Day 29 Tuesday 29th July
This morning was Adams last day at work, he had been paid for last weeks work and the boss was so pleased with him that he said if he wanted to come back to Perth he would always find him work, even though they had taken 29% tax off him as a foreign worker !! Tj wanted to finalise some stuff on the internet at the library so Bob took her there and we packed our bags, ready for leaving tomorrow. We went to the shopping centre alongside the library after lunch and came across TJ have a pedicure sitting in a massage chair in a beauty salon ! She was supposed to be working ! We bought reading books in the secondhand shop as we had both finished reading ours, picked up Adam and went to the cinema to see Mama Mia in the evening.
Day 30 Wednesday 30th July
TJ wanted her eyebrows threaded (an Indian way of plucking them ), the only place she could find was in Perth so they went into Perth on the train while Bob and I called into Rachael’s to say bye and return the golf clubs Bob borrowed from Ken. We picked Adam and TJ up later from Stirling railway station and went for lunch in a café overlooking the seafront, then to the internet café to do a last webcam with Lucy and the boys. Adam and TJ packed their bags when we got home and we put them in the car before going out for dinner at the Hogs Breath Café. From here we took them to the airport and Bob and I drove back home to finish our packing ready to leave first thing tomorrow – bit of bad planning here but never mind.
Day 31 Thursday 31st July
We left home at 8am, travelling to the car hire place to return the car and to pick up a taxi to the airport. The traffic was very heavy and the driver had to divert onto a quieter road. We arrived at the airport to see that the flight was delayed until 1.30pm so we settled down with a magazine to wait. The flight was only about a third full (maybe only 40 people) so plenty of room and only about 2hrs to Ayres Rock with lunch included. The terrain was very much the same most of the way, red rock and sand and some trees and bushes – very little to see! But just as we came into land we saw Ayres Rock and managed to get a couple of photos from the air. As we stepped off the plane it was around 23 ° and the warmth was like heaven after being so cold for a month. Bob went off to get our hire car while I collected our luggage, we noted how easygoing it was at the airport, probably because it was only a domestic flight. After a false start (got lost) we arrived at our “hotel” and dropped the luggage and headed straight out to find somewhere to watch the sunset as it was about 6.15 already. Fortunately, only 2 mins down the road was a purpose built platform on top of a hill right in front of Ayres rock so we parked the car and climbed up as the sun was going down at 6.35pm, you can’t describe the colours and the camera certainly doesn’t do it justice so you will just have to come here and see it for yourself. From here we drove to the resort centre and had about 10 mins looking round the souvenir shops before they closed at 7pm. Dinner was a shared pizza and a glass of wine before early to bed as we have to get up early tomorrow again.
Day 32 Friday 1st August
The alarm was set for 6.30am so we could watch the sunrise. We dressed at set off for the observation point we were at last night. The temperature was decidedly chilly and in semi darkness we climbed the hill to await the sun. It was worth the wait though as we watched the light changes and the rock come to life. Once back at the accommodation we packed our overnight bag back up and set off for breakfast – bloody expensive at 26$ each so we made real pigs of ourselves and had a huge buffet breakfast. We had to check out of the room by 10am but our flight wasn’t until 2pm so we had time to explore. We drove to the rock, having to pay 25$ each to enter the national park and parked in the carpark of the visitors centre. Bob was happy to sit in the sun and look at the rock but I wanted to get closer and touch it so I set off round the base. Amazingly it looks like a rounded blob on the landscape but up close it is full of caves and crevices and not smooth at all. It has a haunted feel and it made me understand why the aboriginal people believe it is sacred. All too soon we were on our way to the airport where I was scanned for explosives by the security man ! The flight across the centre of Australia was uneventful, lots of red sandy rocks and nothing more and 2 hrs later we landed in Cairns where we picked up a taxi to our backpackers accommodation where we met up with Adam and TJ. Being nearly dinner time we dropped our bags off and went out for a walk to find something to eat . We weren’t that impressed with Cairns as its mostly full of young noisy people in bars and karaoke bars, everything is geared up for this type of tourist. The accommodation is very basic, mostly dormitories up to 8 people in a room at 22$ per person per night up to double rooms with bathroom at 72$ per night per room – needless to say we had a double room but it was still very basic but we gritted our teeth and got into the spirit of it. TJ had been recommended an Italian restaurant so we set off to find it but it was heaving, however, the owner said if we didn’t mind sitting inside he could squeeze us in upstairs on a mezzanine floor – actually it was lovely and the food delicious.
Day 33 Saturday 2nd August
Tj had booked us a trip to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation for today and we were being picked up at 7.30am. Unfortunately as we had travelled across so many time zones we realized in the early morning that we weren’t sure what time it was ! We knew it wasn’t later than 7am as the swimming pool gate wasn’t open so Bob went downstairs to reception to find out the right time. At 7.30 prompt the bus arrived with our guide for the day, Ben, and we set off to pick up 6 american students, and 6 other English students from other hostels– we felt a bit old as we were twice their age but hey we were ready for a good day out. Our first stop was a wildlife park about 60 klms north of Cairns on the Captain Cook Highway which ran up the coast and was described by Ben as the most dangerous in the area !
Day 34 Sunday 3rd August arrive Airlie Beach)
God, up early again – the train leaves at 9.15am but we have to exchange our train vouchers for tickets and have been told to be there 90 mins before. So we set off from the Koala at 8am and walked 2 blocks along and 3 down to find that the entrance to the Train Station was round the other side of the building – fortunately Bob found a luggage trolley so piled our bags onto it. It took 35 mins to change the vouchers into tickets – the woman was a bit slow - and we boarded the train – business class with little tv’s in the arms, loads of leg room and waiter service – this is the way to travel !! We bought a breakfast package and settled down to watch the towns pass as we wouldn’t arrive in Arilie Beach until around 6.30pm. On arrival we were met by a couple who took us by bus to our accommodation, once again a Koala Backpackers room with our own bathroom but cheap. We didn’t unpack, just changed and went out to explore the area. It was similar to Cairns, full of young people, bars and souvenir shops and touristy things but a bit quieter than Cairns.
Day 35 Monday 4th August
After breakfast we booked a trip on a boat to the islands and some diving and snorkeling for tomorrow. Then we spent the day exploring the town and the beachfront and shopping, after a late lunch/early dinner we went back to the hostel to watch tv (we had been watching a series called “the farmer wants a wife” and it was the final this evening.)
Aug 19, 2008
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