Capricorn Ramble 2012

Our trip around half Australia was amazing!! The 3 weeks of our trip went so quick, and feel so unreal afterwards.

We arrived in Coffs Harbour the 18^th of April at about 8 pm, and got taught how to put up a tent in total darkness and with buckets of water pouring down on us. What a great start! We headed to Byron Bay the next day, and even got a photo at the big banana – wohey. We had a surfing lesson, which went surprisingly well. I stood up after only a few tryouts, and have to admit that I find it even more fun now than before.

We spent day three in Dreamworld. I’m not a great big fan of roller coasters, but my goal was to go in at least one. So I did. Even though I was about to die as I sat down, it turned at to be fun in the end. We spent the night at the Sunshine Coast.

We drove 580 km the following day and spent the night in Rockhampton. This was by the way the first night without rain. We drove yet another six hours the next day.

After having pancakes for breakfast, we enjoyed a day at Whitehaven beach. We went ocean rafting before going snorkelling at the reef where everyone had to wear one of those great suits.  I absolutely loved Whitehaven. Everything looked so peaceful, and the water was so clear. We stood in the water while hundreds of fish swam around our feet. We had to share the camping ground with millions of sand flies the following night, which all seemed to love my ankles. I counted 67 bites on only one of them.

Day 11. Halftime. We flew across to Alice Springs early in the morning and arrived there at about 11am. It was amazing to see how everything around us changed. The colours, the temperature and the people. We met another Safari group in Alice. They were travelling the opposite way, and amongst them, Kristine from Norway, whom I last saw at Sydney airport 10 months ago. After a few hours in town, we went to a didgeridoo concert. It was great to listen to, and everyone had a go and tried to make a noise that didn’t sound like a dying cow.

The following day, The Royal Flying Doctor Service showed us how they work before we spent a few hours with snakes and lizards at the Reptile Centre. We had some time to discover town and look at aboriginal art before we went back to camp.

Kings Canyon, one of my highlights of the trip, was amazing! We had the chance to go on a 6.4 km walk/climb, and I am so glad I did. The view was magnificent! Together with Liisa, a girl from Finland who now is one of the best friends I’ve ever had, I managed to get lost. We came off the track and didn’t see anyone around us. After a few minutes we started to picture the newspaper articles saying; “Exchange students went missing on Kings Canyon” and were quite pleased when we found the group again. We made a bushfire at night before everyone went to sleep under the stars. It was amazing and we counted one shooting star after the other.

We enjoyed a short camel ride before we drove to our camp near Uluru the following day and went to the Cultural Centre to learn something about the aboriginal culture. A man told us the story behind his art and about his life in an aboriginal community near by. We then drove to the Sunset view area.

Those who wanted to climb Uluru, got the chance the following day. I decided not to, as I wanted to respect the aboriginals’ values regarding this mountain. A few of us went for a walk with Mel and Chris who could tell us lots about previous trips and their experiences with aboriginals and their culture.

 

And yet another day driving across the desert; we drove for 10 hours without seeing even one house, and arrived in Coober Pedy in the early evening. They showed us around in town and one of the opal mines, before we got to our under ground home for the night.

Being locked up in jail – check. The night in Gladstone was different. We were locked up in Gladstone Gaol and went for a ghost tour in total darkness. It was a bit scary, but I think everyone enjoyed it, especially those who scared everyone else around.

We drove the Great Ocean Road, passing the 12 Apostles as we headed towards Melbourne and could spend a few hours in Adelaide. In the evening we all went to a lightshow that told the story about the ships sailing to Australia.

We spent two days in Melbourne where we had time to look at the town on our own. We went up in the Sky Tower and spent some time at the Victoria Markets the next day. This was our last day on Safari. The trip from Melbourne back to Maitland took about 10 hours, passing through Wollongong and Sydney.

The trip was amazing, and definitely one of the highlights of my exchange. I made many new friends and saw parts of Australia probably many of you guys haven’t seen. Thank you for making this possible for me! Cheers Bec