Australia

Arrived in Hobart to a slightly chilly 16 degree,s still sunny though but its all good. Very green here so it reminds me a bit of Ireland and the people are dead friendly too.
Headed for Port Arthur the next day and did a tour of the prison and learn all about the convict stories and what went on. Its a really nice setting even if it was a prison, lots of nice gardens etc. Next headed to the Freycinet National park stopping along the way at some look outs and short walks. Did the walk to see wine glass bay, its views were really fab.
Spent the night at the YHA and took a trip with some folks from the hostel to see the lighthouse at sunset, then drank some tea on the beach but it was Baltic!!!! Had a lot of rain the following day so mostly just arrived in Scottsdale in the afternoon and check into a pub that had rooms upstairs. There was a Christmas party downstairs that was pumping music out until 2am, so not much shut eye that night. From Scottsdale to Launceston stopped at a few walks along the way but got bitten alive by these worm like leeches so we weren't too impressed.
Spent a night in Devon port at an Irish bar/hostel called Molly Malone's. Headed for Cradle Mountain the next day and did some walking, some really nice hiking here, got to the top of Marion's Lookout which was worth the uphill climb.

That evening headed towards a small wilderness village called Corinna. It only has a population of 5 and the rest are holidaymakers. Got a good deal on a fancy cabin for 35 bucks a night, had some wallabies visiting us looking for dinner. Headed to Queenstown for a quick look but not a whole lot to see, then got to Derwent Bridge near the Lake St Clair national park and got to do some more hiking here. Went to platypus bay but didn't get to see any. Headed south of Hobart to a place called Dover, stayed at really nice hostel called Far South Backpackers, met some travelers who were working in a fish factory. Headed to the southern point of Tas from here to Cockle Creek and did the 3.5 hr trek to see the most southernly point in oz. Headed to Geeveston and got stuck in a Christmas parade, headed back to Hobart for the final few days of looking round museums, shopping and the Mt Wellington bike ride.

Arrived in Sydney just in time for the Newtown festival which had a spanish band that i had already seen in Byron bay.
Did the usual sightseeing stuff in Sydney, the harbour bridge, opera house, botanical gardens, Darling Harbour and Bondi.


Got there just in time for Mr. Darren Smiths birthday which was a Hawaiian party on a roof top bar looking onto the opera house, very fancy eh?

Went to a few of the November rocks markets which had the Potbellez and lots of free Yellow tail wine tasting.
Got a couple of weeks temping at a company in St Leonards, got to cross over the harbour bridge every day to get to work which was pretty cool.

East Coast
Arrive in Cairns really early in the morning and got a shuttle straight to Port Douglas. Stayed in a nice YHA and did some sunbathing and swimming there.
Got bitten alive from the mossies though! From there I headed north to cape tribulation where is rained a lot. Did some fruit tasting though which was fun.
Came back to Cairns and met the Cork girls, Frank and Matt and hung around the lagoon, did some shopping and we out a couple of times.
Booked my trip down the coast to Sydney on the Greyhound and stopped at Mission beach first. Did white water rafting here which was pretty scary and everyone got into the water at one stage, free barbeque on the river was cool.
Next stop was magnetic island. Did some cycling up crazy hills, and sat on the beach for a couple of days.
Next onto the Anaconda III sailing trip of the Whitsundays.

Really good trip with great weather and lots of good food. Got to snorkel the great barrier reef and few times and saw lots of fish, coral and even a sea turtle. Stopped off and white haven beach and hook island also to do some sunbathing. Went for few drinks and pizza with the group in Arlie beach after we got off the boat.
Took the night bus the following day to Town of 1770 and got only a few hours of proper sleep. Met cork girls and a few from Sydney and drank some Barry's tea at the hostel. Did some surfing lessons the next day and had a laugh trying to learn.
Next stop was Fraser island where we ended up camping through in a major thunderstorm, also our 4wd broke down and we ended up in a lush hostel the second night!
Headed to Noosa for 5 days or beach time, weather was great so went body boarding and swimming in the sea most days.
Went to Australia zoo and got to see all sort of native and other animals, got to cuddle a koala and saw lots of shows going on there during the day. Onwards towards Brisbane and did some needed shopping and met up with Joannes brother Paul who gave me a tour of the city, first stop Hungry jacks and then the best drinking establishments.
Spent a few days in Surfers paradise at my aunts houses and took in a the movie world theme park with Margaret and Yvonne. Lots of adrenalin rush type rides, we were screaming more than the kids on the kiddie rollarcoaster!!
Headed for Byron bay and stayed at the lovely Belongil hostel. Did the trek to the lighthouse to he most easterly point of Australia.

Did a day trip to Nimbin and saw some weird and wonderful people there. A guy that worked in the hostel was friends with a butcher whose fridge broke down and he donated all the meat to the hostel so there was a free BBQ for 2 nights in a row! Nice one!
After Byron bay made a few quick stops to Coffs Harbour which was a bit of a let down, Port Macquarie and Newcastle.

Got to Alice in the afternoon, was able to see a lot from the plane, everything was pretty red from what I could see with the odd tree here and there. Just had quick look about the town when I got there and had an early night as it was a 6am start for the tour the next day. Tour started with a 5 hour drive to Uluru. Got to the resort and checked out the visitor centre and had a look at some aboriginal art. Then it was off to see the rock, it has lots of bumps and hollows up close so it was different to what I expected. Decided not to climb but did a lap around it which took nearly 3 hours.

Then we drove to a lookout to watch the sunset and eat our dinner with a nice cold beer. Set up camp back at the resort and sat around the fire for a bit before heading to sleep.
An early start the next day for a drive to see the sunrise over Uluru, pretty cool to see it so it was worth getting out of bed early.

Did another 3 hour walk of Kata Tjuta which was a bit more challenging than the previous day but we did it early in the morning to avoid the heat. Went to another campsite called Kings Creek where we settled down for the evening, was even able to get a decent coffee at the shop. Cooked kangaroo tail on the campfire, got to taste it and it wasn't half bad.
The last day of the trip was a walk about Kings Canyon, once we climbed Heart attack hill the trek got a bit easier and had fab views of the garden of eden and the rock pools. Bumped into my Aunt Brigid on the walk by chance and we both recognised each other after 8 years. After the walk we made our way back to Alice with a quick stop at a Camel farm where a Dublin guy was training the camels and doing camel rides. We got back a few hours before dinner time so had a rest before heading to Toddys for food and watched a didgereedoo band. We then went onto another funky bar called Bo-jangles that had all sorts of crazy stuff on the walls.
Last day in Alice springs was spent catching up with my aunt and her friend before taking the train to Darwin. i was really impressed with the Ghan, pretty comfy seats for economy, hot showers and a restaurant.

A few of us got together and played cards for a while, we played poker using salt and pepper sachets instead of real money Slept most of the night and then next morning there was a few hours stop over in Katherine. Went for a quick walk but cut it short as it was about 37 degrees and only 9am. Sat in the shade to cool down for a while with some cold drink before getting back on the train again. Got to darwin late in the evening so just took it easy for the night.

Finished up work and had a farewell lunch in an Irish bar Durty Nellys. They even had irish stew which was pretty good. We all had a few drinks with lunch so not much work was done that afternoon. The next day i headed for Margaret river to check out the beaches and see the winery's. Checked in yha which was 1.5k outside the town. Booked onto a wine tour for the next morning so took it easy that evening. The next day I got picked up by the Wine for dudes bus and we visited 3 winery's, found out how to examine and test wine and we blended some wine ourselves using Cabernet and Merlot. Also got to taste some cheese, chocolate and the tour ended at a brewery where we got to taste some beer.

Went to one of the local bars Stradlers that evening an played some pool. Had a look around one of the beaches and saw some serious surfers on the waves, its meant to be one of the top surfing spots in oz.

Spent the last few days in Perth saying goodbye to people and preparing for off. Had a big dinner at the house on my last night washed down with some white wine.