My weekend alone didn't end up being lonely as I had a friend to meet in Sydney - Alison, who I had met on the Berlin to Budapest trip in December. Sunday we spent at Manly beach, enjoying the sun and water warm enough to swim in...and waves!
I then took the ferry back to the city, where everyone was starting to gather to watch "history in the making" as the Queen Victoria & the QE2 cruise ships passed in the harbour. Since I had nothing else to do, had a towel to sit on and a book, I sat on a hill and waited with thousands of other people for the appointed hour when the ships would leave. I was kept entertained by a couple from Nashville who asked me if "your mamma & daddy own one of them big horse farms in Kentucky" in an excellent southern accent (the answer is NO, by the way!) When the two ships finally starting moving, it was rather un -impressive, I had been told there would be all sorts of fanfare, but really, just two cruise ships passing. The QE2 was leaving the harbour for the last time and the Queen Victoria was there for the first time, and was just moving into the better spot next to the Opera House.
I then walked through the gardens, a bit scared of the hundreds of bats hanging from the trees over my head, to Woolloomooloo, an area of Sydney, just simply because I like the name!
Monday I managed to get a visa for China, after being forced to pay 3x as much for being American - Aussies are charged $30 for a visa, everyone else in the world $50, and Americans $155. I was trying to get it on my Irish passport, but couldn't, since I had entered Australia on my American passport, while the Irish was stuck at the Russian embassy for a month. Visas (and Russia) is a bit of a long story and rather sore point, but I am no longer going to Russia or Mongolia.
I went up the Sydney Tower for views of the city and sat through Oz Trek - "a virtual tour of Australia", which was fun, as we had done most of it already.
Then, it was time for my bridge climb! I booked it back in December, after having several friends tell me it was terrifying but a must do. And it was $250, so I made sure it was paid for before I stopped working. There are no pictures, since we couldn't take cameras, but you'll get the idea on here: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/theClimb/BridgeClimb/sydneyphotos.htm.
We were suited up in a grey jumpsuit, given a breathalizer, and loaded with stuff - everything we took up had to be attached to us, so nothing could fall on the 8 lanes of traffic below. The whole process took 4 hours, with less than 2 hours actually on the bridge. It was awesome though, we climbed up through lanes 7 & 8 of the traffic on the bridge and back down between 2 sets of train tracks. Apparently it was 1100 steps, but didn't seem it since I was constantly looking around. While we were at the top, the Queen Victoria left the harbour, again with lots of people watching. It was neat to be able to see down onto the ship and we got people on the ship to wave to us on the bridge.
Tuesday I met Alison again for a few hours, and then it was off to the airport to fly to Queensland, where Kate was waiting. When I got off the plane, I had the choice of a $13 bus to the hostel or a $15 stretch limo. Of course it was an easy decision! I never thought I'd be putting my backpack into the trunk of a limo and then be dropped off at my hostel! There were 2 other people in the back with me, but it was definitely much better than the bus!
Kate had warned us that it was wet season in the tropics - but I had no idea what wet season actually meant. It hadn't rained much at all in Darwin when we were there, but so far North Queensland has been a very different experience - we haven't seen many days without rain. Its been fun, massive downpours of rain lasting for hours, but has not been the laying on the beach week I was planning on (what do you expect in the wet season in the tropics?!?)
We went on a day trip around the Whitsundays islands, stopping to go snorkeling and to sit on the beach. It was a very grey day with some rain, but was still fun. We had to wear wet suits in the water to protect from stingers (yet another dangerous creature in Australia).
After Airlie Beach, we headed to Townsville, where we stayed with Phil, another friend I met on my trip in December. We had a night out in Townsville, not the most attractive of cities, but we still had fun!
We took a ferry to Magnetic (Maggie) island, where we actually had a sunny day. We rented a mini-moke, a tiny little car, and drove around the little island. Kate taught me how to drive manual, which was fun, but I won't even try to pretend it was a smooth ride for the girls! We searched and searched for Koalas, that were supposed to be in the trees along the walking tracks, but again were disappointed.
The mini-moke - open top, tiny, and with a big pokemon painted on the hood!
On Sunday we left Townsville to stay in Misson Beach for 1 night. On the drive there, it started raining and pretty much never stopped. Luckily Kate has experience with all the crazy things that happen in Australia, so stopped at the police station to ask about the roads to Misson Beach...only to find out the road was "cut" and we wouldn't be making it there that night. We drove to Cairns instead, and found a luxurious Comfort Inn with 2 TVs and clean towels - very exciting for us now! So we were happy and waited out the rain that evening.
After Kate confirmed the roads were ok, we packed up and left for Cape Tribulation, where we were going to stay 2 nights. We made a few stops along the way- for groceries and for another driving lesson for me - this time in a real car.
Again, can't claim it was all smooth - that's me stuck up into the bushes when I couldn't get into reverse - but...I did do it and make it out on the roads!
Then it started raining, well pouring, again. We took a ferry across to Cape Tribulation and were planning what we would do there...when we came to
Another road we couldn't cross - 0.8 meters of water, way more than our tiny (bright yellow) car could handle. And so we turned around and headed back to Cairns again, where we managed to get the same room in the Comfort Inn that we had checked out of 7 hours before.
So, we can say that we definitely experienced wet season in the tropics. We didn't do much in the rest of our time in Cairns, ventured out a few times, but got soaked each and every time. Even though some sun would have been good, it was also nice to be able to stay in one place and relax, after our 5 1/2 weeks driving around Australia.
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