and two people came to look at it. Ben dealt with all the negotiations while I stayed with the tent and all our crap which was lying around! He was gone a good while, and came back to tell me what had been offered! We sold to a nice couple for $950 and they were happy to pick it up the next day once we had got ourselves to the hotel! Considering we bought it for $1500 and had got so much use out of it, we were very pleased, much cheaper than renting something and we had some cash in our pockets for NZ!
Sunday and Monday were spent at the hotel, which was lovely after all that camping! We had a very nice time and ate out in restaurants and went to the beach which was great! Felt like we were on holiday, which is a funny thing to say, as we are on a 10 month holiday, but it made a change to be in a hotel and eat out!!! Trixie (the lady we sold the car to) picked it up on Sunday just after we'd checkied in, so that worked out really well too. Had some great weather the last couple of days which was so nice, and had some great beach time! Visited some tax back people on Monday morning, and hoping to get Ben's tax back which will certainly help with the rest of the trip! The only snag is, you have to be in Oz for 6 months to claim it back, and we were 8 days short!!!!! Had we known this rule we would have made sure we were, but it was a bit late to change everything, so we're hoping just to wing it, the guys at the office think it will be fine, so finger's crossed!!!!
Flew out of the Gold Coast on Wednesday 13th April to Queenstown NZ excited to be starting a new adventure again!
Sarah x
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
00:48
We got up super early at 6.30 and made a quiet exit from the fancy tent both feeling a bit worse for wear! No one was around, so we made our way to the car to dump our stuff and snooze in there! One of the guides, Jake, was also just getting up and looked across and saw us, but said nothing, but I was pretty sure we'd been clocked! Had a nice snooze in the car, and then everyone started to get up, and Luke the other guide beeped the horns for those who weren't yet awake! Each group got out their food and equipment and got to making breakfast. While he went to boil the kettle, Luke asked Ben where we had slept last night, Ben told him 'in a tent!', we were rumbled! They were cool with it and actually thought it was quite funny, so we were off the hook! Everyone was feeling a bit worse for wear, so a trip back to Eli Creek was really nice! I even went in the water and it was so refeshing, and nice to have a wash as no shower at the camp! We spent an hour there and the sun was out and we had a great time! Just as we were about to leave the heavens opened and we all bundled into the car!
We drove to a little village area for lunch, and Ben and I decided to go to the pie shop as the girls in our dorm at the hostel had told us they were really good! We also thought it might be funny to see what the boys would do when we didn't make their lunch for them. It was quite funny, they waited around for ages, expecting the others to get everything out, but the two Swedish boys also went for pies, and Kim made her own as she was also a bit fed up with them, so they finally realised they'd have to make their own and clear up after themselves! The pies were really good and it was nice to have a little treat.
After lunch we headed to Lake Wabby and it was my turn to drive. I got in the car and turned the key, only to find it wouldn't work!!! 
All the cars drove off and we were left behind! The biys were telling me just turn it, as if it was me just being dumb, but when the guide realised we weren't following and came back and had a go himself, he confirmed it was buggered! Luckily they have a great relationship with the island's mechanic, and he came and sorted it for us, we just had to use plyers to turn the ignition instead of a key! So, finally off we went, driving was great fun, especially along the beach with the waves right beside you, it was amazing! It was only a five minute drive to the Lake which was a nice little practice run!
Parked up along the beach and they told us the lake was a 40 minute walk away. Got chatting to a couple of British girls, Louise and Laura on the way which was nice. To get to the lake we had to climb down a HUGE sand dune, it was spectacular but the pictures just don't do it justice! Ben had a swim, and I paddled, and then we sun bathed as the sun had come out again! After Lake Wabby we headed back to the cars. we were driving to the camp when we stopped and Luke told us about Pippies. We got out and had a look for them in the sand. They are shelled creatures that look like a tongue, you can spot them in the sand as they leave a circular print, and if you just dig a little you can find them. Luke told us all to get one, and then we had a race! You place your Pippie on the sand, and they bury themselves again, some took a really long time, but eventually the tongue bit comes out and they dig down! He told us that Aboriginal people used to eat them, so we collected some to try later! Luke and Jake had been to the camp area and errected 
some tarps across trees to make a cooking area for the night which was great! We turned up at our camping spot for the night which was a bit more rustic than the night before! We divied up the jobs, so Ben, Kim and I made the dinner, while the boys put up the tents, which worked well. Dinner took a while as the gas didn't get very hot so boiling water for rice etc took ages, but we got there in the end. It was really delicious, an asian sauce stir fry with lots of veggies and mixed up with rice. The evening was a lot more chilled out, everyone feeling a bit tired and worse for ware from the night before! Ben and I went to our tent about 10.30pm, and found that half of the flysheet was blowing off, it seemed that the biys had picked the windyest worst place to pitch and had also not pegged down very well! Luckily we had a torch, so we pegged down more securely and bunked down for the night. It was pretty uncomfortable, just sleeping bags and pillows, and the ground was not soft! We had to turn and lie the other way half way through the night, as the wind was blowing the whole side by our heads in and over us so it was touching us and as it was raining that would have been a bad thing! We both also ended up with a lot of sand over us, as the wind blew up the fly sheet and the sand, which blew through the net layer and dumped over our faces!!!! We did manage to get some sleep and it was all part of the experience!!
We all got up around 7am when the car horns were blown! Sorted breakfast and packed up the tents etc and then it was my turn to drive again, this time to Lake McKenzie. 
The guides told us it was the bumpiest roughest part to drive, so I was quite nervous, but in the end it was great fun! Ben was right at the back with Sircan and they were bumping around all over the place! It was really sandy 
and boggy at parts but the car was great and we got through it all! Lake McKenzie was absolutely stunning! It is a fresh water lake, but looks like the most beautiful turquoise sea with the white sand, gorgeous! The water looked so inviting that even I went in! It was so refeshing and not cold at all once you got used to it!
After about an hour and a half we had to head back to the cars, and Johannes drove back along the rough track, Ben and I bumping around in the very back! We went back to the little villlage for lunch again and Ben and I opted for the easy option of pies again as we were a bit fed up with the two boys and thought we'd leave them to it! Then we drove back to the ferry and headed back to the mainland. When Kim got back in the car to drive that last leg the key wouldn't work! All the other cars had left, but eventually realised we weren't off and came back! Jake had a go at bashing it around, (something to do with moving a gold thingy?), and luckily managed to do it, and off we went again! Once we got back to the depot we were all briefed about what needed to be done, washing up, put tents away, brush sand out of cars etc, basically they said all hands on deck, so we got to it. Ben had to have a stern word with the two usual culprits who stood there whinging about cleaning up and didn't lift a finger, they still didn't do much, but everyone else got on with it and we all mucked in to get it done! We headed back to the hostel and said our goodbyes, and then drove to Tin Can Bay only half an hour away. It was so nice to have a shower, wash my hair and feel clean and dry! We had another little cabin for the evening, and both slept really well!!!!
On Sunday morning we packed up the tent and drove to Tin Can Bay, a small little place we had not planned to go to, but as we had extra time and we found out there were wild dolphins there regularly we thought we'd stop for a night. Ended up raining badly again, so it was great to see a cheap cabin available when we arrived. Spent a bit of time exploring, and had sausages, eggs and chips from the chip shop, which were the best Ben ever had! Had an early night as we were getting up super early to go and feed the dolphins. Got up at 6.30am and we were down at the tiny beach area for 7am to see the dolphins, who were already there! There were about 6 other people there and the rangers supervising. 
These dolphins are Indo-Pacific and live in rivers mouths and esturies. There were three dolphins. We were not allowed to touch them, but we could put our hands out and if they touched us that was fine. The dolphins seemed more interested in people at the other end of the group which was a shame, but it was amazing to see them so close and be so near to them. It got a lot busier as the time went on, and feeding was at 8am. By then lots of people had turned up, but we were at the front with the best view! There was a little talk by the ranger, and then if you wanted to feed one it was $5 for a bucket with a couple of fish, so I jumped in the queue! It was great to be able to feed one, as I had not been picked when we were at Monkey Mia in Western Australia. Feeding it was great, being so close to the dolphin was amazing! Ben got some good pics for me! After the dolphin trip we headed back and packed up the car to drive to Rainbow Beach.
Rainbow beach was only about half an hour away so we got there mid morning which was nice. We found the hostel and checked in. Went to check out our 7 bed dorm and there were two occupied beds already but no one around. We had a look around the town, and it was a beautiful hot and sunny day so we went down to the beach. It was really windy but lovely and sunny, and of course Ben went to body surf some waves! At 2pm we had a meeting about the trip back at the hostel. There were about 60 people going, in groups of about 7 - 10 people. We met our group, two German lads Lamine and Johannes, two Swedish lads, Sircan and Driton and a Dutch girl, Kim, travelling on her own! We had a safety briefing etc and were told to be up for a pancake breakfast at 7am, and to be ready to go at 7.30am. We went back to our room and met two girls who were staying in it, they had been on the Fraser trip and got back that day. They told us it was excellent and that they had a fantastic time, which was good as we were both feeling a bit apprehensive about what to expect! They were really nice and we had a great chat with them. It turned out that there was only the four of us in the dorm that night which was great! We signed up for the six dollar dinner, which was burger and chips, not bad for six bucks, and we sat with the girls from our dorm. They went back to the room around 9pm and we stayed and listened to the live band playing for a bit longer. Went to bed around 10pm and had a good night's sleep with my ear plugs in, not bad for our first hostel experience!
We had an early start and made it to the pancake breakfast which was nice. We put our big bags in the storage lock up and met as a huge group outside. The weather was looking good, and after a briefing we were told to check the contents of the car against the list, and collect our food 
supplies for our group and check the car over etc. It was very hectic, but we managed to get sorted and then it was time to get on the road. There were 7 cars, two driven by guides, and then the others driven by the occupants, luckily we did not have a driver so we could all take turns! Ben was happy to drive first, and 
the others were happy to let him, so he was the brave one! It was funny to be driving with gears again! It was a short drive to the ferry, and a ten minute crossing, at which point it started to rain! Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. So the minute Ben drove off the ferry he was driving on the sand! We drove along the beach which was pretty cool!! Our first stop was at Eli Creek, and was one of the only real toilets on the island, so we all made use of that! Eli Creek was beautiful clean water running down to the ocean, Ben went for a swim, you walk 
along the edge of the creek up to a bridge and then get in, and follow it all the way to the beach. The weather was a bit iffy, raining one minute, sun coming out the next! Next we drove to a camp ground, which was pretty basic, a toilet block (no hot water) and an undercover area with picnic tables. The guides took us there to have lunch as it was undercover and it was raining! They also suggested we stay there that evening as the undercover area would be good for cooking dinner under and the weather wasn't looking good. We all agreed and paid an extra $2 each. Lunch was a fun affair, bascially each group got out there food and equipment and did lunch like little families on a picnic! Kim, Ben and I got stuck in, but the boys kind of just sat there and didn't really know what to do, so we sliced veggies and got it all sorted, and all ate together! We had very tasty roast beef, cheese and salad sandwiches!
After lunch we went to a place called Champagne Pools, pools of sea water made by rock 
formations. The weather had turned quite bad at this point so I did not fancy a dip in the sea! Ben of course went in and enjoyed a swim, at which point I considered whether I should get in, but when he got out and was very cold I was glad I hadn't gone in!!! After that we
went up to a headland called Indian Heads. We had to climb up to the top, and the views of the sand dunes were awesome!!! Kim had a go at driving and Lamine (German) and Sircan (Swede). We headed back to the camp ground and set up our tents, trying to pick the flatest smoothest ground as we only had sleeping bags and nothing else to lie on! Then all the groups got busy making dinner. Each group got together on a picnic table and got all their equipment from the trailer, and the food supplies. We started to prepare dinner, which was steaks, potato salad and green salad. Everyone was getting stuck in, except the two German lads. They were both 19, and you could tell they just expected everyone else to do everything for them, one was particularly worse than the other! I confronted him and said if he wanted to eat dinner, he had better come and help us all, and he still didn't bother. He came over after a bit and Ben and Kim and I realised we would just have to dish out jobs and tell them what to do, or else they would do nothing! So that's basically how it went after that, we played mummy and daddy to them, and told them what needed to be done!
After dinner everyone began drinking and playing cards and drinking games which was great fun. Our group ended up gelling a lot more which was good and we had a great evening! The guy who owned the
camp came and told us that the lights would go out at 10pm and we would have to be quiet after that, so most of us went down to the beach for a beach party! Had a really good night! Ben and I staggered back to the camp, both a bit merry! Ben had seen some posh looking permanent tents nearby, and had a look inside a few and they were empty. They had proper beds off the floor with mattresses and everything! They had obviously been used and not made up for the next guests, so we grabbed out sleeping bags and had a great night's sleep! We set out alarm very early to get up before anyone so they wouldn't spot where we'd been!
On Saturday we drove to Bundaberg and headed straight for the information centre, our usual port of call in a new place! Bundaberg is famous for it’s rum, and also we knew that one of the beaches was a turtle nesting area, so we went to check out if there would be any action. When we arrived there was a big banner across the desk saying the turtle hatching viewings had been extended for this weekend, so we were very lucky! We booked onto that, and also booked the 3pm Bundaberg rum distillery tour. We found a local campsite and pitched the tent, we were the only tent campers on the whole site! Grabbed lunch and then headed to the Rum distillery. We 
walked through the entrance and read some of the info about the early distillery, set up by three local sugar refiners as they wanted to do something with the molasses they produced (a by product of sugar refinery). It became a very lucrative business for them, especially as they had lots of molasses anyway! The tour began by taking us to the molasses store, which we could s
mell before we could see! The air was thick with a lovely sweet smell, that was quite familiar. I was racking my brain wondering what it was, and then our guide said molasses was used in making treacle, and that is exactly what it smelled like!!!! The store was a very large wooded building, and we were allowed to look inside, walking through it on a viewing platform. Looking out into a vast expanse, it was incredible, loads and loads of thick brown sludgy liquid, although it was so thick it was not very liquidy! It smelled amazing, and was quiet impressive to look at! Our guide told us it was 3 metres deep, and when full could be 5 metres deep, apparently we saw 5 million litres of molasses!!! After seeing it, we were allowed a taster, our other guide handed us a lollipop stick and poured a little on it for us to try, I did not like it at all! I am not really a fan of treacle, and this was pretty much like it, but a little bit worse! Some people really liked it and went back for seconds! Next we went into the fermentation part, and were able to look at the machines that did all the work. The molasses is mixed with yeast, water. We were shown how the yeast makes it all froth up through a window in a huge tank, and then 36 hours after, this is 8% alcohol, and it is poured into the distillation chamber. It is distilled twice to become 78% alcohol. 40,000 litres of the original liquid only makes 4,000 litres of 78% rum! They then take the rum (which is clear), and add caramel to colour it and water it down to the different strengths required for each product they make. Originally when the rum was made, it was transported to other countries in the huge barrels that Port etc was transported to Australia in, and during transit took on the dark colour from the residues and wood. When they made new barrels and started to transport the rum in them, people complained as they thought the rum was off, as it was the wrong colour, so they started to put the caramel in to add colour and a bit of flavour! Once we had seen the fermentation and distillation we were shown how the rum is stored. It has to be stored for 2 years to mature. The barrels it is stored in are the height of Ben and I put together, and hold between 40 – 60,000 litres! The barrels in themselves are a work of art, no glue is used to make them, they are spectacular! Once we had seen the storage, we were taken to the bottling area. Unfortunately as it was a weekend, they weren’t bottling, but we were able to watch a DVD to show the process, and could look at the machinery. We were then told about all the rum products they make, and told what options there were for our tasting session. They took us downstairs to the ‘bar’, and we could have two tasters of our choice, and they were full sized drinks too! Ben had the five year aged rum straight, and the Red and Coke. I chose the liquor with a dash of cream and regular rum with lime soda water, I had a sip of each and Ben finished mine off too as I was the designated driver! After a quick dinner we got ready to go and see the turtles! They close the beach from November to April for nesting and hatching. You can buy a ticket (only $10 each) to see the nesting from Nov – Jan, and the hatching from Jan – March. Luckily they had extended it until the first weekend in April which was good news for us! Basically you turn up at 6.45pm and it’s already dark as we’re in Queensland! We were given a little talk about the hatching, the fact that we will be in groups based on when you booked, and that obviously it's nature, so they can't guaruntee anything, but the longer you are prepared to wait around, the more chance there is you will see something! They are open until 1am in peak times! We went through the centre which had great displays all about the turtles and the work they do there, which has been going on since the 1950's, seeing some of the same turtles from the time still turning up to nest! We were shown a DVD in the outdoor amphitheatre while there were rangers down on the beach spotting any activity! Group one got called at about 8pm, and we were hoping we wouldn't be much longer, then at about 8.30pm we got our call. We grouped together and were told we could use our torches to walk down to the beach, but had to turn them off when we got there as the hatchling turtles follow light to get to the sea and we would confuse them. So we set off down a track to the beach. The ranger met us and took us to the nest he had found. We all gathered round and he told us that he had covered it back over to trick the turtles into thinking it was not the right time, and so he started to move some sand back, which got them going again, and soon lots of tiny little turtles were popping out of the sand! We were told that they would have hatched about 5 days ago, in 
the nest which is about 60cm deep, and then spent the days eating the contents of their egg to get strong and moving up closer to the surface. It was amazing to watch them crawling out of the nest with such strength, and then immediately make their way towards the sea! Since we were all huddled around the guide had made a little pen to put them in and keep them safe until they were all out and we could set them free towards the sea! The guide had a
headtorch on, and it was amazing to see how they followed the light! Nearly had a few escapees as they climbed on top of eachother trying to get to the sea!! The guide bought two round for us to see, touch and take photos with which was amazing! They were so tiny, but so tough, little legs flapping around knowing it had to get to the sea! After we had seen them upclose, he put them all in a soft bucket while we counted, all 77 of them! Then we lined up in two lines making a passage way down to the sea. They chose a few people with torches to stand in the middle with their legs apart to shine their torches on the ground, making a light pathway all the way to the sea, sadly I did not get picked! However, it meant I could watch the whole thing, and it was amazing to see them all hurry down towards the sea in the moonlight! They were quite fast considering their size! They all made it and got washed around in the waves before they would have paddled as much as they could to get as deep as they could quickly! It was an amazing thing to witness and I will always remember it! Sarah x
On Monday my neck was still sore, but not nearly as bad as long as I remembered not to turn it left, that was agony! We filled up the car and got on our way towards Mackay, about 400km I think. The weather got progressively worse all day, and at points the rain was SO bad we could not see the road in front of us! It was so terrible I would have pulled over, but as were were on a highway there was nowhere to pull over to, so slowing right down was the only option, but the visibility was terrible! We pulled into a place called Flaggy Rock, a little roadside cafe stop, that would have been lovely on a hot sunny day. It was a good place to shelter from the rain for a while and hope conditions improved while we ate some lunch. Pies was on the menu again, proper aussie food! We discussed our options and felt that camping might be impossible with the amount of rain, the camp grounds would be flooded, so we would look into motels when we got there. The rain showed no signs of stopping at all, so we got back in the car and decided to get to Mackay slowly but surely. We went straight to the visitor centre when we arrived, and found that motels didn't come cheap in Mackay! They were also pretty booked up, due to the weather me thinks! The only thing we could get was a family room in the 'Tropic Coast Motel' for $121!!!! That is the most we have spent on one night this entire trip! And, it was disgusting!!!!! A complete dive, our tent was nicer! However, it was dry and out of the rain, and had a TV and a small kitchenette area so we could cook dinner. We decided to call the Whitsundays cruise company to check the trip was still on due to the weather, but they said it was fine, the wind was supposed to be dropping off on Wednesday when we were due to sail, so it was all looking good.
On Tuesday morning we only had 150k to drive to get to Airlie Beach, so we thought we'd be there by lunchtime. We got up early to pack our bags for the whitsunday cruise, and pack our big rucksacks with everything else important to be stored in the cruise office. Of course it was raining terribly, and when Ben checked the roads on the QLD website, the Bruce Highway going north was closed!!!! The only other way to get there was to go majorly inland, which we would have done, however, the last stretch of road this route was also closed, so NO WAY to get there!!! We went back to the information centre to double check and they confirmed the bad news. We decided the only thing we could do was call Peterpans (the company we booked the cruise with) and see what they said. It was not good news! Basically they told us that if we didn't get there we would forfeit our money, so we decided the only thing we could do was wait around and see if the road got re-opened. However, with the rain continuing, it was not looking good! We went to hang out in the shopping centre, as it was the only dry place we could stay out of the rain! We sat in the food court, Ben on the internet checking the roads, and waited it out! We had an early lunch and went outside to see if the rain had stopped - it had not! At that point we decided to make sure we were stocked up with water, and we had food and sleeping bags etc, and drive to the road closure barrier and wait for it to open. Cars were still turning onto the Bruce Highway, so we felt ok as long as there were cars in front of us! However, all the cars in front turned off towards the city centre, and we were alone! At this point we looked at each other and wondered if this was the right thing to be doing! Then we came to a service station and loads of trucks and lorries were lined up along the road, so we pulled in and stopped, thinking if they weren't going on, then we shouldn't be either! We sat at the side of the road and wondered what to do next! We knew that if the road didn't open by 4pm we couldn't go until the morning, as we didn't want to drive at night. So then we wondered if we would have to get up at 6am, check the road status and then leave super early! Just then as we were contemplating everything the phone rang! It was the Whitsunday cruise company, and they were cancelling the trip. This was gutting, but absolutely the best thing that could have happened, as it meant we would get our money back. Sadly since we were on such a tight time scale we couldn't re-arrange, so we wouldn't be cruising the Whitsundays after all. Now that the future was decided for us, we knew we had to stay in Mackay again and camping was still out of the question, but we needed something cheaper than last night! We went back to the information centre and looked at campsites that had cabins, and found one for $75 which was way better! The en-suite shower and toilet was outside in a little block across the way, which was fun in the rain, but the price was much better! The entrance to the campsite was really flooded, and I had to walk through ankle deep water to check in! We decided to go to the cinema for a late afternoon showing, and ended up watching 'Hall Pass' as I mucked up and read that 'The Lincoln Lawyer' was out when it wasn't! However, Hall Pass was a great comedy! We spent the evening planning our next moves, which was to head south ASAP to escape the rain and not get stuck up here!
On Wednesday it was still raining!!!! We checked the roads south were open, which they were, and headed to Rockhampton, a city south of Mackay. We had looked on lastminute.com and found a cheap hotel for the night, but popped into the information centre to check out other options, and found out there was no parking at the hotel we had found, so checked into a motel as we wanted the car with all our stuff to be off the road! This motel had been newly refurbished and was very nice, costing $88 it was better than the last one on all counts! At the info centre they had told us about a hotel (read Pub in England!) that did 2 for 1 meals from the special board, and had a big arena out the back for the cowboys to practise for the rodeo! So we headed there for our dinner! Since we knew we would be getting a refund for the sailing trip, we decided to spend some of the money on having as nice a time as we could in the weather! It was so nice to sit down somewhere and have a good meal, can't remember the last time we went out for a meal! Ben had the steak and chips, and I had Cajun Baramundi, which was yummy! After our dinner we went out to the arena to watch the men try and stay on the bucking bulls! They practise every Wednesday night when rodeo is coming up, so we were lucky to turn up on the right day! It was definitely a new experience! The weirdest bit was when they put little kids on the younger bulls, including a 3 year old!!!! We couldn't believe what we were seeing! They certainly start them young here! Watching the older boys and young men was much more fun as I wasn't terrified for them like I was with the little kids! Although it was quite scary to watch! All the men were wearing cowboy boots, jeans, checked shirts and a cowboy hat, it felt like we were in the wild west! They had all had their practise after about an hour, so we headed back to the motel so I could see the finale show of Farmer Wants a Wife which I'd been watching when we were in Armidale!
On Thursday we drove a couple of hours to a place called Seventeen Seventy, yes that is the name of it. It's nearby to a place called Agnes Water. It's a lovely little place and we were hoping the weather might improve and we could enjoy a couple of days there. We found a campsite with cabins for $89 (with the bathroom inside!) so we booked in for a couple of nights. It was so nice know we didn't have to get up the next morning and drive. We spent the afternoon inside (it was raining!) planning our time in America. We made dinner and watched a couple of DVDs before bed.
On Friday we had a very lazy morning! Bacon sandwiches and cups of tea, coffee for Ben (which he now drinks and is rather fussy about!). The weather was much better, still had a couple of showers, but we saw blue sky for the first time in days! I did some washing, and then we went out for a walk to get some fresh air while it was not raining! We drove to the headland car park, and did the 20 minute walk around which blew the cobwebs away nicely! We grabbed some sausages for dinner later and headed back. While it was dry we decided to try and wash the carpet at the front of the car which has developed a rather terrible smell! Hoping that will get rid of it so we can sell it! We walked through the campsite and down the 800m track to the beach to play some boules before dinner. Ben won, however, it was a close match! It started to spit with rain towards the end and we thought we were going to get drenched, but luckily it held off! We got back and had some dinner before we watched a movie and had an early night! Driving to Bundaberg tomorrow and hoping to do the rum distillery tour there, and maybe catch some hatching turtles on the beach if we are really lucky! Sarah x
Posted by
Sarah O'Neill
,
02:00
Because we were staying an extra week our accommodation was not secured, so we were told we would have to move into a different apartment (across the road) on Tuesday, and we could only have that until Friday morning. So Ben's boss was going to get us a hotel for the Friday night in a town about an hour away as there was no more accommodation in Armidale due to graduations! However, it all worked out that we could stay in our lovely apartment the whole week, and even Friday night which was fab! It meant I didn't lose a day lugging our stuff around on Tuesday, and a day with no base on Friday, which was much nicer! The week passed very quickly and we didn't really get up to much except enjoying the luxury for a few more days before getting back to camping! On Saturday we began our road trip again! We had planned everything very precisely to make sure we had enough time since we had stayed in Armidale an extra week, driving for around 5 hours each day to get north to Airlie Beach for our Whitsundays cruise on Wednesday. We left at about 10am and drove for about 4 hours to get to Toowoomba, our stop for the night. When we arrived it was a lovely hot and sunny day. We chilled out for a bit and then pitched the tent. Headed to the shopping centre for dinner supplies and had a quick tea of sausage sandwiches before heading to the cinema to watch 'Limitless' which was quite a good movie. Headed back to our first night in the tent for a while! On Sunday morning we were packing up the tent and as I was carrying the bedding to the car I turned my neck and something hurt and I knew it was not good! I could not turn left very far at all without it really hurting! With breakfast I took some ibuprofen and hoped it would ease, but it did not! We drove for about 6 hours to Gladstone for our second overnight stop on our way north. My neck was agony and the ibuprofen seemed to do nothing, so after four hours I took some Voltarol, we stopped for lunch at a service station and Ben bought two pie, and even though I wasn't at all hungry, he made me eat mine, which was a good thing! I just did not know what to do with myself, sat in the car I could not get into any position which relieved my neck at all, I even tried rolling towels to support it, and nothing helped! I decided to drive for a while to see if that took my mind off it. Concentrating on driving meant I wasn't dwelling on it, but I was still soooo uncomfortable! The weather was a bot iffy all day, overcast and cloudy, but no rain. When we eventually got to Gladstone I was crying to Ben, out of pure frustration and pain, I just did not know what to do with myself. He got out some different pain killers, Codeine, which can make you drowsy, and I gave them a whirl! Thankfully they gave me some relief, and I was a bit more myself. Although it was still painful, I felt so much better which was such a relief! Just had to make sure I did not turn my head left! The evening came out much nicer and the sun appeared for a while before it got dark. Now we are back in Queensland we don't have long evenings at all, dark around 6pm which sucks when camping! We skyped with Carol and Mike in the camp kitchen which was nice after two weeks as they had been away. After that we had dinner, which was easy as we had frozen leftovers from meals we had made in Armidale and managed to keep frozen in the esky and camp kitchen freezers, curry and spag bol. I didn't sleep to badly considering the neck problem! Now counting down the nights in the tent, and times we would have to put it up and down!
Sarah
ntal company, have been running a great deal with free camping in 'Family Parks' which they have none of in Queenstown, but they do in Te Anau! So we were able to take advantage of a free night which was awesome! The drive there was very picturesque, and we saw lots of sheep!!! We got to the campsite and then went out to explore! We went to the information centre to book our Milford Sound cruise which we got buy one get one free with Jucy, and the nights accomodation in Milford. Then we went for a lovely walk along the edge of the lake. The walk was supposed to take about an hour, but after 15 minutes we came across a lovely pebble beach and could not drag 
oursleves away! The weather was absolutely amazing, and it was just beautiful to sit in the sunshine in the peace and quiet, it was so still! Ben went for a paddle, but didn't get very far as it was pretty cold! I love the picture of him with the ripples of water radiating from his feet!
