Maggie Island, Airlie Beach and Agnes Water/1770

I type this from 1770. No, not the year, the Town of 1770. Named so because that was the year that Captain Cook first set down on the East Coast of Australia and claimed it to be British. :)

But first, I must tell you about Magnetic Island (so called because Captain Cook's compass messed up at this point of his journey and so thought the island to be magnetic) which is very pretty. I overcame my sea-sickness on the ferry over by the marvellous sight. Here, I stayed three nights in the only hostel on the Island and had a blast. On arrival, I made friends with two other girls, and we went on one of the walking tracks called 'The Forts Walk' as it has the foundations of WW2 defence positions. As a historian, I loved it, walking on little pieces of history. Also, I got out the child in me by saying 'I want to get to the top of that massive granite boulder' and then found a way to get to the top and then take pictures. Much to the fear of the girls I was doing the walk with, who after the fifth boulder or so, called me a nutter. Oh I don't think they realised just how close to the truth they were...

But then - BUT THEN - four of my most loveliest friends came to Magnetic Island. My many thanks to Sam, Shaggie, Becca and Graham for making one of my lonely days travelling impossibly amazing. Unfortunatley, due to the way our schedules are working, we only got to spend one afternoon together, but man, what an awesome day it was. Despite the fact that we only walked to the shop and back and made dinner. I was filled in on their travels (they've gone through Asia) and I filled them in on whats been happening with me. It was immense to see someone from home. Made one ginger ninja very happy indeed (I even cried when they first hugged me!)

Next, I got to Airlie Beach. One problem with the name though - THERE IS NO BEACH. It's a man-made lagoon. Honestly...bloody Australians. It's fairly nice there. I met a few nice girls in my dorm, one who showed me round and the best bookstore ever. It's second-hand, where you can buy, exchange and sell all your old books. The woman who owns it is such a dear, and knows every single book in the store, what she has and what she doesn't have. I bought two classics for me to read on the rest of my travels. But then, on the whole, Airlie Beach is a nice place to go, if you're going to do a Whitsunday sailing trip, which looks awesome. Unfortunatley, due to my sea-sickness as I found out on a fishing charter in Darwin, I wasn't going to spend $300 plus on three days vomming over the side of a boat.

I moved onto Agnes Waters/Town of 1770 now. They're two little towns on the East Coast of Australia, and they are AWESOME. I went kayaking yesterday in the sea and fell in a million times. Then had a barbie by the sea at sunset with a beer. Today, I went on a tour around the towns on a motorbike! Well, a little 50cc twist and go one, but it's simply superb. We travelled round zooming our way past beautiful scenery and kangaroos. I really recommend it, it's a pretty unique tour. We finish by sitting on the rocks on the coast, eating wedges from the local pub and watch the sunset. It's pretty awesome, because 1770 is one of two places to watch the sun set on the East Coast.

I'm here for another day, and then I head to Bundaberg - home of Australian's favourite rum. Now, prizes for who guesses correctly why I'm going there? :P

Love, as always,

Nic xxx

Cairns to Darwin to Mission Beach

So a lot has happened since I last updated here. From Tasmania (still undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places on God's earth) I flew to Cairns. Easy, you might think, but however I caught three planes to get there. THREE! Honestly, that was the cheapest way... bloody Australians. Gradually I got fed up and annoyed because I saw the same demonstration three times, and was sitting next to fat people three times. Though, there was one consolation that on the last flight (Sydney - Cairns) I was one of the winners of a game the air hostesses played. We had to guess collectively their ages, and subsequently I won some pringles.

Cairns is what can only be described as a tourist town, and for this reason I didn't really like it. It's all party party party, and it's practically man-made for backpackers. I did go bungy jumping though, which was incredible, despite the burst blood vessels around my eyes from the impact into the water. I'd definitley go again if I can. Two jumps from fifty metres and an open bar from nine in the morning. Now that was cool. I also visited Cape Tribulation, and the Daintree Rainforest. Saw lots of crocodiles and tree snakes, had billy tea and a tropical fruit session as well as a full on Aussie BBQ with massive steaks. Yum.

Next I went to Darwin, again. I met up with Lionel again and we spent our time watching all the new releases in the cinema (Terminator Salvation - Christian Bale. Yum) and visiting bars and steakhouses along the main drag. Lionel even ate a 1kg steak in 25 minutes along with veggies and chips as Outback Jack's 1kg challenge. My week was fun. :)

Straight from Darwin, I went to Mission Beach, which is south of Cairns by a two hour bus journey. I'm typing this here, on my last night. I've spent a good few days here. Relaxing, drinking goon and meeting some awesome new people. I relearned yactzee (spelling?). But the best bit of all is that I went SKYDIVING!

Truly, one of the BEST things I've ever done.

Tomorrow I'm off to Magnetic Island.

Catch you all soon.

Nic
xxx