Getting To Cairns

So finally after 5 – 6 months working we are officially back travelling.  We have now been travelling for just over a week and in the first week we have been so busy we just have not found the time to be able to write any blogs. We apologise for this and would like to warn you that there may be a few blogs all coming in a couple of days. This is for several reasons, firstly as we have done so much it would take us forever to write what we have been doing and secondly and most importantly we don’t want to bore you guys to death.


Having decided that we want to travel around Australia in the cheapest possible way we decided to rent our self a Jucy Campervan, which Amber has called Shrek.

Our Journey around Australia will officially start in Cairns. We will then head down the east coast (missing Sydney) to Melbourne. Then we are aiming to go inland and visit Adelaide before venturing into the desert to visit Uluru and Kings Canyon. Once finished in central Oz we will then be ending our journey in Sydney before flying to New Zealand. As we have been working in Brisbane, for the first part of our journey we decided to get to northern Queensland as quickly as possible. 

We picked up our Jucy Campervan and had planned to stay the night in a National Park called Bunya Mountains. Having done some research we planned to stay here and give the campervan its first little test to make sure everything worked ok. Bunya Mountains is about a 3 hour drive (200km) North West of Brisbane. Things took a little longer than planned picking up the campervan so we bundled everything into the back of the van with a blue skied Brisbane and head towards the mountains with intentions of sorting things out once we arrived.

On arrival at Bunya the weather was awful with thick fog and pouring with rain. We tried to sort things out as best we could just so we could get out of the rain and get some sleep. Waking up on Sunday taught us that the fog had not lifted and the rain had not stopped all night. We soon realised that we had accumulated too much rubbish over the 6 months working and a massive clear out was in order. We got rid of clothes, camping equipment, plastic boxes and shoes. Amber is still trying to convince me that getting rid of a pair of heels (even though we’re camping) is a massive sacrifice and I should be grateful. After a couple of hours things were sorted and we were back on the road. With smiles back on our faces we left the mountain, or at least we tried to leave. We found that in the previous night’s storm that the biggest tree had fallen totally blocking the road off the mountain. We ended up having to make a 90 minute diversion.

We had planned on staying at a little village called Dululu. However having driven over 600km, thanks to the detour due to the falling tree it became apparent that this was not going to happen and with the sun setting we searched for a caravan park. An hour later we were in the caravan park planning the following day. We had discovered that working our way up inland Queensland (as scenic as it was) was no good as we were finding ourselves miles from anywhere, with no phone signal. It was for this reason that we decided for the rest of our journey up to Cairns that we would take the coastal roads. This truly was our first lesson at just how big and vast this country is.

A long road to somewhere?

Rising early for another long day of driving we were shocked to find that the fog was obviously following us, as the clear sky the night before had disappeared. Luckily it didn’t last for long. Our destination was the seaside town of Bowen. Arriving before the sun set we decided to take a small drive to Grays Bay, where we were treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets we have both ever seen. ON the way back to the caravan park we were shocked to see a 'Moon Rise' over a local bay. Both events were truly spectacular.

Moon Rise

Tuesday saw the final leg of what seemed an epic journey. Today however we were to drive through some of the most spectacular National Parks. We found a lovely bay to have some lunch and then continued towards Cairns. It was on this leg of the journey that we decided that we were going to push the boat out in Cairns and book ourselves a Skydive. Needless to say that we didn’t tell our parents this was coming up. We arrived in Cairns around 4.30pm and having sat in the campervan for what seemed all week we went for a stroll along the beach and got some dinner.

Easter with Maureen & Graham

This Easter we had a real treat, we were invited to stay with Maureen and Graham on the farm in Biddiddaba.

We arrived Good Friday and after just a few hours we had completely relaxed. The stresses of working hard and the hustle of city living soon seemed like a distant memory. We chilled in the pool, played with the adorable Frank and Bingo (dogs) and we watched the world go by. To Jonny’s delight Glen provided every single sports channel on the TV. To my dismay the Reading FC game was being shown live at midnight. I managed to stay awake for the first 30 seconds and then got woken up every so often by Jonny jumping around and arguing with the ref - Apparently it was a big game?!?

Saturday we headed up Mount Tambourine for morning coffee with a view, as its name suggests; Mount Tambourine is the local mountain with a lovely village. We went to the "Polish Cafe" which serves the most yummy coffees and cakes. Some of the most beautiful birds were flying around the café some of which certainly weren't shy when it came to visiting the tables to steal the sugar.
Later, we carried on up the mountain to Gallery Walk, a little road with unique small shops and cafes. Saturday evening we were treated to another of Maureen’s fantastic dinners with the company of June and Stuart (Glens parents).

 
On Easter Sunday we did the very Ozzy thing and headed to an Easter show. For those of you that don’t know what an East Show is, it’s basically a massive local fair. We went to the tiny town of Roughdowny where they put on a parade and market; we had a bit of an Australian culture lesson. For the rest of Easter Sunday we did the traditional thing of eating plenty of chocolate and relaxing.

When Monday arrived we really didn’t want to leave, the thought of heading back to work in the morning was enough to want to cry!! We had the most fabulous time!!To say we will miss Maureen and Graham when they return to England would be an understatement. They have been our family out here and we have loved and appreciated every moment with them. They have given us the most valuable advice, looked after us and made us feel so welcome. Therefore we would like to say a huge thank you for everything you have done, have a safe flight to London and we look forward to seeing in a September.

Worlds Greatest Shave

Hi Guys,

As I sure many of you know we are in the middle of travelling around the world and are having to work to help fund our journey.

I am currently working as a Barista in Brisbane. A few of my colleagues have signed up for a charity event for Leukaemia Foundation in which they are shaving their heads to raise money for the foundation. I had not started work when they signed up for this but have decided to take part anyway, and in typical Jonathan Lara fashion am pleased to announce that TOMORROW (Friday) I will be shaving my head.

I am looking to raise $200 and if you would are able to donate it would be very much appreciated, however large or small. Please find the link to donate below. By clicking on this link you will also be able to find out a lot more about the charity.

http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/jonathanlara

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this email and thank you in advance for any contributions.

We will put some before and after photos on here as soon as we have them.
Hope your all well,

J x
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As promised here are the before and after photos . . . . . . . .

Before .  . . .

After . . . .

Australia Zoo, Brighton Beach, Mt Coot-Tha, The Gabba and Brisbane life

We have had a rather busy few weeks; both of us have been working hard. Jonny is now working as a barista in a coffee shop in the city centre. I have been working for Deloitte for the past 7 weeks and I’m now being placed with another company in the city centre; I love working in the city skyscrapers. We have been lucky when it comes to shifts as we both work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 which means our weekends have become rather important.

My office with a view

Here are a few of the more fun things we have been doing with our weekends.

We have found a little spot in Brisbane that we have fallen in love with; it has become our own little retreat. Mount Coot-Tha is a peek which is almost 300 metres above sea level offering unbeatable views of the city. It is just a 20 minute drive from our house so we have become regular visitors to the look out. We particularly love heading up the mountain after work with a picnic to watch the sunset over the city.  

View of city from Coot-tha

Sun goes down

City lights

It was our anniversary in February and we decided to treat ourselves with a day out at the home of the Crocodile Hunter, Australia Zoo. 

Jonny with the one and only

Our first stop at the zoo was the new Africa safari. As with all the enclosures at the zoo it was huge with plenty of different spaces for the animals to enjoy. The Africa section was home to Zebra, Rhinos, Giraffe and Cheaters. However their biggest Rhino had to be separated from the rest at the time we were visiting as it was mating season and he started showing his dominance towards the poor Giraffes.

Our next stop was to see the Asian Elephants, seeing the beautiful, enormous creatures brought back some of our amazing memories of the time we spent at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. Seeing these gorgeous animals again made us realise just how much we learnt to appreciate their intelligence and gracious mannerisms.

With Steve Irwin being known as the Crocodile Hunter and for his love of reptiles it was no surprise this was the area where the zoo excelled. The enclosures for crocodiles act as a centre point of the zoo. Most of the crocs had been rescued by Steve from all different parts of Australia. He captured them from rivers and creeks where they were causing issues for the locals by attacking pets and scarring away tourist.

Feeding time

Jonny the croc hunter?

My knid of croc

This was actually my second visit to the zoo; I have always claimed that visiting the zoo cured my fear of snakes. Before visiting the zoo for the first time I couldn’t even look at a snake on the TV without wanting to cry with fear. At the zoo staff were able to educate me teaching that snakes do not need to be feared if they are understood. I left the zoo with a new found respect for snakes not being able to remember what I had been so scared of. When Jonny and I decided to visit the zoo together, I wanted to prove to myself I was over my fear of snakes by holding one. Jonny was not so impressed with the idea; he didn’t even want to be in the same room as me and a snake to take the photo. However when we arrived and saw the snakes we spoke to the staff and Jonny found he was becoming more relaxed around the reptiles. Before we knew it we were both sitting with Charlie, a 5 year old, 9 foot python wrapped around us.

Us with Charlie

The zoo carried a strong message of conservation, they educate visitors about animals in such a way people leave wanting to do their part. They allow more interactive with the animals than any other zoo we have known. We were able to feed Kangaroos, stroke Koala's and hold baby alligators which were experiences we will never forget.



Me feeding a Kangaroo

With the baby croc

Jonny feeding the roo

New best mate|? 

Our Koala

We had a day out on Brighton beach; I couldn’t resist a visiting my cities namesake. As expected Brighton in Queensland was very different to the Brighton I left behind. There are no funfair rides, crowds of tourist or killer seagulls; instead there is a beach where the sea goes out for miles leaving wet sand which is adored by seabirds. We did enjoy walking along the beach and sitting in the sunshine with a picnic but it did feel like a long way from home.

Australia has its very own Brighton beach?

We managed to get tickets to see Australia vs Sri Lanka in a one day match at the Gabba. Watching an international cricket game was something that Jonny was desperate to experience during our travels. The game was much closer than expected and as we were secretly cheering on Sri Lanka we were disappointed they were unable to beat the Ozzys. We were very much entertained throughout the day as the colourful audience got involved and behind their teams. Even though we sat in sticky hot conditions for 9 hours the time flew and we had a great time.

The Gabba

The Ozzy's win

 
Finally we wanted to share an experience which we found so impressive. Last Wednesday a power line came down on a train line just before rush hour. As expected this caused the trains to stop temporarily and therefore some people had delays of up to 90 minutes. A 90 minute delay is not unheard of in England however here 90 minutes was described as chaos and unacceptable. As a way to say sorry the following day Queensland government gave all public transport users free transport. Therefore every bus, ferry and train would be running for anyone without a charge. We took full advantage of this and used the ferry as a tour bus and viewed the city from the water for the first time which was just lovely.

City view from Brisbane river

We are still very much enjoying our travels, we always knew this part of our trip would have a slower pace but were pleased to be keeping busy at the weekends.

Oz up date and a little video of Asia

We haven’t written a blog in a while as we have been doing much the same thing every day – JOB HUNTING. Amber has managed to find a temporary role through an agency, working in a finance office in the city. The job is enjoyable; the problem is it is just for now so it has been hard to make many plans. Jonny has been getting the odd day temping but nothing serious as of yet.

We have now found somewhere to live. We have found a room in a house which we can call home for a few months. We are living in a beautiful area of Brisbane called Kangaroo point; it’s next to the lovely Brisbane River and a short walk to the gorgeous south bank and city. It has been so nice to have some of our home comforts. It has been the first time in months we have had our own TV and Amber has officially caught up with Neighbours and Home & Away. We are also able to enjoy home cooking again, tonight we had our first jacket potato with baked beans and cheddar cheese since leaving the UK, it went down a treat.

Anyway, we still can’t believe our time in Asia as been and gone, after all those months of planning and getting excited. As a fun way to look back and remember our times we have put some of our favourite photos to music, we have copied the link if you would like to have a look.  Due to copyrights you are unable to watch it on your phones, but for those of you viewing this on a computer then you can watch it. We hope you enjoy it.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isT_FgZ6ka8

Anyway were off to do more job hunting . . . . We’re be in touch soon.

Amber and Jonny x