As is the way with such things; my time in Australia has finally come to an end. The last 6 weeks down under have been some of the best in my young life; shared in the company of amazing friends, new and old, exploring and tripping around some of surely the finest landscapes and cities [...]
Our last few days on Magnetic Island were arbitrarily spent exploring the crumbling, rugged Island footpaths; peeking up at cuddly, motionless koalas in their natural habitat, eyeing up the undergrowth for snakes and casting our gaze over the magnificent sights offered atop the abandoned Forts watchtower, over some of the most splendid bays and tropical [...]
Toad Racing, that is. A most peculiar ’sport’, if that’s what you can call it. The premise is simpleenough; a gobby, spitting, incomprehensible Queenslander hosts the show, warbling off all manner of slur as he paces around the ‘ring’, auctioning off each of 8 toads to the anticipated crowd members. Once every toad’s been accounted [...]
In the interest of preserving funds, with the knowledge that Townsville holds no real reasons to waste time there, and more than anything because we’ve stumbled upon a relaxing haven here on Magnetic Island where time stands still; I think we’ll be staying a little longer than expected.
Although initially planning to leave the Island accompanying [...]
Loyal readers of my accounts away may remember me referring to the Indonesian archipelago of Karimun Jawa as ‘paradise’. Scrap that – I’ve found a new paradise, in the form of Magnetic Island off the coast of Townsville. The name may not seem all that exotic (in fact it’s rather ridiculous, something to do with [...]
Australia Zoo, an hour north of Brisbane and the focal point for everything ‘Steve Irwin‘, is the greatest zoo in the world. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it sure as sweet hell is the best zoo I’ve ever visited, and it would certainly take a lot to top it. I’m [...]
Sometimes I forget this is supposed to be a holiday as well. It may be easy to scoff at the thought of me tripping around on the other side of the world as being anything but a very long vacation, but I can assure you that everything catches up at some point and you simply [...]
Byron Bay, Surfer’s Paradise, Brisbane. From the great Pacific Highway to the Gold Coast to the third largest city in Australia, and tempting to be my favourite so far. The last week has been rather non-stop, from the moment we loaded ourselves into Sheila and set off for the Blue Mountains, across over 1500km of [...]
I set my alarm for sunrise. I decided last night that it would be a pleasant idea to all wake up early and watch the sun rise over the ocean from the East. I didn’t, however, actually know what time the sun was due to poke it’s head over the horizon. Thus I missed it. [...]
Directly in front of me, less than 20 metres away, gentle white sands spread out, delicately licked by the rolling waves of the Pacific Ocean. Above me stars of varying brightness dot the black sky, and the air is mild and calm, carrying only the sound of the tender roar of the surf. We’re in [...]
