Just Another Smith...

I spent my first few days in Cairns exploring and enjoying some chill time with the Fraser girls. It was a great place to just relax and enjoy the perfect weather, laying by the lagoon, which is shaped like Queensland (fun fact). I even took part in an aqua zumba class. One day, after wandering around the beautiful botanical gardens, I found myself hiking another mountain. I didn't reach the summit of Mount Whitfield that day, I wasn't prepared and didn't have enough water, but I did return. I had an awesome day out, exploring Kuranda. There was a tour of the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in the morning, complete with spear throwing and boomerang throwing. I was better with the spear, apparently I have "weak wrists". We also got to watch a special performance showcasing aboriginal dances and songs, and learn stories from dreamtime. I then took a cable car ride on the Skyrail, up above the rainforest and into Kuranda itself. It was a quaint little town wit...

I was so glad we still had the cars, it meant we could sleep in a little longer and not have to rely on public transport. It did however also mean that I had to drive Rosie's jeep up to the ferry terminal with half the team, and drive back to collect the bags. I was the only one that knew the way! I understood now why she had been struggling, I could barely change gear and had to floor it to get up the hill. On our second journey I let Rosie have one last hurrah, content being passenger. Once we were all at the ferry terminal we had a rush to get on the boat. We all grabbed whatever bags we could and hot footed it on board. A short ride later we were back in Townsville. Another short ride (this time by bus) and we were at the train station. Of course, the train was late so we had some time to kill on the platform. I stretched myself out, laying with my head on my bag in the shade and my legs in the sun. I was surprised I didn't fall asleep, for once. The train finally arriv...

My alarm went off so early, I felt like I'd barely closed my eyes. We were to meet at 4.30am outside of the hostel. I lugged my belongings down the stairs and met my new Loka group at the bus stop. Niki was to be our guide until Cairns. Waiting with her was Mario, Aquiles and Gabriele. I was amazed to see the latter two accompanying us, they were at least in their sixties. Two English girls, Pippa and Rosie, were next to join us and we were all ready to go. The same shuttle bus from before arrived, with the same driver. He welcomed us on board and informed us that our train was running very late. Either way, we had to get to the station. Once there, we checked in our luggage so that we wouldn't have to carry it any longer. I felt cheated, I'd woken up before the sun to catch a train that was going to be two hours late. Oh well. The nice shuttle man took us around the corner to the bakery. There was so much choice I didn't know what to have, add the fact that it was b...

I walked down to the marina much earlier than I needed to. I had left my luggage at Base and got bored waiting around. The sun was warm, but there was a nice breeze, meaning a lovely walk. I met a sweet elderly couple from Kettering in the camera store and ended up chatting for a good while. The marina was buzzing with people, and I loved speculating over the prices of boats and who the owners were. There were small fishing boats, motor boats and jet skis, to medium catamarans, sailing catamarans and sailing boats, I even spotted larger vessels, looking like they belonged to the elite upper class! Fascinating stuff. It really was a whole other world. The group around me began to grow, as we all stared at our home for the next few nights, PowerPlay, and wondered when we would be allowed on board. Finally, two of the crew came to meet us and we reconvened on the bridge. Here, we had to double check our paperwork and take our shoes off. The lady at the town office had told me I wouldn...

Despite telling myself it was a really bad idea and that I should sleep instead, I watched Jurrasic World on the train. I hadn't considered the fact that it was a good 2hrs long, meaning I didn't fall asleep until about 2am. Genius. We arrived at Poserpine train station just before 6am and shuffled out onto the platform as quickly as sleep deprived people can. Our transfer was waiting for us, a bright and cheerful guy. I sunk into one of the seats and was asleep almost immediately. We pulled up opposite Base Airlie Beach about 7ish. Obviously I was way too early to check-in to my room. Luckily, Loka had a permanent dorm on site and TK offered me a bed. We'd decided we really needed to catch up on sleep before we faced the day. With my bag in storage, it was nap time. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I woke up about 4hrs later, feeling refreshed. My first thought was "I'm dying for a cuppa", TK obviously thought the same and on went the kettl...

I left Noosa at 12ish on the Monday, and was amazed to find I was the only one on the Loka Bus. I chatted to my driver about Oz so far, and my plans for New Zealand. He was a Kiwi so had lots of ideas and suggestions for me. I was dropped off at Cooroy Station to catch the first train of my East Coast journey. I had some time on the platform before the train, and pretty much had it to myself. I had to keep moving around so I didn't fall asleep. There wasn't a comfy seat, but I didn't trust myself either way. The Spirit of Queensland arrived and my new guide, TK, jumped off to meet me. The seats looked really nice, super comfortable! We had four between us, there was meant to be two other people but they had cancelled. It would just be the two of us until Airlie Beach. I watched a few films on my tablet, walked the length of the train for a cuppa, and had a few naps until we arrived at Rockhampton about 10pm. We were picked up by Anna in the hostel minivan. She asked if w...

"You will die" seemed to be the general message of our briefing on the Wednesday night. Before we left for Fraser on the Thursday, we had to watch a government video on 4x4 sand driving. It was part hilarious, part terrifying. Luckily, the Nomads guy told us we could ignore half of it, just use common sense and we'd be fine. Once the briefing was over, we were free to socialise in the bar. One other girl in my room, Poppy, was also on the tour and she'd met some Irish girls earlier on. There were so many people, I was definitely going to struggle remembering names. I grabbed an iced water and stayed for a while, and then popped to my room to quickly pack. When I returned, a Beer Pong tournament was in full flow and it was packed. I didn't stay much longer, we had an early start. I was looking forward to the tour, the group was massive and full of great characters. ~ My alarm went off at 6am and I was pretty much dressed and ready within minutes. Once we we...