Australia 2005

Blog 1 Hello everyone.

So sorry I've not been in touch... guess you're all a little worried about me... :-)

Hope you all are well and good. Obviously I am now in Australia - have been here for 4 days now and it's another amazing place. I've not left Sydney yet as I'm having issues getting my mitts on my money, but hopefully it will be sorted in a few days! :)

Anyways, let me finish telling you about Thailand first. Well, the trip to the airport! To get to Bangkok I had to get 2 planes and a boat. Now I paid extra money to get on a luxury catamaran... So we get to the port and there's this boat, about twice the size of two cars put together. I didn't think nothing of it until at least 40 of us boarded and the capacity was 35! The boat took off, all good for 5 minutes, and then boom - this thing was flying through the flipping air, bouncing on the waves... the floorboards were creaking like the boat was about to snap in half! It was the most horrific journey of my whole life. I seriously thought I was gonna die! :-( I had to spend 2 hours on that flipping thing... I came off and was as white as a ghost, bearing in mind I have a tan! Never again!

Anyways, landed in Australia at 5 am and Nathan was there to pick me up. Nath took me back to the flat and I had a kip for a few hours to clear the jet lag a bit... then we went to Darling Harbour. (He lives 2 minutes' walk from it.) Just had a look about really, and then in the evening we went to the world famous Opera House. That place is amazing! Then bed early.

Next day... Nath worked so I went up to the aquarium and then met with his mates about 4-ish in an Irish pub and then had a few drinks. His mates are excellent as well... they are the funniest bunch... they all take the piss out of each other, play tricks on each other and get proper mashed up! They're all great... I can safely say I am living with 10 nutty Irish guys... and it is sooooooo fucking funny!

Next day... what better way to kick-start your holiday with a 6-hour party boat cruise round Sydney and Darling Harbour... it was excellent... they were playing top funky house tunes while we all drank and got merry! Was a proper party - 3 floors, 2 dance arenas and chill-out deck. We then got dropped off at Home nightclub at 6pm which was specially open for us... we stayed till about 12 midnight then home as our legs couldn't take anymore... we had to retreat.

The next day we went down to Bondi Beach and nursed our hangovers with yet another bottle of rum! :-) Then we just chilled in the evening.

Today me and Nath have been to Sydney Tower (Sydney's highest tower) - the views were out of this world... the tower is easily bigger than Canary Wharf! We then went to the Harbour Bridge and went up one of the towers... I am not really interested in paying 80 quid to climb a bridge when the towers are just as good and you get a history tour on how it was built! We then tried to get to the Botanic Gardens... but they were closed, lol... so tomorrow we're going back there and to this fair we spotted over the other side of Sydney Harbour Bridge... When I get my dollars I'm gonna go up to Brisbane for a few days, do Australia Zoo and koala sanctuary and obviously throw a few parties in there as well. Byron Bay, then coming back down and me and Nath are gonna drive up the east coast. Not exactly sure what we're doing yet but will definitely be doing skydiving and bungee jumping. Cairns, Fraser, and Port Macquarie...

Next few days I'm gonna go on a trip round the Blue Mountains whilst Nath works, which includes koala cuddling, kangaroo spotting and seeing some great waterfalls. Plus more!

Having a wicked time... and I apologise if the emails are less frequent... the internet café is not as close to Nath's apartment as the ones were to me in Thailand. It's kinda nice going from ice-cold showers and basic rooms to a luxury 3-bed apartment... Feels like I'm home! Lol... Oz is very much like London... only a lot cleaner and the buildings are nicer and obviously water around everywhere... imagine Canary Wharfs all over London... that in my view is what Sydney is like... yet again... I am overwhelmed! Love it!

We're off for Chinese in a minute and then party with the nutty Irish lads.

Miss you all and chat soon

Natalie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Blog 2

Hello there everybody, hope everyone is well... I'm just fine and dandy... got some good news for you but bad news for me... it's raining today and I'm going horse riding in a couple of hours! Rain won't stop me doing anything... hopefully I won't catch my death of cold.

I'm up in Byron Bay at the moment... have departed from Nathan for a week as he is still working, and I'd kind of done everything I wanted to do in Sydney so moved on... the coach ride here was 16 hours... the bloody bus broke down... just my luck, lol! The coach journeys are not too bad though - I just sleep most of it and read the rest.

Can't remember what I wrote in my last mail so if I'm repeating things then sorry... lol... I went to koala sanctuary on Thursday I think and cuddled a koala... awwww they're so cute... also fed the kangaroos. We were allowed into their pen and they just come up to you and eat right out of your hand! So cute...

Friday I just did some shopping in Paddy's Market, nice and cheap compared to everywhere else in Sydney... Friday night me and Nath went for a few drinks up at Darling Harbour but were back early as he had to be up at 5 for work...

Saturday... erm... nursed my hangover and stayed in the apartment with the lads and waited for Nath to finish work... we then headed up to Bondi, wind-bathed and had some food. Saturday night! Mental clubbing night again... a trance club! Woohoo... I was in my prime... lol...

Sunday, Sunday... erm... can't remember, slept I think...

Monday, headed up here... staying in a really cool hostel, met loads of wicked people almost straight away and headed to a club called Cheeky Monkeys... was an OK night apart from the music being pants... Made a great first impression on my new flatmates... they weren't around when I arrived... so met them in the middle of the night when I got back drunk :-) Munched on crisps for ages, then went to sleep for a bit and woke up to go to the loo... left the room, locked myself out... had to wake them up to let me in... doh!!

Woke up in the morning, gulp... opened my eyes... gulp... and who was I sharing my bed with? A flipping huntsman spider... it must have been... it was huge... the size of the palm of my hand... I flipped out in total terror... yet again alarming my new flatmates... They're like "What's wrong?" I was like "Spider!" Lol... After all that happened I introduced myself... they must have thought I was flipping nuts! But they are really cool though... we were all out drinking last night... from Sweden I think, really nice girlies...

There was a barbie in the hostel last night... we ate, drank and got merry and back to Cheeky Monkeys... there's about 7 of us now in our little crowd, plus everyone else in the hostel... it's so great meeting new people... the Swedish girlies leave today though... but a couple of other girls appeared in our room in the middle of the night... so out with the old, in with the new... :-)

Going horse riding today... in the rain, lol... then tomorrow might do dolphin kayaking depending on the weather... was gonna do hang gliding as well... but not gonna spend too much as me and Nath are doing all that when we travel up together... tomorrow or next day I'm heading up to Brisbane to go to Australia Zoo... then flying back to Sydney and travelling up with Nath... might do the outback way, not sure... first stop Nimbin ;-) second, Brisbane for a night, Fraser Island, Cairns and Port Douglas... to see the rainforest that goes right up to the beach...

Still having a wicked, wicked time! Best holidays ever... yeah I must admit... I am a little homesick... but I knew I would be... I'll be OK! :-) Besides I'll be back in June for a few months to see everyone!

Miss you all loads, and if you wanna give us a buzz or text, my number is 00614 059 121 76

Blog 3

Hey gals and guys... how are you all? I am well, gonna make this a quick one. Am in Hervey Bay at the moment... We are waiting to go onto Fraser Island, but we have to see what the weather is going to do first... was well hot today in the morning but started clouding over about 5:30...

I've haven't got very far, lol... well, went to Byron Bay, Nimbin twice ;-) Brisbane twice :-) lol... and now Hervey Bay! Fraser tomorrow then Mackay, Cairns, Port Douglas I think? Perth maybe? And Darwin... and north to see the wild crocs.

Went to this really wacky great white shark museum today and needless to say I am definitely not going in the sea, lol... Nath hired out a jet ski and I was too afraid to get on the back :-( Boo hoo...

I went to Australia Zoo the other day - didn't see Steve though! Saw some pretty funky crocodile shows... The other day we went to Dreamworld... aka theme park and went on this ride that drops you from thousands of feet - erm, maybe exaggerating but it dropped us from pretty high! And there were a few other cool rides.

We went to wacky Nimbin... town in the middle of nowhere filled with the most wacky people! Hehehe! Was an experience... and also done horse riding and a scenic walk up to a lighthouse in Byron Bay... dolphin spotting... didn't see any though... seen loads of beaches though... lol

I must say I am seriously missing my partying... I've gone from drinking wild child to someone who's in bed by 10! And up early! Madness! Am feeling withdrawn...

I am not back until July now, girls and guys... and will only be home for a month or two before coming out here and getting a job in Sydney... just have to be here for New Year.

Sorry email so short... got much more to tell you but will do next time...

Take care all

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxNatalie

Blog 4 Hello everyone,

Sorry there hasn’t been an email in a while—I’ve been so caught up with stuff and just haven’t had time. Plus, I was with Nath 24/7, so it was difficult! He’s gone back down to Sydney now for work.

I’ve done loads since my last email, so I’ll split things up to make it more interesting. I’m sure you get bored reading my emails! 😞 If you can’t read at work, print it out and read it on the train! 😊

Brisbane - Surfers Paradise

We only really stopped over at these places, but we did go to Dreamworld, which was a lot of fun!

Hervey Bay

Stayed there for about a week in total—had a great time, met loads of people, and camped the whole time. I was getting a bit sick of living in a tent after a while! Three of the days we were there, we went to Fraser Island.

Fraser Island

An amazing place! We went over in a 4x4 since the island is pure sand, and you couldn’t drive a regular car there. The group we were with wasn’t great, to be honest… There was one English guy who was sweet, one German girl who was a bit intense (let’s just say she wasn’t into shaving!), and the rest were German speakers who mostly spoke their own language, which was a bit annoying.

The last night was great, though, as we met another group who were all English and such a laugh! We ended up playing this mental drinking game, which was hilarious. In the end, we had to retreat to our tent because we were legless! 😂

We got up at 6 a.m. the next morning to watch the sunrise—it was so lovely! Then we drove around the island and saw some great lakes. One of them was called Lake Wallaby, which had a huge sand slope leading down to the water. We tried to toboggan down it, but with not much luck—hehe! Nathan decided to drag me down the bank and throw me in the lake—it was freezing!

Back to Hervey Bay

We decided to stay in a hostel for a couple of nights—nice to get away from the tent. We ended up in the same room as the crazy English people we met the night before—well, our room was connected to theirs. We had a double room, and it was such a laugh!

We all had a nice Chinese dinner (best I’ve had in ages), then headed back to the resort for more crazy drinking games. I got up in the middle of the night to use the loo, and the place was like an orgy den! 🤣 There were about three naked men running around the room—apparently, they’d been skinny-dipping!

Airlie Beach

Then we made our way up to Airlie Beach—it was a long drive, I tell ya! We took turns driving but were defeated by tiredness, so we stopped in Rockhampton for a sleep. We just slept in the van, which was sweet because we had a nice comfy mattress in the back.

When we finally got to Airlie Beach, we set up camp and booked a few activities: Whitsundays, quad biking, crocodile safaris, and skydiving!

Quads

Quad biking was good fun—driving through a rainforest like crazy animals! We saw some huge spiders, as big as your hand! Apparently, they can leap up to three feet—scary! Luckily, none jumped on me! I didn’t fall off the bike but nearly did! 😂

Skydiving

What can I say? It was the best thing I have ever experienced!!! It was mental!

Jumped from 10,000 feet—I was absolutely panicked beforehand, as you can imagine—but I just had to do it! Now I’ve done it, I want to do it again. I free-fell for 45 seconds before the parachute opened—it was crazy!!!

I got a video of it—you’ve got to watch it! The sheer terror on my face when I got pushed from the plane, then me giving the thumbs-up as I was falling! If you’ve never done a skydive—DO IT—it’s the most amazing experience! The view was incredible—right over the Whitsundays—absolute class!!!

Whitsunday Sailing Trip

Another excellent experience! We chose to go on a catamaran since I’m not too keen on the sea. It was massive compared to the other boats and didn’t tip from side to side like they did.

It was a bit bumpy, though! The group we were with was lovely—such nice people and a good laugh. I got on so well with a few of them that we are now traveling up the coast together! Kate and Cat—wicked gals from Milton Keynes. There were also a couple of lads on the boat whom we met up with again last night—good fun!

The boat sailed all around the islands, and we saw some stunning places. One was Whitehaven Beach—I’ve never seen anything like it! I’ve got some great pictures.

Airlie Beach Party

Back to Airlie Beach for a huge party with the people and crew—it was great! The nightlife is brilliant, with some good clubs—though not as much dance music as I’d hoped! But pestering the DJ eventually paid off! 😆

The Birds

Every day at 4:30, there was bird feeding at our camp—it was mayhem! Loads of brightly colored green birds would come for a feed—I fed them a few times, and they were adorable!

Goodbyes

Nath and I then said our goodbyes—it was very emotional. We got on so well during the three weeks together, though we did have a few tiffs—but doesn’t everyone?

I’m heading to Sydney a week early to see him again. He’s also trying to get sponsorship so we won’t have to be so far apart! 😊

Magnetic Island

Here I am now—arrived last night! We’re staying at Base Hostel, which is amazing. Our cabin overlooks the sea—I can see the water from my bunk—it’s wicked!

Last night was hilarious—a girl dragged some guy back to our cabin, and they kept everyone awake for hours. I was in a drunken land of nod and didn’t wake up until the guy walked straight into the glass door, thinking it was open—div! 😂

That should be much easier to read now! Let me know if you want me to refine anything further. 😊

Blog 5 Hello everyone...

Gutted you didn’t get my last email as I spent about 45 minutes writing it, doh!!! So here goes again... My memory span is terrible, though, so I’ll try to tell you as much as I can!! :-)

Ok... Got to Cairns and stayed in a place right on the beach/lagoon. Nice location, but terrible hostel... so I moved to a place where loads of people told me to stay. The minute I got there, I knew why... The place was like a palace—four TV rooms, one on each floor, comfy sofas, a nightclub/bar attached to it, beautiful pool, café, beauty shop, and more... The reason why I’m going on about it is because if you're backpacking, you stay in some nice places, but most are horrid... and Gilligan’s (where I stayed) was a five-star backpackers, soooo nice.... so nice I’m going back in a few days :-)

Anyways, I’ve not been up to loads and loads as normal since I’ve done mostly all I want to do... I did, however, put myself through the sheer terror of a bungee jump!!! It was very scary... As I was standing on the edge with a rope tied around my ankles and looking downwards, seeing the 50-meter jump, I was in an awful state/// hyperventilating the lot! The guide had to calm me down, and his words were, and I will never forget this... "What you're going through is normal. What you're about to do is not normal. It's insanity, so let's show the world how crazy you really are." Somehow that helped me go through with it! :-)

1, 2, 3—Smile for the camera. I looked at the camera in sheer terror. It’s sooo funny... JUMP!! I did it, woohooo! :-) I was still shaking for about half an hour afterward... and the adrenaline gave me a happy buzz for the rest of the night. You just have to see my video... I’ll show you all when I’m back.... Then I went on a Minjin swing, which was good fun...

I also plucked up the courage and went diving in the Great Barrier Reef, actually won the trip in another game I played on the pub crawl! Anyways... I’ve never done scuba before, and I loved it! It was the most amazing experience, and I found Nemo!!!! :-) It was only a half-hour dive, and it went far too quick! Just wish I had done my PADI in Thailand now so I could do more diving... I can do as many introductory dives as I want, though, so all good! :-)

The rest of my time in Cairns was just basically lazing around and partying at night!!! It was a good, good laugh... We went to a place called the Woolshed that everyone rants and raves about... Good for a couple of nights, but after that, I got a bit bored of the place... It’s like a meat market for backpackers! :-)

There's another club called Soho, which is really cool, as it plays dance all night.

I went on two bar crawls, which were such a laugh, as we played loads of crazy games and got loads of cheap wine!! It was a good laugh...

I’m in Cape Trib at the moment... Got here yesterday... Last night was a chilled one, and today I went horse riding on the beach!!! It was wicked... and my horse galloped... I’ve never been on a galloping horse before. It was good fun!!! :-)

Then I went to the bat house and saw the most adorable fruit bat... He was so tame and like a playful little puppy with his owner... biting him and stuff like puppies do... He was the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen!!! I want a pet one!

Oh, I’m staying in the middle of a rainforest at the moment, if people don’t know what Cape Trib is about... It’s miles of tropical rainforest, and the rainforest meets the beach.... The backpackers I'm in is right in the middle of it all... and there is a HUGE!!!! spider living right next to my dorm!! I mean huge... I’ll look on the net in a minute to see if I can find a pic and show you, so yeah, a little bit freaked out by that, and the fact that all the windows in the dorm were wide open when I arrived... I took the liberty of shutting them all...

Nighttime is pretty scary as it’s just us, the trees, and the bugs! Gulp!

To add insult to injury, I am going on a night walk tonight directly through the rainforest... to look for all the spiders, snakes, and crocodiles!!!! Gulp! All part of the fun and games, though!! I love the fear factor! Hehehe

Erm, I’ve not done much else apart from the above... I’ve just kind of been taking it easy... mainly because I’m broke! :-)

Anyways,

This will probably be my last email, as I’m back on the 5th of July... so see you all then.

Natalie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I’m up in Cape Tribulation at the moment... Been here since yesterday and leaving tomorrow.

I only corrected grammar and spelling, as you asked—no formatting changes. Let me know if you need anything else! 😊