Blog 20, Last day – chasing waterfalls

As it was out last day, we tried to cram in everything that we had outstanding on our list.

Miller Miller falls was first on the list and getting there felt like driving on the San Bernadino in the Swiss Alps it was so convoluting and clung to the side of the mountain, with very steep drop offs, and very little in the way of protection barriers – although it took us longer than expected (not driving miss Daisy, but always safety first) it was worth it. It is where the herbal essence ad was filmed, and you can see why – gorgeous!

We were just not expecting it to be so pretty, and were not prepared for how accessible it was, so consequently we were not dressed for swimming. I did dip my toes in through and it was fairly warm.

Next up was the Mossman Gorge – when we got there we realised that we had been really close to it the other day when we went to the Crocodile boat – if only we had known.

We had not really researched it, and we definitely did not expect water. By this time Emily was kitted out in her bikini and got straight in – I was so tempted and am definitely well jel that I did not get to swim, although there were quite a few fish in the water, and the catfish had a nibble on another swimmer, so maybe not.

It felt we had gone full circle today as we finished off with a walk on a boardwalk in the canopy (which we did on day one - blimey, that feels like so long ago!) and found a cool suspension bridge which we did at the end of our Canadian trip last year. It was quite wobbly to walk on and I have not quite recovered from the boat trip…

We next called in at Port Douglas, which is where we went by accident the other day but did not have time to stop (becasue we had gone to the wrong location), so we went back to have a better look today.

It was pretty and looked to have a great beach and decent waves, but by 4.30 all of the shops were closed – I guess that is the winter season for you. The ice cream shop was open – happy days!

On our last night we went out for dinner at the Copper Bar and Grill, (What 3 words; digs.transit.voltage) which is where we dined 2 nights ago, and Em repeated the same meal of prawn tacos because they were just so good.

The weather today has been a bit iffy, and tonight the heavens opened and it poured down. We are reading that as Oz is sad that we are leaving.

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That was our last day, and we are home now – not even going to talk about getting stuck in Tokyo, being greeted by dancers doing a full routine, missing our lift up to Cumbria, hiring a car and getting stuck on the M6 because it was closed…..

What I will share are our highlights, lowlights and what we have learned this trip:

Lowlights:

· Food (Ming’s Chinese food in Townsville being the worst ever!) I don’t think I actually had a great meal anywhere.

· Because of that, not getting to understand what Australian is food is?

· Emily being Ill in Tamworth and being faced with bare brick and doily curtains

· Not seeing aquatic bioluminescence – maybe next year...

· Racism - we observed a lot of casual racism, I wonder if people who come to the UK have a similar experience

· WIFI - especially at the Palm Royale!

Highlights:

· Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef

· Opera at Sydney Opera House

· Canoeing in Everglades

· Swimming in the waterfalls

· Seeing wild crocs fairly close (close enough anyway)

· Australia Zoo – I have wanted to visit since I started in travel, over 20 years ago

· Snorkelling at the Whitsundays – the water was crystal clear and we were literally swimming in shoals of fish

· The independent cinema we visited - we do love an independent cinema

· The ice cream in Airley beach – touted as ‘best in the world’ and so far, undisputed (more research is required, but I am happy to conduct it)

· Meeting up with my lovely friend Joanne, and remembering all of the antics we got up to - so much laughter!

· So many wonderful, wonderful beaches

· The Wedding of two beautiful people and their gorgeous baby, in the most pictureesque setting, and the mind-blowing stary sky that we slept under when we were there – WOW

Things we have learned:

· Castlemaine XXXX is a really popular drink – anyone over the age of 40 will remember the UK TV ads.

· No-one in Oz drinks Fosters

· Don’t look a wallaby directly in the eye or they think you are challenging them and may attack

· Doors lock the opposite way – the amount of time we spent trying to lock hotel room doors, only to realise we were actually opening them

· Indicators are where the wipers should be – literally took the whole 4 weeks to get used to that and stop putting the wipers on in stead of indicating.

· Only drink frozen margs – lesson learned early in the trip

· Every bridge is named after someone, and there are A LOT of bridges!

· Motorway lanes are really tight / skinny and everyone drives too close to the vehicle in front.

· Roads are HORRENDOUS, they do not seem know how to build a flat road surface - Em wore her coffee many many times

· Oz is a lot more lush than expected

· More mountainous than expected

· Most Aussies wear shoes..... so many don't

· Thongs are something different in Oz - we saw quite a few signs reading 'Thongs are acceptable'

· Food - not great! No definitive Ozzie food, only a food type, which is barbequed.

· They put boiled egg in a Caesar salad!!!!

· Cairns airport is TINY! Only 3 international flights on a Saturday.

· Ozzies drive from age 16, have two colour P plates which are mandatory and you have to progress through them before you can have a full licence.

· You start off with 12 points on your licence, and you LOOSE points for transgressions

· Australia is HUGE

· The longest uninterrupted instruction from the Sat Nav was ‘continue for 179 miles’

· 30% of the sand on the Great Barrier Reef is made up of Parrot Fish poo…….

The main thing I learned is that I am a very lucky lady.