The Great Barrier Reef

From Uluru i made my way up to Cairns via Melbourne. Not the most direct route but turned out to be the cheapest route. I spent a few days in Melbourne which i have to say i love. In the botanical gardens the childhood house of Captain Cook stands after being removed from Yorkshire brick by brick, shipped over to Melbourne and rebuilt as per the original plans. A quaint 17th Century English cottage in the middle of Melbourne, it is fantastic. Though as i learnt in the Perth shipwreck gallery, Capt. Cook wasn't the first to discover Australia, in fact it was the Dutch in 1606!

Another must see is the Melbourne Museum. I didn't get to see all of it as i got absorbed in the bug section- a complete selection of all native Australian creatures- i am glad i saw this after i camped out at Uluru, otherwise i would have wanted a suit of armour before i would have fallen asleep in the swag!!!

A short visit to Melbourne was followed by a trip to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. I signed up for a day of snorkelling on the reef and included in the trip was the chance to do an introductory scuba dive. After the briefing of all the steps to successfully dive and a short history of what can go wrong, i was suited up. The weight belt and the tanks are quite heavy when on land but it is amazing how weightless you feel once you get in the water. It took a while to get used to the breathing and to being completely immersed in water. I don't remember seeing any fish, any coral or much of the reef at all as i was just concentrating on my breathing, not panicking and holding onto the instructor. We were underwater for about 20mins and managed to get down to 9m. At one point we reached the seabed and were standing on the bottom of the deep blue sea- that was the highlight for me. I was on a buzz for the rest of the afternoon. I did get the chance to snorkel later and saw all kinds of coral and fish, the highlight being the Maori Wrasse.

The Red Centre

Several people questioned why was i going to visit Alice Springs because in their opinion there is nothing there in the centre of Australia. But i had it on good authority that Ayres Rock, now called Uluru, is one sight worth viewing. And i was not disappointed. A three day camping trip into the middle of nowhere brought me face to face with this amazing monolith that appears out of nowhere in the middle of surprisingly green vegetation.

On the first day of the trip we visited Kings Canyon, an impressive gorge that has been compared to the Grand Canyon. In my opinion Kings Canyon cannot compare to the Grand Canyon. Nonetheless the views from it are impressive. Included in this trip was a visit to the Olgas, also known as The Sisters. These twelve structures are very important to Aboriginal customs and are the basis for much of their traditions. Blazing red rocks in the middle of the outback, they are a fitting introduction to the main item, Uluru, which we saw the following day.

Uluru, is a sandstone rock made red by the iron contained within the stone. At its base its a 14km walk around the perimeter. There is a part of the rock that can be climbed but tourists are discouraged by the Aborigines from scaling the rock, as they view it a very sacred place. On our visit the rock climb was closed due to the extreme temperatures but after reading about the Aborigine's beliefs i would not have climbed had it been opened. Furthermore it looks a really steep ascent and 36 people have died to date trying to reach the summit. I found a very calming atmosphere here at the rock and can understand why the Aborigine's worship it. We stayed and watched the sunset over the rock and the following day were up early to see the sunrise over this block of concrete- the colours were wonderful.

For both nights we camped in 'swags'. These are heavy duty canvas sleeping bags with a thin mattress inside. They are actually quite comfortable. Throughout the trip we had been told all about the many wonderful and poisonous creepy crawlies, insects and snakes that lived out in the outback. So just to make sure they weren't going to visit me, i slept with a mosquito net over my head.

Western Australia

On New Years Eve i was in bed by 11pm as i was getting up at an ungodly hour to head down south for a couple of days with my two aunts. The temperature had hit the high 30s so an extra early start meant the car wouldn't be too hot for travelling in. Our destination was Margarets River, a wine producing region, but also a region strewn with many caves. Lake cave and Jewel cave as their names suggest are impressive underground systems that have very artistic and jewel like structures and they didn't disappoint. Further north in the town of Bunbury there is a dolphin interactive centre. Each morning, the dolphins come into shore to visit the scores of curious tourists standing at the waters edge. We had dolphins swimming only a couple of metres from us.

After our trip down south, I joined a group and headed on a 4day trip to discover the many wonders on the north coast. Our first stop was the pinnacles- thousands of limestone pillars in a desert of yellow sand. It is still unknown how these features were created. But these pillars, some up to 4m high, give a very unique and eerie atmosphere to this desert area. Equally impressive was Nature's window- a unique rock arch, situated on an edge cliff in the middle of Kalabarri National Park. It provides a spectacular view to photograph the surrounding scenery. The west coast is full of such amazing things; a little further north we came across the shell beach- as it's name suggests, a beach made up entirely of shells- billions of tiny white coquina bivalve shells are washed up onto the shore to create this amazing coastline.

Throughout the trip, the temperature was excessive- at one point the mercury hit 44C in the shade! It was definitely the hottest temperature i have ever been in. Because of the heat we didn't see much wildlife in its natural habitats but managed to get up close to some of the locals on a visit to a wildlife reserve.

The highlight of the trip was meeting Royalty- Prince Leonard and his Princess, Shirley, of Hutt River Province- a principality within Australia. This micronation came about in the 1970s when the government threatened to introduce quotas for the country's wheat farmers. Leonard Casley was opposed to these quotas and went about to create his own sovereign state out of his wheat farm. It hasn't been fully recognised by the Australian government but the principality contains its own government offices, post office and chapel (complete with thrones for the Prince and Princess). This principality even has its own cabinet, made up of the prince and princess, their children and several others. In the souvenir shop there are pictures of the many principality representatives that reside abroad. The prince even has a bust of himself at the entrance to the property. We all got our passports stamped with an entry and exit visa after visiting this unusual yet fantastic sovereign state.

Happy New Year from Down Under

Happy New Year to all. I spent Christmas festivities catching up with relatives in Perth that i hadn't seen in about 20years. Christmas Day started with a swim in the Indian ocean, followed by champagne on the beach and finished off with a traditional Irish Christmas dinner in 30C heat- fantastic!! In total I spent two weeks in Perth and on the West coast.

Perth does not have the same throughput of tourists as the East Coast does but i think it's well worth a visit. Top among my favourites is Fremantle prison. No longer in use, tourists replace the prisoners as they they are guided through the prison corridors and are regaled with stories of the many interesting inmates this gaol once held. A British forger was once imprisoned here for forging bank notes. On his release he was short of cash and began forging money again. Except for a very astute bank clerk he would have gotten away with it. On all notes, the queen' s head faces to the left but on his forged notes, the queen's head was facing in the wrong direction! He was returned to Fremantle for a further stint in gaol. Because he was such a talented artist the gaol supervisor asked him to decorate his cell wall in art- the Italian style art is still on view in his former cell and is really impressive. Another cell held an aboriginal prisoner who was also asked to decorate his wall with aboriginal art- the serpent depicted in this art is a fine example of aboriginal art. My favourite story relating to the gaol has an Irish association. Irishman John Boyle O'Reilly was shipped to Fremantle prison in 1868 because of his involvement in the Fenian movement back home. Early into his sentence he managed to escape and board an American ship bound for the States. He worked with other Irish sympathisers in America to raise funds to rescue several other Irish inmates still in Fremantle. These prisoners escaped from the gaol and boarded the 'Catalpa' but were pursued by Australian police. When the Catalpa reached international waters, it raised the American flag and warned the Australians that if they pursued them any further, they would be declaring war on America. With that the Australians swiftly retreated and the Catalpa sailed for America. Just outside Australind, a small town south of Perth, there is a plaque in memory of this Fenian.

Another must see in Perth, is the Perth Mint. Here all the Sydney 2000 Olympic medals were produced. Everyday the Mint hold a Gold pour demonstration- it's amazing to watch as the gold is heated to molten temperatures and then transformed into a solid gold bar.

Rotorua, Wellington and the South Island

It's been a long time since my last update- i guess i have just been having too much of a good time. And the fact that all the hostels in NewZealand charge a hefty fee for using the internet. I am writing this update from my hostel in Sydney where someone has left enough credit on the internet for me to fill in the details of the last few weeks travel.

After the adventures in the cave we headed to Rotorua for a relaxing bath in the natural thermal mud baths. Whatever about relaxing, it was smelly. This small town is surrounded by thermal mud holes that reach a really nice temperature but also emit a noxious sulphurous smell. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, the place can smell pretty nasty. We knew we had arrived quite a few miles before hitting city limits. Apparently the mud is good for the skin so we gave it a shot. 20minutes in the mudbath (i couldn't take anymore) followed by 20mins in the spa pool was great. The only problem was that weeks later anytime we opened our rucksacks the noxious sulphur smell would hit us hard. In the end several items of clothing had to be dumped. Despite several washes the smell that has made Rotorua famous had become engrained in our clothes.

From there we made our way down to Wellington which is at the southern tip of the north island and is the country' s captial city. A nice city on the coast, we spent a few days relaxing before heading to the South Island. The South island is reputed to be more spectacular than the north and it did not disappoint. The easiest way to get from one to the other is the interislander ferry across the Cook Straits. This Strait is supposed to be one of the worst ferry crossings in the world on a bad day but we were lucky and had fantastic weather. It is a beautiful journey with great scenery. As we approached Picton Port, the sun was setting and the colours were wonderful. Picton is a small town that survives on the tourist hiking and kayaking in the surrounding Marlborough Sounds. We did an afternoon of kayaking around the many small inlets, what a great day. Although initially after 15mins in the kayak i had had enough as my arms were aching and had thought about abondoning ship (well kayak!!) when a few useful hints from our guide transformed it completely.

By this stage we had lost Emma as she had gone from Wellington on to Christchurch to meet up with her friend. They were going to do a weeks driving further south. We must have been good company in the north island because we were invited to join them on the roadtrip. We met up with them at Franz Josef glacier. New Zealand has two glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. Both are usually accessible to the public but the day we were visiting, the access path to Fox was closed due to bad weather. We managed to see Franz Josef. Usually one can get close to the glacier face but due to that bad weather the path was blocked. I have already been up close and personal to Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina so i wasn't too disappointed!!!

The rest of our roadtrip brought us down to Milford Sound, one of the highlights and must sees when in New Zealand- well it would have been if the weather was good. Technically it should be called a Fiord because of how it was formed and its main attraction are the fabulous views. On a great day, the Mitre peak is visible and if the water is calm the mountain ranges are reflected in the water. Many famous pictures of this have been taken.There is very little else in Milford Sound- two hostels and a cafe. The day we arrived was miserable; cold and wet like a winters day at home. We had booked a cruise on the Sound for the following day and had slightly better weather. But despite the bad weather the trip was wonderful and the views were great. However, i don't think the photographs will portray much of the beauty.

Our next stop was Te Anu, a small town further south where Emmas friend was participating in the Kepler Challenge- a 60km mountain run- not for the fainthearted!! While Ricardo prepared for and took part in this challenge the rest of us enjoyed the surroundings (while the challenge went along a great mountain trail, it would be about 59km 200m too long for me!!). The weather was fantastic and we managed to get some sun. From there it was onto Queenstown, the hotspot for all sorts of extreme sports- there are more than 350 companies offering every sort of extreme activity. I wasn't persuaded to bungee jump, to skydive nor to zorb down a hill- Waitomo caves was enough adrenalin for me. The girls did go for the skydive though, 12,000ft out of a plane!!

At this point we said goodbye to Ricardo who returned to Christchurch. We continued on further south. I think the remainder of this trip was the highlight for me. We visited the Caitlins which is the coastal area running from the bottom up along the East Coast to Dunedin. The best part is that it is home to all sorts of wildlife that are so accessible and easy to see. We stayed Curio Bay, in a hostel by the sea. From the living room window we could see Porpoise Dolphins swimming and playing only metres from the beach. On our second day there we took a surfing lesson and were swimming only 20m away from the dolphins. Coupled with the fact i managed to stand up on the board several times, it was an amazing experience. A further 500m down the road from this hostel was an area of petrified forest, fossilised forest. It can be difficult to spot unless you know what to look for- rock formations that look like tree stumps and trunks. But scientific research has shown that the types of tree that formed the petrified forest are the same species as that found in Southern America; which is one piece of evidence proving that New Zealand, Australia and South America were once joined together in a massive continent called 'Gwondanaland' . This piece of land also acts as an access point for yellow eyed penguins to come ashore and return to their nests in the scrubland that surrounds that petrified forest. We managed to spot a couple of these endangered species.

We continued on up along the coast, spending a weekend in Dunedin. The area and coastline around Dunedin is packed full of more wildlife. There is a fantastic visitors centre for spotting Albatrosses- these birds have huge wingspans and you really appreciate it when you see a regular sized seagull flying beside it. Sandfly beach is a prime location to see Elephant seals, seals and sealions co exist. When you walk the length of the beach, stepping over the seals as they bask in the sun, you reach a wooden hut, strategically placed to allow viewing of the yellow eyed penguins that nest there without disturbing them. It was great as we watched several of the penguins return from an afternoon fishing and make their way up the rocky cliff to their nests. The highlight of Dunedin for me, was watching the smaller blue headed penguins return to their nests in the evening. Of all a sudden there is a ripple on the surface of the water that would disappear almost as soon as it had appeared. But several seconds later it a further ripple could be seen nearer the shore. This was the penguins making their approach to the beach. Then all of a sudden, a crowd of penguins (not sure what the technical name for a group of penguins is, will have to look that one up) would emerge from the surf. The blue headed penguins are only 25cm tall, they are tiny. But to see them waddle up the beach together, looking like mini Charlie Chaplins, was hillarious. The beach is cordoned off from the public so as not to disturb their return to the nests. It is amazing to watch as they know exactly what route to take. What is more amazing is that some of them will waddle several hundreds of metres up through scrublands to reach their nests. There are about 150 blue headed penguins nesting there but we only managed to see about 50 return as the fading light forced us to call it a day.

Our final part of the raodtrip brought us up to Christchurch. On the way we stopped at the Moreaka Boulders- stone boulders sitting on the beach that are bigger than humans, have a rotund shape and topography that would remind you of a tortoise shell. Interestingly, there are similar rocks at the same latitude in Chile, further evidence that Gwondanoland previously existed.

Our tour of New Zealand ended in Christchurch and it ended with a bit of excitement as our rental car got stolen. It was parked outside the hostel and on the morning when we were due to return it, it wasn't there. Instead of visiting the Antarctic museum that i had wanted to see, i spent the afternoon in the police station filling out an incident report form. Luckily we had insurance to cover theft and were not out of pocket; in fact we think we saved a bit of money as the car had only a quarter tank of petrol and we would have had to return it full!!!

New Zealand was fantastic and i can't believe this part of the trip is over. Lorraine has headed home to Ireland for Christmas and i am spending my final 6 weeks in Australia. While i have a few days in Sydney i am heading to Perth for Christmas with relations. I am sure by the time i write the next blog, the new year will be well in full swing. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

North Island

We had met an Irish girl, Emma, in the hostel in Santiago who had an intinerary similar to ours and who was heading to New Zealand. After a couple of days in Auckland the three of us rented a car and began to explore the North Island. We got a Nissan Sunny that had 253,000 kilometres on the clock! And it showed. The roads in New Zealand are quite windy and everytime we went up a hill, we had to hold our breaths and push the accelerator to the floor. And still only after awhile did it hum into action. The Kiwi drivers are known to be agressive drivers and 100km/h is the minimum speed they travel at, even if the speed limit is less. Our Nissan Sunny can barely hit the speed limit and we are causing alot of traffic lines as we make our way across the country.

Well what a beautiful country it is. Our first stop was in the Bay of Islands, a seaside town on the north coast. There are all sorts of sailing tours offered to see the bay. We just wanted short jaunt out onto the water. Chatting to the girl in the tourist office we managed to catch a bargain. There was a Tall ship, the ' R Tucker Thompson' that did daily trips around the bay but included showing you how to sail the boat. The evening sail had been booked by a school to bring 30kids out. But half of them had gotten in trouble earlier in the day and were punished by not being allowed on the boat. So the three of us got tickets onto the evening sail at a bargain price!! The ship sailed the bay for an hour and a half and we all had to coil the ropes, open the sails, climb the mast etc. It was great fun.

From there we drove down to Hot Water Beach. So named because there is a fault line that runs through New Zealand. And on this particular beach there is couple of metres of sand that sits on top of hot thermal water that rises to the top from the rock beneath. When the tide is out, you can dig a hole and sit in the thermal waters. What a nice way to start the morning!! The local shop rents spades but we were lucky and managed to get find a hole that had already been dug and was full of really hot water.

To date the best experience i have had was the black water rafting we did in Waitomo Caves. These caves are home to countless numbers of gloworms and have even been featured in David Attenboroughs Planet Earth. There are a number of options to see them but we picked on of the more extreme. A 27m repel down into the cave, followed cave hiking, floating on inflatable tyres led us in to gloworms. Living in the darkness these creatures use their light to attract prey. It is like watching the stars on a really clear night. As well as the gloworms the caves have some fantastic stalagmite and stalagtite formations. We got a taste for caving as there were plenty of options to squeeze through tiny cave holes. It is amazing how small a hole the human body can actually fit through!! The icing on the cake was the 30m rock climb to get back out of the cave. What an adrenalin rush that tour was.

Kia Ora New Zealand

From Santiago, we had a 13h plane journey that brought us across the international dateline to Auckland. The flight began on a Saturday night and we arrived early Monday morning. So we lost Sunday November 16th. I wonder if that means i am technically a day younger??

After the first view hours in Auckland, i had a nice vibe about the country. The people are so friendly and so laid back, that nothing is a hassle to them. Catriona from work had arrived in Auckland a couple of days before with her friends. We managed to meet up with them and headed down to the Sky Tower. It's the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere and here was our first taste of the extreme sports that the Kiwis are famed for. If you so wished you could get harnessed to the outside of the building, 220m in the air. You are strapped in so you are horizontal and facing the ground. The harness is lowered and you approach a platform on the ground at a rather fast speed. None of us were brave enough to try though we did take the elevator up to the viewing deck at the same height. The floor at the edge of this deck is made of glass and you can see all the way to the road below. A very funny feeling! There is a ticker tape that operates in the viewing deck to notify the viewers when a jumper is about to go. Suddenly you see a person in a blue and yellow jumpsuit passing by the window, that's quite surreal.