Day 315
"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end"
Thanks to anyone who followed this blog all the way to end. It's time to descend from clouds, go back to reality, back to rat race and back to a quest to find my future ex-wife.
Thank You Australia for amazing year! I love this country and I will be back.
sunnuntai 10. toukokuuta 2009
perjantai 8. toukokuuta 2009
All Good Things...
Day 312
"Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore"
I did it.
From highest mountains on New Zealand to paradise-like beaches in Whitsunday Islands.
From dense tropical rainforest in northern Queensland to lifeless deserts of Red Center Australia.
From busy modern megacity of Sydney to deserted island in Uoleva, Tonga.
From 15,000ft in the air above Lake Taupo to spearfishing on Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands
...and so much more!
Did it all. :-) Trip couldn't have been more diverse.
If I would have left Oz and ended this trip 1 month ago I wouldn't have been ready at all. Now I have been mentally preparing to go back for a week and suddenly return seems like a possibility(which it really wasn't month ago).
Gosh, what to write? How to summarize past 10 months? When I come back, I guess most common question I will get is "How was it?". I have been trying to come up an answer for that but I realize now there is no answer. No words are enough to translate all the emotions and experiences of the past 10 months. To say this has been the greatest thing I have ever done(and will ever do) is an understatement.
Most satisfying thing for me about this trip was that I did it entirely on my own terms. This was my chance to spend year extremely selfishly and thats what I did. There were many moments when I could have traveled with other people...but I quickly realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't want to include other people in my decision-making. All the things I did and places I went to were my own decisions. I gave enough time to each place I visited(some places got maybe too much time hehe). This was my trip, from start to finish.
10 months...I guess I never fully understood how frigging long time that was. First time it really struck me was after New Year when Tuulia and Sami left NZ back to home and I was in Stewart Island watching the endless rain. I realized then that there was still more than 5 months to go! I think that made January the toughest month of this trip.
In february when I got back to Oz things got instantly better. I understood what was wrong with Kiwis and why I prefered Australia so much more. Aussies and Kiwis are very similar in many ways, both are very friendly but Kiwi's lack one thing that Aussies have, self-irony. Aussies are so much more laidback and have the ability to laugh to themselfs. Kiwis are much more serious in that way.
Anyway, for this entry I wanted to put down some statistics I have piled up during past week.
Number of different beds I have slept: 99 (this is also number of times I have packed my bags)
Number of bus trips: 55
Number of flights: 19 - environment sure loves this :-)
Number of days in Oz: 186
Number of days in NZ: 84
Number of days in tropics: 117
What were biggest highlights? That is very difficult question, but if I would have to make trips top 10 experiences then here it goes(without much explanations):
1. Coral Bay Manta Ray dive with sharks, Australia
2. Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand
3. Snorkeling with Humpbacks, Tonga
4. Spearfishing in Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands
5. Whitsunday Sailing, Australia
6. Treehouse, Australia
7. 6m Crocodile in Adelaide River near Darwin, Australia
8. Cape Tribulation, Australia
9. Helicopter ride to Mount Cook, New Zealand
10. Sovereign Hill, Australia
Lastly answer to one question...Would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat!!! :-)
"Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore"
I did it.
From highest mountains on New Zealand to paradise-like beaches in Whitsunday Islands.
From dense tropical rainforest in northern Queensland to lifeless deserts of Red Center Australia.
From busy modern megacity of Sydney to deserted island in Uoleva, Tonga.
From 15,000ft in the air above Lake Taupo to spearfishing on Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands
...and so much more!
Did it all. :-) Trip couldn't have been more diverse.
If I would have left Oz and ended this trip 1 month ago I wouldn't have been ready at all. Now I have been mentally preparing to go back for a week and suddenly return seems like a possibility(which it really wasn't month ago).
Gosh, what to write? How to summarize past 10 months? When I come back, I guess most common question I will get is "How was it?". I have been trying to come up an answer for that but I realize now there is no answer. No words are enough to translate all the emotions and experiences of the past 10 months. To say this has been the greatest thing I have ever done(and will ever do) is an understatement.
Most satisfying thing for me about this trip was that I did it entirely on my own terms. This was my chance to spend year extremely selfishly and thats what I did. There were many moments when I could have traveled with other people...but I quickly realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I didn't want to include other people in my decision-making. All the things I did and places I went to were my own decisions. I gave enough time to each place I visited(some places got maybe too much time hehe). This was my trip, from start to finish.
10 months...I guess I never fully understood how frigging long time that was. First time it really struck me was after New Year when Tuulia and Sami left NZ back to home and I was in Stewart Island watching the endless rain. I realized then that there was still more than 5 months to go! I think that made January the toughest month of this trip.
In february when I got back to Oz things got instantly better. I understood what was wrong with Kiwis and why I prefered Australia so much more. Aussies and Kiwis are very similar in many ways, both are very friendly but Kiwi's lack one thing that Aussies have, self-irony. Aussies are so much more laidback and have the ability to laugh to themselfs. Kiwis are much more serious in that way.
Anyway, for this entry I wanted to put down some statistics I have piled up during past week.
Number of different beds I have slept: 99 (this is also number of times I have packed my bags)
Number of bus trips: 55
Number of flights: 19 - environment sure loves this :-)
Number of days in Oz: 186
Number of days in NZ: 84
Number of days in tropics: 117
What were biggest highlights? That is very difficult question, but if I would have to make trips top 10 experiences then here it goes(without much explanations):
1. Coral Bay Manta Ray dive with sharks, Australia
2. Tongariro Crossing, New Zealand
3. Snorkeling with Humpbacks, Tonga
4. Spearfishing in Muri Lagoon, Cook Islands
5. Whitsunday Sailing, Australia
6. Treehouse, Australia
7. 6m Crocodile in Adelaide River near Darwin, Australia
8. Cape Tribulation, Australia
9. Helicopter ride to Mount Cook, New Zealand
10. Sovereign Hill, Australia
Lastly answer to one question...Would I do it all over again? In a heartbeat!!! :-)
maanantai 4. toukokuuta 2009
White Australia has black history
Day 307
"There once was a jolly swag camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong
Up got the swaggie and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker-bag
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker-bag
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Down came the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred
Up came the troopers One Two Three
Who's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Who's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.
Up got the swaggie and jumped into the billabong
You'll never catch me alive said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me"
Song above is the unofficial National Anthem of Australia. Many many times people have petitioned government to make it official National Anthem. Response has always been: "Look, we love the song. It's aussie song. But...it's a song about a thief, who steals a sheep and then drowns. We just can't make it our National Anthem...".
At the moment I am back in Perth for 1 week before embarking on long 30h return trip to Finland. There isn't that much happening since most of the days I'm not doing much anymore, just relaxing, doing some souvenier shopping and trying to get my mind ready for cold and depressing Finland. So...this is best time to start summing up past 10 months. But first I want to put something else here. Something that has started to fascinate me more and more each day. Something that is one of the big unexplained mysteries of Earth. Aboriginals.
For many tourists, their first and only contact with aboriginals come when they arrive to Alice Springs, - mandatory pitstop on route to Uluru - walk to the mall and are met by group of drunken aboriginals who haven't used a shower in couple of years spitting in their face yelling "white cunt!". Because of this aboriginals have a very bad reputation within Australia and especially outside Australia.
This image of 24/7 drunken aboriginals is in fact both true and false. Yes, alcoholism is huge problem among them. After over 250 years since European settlers introduced alcohol to Australia, aboriginals still haven't developed same kind of immunity to it like we have. For them it's highly addictive drug which has destroyed world's oldest civilization. It's also true that majority of aboriginals have alcohol problem, but there is other side of coin as well.
Aboriginals don't have prisons, but their communities have very strict laws. When someone breaks law - for example drinks alcohol - they are banished from their community. Now, most of current aboriginal communities are not even on roadmaps. They are scattered throughout central and northern parts of Australia. When they are banished they have nowhere else to go but to nearest town which in most cases happens to be Alice Springs(on northern parts there are also few others like Derby, Fitzroy Crossings and Halls Creek which all have similar if not worse reputation as Alice Springs). When they get to town, they are alone. They have no family and are generally frowned by white people(=us). They go to social security desk, get money, hook up with other banished aboriginals, buy alcohol and become full blown alcoholics, rejects of their own community. It is really a sad story and unfortunately most tourists don't know this. They don't know why aboriginals in Alice Springs are like they are, drunk 24/7.
For me biggest shock came when I learned what is going on in these aboriginal towns full of banished alcoholics. I met a doctor who had been working in Halls Creek for few years and he said that he still sees nightmares of the things he saw. Mothers dumping their 6 month infants in the bush and going drinking...only to forget where they left their kid which is found 3 days later dead of dehydration.
What makes this even more sad is that we are talking about the decline of oldest civilization on Earth. In Northern Territory there are cave paintings which are atleast 35,000 years old which is proof that their culture has literally stayed untouched until European settlers arrived 250 years ago, after which nothing was the same anymore.
How did a culture survive and thrive in such a harsh environment as Australia literally unchanged for 35,000 years is still a bit mystery. None of aboriginal tribes ever had written language. Everything, all knowledge was passed on as paintings, drawings, dances and stories. Stories...this is an absolutely fascinating part of their culture which took a while to open up to me.
Wherever aboriginal tribe lived they had hundreds of "creation stories" about the nature around them. There is story why 3 big stones are actually 3 sisters turned to stone by village shaman hundreds of years ago. There is story why some bird which constantly digs ground for no apparent reason is actually a shaman searching his magic bone so he could become human again etc etc. When I first heard these stories I was like "Oh my, what sort of weed they smoked here". Stories were ridiculous, silly and stupid. It took me long time to learn why and when revelation came, I understood the genius behind this system.
You see, stories have different levels. Everyone starts are level 0 and more knowledge they get, they are allowed to listen level 1 stories and so on. Now, naturally in aboriginal culture they start to tell these level 0 stories to children, so that is why stories are shaped so even children understand them. Every story has also a meaning, a message about how to live your life and why nature is to be respected. As children grow and they get more knowledge, only then they are allowed to listen stories from next level. This also why tribe elders are always ones making decisions, because their knowledge level is highest and they are able to pass on all the stories. Tourists - thats you and me - we are at same level as 5-year old children so thats why stories we hear are same that are being told to children and that is why they sound silly to us. Aboriginals are not even allowed to tell tourists anything other than level 0 stories.
Now it's time to tell the big mystery of aboriginals. I already mentioned how they have found cave paintings 35,000 years old from Northern Territory. But aboriginals have been in Australia a LOT longer than that. Latest human fossil discovery from New South Wales(near Sydney) proofs that aboriginals were here 90,000 years ago! How did they get here is mystery which science has no answer. You see Homo Sapiens, human as we know, left Africa around 120,000 years ago. So if we assume simplest explanation is accurate, this is what happened:
For some reason group of Homo Sapiens left Africa and instead of going to Europe(Homo Sapiens arrived to Europe 45,000 years ago) they started to go east. They crossed harsh deserts of Middle East, mountains and jungles of India and arrived to rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia within few thousand years. Now, this is where it gets really tricky. For past couple of million years, Australia has been an island, isolated from rest of the world. Because of this, Australia has never had apes so human couldn't have evolved here on it's own. Humans had to have arrived from somewhere. So, these humans who left Africa some thousand of years ago were able to build boats capable of traveling oceans - quite an accomplishment to species who hasn't even developed speech yet(humans developed speech about 60,000 years ago) - they set out to sea and headed south from Papua Guinea without any knowledge that 400km south they would arrive to Australia. They get off their boats, colonize entire Australia within few thousand years and completely forget how to build boats for next 75,000 years(latest evidence show that first time humans were able to build seafaring boats was 20,000 years ago).
So..how did aboriginals get here?? Oh, and in case above story is not mystery enough here is another puzzle. Those 90,000 year old human bones discovered in New South Wales apparently don't share same DNA with Homo Sapiens who left Africa. And as far as current knowledge goes, all humans are descendants of Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa. Interesting...
Hope someone read this far. I myself find aboriginal culture fascinating and it really is sad that they were able to survive nearly 100,000 years in the most harshest environment on Earth only to be destroyed by European settlers in matter of 200 years.
"There once was a jolly swag camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong
Up got the swaggie and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker-bag
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker-bag
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Down came the squatter mounted on his thoroughbred
Up came the troopers One Two Three
Who's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Who's the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker-bag?
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me.
Up got the swaggie and jumped into the billabong
You'll never catch me alive said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me"
Song above is the unofficial National Anthem of Australia. Many many times people have petitioned government to make it official National Anthem. Response has always been: "Look, we love the song. It's aussie song. But...it's a song about a thief, who steals a sheep and then drowns. We just can't make it our National Anthem...".
At the moment I am back in Perth for 1 week before embarking on long 30h return trip to Finland. There isn't that much happening since most of the days I'm not doing much anymore, just relaxing, doing some souvenier shopping and trying to get my mind ready for cold and depressing Finland. So...this is best time to start summing up past 10 months. But first I want to put something else here. Something that has started to fascinate me more and more each day. Something that is one of the big unexplained mysteries of Earth. Aboriginals.
For many tourists, their first and only contact with aboriginals come when they arrive to Alice Springs, - mandatory pitstop on route to Uluru - walk to the mall and are met by group of drunken aboriginals who haven't used a shower in couple of years spitting in their face yelling "white cunt!". Because of this aboriginals have a very bad reputation within Australia and especially outside Australia.
This image of 24/7 drunken aboriginals is in fact both true and false. Yes, alcoholism is huge problem among them. After over 250 years since European settlers introduced alcohol to Australia, aboriginals still haven't developed same kind of immunity to it like we have. For them it's highly addictive drug which has destroyed world's oldest civilization. It's also true that majority of aboriginals have alcohol problem, but there is other side of coin as well.
Aboriginals don't have prisons, but their communities have very strict laws. When someone breaks law - for example drinks alcohol - they are banished from their community. Now, most of current aboriginal communities are not even on roadmaps. They are scattered throughout central and northern parts of Australia. When they are banished they have nowhere else to go but to nearest town which in most cases happens to be Alice Springs(on northern parts there are also few others like Derby, Fitzroy Crossings and Halls Creek which all have similar if not worse reputation as Alice Springs). When they get to town, they are alone. They have no family and are generally frowned by white people(=us). They go to social security desk, get money, hook up with other banished aboriginals, buy alcohol and become full blown alcoholics, rejects of their own community. It is really a sad story and unfortunately most tourists don't know this. They don't know why aboriginals in Alice Springs are like they are, drunk 24/7.
For me biggest shock came when I learned what is going on in these aboriginal towns full of banished alcoholics. I met a doctor who had been working in Halls Creek for few years and he said that he still sees nightmares of the things he saw. Mothers dumping their 6 month infants in the bush and going drinking...only to forget where they left their kid which is found 3 days later dead of dehydration.
What makes this even more sad is that we are talking about the decline of oldest civilization on Earth. In Northern Territory there are cave paintings which are atleast 35,000 years old which is proof that their culture has literally stayed untouched until European settlers arrived 250 years ago, after which nothing was the same anymore.
How did a culture survive and thrive in such a harsh environment as Australia literally unchanged for 35,000 years is still a bit mystery. None of aboriginal tribes ever had written language. Everything, all knowledge was passed on as paintings, drawings, dances and stories. Stories...this is an absolutely fascinating part of their culture which took a while to open up to me.
Wherever aboriginal tribe lived they had hundreds of "creation stories" about the nature around them. There is story why 3 big stones are actually 3 sisters turned to stone by village shaman hundreds of years ago. There is story why some bird which constantly digs ground for no apparent reason is actually a shaman searching his magic bone so he could become human again etc etc. When I first heard these stories I was like "Oh my, what sort of weed they smoked here". Stories were ridiculous, silly and stupid. It took me long time to learn why and when revelation came, I understood the genius behind this system.
You see, stories have different levels. Everyone starts are level 0 and more knowledge they get, they are allowed to listen level 1 stories and so on. Now, naturally in aboriginal culture they start to tell these level 0 stories to children, so that is why stories are shaped so even children understand them. Every story has also a meaning, a message about how to live your life and why nature is to be respected. As children grow and they get more knowledge, only then they are allowed to listen stories from next level. This also why tribe elders are always ones making decisions, because their knowledge level is highest and they are able to pass on all the stories. Tourists - thats you and me - we are at same level as 5-year old children so thats why stories we hear are same that are being told to children and that is why they sound silly to us. Aboriginals are not even allowed to tell tourists anything other than level 0 stories.
Now it's time to tell the big mystery of aboriginals. I already mentioned how they have found cave paintings 35,000 years old from Northern Territory. But aboriginals have been in Australia a LOT longer than that. Latest human fossil discovery from New South Wales(near Sydney) proofs that aboriginals were here 90,000 years ago! How did they get here is mystery which science has no answer. You see Homo Sapiens, human as we know, left Africa around 120,000 years ago. So if we assume simplest explanation is accurate, this is what happened:
For some reason group of Homo Sapiens left Africa and instead of going to Europe(Homo Sapiens arrived to Europe 45,000 years ago) they started to go east. They crossed harsh deserts of Middle East, mountains and jungles of India and arrived to rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia within few thousand years. Now, this is where it gets really tricky. For past couple of million years, Australia has been an island, isolated from rest of the world. Because of this, Australia has never had apes so human couldn't have evolved here on it's own. Humans had to have arrived from somewhere. So, these humans who left Africa some thousand of years ago were able to build boats capable of traveling oceans - quite an accomplishment to species who hasn't even developed speech yet(humans developed speech about 60,000 years ago) - they set out to sea and headed south from Papua Guinea without any knowledge that 400km south they would arrive to Australia. They get off their boats, colonize entire Australia within few thousand years and completely forget how to build boats for next 75,000 years(latest evidence show that first time humans were able to build seafaring boats was 20,000 years ago).
So..how did aboriginals get here?? Oh, and in case above story is not mystery enough here is another puzzle. Those 90,000 year old human bones discovered in New South Wales apparently don't share same DNA with Homo Sapiens who left Africa. And as far as current knowledge goes, all humans are descendants of Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa. Interesting...
Hope someone read this far. I myself find aboriginal culture fascinating and it really is sad that they were able to survive nearly 100,000 years in the most harshest environment on Earth only to be destroyed by European settlers in matter of 200 years.
perjantai 1. toukokuuta 2009
Coral Bay, Heaven on Earth
Day 304
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
I did save best for the last. It's bloody amazing how this place hasn't changed at all in 2 years. Coral Bay is still extremely quiet, relaxed and low-key destination without the tourist mass that flock rest of the tropical Australia.
It's actually a wonder why Coral Bay is not widely known among tourists. As I have been traveling around Oz, I have constantly said how Coral Bay is my favourite place in Australia. Most people after hearing ask "Where is that?". Let's go through what Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef has to offer and why this place beats Great Barrier Reef hands down.
1. You have chance to swim - not just see but actually swim - with Manta Rays and Whalesharks. They use spotter planes to find these magnificient animals but incase you are unlucky and can't find any...don't worry, you get your money back :-) Now, how many places in world can offer something like that? None that I know of...
2. Unlike GBR where you have to travel atleast an hour by boat to even reach the reef, here you can put your goggles, snorkel and fins on in the beach and jump in. Reef starts 10m from shore. Not only is the reef here more easily accessible, it is also much healthier which means more variety, colors and more fish.
3. In Coral Bay you have chance to see much more marine life than ever in GBR. One rarity for example is Dugong, near-extinct weird looking animal which looks like a cross between seal and dolphin. Other cool things you commonly see every day: Dolphins, Turtles, Eagle Rays, Stingrays and Octopus.
4. Diving is world-class and addition to everything mentioned above you can actually dive among sharks!! They have separate sanctuaries to sharks where you can see Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks and sometimes Tigersharks. It doesn't get much cooler than that.
5. Weather. Most locations in GBR have their wet and dry seasons with very unpredictable weather. Coral Bay has none of that. Out of 365 days in year, Coral Bay gets rain only average 10 of those days, rest is sunshine. Temperature varies between 38(summer) and 25(winter).
6. Lack of tourists. When you go to GBR from Cairns, you are waiting the boat in the pier with 1000+ tourists(I am not shitting you here!). Doesn't make the experience too unique or even special. Coral Bay has 1 two-star resort, 1 backbacker hostel and 2 caravan parks, that's it. This makes sure that place is never crowded and keeps the number of tour operators down(actually, the tour operators here were exactly same as they were 2 years ago, most even had exactly same staff). There are only 2 boats going out each day to see whalesharks, it really does make the experience unique and special.
Ok, I could go on and on and on about this rave for Coral Bay. Now pics...hmmm, unlike what I said in last entry I am not going to post pics. First of all connection speed here is slow as hell and second...I don't want to share pics about this small little paradise with anyone :-) This is my little playground, my slice of heaven. You just have to come here to see it for yourself. Coral Bay is my favourite place in Oz. Hell, it's my favourite place in world. If I would have to rank my best experience on this 10.5 months journey, it would be monday in Coral Bay where I dived with 5 Manta Rays(one of them had 5m wingspan, it was huge!), 3 Reef Sharks, 4 Nurse Sharks and a Tigershark!
I will come back here, sooner or later(hopefully sooner).
Now it's another enjoyable - not! - 17hn bus trip to Perth where I will spend little over week getting my mindset ready for Finland.
See you all soon!
Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey's end
I did save best for the last. It's bloody amazing how this place hasn't changed at all in 2 years. Coral Bay is still extremely quiet, relaxed and low-key destination without the tourist mass that flock rest of the tropical Australia.
It's actually a wonder why Coral Bay is not widely known among tourists. As I have been traveling around Oz, I have constantly said how Coral Bay is my favourite place in Australia. Most people after hearing ask "Where is that?". Let's go through what Coral Bay and Ningaloo Reef has to offer and why this place beats Great Barrier Reef hands down.
1. You have chance to swim - not just see but actually swim - with Manta Rays and Whalesharks. They use spotter planes to find these magnificient animals but incase you are unlucky and can't find any...don't worry, you get your money back :-) Now, how many places in world can offer something like that? None that I know of...
2. Unlike GBR where you have to travel atleast an hour by boat to even reach the reef, here you can put your goggles, snorkel and fins on in the beach and jump in. Reef starts 10m from shore. Not only is the reef here more easily accessible, it is also much healthier which means more variety, colors and more fish.
3. In Coral Bay you have chance to see much more marine life than ever in GBR. One rarity for example is Dugong, near-extinct weird looking animal which looks like a cross between seal and dolphin. Other cool things you commonly see every day: Dolphins, Turtles, Eagle Rays, Stingrays and Octopus.
4. Diving is world-class and addition to everything mentioned above you can actually dive among sharks!! They have separate sanctuaries to sharks where you can see Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks and sometimes Tigersharks. It doesn't get much cooler than that.
5. Weather. Most locations in GBR have their wet and dry seasons with very unpredictable weather. Coral Bay has none of that. Out of 365 days in year, Coral Bay gets rain only average 10 of those days, rest is sunshine. Temperature varies between 38(summer) and 25(winter).
6. Lack of tourists. When you go to GBR from Cairns, you are waiting the boat in the pier with 1000+ tourists(I am not shitting you here!). Doesn't make the experience too unique or even special. Coral Bay has 1 two-star resort, 1 backbacker hostel and 2 caravan parks, that's it. This makes sure that place is never crowded and keeps the number of tour operators down(actually, the tour operators here were exactly same as they were 2 years ago, most even had exactly same staff). There are only 2 boats going out each day to see whalesharks, it really does make the experience unique and special.
Ok, I could go on and on and on about this rave for Coral Bay. Now pics...hmmm, unlike what I said in last entry I am not going to post pics. First of all connection speed here is slow as hell and second...I don't want to share pics about this small little paradise with anyone :-) This is my little playground, my slice of heaven. You just have to come here to see it for yourself. Coral Bay is my favourite place in Oz. Hell, it's my favourite place in world. If I would have to rank my best experience on this 10.5 months journey, it would be monday in Coral Bay where I dived with 5 Manta Rays(one of them had 5m wingspan, it was huge!), 3 Reef Sharks, 4 Nurse Sharks and a Tigershark!
I will come back here, sooner or later(hopefully sooner).
Now it's another enjoyable - not! - 17hn bus trip to Perth where I will spend little over week getting my mindset ready for Finland.
See you all soon!
perjantai 24. huhtikuuta 2009
One more treat
Day 299
"Meadows of Heaven"
I'm in Coral Bay again! After nearly 2 years since I missed those bloody whalesharks and got the 3-year voucher card for free tour, I returned...and paradise has not looked better. Coral Bay is still totally unspoilt small little hidden gem in northwest corner of Australia. Temperature is around +35 during day and dropping to comfortable +20 during night.
Ok, but more rave(and pics) about Coral Bay on next entry, lets go back to Pemberton briefly. I noticed that I completely forgot to say what I did there...well, what can you do in small cillage with population of 590 and main economics timber. Thats right, climb a tree and drink at the pub :-) Here is the tree I climbed...
..pretty damn big btw. 61m in total and regarding safety...everyone climbs at his/her own risk but climb like that would have never been allowed to public in pussy countries like Finland ;-)
After Pemberton it was time for Margaret River, my last wine region I was about to explore on this trip.
So far Marlborough in New Zealand has easily been the best with Central Otago - also New Zealand - coming as runner-up. I was hoping that Margaret River would be able to push bloody Kiwis to 2nd place and while it made pretty strong case, after dust settled, I would have to place Margaret River 2nd behind Marlborough.
Phenomenal wines, but I think Marlborough had slightly better consistency and better value for money. For example Leeuwin Estate in Margaret Ruiver boasts to have highest rated Chardonnay in Southern Hemisphere. Yes, it was good but price tag of 89 Australian dollars is not what I would be ready to pay for it. Then again Saint Clair in Marlborough had world's most rewarded Sauvignon Blanc and guess what they charge for bottle? 30 NZ dollars(=23 Australian dollars). Saint Clair could charge as much as 50-60 NZD per bottle but they still keep the price low, gotta respect that.
Best wines of the region: Cape Mentelle as usual
...and I have to give special nomination to Voyager and the lunch they served us there. Now, how often can backpacker enjoy something like this?!?!?
...easily the best meal I have had in past 10 months :-)
After Margaret River my plan was to stop for 1 night in Busselton and walk the longest Jetty in Southern Hemisphere(2.1km long). But...as I got to Busselton and went to the jetty I was greeted only by this sign. Bugger!
So no walk in the jetty. Since it was R-Posse's birthday I decided to honor it by having good old fashion Kalsarikannit :-) ...well, tbh I walked around in Busselton and while the town has more residents than for example Esperance or Denmark, it didn't have even one decent pub.
From Busselton it was one night stopover in Perth, grabbed my new passport from sub-consulate there(now I'm seriously running out of fresh ideas to stay here longer and not go back to Finland) and after that exhilarating 17h bus journey(1200km) to Coral Bay where I arrived at 3am this morning without any sleep. Oh well, I have plenty of time to sleep after this is done. Tomorrow Manta Rays, then whalesharks, then...
"Meadows of Heaven"
I'm in Coral Bay again! After nearly 2 years since I missed those bloody whalesharks and got the 3-year voucher card for free tour, I returned...and paradise has not looked better. Coral Bay is still totally unspoilt small little hidden gem in northwest corner of Australia. Temperature is around +35 during day and dropping to comfortable +20 during night.
Ok, but more rave(and pics) about Coral Bay on next entry, lets go back to Pemberton briefly. I noticed that I completely forgot to say what I did there...well, what can you do in small cillage with population of 590 and main economics timber. Thats right, climb a tree and drink at the pub :-) Here is the tree I climbed...
..pretty damn big btw. 61m in total and regarding safety...everyone climbs at his/her own risk but climb like that would have never been allowed to public in pussy countries like Finland ;-)
After Pemberton it was time for Margaret River, my last wine region I was about to explore on this trip.
So far Marlborough in New Zealand has easily been the best with Central Otago - also New Zealand - coming as runner-up. I was hoping that Margaret River would be able to push bloody Kiwis to 2nd place and while it made pretty strong case, after dust settled, I would have to place Margaret River 2nd behind Marlborough.
Phenomenal wines, but I think Marlborough had slightly better consistency and better value for money. For example Leeuwin Estate in Margaret Ruiver boasts to have highest rated Chardonnay in Southern Hemisphere. Yes, it was good but price tag of 89 Australian dollars is not what I would be ready to pay for it. Then again Saint Clair in Marlborough had world's most rewarded Sauvignon Blanc and guess what they charge for bottle? 30 NZ dollars(=23 Australian dollars). Saint Clair could charge as much as 50-60 NZD per bottle but they still keep the price low, gotta respect that.
Best wines of the region: Cape Mentelle as usual
...and I have to give special nomination to Voyager and the lunch they served us there. Now, how often can backpacker enjoy something like this?!?!?
...easily the best meal I have had in past 10 months :-)
After Margaret River my plan was to stop for 1 night in Busselton and walk the longest Jetty in Southern Hemisphere(2.1km long). But...as I got to Busselton and went to the jetty I was greeted only by this sign. Bugger!
So no walk in the jetty. Since it was R-Posse's birthday I decided to honor it by having good old fashion Kalsarikannit :-) ...well, tbh I walked around in Busselton and while the town has more residents than for example Esperance or Denmark, it didn't have even one decent pub.
From Busselton it was one night stopover in Perth, grabbed my new passport from sub-consulate there(now I'm seriously running out of fresh ideas to stay here longer and not go back to Finland) and after that exhilarating 17h bus journey(1200km) to Coral Bay where I arrived at 3am this morning without any sleep. Oh well, I have plenty of time to sleep after this is done. Tomorrow Manta Rays, then whalesharks, then...
lauantai 18. huhtikuuta 2009
Denmark...no, not the one in Europe
Day 292
"Flowers wither
Tresures stay hidden
Until I see
The first star of fall"
Was going to write this entry originally on my last day in Denmark. Well, that didn't work out because of huge thunderstorm which cut off all power from town. After that I went to Pemberton for 1 night(had to switch to Margaret River bus in Pemberton), but in Pemberton I did something I have not done once in past 292 days...I walked out.
Ok, I have stayed in many horrible hostels during my time here, but none of them was comparable to the dump that was Pemberton. Place was utterly disgusting in every sense. It was dirty, it smelled like combination of shit and mould, people living there were regular workers who kept drinking and didn't know that human beings can shower themselfs occasionally, toilet had trash bin overflowing with used toiletpapers(I kid you not, I couldn't understand or believe it myself), etc etc. Worst thing was that hostel was only hostel in Pemberton so their prices were ripoff! So I did only thing any sensible human being would do and walked out to nearest motel and grabbed a room for 80 dollars.
Thus, entry comes now in Margaret River where I am staying next 3 days enjoying wines, beaches and great weather.
Speaking of weather, winter is now closer here than summer but it certainly doesn't feel like it. Even locals are saying that weather has been unusually good and warm considering its getting late Autumn. Excluding thunderstorm in Denmark, weather in Albany, Denmark, Pemberton and now Margaret River has been outstanding. Hardly any clouds and temperature close to +30, love it!
So where was I...? Last entry was from Esperance so from there I headed to Albany in a comfortable 6h coach journey. Only stayed in Albany for 2 days, technically only 1 full day since coach arrived there quite late in evening. Albany is funny place. 400km north is Perth which statistically has 300 sunny days in a year, Albany has statistically 300 rainy days a year. Luckily I got one of those 65 sunny days, rented a bike and drove 30km to see some of rugged coastline and natural wonders near Albany.
So in total I cycled little over 60km, no wonder I was quite sleepy already at 8pm :-)
Next I headed to Denmark, small holiday town and hippie community about an hour from Albany. Denmark is also known for its amazing wines. It's truly hidden gem among wine regions in Oz. Not many know about it and they produce some of the best wines in country. Other attraction in Denmark is it's amazing beach, called Ocean Beach.
Hostel I stayed was nice little house with relaxing family atmosphere so we all spent most of the day together in the beach trying desperately learn how to surf...didn't work out at all for me :-(
21 days left now which is exactly 3 weeks. 1 week from now I will hit the paradise again for 1 more treat before I really need to move my thoughts back to home and Finland. Weird...days are constantly getting shorter here, but when I get to Finland, days will be so much longer...
"Flowers wither
Tresures stay hidden
Until I see
The first star of fall"
Was going to write this entry originally on my last day in Denmark. Well, that didn't work out because of huge thunderstorm which cut off all power from town. After that I went to Pemberton for 1 night(had to switch to Margaret River bus in Pemberton), but in Pemberton I did something I have not done once in past 292 days...I walked out.
Ok, I have stayed in many horrible hostels during my time here, but none of them was comparable to the dump that was Pemberton. Place was utterly disgusting in every sense. It was dirty, it smelled like combination of shit and mould, people living there were regular workers who kept drinking and didn't know that human beings can shower themselfs occasionally, toilet had trash bin overflowing with used toiletpapers(I kid you not, I couldn't understand or believe it myself), etc etc. Worst thing was that hostel was only hostel in Pemberton so their prices were ripoff! So I did only thing any sensible human being would do and walked out to nearest motel and grabbed a room for 80 dollars.
Thus, entry comes now in Margaret River where I am staying next 3 days enjoying wines, beaches and great weather.
Speaking of weather, winter is now closer here than summer but it certainly doesn't feel like it. Even locals are saying that weather has been unusually good and warm considering its getting late Autumn. Excluding thunderstorm in Denmark, weather in Albany, Denmark, Pemberton and now Margaret River has been outstanding. Hardly any clouds and temperature close to +30, love it!
So where was I...? Last entry was from Esperance so from there I headed to Albany in a comfortable 6h coach journey. Only stayed in Albany for 2 days, technically only 1 full day since coach arrived there quite late in evening. Albany is funny place. 400km north is Perth which statistically has 300 sunny days in a year, Albany has statistically 300 rainy days a year. Luckily I got one of those 65 sunny days, rented a bike and drove 30km to see some of rugged coastline and natural wonders near Albany.
So in total I cycled little over 60km, no wonder I was quite sleepy already at 8pm :-)
Next I headed to Denmark, small holiday town and hippie community about an hour from Albany. Denmark is also known for its amazing wines. It's truly hidden gem among wine regions in Oz. Not many know about it and they produce some of the best wines in country. Other attraction in Denmark is it's amazing beach, called Ocean Beach.
Hostel I stayed was nice little house with relaxing family atmosphere so we all spent most of the day together in the beach trying desperately learn how to surf...didn't work out at all for me :-(
21 days left now which is exactly 3 weeks. 1 week from now I will hit the paradise again for 1 more treat before I really need to move my thoughts back to home and Finland. Weird...days are constantly getting shorter here, but when I get to Finland, days will be so much longer...
maanantai 13. huhtikuuta 2009
Esperance
Day 287
"Take the road less traveled by,
Leave the city of fools."
Western Australia, I sit in this gorgeous 5km beach. Sky is blue, water is turqoise, sand is white silica sand and temperature closing 30. I look around and...one question pops into mind, where is everybody?
That is generally a question most tourists would ask in Western Australia. It's paradise, but there is no one here. You can have big 10 mile beaches all for yourself from sunrise to sunset. Some say you need people around you to share experiences. Well, I prefer to have these experiences without 100 screaming british teenagers who flock the east coast of Oz. West coast is my paradise and I'm glad backpackers haven't found it yet.
Past 5 days I have now spent in Esperance, little holiday township on southwest coast. Esperance was actually just voted as 2nd best holiday town in whole Australia beating popular tourist towns like Broome and Byron Bay(winner was also small fairly unknown place in NSW).
This town is not for duracell bunnies allthough there is stuff to do here, but mostly days are spent in one of the several stunning beaches this town has to offer relaxing and recharging batteries.
...or hanging around in Tanker Jetty watching Sammy The Sea Lion showing off.
Funny incident happened few days ago...it was saturday and I rented a bicycle from my hostel. Just as I was putting on my bike helmet I caught a glimpse of something red inside there. I looked more carefully and...it was Redback spider. Now, we are talking about world's 2nd most venomous spider here(most venomous being Funnelweb mostly found in east coast of Australia). If this would have happened to me 9 months ago I would have freaked out and had mild heartattack, but...I guess I have just gotten way too used to everyday dangers and abseiling spiders that I just started to poke it a bit to see if it was alive...yup, it was alive :-) Gave the helmet to hostel owner who cleaned it, put it on my head and on to the road without thinking too much about it.
I did go diving the other day as well. It was my dive number 19 and I think it was first time I didn't really enjoy the dive. No worries, when I started diving they told us that there will be dives I will not enjoy, its certain. I guess I have been lucky to have 18 dives I have enjoyed so far and only 1 dive I didn't. One of the problems with the dive was that I got overdose of CO2 from my air tank(I think) which results in massive headache. It didn't last long though but it was painful for 30mins.
What else? Saturday night was also big party night in town so I went to check towns only nightclub with couple of girls from hostel. Its funny...I always end up spending evenings with bunch of girls being only guy among them. Not that I am complaining hehe. It was ok night, crowd way too young for me though(19-20).
Tomorrow I'm off to Albany and then down the coast towards Margaret River. I have now booked almost everything I still need to book in coming 4 weeks. Won't give me lot of options to take sidetracks but I think atm I just want to get rest of the trip sorted and then just chill...enjoy time that I still have here without stress, like holiday.
"Take the road less traveled by,
Leave the city of fools."
Western Australia, I sit in this gorgeous 5km beach. Sky is blue, water is turqoise, sand is white silica sand and temperature closing 30. I look around and...one question pops into mind, where is everybody?
That is generally a question most tourists would ask in Western Australia. It's paradise, but there is no one here. You can have big 10 mile beaches all for yourself from sunrise to sunset. Some say you need people around you to share experiences. Well, I prefer to have these experiences without 100 screaming british teenagers who flock the east coast of Oz. West coast is my paradise and I'm glad backpackers haven't found it yet.
Past 5 days I have now spent in Esperance, little holiday township on southwest coast. Esperance was actually just voted as 2nd best holiday town in whole Australia beating popular tourist towns like Broome and Byron Bay(winner was also small fairly unknown place in NSW).
This town is not for duracell bunnies allthough there is stuff to do here, but mostly days are spent in one of the several stunning beaches this town has to offer relaxing and recharging batteries.
...or hanging around in Tanker Jetty watching Sammy The Sea Lion showing off.
Funny incident happened few days ago...it was saturday and I rented a bicycle from my hostel. Just as I was putting on my bike helmet I caught a glimpse of something red inside there. I looked more carefully and...it was Redback spider. Now, we are talking about world's 2nd most venomous spider here(most venomous being Funnelweb mostly found in east coast of Australia). If this would have happened to me 9 months ago I would have freaked out and had mild heartattack, but...I guess I have just gotten way too used to everyday dangers and abseiling spiders that I just started to poke it a bit to see if it was alive...yup, it was alive :-) Gave the helmet to hostel owner who cleaned it, put it on my head and on to the road without thinking too much about it.
I did go diving the other day as well. It was my dive number 19 and I think it was first time I didn't really enjoy the dive. No worries, when I started diving they told us that there will be dives I will not enjoy, its certain. I guess I have been lucky to have 18 dives I have enjoyed so far and only 1 dive I didn't. One of the problems with the dive was that I got overdose of CO2 from my air tank(I think) which results in massive headache. It didn't last long though but it was painful for 30mins.
What else? Saturday night was also big party night in town so I went to check towns only nightclub with couple of girls from hostel. Its funny...I always end up spending evenings with bunch of girls being only guy among them. Not that I am complaining hehe. It was ok night, crowd way too young for me though(19-20).
Tomorrow I'm off to Albany and then down the coast towards Margaret River. I have now booked almost everything I still need to book in coming 4 weeks. Won't give me lot of options to take sidetracks but I think atm I just want to get rest of the trip sorted and then just chill...enjoy time that I still have here without stress, like holiday.
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