Goodbye to my fellow trekkers

hello how are you all? I am really sorry for the lack of blog entries but i am not sure where time has gone over the past few weeks, i am even in a different country since i last wrote. Anyway, i am going to do two separate entries today, one for my last few weeks in Australia and a second for my first few days in New Zealand.

Well back to Australia, i think i am up to Mission beach, if i have repeated, sorry!! After the Great Barrier reef we moved to Mission beach a little sea side town, a fantastic beach to walk up and down. In the afternoon i watched some of my friends sky dive and i must admit i was quite tempted but felt i did it in a better place over Victoria falls. Most of it was spent chilling out and walking along the beach at sunset, at night (full moon) and sunrise. On the 31st May most people went White water rafting while myself, Janne and Chris went to Dunk Island which is off Mission Beach and did a 13km walk up a mountain, it roughly took about 5 hours. Then in the afternoon we had lunch and sunbathed before taking the ferry back to Mission beach to our camp site. In the evening we had our evening meal, had another walk along the beach then had an early night as we had to be up early the following day for our drive to Airlie beach.

The drive from Mission beach to Airlie beach took roughly about 5-6 hours and we stayed at the Whitsundays camp ground. it had been raining and i was a bit disapointed that we had to cover our mosquito tent, but i suppose it is better than getting wet. The following day we were all booked on a Ragamuffin sailing tour across the Whitsundays so we had to be up early. They took us out to Pearl bay the most northern island of the Whitsundays. The cruise over was a bit of a mix of rain and hot sunshine, we were given yellow macs to wear. The rain didn't dampen the fun though and the crew got us involved in raising the sails etc. Once at Pearl bay they took us over to the island and we did some snorkelling, i took a few pictures with my underwater camera which i am quite pleased with. After about an hour we got back on the boat, had some lunch and the returned to shore. The ride back was fast and exhilarating, i was sat at the front end of the boat with a few others hanging on for life while getting soaked by the waves, it was hilarious. We even through in a few sea songs for example, we are sailing, row row row your boat, very funny! In the evening we went out to eat but everyone was shattered so we had an early night.

Another early get up the following day (Monday 4th June) as we had a 8 hour drive to Baralaba to the Myella farm stay. To be honest i didn't do too much here, i just chilled with some of the others did horse riding or motorbiking but i just fancied an easy day. The following day (5th June) we had another long drive to Redcliffe, we weren't doing much here apart from camping overnight before our ferry journey to Moreton Island. The weather in Redcliffe was terrible and we ended up sleeping on a sheltered veranda because we would have got soaked just putting up our tents. I was more than happy with this as it meant i could sleep in the open air as opposed to in the tent.

Wednesday 6th June, another early get up, this time to catch the ferry to Moreton Island, the cruise over was rough and the weather was again terrible but i did manage to spot some dolphins which was good to sea. the whole two days we were in Moreton in rained heavily and was freezing. We were staying in two beach homes which was quite cosy. Despite the weather we got a lot of sight seeing in had had such a laugh. Myself and Sarah spent the first evening cooking cakes for Jannes birthday for the next day. Thursday we had another tour around the island and then had jannes birthday party later on, where Janne made us all outfits out of plastic bin liners with decorations on them.

Friday 8th June we had another early get up and drove to Byron bay, set up camp and had an evening meal then went to bed. Woke up the next morning it was freezing, i though i had hypothermia and so did everyone else who slept outside, so we went shopping for warm clothes. I am determined to keep sleeping outside. Anyway the warm clothes worked and i had a good sleep, outside despite the cold weather. The day we left Byron bay the weather was really nice, and we had a walk along the beach, saw a hump back whale, they are moving north for the warmer weather at the moment.

We left Byron Bay about midday and set off for Port macquarie, again it was just a camping stop and the following day, we cleaned our camping equipment and did a stock check of everything for the end of the Australian tour. To be honest the mood was quite sombre after this, everyone on the tour has been so nice and we have just worked together so well it has been brilliant. The 11th June we moved to barrington tops about 4-5 hours from Sydney, absolutely amazing scenary. We stayed in a converted barn, open living area with two wood burning fires, lots of candles, absolutely perfect for the last night.

Tuesday the 12th June, was the last day, we made our way back to the travel lodge in Sydney. In the evening we all met up again, had a meal together and a good chat. A few of us stayed up all night as my flight was at 8am and had to be at the airport for 5am. Saying good bye to everyone was so sad. Even now i feel abit lost, for the past 42 days i have been living in very close proximity to 14 others and even when you are in the shower you know that one of the group is in the shower next to you. I have had a few emails and text messages saying that others feel the same too. The aussie trekkers were a really great bunch of people!!