Down Under 2011: Mid-semester Break (September 10th-23rd)

Og nu til den sjove del af mit ophold!
(And now the fun part of my stay!)

Cairns
Den 10/9 tog jeg til Brisbane sammen med Silvana. Vi spiste brunch og slappede af i South Banks inden vi tog ud til lufthavnen og fløj til Cairns. I Cairns checkede vi ind på Northern Greenhouse Hostel.
(On the 10th I went to Brisbane with Silvana. We had brunch and chilled in South Banks before we went to the airport and flew to Cairns. In Cairns we checked in at the Northern Greenhouse Hostel.)

Brisbane

South Banks

Brisbane from the air

Our room at Northern Greenhouse Hostel

Northern Greenhouse Hostel

Cairns at the lagoon

Den 11. var vi ude og springe i faldskærm. Vi sprang fra 14.000 fods højde. Vi var i frit fald i 60 sekunder og svævede rundt i 4-5 minutter, men det føltes som et halvt minut. Det var mega fedt!
(On the 11th we went skydiving. we jumped from 14,000 feet. we were in freefall for 60 seconds and hovered around for 4-5 minutes, but it felt like half a minute. It was so cool!!)

Port Douglas & Cape Tribulation

Den 12. tog vi til Port Douglas. Vi checkede ind på Port O'Call Hostel og tog derefter på en sejltur på floden, her så vi en krokodille og et par havørne.
(The 12th we went to Port Douglas. We checked in at Port O'Call Hostel and then went on a cruise on the river. We saw a croc and a pair of sea eagles.)

Our room at Port O'Call Hostel in Port Douglas

Port O'Call Hostel

Down to Four Mile Beach

Four Mile Beach

On river cruise

Den 13/9 lejede vi en bil og kørte til Cape Tribulation (ca. 200 km). Vi kørte forbi Mossman Gorge nationalpark og et is sted på vejen. I Cape Tribulation var vi ude at ride gennem regnskoven. Silvana var ved at falde af flere gange så jeg måtte hele tiden vende mig rundt for at se om hun stadig var med. Efter rideturen kørte vi tilbage til Port Douglas.
(The 13th we rented a car and drove to Cape Tribulation (approx. 200 km) We drove past the Mossman Gorge National Park and an ice cream place on the way. In Cape Trib., we went horseback riding through the rainforest. Silvana was about to fall of all the time so i had to keep turning around to se if she was stille with us. After the ride we drove back to Port Douglas.)

The roadtrip car

Me and my horse Horizon

Den 14. tog vi op til et udsigtspunkt for at se solopgangen, men det var for skyet til at vi kunne se noget. Kl. 9 tog vi ud til Wildlife Habitatet, hvor vi fik en "behind the scenes" tur. Vi holdt en koala og en baby wallaby.
(The 14th we went up to a lookout to see the sunrise, but it was too cloudy to see anything. At 9 am we went to The Wildlife Habitat, where we got a "behind the scenes" tour. We held a koala and a baby wallaby.)

The lookout

The Wildlife Habitat

Kuranda & back to Cairns
Den 15. Tog vi med en skyrail op over regnskoven til Kuranda, som er en lille by der ligger inde i Daintree Rainforest. Her købte vi en hat og vi lærte at spille på Didgeridoo (jeg endte med at købe den didge og sendte den hjem til Emil). Vi var også ude og sejle på Barron floden, hvor vi så skildpadder og krokodiller. Vi tog med Scenic Railway ind til Cains om eftermiddagen og tjekkede ind på Dreamtime Travelers Hostel.
(The 15th we went with a Skyrail over the rainforest to Kuranda a small village located in the Daintree Rainforest. We bought a hat and we learned to play the Didgeridoo (I ended up buying that didge and sended it home to Emil). We also went on a river cruise on Barron River, where we saw turtles and crocs. We took the Scenic Railway to Cairns in the afternoon and checked in at Dreamtime Travellers Hostel.)

The skyrail

Playing the Didge

On river cruise

Our room at the Dreamtime Travellers Hostel in Cairns

Dreamtime Travellers Hostel

Den 16/9 blev vi hentet ved vores hostel tidligt om morgenen og så kørte vi ind i landet. Vi stoppede ved Mareeba Wetlands og fik morgente. her så vi vilde wallabies og fem emuer, hvoraf en af dem havde seks unger. Vi sejlede en tur i lagoonen, hvor vi så forskellige fugle. Vi kørte videre og krydsede over the Great Dividing Range ind i the Western Watershed og kørte videre mod Chillagoe, hvor vi fik frokost på den lokale pub. Her snakkede Silvana og jeg med nogle gamle italienere der var immigreret til Australien i midten af 50'erne. Vi var ude og se en limestone grotte. Til sidst kørte vi forbi et destilleri, hvor man kunne smage hjemmelavet spiritus inden vi kørte tilbage til Cairns. Vi var tilbage på vores hostel omkring kl. 18.
(The 16th we were picked up at our hostel early in the morning and then we drove into the country. We stopped at Mareeba Wetlands and had morning tea. Here we saw wild wallabies and five emus, one of them had six baby emus. We sailed on the lagoon where we saw various birds. We drove on and crossed the Great Dividing Range in the Western Watershed and drove on towards Chillagoe, where we had lunch at the local pub. Here Silvana and I talked to some old italians who emigrated to Australia in the mid 50s. We went out to see a limestone cave. Eventually we drove past a distillery, where we could taste the homemade spirits before we drove back to Cairns. We were back at the hostel about 6 pm.)

The outback

The local pub in Chillagoe

The limestone cave

Fruittree bats

The limestone cave

The distillery

Den 17. var ren afslapning og shopping i Cairns Central.
(The 17th was pure relaxation and shopping in Cairns Central.)

The bar where we had dinner every night

Airlie Beach & The Whitsundays
Den 18. havde vi lejet en bil, til at kører til Airlie Beach i. Vi kørte fra Cairns ved et-tiden og kom til Townsville ved seks-tiden (346 km). Vi blev i Townsville en nat.
(On the 18th we rented a car to drive to Airlie Beach. We drove from Cairns at about 1 pm and came to Townsville at 6 pm (346 km). We were in Townsville one night.)

The new roadtrip car

Yay a sign

Yay one more sign

Our Townsville Hostel

Den 19. stod vi tidlig op og kørte mod Airlie Beach (275 km), hvor vi mødtes med Linn og Rebekka. Vi brugte eftermiddagen ved lagoonen.
(The 19th we got up early and drove to Airlie Beach (275 km) where we met with Linn and Rebekka. We spent the afternoon at the lagoon.)

Yay another sign

9 km - Almost there

Yay Airlie Beach

Our hostel in Airlie Beach

The lagoon

At the Down Under Bar - where we ate every night

Den 20/9 var vi ude og sejle med Camira hele dagen. Vi var ude og snorkle og vi stoppede ved Whiteheaven Beach på Whitsunday Island - den største af Whitsundays øerne, hvor vi brugte en times tid og ellers lå vi bare og slappede af på båden.
(The 20th we went sailing with Camira a catamaran. We went snorkeling and vi stopped at Whiteheaven Beach on Whitsunday Island - that's the biggest one of the Whitsundays Islands, we spend about an hour there and otherwise we just lay and relaxed on the boat.)

Ready to snorkle

On Whiteheaven Beach

Den 21. sejlede vi til Great Barrier Reef, hvor vi var ude og dykke, ved Knuckle Reef Pontoon. Om aftenen blev vi sat af på Long Island (en af Whitsundays øerne), hvor vi skulle overnatte.
(The 21st we sailed to the Great Barrier Reef, where we went scuba diving at Knuckle Reef Pontoon. In the evening we got droped of on Long Island (one of the Whitsundays islands), where we stayed the night.)

On our way to Great Barrier Reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Knuckle Reef Pontoon

Silvana, Me, our diving instructor Gareth and Linn

Almost ready to scuba dive

Ready!!

From left: Rebekka, Linn, Silvana and me - and Gareth

Great Barrier Reef

The Knuckle Reef Pontoon

Uh! A humpback whale

Long Island

Electric Blue Icetea

Long Island Icetea :)

Den 22. spiste vi morgenmad og gik en tur på øen, bagefter sad vi på stranden og fik nogle drinks inden vi blev samlet op af en båd og blev sejlet tilbage til Airlie Beach. Om aftenen tog vi på bar, her mødte vi Gareth, ham der havde været vores dykkerinstruktør.
(The 22nd we had breakfast and went for a walk on the island, afterwards we sat on the beach and got some drinks before we were picked up and sailed back to Airlie Beach. In the evening we went to a bar, where we met Gareth, the guy who had been our diving instructor.)

Bush walk at Long Island

Our room

Sailing back to Airlie Beach

In our room at Base Hostel in Airlie Beach

At Down Under Bar in Airlie Beach

Back to Toowoomba
Den 23/9 tog vi til lufthavnen i Proserpine - verdens mindste lufthavn. Vi fløj til Brisbane og tog bussen derfra til Toowoomba.
(The 23rd we went to the airport in Proserpine - the world's smallest airport. We flew to Brisbane and took the bus to Toowoomba.)