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Around the World
  • Simon and Blake
apr. 2017 – jan. 2018

Around the World

Een 282-daags avontuur van Simon Meer informatie
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  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 2 - Noosa

    13 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    The hostel has free surfboards that you can borrow so this morning we headed down to the beach. It was the busiest beach that we have been on in Australia so far with hundreds of people and school children. I wasn't feeling particularly energetic so I let Si loose on the surfboard whilst I sunbathed / slept / read my book. The surf wasn't the best today so when a very defeated Simon Thatcher came out of the sea, we headed back to the hostel for some lunch. Back at the hostel all of the staff were running around preparing the place for a storm that was rolling in. We took that as a sign that perhaps we shouldn't head back down to the beach in the afternoon. We lounged around at the hostel for a bit but when the rain still didn't come we decided to have a wander around the shops at Noosa Junction. Noosa isn't your traditional backpacker area so there were some really nice nicknack shops to mooch around.

    After dinner we decided to head down to Noosa Heads which is down by the beach to get some ice cream from the Ben & Jerry's shop we spotted in the morning. It was cheaper to buy a large and share than to buy 2 small ones so we went for 3 scoops. All of which were delicious! To walk off the ice cream we had a wander around the shops down by the beach. We were thinking about stopping somewhere for a drink and watching some live music but it was proper posh and therefore we felt embarrassed going in there in our travellers attire. Instead we settled for window shopping and listening to the music from the pavement outside.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 3 - Noosa

    14 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    The coastal walk from Noosa to Sunshine Beach, through the National Park, is apparently a must do when in Noosa so we decided to do that. Despite the drizzle it was a lovely walk with some great views. Many people spot dolphins and koalas on the walk but we didn't get lucky. As we neared Sunshine Beach we could see a storm rolling in over the sea. It was really cool to watch however not coming out prepared for rain we got incredibly wet. The rain was so heavy it hurt our backs when it hit us and the wind meant it was coming down sideways. When we made it down to the beach we found a shelter with 2 other people sheltering from the rain. It wasn't long before there were 7 of us huddled together under the tiny shelter waiting for the rain to pass. We waited for a good 20 minutes but with no signs of it easing off we all decided to make a run for it to the bus stop so we could get a bus back. At one point we were running along a street in water up to our ankles. Half way to the bus stop we took refuge in a public toilet for a breather and to wring out our clothes before heading out again. I think the bus driver took pity on us and gave us a reduced fare which was very nice of him. We couldn't have been any wetter. The Sunshine Coast certainly isn't living up to its name.

    Back at the hostel it was straight in a hot shower to thaw out. All of our clothes including our trainers and bag went in the tumble dryer to dry out. We had taken a picnic out with us on the walk but not having a chance to eat it we cracked it open back at the hostel. We then spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and watching Netflix.

    Jess and Meg from our Fraser Island tour are also staying in our hostel so we planned to meet up with them for a drink in the evening. They decided to stay in the hostel bar though and craving a drink that wasn't served in a plastic cup we headed out to a bar across the road where we both had a glass of wine and a cheeseboard. The wine was incredible and the cheese a taste sensation (minus the mouldy stuff). Don't get me wrong we love travelling but sometimes you just want to feel like a normal 30 year old and drink something other than goon and watered down spirits.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Brisbane

    15 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Now over 6 months in to our travelling, our bank balance is somewhat depleting. We have therefore lined up 2 weeks working on a farm in exchange for free accommodation and food so we left Noosa and headed down to Brisbane for the night.

    We were hoping the weather would be better in Brisbane but unfortunately it is lashing it down there too. Our hostel is really nice though. Our 6 bed dorm is tiny but it's clean, we have a duvet and not just a sheet and the bathrooms are nice. It's also really chilled out and no party in sight which is a relief.

    Without a car, we are not sure whether we are actually going to be able to leave the farm for the next 2 weeks so we braved the rain to grab some bits and pieces. We have gotten through our 1 litre bottle of sunscreen so we needed to get some more, although the weather forecast predicts more rain for the next to weeks so maybe it's wishful thinking that we'll need it.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Shamrockvale

    16 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    The farm where we will be working for the next 2 weeks, situated in the Kerry Valley, is called Shamrockvale. At around 4,000 acres it's pretty huge, the majority of which is dedicated to cattle, in particular wagyu cows. They also grow a range of crops, have an organic beehive business as well as some chickens (or chooks as the Ozzies call them), ducks and peacocks.

    The farm is around a 2 hour bus journey (on 2 buses) south of Brisbane. The bus dropped us off in a town called Beaudesert where Chris, the Farm Manager picked us up and took us to the farm. On the farm we are known as wwoofers which stands for willing workers on organic farms. This farm has separate accommodation for wwoofers which is really nice. Its fairly new by the looks of things with a nice kitchen, table and huge sofa. Separate from this there are 4 bedrooms. There is only one other wwoofer working on the farm at the moment called Sony a so we have managed to get a huge room to ourselves with a double bed! There are also 2 separate toilets and showers which are also pretty nice. I think we are going to like it here.

    Once we had settled in, Chris went over some paperwork with us and then gave us a quick tour. Chris had arranged for Sonja to take us to the supermarket after she finished work so in the meantime we could just chill. On this farm they don't provide us with food and instead give us supermarket gift cards. For our first week we get $100 each for food and then onwards we get $77 each. That is considerably more than we have been spending so it was a very exciting food shop. We also have an oven which you never get in a hostel so for dinner we had smoked cod in a garlic and herb butter, sweet potato wedges and vegetables, delicious. There are a few books here that you can read, the majority of which are in German except for the first Harry Potter book. Simon has suddenly discovered a love for books and by the end of the evening was a third of the way through. This is quite a big deal for him and will be the first fiction book that he will have ever finished. Our working hours are Monday to Friday, 7am - 3pm with an hour for lunch and smoko (what they call the morning tea break) around 9:30am, so once Simon managed to peal himself away from Harry we tucked in early.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 2 - Shamrockvale

    17 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today was our first day of work in over 6 months and with the alarm going off at 6am it was a bit of a shock to the system. After a cup of tea and some porridge we headed out for our first job of the day, letting out the chooks and giving them some fresh water and some feed. We then headed over to feed Nugget and Tyson, the orphaned calves as we are now their new mums for the next 2 weeks. They are very cute so I'm pretty sure this is going to end up being my favourite part of the day. They didn't have much else for us to do before smoko so we were tasked with cleaning out one of the vans and the wwoofers car.

    After smoko, our morning break, the 3 of us headed up to the yard to help Nick move some young cows which had now been separated from their mummy's. The girls needed to go into one field and the boys into another so we took them down separately. Sonja and I were in what they call the Mule which is basically a quad bike pick up and goes really slowly and Simon was in Chris's ute. Simon was in charge of blocking off roads so they didn't go the wrong way and Sonja and I were there to round them up and keep them moving. We had to do it really slowly though as you don't want them to start running. It took a while to get them across into their new paddocks but for first timers I think we did pretty well.

    After lunch Simon went back up to the yard to help Nick with the cattle. Quite a few of them are sick at the moment so they have to regularly take their temperatures and give them medicine if they need it. I stayed down on the homestead to help Marios, the beekeeper, make some new beehives.

    We get to finish work at 3pm however Tyson and Nugget need feeding again around 5pm so we have to do that. Our final job of the day is tucking in the chooks however we have to wait until it gets dark to give them all time to come home after their day roaming the farm.

    The farm is not to far from my Auntie Tricia and Shane's house, so they came to pick us up and take us out for a yummy fish and chips dinner in Beaudesert which was lovely.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 3 - Shamrockvale

    18 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    So day two of work and morning wake up was still a struggle. I even moved back to coffee this morning for a little extra boost.

    I was asked to head straight up to the cattle yard this morning to help with the sick cows again whilst the girls tended to the chooks / calves and helped Marius on bee duty again. Up at the cattle yard we had to herd the cows into the smaller pens. We then had to separate roughly 8 into a small holding pen before the 'crusher'. The crusher allows for one cow at a time to be examined and given some meds without the worry of us getting kicked or run over. We first took their temperatures with the worlds smallest thermometer up the back end. Luckily I was tasked with writing down the results as I didn't fancy fishing the thermometer out if I'd some how let it go or getting knuckles deep in cow poo! That took us up to morning break around 9am.

    After a nice cuppa we then helped Marius with honey extraction. Sonja and Marius had collected full frames from the hives that morning so me and Blake had to somehow get the honey out. First we had a tool to remove the top layer of beeswax to release the honey. This was an Afro comb type device which you slid under and lifted it off with. Next we put them into a centrifuge which spins around spraying the honey to the edges of the drum. This sinks to the bottom and is collected in a bucket. All very simple but we had a LOT of frames to extract. We also had a slight mishap with the first bucket as when I lifted it to put it in the big tank the handle snapped and the bucket landed upside down. OOPS! The job saw us up to lunch and then again after until the day was finished. Our favourite part of the job was chewing on some of the beeswax. All of the honey melts in your mouth and then you spit out the wax. Apparently it's very good for you!

    In the evening I made a nice chilli and we watched Adam Sandlers 'Don't mess with the Zohan' which is a ridiculous yet hilarious movie!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 4 - Shamrockvale

    19 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Today I got to go help Chris up at the yard taking temperatures and doing meds for the first time whilst Simon got let loose on a ride on mower. Before I helped up at the yard though I helped Nick feed some of the cows. We continued with the cows and mowing after lunch as well. My afternoon helping with the meds was a little more eventful though. Sadly a cow came in with a dead calf inside her which Chris and Nick had to pull out. The poor cow looked so sad and in so much pain she didn't even put up a fight. Chris warned me it would be gruesome and gave me the opportunity to leave if I wanted to. Farming isn't all sunshine and rainbows though so I decided to stay. It was hard to watch and the smell was horrendous. Chris certainly has a strong stomach. Poor mummy cow.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 5 - Shamrockvale

    20 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    It's Friday yay! The first time we have had the Friday feeling in a while. Farm life has completely taken it out of me and I am now sick - boo! After a solid 10 hours sleep last night though I am feeling slightly better.

    Looking after calves is like having children, when they don't eat you worry about them all day. Nugget didn't eat much last night and wouldn't really eat anything this morning. He also sounds a bit like he has a cold. Poor little sausage! After attempting to feed Nugget and Tyson finishing off his and Nuggets breakfast, Simon and I headed over to the silos were Chris was filling us up a trailer full of grain for the cows. After helping Nick yesterday morning, I was now fully qualified to be let loose on my own with Simon as my official gate opener. We did miss one lot of troughs and have to go back for them but other than that I managed to remember the route through the various fields so no one went hungry.

    After smoko, Simon got to drive a tractor around with Nick delivering hay bales to all the fields, whilst I was up at the yard with Chris helping with the sick cows again. In the afternoon, I was back in with Marius helping make the frames for the beehives and Simon was let loose with the petrol strimmer strapped too him to tidy up the previous days mowing.

    Today is Sonja's last day on the farm so we invited Marius round for dinner and cooked up a curry. Marius also introduced us to bee pollen and has given us a bag to put on our porridge in the mornings that he collected from the hives. Apparently it is incredibly good for you and has more protein than steak. It's collected by a special device that knocks the pollen off the bees legs when they enter the hive and then freeze dried.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 6 - Shamrockvale

    21 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    It's the weekend so we had a bit of a lie in this morning. Even though it's the weekend, our boys still need us so we headed down to feed them. Marius kindly sorted the chooks out for us. Tyson is getting really big and is always eagerly waiting for his breakfast. Nugget however isn't doing too good. He was really week on his legs and we could barely get half a litre of milk down him (he's meant to drink 2). Chris is going to give him some medicine so hopefully that perks him up, poor little guy.

    The weather was pretty rubbish with rain forecast all day so we took advantage and had a lazy day. Simon is starting to feel sick now too so we just watched some TV and read our books (Simon has now finished Harry Potter). In the afternoon we popped into Beaudesert to get our groceries for the week and then resumed our chilling position on the sofa.

    Marius kindly surprised us with a Romanian dinner of pork and polenta topped with cheese and sour cream, followed by a meringue and custard style dessert. In return I introduced Marius to English tea.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 7 - Shamrockvale

    22 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We woke up to the sun shining in through the windows (and our alarm going off). We gave ourselves a bit of a lie in so both Tyson and even Nugget were stood waiting for us to come feed them. Nugget was really good this morning and drank the whole 2 litres so hopefully the medicine has kicked in and he is going to start getting better. After sorting the boys and the chooks, Simon cooked up a fry up. Its the first time in a very long time we've had an English breakfast.

    As it was such a beautiful day we decided to do a bit of exploring around the farm. Chris mentioned yesterday that we could borrow the Mule and if we headed out towards the dams we would get some great views out over the farm. We didn't find the dams (although we didn't really know what we were looking for) but we did drive / walk up a gurt big hill where we got some stunning views.

    We chilled for the rest of the afternoon before going to feed the boys again. Nugget wouldn't really drink anything but that may just have been because he drank so much for breakfast. The vet is coming out tomorrow so she is going to take a look at him.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 8 - Shamrockvale

    23 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We are getting used to these early mornings and woke up before the alarm. For breakfast we had some porridge topped with honey and bee pollen from the Shamrockvale bees which was really tasty.

    My morning was pretty cruisy, I sorted out the chooks and fed the calves and then got sent up to the yard to help with temperatures and meds. Chris didn't show though so I waited for a while and then headed back for smoko. In the meantime however I did manage to lose my water bottle down a post. I went to sit it on the top but turns out it was hollow - oops! Simon did kindly rescue it for me with a long piece of wire. Simon on the other hand had to clean out a considerable quantity of cow poop from one of the cattle trucks with a pressure washer! Looked like he had freckles after.

    For the rest of the day I helped Nick and Chris up at the yard whilst Simon finished off cleaning poo and then delivered grain to the cows.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 9 - Shamrockvale

    24 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Poor little Nugget was super wobbly this morning. Feeding him has turned into a bit of a mammoth task as it takes around half an hour just to feed him one litre of milk. Tyson however guzzles 2 litres in about 5 minutes. After sorting out the boys, we helped Nick with the grain run before smoko.

    For the rest of the day, we both helped Nick up at the yard taking temperatures and administering meds. We both took it in turns to herd in the cows and write down the temperatures. Herding in the cows is pretty scary to start with. You have to get in the small pen with them and then usher them through the gate. Sometimes they do what they're told and other times they completely ignore you which is pretty frustrating. Sometimes they need an encouraging tap with a bit of hose however I feel mean hitting them hard, at which point Nick will intervene and give them a good whack.

    In the evening we were invited up to the homestead for dinner with the owners of the farm Gabby and Robert which was nice. Gabby cooked pork with mashed potato, cauliflower cheese and salad which was pretty scrummy. There was even dessert of gingerbread apple pies (which are delicious FYI) with mango sorbet.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 10 - Shamrockvale

    25 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Simon and I were let loose on the tractor again this morning to do the grain run. Simon even let me have a go at driving which was really fun and also very bumpy! Turns out that he is an equally bad backseat driver in a tractor as he is in a car!

    After smoko we were back up at the yard with Nick doing meds and temperatures. We have this down pat now (excuse the pun) and are getting through the cows in super speed. It also helps that some of them are starting to get better and therefore have less injections to do.

    Chris fed Nugget some electrolytes this morning through a tube which appear to have perked him up a bit as when we went to feed him this morning he guzzled down one and a half litres. I feel like a proud parent who's child has eaten all their vegetables.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 11 - Shamrockvale

    26 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This morning Blake had something a little different to do whilst I helped Nick with the grain run. Blakes job was to help Brendan move the bull semen from one tank to another and make a note of where each sample went. I joined Blake after I finished the feeding and it was pretty cool. The semen is kept in large nitrogen tanks and when sorting the samples, Brendan moved them into a pot that he had filled with liquid nitrogen. When using liquid nitrogen back at work, as you can imagine there are a whole plethora of health and safety precautions you need to take. Not here however! Brendan just picks up the tanks, pours them out so it's splashing everywhere and even dips his hands in it. He also showed us a couple of pretty cool tricks with a piece of paper. When you put a piece of paper into a liquid, you would expect it to go soggy. Not in liquid nitrogen though! It went really hard and cold. He then did it again and crumpled the piece of paper snapped into a hundred very cold tiny pieces!

    After smoko, we headed back up to the yard to help with meds and temperatures again. There weren't any cows left to do after lunch so we were sent to help Marius in the veggie patch. Luckily we managed to avoid this until now as neither of us particularly enjoy gardening. For starters I don't know the difference between a weed and a vegetable so we may have lost a few spring onions although we did manage to re-plant a few.

    When we got back to our place I had a little nap as I was pooped, only to wake up when Blake had very excitedly found some chocolate someone had left outside on the BBQ. Needing a bit of a sugar boost before feeding the calves and closing up the chooks I munched my share whilst Blake put hers in the fridge to save for an after dinner treat. Around 7pm we had a knock at the door where two children dressed in Halloween get up appeared. The chocolate had been left by their mum for us to give to them... OOPS! Luckily they had lots already and Blake managed to hide from the adults that only half the chocolate left was going into the children's pots. Unlucky for Blake as she missed out on a mini snickers, mars bar and m&m's. Imagine if we had eaten both!

    When we sat down for the evening, the heavens seriously opened. Shortly after we started to hear a loud ting, ting, TING sound from outside. I walked out and realised it was hailing. This was no ordinarily hail though as these stones were massive in comparison to back home!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 12 - Shamrockvale

    27 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Unfortunately what we had both been dreading has happened and we lost poor little Nugget in the night which is incredibly sad. Farm life never stops however so after sorting out Tyson, we headed back up to the yard to help with meds and temperatures. Chris asked us to herd in the cows for him and we thought we were doing a smashing job until Nick came in on his quad and rounded up 7 cows at the back of the field that we had missed - oops! The cows seem a lot better today though with lots of cows not needing any injections. All but 2 of the cows in the sick bay have been released back into the main paddock today too which is good news. As a result we were all finished up by 11am so we headed off in search of Marius to see if there was anything he wanted us to do for an hour. Marius didn't need any help but he was just off to see the bees to check whether they had accepted some new queen eggs he had introduced into a couple of the hives, so we came along for the ride. Marius only wears a protective hood when he goes to the bees which is completely bonkers! Simon and I however didn't fancy getting stung so we slipped into full protective get up with gloves and wellies and followed Marius in his short sleeved t-shirt, shorts and flip flops to the hives. I'm so glad we had the opportunity to visit the hives as it really is incredible to see.

    There weren't anymore cows to check on in the afternoon and it was stinking hot, so we both made some new frames for the hives in the shade.

    In the evening, Chris invited us up to his house for our first Aussie BBQ along with Marius and a new wwoofer who joined us today Mark. The food was great and we had a really fun evening with a few beers and some pool. Aside from normal pool, we played a game where you each pull a number out of a pot and the aim of the game is to keep your ball on the table. Once someone pots it you're out. It got pretty competitive which was very entertaining. I managed to win one game however the majority of the time I was out first!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 13 - Shamrockvale

    28 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We had a very lovely lazy Saturday morning. After sorting out the chooks and feeding Tyson, we spent the morning reading. After a leisurely lunch, we decided to do some more exploring and show Mark some of the farm. It turns out that when we went exploring last weekend, we had actually been exploring the neighbours farm - oops! This time we took the Mule through the correct gate and headed up to the highest point of the farm. It was quite a long drive and very steep in places. There were many times when I thought we weren't going to make it however the trusty Mule kept on going and carried us safely to the top. The views from the top were incredible and we could see the entire farm as well as the other side of the valley.

    In the evening, Tom and his wife Mags invited us for a farewell BBQ down by one of the lagoons which was really lovely of them. 2 BBQ's in 2 days, Simon is in his element!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 14 - Shamrockvale

    29 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today we went to visit Auntie Tricia and Shane at their home in nearby Boyland. Tricia cooked us our first roast dinner since we left the UK. We had roast beef with all the trimmings and it was absolutely delicious. This was followed by a yummy lemon, creamy biscuity dessert! We are very much looking forward to going to stay with them in a weeks time.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 15 - Shamrockvale

    30 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    It's our last day on the farm! It's going to be nice not to have to wake up at 6am anymore however I have a feeling our body clocks are going to take a while to adjust. As it's our last day Chris gave us the afternoon off to pack and get ourselves sorted which was really nice. In the morning we fed and watered the chooks for the last time and popped in to see Tyson as Chris had already fed him. Tyson has found his voice all of a sudden so moos all the time which is pretty cute. After 2 weeks he has gotten used to us now and doesn't mind / tolerates me cuddling him.

    For the rest of the morning we were let loose on the mowers. We've had so much rain the last week that even though Sonja and Simon mowed the week before, everything needed doing again.

    Neither of us knew what to expect before we arrived here. It has however exceeded all of our expectations and we will always look back fondly on our time here. Everyone here has welcomed us into the Shamrockvale family with open arms and we will not forget the Aussie BBQ's, endless games of pool (especially the Germanian rules with Sonja and Marius), dinner at the homestead and our introduction to Romanian cuisine. We have learnt so much about farm life and have particularly enjoyed helping Chris and Nick with the cattle, being surrogate mums to Tyson and our beloved Nugget and helping Marius with the bees. Thank you for having us Shamrockvale!    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Brisbane

    31 oktober 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Despite my alarm not going off until 7am, I was wide awake just before 6am. It gave us plenty of time to pack up our things, say our goodbyes to everyone, including Tyson, before catching the bus to Brisbane. For the next couple of days we are staying at an Airbnb in the area of Bardon with our host Mel. We arrived at Mel's just after 1pm so made ourselves up some lunch before venturing out to find somewhere for Simon to get his hair cut and grab some Go cards for the bus, Brisbane's equivalent of the Oyster card. When we arrived at the barbers though, he was shutting up shop a couple of hours early as he had to pick his kids up from school. The newsagents that we had googled to buy the Go cards was also closed down. Very unsuccessful trip. We therefore ended walking an extra 20 minutes in the opposite direction to a 7-Eleven in the scorching Brisbane heat and then another 20 minutes back to our Airbnb. We did have a little rest in a park en route to cool down in the shade for a bit though. Back at Mel's, we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling on her veranda which was really nice. Mel came home around 5:30pm from work and we chatted and watched TV with her for the rest of the evening. She is really lovely so I think we are going to enjoy our stay here.Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 2 - Brisbane

    1 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We are in dire need of some new clothes so this morning we decided to do a spot of shopping. Simons shorts are pretty grubby and mine are hanging off me so it's time to treat ourselves to some new ones. Simons pants have so many holes in that I'm not sure they suit their purpose anymore so we need to get him some of those too. Simon went to get his hair cut in the morning so by the time we made it into the city centre it was almost lunch time. When we got off the bus we stumbled across a cute little food market which had so many yummy things to eat it was difficult to decide what to have for lunch. I eventually decided on a delicious salad box with sweet potato cakes and humous and Simon went for some shredded chicken Thai style rice wraps which were so big he had to save one for later.

    After a couple of hours we'd had enough of shopping so we headed to South Bank to check out the lagoon for a spot of sunbathing. Like the ones in Cairns and Airlie Beach, this one was also great. We stayed at the lagoon until the sun went down and then we went in search of a Woolies to grab some bits for dinner and headed back to Mel's.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 3 - Brisbane

    2 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today is our last day in Brisbane before we head down to Byron Bay so we decided to pick the hire car up early and make a day of it.

    Our first stop was Mt Coot-tha which had a number of different trails up to the top where you got a great panoramic view of Brisbane. We chose the summit walk which took around 45 minutes winding through the trees. Half way up we made a small detour to visit Slaughter Falls however when we arrived at the waterfall it was bone dry! At the top of Mt Coot-ha the view was incredible! It was a very warm walk up so we treated ourselves to a Magnum ice cream each to help us cool off. Back at the car we still had hours to kill before we needed to pick up Maddy from the airport so we decided to head to the botanical gardens. We walked through the cactus house and fern garden before we spotted a big lizard on the path. We were bent over taking pictures when we heard another noise behind us. I turned to see an even bigger lizard running towards me and jumped about 6ft in the air!

    After the gardens we went in search of a Dominos for some $5 pizzas which we took to the park to eat. It was quite funny tucking into the pizza whilst lots of people around us were exercising. We did feel a little bit bad but not bad enough to stop stuffing our faces. After the sun disappeared we watched some Netflix in the car before making our way to the airport. With Maddy eventually at the pick up area we got her in the car and made our way to Byron. With the hours time difference and getting slightly lost finding the house we eventually arrived around 12.30am.    Meer informatie

    Zie vertaling
  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Byron Bay

    3 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We are staying just outside Byron Bay in what they call the hinterlands in an Airbnb. We woke to the sun shining through our windows and when we walked out on to the veranda we were met with the most amazing views out over the forest and across to Byron Bay. It was absolutely stunning and a perfect spot for our morning coffee. We hadn't organised any breakfast so we decided to venture into Byron Bay in search of some brekkie. Byron reminds me of Newquay, only a fancier version. It's full of surf shops, surfers and long blonde wavy hair! The parking is equally as bad as it is in Newquay so when we eventually found a parking space (and paid the extortionate $4 an hour ticket) we found a cafe.

    There are a number of beaches in Byron so we asked the waiter which one he recommended. He suggested that we go to Tallow Beach as it was a windy day so it would be a lot nicer there than on the main beach. I'd hate to think what it was like on the main beach as it was like being in a sandstorm in the Sahara desert on Tallow Beach. We braved it for a good couple of hours but called it a day when the sand started to sting as it blew past. We were pretty much the only people on the beach. Everyone else must have thought stupid bloomin tourists, sunbathing in a sandstorm!

    After the beach we headed back to the house for a much needed shower as we were absolutely plastered in sand. It took some scrubbing to wash off and I had to wash my hair twice to get all the sand out. Once we were free of the sand, we headed back into Byron for a drink at the Friendly Railway Bar. Apparently the pub has hosted live music every night of the week for the last 30 years and when we arrived there was a hillbilly band playing. The pub was filled with hippies of all ages and every other male person had long hair. It had a great atmosphere though and we were enjoying the music so we decided to stay there for dinner. Simon has been wanting to try Kangaroo for a while now so he went for the kangaroo burger. I played it safe though and went for chicken.    Meer informatie

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  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 2 - Byron Bay

    4 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Due to the lack of curtains in our room and the enormous wall to floor window, we woke up early again to the birds yapping away. Today we thought we'd have a change of scenery from the beach and decided to head to Minyon Falls which was around a 45 minute drive away. Minyon Falls is a 100ft waterfall however due to the lack of rain it certainly wasn't one of the most powerful we have seen. We parked at the top of the Falls and had a peak out over the Lookout before walking down to the bottom. The sign suggested that the walk was 3 hours one way to the base of the waterfall. It was however only 4.6km so we figured that surely it wasn't going to take us that long and braved it. We did have some serious doubts when half of the walk was along the flat in the opposite direction to the waterfall however eventually it started to wind down and we arrived at the base around an hour later. It was actually a really nice walk through the rainforest and wound its way slowly down so it wasn't too steep either. To get up to the base we did have to climb over some huge boulders. At the base of the Falls there was a perfect swimming hole. Now from our previous experience of waterfalls in the Atherton Tablelands we knew this was going to be cold. We were pretty hot from the walk down though so Maddy and I braved it and went for a swim. Simon on the other hand didn't fancy getting his feet wet so he sat on the side and took pictures.

    After what felt like forever, we eventually made our way back up to the car and headed back into Byron. We stopped off at Woolies and grabbed some wraps and tuna and then headed to the main beach for a picnic and some more sunbathing. There was no wind today so we didn't have to deal with the sand blowing in our faces.

    Once the sun started going down we headed back to the Airbnb for the evening. When we arrived we found Paul and his friend Shaun planning their outfits for a psychedelic space themed party (very Byron). This provided us with a good couple hours of entertainment whilst they made their outfits out of a colander, metal spoon, some LED lights and a lot of aluminium foil. We then tucked into a yummy curry and enjoyed a few beers out on the veranda.    Meer informatie

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  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Day 3 - Byron Bay

    5 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Another super early start but this time not because of the sun. We actually set our alarms for 4.45am in order to see the sunrise in the most easterly point of Australia at the Byron Bay Lighthouse. We decided against the 45 minute coastal walk to the lighthouse and parked at Wategos Beach instead, which was just underneath, allowing us some extra time in bed. After a 10 minute walk we made it to the lighthouse to see the spectacular colours in the sky. Unfortunately due to the cloud we only just noticed the sun pop up before it disappeared behind them, but it was still worth the early start.

    On our way back down we decided to walk along a bit of the coast which was busy with all the morning surfers and stumbled across the famous Pass Cafe. We thought it rude not to pop in for a coffee and some brekky. After food we headed back to the car and back to our Airbnb to pack. When we got back Paul recommended that we check out the Sunday markets. Suitably full of hippies, the market was actually really good. If we'd had more space in our bags or been on a short holiday I think Blake would have bought half of it.

    After lunch we headed back to Tallow Beach as we knew we could park for free and there was no wind. After a couple hours sunbathing and a dip in the sea, we packed up the car and got back on the road back to Brisbane. Our Airbnb back in Brisbane was an awesome pad with a pool so we made the most of the sunshine before heading out for a fish and chips dinner.    Meer informatie

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  • Simon and BlakeAround the WorldSimon and Blake

    Auntie Tricia and Shane's

    6 november 2017, Australië ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Maddy is off to Mexico this morning so we dropped her off at the airport before returning the hire car. Our next stop is Auntie Tricia and Shane's for a week, so it was back on the bus to Beaudesert. Tricia met us at the bus stop and took us back to hers.

    In the afternoon we settled in and did a spot of laundry. For the first time in 7 months our clothes actually smell clean and are even soft from the fabric softener. For dinner, Tricia cooked us a roast dinner. I think she's going to have trouble getting rid of us at the end of the week.    Meer informatie

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