Down Under Episode 4: Dolphins, turtles, white beaches and cheese
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Greetings from the Atherton Tablelands!
We left Fraser behind us and headed up the coast towards Airlie Beach for our sailing trip around the Whitsunday islands. We had one day lounging around in Airlie and then it was time to board our Tall Ship, the Alexander Stewart. We left the beach behind us and embarked on what I would say was our three best days of the trip so far. We did heaps of snorkling with turtles, watched dolphins cruise along the bow of the ship and did a bush walk up to Whitehaven beach... probably the nicest beach in the world. Along the way we saw some massive Golden Orb spiders, some Iguanas and a Taipan (the second most venomous snake in the world). All in all it was a fantastic trip! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
When we arrived back in Airlie we had a pretty bad day. All depressed that the cruise was over, we noticed a big crack in our windscreen (-340 AUD) and then to top it all off I got a speeding ticket (-200 AUD) but luckily things were going to get a lot better! Our next destination was Ayr, a small coastal village 200km north or Airlie and home to THE best dive site in the world (according to Scuba Worldwide). The SS Yongala sank in 1911 and since then has become a staggeringly good dive site. Home to Queensland Groupers over 3 meters in length, countless turtles, sea snakes, Tuna Fish and Barracudas as well as Spotted Eagle Rays it was definitely a sensory overload! I had the two best dives so far, by far and tried to do everything to get 2 more but to no avail :(
After Ayr it was time for the Atherton Highlands, A large plateau south west of Cairns. The drive up was amazing and the highlands did not disappoint. We visited a dairy and bought some fresh cheese and chocolate, swam in a huge waterfall, visited a giant volcanic crater, and did a lovely walk around one of the crater lakes. Sweet! We even got to see a Platypus! Proof that God has a sense of humor :)
So now we are off to Cairns where our roads part. On the 24th I am off on a 5 day liveaboard to the outer reef for some shark action and Micki is going to day trip around Cairns while I'm gone.
Until next time!
Robbe & Micki
p.s: Photos of Whitsundays are up but you'll have to wait for photos from the Yongala... they are on a DVD.
Posted byMicki at 06:41
Australien låter helt otroligt! Vi sakna er på vår Österrike trip, vi tyckte alltid att nån fattades tills vi insåg att de va er vi hela tiden sökte :( Så nu tycker jag att de småningom är dags för er att komma hem!!!
Kram,
Emma
Va' int' oroliga; nån, somliga, vissa, endel och andra läser flitigt er blogg; åtminstone jag "drunknar" i era bilder! Dan har lite vintersemester och har hållit värmen i kylan med att hugga ved på landet - i sista minuten, för nu blir det sommar; sol och åtminstone 15 grader utlovat till helgen! (Allting är relativt...)
Pi