Island life

There’s something about being on a tiny little island that gives you a sense of at ease, I don’t really know what it is or how to describe it but there’s just always something different about my attitude and approach to things when on these tiny little islands dotted around Asia.
I’ve spent two days on Gili Trawangan and what a beauty it is – granted it is now bustling with young tourists looking to party the night away but that doesn’t take away it’s beautiful blue waters, fresh light sands and chilled back way of life. But if you’re looking for a quieter more peaceful get away I would suggest Gili Air or Gili Memo – unfortunately I didn’t have time to visit all three this time round.

The journey itself from the Bali mainland to the islands is rather long and tedious – not so much due to distance but to a lack of coordination and organisation on behalf of the company. You spend a lot of time waiting around for the right bus, the right boat and then for the boat to finally get going or to have a place to park. After a bumpy start with my accomodation I was finally checked in, refreshed and ready to hit the beach! I indulged myself with a luxury massage with a sea view and settled in for a relaxing evening! 

    
   
I had an early start the next morning to visit the local dive site named Manta Point – although oddly no mantas in sight! We saw around 6/7 white tipped reef sharks and a turtle just chilling (doing what turtles do best), a few box fish as well as the cast of nemo and my all time favourite – the parrot fish! 

We got back on the boat and were asked what was our spirit fish, many people answered with a shark because they were misunderstood or a turtle because they just wanted a chilled life and when it got to my turn I decided I would be the parrot fish and my logic is that the parrot fish hasn’t quite decided what it wants to do yet in life so instead it’s just a mix of every colour possible!

I’ve got in the risky habit of indulging in an afternoon nap but luckily I woke up in time to head over to the other side of the island for sunset – and what a beauty it was! On my walk over it was cloudy but thankfully they broke just in time for the sun shine through as it got lower – perfect picture time on the famous Gili T swings! 

    
    

 
I’ll be honest I’m no better than every other tourist and my travel dreams are often influenced by magical movies, fancy magazine pictures or luxury Instagram posts – the reason Bali made it into my mind and onto my bucket list was the movie (and book – which is much better!) Eat, Pray, Love and as if by magic it was playing on the outdoor beach cinema screen! What a perfect way to enjoy an evening in Bali!

Hump day of the trip!

Sunday evening we got into Broome and headed out for a farewell dinner at the local brewery as part of our group ended their journey here. The whole Perth to Darwin tour is split at Broome with 9 of us continuing but 6 members are unfortunately going their separate ways. 
We stuck around at the bar for a while for a few drinks and a few farewells and then headed off for a beautiful nights sleep with no alarm set!! Unfortunately as we’d all got used to waking up so early I don’t think anyone managed to stay asleep past 8am but at least it gave me a few hours in the morning to catch on some emails and work before heading out to explore the centre.

Broome doesn’t have all that much to offer so today we had a pretty relaxed day, spending a couple hours in a laneway cafe and then headed off for a (very thorough) full body massage and a very rushed pedicure!  

  We stopped off at a truck version of take away wood fired pizza – it was amazing!! It was literally just a truck with three wood fire ovens on it and he made up huge pizzas for you with so much meat. I was in absolute heaven!!! 

 On our final day in Broome we decided to cool down with a day at cable beach – it’s a beautiful beach with beautiful clear skies and clear seas today, we were very lucky!! But unfortunately the afternoon went by far too quickly!  

    
 For sunset we enjoyed a camel ride along the beach and boy was that an adventure!! Our group of 4 girls were first on the camels out of a whole group of about 20 people and just after the 4 of us got on some dogs started chasing a wallaby through the bushes which majorly spooked the camels who all immediately rose and starting jumping around. Hayley was terrified we were going to die – I was just worried what we were meant to do with about 12 camels if they all rode off into the distance with us still on top!! 

    
 Luckily the workers managed to calm the camels and we set off on our walk – although the fun didn’t stop there! Not long after a silly child with extremely bad parents kicked a ball into the camels which again spooked them. And just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse we came across a deaf dog (you couldn’t make this stuff up!) who insisted on chasing the camels and I kid you not one of the camels jumped so high it looked like it could fly!! Thankfully it wasn’t our camel though! We managed to eventually make it back to the finishing point with everyone in one piece – although the workers definitely looked like they’d developed a few new grey hairs! 

    
 We headed straight over to the oldest outdoor cinema in Australia for a yummy treat of Magic Mike 2 (for the second time – you can never have enough naked men! Haha!). Unfortunately the midges came out in full force and feasted on Sydney and I all evening – the things a girl will do for Channing Tatum!  

 Back to the hostel for a final catch up on work before we leave civilisation behind again for another 9 days!

Everyday should be an adventure

This morning we set off for some abseiling down a 25m gorge, thankfully I’m still feeling pretty fearless after my 134m bungy jump so I wasn’t feeling the nerves today!
We met up with Col who would be our instructor and guide us through the abseiling twice. The boys went first, despite a few nerves from them! Col would ask any old questions to try and get your mind off the height but it always seemed to end up back on cricket – which none of us seemed to know anything about! Col’s method didn’t really work on Aditier who would just stop what he was doing to return the conversation instead of walking and talking! 

By the time it got to my turn I had just about finished tucking my cardigan into the harness which somehow then got nicknamed the grandma cardigan! Once I’d successfully taught Col how to say Megan and not Magen like every other Australian it was my turn to back off the cliff edge and begin my descent down, there was a little ledge to walk off and then you can start to jump/bounce off the cliff a little faster for a little more fun! I was asked if it was the first time I had a pole between my legs as apparently I was a natural – I think in those situations it’s just best to say ‘no comment!’ Haha! 

Christina was at the bottom of the abseil as our safety point which definitely worried me slightly as she is probably less than 5ft and most definitely the smallest person on the trip, I’m not sure she’d be able to stop my fall but luckily that wasn’t needed and she did a fantastic job at undressing all the girls from their harnesses! Which of course was her favourite part haha 

   
Col continued to struggle with names and changed Ariane to Oreo which has already stuck as the best nickname so far!

After abseiling we headed down to a beautiful stream to dip our toes – much too cold for anything else! However somehow Ron managed to jump straight on in!  

Next up we drove over to a lookout over the Z-bend in Murchison gorge. We learnt how gorges are created from water moving the rocks and canyons are more from the rock moving (without the help of water). After Murchison Gorge we headed over to Natures Window for a few pictures once we’d made it to the end of the walk. We managed to get almost the whole group together for a photo but unfortunately the lady who took the photo managed to black out half the group! 

    
 For sunset today we got to spend some time relaxing and capturing photos on shell beach. Then headed over to Denham for the night – only to get in the showers in the tour guides room (ours had a 10 people queue) and the power to go! Wow that was a panic!!  

    
 

Tan and his Chinese army

A super early start today, leaving crown and the mother and setting off for another 2 months of travelling. I really have been utterly spoilt in the opportunities I’ve been able to take advantage of this year. Hard work 100% pays off!!
First stop of the day was the Pinnacles which are situated on aboriginal sacred land. It is said that these pinnacles are created by naughty children who didn’t behave themselves on the land and were sucked underneath. All that remains of those children are their fingertips which create the pinnacles we see today. I’m sure there is a more scientific reasoning but I much prefer the aboriginal version!

It seems to be another great group I’ve been paired up with for the west coast trip, we had some fund posing for some silly pictures with the pinnacles.   

 Lunch over some fantastic views! 

 Next up was sand-boarding! I don’t mean to brag but I am definitely becoming a pro! Although I still haven’t mastered the art of stand-up sand boarding!! – and don’t think I ever will! My balance is not what it used to be from those gymnastics days!

We then made our way to the nights accomodation which was a hostel on the beach in a little town called Horrocks. Just in time for sunset! 

 A few of us sat up chatting about international Businesses and differences in Governments, state welfare benefits and all the rest of it! It was nice to be able to contribute so much to the conversation – one of the first times when I’ve thought my degree is really starting to pay off! The conversation was mostly lead by myself and Tan. Tan is just brilliant! He makes me laugh so much already, the only way I can think to describe him is a mix between a wise Buddha, a smiling monk, a laughing minion with a little bit of The Hangovers Mr Chan thrown in too. He has the whole group in fits of laughter already – and as he said, “only first day too”!

Unfortunately our wake up call is too early to see the sunrise but my day has been made already from hearing of Christina’s dream of Chinese business men trying to invade Italy in their business suits following on from last nights conversation!!

It’s a funny thing fate…

Noosa delivered a spectacular sunset last night from a brilliant viewing point not too far from my hostel… Thank you to the hostel staff who recommended it! I’m very glad for once I took their advice and didn’t just do what I wanted to do anyway! 

           

What is it that brings a group of people together for a days outing? Obviously a common interest in the particular activity but what decides that you will do it with that tour company, on that day, in that city…. The list goes on yet every time I take part in a trip with a group of complete strangers I can’t imagine it any other way without them and I wonder what it would have been like if I wasn’t put with this particular group of people. 

Today we cruised and canoed down the Everglades National Park with a whole variety of people put together. We had a large family with a host of enthusiastic children who’s highlight was definitely feeding the furry catfish, we had some couples and some older travellers as well as a few other backpackers. We started by cruising up to the start of the Everglades National park in the boat and then switched to canoes for about an hours paddling before lunch (for ourselves and the fish!) and then cruised back on the boat again. It was a great day out despite the persistent showers. 

 

Fate intervened again (or was it assignment procrastination again) and sent me down to check out the main beach before leaving Noosa tomorrow. Boy am I glad I did. It’s not until I came down here that I realised I hadn’t yet fallen in love with Noosa but don’t you work I well and truely have now. Copious amounts of trinket souvineer and fashion shops with magical shop owners whose love for Noosa is just infectious! And who doesn’t love sitting on the beach with some time to reflect to this view  

 

Every new corner of Australia I explore is christened with such beautiful scenery it makes me wonder if it’s just this country or have I been walking around England blind for years. I’m setting myself a new resolution of soughts to really explore Manchester and England when I return ….. As I can imagine it won’t be long before I’m back on this side of the world

Leaving me lost for words

I genuinely don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than a good sunset and I’m very glad I stumbled upon this one last night 

    

It’s difficult to find a good sunset at the moment as the sun is rising on the east (Coast) and setting on the west (inland)… One day I will make it up at 5:30am to check out the sunrise…. Maybe

Today I’m heading over to Maroochydore to explore the city of Sunshine Coast!

It’s the taking part that counts the most…

Another beautiful night in the lagoon yesterday with the sun setting behind me and not a care in the world

Today was an early start but worth it! Tully river, 9 boats, one mission – make it to the bottom in one piece… That’s white water rafting for you!

My boat consisted of two lazy Germans, one brutal Irish, a Chinese couple (only half of which could swim), our guide – Marty and myself. With the two lazy Germans setting the pace I don’t think we stood any chance in winning but we definitely had fun trying!

….and yes I did fall in!

Holaaaa! City of squallaaaaa

After a veryyy long journey we have arrived in Hangover capital! Bangkok!

The overnight bus was surprisingly pleasant despite having to sleep uncomfortably rotating sides every hour or so but the excitement of Bangkok makes up for it. We managed to find an Internet cafe at the bus station to research a fairly decent hostel close enough to Khoa San road and luckily managed to find it despite not many people recognising the address.

Showered and refreshed we set off to check out the Grand Palace and within about two minutes of getting inside I lost Helen… Not a great start but I continued to wonder around and admire the beautiful sites before making my way round to the exit and beginning to panic – still hadn’t found Helen…. Deciding to take a rest in the shade and people watch for a while who would be sat right in my eye line of all the people… You guessed it – Helen!

We had a little more of a stroll around before going outside to cool off in the shade with a (very expensive but totally worth it) ice cream.

Back to the hostel again to shower and spruce ourselves up for the Banyan Tree rooftop bar for sunset, only we forgot to factor in rush hour of Bangkok (an extremely densely populated city!!!) so ended up watching the sunset from the Tuk Tul – very a la Thailand I think!
The Banyan Tree rooftop bar did not disappoint with Helens steaming melon cocktail and my classic Sex on the Beach (I’m so adventurous, I know) however if you’re going to go be cautious of the additional, and hidden, service charge and tax! 600 Baht for a cocktail which is fairly reasonable in English terms but a lot more than your average Thai drink.

We called it a night here, exhausted from the night before and up early to see the floating markets – not to mention around 1,000 Baht down for one evening!

The final goodbye

Today is our last day in Nadi – no one wants to leave, no one wants to say goodbye (and most of all no one wants to go back to uni!)

We have had a fantastic trip to say the least – it has been a non-stop adventure and laugh and I couldn’t have picked any better friends to have experienced it with.

We spent our final day shopping for souvenirs (mostly as we’d run out of money to do anything else) however we did manage to meet another Hotel(/this time Hostel) owner who drove us to the town – all 5 of us plus driver – in his tiny Polo car, let’s just say it was a slight downgrade from the last experience!

It’s a hard life but someone has to do it

Never have I ever thought kayaking would be so hard!
We definitely had one dodgy kayak which couldn’t go in a straight line! We also had a ridiculous amount of struggles when we reached a tiny island of approximately 3 meters radius only filled with sand… And rocks! Plenty of rocks which bashed around your ankles every time the waves came in! It was a huge struggle getting out of the kayak before the waves came crashing and moved it, of course everyone managed it except me who ungracefully got capsized by the kayak!
We spent a few minutes taking pictures of paradise before the waves got too much and we decided to leave. If we thought getting onto the island would be hard, getting off was even worse! Not only were the rocks too hard to walk over the water was too shallow to get a kayak over.. We eventually made it off the island to realise we’d lost the GoPro somewhere and would have to go back in a rush of panic to find it. Luckily all four of us plus GoPro lived to tell the tale!

We relaxed on the beach for the rest of the afternoon watching a beautiful sunset before the evenings antics began!