Gorges Galore!

I was feeling rather grumpy this morning after a sleepless night from being too cold overnight in our swags yet too hot during the day but the power of music improved my mood as per usual. It’s amazing the power of a good song!
We drove past a few fantastic lookouts along the way out to Bell Gorge. 

   
I loved sitting and relaxing in the cool shade whilst I watched and laughed at everyone else struggling to get in and out of the swimming hole. That was definitely entertainment for the afternoon!

After lunch we made a quick stop at Galvans gorge – the apparent 9 minute walk (which was more like 20 minutes… Paddy’s timing can never be trusted!). A few went swimming in what looked like nothing more than a pond, it didn’t really take my fancy! Although I did manage to lose my sunglasses and with the water being so dark and murky it looks as if they’re gone forever!

Tonight we’re camping at Manning Gorge – fingers crossed it will be a bit warmer!! Then a 3 hour morning hike to see the Manning gorge tomorrow.

The ultimate beach playlist

Yesterday we made our way from Launceston to Bay of Fires for a paddle in the sea (far too cold to go full body in!) and a relax in the sand… I wasn’t expecting much after being treated to so many luxurious beaches along the east coast of Australia but wow was I wrong!

With white sands and crystal clear, bright blue sea we had a great couple of hours there although I could have stayed all day! It was made even better by the new playlist I’ve made full of absolute tunes, a still picture myself on those Ibiza beaches whenever I close my eyes to these playlist though for some reason… Although I’m pretty sure Australia tops them!

We had some fun playing round in the sand and then made our way onto Bicheno for some dinner and an evening with the penguins!

We started Saturday morning with a rather heavy hike up to a viewing point of Wineglass Bay. It was all up hill and many, many stairs but the view at the top was worth it! Although the blasted flies meant we couldn’t stay very long (and of course I’ve now got bites galore!).

We had lunch down in Coles Bay with another beautiful beach view where someone from our group reinacted the Bridget Jones mushroom scene by floating around in the sea with a beach hat and white short looking just like Bridget herself!!
  

Blue lagoon!

Cairns is a wonderful place! Definitely adding it to my list of places to return to next semester.

Yesterday I spent the day exploring Kuranda in the rainforest region. I took the historic scenic train up to the top and skyrailed back down after – I’m not even ashamed to admit it but the highlight of my day was hugging a Koala and getting a cheeky photo of the action

They don’t call it RAINforest region for nothing though and we had a mid afternoon storm which delayed the journey home but luckily I made it in once piece and didn’t miss my coach

After relaxing during sunset in the infamous esplanade lagoon I had an early night ready for my 3:30am wake up call to go hot air ballooning but then slept through my alarm! Stupidly I forgot to turn the volume up and woke up at 6am in sheet panic…. Luckily I had a free morning on Wednesday before my next Topdeck trip and they were nice enough to let me reschedule for then. Phew!

Instead today has been spent washing clothes… Buying more clothes (whoops) and I am currently relaxing in a beer garden listening to a couple sing some classic tunes.
It’s a hard life but someone has to do it…. I’m lucky enough to be that somebody today. Feeling very blessed!

Medellin by night

Medellin is a beautiful, buzzing city however it doesn’t seem to cater to every night if the week. It was a huge shame we were here on a Tuesday night rather than a weekend night as I don’t really feel I truly experienced a night out Medellin style. However there were still a few strange experiences…

Every building that is even slightly high rise has a beautiful view of the very large city! Our hotel did not disappoint!

Into Parque lleras for some more drinks and you can certainly tell Medellin hosts far more tourists than Ibague (not that that’s hard), not only from seeing them around but also seeing a wider variety of bars (Irish bar – always a tourist sign! And even a Hooters).
There was a sky high pool-bar with a beautiful view of the city at night that we were lucky enough to be let in quickly to have a nose around, unfortunately pictures didn’t come out well though so the memory cannot be saved.

The locals are buzzing about the “shot bar” we must visit and I’m expecting an average bar that just specialises in shots however Colombians clearly do this differently! It was more like a fast food take away that instead served shots. You ordered, drank and ordered again or left the serving area. There was a small middle area/patio which turned into a make-shift dance floor as people had progressively more shots and a great atmosphere surrounding us. They served almost any type of shots and in almost any form (Russian roulette was popular but you could even drink them from a plastic boob!!). It was a very strange place but I’m quite surprised we don’t have anything like this in England!

I forgot to mention their VERY odd branding of the two old ladies with Afros!

The Disco Bus

On my way home yesterday at around 7pm (not that late right?) we drove past what can only be described as the Colombian version of a disco bus. Music, disco lights, dancing, it had all the usual things. Although one new addition was a shrine to Jesus on the rear… Very strange!

Unfortunately it zoomed off so fast I didn’t get a photo.

Colombian Clubbing

There is only one place to be on a Saturday night and that is a nightclub – whether you have food poisoning or not!!

And yes that does mean I was fortunate enough to catch a case of the food poisoning but I did soldier through, however this did mean I wasn’t drinking so was lucky enough to take in this whole experience stone cold sober.

Where to start.

I’m told the club we went to was an ‘upmarket’ club as there was an 8,000 peso entrance charge which is apparently larger than usual. I was also told I would need ID but no one could reassure me whether they would accept a UK drivers license or not. I waited for what felt like hours as the security guard peered over my ID which a torch and a bizarre expression, praying to god he would firstly not ask me any questions (no Español remember) and secondly, actually let me in!

Success! We’re through the door – after someone pushing infront of us, Colombians apparently don’t queue and the majority of women attending this club clearly thought they were something that they definitely were not (Queen of Sheba maybe?).

We find a table and sit to wait for a few more friends, once the whole party has arrived they order drinks – which come by the bottle and they only seem to buy Aguardiente (apparently a weak version of sambucca) so spend the night only drinking shots. Despite this the night still seemed to end rather responsibly – definitely the reason why Colombians buy by the bottle and English do not!!!

The dancing was, well, odd. There was no official dancefloor, people just danced by their table which is far too awkward a situation for my English self, sober or not – that is a big no in England unless your table is on the dancefloor (rare).

The actual dancing was also very different, but expected – this is Latin America and I have seen the films!
Salsa! And all other sorts, all very good, the strange part for me is how much the men actually move!! In England it is not usual for a man to do more than say two moves (head bop or side step) but no it all came out in this club!! I still haven’t decided whether it made them more attractive or oozed the gay vibe (not that they were gay!!). I’m leaning towards the latter if I’m honest.

There was an array of English and Spanish music. My favourite English song converted into Spanish – not so favourite when you can’t sing along and Shaggy – Mr. Boombastic came on which received a whole host of cheers and woops (was I back at a high school disco?!). Towards the end of the night a song came on which I was sure I recognised but couldn’t place and since I have come to realise that I genuinely think it was a remix of a song from the Disney film Aristocats !!! How strange!

The toilets only proved my earlier point that Colombians do not queue, apparently you pick a cubicle and wait for that one – if you pick a dud that’s your own fault!

All in all it was a good night however I think the highlight was getting to perve on the sexy barman/waiter/security man – I wonder if he had any other talents…

Unfortunately these pictures do not really prove any of my earlier points.