Exploring Cairns

It wasn't until we met up with Logan Ceretti that our exploration of Cairns REALLY began. We were able to check out the "city" center ourselves and do the Great Barrier Reef, but he knew about all the cool spots. Cairns (pronounced Cannes), is said to be a city but is more like a large town. There are so many places you can't go swimming in the ocean between October and April because of the deadly Box Jellyfish so they have built what they call a Lagoon (a large pool) overlooking the ocean which is filled with salt water. Since we've been here we've realized that filling your pool with salt water is actually quite common, although it is nothing like swimming in the ocean. Or, you can swim in the ocean in a small sectioned off area with huge nets that is supposedly Box Jellyfish free, but we'd rather not take the chance!

Our first day with Logan we stopped into Port Douglas which is an hour drive along the coast which is rated as being one of the best drives in Australia. We stopped to have a bite to eat and then continued on to the rain forest to swim in the Mossman Gorge. It was a gorgeous swimming hole filled with water falls, rocks and some pretty chilly water. We went for a little adventure climbing over some rocks. Your skin feels so clean after swimming in that water. We just loved it.

The next day, April 25th - Anzac Day, Logan took us to another waterfall "Barron Falls" deep in the rain forest. This is where he told us about the Green Ant. If you are ever trapped in the rain forest and beginning to suffer from dehydration you can pinch off the "butt" of the Green Ant and drink the juice for survival. Would you believe that we all tried it? We did and it was just like a tiny piece of lime - very tart!

Later that afternoon Logan took us to Lake Eacham which is another water hole and then we went to check out some huge Fig trees. I posted the description of what a Fig tree is, but in short a Fig tree plants a seed on a host tree and after hundreds and hundreds of years it takes over the host tree and there is a giant hole in the middle. The picture of Elliot and Logan is our personal favorite. The two we went to see were called the Curtain Fig Tree and the Cathedral Fig Tree. Following that we took the windiest road with over 300 hundred turns that took us over the mountain range and back down to Cairns to end our exciting day.

Although I was invited to go fishing with the boys at 4:00 a.m. the next morning, I politely declined. I'm not sure if it was the motion sickness I had before or the thought of fish guts that turned me off, but I think I made the right decision, especially after the stories the boys came back with. Firstly, Elliot caught a shark! Just like everything else, Elliot rocks at fishing. He outnumbered the boys with what he caught and they had a great day. There is of course many more pictures I could post but the Shark happened to be the one he wanted to show off! I, however, had a relaxing day at the mall and lagoon and I also hit up the market and did some laundry. I'm such a girl...

Today we are thinking Sunday Sesh? I'll let you know what happens!

Till next time,

Love, Amy & Elliot x

A Great Barrier Reef Trip Dedicated to Bumpie

As soon as I got the e-mail from Jenn to call Dad's cell as soon as possible, I knew. It wasn't until I heard the words that Bumpie had left us from my father that it really hit me. The guilt set in fast that I wasn't there, but the consoling words from my family made it a little easier. My Dad told me that I had the same sense of adventure that Bumpie did and that he was so proud of me for doing this. Elliot and I spent the rest of the evening talking about Bumpie and some of my best memories that I've had with him growing up. Anyone who knows me well knows how much time I spent with my grandparents on weekends at their cottage at Schurman's Point and waking up to Bumpie building a fire and making the best scrambled eggs I've ever tasted. He also taught me to play crazy 8's and we played often. He was such gentle, kind and loving man who always has a story to tell. All you had to do was ask and he wouldn't hesitate to share his life experiences with you. I'm so happy to share that my father has some of the same qualities. I love you so much Dad.

I said good-bye and celebrated Bumpie at a reef spot appropriately called "The Three Sisters". I placed some beautiful flowers in the water and it seemed perfect. I knows he's with me and I can't wait to take him to all the beautiful places I want to explore. He told me that his Dad always wanted to go to New Zealand and although that has always been our plan we are more bound and determined than ever to go for him.

The Reef was beautiful. It is everything you read about. We have some seriously cool pictures because we rented an underwater camera. I mean you might as well go all out right? On our first day of the trip we did our first intro scuba dive. Which, was nonetheless a little scary because of all the things that can go wrong. Elliot went down like a pro and although it took me a minute to compose myself, I went down as well. Because you had to pay to do more diving, unless you were a certified diver, Elliot I spent the rest of the trip snorkeling. As you can see, we got some seriously cool shots and a few scares! When Elliot spotted the Reef Shark it was the first day and I froze when I saw it but was actually quite calm. I honestly have the belief with animals that if you leave them alone they won't bother you and so far it's worked out for me. It wasn't until Elliot started to follow the shark to take a better picture that it started to really scare me! My favorites were the Sea Turtle and the Nemo's (for Paige because I took her to see the movie!) properly called Clown Fish.

We docked the boat and spent the night at a place at the Reef called "the Whale". The sunset and sunrise were beautiful and the food was surprisingly delicious! Our sixteen passenger, five crew boat was very multicultural with people from Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, England, Japan, America, Australia and of course, Canada! There were six Canadians aboard counting Elliot and I and two of them were brothers from Fredericton. Small world we live in.

A few other notes to let you know about are that Elliot and I bought a car! A 93 Mitsubishi Magna station wagon with some camping gear in the back. Shalyn and Ryan have booked their tickets to Australia! We are meeting them back in Brisbane on the 9th of May and neither of us can wait to go exploring with them!

The last few days we have been hanging out with Logan Ceretti from Borden, a childhood friend of Elliot's that has been showing us around Cairns. We have been having so much fun but that is a whole other post.

Missing all of you,

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Life in the Northern Tropics of Queensland

Hey everyone!

I thought I would post some pictures since I finally got all my photos on some cd's. I really wanted to share some of our Surfers Paradise favorites with you.

We are currently in Cairns right now and it is sunny and hot and we are on our way to the beach! The rest of the drive here was beautiful. I honestly had my camera out for the last hour of our drive taking pictures of the scenery.

We stayed last night at possibly the cosiest hostel. It's call the Dreamtime Travellers Rest and it is lush and tropical with a cafe attached. We just love being able to sit outside our room on comfy chairs reading mags or books and just hanging out. We have only booked for two nights here at this place but we think we might stay a little longer!

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Rolling Rolling Rolling

Hello All!

Elliot and I are currently in Townsville, Queensland at a Internet Cafe thinking of what we might be up for tonight. Townsville seems to be an excellent stop on our third day of trekking across QLD in our camper van and it is also Queensland's 2nd biggest city next to Brisbane. We have to thank John & Michelle for the ITRIP they gave us to go with our IPOD it has made this trip that much more fun! Thanks again guys :)

So far the drive has been beautiful. Picture this: a secondary road (no divided highways at all) and rows upon rows of either sugar cane or mango/orange trees with huge mountains in the distance. It is scenic and tropical and so far everyone that we meet has been friendly, welcoming and extremely helpful. We just finished discussing about how everywhere we stop someone is giving us advice about where to go and what to see while on this coast.

Last night we spent the night 30 km of the beaten path to a National Park campground ON the beach. As soon as we arrived the Ranger told us that at 6:30 a.m. there would be kangaroos on the beach and we went and there they were! We got some great pictures and I promise to post them as soon as I can!

Today we drove up to some scenic look-out spots and all you could see for miles and miles were landscaped farmlands and mountains. We had a picnic at one spot called Flagstaff Hill in Bowen where there was a scenic look-out surrounded by water, beaches and the North end of the Whitsunday Islands. We really have to come back at some point and checkout these Islands along with Fraser Island at some point! We have to have the Car in Cairns tomorrow by late afternoon so unfortunately it won't be a go this time.

We will post again after we check out Cairns!

Bye bye for now,

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Surfers

We arrived in Surfers Paradise on Friday afternoon and so far this place has lived up to our fullest expectations. First of all though, a big shout out to Katy O for hooking us up with Jenna! Thank-you so much for sharing your awesome friend with us and we REALLY wish you were here with us.

The weekend started off by hitting up some bars with Jenna and Mon and waking up the next morning to gorgeous weather and surfing lessons! Yes, it has finally happened! We have tried our hand at surfing and although Elliot looks like he has been doing it his whole life, I on the other hand didn't pick it up quite as gracefully! Good times though and we will be doing it again for sure. I love that we are able to say we did our first surfing in Australia at Surfers Paradise.

Today we went out with Jenna, Mon and Duncan (their neighbour) on his boat for the day! We spent the day checking out the beautiful coast line, having some beverages, soaking up a little sun and doing a little snorkeling. Tonight we went to check out Fisherman's Wharf "fisho's" for some Sunday Sesh action. Does anywhere else in the world party on Sunday quite like Australians?

I've had to pinch myself a few times since I've been here (and Elliot!) because of what we are seeing and doing. Jenna and Monica have been super cool hostesses and we are sad that we have to leave them so soon! We are leaving Tuesday morning to head up to Cairs and then, well, who knows?

A big happy birthday to Margo! Cheers :)

Love, Amy & Elliot x

Brissy

After sad good-byes and one last back yardies with Michelle and John, we left Perth yesterday and arrived very early this morning after a 4hour and 6 minute flight on which neither Elliot nor I slept a wink. We arrived at the hostel and weren't able to check into our room until 11:30 so we went and checked out downtown which is just a short walk away.

We decided shortly after we arrived that although we had sent a garbage bag full of clothes to the Salvos and sent a large box home, we still had ridiculously heavy bags! We just went through them again and cut our clothing in half. Now that we actually have to carry the bags it doesn't seem as though we need as much stuff and it is much easier to get rid of.

So far the hostel reminds us of university dorm rooms but so far not nearly as loud, although we have yet to experience the night life! We've only had a three hour nap so i'm guessing that we'll be in bed early tonight. We have this place booked for two nights and the weekend is up in the air. Tuesday we are taking off to Cairns which is North by about 2,000 km's. We have rented a camper van for $1 per day with $200 fuel rebate. This sounds to good to be true, doesn't it? Well it's true it's a service which works for most large rental companies.

Time is running up on our alotted computer time therefore I promise to post again soon!

Until then!
Love, Amy & Elliot x

The Backpacking Begins!

Well, as most of you know, Elliot and I are leaving for Brisbane, Queensland this Tuesday the 8th of April so we decided that it would be easier for everyone (because we didn't want to miss anyone) to start a blog rather than to send group e-mails to everyone.  So feel free to check at any time and I promise to post as much as possible about our adventures in Australia (and hopefully New Zealand) for the next six months.

The first six months have absolutely flown by and we have enjoyed ourselves so much here in Perth and we will be promoting this City to anyone who will listen.  Perth is the most isolated City in the world and therefore not many people take the time to visit.  We were lucky enough to have our friends, John and Michelle let us stay with them while we worked and saved enough money to do the backpacking thing.  We expected this trip would be fun but so far WA has definitely lived up to our expectations.  We have seen some fantastic concerts, lazed on gorgeous beaches and met fantastic people.  You never know we might even be back someday ;) 

Last week we spent the seven days exploring the South Western part of WA.  We camped six out of the seven nights and spent one night in a beautiful chalet in Denmark.  We drank copious amounts of wine after visiting some beautiful wineries, did some crazy hikes, saw the most beautiful coastline, met up face to face with wildlife, and even got to have a few campfires along the way.  What is camping without campfires?  Our second morning, while camping in Margaret River we woke to have a family of Kangaroos munching on grass outside our tent!  

As we say good-bye to Perth we also want to give a shout-out to all of you who have been so good to us sending e-mails and putting thoughtful posts on our Facebook, etc.  We are missing our PEI peeps, but we are also going to miss the awesome people who we met here in Perth! Thank-you for making this adjustment so easy.   

Until next time!  

Love, Amy & Elliot x