Day 137 March 26th 2007, Here Fishy Fishy - Great Barrier Reef, Cairns

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted a Marine Aquarium, about 2 years ago I finally brought one and spent many weeks setting up my own little reef. Pretty pleased with this little world I had created (now in the safe hands of my parents) I could only have imagined the overwhelming sights I would see today.

Before we went anywhere a quick Star Trek audition was in order

Our first stop of the day was at a sandy cay (below). From here we saw our first turtle swimming just off the shore. Above is a photo of our boat. As soon as we dived into the water with our snorkeling gear we were instantly surrounded by fish, a short swim and we were above the reef, equipped with a waterproof camera I tried to get a shot of one of the giant clams (photos to follow) I was soon reprimanded by Shelley who thought I had used up the whole film already (did this in the Galapagos) The conditions weren't perfect but with so many fish and coral to see I was the last out of the water.

After a short break it was time for our dive, there were 2 of us to each instructor so we couldn't get into any trouble. I wanted to go off an explore but apparently this is a very dangerous thing to do when diving you always need to stay near your buddy. Shelley has already refused to be my buddy when we do our PADI here in a few weeks due to my adventurous nature. We only dived for half an hour, I could have stayed down for hours it was sensory overload with so much to see.

Hey wait for me

I don't know why I didn't take up diving before, the sudden realisation that I could breathe underwater must be like suddenly realising you can fly, a whole new world beneath the waves suddenly existed. After finishing the dive I quickly got my snorkeling gear on and headed back to the reef. What an amazing day!!

Here are some facts about what lives at the Great Barrier Reef

30 Species of Whale are know to visit the reef
6 Species of Sea Turtle visit the reef to breed
200 Species of bird
5000 Species of Mollusc including the Giant Clam
1500 Species of Fish
400 Species of Coral
17 Species of Sea Snake
500 Species of Algae and Seaweed

Highlights: Do I have to say?

Day 136 March 25th 2007, Crap Music - Airlie Beach to Cairns

Being kids of the ipod generation we were equipped with over 3,000 tracks for our 6 hour drive to Cairns. However our grooving was stopped short when our hire car came with a cd player giving us no way to connect our ipod (have a tape drive adapter). This wasn't good and as a result we had the choice of an 80's dance album that I picked up in Chile and Kirsten's new Take That album, it was a long drive.

We stopped for lunch at a small town called Townsville where Julie managed to provide some excitement for the local bakery, after asking for something without meat in she was greeted with the response "your not a vegetarian are you? I've never met one of those before" (note: Jules not vegetarian)

Rarer than a Possum in Oz a sleeping vegetarian

We finally arrived in Cairns and with a bit of gentle persuasion from Julie we checked into a decent hotel rather than a damn cheap one across the road

Highlights: The gaps between music tracks

Day 135 March 24th 2007, Mermaids - Hamilton Island to Airlie Beach

After giving the boat a quick wash down we had a few hours before we had to catch the ferry back to the mainland, we took the opportunity to check out some of the holiday homes for sale on the Island, overlooking catseye bay the view was impressive but the apartments a little dated. After a quick bit of lunch we caught the ferry back to Shute Harbor, a short taxi ride later and we were in Airlie Beach. Back on dry land we had an easy night before our long drive to Cairns tomorrow.

Only businesses are allowed cars on the Island making golf buggies the best way to get around

A view of the marina

One of the Islands on route to the mainland

It's official mermaids do exist

Not wanting to waste any drinking time the Aussies invented the drive through off license

The Girls at Airlie Beach

Highlights: The ferry ride from Hamilton to Shute was very scenic

Day 134 March 23rd 2007, Frying Pan- Return trip to Lindeman Island from Hamilton Island

Being the Captain of a boat one doesn't usually get involved in such tasks as washing up but given that the rest of my motley crew was feeling a bit sea sick today I was the only one able to go below deck for any length of time. It was whilst crossing from Hamilton to Lindeman Island that I made a very interesting discovery. Whilst washing the frying pan I noticed that where usually a tefal logo would be there was a Woman's Weekly Australian Edition one instead. Perhaps it came free with a copy of the magazine. Either perhaps to hit drunken Bruce's with or to encourage women to cook their men a decent breakfast every now and again.

Being a rufty tufty sailor I wasn't feeling any of the effects of sea sickness and no matter how many times I told the crew we were in calm conditions I couldn't convince them. After staying a couple of hours anchored off Lindeman Island we headed back for our last night on Hamilton Island.

Highlights: A nice sail back from Lindeman Island

Day 133 March 22nd 2007, Wow White Sand - Return trip to Whitehaven Beach from Hamilton Island

Whitehaven without a doubt is the most amazing beach I have ever been on, the sand is pure white with a powder like texture. Here's a bit of into to explain how the beach was created.

The photo doesn't really show how white the sand was

"The sand is minute powder-size grains of quartz and has been assayed at 99.89% pure, well above the minimum requirement for glass-making and suitable for the finest glass for optical lenses for binoculars etc. Its origin is not known definitely but geologists say it does not have a local origin as rocks of the Whitsunday area are quartz-poor. They think the most likely explanation is that it is the result of a long shore drift system which brings sand from the south along the Queensland coast, very evident in the Gold Coast/Fraser Island area. The Whitehaven sand is so pure it indicates that during the drift all heavy mineral sands and other impurities have been winnowed out leaving the quartz sand. Probably there is an eddy effect in Whitehaven Bay which causes the sand to drop out and accumulate there"

Seaplane with Turn 12 anchored in the background

Me and Shelley took a long relaxing walk along the beach it was pretty quiet except for the occasional sea plane that came into land, quite interesting.

Highlights: Whitehaven Beach

Day 132 March 21st 2007, Taking it easy - Hook Resort to Hamilton Island via Cid Island


After covering quite a bit of ground in the last couple of days and the events of last night we decided to take it easy and spent the day anchored off the West coast of Cid Island, returning to Hamilton Island in the evening for the shelter of the Marina. I think I have just about recovered from the snake incident now.

Highlights: A nice relaxing day

Day 131 March 20th 2007, "Lost" Season 2 Epsiode 23 - Stonehaven Bay to Hook Resort via Blue Pearl Bay and Butterlfy Bay

Running off an island in the middle of the night totally freaked out and having to drink the best part of half a bottle of gin, was not what I had in mind when I signed up for this trip but thats how today ended. Think eposode of Lost but first the prelude.

Just North of Stonehaven bay is Hayman Island and the beautiful Blue Pearl Bay, we managed to get in some reasonable snorkelling here and spent some time feeding the bat fish which were hovering round the back of our boat.

After a quick trip to Butterfly Bay on the North of Hook Island we headed South East towards Hook Resort. With wind against tide and gusts of upto 25 Knots it was a little on the rough side, not wanting to loose any of the crew I had them sitting in their lifejackets.

On arriving at the mooring off Hook Resort we were unable to reach the guys on shore so myself and Shelley took the tender out for a look. There was an underwater ovservatory on the Island which looked like it had been built in the 70's, the only building to survive a huge cyclone that came though here some time ago. This is when the Lost feeling started to creep in.

Opening credits for episode of Lost!!

To access the underwater observatory you had to climb down a set of spiral staircases into a dark room with small port holes, occasionally a fish would swim past. We then headed onto the Island and found the hotel owners sitting round having a beer, it turned out that their radio was off, with no ice either due to the ice maker being broken it did seem that this place was a little in disrepair.

On returning to our boat the crew we left on board were feeling a bit of sea sickness so after a quick dinner we decided to go ashore to relieve the symptoms. Before we left we decied to check out if the resort had any rooms, instead of reaching the resort Shelley managed to get in touch with somesort of Russian research vessel moored off our port bow on the other side of the channel.

They were happy for us to come across and stay but we thought better of it. Given it was now dark we had to make our way back to the pier on the tender via torchlight. After scaring Kirst and Jules with a visit to the underwater observatory we started to make our way along the pier to the start of the short bush track to the resort.

A huge gust of wind nearly blew us of our feet and we had to work to get to the end of the pier, climbing the steps to the start of the track I froze before quickly backtracking and nearly knocking over Kirsten, there in the path was 3ft long brown snake, not scared at all of us it started to advance. Sankes being my worst phobia I was outa there, running quickly back to the observatory where we had left our life jackets.

About to head for the tender a large rat, Shelleys worst phobia appeared in the middle of the path staring at us, shortly followed by an appearence of Kirstens worst phobia a cockroach. Not waiting for Julies' phobia to appear we were back in the dingy with the outboard running in seconds. Not before Mr Rat swam past the boat.

Back on "Turn 12" I manged to quickly put away almost half a bottle of gin to calm my nerves. We later found out that the snake we saw was more than likely an eastern brown, one of the most deadly in the World.

Highlights: Blue Pearl Bay

Day 130 March 19th, Finding Nemo - Whitsunday Island to Stonehaven Bay via Nara Inlet and Longford Island

After last nights anchor shenanigans I made sure that we would end up at a mooring tonight as I really needed to get some sleep. On route to Stonehaven bay we stopped off at Longford Island and got our first good snorkeling session in, plenty of corals and small reef fish on the North side of this small island. I have wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef for as long as I can remember and it was great to get a taster of what the area has to offer, managed to catch a glimpse of the famous Nemo before he hid away in an anemone., slightly less aggressive than the one living in my reef tank at home.

Longford Island

Highlights: Our first glimpses of marine life

Day 129 March 18th 2007, Shore leave cancelled - Hamilton Island to Whitsunday Island
I was woken early by the dawn chorus today, a flock of screeching cockatoos at 4AM, not good after a night out. After the crews behaviour last night I thought it best to leave Hamilton Island as soon as possible and we headed North to Sawmill Bay on Whitsunday Island. Being at Anchor for the night would keep the crew out of trouble. The only problem was the wind, gusting up to 25 Knots I didn't get a lot of sleep, waking every few hours to check the anchor hadn't slipped.

Highlights: The two hours of sleep I got at anchor

Day 128 March 17th 2007, Sydney to Hamilton Island

Anyone who has ever been at an Airport at 6AM will know that early morning feeling that seems unique to airports at this time of the morning. How I ever used to get up at 5AM every morning to do a paper round as a kid and then do the same for the last 3 years flying around Europe I don't know but I think the requirement to earn money had something to do with it.

Usually this early morning feeling was followed by exhilaration as I arrived at exciting locations such as Amsterdam and Frankfurt, today however after leaving on the 6:55AM flight from Sydney we arrived in what looks like paradise.

Fatigue instantly vanished as we were greeted by the beauty of the Whitsunday Islands, never before have I sat down for breakfast and had a flock of Cockatoo's try to sneak up and fly off with it.

Being the rainy season on Australia's East Coast we were soon in a downpour but not planning on sailing today it was no big deal. We did get a free upgrade on the boat to a 44.4ft Sun Odyssey which meant that everyone had their own cabin and toilet. In true holiday style everyone was allocated their sailing name for the week. The crew list for "Turn 12"

El Capitan George Muelet the 1st (Myself)
Lady Broadside (Shelley)
Lady Hornblower (Kirsten)
Lady M'Julie Bilges (Julie)

As for the origin of these names don't ask however Lady Hornblower became Lady Hornblower-Asbo after she was thrown out of the islands only nightclub. The evening was polished off with El Capitan having to rescue Lady Broadside from the marina after she missed her step getting back onto the boat. Yes we are all crazy.

Highlights: Arriving in the beautiful Whitsundays

Day 127 March 16th 2007, Something Fishy Going On - Sydney

The Sydney Harbor Aquarium has over 11,500 inhabitants, everything from little fishy's to some pretty big sharks. Given the effort I have to put into my marine aquarium back home (now in the safe hands of my parents) running this place must be an incredible task

Shelley and Kirsten in the underwater viewing tunnel, even the floor was glass.

They have an excellent reef exhibit here with everything from Clown Fish to giant sting rays, after a sneak preview of what the Great Barrier Reef has to offer I can't wait to get up there.

Highlights: Fishes, Fishes and more Fishes

Day 126 March 15th 2007, Surf's up on the Bridge - Sydney

Bondi Beach is a short train ride from the center of town, World famous for its surf I guess, shark nets and ripe tides that can send you down the coast to the next beach if your not careful. Saving the surf lesson for another day I got in a bit of body surfing and was soon been slammed down by some big rollers, great fun but the water up nose trick from Tahiti was back (see day 92)

A view along Bondi Beach




One of the Seagulls takes a liking to fast food

And just when I was starting to relax at the beach we headed back into town to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Being fearless after my bungy jump this was a piece of cake but with 3 ladies in tow there was plenty of squealing as we climbed higher towards the top of the bridge in our very fashionable boiler suits.

The views were pretty spectacular and we managed to see the sunset on our way down from the top of the bridge. The design of the Sydney Harbor Bridge was later used as the basis for the Tyne bridge in Newcastle, UK. Oh well after seeing the bridge here shall have to find another reason to visit Newcastle. An interesting fact we learnt about the bridge is that is took 8 years to build which is the current estimate for the time needed to repair some of the rusting beams under the bridge, perhaps quicker to rebuild it?


Highlights: Bondi Beach and the bridge climb

Day 125 March 14th 2007, G'day - Auckland to Sydney

After much interest the mullet is staying, the voting says it all 55% in favor of me not getting a hair cut. With the important issue dealt with onto the traveling. We arrived in Sydney at around 10:30AM today after an early flight from Auckland. Coming from new Zealand the customs guys were a lot more relaxed, no shoe or tent cleaning they were happy that their friends over the water would have taken care of any bugs.

A view of the opera house from the ferry

We headed for our apartment in the Darling Harbor area before setting off for our rendezvous with Kirsten and Julie also over here traveling. After almost 5 months of peace and quiet I was subjected to continuous girlie chat and gossip, as I was about to throw myself off the bridge, Bufont (also know as Richard, an old friend of the girls who had just moved over here) turned up and I was saved.

From left to right, Kirsten, Julie, Richard and Shelley

After a few beers and some basking in the views of the Bridge and Opera House we headed off via ferry to Manley Beach. From my first impressions of Oz I can say that if being sent over here was still being used as a punishment I would gladly break into the nearest police station back home. Sydney is calm and relaxed like Auckland but has a bit more of a buzz about the place and the weather is great.

Now an interesting fact about Oz, Crocodile Dundee is the 4th highest grossing film of all time. Here's the top 5

1. Titanic (In 1997)
2. Shrek 2 (2004)
3. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004)
4. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Highlights: The great atmosphere of Sydney

Day 124 March 13th 2007,The Whirl Wind Tour Continues - Rotorua to Tauranga to Auckland

One thing is for sure we certainly can do a lot in a day, after a cooked breakfast we made our way to the coast, where Neil's friends have a beautiful apartment overlooking Papamoa beach. Kiwi's love the rugby and even their pet German Shepherd was pretty good at it.


After a brief lunch we dashed back to Auckland to return our hire car before 5PM and then headed over to my Great Aunt Pats for some more home cooking which after being on the road for so long is greatly appreciated. Pat had taken the opportunity to find all the photos my Mum had been sending her over the years. These provided great amusement for Shelley. After dinner, New Zealand lamb of course, we managed to get in a visit to One Tree Hill.


The views over Auckland were pretty good and the park itself around the hill brought back memories of summer walks in Richmond Park back in the UK. The photo above is me and my Great Aunt Pat at the top of One Tree Hill. The photo below is from wikipedia and shows a view of the hill.


After One Tree Hill we also managed to visit one of my second cousin Andrew and his family. Being a bit of a wine connoisseur he kindly gave us a very nice bottle from his collection to enjoy whilst in the Whitsunday's

Highlights: The beach and meeting up with my Great Aunt Pat again

Day 123 March 12th 2007, Hard Yakka - Picton to Wellington to Rotorua

Catching the 10AM ferry from Picton we arrived back in Wellington on the North island at around 1PM, with weeks of driving practice we would now make great long distance lorry drivers and drove 6 hours straight to Rotorua, no hassle at all.

Shelley and Neil after running in from the rain

Waiting for us beside a motorway junction was Shelley's Dad's Cousin Neil (New Zealand truly is the land of distant relations) Neil who has been over here for nearly 34 years showed us the way to a lakeside cabin he was working on where we spent the evening. A lot of catching up was to be done over some great Steak and we were all talking late into the night. There was an absolute howler blowing outside but we were snug and warm in the cabin glad that we weren't camping.

Highlights: Meeting up with Shelley's Dad's Cousin Neil

Day 122 March 11th 2007, South Island Highlights - Kaikoura to Picton


We were planning on taking a helicopter flight today to see the Whales but visibility wasn't good so we set off early to make our way back to Picton, where we arrived in the South Island 12 days ago. We have managed to get round all of the main highlights but it was certainly a rush and there were so many places we just drove past that were really worth a look. A month for the South Island would have been ideal.

Having now seen both the North and South Islands I wouldn't say as some people have told us that you should spend more time in the South as it has more to offer. The Bay of Islands and the Kauri Forests of the North Island were stunning and we missed out the wine district and many of the beaches on the West coast. The South Island though did have some stunning walks such as the Queen Charlotte Track, Abel Tasman National Park and of course the Milford Sound Track, the last of which we didn't have time to walk.

If staying in Picton the Yacht Club is pretty nice and reasonably priced.

Highlights: More nice scenary on route to Picton

Day 121 March 10th 2007, Rotten Eggs - Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura

Hanmer Springs has two claims to fame, its hot springs and that it used to have the countries leading drug rehabilitation center. Given that rehab was closed and having being off the Cocoa leaves since leaving Peru, now feeling only slightly addicted to cappuccinos we gave rehab a miss and spent an hour or so soaking in the hot baths.

Feeling relaxed and smelling of sulphur (rotten egg smell) we headed off again to Kaikoura a town famous for Whale watching.

Highlights: Stinking off eggs

Day 120 March 9th 2007, Frozen Pizza - Christchurch to Hanmer Springs

With all driving and camping we were starting to get a little fatigued so we didn't really feel like exploring Christchurch all that much. A lot of people had said it looks a lot like England, this didn't really inspire us as of course we live in England.

So after a day of catching up on emails and drinking coffee we headed off to Hanmer Springs, again underestimating how far away everything is in New Zealand, by the time we arrived it was pitch black and with a damp tent from last nights rain in the boot we took the easy option and checked into a motel. After finding out we wouldn't be able to get anything to eat as all of the restaurants would be closed (it was only 9PM) the motel owners gave us a frozen pizza from their own supplies.

Highlights: Warm and dry motel room

Day 119 March 8th 2007, Baaaah - Mount Cook to Christchurch

After waking half way through the night thinking that our tent was going to blow down we were pleasantly surprised to find a very sunny morning. Perfect for taking a look at Mount Cook. Still talking about my bungy jump we packed up camp and set off on the short drive to the start of the Hooker Valley Trail. On route we encountered a bit of a hold up in a herd of sheep.

After a short delay we arrived at the start of the trail and the 3 hour return trip to the lake viewpoint of Mount Cook

As you can see from the photos above Mount Cook is stunning, a jagged rocky mountain dominating the landscape. On our way to Christchurch we stopped off at Lake Tekapo (photo below) The lake formed by glacier water, you can see Mount Cook in the distance.

Highlights: The great views of Mount Cook