Roadtrip to Cape Tribulation!

Hey!

I'm back in Cairns after a 3 days roadtrip to Cape Tribulation. The day I got back from my snorkeling, I went to check my email and two girls had replied on my gumtree ad about doing a roadtrip to the oldest rainforest in Australia. So very spontaneous we went the day after a rented a car from Wicked travel. The van was 33 dollars / day, and with all the insurance, petrol costs, camping fee's and ferry fee we payed about 120 dollars each. A day tour is around 150 - 200 dollars to Cape Trib, so with this we definitely saw more for the money. On the first day we went to all the beaches along the east coast. Then we stayed the night in Wonga beach - the campground had hot showers, toilets and was located right next to the beach. The cost was 31 dollars for one night, about 10 per person.

The second day we drove to Daintree, however we found out that if one doesn't want to make a crocodile tour or another tour, it's pretty dead there. So we drove up to Cape trib and spent pretty much all day checking out the various walking tracks around there. The flora was amazing! We then stayed a night at PK's jungle Village. For the three of us they charged 35 dollars and it included showers, bathroom, kitchen, a bar and a pool.

Today, the last day, we drove pretty late from the campground. We went to Mossman, which definitely was a highlight. They have a sweetwater river in the middle of the rainforst where you can swim. You can see the pictures below.

I also drove in Australia for the first time! The first day was very crappy. It's been 5 months since I haven't been driving and I've had my license for a year. So half of the time I've had my license I haven't been behind the wheel. I kept driving too much to the left side... But on the second day it felt a lot better. It does take a little bit time before you get used to it, but the more you practise, the better it goes. 

Cheers! x

Pictures from the Great Barrier Reef

VIDEOBLOG: Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef

Hi there!

So yesterday, I went snorkeling in the Great barrier Reef. I went with Day Tripper - and it was amazing. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get to Upulo Reef, then we first went snorkeling for 1 and a half hours. Afterwards we had a lunch break and got some yummie buffet; pasta salad, potato salad, chicken, bread and sauces. After about 15 min, someone saw fens coming up from the water. Everybody went to the side of the boat, and the instructors discussed if and what kind of shark it could be. Then one of them jumped into the water to check, and it turned out to be manta rays. Suddenly everybody were in a hurry to jump into the water ;) And so we had a second session of 1 and a half to two hours snorkeling.

I hired a underwater camera for this occasion. It was fairly expensive, but I don't regret doing that for a second. It was amazing to be able to capture the beauty of the reef; although I got to say that the pictures and videos don't do reality justice. I'm uploading the video in this post, pictures will come later. Unfortunately, I didn't see that there was some dirt on the water cover of the camera lens until I started editing the video... For me really annoying, but I hope you guys don't mind.

Also want to add happy birthday dad! I hope you have a wonderful day with a lot of cake, presents and congrats. I'm sorry I can't be home, but in about a months time I'll come back home and give you a big hug and your birthday present. For now, I hope this video is ok!

Cheers! x

In Cairns - action!

Hi there! So my night at the airport was not very adventurous. Thanks to http://www.sleepinginairports.net/ , I already knew where to look for a sleeping place. There was a very well hidden alcove under a staircase. Fine, I had to sleep on the floor, but at least I didn't sleep in the middle of the terminal. It still felt like I had a little privacy at my sleeping spot. There were some occasional noises, but all in all it was very quiet. Since they shut down the domestic part I had to walk to the international terminal, but the staff and security was all very friendly. This morning I got picked up outside the terminal and checked in at my hostel.

I also went to a travel agency and booked a daytrip with snorkeling on the great barrier reef. Thought to myself might as well book it now, the weather is supposed to be great tomorrow and if I wait too long, I might !end up not doing it because of too many excuses.

 Unfortunately, everything is closed today because of Anzac day. Even Coles and Woolworths are closed, annoying to I had to buy sunscreen from a convenience store with was stupid expensive. But then again, compare cancer and 20 dollars, I'd rather pay for the bottle.

 I will head my way to the lagoon now. I'll talk to ya'll later.

 Cheers!x

Next flight: Cairns!

Hi!

Today I'm leaving Melbourne to head to Queensland - Cairns! It has been a great time here with a bunch of great people. I will definitely miss this city, so far my favorite city even though I'm getting sick of it. I'm so much rather out in the nature/outback.

I will stay at Cairns airport tonight seeing as I arrive pretty late and I don't see a reason to why I should pay a hostel. However, I found one with free pickup from the airport (saving 10 dollars right there) which I've booked for the following day. So for tonight I've packed two books with me, my camera and my new (second hand) Ipod which I bought the other day (gumtree seems to fulfill its purpose finally)

Will post more as soon as I'm in Cairns.

Cheeeeerrrzzzz.

A little thank you note...

The 23rd of April
Mr. Anonomys backpacker
111 Asshole Street
Melbourne
VIC, 3000
Australia

Dear anonymous backpacker,

thank you so much for stealing my cheese the other day.
I know it's expensive to buy it yourself, I got to admit that this bag of cheese was the first one I bought since I got to Australia. Despite my intense frustation of knowing that I only had the delight of cooking one meal with it, and the fact that I was craving macaroni and cheese the night I found out about this event, I'm hoping you cooked an amazing meal on which you almost choked to death.

Yours sincerely,
A very angry Cathi

Ps. You might want to know that I've bought a locker for my foodbag now. And if I ever find out who you are... You better run.

Hostel dorms

Hey!

A very tired Cathi is typing now. After having worked in a hostel (for free accommodation) from mondag - wednesday, I started to work at a warehouse yesterday. What I do is basically sorting out bad tomatoes and potatoes from an assembly line. It's amazing how boring the job is, but it's pretty good paid. Having a job in a warehouse or generally within construction is good for two reasons - the minimum hourly rate is between 19-20 dollars / hour and if you're lucky, you can get up to 12 hour shifts and really save money for your travels. I heard rumours yesterday that a guy at my workplace worked a 24 hours shift. So today I'll work from 3pm - 11pm.

To talk about a total different subject (OK, it's not that far off because it has to do with the hostel where I worked). So I get there monday morning, checked in and went to drop off my bags in the staff dorm. And the first thing I see in the room in a freaking aquarium with two goldfishes. I think that's the most random thing I've seen in a room so far. I just had to take a picture and show all the people that might not even believe me:



Anyway. Now I'm back at the hostel where I stayed when I arrived Melbourne. It's pretty awesome, I'm in a 6 share and we're only two people. Good thing about this hostel is the bedding - you get two sheets, and since I like having the real cover, I decided to use my towels and the sheet to build my own fort. Looks ridiculous, but it's really nice. Gives you even more privacy, which is very much appreciated. Especially if you're staying in a 12 - 30 bed dorm (YES there are dorms with 30 beds...).





I gotta go now and see what to bring for lunch to work today. I hope you all have a good day!

Cheers! x

VIDEOBLOG: Melbourne part 2 & St Kilda penguins

Hi!

This is just a little video I've done since I got back to Melbourne. First couple of sequences are just random just-for-fun-and-to-waste-time videos with my Tasmanian travelmate; the second part is from the other day when I was in St Kilda to chill at the beach and watch the mini penguins. So you don't actually have to go to Phillip Island in order to see the wild penguins ;)




Cheers!x

VIDEOBLOG: Hey, hey apple!

Yao!

Here is a very late and very short video about my applepickingjob in Tassie.

For those who don't know anything about the fruit picking work here. There are two types of picking - either you get hourly paid or you work on contract. Contract basically means that you get paid for what you pick. Most people prefer hourly paid, because if you have a bad day you still know that you get money. We did strawberry picking on contract for a day and it was horrible. Not only did we have to bend over to pick them for 7 hours straight, but the pay was really shitty. We got 30 dollars after a whole day. However, we were lucky with this job. In only 5 days, I managed to earn about 700 dollars. But I literally had to pick until my fingers were bleeding. We worked for 9 hours and had an average of 10 min break / day. I don't know if I could do this for the 88 days that are required to apply for a second Work and Holiday Visa, but it was still a good experience!



Cheers x

A phenomenon called couchsurfing

Hey.

Now, ever since I got to Melbourne again, I've been playing with the thought of trying couchsurfing. I've talked to a couple of people and they all say that they've heard good about it. Once I arrived, I decided to set up an account there and try my luck.

The thing is, I'm a very paranoid person. Everytime I talked about CS, I started off with "Sooo, couchsurfinf huh? I'm going to get kidnapped and raped.". A friend of mine responded with "You know they have like this thing where people can comment on their profile? So if there are a lot of positive comments, it should be good.". I didn't say it out loud (cuz it would make me sound crazy) but I still believe that they can trick you. Like, they've been nice to all the previous people until they find the person they want to kill and BOM. Ok. Don't ask me what bom stands for. But you get my point. (And yes, of course I'll be the victim). Anyhow, he also added that "Well, you know you can choose where you want to crash? What about staying at a girls place?"

Cool. Didn't think about that.

So I send out a couple of requests. Not a single person answered.

Suddenly, this feature pops up. Apparently you can post a message on this featurethingy. So I posted an ad with my travelplans - for how long I was going to be here etc. Turn my laptop off and go to cook food.

I log on the next day and I have 7 couchrequests. A bunch of Carlos', Josef's, Dominic's, Nick's etc. ALL of them in their 28-30's. ALL of them looking really... Um... Yea. Suspicious. I went to see this one guy who had like 28 positive comments but since he lived really far from the city, I decided to stay in the hostel.

Conclusion? Well I want to try this thing. Could be fun. I'm still a little bit sceptical though. But I told myself that I will try it before I head home, so I will keep you updated about it!

Cheers!

Roomies.

Yao.

Wazzap homieboys?

Ok... No... I can't pull the whole gangsta-thing off...

Nevermind.

Hey.

What's happening?

So I'm currently sitting in Discovery Hostel. If there are any backpackers in Melbourne that are reading this; this hostel has free wifi. Generally, you can find free internet in the library in pretty much every city. Most travelagencies such as Peterpans, Wicked Travel and Travelbugs also offer free internet on their big computers. McDonals has also free wifi throughout the country, however, it is very slow and I don't recommend it. It once took me 1 ½ hours to get online and then it only lasted for 5 min before it crashed again. Anyway, if you're in Mel and have a laptop, Discovery is the place to be. Good and fast internet!

So I'm currently staying in a 6 share unisex dorm. What I find funny is that I'm always the only girl in unisex dorms. And generally I don't mind. But it is getting quiet annoying to have one guy trying to talk italian with an english accent with me, another italian guy having a friend over who always greet him by humping him while he's still resting in bed, one german guy staring 24/7 and another guy constantly using his deo which smells like cinnamon. To be honest, cinnamon-guy is the guy that annoys me the most. It smells like christmas in our room... Might ask reception if I can change rooms tomorrow.

Cheers x

VIDEOBLOG: Tasmania part 2

Hello guys!

Here is the second part of my Tasmania-videos. We started of driving along the eastcoast, went to Bay of fires, Friendly beaches, Lagoon Beach, Bicheno and Wineglass Bay. We then spent 2 nights in Hobart and found work in Huonville. Did some apple picking for five days and did a little bit of the westcoast - Cradle Mountain, St. Claire and finally back to Devonport where the ferry went back to mainland. I've now been in Melbourne for a week and I can say that Tasmania has been my highlight so far. It was amazing seeing the nature and getting away from the cities. Like my travelmate said, "I hate the cities, they're all the same. In the outback, that's where the real adventures are". And I agree. I've become sick of the city now, it's nothing compared to everything I've seen and experienced the last month.

I was also surprised by how comfortable it was to sleep in a van. The only issue were showers, sometimes there weren't any avaiable. However, we solved that by taking a morningswim in the ocean. But it's amazing to just wake up in a new place every morning; sometimes with the sound of waves in the background, sometimes in total silence surrounded by mountains. And it's a great way to save money too. During three weeks, I only spent about 300 dollars on food and petrol. We had a few nights in a hostel, but if you're skipping the hostels it really pays off. So if you ever get the chance to do a roadtrip in a van for a few weeks, take it. It's beyond a great experience.

Anyway, enough talking. Here is the video!

Long time no heard!

Yellow everybody!

I know I haven't updated very much lately. Arrived to Melbourne two days ago after having spent 3 great weeks in Tasmania with a friend. We travelled and lived in his van - slept at campingspots, on the beach etc. After 1 ½ weeks we found an apple-picking job in Huonville. Earned about 800 dollars in 5 days - but I will tell you more about that tomorrow. I have two more videos to upload - Tasmania part 2 and a short video about the farmwork. Anyhow, I don't have a lot of credit left for the free internet I got at this hostel, but I'll go to a travel agency with free internet tomorrow. Talk to ya later!

xx