Last days in Singapore

Hello everyone,

We decided to go try some of the bigger Singapore attractions out there. We started off by going to Vivo City to look around, have some lunch and then go to the Cable Cars. We took the ride to Sentosa and then back and on to Mount Faber. Here we looked around a bit, saw the sky line, and visited -what apparently was - the world's best toilet... Very impressive...

Soon we went back and took the subway to the Marina Bay. Here we walked quite a bit along the Marina until we found the Marina Bay Sands shopping centre. From here there was an underground passage to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. We went up the hotel to the Sky View Park on top and saw the skyline of Singapore from a different angle.

April 1st was the last day of the I Light Festival in Singapore, so we still had some time to see it. It was all around the Marina and since it was getting dark it was starting. So we walked around to see half of it and ended up at the Esplanade where a band was playing live music. We sat down for the rest of the night, until it got late and we went back to the hotel.

The next day we went to Orchard Road to look around. Lots of construction sites and expensive shops everywhere. We didn't care much for those things so we took a bus and continued on to visit the Asian Civilization Museum. It was free entry because of some sort of festival that was going on there. Lots of special performances by Asian dance groups and snake-men and such.

We spent quite some time in the museum before moving on, back to the Marina Bay Sands. We had missed the Art/Science Museum there because we didn't have time the day before so we visited it now. It had a special Andy Warhol gallery and a Titanic dedicated gallery as well. It was quite interesting (more than I had expected) so we spent quite some time here as well.

After the museums we took the subway to the other side of the Marina where we saw the rest of the I Light Festival. We ended up at the Esplanade again where there was a different band playing live music. It got quite late again before we took the subway back to the hotel. We have a long 2 days ahead of us, and this'll probably be the last blog we upload.

We'll see you when we get back in the Netherlands!

Jeremy

Arrival at Singapore

Good morning everyone,

We arrived in Singapore at around 22:30. First surprise was the incredible heat once we stepped outside. It's warmer here in the middle of the night then it ever is in the Netherlands. Second surprise was the taxi we got. It felt like the driver had purchased an air conditioner and put wheels under it. It didn't really matter though because it got us from the airport to the Marrison hotel (103 Beach Road).

The hotel room itself is quite small, but we do have a window which is uncommon here. The bathroom is a shower with a toilet underneath it and a sink on the side. We do have a big flat screen tv though and free Wifi. It's not a bad room at all, and the air conditioner works wonders, it really does.

We had a good night sleep and the next morning we went out to explore Singapore. Of course it was even warmer than the night before and the humidity didn't help either. We walked to the City Hall train station and bought ourselves a 3 day tourist pass. Thankfully all the stations - no, every building in entire Singapore - is air conditioned.

We went to Chinatown first. Here we walked around, checking out the shops until we stumbled on a Hindu Temple. We looked around a bit and then went on to the Chinese Heritage Museum. There we heard a tour had just left for around Chinatown so we quickly went around the corner to look for the guide.

She gave us a very interesting tour of the suburb and told us a lot about the lifestyle of Singapore citizens. She avoided the tourist sites which we could very well discover on our own so we got to learn a lot about the country and about the strict rules they had. Afterwards we went to the Buddhist Temple nearby. There were lots of people there playing Chinese Chess, it was very hard to follow but fun to see.

When we got out of the Temple on the other side we went back to the subway station and took the train to Little India. We walked around a bit there too, got a fresh fruit drink and then went back to the hotel. I was exhausted. Maybe it's the jet lag, but probably just the extreme heat. We get tired quite fast and taking an afternoon rest with air conditioning helps.

At night we went out for a bite but had a Singapore Sling first at the Rafflers hotel. Nearby were great places to eat and after dinner we walked back to the hotel because it was getting late. Still extremely warm outside though, so we were thankful for the cool air in our hotel again. It was time for bed though, so we got a good night sleep and today we'll go out exploring some more.

Jeremy

Last days in Sydney

Hello everyone,

We left the caravan park to return the campervan in Sydney. We decided to take the Sydney Harbour Bridge because it would be awesome to have driven there and see the city from the bridge. It was a little detour, especially because I kind of missed the exit at the end of the bridge and ended up in the middle of the Central Business District, but we made it to the Maui turn in spot with about 3 hours to spare.

Turning in the campervan wasn't much of an issue and therefor it didn't take long for us to get a cab and be on our way to our hotel. The check-in went fine and we got to our room pretty quickly. We had a rest and John found a drycleaner which would be able to wash our clothes. We brought the clothes there and then went further towards Darling Harbour.

We did everything on foot because we wanted to see the city and walk through all the little (and big) arcades inside the buildings. We went through the Queen Victoria Building as well and got lost a couple of times. The map was very clear, but once you went through an arcade or building you'd lose all sense of direction.

At Darling Harbour we looked around, before heading into the biggest IMAX theatre in the world, to see the movie John Carter. Great movie, recommend it to everyone. After the movie we exited the theatre and walked along the harbour looking at all the little café's, bars and restaurants of which several had some live music. At night the place looked even better than during the day, it was incredibly beautiful.

After some detours again we went back to the hotel for a night of sleep, so we were ready again to go explore the rest of the city the following day- which we obviously did once when we got up. We didn't have breakfast included at the hotel so we decided to have some in Hyde Park. There was a little café at the south end where we sat down and decided what we would do with the rest of the day.

We made our first stop at the Sydney Tower. Went all the way up after seeing an unexciting ‘4D-movie' about Sydney. At the top we got to see the entire city from the tallest building in Sydney, of which you've by now seen the pictures. Took quite some time to enjoy the scenery before heading down again to go to our next stop, The Royal Botanical Gardens.

After walking through the Gardens for a while we noticed there were strange things hanging from the trees. At first glance it looked like some weird fruit but then it moved and became clear to us that it was bats. Quite large bats. Flying Foxes. They were all hanging upside down from the trees, seemingly asleep. Until they some of them started scratching their backs and some even started flying around.

They were very noisy and only after heading further up the gardens towards the Sydney Opera House it started becoming more quiet. At the opera house itself we looked around a bit. There wasn't much to see inside unless you took a quite expensive tour so we just explored the outside. Had some great views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from here which we enjoyed while getting a drink at the cafe down by the water.

We moved on to the Sydney Museum afterwards, which was free of charge because we were running late. We had a quick look around before it closed and then we moved on to pick up our dry cleaning. The way back to the hotel was anything but regular, and it felt like the movie The Adjustment Bureau:

We went left outside the drycleaner, right up the stairs, crossed the street. Entered the building on the other side (which was some sort of bank), went through a glass door on the left, to the right up two escalators, to the right again through a glass door, left through a revolving door bringing us back on a street, which we crossed again to go through a large door on the other side, entering a small shop. We went up the stairs at the back of the shop, ending up in a bar. We ignored the casino area on the right and moved along through another opening and then went left into a lift, which brought us to our hotel floor.

We travelled 3 blocks while only seeing the street for a few seconds, it was quite amazing that it's possible in Sydney to move around like that. In the hotel we put our dry cleaning aside and refreshed ourselves to walk towards the Rocks. A place with nice and cosy bars and restaurants. We had a look around and a couple of drinks before returning to our hotel and calling it a night.

The next morning we had breakfast in Hyde Park again before trying to find a Vodafone shop to get a refund on our internet. It started pouring intensely and we had to hide from this incredible rainfall. We stood at the side of the street while we saw all the water flowing down the street to a lower point. We heard some thunder as well and it was so heavy that we couldn't cross the street for some time.

When the rain calmed down a little we tookour chance and crossed the street, going through some arcades and food courts to find our way to the Vodafone shop where we got a full refund on our internet (free internet for the entire trip, yay!).

Afterwards we went back to the hotel, avoiding the rain as much as possible again and got a cab towards the airport where we are now, enjoying the free Wifi they have over here and waiting for our flight to Singapore. We'll arrive quite late tonight so we we'll see you tomorrow again.

Jeremy

Manly and Sydney

Heey everyone!

So we arrived in Sydney. We went up some mountains, down some hills, and soon drove along a road with the sea on our left hand side and soon ended up at the caravan park. The most expensive one so far, but by far the best as well. Free Wifi, the beach just across the road, public transport at 50 meters distance and shops and restaurants at 200 meters distance.

We left all that immediately behind us though, because we wanted to see some of the North Sydney beaches before it got dark so we drove off. We took some seemingly impossible turns and overcame some incredibly steep hills but ended up at Palm Beach, the most northern point of Sydney.

We enjoyed the scenery and drove further. After a while we got to Whale Beach, another quick stop before we went on to the next beach and so on and so on. At the last beach we got some dinner at the supermarket and then went back to the caravan park.

We cooked up some sausages before going to bed. The sky was completely clear so there were lots of stars to see. The next morning though, we found rain on the windshield and clouds above. The weather forecast was sun with a bit of clouds but apparently it wasn't just that.

Didn't matter though, because we bought our public transport passes and used the bus to get to Manly. Beautiful ride and we got off at Manly Wharf. With our public transport passes we could use the ferries for free as well so we immediately took one to Circular Quay (Sydney CBD).From here we took another ferry to Darling Harbour passing Luna Park and 2 other stops.

From here we took the Mono-rail around the city centre and got off at Chinatown. We walked around a bit here and ended up in a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. We ate way too much, way too good, way too long. After being able to stand again we walked on to a park close by where an Indian festival was going on.

Lots of people were getting paint thrown on them and there were dancers everywhere. We looked around a bit but went on to Paddy's Market before we got painted ourselves. The market was a lot different from the one we saw in Los Angeles, a lot more crowded and bigger. We looked around and then walked towards the city centre again.

From here we took a bus back to Circular Quay and a ferry back to Manly. In Manly we went to Manly beach and walked along the shore all the way to Shelby Beach. We continued from there up into the Sydney National Park and walked around there until we noticed the sun was going down.

We walked back a long way to the Corso, a walkway between Manly Wharf and Manly Beach. From here we found a bus that would take us back to the caravan park. It was dark before we got on to the bus and it was quite late when we arrived at our campervan.

Tomorrow we'll have to turn into the campervan and move into our new home; the hotel on Phillip Street. We'll see you there!

Jeremy

The Quest to find Squeaky Beach

Good afternoon everyone!

We got a nice long sleep last night and a nice late breakfast this morning. We ended up making some plans for when we get to Sydney tomorrow. Decided what to see on what days and where to stay until we need to turn in the campervan. After that we read some of the responses on the blog and decided to head off.

A woman's voice was looming in the winds. It came from far far away and told of magical and mysterious places. It is how we heard of 'Squeaky Beach'. We decided to set out with our humble chariot (read: fat campervan) to find this dream area. But we only had a single clue: Booti Booti Hill.

A perilous journey, one not to take lightly. We reached Booti Booti Hill (Cape Hawke Lookout) after a quick voyage through the beautiful place known as Forster. Here we faced a dangerous climb to the top, one only for the toughest and bravest of men! The trees grew in an arc over the never-ending pathway and hid every bit of the sky from us. There were dragons on the path, but we just stepped over them.

After what seemed to be an eternity we had reached the top. Hoping to find a clue for Squeaky Beach we looked around. We had a great view of the entire area and noticed a bay where our destination might be so we descended back to the place we left our chariot and went towards what we hoped to be the promised land!

On good luck we went left - right - left and so on and found a nice vantage point up on a cliff, overlooking the great Forster. A small path lead along the edges of the cliff through the bushes and ended up on a giant sand dune next to the One-Mile-Beach. The sun, which had been our noble companion for the day, turned into a treacherous enemy as it shone it's furious light upon us. We stomped around quickly hoping for a Squeak but there was complete silence. We were wrong and had to get back fast for a wee drink...

Getting back on our chariot, heading downwards again we knew our quest was reaching a dead end... We needed to calm down and get our thoughts straight. We decided to go for a lunch but the locals didn't want us to find their treasure beach so they wouldn't cooperate! (It was 15:30, all the kitchens in the restaurants were closed). We finally found a bakery who would sell us some pies for a couple of gold coins.

We took the pies with us and crossed the bridge to Tuncurry to find a spot to eat, and think. We just continued without any logical direction until we ended up on some sort of sand bank with a lot of grass around it. We ate our pies and decided to take a walk and clear our heads.

A small sandy path lead down to a beach where the local inhabitants walked their animal pets (dogs) and from here we had a great view of Forster again, only from a different angle. We sat down on the grass at the edge of the beach until I moved closer to the sea. What I heard was phenomenal! Squeak, Squeak, Squeak. We had found what we were looking for!

After looking around and joyfully stomping around in the sand we went back into town to collect our treasure: Tooheys proud new brew, provided by the local liquor store. Then we went back to our camp site to celebrate!

We'll get some food at the snack bar around the corner in a few minutes and upload all the wonderful ‘magical images' we made before calling it an early night. Tomorrow we'll set out for Sydney and spend the last of our time in Australia there.

Jeremy

P.S. Forster is one of the most beautiful places we've seen so far. Good tip Harry. Thanks for the quest Dorothy!

P.P.S. We're sitting beneath a big tree for some shade. The downside to this is that the birds are dropping ‘stuff' on us..

Gympie to Forster

Hello everyone!

We left Gympie yesterday (march 21st) after saying goodbye to Lis and thanking her for her hospitality. We headed for Byron Bay. The first part of our journey consisted of going over a dull freeway with lots of roadblocks and stops... It seems like they're working on every road all over Australia with just 3 or 4 people... Ooh well, it took some time until we reached Brisbane.

Here we had to avoid toll roads so we went straight through the city itself which was great fun. Busy traffic but a lot nicer scenery than the freeways. We got back on the freeway south of Brisbane and continued our way passing by Surfers Paradise. Lots of theme parks and water parks here, logically. The real tourist part of Australia apparently.

After some time we reached Byron Bay. Here we drove around, went to the lighthouse and walked around a bit in the centre of town before moving further south to Lennox Head, where there was a campervan park for which we had discount coupons. We just spent the night here before heading off south again.

Lots of road blocks and stops again but we were still ahead of schedule so we decided to take stops underway. At the Hungry Jacks we almost got stuck with the campervan because the parking spots were obviously not designed for our kind of car.. But we got out just fine before continuing to Coffs Harbour.

Here we checked out the Harbour itself before going further south to eventually ended up in Forster. We arrived at the caravan park just after 6 o'clock. We haven't decided yet if we stay here tomorrow or go on to Sydney but we do see the advantages of this place. A delicious snack bar just around the corner, great fishing spots and a great camp site.

We'll decide tomorrow, and we'll let you know then!

Jeremy

Fraser Island

Good evening everyone,

Today we got up real early to make it in time for the tour to Fraser Island. By 7:15 we made it there, had quick breakfast and waited for the bus to pick us up. We got on and to our surprise the best seats weren't taken yet. We sat down in the 2 seats right behind the driver, and I sat on the left side so I could see right through the front window and had the best view of everyone.

A ferry took us over within 15 minutes and from then on it got really exciting. We arrived during high tide which meant most of the beach was under water, but we still had to drive through to reach a pathway actually leading further into the island. The drive itself the entire day was a great experience already but on top of that we got a couple of great things to see as well.

First stop was McKenzie Lake. A lake consisting entirely out of rainwater which made it a bit harder to swim in apparently. We didn't notice much of that, felt just like a swimming pool. Only much much cleaner without the chlorine everywhere. We had a great swim before we went back towards the bus. On the path we encountered a fairly big lizard (for my standards at least..) which crawled away under a log and kept still there until we continued our way.

Back at the bus we continued the tour towards one of the many rainforests on Fraser Island. Here the tour guide told us a lot about the history of the place and how everything came to exist. We also saw a unique plant to only sand based rainforests and were amazed at how old some of the trees and plants actually were.

The next stop was Lunch (which was great!) and after we went towards the beach again where we saw a wild Dingo before arriving at a ship wreck. It was an interesting thing to see and we took some pictures but didn't spend much time there before continuing to the Pinnacles of Fraser Island. These were a sort of sand dunes consisting of different layers which all had their own unique colour.

Here the bus turned around and went for Eli Creek, which we had passed earlier. We weren't on the bus though, along with 1 other person. The reason for this is because we got the chance to go on a plane ride over the island for 15 minutes, which would land us back at Eli Creek afterwards.

We didn't miss a thing of the tour this way and got to enjoy the island from above which gave us a great impression of how big the island actually was, all made out of only sand. It was simply amazing and a unique experience which I hadn't seen coming.

Back at Eli Creek we were free to explore on our own for a while. We walked up the boardwalk along the creek to the end to get an idea of how the creek looks like further upstream. There were 2 really big spiders here which we tried to photograph but it wouldn't focus. Since we didn't have much time we didn't hang around too long and looked at other things before getting back on the bus.

Last stop was back at the Eurong resort (where we had lunch) to pick up a few other tourists who needed a ride back to the main land. After a 10 minute leg-stretch we got on our way back to the ferry. The tide was coming in again so we had to either take the same way back to the ferry (taking a road which went deeper into the island and back out near the ferry) or take the beach route which was currently getting narrower and narrower.

We went over the beach nonetheless and the bus partly went through the see which can be seen on one of the photos. It didn't take long for the ferry to arrive (5 minutes or so) and we got on along with 3 other cars. We climbed the stairs on the ferry up to the captain's cabin and watched the sea from there before we got to land again and were taken to our campervan.

We drove back to Gympie because Liz gave us the offer to stay another night. We gladly accepted that offer and are now going to have dinner. Tomorrow we'll try to make it to Byron Bay, just south of Brisbane. See you there!

Jeremy

Gympie, Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay

Hello everyone!

On Monday we left the caravan park early because we overheard some people talking about heavy rainfall coming our way. We wanted to have everything packed and ready to go before everything got wet. Luckily we were in time and already on the road before the rain came down.
When we finally reached Gympie it took us only 2 minutes to find Liz. She was busy gardening while we arrived and immediately gave us directions where to park our van. She showed us around, and told us all her plans with the specific rooms she had. What I noticed most though was the incredible garden and the incredible view she had.

After some coffee and tea she gave us a tour around Gympie, telling us about it's history, showing the place where she worked and where some of her family lives now. But the most interesting thing were the floods. She showed us the spots up to where the river had once come because of excessive rain fall and other causes. As we drove through main street she pointed out the second floor of buildings and told us the water got up to about that height (21 meters above the original river level). Later we noticed what a bit of rainfall can do, as the river had risen dangerously close to the height of certain small bridges.

Back at Liz' house we had a roast, a great dinner consisting of different vegetables, potatoes and of course our favourite; Lamb. We ate our bellies round and by this time the 4 cats that Liz has weren't afraid of us anymore and came to cuddle as well before we all went off to bed.
The next morning we left home quite early to see Liz's mom, Ann. It was nice to meet her and you could tell she still remembered John from his younger days. We left for Rainbow Beach after saying goodbye to Ann. It took us about an hour to get there but the scenery on the way was great.

At Rainbow Beach we had a really big lunch at the Rainbow Club (I had a Rainbow Burger). We took a stroll down to the beach and along the coast before heading back up and looking for a place to find ourselves a booking for Fraser Island for the next day.

The local visitor centre had a special offer which saved us 60 dollar so we booked their tour for the next day. Only downside was, the bus leaves at 7:40, so we have to be there by 7:30 and it's an hour drive from here. This means it's getting time for bed already, so I'll have to leave you with this for now. But first I'm going to watch the Possums and Bats outside (there are loads of them!).

See you all later!

Jeremy