The Way Down Under

The month at Bell Haven Sud went very quickly with my time spent looking after the 36 horses. My work consisted of feeding the horses twice a day- driving around the farm with a quad and trailer (this time thankfully not injurying myself), riding a couple of the horses, washing horses, removing fire weed from the paddocks and various other jobs. I also had to look after an injured colt who made great progress whilst I was there. Due to various staff issues I ended up working by myself most of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and loved every minute. Whilst I was there, Deb (the owner), Nikki (her daughter) and I all went down to Brisbane for the Royal Brisbane Show (Ekka) to watch a friend compete in the World Cup Show Jumping Qualifier.

Bellhaven 4

Bellhaven 3

Ekka Jenga 2

At the end of the month I flew back down to Sydney where I went to stay with Mat, Milly and Ruby again. It was great to see them again, especially seeing the progress that Ruby had been making over the previous couple of months since I had been gone.

Whilst I was there I visited the Sydney Aquarium with Milly and Ruby and finally got to see Dugongs, sharks and many other fish. They have really good underwater viewing areas so that the fish swim 'over the top of you'. Whilst at Darling Harbour we went to the Lindt Cafe for a delicious cup of Hot Chocolate.

Sydney Aquarium 11

Sydney Aquarium 4

At the weekend Mat, Milly, Ruby and I did part of the Eastern Coastal Walk for a last time. I also managed to say goodbye to some of the people I had met as well as seeing Fiona and Katy from college.

Coastal Walk

I then made the long trip back to Brockley and am now settled back at home. It was an amazing experience from start to finish with many wonderful memories which I will take with me for the rest of my life. I also met a lot of lovely people whom I hope to keep in touch with and hopefully see in the future. Now that I am at home I will be starting to work towards becoming a vet nurse.

The first stop in our campervan was Noosa, a two hour drive north of Brisbane on the coast. We stayed at a camp site on the banks of the river and spent the first evening getting used to the van and how everything works.

Jucy

In the morning mum and I had our breakfast and then drove through the Great Sandy National Park to go and have a look at Rainbow Beach. What we didn’t realised was that the coloured sands of Rainbow Beach are actually a very long walk (or a drive along the beach in a 4WD) so instead we looked at them from afar. Mum then braved the ocean for a cold swim whilst I read on the beach. We then drove on to Maryborough, a lovely old town where we found a camp site for the night.

The next part of our journey took us through the sugar cane plantations towards Bundaberg. When we got to Bundaberg we visited the Bundaberg rum distillery. We did a tour learning how rum is made. Whilst walking around it was amazing to smell the delicious molasses everywhere. We then continued our drive up to Seventy Seventy and Agnes Water. We managed to find a lovely wooded camp site.

Sugar Cane 2

Bundaberg 2

Up early for a wonderful day tour out to Lady Musgrave Island, one of the most Southerly Great Barrier Reef Islands. The trip over was quite rough with people being sick all around us (thankfully we were both fine). I felt really sorry for the crew as they have to experience this everyday! After 90 minutes we arrived at the pontoon just off the island.

First of all we took a short boat trip to Lady Musgrave Island where we were given a tour. The island is made up of coral and is a breeding ground for Mutton Birds.

Great Barrier Reef- Lady Musgrave 6

We then took the boat back to the ship where we had a buffet lunch. The next part of the trip was a trip in a boat around the reef with an underwater viewing space so that we were able to see the reef and all the fish swimming around. We also saw Green Turtles on the reef.

In the afternoon we got to do some snorkelling around the reef. It was absolutely amazing swimming around in the perfectly clear water looking at all the amazing fish- although I didn’t manage to see Nemo amongst them! Once we had all had a good amount of time snorkelling we then all got back on to the boat and started the trip back- this time the crossing was much smoother. On the way back we managed to see quite a few whales which was a big bonus. In all it was an absolutely amazing day and we were both thoroughly exhausted by the end of it.

Snorkelling Great Barrier Reef

The next day wasn’t a particularly sunny day so we decided to do quite a bit of driving towards Brisbane. On the way we stopped at Gin Gin to see some Mystery Craters. It had to be the most badly done tourist spot I have ever seen with plastic dinosaurs in the gardens around the craters. The craters themselves were quite interesting to look at, but not quite as good as they had been made out to be! We then carried on to Noosa where we stayed the night.

The next day took mum and I to Mooloolaba, a short drive away. It is a really pleasant beach resort. In the afternoon we visited Opal World where we were able to see gemstones from around Australia.

Mooloolaba 4

The next morning we got up and tidied up the van and returned it to Brisbane. We then went to the YHA where mum had a rest as she was flying back to England in the evening. Whilst she was resting I had a walk around the Roma Parklands in Brisbane. In the evening we had a nice dinner together before she set off on the long trip back home. It was really sad to see her go but we had a really good time together and saw some amazing things.

It was weird to be back on my own again after three weeks. In the morning I did the second half of the Brisbane river ferry which mum had started the week before. I then got off at the museum and had a good look around there. In the evening I got the train back to the Gold Coast and went to stay with Mat’s aunt, Mary. It was very nice to see them all again and spend some time with them when they weren’t running around trying to get ready to go abroad.

On the Friday I had quite a leisurely day which I spent getting ready to go to my Woofing farm on Sunday. In the evening we went for a barbecue at one of Mary’s friends houses which was very nice.

The next day Brian, Mary, Claire, Rhonda, Gerard and I drove to Mount Warning which we had decided to climb. The hike was very demanding but lovely- walking through the rainforest. As we had started quite late (you are told not to start after 12 in the winter as you might not get back down before it is getting dark) I told them to go ahead as I knew I wouldn’t complete the very top of the hike which consists of holding on to a rope and semi climbing the very summit (I knew that this would be a recipe for disaster with me!). It is definitely the hardest hike I have attempted in my travels but I did persevere to the bottom of the top which I was pleased with.

The next day I set off on the long train journey to my Woofing placement outside Eumundi. Annoyingly there were some tracks works along the way which meant that I managed to miss my connecting train but I worked out a different route and managed to get to Eumundi only 1 ½ late. I was picked up by Deb and her daughter Nicky who took me back to the stud where I would be spending the next four weeks.

The stud farm is a warmblood stud called Bell Haven. It is really nice here with really nice people and lovely horses. It is great to be back spending time with the horses as I have missed it quite a bit. I have been spending the last week looking after a young colt who has hurt him self very badly and helping with the other horses feeding them, riding them and doing general duties around the farm. It is great.

After a week back in Sydney with Mat, Milly and Ruby, I started travelling up towards the Gold Coast where I was due to house sit Mat’s aunts house whilst they were in the UK. First stop was Charlie and Lorraine’s (Mat’s mum and dad) house in Forbes. Two days later we did a mammoth drive from Forbes to the Gold Coast (a 12 hour trip).

The drive went smoothly and we arrived at the house where the next two days were spent with everyone trying to get ready for their 4 week trip to the UK. Brian (Matt’s brother) showed me around the local area including some lovely beaches at Coolongatta and Surfers Paradise.

Coolongatta 3

On the Thursday we drove up to Brisbane airport (via the City to pick up a passport which had had to be rushed through). I dropped everyone at the airport and then drove myself back to the house. I then spent a lovely 2 weeks chilling out.

The next excitement was Mum arriving! It was so nice to see her again after 6 months. The first couple of days were very laid back, giving her a chance to acclimatise and recover after the journey. On the Sunday we decided to visit Surfers Paradise beach and do a walk along the beach but as we were driving there we got completely stuck in traffic which turned out to be due to the Gold Coast Marathon. We then decided to head out in to the country and we visited Tamborine forest a rainforest. We did a short walk to Cedar Falls which was lovely. We then drove back home.

Cedar Creek Falls 2

The next day we visited Currumbin Animal Sanctuary. The zoo was done really well so that you were able to see all the animals really closely but best of all I got to hold a koala whilst mum and I had our picture taken with it. It’s fur was so much smoother than I thought it would be, almost like felt.

Koala at Currumbin 2

The rainforest was our next stop the next day when we went up to O’Reillys in Lamington National Park. The drive up was fine but the roads were incredibly small and very windy with steep drops on the side! We did a very short tree top walk up at the resort where you were able to walk amongst the top of the trees and then we went for a proper walk to a waterfall.

OReillys Walk

An early start the next day as we went off on a cruise whale watching. Between April and November the whales migrate to warmer waters to have their young and the East Coast of Australia is a prime place for spotting them. At first we didn’t see many and then we saw one and then more. They are huge creatures. On the way back we were lucky to see a whale breaching (throwing it’s whole body out of the water). The splash as it hit the water was amazing.

Whale Watching 13

Over the next couple of days we did a walk up The Spit, a sand spit leading from Surfers Paradise and we also went out to Beechmont to have a look at the oldest timber church in Australia.

On the Saturday we went to Canungra to their annual rodeo. The whole town turns out for the event which is actually larger than I thought it would be. We were able to watch bull riding, roping, and barrel racing.

Canungra Rodeo 1

The next day we went back out into the rainforest and had a walk from Binna Burra.

In the week we set off to Brisbane for the start of our big adventure. The first night we stayed in the city ahead of an early morning ferry to Moreton Island. Here we were staying at Tangalooma Resort. In the afternoon we attended a short bush tucker walk where they showed us edible plants and also a talk on the dolphins that frequent the island. The highlight of the trip came in the evening when we were able to feed fish to the dolphins! Mum and I fed out fish to Tangles who has been coming in for evening feeding for many years and might be pregnant. It is so nice to see a program that allows animals to live completely in the wild but with a chance to get nearer to humans.

Tangalooma 3

Now we are going off on our camping trip with our little camper van!

On the 12th June I flew from Adelaide to the capital, Canberra. Here I was staying with Milly’s uncle David and his partner Jeannie. I had managed to book my trip around David’s days off so on the Thursday and the Friday we visited the sights of Canberra.

We went up the Telstra tower where I got to see Canberra from above- a great sight especially in Autumn with the trees all changing colour. We then went to Parliament House where luckily we arrived just in time to go in a watch Parliament in Session. Quite interesting to see all the politicians bickering and heckling with each other. We then went to the old parliament house which has been set up as a museum. It was nice to see behind the scenes.
The next day we went to the National War Memorial museum which is very good and we also went to the Australian Film Museum which would be really good if you had grown up watching some of the films and children’s programmes they were featuring.

Burleigh Water Jet

On the Saturday I had lunch with Jeannie on the side of the lake before we drove around the embassies which have been built in the traditions of the countries they represent.

I then got on a bus and started making my way to Sydney. Everything was going well until we broke down on the motorway because the bus had run out of petrol!!!! We had to wait 2 hours until another bus came and picked us up.

I then spent a week in Sydney with Mat and Milly whilst I was trying to sort out a Wwoofing host to stay with for a couple of weeks after the first one I had set up cancelled the day before I was due to join them.

Whilst I was in Sydney I met up with Matthew Hobbs who was in Sydney with some of his horses from New Zealand to race. It was good to catch up even though it was pissing with rain and we both got drenched trying to find somewhere to have lunch! I also met up with Al Teague and had a lovely dinner with him.

On the weekend Mat, Milly, Ruby and I set off on a road trip to visit his parents (Lorraine and Charlie) in Forbes. It was a long drive but 7 ½ hours later we got there. We had a look round the town in the afternoon before going out to dinner in Parkes in the evening.

The next day we went out into the country and a built a fire and did a camp oven to cook our lunch- this consisted of digging holes in the ground and filling them with hot coals and then putting the pots in. We had one pot with a whole chicken and one with pork. Whilst they were cooking I went off fishing with Lorraine. An hour and half later we were eating a delicious roast lunch.

Country Cooking 3

On the Monday after a leisurely morning we packed back into the car and made our way back to Sydney.
The next day I sorted out my stuff and on the Wednesday I set off to the Hunter Valley to start my first wwoofing experience. The family I am staying with run a holiday accommodation company in the Hunter Valley and my daily tasks consist of looking after their six horses (not hard as they all live out), riding their warmblood Gumby, cleaning the accommodations and various other jobs in the garden.

Hunterstay

The family are great fun and in the evenings we have family dinners together. Although there were other Wwoofers when I started they all left 2 days later to travel up the East Coast so in my afternoons which I have free I get to ride Gumby whenever I like (although this hasn’t been possible all of the time due to torrential rain!) in their arena or out on the various bush tracks on their property. It is great to be back in the countryside.

Trail Ride with Gumby

On one of the days I was taken by a family friend out into the country to visit two thoroughbred studs- the Darley Stud and Coolmore. Both set ups were amazing and it was great to be taken around.

After two weeks at Hunterstay I returned to Sydney.

A lot has happened since my last update so I have tried to condense the detail so that it is not an enormous update.
I spent one more week in Sydney and went for some lovely walks. We did a day trip to the Blue Mountains and saw the stunning scenery and then in the evening went to watch a Rugby match with Matt. It was the very beginning of autumn which is always one of my favourite times of year as I love the changes in the colours of the leaves so it was really nice to be in the mountains to see the start of the colour change occurring. I also did the coastal walk in Sydney which is a path which connects the main Sydney beaches together- following the walk I had a lovely sunbath and swim at Bondi beach.

Blue Mountains 35

Bondi Beach

I also went to Palm Beach, aka Summer Bay, from Home and Away. Whilst I was there they were filming episodes for an upcoming episode which was interesting to watch.

Palm Beach 6

On my birthday I finally got to do the one tourist item that I was dead set on for Sydney- climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge! Thanks to Milly and Mat I had an afternoon ticket to spend 2 ½ hours climbing to the very top of the bridge- the views were absolutely amazing from there. I had thought that I would find it very scary but it was an easier climb than I expected and I didn’t get vertigo at all. After the climb I went for a drink in a pub under the bridge with a girl I had done the climb with- just to embarrass me she managed to get the whole crowd on the packed roof top to sing happy birthday to me- I think I only went slightly red!!!!!

On the 24th April I finally packed my faithful rucksack again and took off on my own. First stop was a short flight to Tasmania and Hobart. Having left a really hot Sydney, I was shocked to arrive in cold Hobart where it was raining. Quite a shock to the system but it is Autumn here. My first full day in Hobart turned out to be Anzac day so in true Aussie style I attended the parade down the main street- a very big affair. In the afternoon I walked around the town- around the harbour and the Salamanca Market. Over the next two days I visited Richmond- an old village just outside Hobart and went for a walk to the botanical gardens and through the nearby woodland.

After Hobart I travelled to Launceston where I went to stay with a friend of Emmy Betz called Andrew. I stayed there for a few days and managed a lovely hike up Cataract gorge (to the old power station), visited the Tasmanian Zoo (and got to stroke a baby Tasmanian Devil), walked around the town and did some wine tasting.

Tasmanian Devil 5

I then caught a plane and flew back to mainland Australia and visited Melbourne. Here I stayed with a couple of people who I had met in New Zealand. They live outside Melbourne in a place called Whittlesea which was very close to where the fires occurred last year. They took me to witness the damage which had been caused. It was amazing to see how quickly things start to recover and if you didn’t know what had happened you would be forgiven for thinking that they were just building a load of new houses. In the one particular place, Kinglake, over 100 people had died and houses had been destroyed all around. All of the removal of the dead trees has occurred and they are now on the task of rebuilding all the houses.

Phar Lap 3

I also visited Melbourne city and went to the museum where they have an exhibit of one of the greatest race horses in the world who was trained locally, Phar Lap. His body is kept at Melbourne Museum, his skeleton at Te Rapa in Wellington, New Zealand and his heart at Sydney museum. I also had a walk around the city, Federation Square, the Yarra Yarra river and had Central Market.

I then caught a train to Port Fairy on the coast. Here I was staying with some friends of a friend called Victor and Judith. When I arrived Victor took me to Tower Hill Nature Reserve (an old volcano) and I was able to see Kangaroos, Emus, Wallabies and Koala Bears. Over the next two days I spent time in the village and walked at the nature reserves. Unfortunately I was there at the wrong time for seeing Mutton Birds which the area is famous for.

Port Fairy Harbour 2

My next place to visit was Adelaide. For the first time in my travels it started to dawn on me just how large Australia is when I started trying to book a train or bus from Port Fairy to Adelaide. In the end I was driven one hour to a village called Hamilton where I got the local bus to Horsham- some might think that I was taken in a mini bus- but no- I travelled in a people carrier with a trailer on the back for the luggage and on the way the driver kept on stopping to make deliveries! I then got a normal coach in Horsham to take me to Adelaide. The whole trip only took 12 hours!!!!

In Adelaide I stayed with some friends of called Elbert and Bridget and their two children Tessa and Declan. On the Saturday, Elbert and I did a tour of some of the vineyards in the McLaren Vale region. We visited three estates Coriole, D’Arenburg and Wirra Wirra. The wines were all really wonderful- especially a sparkling red from D’Arenburg called Peppermint Paddock. On the way back we stopped to watch the sun set at Port Willunga and then went to the top of Mount Lofty to see Adelaide from above. The next day I went to the beach at Gelang- this was first time I had sunbathed in 2 weeks which was quite a long time for me! After the cold of Tasmania and Melbourne it was really nice to be back in the sun again.

D'arenburg vineyard

The next two days were museum days. Being very close to the centre I was able to walk from their house to the main areas which was lovely. I visited the Adelaide Museum, the Migration Museum, the Haighs Chocolate Factory, the City Market and the National Wine Centre.