Diving, Steve Irwin and... going home :-(
Door: Lydia
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lydia
20 Maart 2008 | Australië, Brisbane
Hello friends, family and colleagues!
Our trip has almost come to an end… but before we say goodbye (and hello again in Holland) we need to update you about the last week of our holiday.
Since the weather was REALLY bad in Cairns, we didn’t stay, but decided to drive immediately down south. Unfortunately we had to skip Kuranda, because of the heavy showers, but we were able to do a little of the Atherton tablelands (waterfalls!!!) without rain, but when it got too heavy again, we just started driving and hoping for better weather southwards. When we were checking the weather forecast we noticed that in Townsville the sun would be shining. Well… Townsville here we come! We booked ourselves a nice hotel with a big swimming pool and decided that we would have a day of total relaxation. The closer we came to Townsville, the more the sun began to shine and when we arrived it was lovely weather, so we were headed for the pool. Hmmm… this was paradise! There was nobody (!!!) at the pool, just us and a couple of pretty birds! We enjoyed the sun, the pool, the surroundings and didn’t do anything. This was actually the first day of completely doing nothing… hmm… that was good!!!!
Just 8km out of the coast line of Townsville there is a very small island called Magnetic Island, so the next day, we took the ferry and went up to the island. The whole atmosphere was really relaxed and the island looked very pretty. We noticed that we could do some hikes to small bays and after informing about these hikes, we put on our walking shoes again and there we went… As soon as we started walking, we saw a lot of beautiful butterflies (one even landed on my hand, I was as happy and excited as a little child :)). The hike was pretty tough and we had to climb rocks and try to find your way through bushes, BUT when we came to the bay it was magnificent!!!! It was such a pretty beach and it was terrific that we were completely alone. WOW! I think I’ve never even been on a beach without others?! Unfortunately the way back, was even heavier, so we were pretty glad when we finally reached the bus stop! Because we had to catch the ferry again, we could not spent all the time on the island that we wanted, but it was definitely a really nice alternative for Cairns and Kuranda!
The next adventure of our trip would be Airly Beach, from where we would go diving or snorkeling. Since we arrived pretty late and on a Saturday it was almost impossible to book ourselves a diving/snorkeling trip, but with the help of Bill (the owner of our apartment) we finally got the news at 10 in the evening, that the next morning at 8 we would be picked up by Manteray. This was actually our last choice…. But luckily for us, this turned out to be one of the best trips we did during our holiday. Since I was still not sure of diving (maybe you can remember my snorkeling incident in Mexico???), the dive master told me that as soon as I would be in the water and tell him that is was not the thing for me, I could go out and I wouldn’t be charged. OK, good… that was a bit of a relieve! After a pretty rough boat trip (some people got really sick!) we arrived at Whitehaven beach. There were quite some jelly fish, so we didn’t want to go into the water (although we had our “stingersuits”) and just after about 15min. it started to rain… And when we were picked up again to go aboard for lunch it was pooring again… hmmm… this wasn’t good for the visibility under water… Well, the dive master told us that we shouldn’t worry, because they would take us to another island were the sun would be shining and… it did! It was a very pretty spot were they took us, but I finally had to make up my mind. Would I go diving or not? The people who wanted to go snorkeling were already getting their gear on and one of the crew members was asking, as a joke “And who can’t swim?” So, everybody started to laugh, when 3 Korean ladies said that they couldn’t swim??? Euh… were they kidding? No they weren’t!!! So they got them lifejackets, gave them a rubber pad on which they could lean and off they went… into the water… HEY, if they can’t swim and they are going snorkeling, well, then I could go diving! So off I went… took a big step and I was in the water. At first I had a little bit of problems to breath, but as soon as I got the hang of it we went down. The dive master took Moes, me and 1 other girl down, so the group was very small. Since the other girl and I were a bit afraid he completely lead us all the way down. This was terrific, but I had problems with my ears almost the whole time… pfff… this was reducing my fun, but I think that it was a pretty nice experience! The fishes were beautiful! It’s amazing how many different colours and the coral and everything, it was just amazing. I’m not sure if I would do it again (because of my ears), but it was definitely a great experience!
After this we would go to my family again and we didn’t really plan anything anymore, until Andre said to us that he had free tickets to go to the Australia Zoo (the zoo of Steve Irwin). At first I thought… well, maybe, but Mostafa really wanted to go, so we drove up there and this was GREAT! It’s a really “hands-on” zoo… you can touch almost all the animals! It’s completely different to what we’re used to. It was also a bit odd… everywhere you look, Steve Irwin is all around… on pictures, on tapes, etc. etc. It’s really unbelievable that he’s already dead… We also took a look at all the messages people left and send after he died and I must say that I found this pretty emotional. I used to watch his show on Animal planet, so I knew already a lot about this zoo and about him, so it was kind of strange, but we had a great time and of course I could not stop cuddling the koalas…. Moes almost had to drag me away… ha,ha,haa…
But unfortunately all comes to an end… and tomorrow morning (Aussie time) we will be flying home... We will definitely be missing Guus & Astrid and Andre & Wendy and we will miss the sun, the koalas, the kangaroos etc. etc. but we know that one day, we’ll come back!
Thank you all for your nice notes, it was nice to keep in touch!
Guus, Astrid, Andre and Wendy thanks a lot for your hospitality and we hope to welcome you soon in Holland!
En Finn, speciaal voor jou een foto van een kangaroe!
Our trip has almost come to an end… but before we say goodbye (and hello again in Holland) we need to update you about the last week of our holiday.
Since the weather was REALLY bad in Cairns, we didn’t stay, but decided to drive immediately down south. Unfortunately we had to skip Kuranda, because of the heavy showers, but we were able to do a little of the Atherton tablelands (waterfalls!!!) without rain, but when it got too heavy again, we just started driving and hoping for better weather southwards. When we were checking the weather forecast we noticed that in Townsville the sun would be shining. Well… Townsville here we come! We booked ourselves a nice hotel with a big swimming pool and decided that we would have a day of total relaxation. The closer we came to Townsville, the more the sun began to shine and when we arrived it was lovely weather, so we were headed for the pool. Hmmm… this was paradise! There was nobody (!!!) at the pool, just us and a couple of pretty birds! We enjoyed the sun, the pool, the surroundings and didn’t do anything. This was actually the first day of completely doing nothing… hmm… that was good!!!!
Just 8km out of the coast line of Townsville there is a very small island called Magnetic Island, so the next day, we took the ferry and went up to the island. The whole atmosphere was really relaxed and the island looked very pretty. We noticed that we could do some hikes to small bays and after informing about these hikes, we put on our walking shoes again and there we went… As soon as we started walking, we saw a lot of beautiful butterflies (one even landed on my hand, I was as happy and excited as a little child :)). The hike was pretty tough and we had to climb rocks and try to find your way through bushes, BUT when we came to the bay it was magnificent!!!! It was such a pretty beach and it was terrific that we were completely alone. WOW! I think I’ve never even been on a beach without others?! Unfortunately the way back, was even heavier, so we were pretty glad when we finally reached the bus stop! Because we had to catch the ferry again, we could not spent all the time on the island that we wanted, but it was definitely a really nice alternative for Cairns and Kuranda!
The next adventure of our trip would be Airly Beach, from where we would go diving or snorkeling. Since we arrived pretty late and on a Saturday it was almost impossible to book ourselves a diving/snorkeling trip, but with the help of Bill (the owner of our apartment) we finally got the news at 10 in the evening, that the next morning at 8 we would be picked up by Manteray. This was actually our last choice…. But luckily for us, this turned out to be one of the best trips we did during our holiday. Since I was still not sure of diving (maybe you can remember my snorkeling incident in Mexico???), the dive master told me that as soon as I would be in the water and tell him that is was not the thing for me, I could go out and I wouldn’t be charged. OK, good… that was a bit of a relieve! After a pretty rough boat trip (some people got really sick!) we arrived at Whitehaven beach. There were quite some jelly fish, so we didn’t want to go into the water (although we had our “stingersuits”) and just after about 15min. it started to rain… And when we were picked up again to go aboard for lunch it was pooring again… hmmm… this wasn’t good for the visibility under water… Well, the dive master told us that we shouldn’t worry, because they would take us to another island were the sun would be shining and… it did! It was a very pretty spot were they took us, but I finally had to make up my mind. Would I go diving or not? The people who wanted to go snorkeling were already getting their gear on and one of the crew members was asking, as a joke “And who can’t swim?” So, everybody started to laugh, when 3 Korean ladies said that they couldn’t swim??? Euh… were they kidding? No they weren’t!!! So they got them lifejackets, gave them a rubber pad on which they could lean and off they went… into the water… HEY, if they can’t swim and they are going snorkeling, well, then I could go diving! So off I went… took a big step and I was in the water. At first I had a little bit of problems to breath, but as soon as I got the hang of it we went down. The dive master took Moes, me and 1 other girl down, so the group was very small. Since the other girl and I were a bit afraid he completely lead us all the way down. This was terrific, but I had problems with my ears almost the whole time… pfff… this was reducing my fun, but I think that it was a pretty nice experience! The fishes were beautiful! It’s amazing how many different colours and the coral and everything, it was just amazing. I’m not sure if I would do it again (because of my ears), but it was definitely a great experience!
After this we would go to my family again and we didn’t really plan anything anymore, until Andre said to us that he had free tickets to go to the Australia Zoo (the zoo of Steve Irwin). At first I thought… well, maybe, but Mostafa really wanted to go, so we drove up there and this was GREAT! It’s a really “hands-on” zoo… you can touch almost all the animals! It’s completely different to what we’re used to. It was also a bit odd… everywhere you look, Steve Irwin is all around… on pictures, on tapes, etc. etc. It’s really unbelievable that he’s already dead… We also took a look at all the messages people left and send after he died and I must say that I found this pretty emotional. I used to watch his show on Animal planet, so I knew already a lot about this zoo and about him, so it was kind of strange, but we had a great time and of course I could not stop cuddling the koalas…. Moes almost had to drag me away… ha,ha,haa…
But unfortunately all comes to an end… and tomorrow morning (Aussie time) we will be flying home... We will definitely be missing Guus & Astrid and Andre & Wendy and we will miss the sun, the koalas, the kangaroos etc. etc. but we know that one day, we’ll come back!
Thank you all for your nice notes, it was nice to keep in touch!
Guus, Astrid, Andre and Wendy thanks a lot for your hospitality and we hope to welcome you soon in Holland!
En Finn, speciaal voor jou een foto van een kangaroe!
-
20 Maart 2008 - 11:28
John:
Hey guys, Jullie hebben zo te lezen uit de verslagen een FANTASTISCHE vakantie gehad. geniet nog van de laatste dag en have a safe trip back to "Rainy and Snowy" Limburg. -
20 Maart 2008 - 13:29
Gwenda:
Pfffff, het zit erop. Het lijkt wel of ik het zelf allemaal beleefd heb (eehhh, HEB ik ook!!!:-) Ik heb echt zo'n "afscheid-gevoel" nu ik deze laatste mail lees. Snik :-(
Misschien kunnen we de volgende keer SAMEN terug gaan...ik heb er nu al zin in! Kom goed thuis en tot snel.
Dikke knuffel van Roy, Gwenda en Joran xxx -
20 Maart 2008 - 14:06
Richard:
Zo als je al zei, aan alles komt een einde. Het is ongelofelijk snel voorbij gegaan. Geniet er nog even van en geniet thuis weer van een "witte pasen"(als de voorspellingen kloppen tenminste). Dus doe de dikke trui alvast maar aan.
Gezond weer thuis!!!!
Grz. -
20 Maart 2008 - 15:39
Sil:
Ha Lyd en Moes, wij hebben genoten van jullie reisverhalen. GEWELDIG!!!!! En wat is die tijd omgevlogen zeg!!!!
Ik zie je volgende week donderdag pas, want ik heb dinsdag een dagje verlof. Moet ff bijkomen hahahaha. Goede vlucht en zie je gauw. Sil -
20 Maart 2008 - 21:34
Lieke:
Hmmm, jullie laatste berichtje alweer :-( Ik heb er wel van genoten de afgelopen weken! 't Klinkt echt fantastisch! Misschien zelf ook ooit maar es die kant op gaan ;-) Door het tijdsverschil denk ik dat jullie nu zo ongeveer aan jullie terugreis begonnen zijn (op weg naar vliegveld/hangen op vliegveld/of toch al in 't vliegtuig, whatever). Alvast 'n fijne pasen ;-) Liefs, Lieke -
21 Maart 2008 - 11:08
Alexandra:
Hi Lyd en Moes,
Jammer dat het alweer voorbij is.
Maar Lyd, ben blij om te horen dat je toch naar huis komt en ben blij om je volgende week te zien.
Goede terug reis!!
Groetjes Alexandra en Robbie -
23 Maart 2008 - 07:18
Jos:
Jammer dat het weer voorbij is voor jullie. Welcome back to the "real world" alvast, alhoewel dat niet hier is natuurlijk :)
Ben benieuwd naar het live verhaal.
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