I thought I would write a blog entry about my working experience in Sydney and also about how much I enjoyed my time here because in three days I am becoming a backpacker again. I know I will enjoy this because that is what this trip has been all about….but I guess I have now come to think of Sydney as my second home. I have spent a thoroughly enjoyable time working in Chemist Warehouse in Chatswood as a store man. It takes me roughly an hour to get into work every morning. This involves getting a bus outside our apartment, followed by two trains. It sounds bad but when you wake up to the sunshine how can you complain? Even if you have to be up before 7am!!!
My journey is usually made easier when I rob Mike’s Ipod and listen to the lighthouse family or when I have a good book to read but the best part of it is passing the Opera house. It is an awesome view and one that I have grown to appreciate. The sun is usually shining and everybody is in good spirits….my kind of place! I always get to work a half an hour early purposely because I have to check the internet for the Football news (I am still as passionate as ever about it!) because I don’t want to loose touch with it. I am usually greeted by someone on the cash register as I sprint up to get changed into my work cloths. I am always wearing shorts into work, although the jeans were brought into play during the winter. Our delivery driver is a big Ipswich Town fan so we are always having great football chats. Ipswich aren’t doing great at the minute but I have told him to keep the faith. I mark off all the stock in the morning and it’s pretty cool at this time which is great! I race in with all the stock then and sometimes I nearly knock the pharmacists over….sorry guys!!! I’m out the back a good bit and because of this I have got to know all the passer’s by and other store managers. I have even put football bets on with one of the guys who parks outside the store….and I have won them all! They all know that I am a Manchester United supporter. The delivery guys can be quite funny, one of them has even given me comic’s to read by an Irish writer called “Garth Ennis” (I don’t think anyone back home has heard of him!!). Our big order’s come on Wednesday and Friday. During the Summer I can’t hide from the sweltering heat at all. One day it was so hot that I even had to build a little fort of boxes to cover me from the sun…one of the girls saw this and was laughing at me! It gets pretty busy in the Pharmacy area but its also good fun and I’ll miss all the Pharmacy crew who I constantly hounded about product information…I don’t know if they will miss my hounding though! Most of the customers are very mannerly and appreciate my Irish accent….that or either laugh at it!! There is nearly a delivery every day so I’m always signing something…speaking of this I really have to practice my signature because it is pretty crap!!! Our Pharmacy is very multi-cultural which is great because we all learn a bit from each other and I think my English has improved a lot!! You can laugh at this all you want but everyone in the Pharmacy can understand my Irish accent now because I have learnt to slow it down a bit!!! Our store is small and I guess that means everyone knows everyone so it’s a closely knit family so to speak. Once work is finished I walk through Chatswood (on a Thursday night it is buzzing!!) and I always have to walk past an Old Italian man who plays music and tries to sing!! He basically shouts some Italian words at hot women who pass him….I always laugh when I see him. I have had a great time working in Chatswood but I suppose I have to try to pursue my dream job.
I will always have found memories of my time there, it’s been nearly 9 month’s which has flown by. Sydney has gone so quick it’s not even funny. I love Sydney and I keep saying it to the lads but I seriously think I will end up back here. It’s the most amazing city I have ever been in and it hasn’t let my prior expectations down one bit. Something happens every week here be it a concert, festival etc… You just cannot beat the harbour at night, it’s amazing. It will take time to settle back in Europe and it will be tough leaving my Sister, Brother and friends behind but this is all part of life and an experience that everyone has to have at some point of their life. I think the 4 of us will reflect more on what this trip has meant to us when we finish our Asia trip but this is just a little insight. An insight into a city that has fulfilled every expectation of mine ….a city that one day I might just call home.
Much more to come,
Gary
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
August Antics
When you say the word Sydney one thing springs straight into your head! You got it in one. Yes it’s the “The Opera House”. It was time for us to visit the iconic structure.
There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is a masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.
The moment we decided to pack our bags and venture through the unknown, one image appeared in our minds and that was of this legendary structure. We had previously seen it from a distance but had yet to enter inside. The closer you get to the Opera House its size is really put into perspective. It’s deceptively big from distance. We decided that instead of touring the Opera House that we would go to see a play. It was a Saturday so there wasn’t a lot on selection. The one exciting option was a Stand up Comic but all her shows were sold out for the whole month.
We decided on a play called “Pericles”. The lady in charge of the bookings convinced us to go and said it was about a Prince in search of love that included drama, fighting, drums and acrobatics. We were sold on that. We decided to bring Dani along aswell. It was time for Kiloughter crew (Conor, Gary, Dani, Mike and Kieran) to mix with the high society of Sydney.
Up went the curtain.
“I am no viper, yet I feed on mother's flesh which did me breed.”
We all glanced at each other in disgust we had ended up in a Shakespearean drama. Not to be ignorant we decided to give it a chance. 5 minutes passed….10 minutes passed….. 15 minutes passed yet we all still look dissatisfied. Not very impressed with our choice we all waited for the curtain to fall. Once it fell we sprung up like a bad mattress. We were walking out of the Opera House. A magical building of course but just no a magical choice of show!
Poor show,
Conor
One weekend Kieran, Tom and I decided to head to the AFL game between the Sydney Swans and St. Kilda. St. Kilda are the best team in the league and from seventeen games they had seventeen wins! No easy feat. The game was taking place at the Sydney Cricket Ground so it was only a short ten minute taxi ride from our gaff. We were skeptical of Sydney’s chance but we got behind the team. Our seats were right behind one of the goals and we had a great view of what was going on down our end but the opposite end seemed like a million miles away! There was no Tadhg Kennelly on show and based on the first two quarters Sydney looked like they needed him back! The first quarter had us questioning what was so good about this game, we didn’t even see any fights although we did see a St. Kilda player dislocate his shoulder. As the 30 minute quarters went by we got more and more into it as Sydney came from behind to attempt the upset. Jess White was Sydney’s best chance of winning the game and he became our favourite player on the pitch and although he missed one or two easy free kick’s we were right behind him! With five minutes remaining during the last quarter “Jessy-boy” kicked a goal that put the Swans ahead by one point and with plenty of momentum. We were going nuts! This was going to be the biggest upset of the year! But then disaster struck!St. Kilda leveled with an over in the last minute and then St. Kilda's Leigh Montagna drove a stake through the heart of the inspired Swans with a 20m kick that dribbled through for a point with 20 seconds to go! It was an unbelievable finish and at the end the supporters gave the Swans a standing ovation for their efforts!We walked away from the game thinking we had gotten great value for money at only $22 (14euro) per ticket.
Mike
Kieran and I decided to do a sky dive one Sunday morning. We are the type of guys who take these things in our stride. We were so confident about our adventure that we even went out in Kings Cross for a few the previous night. It took us an hour to get to Penrith and we weren’t overly impressed by it. Let’s just say it wasn’t the classiest train station we were ever in!! Our pickup arrived and we met the Men that would be in control of our lives for the skydive. They were laughing and joking and to our amazement one of them was Irish. This Man would be accompanying Kieran on his dive….accompanying paints a pretty picture but basically it was two Irish guys strapped together with a rope (and were done with our dinners!!)! Anyway, another girl would also be with us so 3 of us were jumping along with our instructors!! The journey up into the sky was brilliant and actually enjoyable. I was waiting for the fear and panic to hit me but instead it was a calm, chilled and relaxed journey which took about twenty minutes. We could see the Blue Mountains and a lake which looked amazing from our very high viewpoint. The lads got us strapped up and Kieran would be first to go. Looking at one of your mates falling out of a plane is pretty weird, for all I knew that was the last I had seen of him. I was up next and literally one minute later I was gone!! 14,0000 feet in the air and I was falling down like a ton of bricks! It was awesome!! I was screaming…but not for my life but for the sheer adrenaline rush. It makes you feel alive!!! Once the parachute went off it was plain sailing and once again enjoyable! I was waving over at Kieran and sure we were as happy as pigs in shite! The landing was bumpy enough but worth it. I ran straight over to Kieran and shook his hand. The two Kiloughter lads had jumped out of a plane 14,000 up in the sky….it was far from this that we were reared!!
The Manchester United Supporter’s Club of NSW headed over to Manly Vale for a fun day of football in the blistering heat!! It actually reached something like 27 degrees!! There were ten clubs who turned up on the day- Man Utd, Man City, Celtic, Everton, Spurs, Ireland, Aston Villa, Cardiff, Liverpool and Scotland. I was extremely privileged to be given the Captains armband of Manchester United joining the likes of Robson, Bruce, Cantona, Keane, Neville and Giggs…..I wish. Unfortunately our players weren’t as talented as that but they might get there one day….probably in their dreams but leave them off!! We had a squad of about 12 and with it being a 6 a side tournament lasting 20 minutes we had to swap things around after 10 minutes to give everyone a run out. Our first game was against Cardiff and we managed to win 2-1 (scorers Tom and Frank). Frank is an Irish man who joined our team and came on as a sub upfront. He is actually way better than Didier Drogba but drinks at half time so no Premier League team will snap him up…all the better for us. Oh ya and Kieran missed a penalty!! Playing Ireland was hard for us but it had to be done. Funnily enough they had an Englishman on their team thanks to the “Granny rule”!!! We won this one 3-1 ( Kieran got 2 and Franky boy scored again…Didier who!!). We blamed the sun for our 2-1 defeat to Everton, Frank did get on the score sheet though. Spurs was a must win game. I tweaked the team and low and behold we won 3-1. I personally loved this game because I got to head the ball a lot and felt like Nemanja Vidic for a brief moment. Frank, Kieran and an Irish lad called “Hurley” scored. We had reached the semi finals but we couldn’t get to grips with Aston Villa and eneded up loosing 3-1. Conor kept the score line down and Frank grabbed us a fine goal but it wasn’t good enough. Everton then beat Villa on penalties. Overall it was a great day out and we shared a lot of laughs and for those few hours we felt like superstars!!
It was also an emotional day because it was Kieran’s last full day in Sydney….awwwwww. Don’t feel sorry for him though because he has had a ball!! Hugs were exchanged and no doubt we will see him very soon. It’s hard to believe that September will be our last blog from Sydney.
I did a skydive wohoooooo,
Gary
There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is a masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of great beauty that has become known throughout the world – a symbol for not only a city, but a whole country and continent.
The moment we decided to pack our bags and venture through the unknown, one image appeared in our minds and that was of this legendary structure. We had previously seen it from a distance but had yet to enter inside. The closer you get to the Opera House its size is really put into perspective. It’s deceptively big from distance. We decided that instead of touring the Opera House that we would go to see a play. It was a Saturday so there wasn’t a lot on selection. The one exciting option was a Stand up Comic but all her shows were sold out for the whole month.
We decided on a play called “Pericles”. The lady in charge of the bookings convinced us to go and said it was about a Prince in search of love that included drama, fighting, drums and acrobatics. We were sold on that. We decided to bring Dani along aswell. It was time for Kiloughter crew (Conor, Gary, Dani, Mike and Kieran) to mix with the high society of Sydney.
Up went the curtain.
“I am no viper, yet I feed on mother's flesh which did me breed.”
We all glanced at each other in disgust we had ended up in a Shakespearean drama. Not to be ignorant we decided to give it a chance. 5 minutes passed….10 minutes passed….. 15 minutes passed yet we all still look dissatisfied. Not very impressed with our choice we all waited for the curtain to fall. Once it fell we sprung up like a bad mattress. We were walking out of the Opera House. A magical building of course but just no a magical choice of show!
Poor show,
Conor
One weekend Kieran, Tom and I decided to head to the AFL game between the Sydney Swans and St. Kilda. St. Kilda are the best team in the league and from seventeen games they had seventeen wins! No easy feat. The game was taking place at the Sydney Cricket Ground so it was only a short ten minute taxi ride from our gaff. We were skeptical of Sydney’s chance but we got behind the team. Our seats were right behind one of the goals and we had a great view of what was going on down our end but the opposite end seemed like a million miles away! There was no Tadhg Kennelly on show and based on the first two quarters Sydney looked like they needed him back! The first quarter had us questioning what was so good about this game, we didn’t even see any fights although we did see a St. Kilda player dislocate his shoulder. As the 30 minute quarters went by we got more and more into it as Sydney came from behind to attempt the upset. Jess White was Sydney’s best chance of winning the game and he became our favourite player on the pitch and although he missed one or two easy free kick’s we were right behind him! With five minutes remaining during the last quarter “Jessy-boy” kicked a goal that put the Swans ahead by one point and with plenty of momentum. We were going nuts! This was going to be the biggest upset of the year! But then disaster struck!St. Kilda leveled with an over in the last minute and then St. Kilda's Leigh Montagna drove a stake through the heart of the inspired Swans with a 20m kick that dribbled through for a point with 20 seconds to go! It was an unbelievable finish and at the end the supporters gave the Swans a standing ovation for their efforts!We walked away from the game thinking we had gotten great value for money at only $22 (14euro) per ticket.
Mike
Kieran and I decided to do a sky dive one Sunday morning. We are the type of guys who take these things in our stride. We were so confident about our adventure that we even went out in Kings Cross for a few the previous night. It took us an hour to get to Penrith and we weren’t overly impressed by it. Let’s just say it wasn’t the classiest train station we were ever in!! Our pickup arrived and we met the Men that would be in control of our lives for the skydive. They were laughing and joking and to our amazement one of them was Irish. This Man would be accompanying Kieran on his dive….accompanying paints a pretty picture but basically it was two Irish guys strapped together with a rope (and were done with our dinners!!)! Anyway, another girl would also be with us so 3 of us were jumping along with our instructors!! The journey up into the sky was brilliant and actually enjoyable. I was waiting for the fear and panic to hit me but instead it was a calm, chilled and relaxed journey which took about twenty minutes. We could see the Blue Mountains and a lake which looked amazing from our very high viewpoint. The lads got us strapped up and Kieran would be first to go. Looking at one of your mates falling out of a plane is pretty weird, for all I knew that was the last I had seen of him. I was up next and literally one minute later I was gone!! 14,0000 feet in the air and I was falling down like a ton of bricks! It was awesome!! I was screaming…but not for my life but for the sheer adrenaline rush. It makes you feel alive!!! Once the parachute went off it was plain sailing and once again enjoyable! I was waving over at Kieran and sure we were as happy as pigs in shite! The landing was bumpy enough but worth it. I ran straight over to Kieran and shook his hand. The two Kiloughter lads had jumped out of a plane 14,000 up in the sky….it was far from this that we were reared!!
The Manchester United Supporter’s Club of NSW headed over to Manly Vale for a fun day of football in the blistering heat!! It actually reached something like 27 degrees!! There were ten clubs who turned up on the day- Man Utd, Man City, Celtic, Everton, Spurs, Ireland, Aston Villa, Cardiff, Liverpool and Scotland. I was extremely privileged to be given the Captains armband of Manchester United joining the likes of Robson, Bruce, Cantona, Keane, Neville and Giggs…..I wish. Unfortunately our players weren’t as talented as that but they might get there one day….probably in their dreams but leave them off!! We had a squad of about 12 and with it being a 6 a side tournament lasting 20 minutes we had to swap things around after 10 minutes to give everyone a run out. Our first game was against Cardiff and we managed to win 2-1 (scorers Tom and Frank). Frank is an Irish man who joined our team and came on as a sub upfront. He is actually way better than Didier Drogba but drinks at half time so no Premier League team will snap him up…all the better for us. Oh ya and Kieran missed a penalty!! Playing Ireland was hard for us but it had to be done. Funnily enough they had an Englishman on their team thanks to the “Granny rule”!!! We won this one 3-1 ( Kieran got 2 and Franky boy scored again…Didier who!!). We blamed the sun for our 2-1 defeat to Everton, Frank did get on the score sheet though. Spurs was a must win game. I tweaked the team and low and behold we won 3-1. I personally loved this game because I got to head the ball a lot and felt like Nemanja Vidic for a brief moment. Frank, Kieran and an Irish lad called “Hurley” scored. We had reached the semi finals but we couldn’t get to grips with Aston Villa and eneded up loosing 3-1. Conor kept the score line down and Frank grabbed us a fine goal but it wasn’t good enough. Everton then beat Villa on penalties. Overall it was a great day out and we shared a lot of laughs and for those few hours we felt like superstars!!
It was also an emotional day because it was Kieran’s last full day in Sydney….awwwwww. Don’t feel sorry for him though because he has had a ball!! Hugs were exchanged and no doubt we will see him very soon. It’s hard to believe that September will be our last blog from Sydney.
I did a skydive wohoooooo,
Gary
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Mike & Kieran: Cairns
Upon arrival in Cairns we headed straight to our hostel Corona Backpackers. It was small but had a cool feel about it and had an outdoor staircase where everyone met up to chat before heading out (there were a few freaks on these stairs every night)! We were staying with a Dutch guy who didn’t say much and our room was the only room in the hostel that had a mirror so everyone came into use it. We really should have started charging them! By staying in the hostel we were rewarded every night with a “free” meal in The Woolshed. When we arrived at The Woolshed there was a massive queue coming out the door of backpackers wanting their free meals! The only problem was the free meals were awful looking chili-con carne and spaghetti bolognese. We were eating enough bolognese back in Sydney so we upgraded every night we were there to big steaks for only $8! Not a bad deal at all! The Woolshed had another good deal: buy one get one free drinks from 10pm-11pm which we happily abused that night!
Now it was time for the quad-biking! We were split into 4 groups and were taken along different routes after completing the introductory course. We were told to keep in 1st or 2nd gear until we hit straights and then we could move up to the fast gears. The quad bikes seemed a bit dodgy compared to the last time I was and turned off a few times on me and Kieran. It was mostly plain sailing until we were told to go into 1st gear for the next section. We travelled down a big hill and then hit a bit of a straight. I decided to move up to third and ploughed up a hill but then I realized I shouldn’t have moved up gears and slide down the hill a bit before the guide helped me back up!We were having the time of our lives although Kieran said he feared for his life at certain stages! The track had loads of different stages so it was cool mixing it up from sandy straight tracks to massive drops/climbs to slow tracks trying to keep in between trees. The track itself was very dusty so it was a good job we brought our sunglasses, would have been impossible to see otherwise! We came to a huge drop down a hill and then straight away a massive climb up another so we needed to be on our game. We both got through it but as I looked back a saw Kieran pulling a wheelie (accidently I think) when he reached the top of the hill and nearly killing the instructor who was walking back to check how everyone else was doing! We finished off the day with a massive straight in which we stayed in top gear the whole time and flew to the end of it, we were covered in dust and dirt at the end of it but it was worth it. Tea and cake awaited us when we got back and then it was time head back to Cairns and hit the Woolshed again!
The following day we had a day off so we decided to hit the lagoon (there’s no beach in Cairns either unfortunately) and chill out for the day. It was roasting as it is everyday, temperatures were in high 20’s low 30’s. While playing football we met a guy from County Cork whose was very impressed with our free-styling abilities! He joined in with us soon after we got a game of 3 vs. 3 going with an American girl we met, a Spanish guy and Tal from our Fraser trip! Me and Kieran dominated the game with nice one touch play but the American girl on our team was unbelievable. She scored four of our five goals and was the best player on the pitch. She should be playing professional! We ended up winning 5-3 and met up later for celebratory drinks!
We hit the road again and our next stop was Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park. It was crowded around the gorge with everyone taking photos of the boulders and the river but no one was in the water. We would soon changed that! We soon realized why we were the only ones in the water…. It was FREEZING!!!
The next day we set off to Blazing Saddles Adventures for some quad-biking and some less exciting horse riding! Blazing Saddles operates on 1,200 acres of Australian bush land, giant termite mounds, creeks and savannah plains which can be explored by a 250cc quad bike! We started off with horse-riding. It was the first time to the best of my memory I would ever get up on a horse so I was a little apprehensive! I got a big horse called Roxy and Kieran got one called Rasputin (I think) and we were on our way. It was mostly gentle strides to start off with but then we did some galloping and some exciting hill climbing. It was a lot better than we thought it was going to be!A crazy Chinese man, who’s horse went crazy at one stage stole the show and unknowingly had everyone in stitches with his mental antics.
As a break in between the two activities we were brought to a village called Kuranda. It’s most famous for its Rainforest Sky-rail which provides amazing views from a cable car. We visited the markets and explored a bit of the town but spent most of our time playing 20 questions and giving out about how bad the cherry ice-cream we got was! Never again!
Now it was time for the quad-biking! We were split into 4 groups and were taken along different routes after completing the introductory course. We were told to keep in 1st or 2nd gear until we hit straights and then we could move up to the fast gears. The quad bikes seemed a bit dodgy compared to the last time I was and turned off a few times on me and Kieran. It was mostly plain sailing until we were told to go into 1st gear for the next section. We travelled down a big hill and then hit a bit of a straight. I decided to move up to third and ploughed up a hill but then I realized I shouldn’t have moved up gears and slide down the hill a bit before the guide helped me back up!We were having the time of our lives although Kieran said he feared for his life at certain stages! The track had loads of different stages so it was cool mixing it up from sandy straight tracks to massive drops/climbs to slow tracks trying to keep in between trees. The track itself was very dusty so it was a good job we brought our sunglasses, would have been impossible to see otherwise! We came to a huge drop down a hill and then straight away a massive climb up another so we needed to be on our game. We both got through it but as I looked back a saw Kieran pulling a wheelie (accidently I think) when he reached the top of the hill and nearly killing the instructor who was walking back to check how everyone else was doing! We finished off the day with a massive straight in which we stayed in top gear the whole time and flew to the end of it, we were covered in dust and dirt at the end of it but it was worth it. Tea and cake awaited us when we got back and then it was time head back to Cairns and hit the Woolshed again!
The following day we had a day off so we decided to hit the lagoon (there’s no beach in Cairns either unfortunately) and chill out for the day. It was roasting as it is everyday, temperatures were in high 20’s low 30’s. While playing football we met a guy from County Cork whose was very impressed with our free-styling abilities! He joined in with us soon after we got a game of 3 vs. 3 going with an American girl we met, a Spanish guy and Tal from our Fraser trip! Me and Kieran dominated the game with nice one touch play but the American girl on our team was unbelievable. She scored four of our five goals and was the best player on the pitch. She should be playing professional! We ended up winning 5-3 and met up later for celebratory drinks!
We booked a special three day trip in our hostel for the next three days and it worked out a lot cheaper than doing things separately.
Our first day took us to Tully for a full five hour day of rafting on Grade 3, 4 and 5 rapids with Raging Thunder! To be up at six o clock was not an easy feat in itself! The mighty Tully River is about two hours south of Cairns and is considered one of the best locations for white water rafting around. It had gotten great reviews off one Charlie Corcoran!
We were split into four groups of six and assigned a guide each. Marty was our guide and he was in charge of selecting the groups so he obviously picked the best group for himself! We got acquainted with our raft mates and were assigned where we would be sitting. Of course he put the two Kiloughter lads up the front to do all the hard work! We weren’t complaining one bit, the best craic was to be had up the front and we were in charge of keeping our paddle stokes in identical to each other as Marty called out either forward stroke or backward stroke and leading the team safely down the rapids. The others did feck all really! Marty was a hero and explained all the instructions and positions. On Marty’s call, at certain stages we would all have to jump to the right or left hand side of the raft to assist him in steering or get down in the raft as we prepare for impact! We were having the time of our lives and after each section of the course we would celebrate by smashing our paddles together and slapping the water. Water fights between the rafts broke out on every occasion possible! After conquering a particular rapid Marty instructed us to leap out of the raft and go for a swim. The water was freezing but we didn’t care as the rapids carried us to the bottom of the stage. Marty met us at the bottom and we were soon back sitting in the raft. In a matter of minutes we were all out of it again! Marty told us to leave our paddles in the raft and form a huddle at the front of it as we approached a big drop. We all knew how this was going to turn out. We didn’t know how far we were from the edge as we were all looking down towards the rafting, when all of a sudden we went head over heels off the raft and right into the water! We drifted down to the river bank and it was time for lunch. A BBQ buffet was again on offer and we ate all around us!
Back into raft the first order of business for Marty was to knock someone out of the raft. We were his obvious targets! Pity we didn’t know this at the time. He lined up his attack by heading towards drop with a rock on one side. He made it seem like he was heading down it properly, then at the last second turned the boat as we were about to go down and flipped me straight over the edge of the raft, somehow I managed to hold on to the rope around the outside and Kieran pulled me back in. Marty was delighted! Then he brought us to a cliff edge where there was a waterfall, brought us right under the waterfall and we got soaked by the amount of water. It brought me back to the Iguassu Falls! Next order of business was to jump off a 6-8m high rock in the middle of the river. We all happily got out and leapt from the top! Immediately upon landing in the water we wished we had tried a flip instead of a normal cannonball but it was awesome none the less. All day Marty had been trying to flip the whole raft. He got really close once where he told everyone to jump to one side of the raft as we were going down a drop and we got almost half way flipped but then we countered it by moving back to our original sides! Our last event of the day was to go backwards down a steep slope. Marty shouted “What you can’t see, can’t hurt you”! I don’t know how we all stayed in the raft but somehow we did!
We said our goodbyes to everyone and we enjoyed it so much we even bought a Raging Thunder hat and polo shirt as a souvenir of our day!
We were split into four groups of six and assigned a guide each. Marty was our guide and he was in charge of selecting the groups so he obviously picked the best group for himself! We got acquainted with our raft mates and were assigned where we would be sitting. Of course he put the two Kiloughter lads up the front to do all the hard work! We weren’t complaining one bit, the best craic was to be had up the front and we were in charge of keeping our paddle stokes in identical to each other as Marty called out either forward stroke or backward stroke and leading the team safely down the rapids. The others did feck all really! Marty was a hero and explained all the instructions and positions. On Marty’s call, at certain stages we would all have to jump to the right or left hand side of the raft to assist him in steering or get down in the raft as we prepare for impact! We were having the time of our lives and after each section of the course we would celebrate by smashing our paddles together and slapping the water. Water fights between the rafts broke out on every occasion possible! After conquering a particular rapid Marty instructed us to leap out of the raft and go for a swim. The water was freezing but we didn’t care as the rapids carried us to the bottom of the stage. Marty met us at the bottom and we were soon back sitting in the raft. In a matter of minutes we were all out of it again! Marty told us to leave our paddles in the raft and form a huddle at the front of it as we approached a big drop. We all knew how this was going to turn out. We didn’t know how far we were from the edge as we were all looking down towards the rafting, when all of a sudden we went head over heels off the raft and right into the water! We drifted down to the river bank and it was time for lunch. A BBQ buffet was again on offer and we ate all around us!
Back into raft the first order of business for Marty was to knock someone out of the raft. We were his obvious targets! Pity we didn’t know this at the time. He lined up his attack by heading towards drop with a rock on one side. He made it seem like he was heading down it properly, then at the last second turned the boat as we were about to go down and flipped me straight over the edge of the raft, somehow I managed to hold on to the rope around the outside and Kieran pulled me back in. Marty was delighted! Then he brought us to a cliff edge where there was a waterfall, brought us right under the waterfall and we got soaked by the amount of water. It brought me back to the Iguassu Falls! Next order of business was to jump off a 6-8m high rock in the middle of the river. We all happily got out and leapt from the top! Immediately upon landing in the water we wished we had tried a flip instead of a normal cannonball but it was awesome none the less. All day Marty had been trying to flip the whole raft. He got really close once where he told everyone to jump to one side of the raft as we were going down a drop and we got almost half way flipped but then we countered it by moving back to our original sides! Our last event of the day was to go backwards down a steep slope. Marty shouted “What you can’t see, can’t hurt you”! I don’t know how we all stayed in the raft but somehow we did!
We said our goodbyes to everyone and we enjoyed it so much we even bought a Raging Thunder hat and polo shirt as a souvenir of our day!
For day two it was time to do a snorkeling trip in the Great Barrier Reef on the Osprey V! A very early start was needed for this as well but it was routine at this stage.We boarded our boat and noticed that it was going to be very cramped compared to our catamaran in the Whitsunday’s! We were told we would be snorkeling at different locations on the Great Barrier Reef, Hastings and Norman Reef.
The water was a lot clearer in the Reef than in the Whitsunday’s. It was even easier to see fish from miles away. The famous fish on the reef is called Wally-Wally. It’s hard to describe him other than to say he’s absolutely huge, scarily huge and we got to touch him as we entered/exited the water! The coral was full of life and we were sometimes afraid to touch anything in case something jumped out and bit our hand off! The two of us decided to go “Finding Nemo”. It didn’t take us too long to find him! On the way back to the boat one of the scariest things ever happened to me…I was making my way back, focusing on the fish below when I looked up and saw a giant swordfish like fish swim right in front of my eyes!
Back on the boat we were offered the chance to take a helicopter home for the right price. Kieran had never been in a helicopter before so he jumped at the chance of seeing the Reef from the air. I decided to wait on board and help myself to the food on offer while listening to one of the staff sing. Elvis was his name but he looked nothing like the real deal. He was from New Zealand and everyone loved him, especially the way he made fun of every different nationality on board, apart from New Zealand of course. I was disappointed there was no mention of Ireland but enjoyed his songs none the less.
The Great Barrier Reef really does have to be seen to be believed!
Our third day took us north of Cairns towards Cape Tribulation. Another early start was needed and this was definitely the hardest activity to get up for. We were collected by a coach at half 6 and headed for The Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary near Port Douglas. In here there was everything from snakes and crocodiles to kangaroos and spiders. First we headed to see the crocodiles. We were having trouble locating them but then we looked down! The biggest crocodile you’ve ever seen was below us looking up ready to attack! Next, we entered the main section of the zoo and were greeted by the funniest looking animal around: the pelican! I couldn’t stop laughing as the waddled around looking for food, next thing a big emu comes out of nowhere and starts charging around not stopping for one second. All the while, in the background there were at least a dozen kangaroo’s, birds flying overhead, tree kangaroo’s, frogs, ducks and parrots everywhere, it was crazy!
The water was a lot clearer in the Reef than in the Whitsunday’s. It was even easier to see fish from miles away. The famous fish on the reef is called Wally-Wally. It’s hard to describe him other than to say he’s absolutely huge, scarily huge and we got to touch him as we entered/exited the water! The coral was full of life and we were sometimes afraid to touch anything in case something jumped out and bit our hand off! The two of us decided to go “Finding Nemo”. It didn’t take us too long to find him! On the way back to the boat one of the scariest things ever happened to me…I was making my way back, focusing on the fish below when I looked up and saw a giant swordfish like fish swim right in front of my eyes!
Back on the boat we were offered the chance to take a helicopter home for the right price. Kieran had never been in a helicopter before so he jumped at the chance of seeing the Reef from the air. I decided to wait on board and help myself to the food on offer while listening to one of the staff sing. Elvis was his name but he looked nothing like the real deal. He was from New Zealand and everyone loved him, especially the way he made fun of every different nationality on board, apart from New Zealand of course. I was disappointed there was no mention of Ireland but enjoyed his songs none the less.
The Great Barrier Reef really does have to be seen to be believed!
Our third day took us north of Cairns towards Cape Tribulation. Another early start was needed and this was definitely the hardest activity to get up for. We were collected by a coach at half 6 and headed for The Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary near Port Douglas. In here there was everything from snakes and crocodiles to kangaroos and spiders. First we headed to see the crocodiles. We were having trouble locating them but then we looked down! The biggest crocodile you’ve ever seen was below us looking up ready to attack! Next, we entered the main section of the zoo and were greeted by the funniest looking animal around: the pelican! I couldn’t stop laughing as the waddled around looking for food, next thing a big emu comes out of nowhere and starts charging around not stopping for one second. All the while, in the background there were at least a dozen kangaroo’s, birds flying overhead, tree kangaroo’s, frogs, ducks and parrots everywhere, it was crazy!
We hit the road again and our next stop was Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park. It was crowded around the gorge with everyone taking photos of the boulders and the river but no one was in the water. We would soon changed that! We soon realized why we were the only ones in the water…. It was FREEZING!!!
We continued on up the coast and reached our destination of Cape Tribulation where a massive buffet was waiting for us. There was a massive iguana/lizard roaming around outside the door looking to cause trouble. We ate all around us and headed for the beach just out side the door and relaxed.
Next we headed back down the coast towards what would be our last stop of the day, the Daintree River. Here we were treated to a river cruise and some crocodile watching. We spotted Fat Albert and a few other crocodiles but none were as big or scary as the one in the Wildlife Sanctuary!
For our last day in Cairns we spent the whole day topping up the suntan, relaxing and eating Baskin Robbins ice-cream! We had one a day for the week, money well spent in our opinion!
Take it easy,
For our last day in Cairns we spent the whole day topping up the suntan, relaxing and eating Baskin Robbins ice-cream! We had one a day for the week, money well spent in our opinion!
Take it easy,
Mike
Mike & Kieran: Whitsunday Islands
Kieran and I said our goodbyes to Conor, Gary and Tom in Hervey Bay the next morning with our eyes closed as it was six o’clock in the morning! They were heading back to Sydney to work while we were making our way up to the Whitsunday Island’s and Cairns.
Before that we had to make our way back down to Brisbane by bus for something we had always wanted to see since we were little kids: a WWF/WWE show. Funnily enough Louie from our Fraser Island tour was on the same bus as us and staying in the same hostel! We knew all our old heroes like The Rock, Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin weren’t going to be there but we decided to go along anyway for the craic! When we arrived at the arena 20 minutes before the show we were the only ones around. This worried us! Then we meet a father and son who said they were going to the same event. The father then realized we were at the wrong arena and offered to give us a lift to the actual arena (of the same name) even though he wasn’t fully sure of where it was. I looked at their tickets and it read “Judas Priest” instead of “WWE” and immediately decided against this idea. We threw a few dodgy looks at them and ran for a taxi! We got out there just in time and the show turned out to be a good laugh, it was entertaining and we were taking the piss shouting our heads off, booing all the “bad guys” and going completely over the top! That night we roomed with two girls from Athenry and a freak from god knows where who was dressed as a tiger believe it or not! If you ever go to Brisbane do not stay at Palace Backpackers or else, like Kieran you might get a drunken elbow in the face from a drunk not fit to stand up not a mind traverse a pitch black room full of backpacks and climb a dodgy bunk bed!!!
The morning after we headed to Brisbane Domestic to get our plane to Hamilton Island and the views from the plane of the Whitsunday’s was amazing, tropical paradise! The was even one small island that was solely a golf course! We collected our bags and got a ferry which brought us to Airlie Beach through the rest of the islands. We stopped off on Daydream Island and were envious to see everyone getting treated like they had just arrived in Hawaii!We checked into our Beaches hostel, met our room-mates Catriona and “Stumpy” and explored a bit of the town. We found our old friend from Surfer’s Paradise, Cold Rock-Ice Cream so that was our first stop! There isn’t a proper beach in Airlie Beach but there is a nice lagoon and this is where we spent most of our time that day.
The morning after it was time for our sailing trip/cruise to Whitehaven Beach considered one of the best beaches in the world! The previous night we consumed a lot of alcohol so we showed up at the marina half asleep and half alive! We boarded the large purple coloured Camira catamaran and headed straight for the tea and biscuits. There were about 70 other people on the boat and everyone was in good spirits………..besides the two hung-over Irish guys in the corner trying to sleep! We arrived at Whitehaven beach about 2 and a half hour’s later. It looked incredible! Whitehaven sports absolutely stunning super-fine grain white sand as far as the eye could see, literally squeaky due to 98% silica content and is surrounded by warm, clear green waters with various islands scattered in the distance (from a travel guide!). We passed the time by playing keepy-uppy’s with two Norwegian lads and relaxing on the beach. There was even time to make a few videos. We saw dolphins hopping around in the water as we made our way back to the catamaran. This truly was paradise!We then headed back on the boat for a massive BBQ buffet and we on our way to the snorkeling spot. Neither of us had ever done it before so we weren’t fully sure as what to expect. We thought we might see a few fish but what we saw blew us away. There was thousands of fish swimming around us. Photos or words don’t really do it justice but it was a unique experience. I even saw an eagle attacking a fish and carrying him home for dinner!We made friends with an elderly couple on the way back to the marina and they told us stories of travelling around Africa and they liked us so much they even offered us a place to stay just an hour north of Brisbane. We found this a bit weird and thanked god that we wouldn’t be in Brisbane again!
After spending three days in Airlie Beach and meeting up with Michaela, Nicole, Tal and Roger from our Fraser Island trip it was time to get a plane from the Whitsundays to Cairns (we really didn’t want to get the 11 hour bus!).
Mike
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