Australia

I had exactly 4 weeks to explore this massive continent/island. the plan was to:(i) spend a week in Cairns where I would tick another box on my bucket list - swim the Great Barrier Reef. Had a great day out on the reef just snorkelling but did bump into a black tip reef shark which was crazy. I saw a shadow below me and thought, thats a big fish.... free dived down to 20-25 feet and there it was swimming toward me The shark took one look at this strange hape in the water and turned and fled - am I really that scarey? Anyway unlike normal people who would have left it at that, I decided in typical Jose from Atlantis mode, to swim after the shark!!! I'm good in the water but a couple of flicks of its tail and it was gone but at least I was the only one that day who saw a shark and dared to swim after it!!! In fact I was a bit of a pain because I would be the last out of the water whenever we had the chance for a dive and the other 40 on the boat could not believe how much time and how deep I could dive..... no wonder my ears were shot to pieces at the end of the day Cairns was not my kind of town but hey I am not 20-25, far from a babe magnet and not exacly the most sociable animal. (ii) After Cairns I flew to Alice Springs and wanted to follow in Little Sis's footsteps and scale Uluru. NOw there are all sorts of stories about how the Aboigines do not like us walking the rock but that was not going to stop me. What did stop was a ranger who deemed a breeze as enough to close access to the rock. It was a crazy decision IMHO and I was really pissed off. Never has my sister beaten me at something physical but this was the first time but one day I will get up there - PROMISE!!!!! Got to say I also saw The Olgas (Kata Tjuta), Kings Canyon and the West MacDonnell mountain ranges with various gorges, lakes and interesting rock formations.The outback is awesome and I loved the place. Could have spent ages out there but time constraints prevented this but at least I saw some of the wonderful outback.(iii) Flew into Cairns after 3 days in the outback and arrived in Brisbane. Was feeling really ill - Swine Flu/Man Flu/a cold? Saw little of Brisbane but no disrespect it looked pretty boring to me and I have not missed much (sorry all those from Brisbane who hack into this blog)(iii) From Brisbane I drove what was meant to be 946km to Sydney, although I actually drove just over 2000km after taking detours to see places of note. Special thanks to Ben (from our Everest Base Camp expedition)wh advised me on where to go. I started at Noosa Heads, headed down the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, thru Byron Bay, Maclean, Coffs Harbour, Dorrigo Nat Park, SW Rocks., KEmpsey, Crescent Head, Forster, The Great Lakes, Seal Rocks, Cape Hawke, Nelsons Bay, Newcastle then Sydney. I did not care for the Gold Coast as it was a concrete jungle with hotel blocks and all the tackiness of so many tourist towns and resorts. The Sunshine Coast was far nicer as it was far quieter and classier. The beaches were secluded and peaceful.Coffs Harbour and in particular MuttonBird Point, will always have a special place in my heart as the place where I saw my first humpback whale on its migration north for winter.The scenery around Dorrigo was breathtakingas were the waterfalls but being a water baby even the smallest waterfall impresses me!!! As for Ben's favourite coastline around Kempsey, I can see why he likes it here. It is so peaceful and unspoilt. Looking down from Smoky Cape you can see miles of beaches bordered by scrub and gorse. It was beautiful and was great to see unspoilt coastline.The highlight was definitely whale watching off Nelson's Bay. It was a fantastic afternoon and something I had not planned to do but so glad I did. They are magnificent and enormous creatures that we have rescued from near certain extinction although the Japs still seem keen to kill them at will.(iv) Only had 4 days in Sydney/Canberra and the surrounding Blue Mountains.Canberra is Australia's capital and government hq, although Sydney and Melbourne are both far bigger. Canberra was great as I got to see Naomi again. Was fun to see her and catch up on all the old Everest stories. We spent the first part of the afternoon in the NAtional Museum then ventured to the comms tower (870m above sea level), then the War Memorial.As for Sydney, I did the normal harbour tour, walked the Harbour Bridge, visited Darling Harbour, Botany Bay andf the Blue Mountains. I loved Sydney but wished I had more time there and whilst it was great to have my friends Greg & Sue escort me around, they dither around a bit and constantly argue with each other - oh yes I forget they are happily married Dont want to sound ungrateful because I was not - they took me to gorges and places in the BlueMOuntains I would never have found but there constant whinging about it being cold was funny for me. It was chilly but Suereally was strugglingwith the cold. Personally I think she needs more meat on her bones buthey she is happy bunny as she is.Australia is absolutley fantastic. I loved the people, although I do not understand the Abos properly and their history and why they are so bitter and twisted. The Aussies themselves are amongst the most friendly people I have met whilst on my travels around the world. They are open friendly but brutally honest and matter of fact - just like me !!!! They are helpful beyond the call of duty and exceedingly proud of their country and history, despite being rlatively young.The diversity of people, countryside and the scale of this country is magnificent. I would rcommend this place to anyone, from those who just want a beach holiday to those who want to get away from it all and see nobody for weeks.....I am already planning my next holiday out there...... I have seen the centre and east coast but I want to see the north and west nowso intend swimming the Reef again at Cairns (will get my Padi next time and go diving); flying to Alice Springs and hiring a camper van to ensure I can stay at Uluru until the weather conditions allow me to climb it , then fly to Darwin and pick up campervan number two and drive from Darwin to Perth!!!!!!Thank you Australia for a fabulous 4 weeks and see you soon:))))