Mission Beach and Magnetic Island (Townsville)

After leaving Port Douglas we went towards Townsville. Now no more buses on our trip... we changed the bus for the car... so let's go!!! Well,it is not that quick when you have a tent :-)





It is a 4 hours drive from Port Douglas to Townsville ...so we decided to stop at the some stage for a break... and we did it at Mission Beach. This beach of 14 km of lenght is made up of 4 beaches and, if the day is sunny, it is a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the nature.
We walked along the very long beach and we enjoy the sun that just came out (the last few days it has been very cloudy :-( ).



After the swim we went for something to eat. The town beside Mission beach is tiny but you find here anything that a tourist might need... restaurants, cafes, shops, supermarkets and hostels. It is an ideal place for families or those who are looking for the absolute relaxing holidays.





After lunch and with our bellies full we were ready to continue and we drove until Townsville. After looking for a place to stay that night we went for a walk around the city.

Townsville is a small city and with nothing special in it but, it is an strategic point to get to Magnetic Island (this island is just at 45min by ferry from the city).

Two third parts of Magnetic Island is considered National park and you can find there a big diversity of wildlife.



So.. next morning... we got up very early and we went to visit the island. We took the ferry (our car went there too ) and we went to explore the island!!



An island plenty of nature and places to discover... beaches, bays, cliffs, valleys, natural parks... have a look at the photos!









A perfect sunny day that we enjoyed on the beaches of Magnetic Island. We have to say that the water of some of bays were crystal clear! So nice!!



Now we head to Arlie beach.... we going on a cruise along Withsundays!!

We'll keep you informed!! Take care!

Vane and Eva

To check some of the pictures of Mission beach and Magnetic Island enter here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29210326@N07/?saved=1

Port Douglas and Cape Tripulation

After getting everything ready and the car stuffed to the limits we started our trip along the East Coast of Australia!! We started our trip towards the north of Queensland. First stop- Port Douglas.



The drive is along the coast... just in front of the Great Barrier Reef.



The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef in the world. This reef has 260 kilometres of lenght and it is said that here lives the biggest animal in the world!



The Great Barrier Reef was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1768 when he got stuck in it with his boat. James Cook, from the royal English navy, was the one who discovered Hawai for the first time too!! Such a guy! He deserves his picture here! hahahaha



The Great Barrier Reef is visited for thousand of people around the world every year due to the huge diversity of biological live and the easy access to snorkle or dive in its waters.
This area (with an extension of 34,870,000 ha) is protected by the Maritime Park of the Great Barrier Reef and it was declared Human Heritage by the UNESCO in 1981.



The experts reckon that you can find here around 1,500 different kind of fishes, 4,000 kind of mollusc and 400 of corals!!!
This reef is a very sensitive beauty and has been hardly affected by the global warming that the planet suffers nowadays...it seems that the corals are very sensitives to the water temperature changes.

We arrived to Port Douglas in the afternoon and we looked for a campsite...



and here we go... who does remember how to pitch a tent??hahahaha Yeah... it seems very easy but... it took us a while to put it up! The floor was very rocky so to hammer the picks there was impossible!!



But we sorted out.. more or less... a little bit twisted... but it is up!!! We just need to pray for no rain or wind or otherwise we will have to sleep in the car!! :-)

Important note
Guys.... 2 Rapitenques Around the world are suffering a very serious crisis Post Asia... in Australia everything is soooooooooo expensive!!strong>

Yeah.. we can complain but we don't have any other choice so we need to get use to this prices :-) Behiind are the meals for a Euro or the accommodation for 2 Euros... here.. .the Australian dolar has wings... as the Euro has at home and as soon as you cash it from the ATM is gone!!!



Even with the tragic crisis that we were suffering, we managed to look for a boat trip to go to the Great Barrier Reef and do some snorkeling :-) It was great! A suunny day, lots of different fishes of different colours, blue turquoise water, corals.... it was worth it!



Snorkeling is cool but look at how you look with the mask.. we look like Bert and Ernie! hahaha



We have never been around so many kind of fishes!! At lunch time we came back to the boat and we saw sharks!!! They weren't very big but I have to say that they were scary!! We don't have sharks at home!! Tuna and salmon are fine but sharks.....



The next day we decided to go to explore Daintree National Park on the way to Cape Tribulation.






Cape Tribulation has the biggest wet forest in Australia and the oldest one in the world. An ecosystem with microclimate with no rival around the world... and you want to see the animals here!!! Ants, birds, reptiles are huge!!!!! And lots of them that we have never seen before...:-)



To be honest the day was cloudy and rainy so we didn't get a chance to enjoy the beaches of Cape Tribulation. However, in some of them you can't swim coz there are crocodiles so... we didn't miss that much!! We were happy just to walk around.



...just check the pictures... some of them are not very good due to the weather ... but the place is very nice! All that nature beside the sea... jungle, river and ocean!




And with Cape Tribulation we just leave Port Douglas... now our trip continues... next stop.. Townsville. We'll explain you more from there!



Check some photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29210326@N07/?saved=1‏

See you soon!

Vane and Eva

Melbourne

Before meeting up again with my twin traveller in Cairns I will explain you a bit about my days in Melbourne.....
After a boat trip, a night bus and three flights I, finally, arrived to Melbourne!!
The tiredness, the Asiatic nostalgia, the jetlag or the rain of the first day didn't stop my smile returning to this corner of the planet.

The capital of Victoria is a modern city and it is the centre of big events such as festivals, exhibitions, sport, music, etc. It also has thousands of galleries, cafes, pubs, restaurants...
The "Australian version of Barcelona" is a lively multicultural city. People from everywhere in the world walk through its streets creating a chic atmosphere.
St Kilda, Chapel Street or Fitzroy gather the best art, music, good and fashion of the city.

Melbourne is also well known for the sport events that take place here, such as the Gran Prix of Formula 1, Open Australia or the grand AFL final... this give the name of the "Australian sport capital".

Walking around Melbourne is never boring.... and you are evolved by the huge skyscrappers on the bank of the Yarra river.





You can also walk through Chinatown, get lost in some of its markets or go to the popular Federation square. This square is a meeting point for all the locals and it is never empty! There is always something going on!



During my visit in Melbourne I stayed in St Kilda. This area is located by the beach outside of the city centre. It has a long path walk beside the sea where everyone gather to do some exercise. I have to say that in this place you feel like getting your gear on and go for a run, a nice walk or play some game on the beach!



St Kilda is very famous for its restaurants, pubs and its bakeries!!! and to be honest the cakes here are yummy!!!!!!!!!!!




Locals use to come here during the weekends just to enjoy the beach or a nice lunch/drink. A nice place to live!

In Melbourne I met up with Dean. Dean is an Australian friend that Eva and I met in Vietnam... so funny to see him again!! We met to go to the soccer final of the Victorian League... Cheering up for the Melbourne Knights!! Came on!!




The region of Victoria has more interesting places to see apart from Melbourne. If you drive just for an hour or so you can get lost around the Yarra valley and visit the vineyards and do some wine testing!! Delicious!!



One of the most amazing trips of the area is to drive along the well known Great Ocean Road. From Torquay to Warrambool this road goes along the coast passing by beautiful spots and beaches...
Bell's beach (where the surf Rip Curl championship takes place), Apollo Bay and the 12 Apostols were the places that I liked the most.


Apollo bay


The 12 Apostols are a set of rocks in the middle of the ocean... an amazing sightseeing ... and I decided to go there on an helicopter... Beautiful!!!




Check more photos of Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road here:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/26652485@N06/

Time to meet up with Eva again!!! In Cairns we will meet up and we will keep explaining you more adventures!! See you soon!!

Goodbye Asia.... Welcome Australia!!!

After 5 months in Asia is time to change continent... time to board to Oz.

We sadly leave behind the tasty rice and noodles street stalls , the tuk tuks, the art of eating with sticks or with our hands, the constant bargaining, the toilets as a hole on the floor, the cows or elephants on the middle of the road or the funny crowd on the buses.... the popular "same same but different" came to its end... now it will be simply "different". We leave behing thousand of experiencies that we have lived in this very special part of the world during the last few months.

In Asia and its sunsets are etched our accomplice looks of pleasant happinnes... in this continent that has delighted us with endless smiles that now are turning into nostalgia. Nostalgia of an unforgetable time of our lives... and it is now, when we give way to another part of our trip, when we think about it more intensely and we feel its sweet essence.
From the mystic India to the amazing Thailand going through the dramatic landscape of Nepal, the peaceful Laos, the hidden charms of Vietnam or the huge rice fields of Cambodia.

Asia is mysterious .... it is vibrating.... it is unique.

We close a very special stage of our trip... but with lots of energy to start a new one!!! Thanks to all of you for being with us! We hope you have enjoyed with our little stories.

2 rapitenques are going to meet up again in Australia!!!!

The 5 Warriors of Ton Sai

Along the paths of this little world you can find lots of warriors looking for adventures...

This entry on the blog goes for "The 5 Warriors of Ton Sai". The destiny wanted to gather us in this little peninsula... Railay... on the West coast of Thailand.




First of all, I will introduce you all the characters of this adventure. Each of them created a fiction character during those days.... There we go:

Diana, from Madrid, she is calm and natural, she climbed with shrewdness and serenity.... looking at her climbing was a beauty.... she never had enough! A nice travel companion with lots of nice thoughts and interest who liked to share with the others...

Diana was...."La gata Cantinflas"


We also have Hector.... a guy from Malaga with a great sense of humor. He knows what means to have a tough live and he shows that when he climbs. He is a teacher in and outside the class .... he gave good lessons to all of us!! ... Came on up!!! Throw the fear to the bin!! hahahhaha
Thanks to him we learned lots of things about climbing.... he is a clever and intrepid climber!

Hector..."The teacher"...


And then... we have Iñaqui!!!
We met him three months ago in Nepal...in Kathmandu.... World is so small!! After all these months we have met again.... climbing!!
Every drop of sweat shows his willpower... he is strong and stuborn... he climb everything that is in front of him!!

Iñaki..."The grandpa"...jajaja

Then we also have Gemma. For her Ton Sai was a very special place. She had a photo of Ton Sai in her room for years... in this photo there was a guy cliimbing in a beautiful beach... but now is her who is climbing!!! Her dreams became true!

" La gemmi...dos"


And the last one....EVa.... Rapitenca and worlwide traveller..... I haven't climbed in years!!!! Doing it again has been amazing!!! I have been a little bird during 3 days!! I have been flying with these 5 people in Ton Sai.. .where we have been climbing and laughing all day!!

Eva..." PaTaKa ToMaTa"...


When you start climbing and see the landscape in this place is amazing!!! I don't have enough words to describe the feelings that I had when I was there.... every step was a triumph... a new personal satisfaction!!!




But we were not just climbing... we were sharing nice dinners, sunsets and a few beers....
We also visited the area.... a very nice peninsula.... beaches, lakes, jungle....

One of the days we went kayaking along the coast.....great fun!!

With these words I wanna thank all the warriors... I hope the energy that you have keep shining in your soul.. as it did in Ton SAi!!