New Zealand (North) - Novy Zeland (Sever)

We arrived in Auckland quite late, it was nice to have a hostel booked, a nice little place called Pentland Backpackers. Straight away we liked the feeling from the place but i think more generally we got good feelings from New Zealand. A more laid back, trusting feel, no key deposits, linen deposits all the little blood sucking things that frustrated in Australia. We spent one day exploring the city, booking our bus ticket, buying post cards and collecting a package our friends from Asia Ali & Simon had left for us. We spent another day walking up Mount Eden, a stunning extinct volcano with amazing views out on the city. We stayed in Auckland for 5 nights, partly to get used to New Zealand and partly due to the Magic Bus running on a winter timetable. But then it was time to leave, so we were up earl and at the vague place we were told to for the pick up with a good 15mins to spare. We waited and waited, half an hour after the pick time had passed and then at 45 mins we started to panic. A few of the commuters waiting for buses into the city could see our distress and twice we were asked if we needed help with the buses, but we need most to call Magic Bus. We had no number, and getting a number would mean for sure giving up on getting the bus. Until, a third guy, possibly sent from the heavens helped, searched the internet for the number on his blackberry, found it and within 15mins we'd called sorted it all out and the bus had come back for us! It turned out we were waiting slightly away from where the driver expected and we'd missed each other, but the guy with the blackberry saved our journey in ways that would become more apparent later.

Do Aucklandu jsme dorazili kolem pul 11 v noci. Bylo super, ze uz jsme meli rezervovany pokoj a nemuseli si delat starosti. Ubytovali jsme se v Pentland Backpackers, moc pekny hostel s prijemnym personalem. Novy Zeland na nas udelat dobry dojem hnes po tom, co jsme zjistili, ze tady neni zadna zastava za klice, nemusime platit extra za povleceni a vsechny pravidla a zakazy jsou razem fuc, opak, se kterym jsme se setkali po dobu stravenou v Australii. Jeden den v Aucklandu jsme stravili objevovanim centra mesta, rezervovanim nasich mist v autobuse, (Po celou dobu na Novem Zelandu budeme prepravovani autobusovou spolecnosti, ktera se jmenuje Magic Bus), a taky jsme si vyzvedli balicek, ktery pro nas nechali Simon & Ali, kamaradi, se kterymi jsme se parkrat stretli na nasi ceste (v Bangkoku a ve Vietnamu). Dalsi den jsme se vydali na kopec s nazvem Mount Eden. To, ze se skrabeme na vrcholek vyhasle sopky jsme netusili. Jak jsme se dostali na vrcholek cekala na nas neskutecna podivana. Vyhled na mesto byl uzasny a masivni krater, kde lidi na druhe strane vypadaji jako tecky, byl neuveritelny. V Aucklandu jsme zustali celkem 5 noci, protoze jsme museli cekat na autobus na nasi dalsi destinaci, pac Magic jede podle zimniho jizdniho radu a nejezdi tak kazdy den v tydnu. Takze v den naseho prvniho presunu jsme na zastavce o 15 minut drive, aby jsme nezmeskali nas prvni autobus. Po 45 minutach cekani jsme se zacli obavat, ze nas autobus musel prehlednout. Par lidi na zastavce si vsimlo, ze nase nervozita stoupa a nabidli nam pomoc. My ale potrebovali zjistit cislo na Magic a zavolat jim. Internetova kavarne ale nikde. Kdyz v tom se na zastavnce objevil dalsi pomocnik, ktery byl asi v ten dany okamzik seslan z nebe a zjistil nam cislo na jeho Blackberry (telefon s internetem). Vse dopadlo tak, ze jsme se dovolali, autobus uz na ceste smer Rotorura se pro nas vratil a my stastni a klidni jsme mile prekvapeni jak hodni jsou Novozelandane.

So it was off to Rotorua, and although a little shaken by nearly missing our first bus, we really enjoyed the trip. The driver was informative and took us to Hobbiton and then to a redwood forest before arriving at our hostel in Rotorua. We got talking to a couple from our bus called Matt and Sarah ad then decided to head out for a walk to the volcanic park in town. On the way we thought we'd call into the town information centre and pick up some cheap/free things to do, and to our shock (but also delight) standing there were Karen and Sarah, the girls we'd travelled with in Malaysia! There were a few screams and girlie hugs (from Veronika as well) and we arranged to meet them for drinks later that evening. We rushed over to the park, and admittedly we were on a bit of a high from our reunion, but the volcanic mud pools were amazing. As dusk was well and truly upon us and with the volcanic pools bubbling around it felt like a T-rex was gonna jump out the bushes, really eerie and amazing. We met the girls with our new magic bus friends and had a good old catch up over a few drinks. The next day we had a 2 for 1 coffee from abracadabra and made arrangements to go and see a Maori cultural evening. It was a great evening full of song and dance and a hangi the biggest meal we've had for months. Its cooked in a cage in a big hole in the ground with chicken, lamb, fish, carrots, potatoes, etc fantastic! The girls had to leave going up so we say our goodbyes to them again over another 2 for 1 coffee and Veronika and I take a nice walk on the banks of Rotorua’s lake, and soon its time for us to leave too.



A tak uz si sedime v autobuse, stale neverice, ze se nam podarilo privolat autobus zpatky. Jedeme do Rotorua, cesta a prostredi kolem je prekrasne a ja uz se ted nemuzu dockat, co za krasy tady na Novem Zelandu uvidim. Magic autobus neni jen dopravni spolecnost z mista A do B, ale zastavuje i na zajimavych mistech nez se dostane na konecnou. Ten den jsme zastavili u informacniho centra, kde jsme se mohli vyfotit u Hobbitoveho domu a s Golumnem a pak jsme meli sanci projit se v tzv. Cervenem lese. Po prijezdu do hostelu jsme prohodili par slov se Mattem a Sarah, z naseho autobusu, kteri se cestou stali nasimi prateli. Protoze jeste neni pozde, rozhodli jsme se zajit se podivat do mistniho sopecneho parku, ale nez tam dojdeme jdeme si vyzvednout brozury z informacniho centra, kde je spousta poukazek na slevy a veci zadarmo. A koho nevidime! Sok, ktery rychle propuka v hlasity jekot. . . Sarah a Karen, sestry, se kterymi jsme cestovali pres Malaysii! Domluvime se, ze se pozdeji sejdeme a oslavime to s par drinky. Jak si to tak smarujeme do parku oba mame usmev na tvari z naseho neocekavaneho shledani. Park je uzasny, vsude kolem bubla bahno a vychazejici para ze zeme dava mistu prehistoricky dojem. Pozdeji se setkavame s holkama a pribirame i Sarah a Matta. Dalsi den se opet schazime, na kaficko kup 1 a dostan 2 zdarma. Pozdeji na vecer uz mame zakoupeny listek na tradicni Mauri kulturni predstaveni i s veceri. Byl to super zazitek. Zavezli nas do Mauri vesnice, kde pro nas Mauri kmen zazpival, zatancil a take uvaril tradicni a stylovou veceri tzv. Hangi. Hangi spociva v tom, ze jidlo je prakticky pohrbeno do zeme, ktera je vystlana horkymi kameny. Snedli jsme, co jsme mohli. Takhle uz jsme se neprejedli par mesicu. Meli jsme kureci, jehneci, rybu, specialne pripravenou mrkev, brambory atd. Same dobroty. Den pote jsme se sesli s holkama na posledni kup 1 dostan 2 kafe zdarma, rozloucili se - znovu, a pak sli na prochazku kolem Rotorua jezera. Krasne okoli a priroda.

We catch the magic bus with Matt and Sarah, this time the driver is not so good, drivers like a crazy man and gets moody with us all for not talking to each other, idiot! Anyway he took us to the Waitomo caves where we did an excellent tour that ended with us going out on a boat to the caves where we saw thousands of cool glow worms. Then it was into our first YHA in Taupo where we spent many an evening sat in the hot tub with a bottle of cider. Taupo was beautiful, one of our days there we took a walk with the Matt and Sarah to the Huka Falls through some amazing gorges. During the day we checked out some people on a bungee but mostly just strolled through the amazing scenery and crystal clear water. Matt and Sarah left to continue on down south and we stayed an extra few days, We went to see a really cool place called The Beehive where they had some live beehive inside where you could see the bees doing their thing and some brilliant honey tasting, and then we walked up to The Craters on the Moon. That was really something else, similar experience to the park in Rotorua only they seemed far more active, it was almost scary at times.

A uz jsme zase v autobuse, tentokrat smer Taupo. A tak si vsichni i Sarah a Matt sedime v klidu, zatimco nas ridic tlacha nesmysly o tom, aby jsme se vsichni v autobuse seznamili, jaky vylet stoji za to podniknout a jaky ne. Prvni ridic Magicu, ktery na pocit, ze snad pilotuje letadlo, protoze mam silny pocit, ze kdyby jsme meli postrani kridla tak urcite parkrat vzletneme. Ten den autobus zastavuje na miste z nazvem Waitomo jeskyne. Vsichni 4 si zakoupime listek na prohlidku jeskyne, kde nas ke konci vezmou na lodku a my jsme svedky asi 40 tisicu sviticich cerviku prisatych na stropu jeskyne. To byla podivana! Pak uz je nas den v autobuse konci a my se vsichni ubytujeme ve YHA v Taupu, kde travime par veceru pocuckavanim jablecneho pivecka v relaxacni venkovni vyrivce. Behem dne si opet udelame par prochazek. Jednu se Sarah a Mattem. Je to asi 4 hodinova prochazka kolem reky, ktera konci vodopadem. Krajina vypada jako v pohadce. Pak uz je cas pro Sarah a Matta, aby vyrazili na jejich cestu, protoze nemaji na Novem Zelandu tolik casu co my. Rozloucime se a dalsi den uz sami se vydavame do mista, kde chovaji vcely, maji tam spoustu vcelich produktu a ochutnavku asi 12 druhu medu. Po teto sladke prohlidce vyrazime do mista, kteremu rikaji Kratery na Mesici. Misto je uzasne, opet spousta bublajicich dir v zemi a mracka pary kolem ale s jednim rozdilem. Tohle misto se zda mnohem vice aktivnejsi a tak to v nas budi trosku neklidny pocit, co kdyby se zrovna dneska zeme usmyslila, ze by chtela vybouchnout. Posledni vybuch na tomto miste byl preci jen pred 12 lety!

After Taupo we jumped back on the Magic bus to head to Wellington, driving through more beautiful scenery and the famous Mount Doom from The Lord of the Rings. We found a special offer online at the YHA in Wellington (which nobody seemed to know about) and we were really impressed with the hostel. Very big and some cool activities, we played plenty of pool, table football and in my opinion made some of the tastiest food in the hostel. On our first day we went to the Chinese Embassy to apply for our visa's, the guys there were very pleasant and made it dead easy for us. Then we walked back through the botanical gardens and stopped off at the fascinating Carter Observatory. We took a walk around the little museum there about the history of the universe and then had a presentation in the planetarium. The visa was going to take over a week which meant quite a lot of time to take it easy, catch up with blog, update our cv's and begin considering work options for back home. During the wait we went to the National Museum, Te Papa, played with their microscopes and saw the exhibition of the worlds largest squid. Another day we went over to the Weta Caves which was a really interesting insight into the special effects company behind movies like Avatar and of course The Lord of the Rings (you cant escape this film over here). One evening we decided to go to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra perform in concert for Polish Pride Day, it was the first time we'd been to something like that and it was a great experience.


Po nasi navsteve Taupa uz jsme opet v autobuse smer Wellington, hlavni mesto Noveho Zelandu. Po ceste projizdime krajinou, ktera se jen tezko popisuje. Nadhera v podobe zelenych kopcu plnych ovci a krav. Projizdime take kolem znameho Mount Doon. Je to sopecna hora z filmu Pana Prstenu, v oblasti Mordor, kde Frodo statecne odhazuje prsten. Ve Wellingtonu se ubytujeme v YHA Hostelu. Je to veliky hostel, ktery ma vse, co potrebujeme. Druhy den jsme na ceste do Cinske ambasady, protoze potrebujeme viza pro nas posledni mesic dobrodruzstvi. Viza budou pripraveny pro vyzvednuti az za tyden, coz znamena, ze mame spoustu casu. Behem naseho pobytu navstivime botanickou zahradu, planetarium, museum Te Papa, ktere je velice zajimave, a take jdeme poprve shlednout Orchestr - v doprovodu s polskymi muzikanty. Je to na pocest 200. Chopinove vyroci. Mame take moznost navstivit tzv. Weta Jeskyni, coz je misto s miniaturami a suvenyry, kde nadani lide vytvareji filmove postavy, kostymy a triky pro velke filmy jako Pan Prstenu nebo Avatar. Zajimave misto. Oba jsme nadseni. Kdyz zrovna netravime cas venku, zabavujeme se v hostelu hranim kulecniku, stolniho fotbalu a dalsich her. Taky uz je na case zacit premyslet, co budeme delat az se vratime zpet do Anglie a tak si prepisujeme zivotopisy a dopisujeme nas blog.

After more than a week it was time to collect our passports with Chinese visa stamps and say goodbye to Wellington. We found another winter special offer for a combined ferry and scenic train journey to Christchurch. It was an early start, and although the wind stopped us spending too much time out on the upper viewing some of the views were amazing. Then we were there in the south island ready to catch the train, where we will be finishing one period of our trip and joining up with Luke . . . our hair is scared for its life! To be continued . . .

Po vice nez tydnu jsme si vyzvedli nase pasy s razitkem a cinskymi vizy a bylo na case se rozloucit s Wellingtonem. Pri nasem cestovatelskem stesti jsme nasli dalsi super cenovou nabidku na trajekt ze severniho ostrovu na jizni spolecne s cestou vlakem az do Christchurch. V den kdy jsme opousteli Wellington jsme si privstali a pocasi nam moc nepralo a tak jsme na horni palube trajektu stravili velice kratkou chvili. Trajekt byl tak obrovsky, ze mel dokonce i par restauraci a dve kina. Za par hodin uz jsme byli na jiznim ostrove, kde nas ceka dalsi dobrodruzstvi a take setkani s nasim kamaradem Lukem, ktery se k nam prida a bude s nami cestovat do konce naseho vyletu. Pokracovani priste . . .

During the North Island we also said good bye to the Cowboy hat, not very practical around these parts - yeeha!

Na severnim ostrove jsme za sebou zanechali Peteuv kovbojsky kloubocek. Pete se rozhodl, ze uz vlastne nechce byt kovbojem a proto je mu kloubouk neprakticky - iiiihaaaa

Australia East Coast (PART 2) - Australie Vychodni Pobrezi (2. Cast)

Byron Bay is a really nice town but we arrived at a pretty bad time. They were holding the Blues Music Festival in town, which although it would be an excellent couple of days, as backpackers we couldn't afford that kind of thing. It also meant accommodation and other things we out of our price range so we stayed a few nights in Aquarius, went on a couple of cool night outs with some of the guys from our dorm and took a really nice walk to the lighthouse with some great views of the ocean life below but then decided to get out before the weekend festival started. We decided we'd head inland to spend a few nights in the little village of Nimbin, what a strange place! Nimbin is basically a large hippie commune, where lots of alterative kinds go to do alterative things. We stayed in a place called Rainbow Retreat, which as it turned out was brilliant and they had some top class, homemade, mixed berry and choc chip muffins. A very cute, relaxed place, with lots of long stay people, in fact some looked as though they could have been there since 1973 (and that could have been the last time they showered and shaved). And although some of the alterative goings on were not quite our cuppa tea, like hand painting boomerangs, juggling fire sticks and carving faces in palm tree bark (come on man, free your mind ...) it is a very beautiful place and Veronika and I spent a couple of timeless days walking the countryside and cooking delicious food. We really enjoyed our time in Nimbin a great place for us to go and chill out before we come face to face with city life in Sydney and Melbourne.

Byronuv Zaliv je moc pekne male mestecko, ale jak jsme zjistili prijeli jsme celkem v nevhodnou dobu, kdy se tam konal hudebni festival. Protoze ceny byli prilis vysoke, ne jen za listky,ktere jsme si jako batuzkari nemohli dovolit, ale take za ubytovani, zustali jsme tam jen nekolik noci, ubytovani v hostelu z nazvem Aquarius. Behem techto dnu jsme si udelali jeden den vylet a vyrazili jsme nejvychodnejsi bod Australie. Na kopci stal majak a vyhled na more z tama byl prekrasny. Vubec jsme necekali, ze uvidime tolik podmorskeho zivota z takove vysky. Videli jsme delfiny, zelvy, rejnoky a i zraloka. Jinak jsme behem techto dnu zavitali pakrat do klubu s lidma z naseho pokoje.A pak hlavne kvuli nedostatku a vysokym cenam za ubytovani jsme se rozhodli navstivit vesnici Nimbin. Nimbin je prakticky hippisacka komunita lidi. Jejich vizas a zvlaste u nekterych jedincu (dlouhe vousy a vlasy) vypada, ze se zastavila v 70satych letech. Priroda kolem je ale krasne zelena a misto samo o sobe ma velice poklidnou a relaxacni atmosferu. My se ubytovali v Rainbow Retreat, kde kazdy den pekly cerstve cokoladomalinove buchty, malovali bumerangy a vyrezavali tvare do palmoveho dreva. Stravili jsme tam nekolik dni, chodili na prochazky a varili si dobroty. Bylo to dobre misto na odpocinek pred tim nez se vydame do chaosu a plnych ulic lidi v Sydney.

Another night bus later and we were in central Sydney hunting for a place to stay. We ended up at Wood Duck Inn where we shared a dorm with some cool Dutch guys. We had a couple of nights out, but we were still worrying about our budgets so tried to keep things cheap. We explored a lot of the central city on foot and visited the opera house, walked across the harbour bridge and strolled peacefully through the Chinese gardens. One evening we decided to experience our first 3D film as we'd read all about the fuss it was causing back home, we watched Alice In Wonderland, and I can safely say its one of the greatest cinema experiences of our lives, definitely the future. On our last day we took a trip to the Manly Bay area and chilled out for the afternoon on the beach. On the way back to pick our rucksacks from the hostel we decided to take a walk through the botanical gardens but timed it a bit wrong and got locked in. We were stuck for nearly an hour as the darkness came in around us and when we finally got out again up by the opera house it was getting quite late and we needed to rush to get the bus. A exhausting 45min walk later and there was some more panic as we thought we saw the bus leaving but all was ok it was a different bus, 11 hours later we were in Melbourne.



Po dalsi noci stravene v autobuse jsme rano dorazili do centra Sydney. Po nejake dobe stravene hledanim ubytovani jsme se rozhodli pro Wood Duck Inn. Spolecne jsme sdileli pokoj se super klukama z Holandska, se kteryma jsme parkrat vyrazili vecer do klubu. Behem dnu stravenych v Sydney jsme navstivili znamou Operu, prosli se po Harbour moste a zavitali do krasne a poklidne cisnke zahrady. Jeden vecer jsme se rozhodli zajit shlednout nas prvni 3D film. Slyseli jsme dost o 3D filmech a chteli se ujistit, zda to stoji za to, kdyz tak o tom lidi mluvi. Zrovna promitali Alenku v risi divu a musim rict a oba jsme se shodli, ze je to 100% filmova budoucnost. Posledni den jsme se svezli na trajektu do jine casti Sydney s nazvem Manly Zaliv. Byl to pekny slunecny den. Vraceli jsme se se zapadem slunce a uz byli na ceste zpet vyzvednout naseho batohy z hostelu, kdyz jsme zjistili, ze jsme uzamceni v botanicke zahrade. Trvalo nam dobrych 45 minut rychle chuze se od tama dostat. Nakonec jsme s jazykem na veste dorazili na autobusove nadrazi s batohama na zadech a byli pripraveni na dalsi a posledni nocni autobus v Australii, ktery nas odveze do Melbourne.

Straight away we could feel the drop in temperature, I was still in my shorts and it really hit home that next week we'd be in New Zealand and my hoodie was about the only suitable piece of clothing. We decided we'd head to St Kilda and find some accommodation around there, and on our way to the tram station a lovely lady at the end of her Melbourne trip gave us her 2 weekly tram passes, still with 3 days left on both, must have saved us $30 each over the next couple of days. We took the tram into the city and spent an afternoon at the Museum for the Moving Image, a really interesting place with loads of interactive displays and then spent a few days shopping for warmer clothes bargains. Another day we went to a wonderfully respectful war memorial/museum and then onto the gorgeous Melbourne botanical gardens. We also did a day trip on the great ocean road which was really fun, 6:30am start and 10pm finish so it was a long day, we got to see a cool old rainforest, the twelve apostles, feed some parrots, another wild lazy koala and lots of other landmarks along the coast, and on the long journey home we stopped for massive KFC. A good trip to finish our time in Australia, its been a mixed journey, but I don’t think we have ever been so excited with our next destination as we feel now for New Zealand . . .



Hned jak jsme dorazili do Melbourne pocitili jsme teplotni rozdil, stale v zabkach, jsme vytahli nase mikyny (a v mem pripade i tenisky) z ruksaku a stale se klepali zimou. Ubytovali jsme se na ulici Sv. Kilda a jelikoz jsme meli velke stesti pri prechazeni jednoho z prechodu pro chodce, kdy do nas narazila mlada divcina, zda nechceme jeji tramvajovy listek, ktery ma jeste 3 dny platnost, neodmitly jsme a usetrili tak asi $30. Jelikoz jsme pocitovali zimu ve velkem a nase ruksaky postradali teply odev, stravili jsme par dnu nakupovanim levneho, tepleho obleceni. Taky jsme stihli navstivit botanickou zahradu, pamatnik z 1. Svetove valky a navstivili Muzeum animovaneho filmu - velice zajimave misto. Nas posledni australsky vylet nas zaval na Great Ocean Road - "Velkou oceanskou cestu". Byl to dlouhy super straveny den. Vylet zacinal v 6:30 rano a koncil v 10 vecer. Behem vyletu jsme zastavili na mistech s prekrasnymi vyhledy na krajinu, prosli se po destnem pralese, navstivili tzv. Dvanact apostolu ( je to 12 obrich piliru couhajicich z more), krmili papousky, videli dalsi neochocenou koalu velice zblizka a na ceste zpet byli velice neposlusni, zasli si do KFC a nakoupili kurete asi na mesic. Tak takhle konci nase Australske dobrodruzstvi. A ted prichazi ta cast, kdy nemam slov, jak vyjadrit moje vzruseni a nadsenost z nasi dalsi destinace Noveho Zelandu . . .

. . . To be continued!

. . . Pokracovani priste!

Australia East Coast (Part 1) - Australie Vychodni Pobrezi (1. cast)

We land in cairns airport around 4am, pretty tired so we curl up on a couple of benches and get a couple of hours sleep before getting a shuttle bus to drop us at JJ's backpackers. What a great decision to stay there, cheap, clean but the best things about JJ's was the people. We met Serge on our first boat trip to the reef and we'd hang out with him, Xavier, Phillip and Jan (the worlds tallest teenage Germans!) most evenings. They also gave us a free evening meal of Chilli, Bolognaise or pasta at the Woolshed but Veronika and i chose to upgrade to one of the excellent proper meals most evenings, ah, how good to taste steak again. Quite often the evenings would go from Boxes of wine "Goon" at the hostel, evening meal and then party on in the Woolshed. Alot of days were then spent recovering by the pool back at JJ's, expect for the boat trips and one other day at the beautiful botanical gardens.

Do Cairns jsme prileteli ve 4 hodiny rano a protoze jsme vedeli, ze nic nebude otevrene, tak jsme se na par hodin umistili na lavicky a snazili se spat nez byl cas, aby nas autobus odvezl do JJ's Backpackers. Vyborne rozhodnuti, kde se ubytovat. Ne jenom, ze hostel byl cisty a levny, ale co jsme tam potkali za super lidi. Se Sergiem jsme se seznamili na nasem prvnim vylete pri snorchlovani v Barierovem utesu. Pak tam byl Xavier, Jan a Filip ( 2 nejvyssi Nemecci teenageri!).S temito osobami jsme stravili skoro kazdy vecer v tydnu. V JJ's Backpackers jsme taky meli vecerni jidlo v baru, ktery se jmenoval Woolshed. Spagety Bolonese, Mlete maso s chilli a ryzi a vegetarianske testoviny byli kazdy vecer zadarmo. Kdyz jsme si ale priplatili nejaky ten dolar, dostali jsme kralovske porce opravdickych dobrot. Jak moc se Pete tesil ze steaku a kuratka. Vetsina veceru probihala stejne, pitim krabicoveho vina, pak vecere ve Woolshed a party po veceri. Behem dne jsme se dostavali z opic v bazenu, ktery byl taky v JJ's. Jeden den jsme si udelali vylet do botanicke zahrady a cekali az se pocasi umoudri a my muzeme na vylet do utesu.

We did two trips to the Great Barrier Reef, the first of which saw us out on 6 meter waves, which at the count of the crew involved me being sick 8 times just on the way out! They were brilliant though and despite jumping around in the worst conditions, patting backpackers backs whilst they chuck up everywhere they managed to keep spirits high and smiles on all our faces. But it was all worth it as the reef was stunning, the most beautiful either of us have seen, and thanks to serge we have some decent underwater shots of some of it. We were planning to move down the coast but a cyclone meant we were forced to stay put in cairns so we decided with Serge and Xavier to go back to the reef this time on a sail boat. A completely different experience, but in my opinion, one of the best i've ever had. The journey was smooth and relaxing, the crew very chilled and easy going, we moored up just out from green island, done some good snorkling, had a delicious lunch, took mini boat over to the island and then the fun began. Back at the boat just Veronika, myself and one other girl came back to find 9 black tip reef sharks circling the boat. Although they are harmless, at 1.5 meters any shark looks pretty intimidating, we weren't sure about more snorkling. Untill the girl with us just ran and jumped in! It was amazing, feeding the sharks and then getting in for a snorkle, in fact even more scary was the 2 meter fish known to the crew as "darf vader" one of the ugliest looking fish i've seen. On the way back to land they got the sails out and we had cake, wine and cheese, delicious. After a week, it was time to move on, we felt genuinely sad to leave Cairns and our new friends behind, before the midnight bus though there was still time for one last dance and drink game in the woolshed, and would you believe veronika wins some free drinks!





Do Barieroveho utesu jsme zavitali dvaktrat. Pri prvnim vylete se nase lod probijela 6 metrovymi vlnami. Cela posadka byla ve strehu a doporucila tabletky proti nevolnosti. Coz ne v kazdem pripade pomohlo. Chudak Pete se pozvracel asi 8 krat, coz ho vyhodila na nejvyssi pricky ze vsech cestujicich. Ale i pres Peteovu nevolnost, vsechno, co jsme pozdeji videli, stalo za to! Ani jeden z nas nikdy nevidel tak prekrasny podmorsky svet plny zivota a barev. Diky Sergiovi mame z prvniho vyletu i super podmorske fotky. Planovali jsme, ze by bylo treba se zase o kousek posunout, ale diky cyklonu, ktery radil na jih o nas, jsme se rozhodli zustat dele a zajet na nas druhy vylet do utesu. Tento vylet byl sice taky snorchlovaci, ale uplne jiny. More bylo poklidne a my si uzivali pomalou jizdou na jachte. Jak jsme pripluli na urcene misto, skocili jsme do vody trosku si zasnourchlovat, pak se naobedvali, naskakali do motoroveho clunu a na par hodin byli odvezeni na maly ostrov, co byl pobliz. My s Petem, jsme se nachali privest trosku drive, abychom jeste mohli do vody a snorchlovat. Cekalo tam asi 9 Utesovych zraloku, kteri sice neji lidi, ale budili respekt. Krmili jsme je skoro primo z ruky a dokonce i naskakali do vody. Pete skocil mezi ne, nez jsem do vody skocila ja uz byli dale, co mi zase az tak nevadilo. Taky kolem plavala velika cerna ryba, ktera nevypadala mile a pratelsky. Super plavani! Na ceste zpet jsme dostali zakusky, sklenici vina a syry na tacku, hmm jaka dobrota. Pak uz to byl tyden, co jsme byli v Cairns a my se museli hnout z mista. Posledni vecer pred pulnocnim autobusem jsme stravili s kamarady ve Woolshed, kde jsem posledni noc vyhrala i drink zadarmo!

After our goodbyes and before getting on the road the driver read out some warnings from Airlie Beach that they had been in a cyclone and we all had to sign disclaimers about travelling there, scary. We hadn't travelled on an overnight coach since Vietnam, the drivers are nowhere near as insane but i think they still believe that we are meat that might go off unless we are stored below freezing! The aircon is ridiculous, and the jets from above seem to always end up shooting straight down my throat as i sleep. Anyway, the next morning we arrive to quite alot of carnage in Airlie beach. There were a fair few boats smashed and washed up, lots of trees down and minor flooding. There was also alot of talk around as to how visibility out around the whitsunday islands was very bad and the waters choppy, we decided not too spend a large chunk of our money on more boat trips and quickly moved on to Noosa.

Pote, co jsme se rozloucili jsme byli pripraveni na cestu na Airlie plaz. Nez jsme vsichni naskakali do autobusu, byli jsme pouceni o situaci, ktera tam nastala diky cyklonu a museli podepsat, ze tam cestujeme na vlastni risk. Nocnim autobusem jsme nejeli od Vietnamu a ikdyz se opatrnost ridicu absolutne neda srovnat, zdalo se nam, ze i ridici v Australii maji pocit, ze prevazi maso a aby se jim nahodou po ceste nezkazilo, tak klimatizace proudi naplno primo do nasich tvari. Jak jsme rano dojeli na Airlie Plaz, videli jsme, co cyklon zpusobil. Lode vyplavene na brehy, vyvracene stromy a stale nektere ulice mirne pod vodou. Protoze kazdych 5 minut prselo, more nebylo klidne a viditelnost koralu miziva, rozhodli jsme se nevidet Whitsunday ostrovy, ktere jsou tak popularni. Vylet na tyto ostrovy zrovna neni nejlevnejsi a nema cenu to podstupovat za kazde situace. Proto jsme hned dalsi den vyrazili opet na cestu do mista z nazvem Noosa.

Noosa is a quite, relaxing town, with great surf and beautiful costal scenery. It was also the place we meet up with my old friend from my first Australian adventure, Dutch Paul! He came up for the weekend from Brisbane with the lovely Rosa and we had some beers and a meal at the hostel. The following day we took a brilliant walk 5km along the coast through a couple of nudist beaches, through costal rain forest and leading us to see our first wild koala. Paul then kindly drove us to brisbane via a couple of cool beauty spots and a waterfall where we stayed a couple of nights at his place. Whilst in Brisbane we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where we got to cuddle a koala and feed the kangaroo, a fantastic afternoon out.



Noosa je pekne poklidne a relaxacni misto, kde lidi hlavne surfuji a prochazeji se po vyznacenych stezkach na utesech podel more. Take to bylo misto, kde se Pete sesel s jeho kamaradem Paulem z Holandska, se kterym cestoval pred 4 lety, seznamili se v Australii. Paul prijel i s jeho kamaradkou Rosou a stravili tak s nami vikend v Noosa. Jeden den jsme se rozhodli projit si jednu 5 km stezku. Byla to krasna prochazka, narazili jsme i na nudistickou plaz a videli nasi prvni neochocenou koalu. Dalsi den jsme vsichni naskakali do Pauloveho autoa a vyrazili na cestu do Brisbane. Udelali jsme si par zastavek na fotky, obed a prochazku pres les. Paul nam nabidnul prenocovat u nej na 2 noci, ktere jsme meli v planu stravit v tomto meste. Jeden den jsme si zajeli na misto, kde chovaji hlavne Koaly. Bylo jich tam alespon 150. Taky jsme si je za poplatek mohli pochovat. Mimo jine jsme tam taky meli moznost krmit klokany primo z dlane. Bylo to super odpoledne plne zazitku.



Then before we knew it it was time for more goodbyes and off to Byron Bay and Nimbin. . . To be continued . . .

A nez by clovek rekl svec, uz byl zase cas sbalit si par svestek, rozloucit se s Paulem a vyrazit na cestu do Byron Zalivu a Nimbinu. . . Pokracovani priste . . .