We spent a few days in Santiago to get used to the time change. Santiago has a strong European feel to it reminiscent of Spain, not just because of the language. We spent a few nights here getting used to the time change and the South American latino culture before spending a few nights in a nearby town called Valparaiso. Nothing to say about this place other than it is notorious for pick pockets as we found out when Servane got rolled.

Back in Santiago we hopped on a 5 day tour heading to the north of Chile, going all the way past the Andes through the Atacama desert stopping just before Bolivia. From then on we spent the next week driving through the desert with about eight other people from around the globe all squeezed into a minibus.

The tour involved a lot of driving through small villages and desert with nothing but sand and mountains to look at. One notable stop was at the Pinguino de Humboldt National Reserve where we jumped on a boat to do an island tour to Isla Damas and Isla Choros. A wildlife reserve known for animals like the dolphins we saw in the waters, the sea lions on the rocks, the pelicans and eagles and the penguins scrambling to get out of the water.

We then spent the next day in Bahia Inglesa in the heart of the desert. We set up camp for two nights and all had a big barbecue and had a few more ‘Piscos’ which is Chiles national drink, a sprit similar to Pernod. We realised we may have had too many as we didn’t wake up the next morning until we all felt our cabin shaking and realized it was an earthquake, a regular occurrence in Chile apparently. We soon found out it wasn’t going to be the last one we would witness.

We stopped at the cemetery in the middle of the desert which is the only thing that remains of the old nitrate mining town close by and we passed the ‘Mano del Desierto’ or the hand in the desert, a sculpture made by a Chilean artist apparently to give the long distance drivers a reason to stop.

After spending a night in Antofagasta, a sprawling city in the middle of the desert we arrived at the Atacama Salt Flat after visiting the train cemetery on the way, and then another natural reserve to see the flamingos.

On our last day of the tour we paid a visit to the Salt Caves and Moon Valley which were pretty impressive.

We spent our last few days in Chile in the town of San Pedro. A small but traditional town with dust roads and short whitewash houses. We decided to do some horse riding around the desert close by before leaving for Bolivia.

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Rotorua is a geothermal site and has a number of geysers, hot springs and an active volcano in the area, you can tell as soon as you get close because of the smell of sulphur is overpowering. In Rotorua we went to the ‘Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland’ where we saw the daily eruption of the geyser, the underground thermal pools, hot springs and mud pools, we also bathed in a site for thermal pools, the hottest being 40 degrees. One day was spent doing a few of the more energetic activities including a cable car up to the top of the mountain, a sky swing, which was a capsule hauled up 40m then basically let go to fall over the side of the hill, once we got to the top, followed by the luge which is basically a go-kart back down the hill. In the afternoon of this day we did white-water rafting, freezing cold but bloody good. It has the biggest commercially rafted waterfall which stood at about 8 meters.

We passed through Taupo then onto Wellington soon after as the weather, since leaving Auckland had been raining constantly and freezing cold which kind of limited us with things to do, all we could do was sit in the back of the van and have a drink which is what we did the majority of our trip. We took the ferry the following day and the weather was as it has been but much windier, perfect weather for getting the ferry. People were throwing up left, right and centre, I don’t know how we managed to keep it down but we did and made it to Picton on the south island.

We passed through some pretty impressive scenery whilst driving with the mountains and winding rivers and all that, stopping at the ‘biggest suspension bridge in New Zealand’. The next place we stopped was the Franz Jorge and Fox Glaciers. Both small alpine style towns with towering mountains behind and the glaciers themselves are pretty striking. We were unable to do the glacier trek due to the weather so we had to console ourselves by walking to the base of both glaciers and doing a walk along Lake Matheson.

We finished our trip at Christchurch where we trawled the local bars and nightspots and spending the rest of the time in the hostel recovering.

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Our first stop was Robinson Crusoe island, which was average, mainly due to the weather being pretty bad, this restricted us with things to do. As we went further north the weather improved and we found ourselves on another island called Waya celebrating our four year anniversary with a lobster dinner on the beach.

We then headed to the Mamanucas group of islands a bit further south and to the ‘party’ island called Beachcomber which was only 2 acres and you could walk from one side to the other in about five minutes. Wasn’t really all that but we managed to get drunk on jungle juice. On the way to our next stop we passed the island where they filmed ‘Castaway’ and then ‘Celebrity Love Island’. We stayed at a resort on Walu Beach, where another reality TV program was filmed.

At all of the places we went to we were welcomed onto the island with the traditional string band when we stepped off the boat and the Polynesian style dances at night and of course the traditional Kava ceremony, which consists of the passing round of the Kava bowl and the reciting of some Fijian words before and after drinking. Kava is the national drink and is a part of the lifestyle here in Fiji. It is made from the root of a pepper plant, actually a narcotic, it tastes like muddy water and leaves a numb feeling on your tongue but the more you drink the less you care.

Beachcomber Island

Kava Ceremony

Onto New Zealand.

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Its been a long time since we have had the opportunity to update the site through one reason or another, we were waiting to finish work and actually take some photos for it and something interesting to say, so here it is.

We have spent the past just under two months working at Long Island Beach Resort. We visited long island on a day trip and asked for work as there was nothing at the time we called back when in Cairns and they told us to come down within the next two days and start immediately. No interview when we got there, all the requirements were that you could speak English, no visible tattoos, no funny hairdo, and basically if you’re alive you’re hired.

Restaurant

In more ways than one it was like student life there, although student accommodation probably would’ve been tidier than the staff quarters on the island. We all lived, worked and socialised together, which was good at times but not others. Most of the people that worked there were Aussies, most of them just finished college or whatever, looking to spend a bit of time away from home. We met some good people there not only the locals, there were a lot of Japanese on three month visas, the same as the Koreans. Friday nights on the island was staff night at what they called the MHC (Mental Health Club, which was probably as bad as it sounds) or in other words the staff bar. Some of the crazy parties we’ve had there included a pyjama and beach party. It may sound terrible but after a few cheap beers wasn’t actually that bad.

We worked in the restaurant most of the time and James worked in the bar on a few occasions, having to learn how to make the cocktails and mixing one or two on the first night’s happy hour wasn’t the easiest thing. It was a buffet restaurant so most of the time it was just clearing tables, taking drink orders, hosting, or serving at the bar that sort of thing, pretty boring most of the time which is why we had to make the most of our time when not working. Every night after work we made sure we would spend all the money we had earned during the day and every day off we managed to spend all the rest of it at Airlie.

Having postponed our flight once already it was then time to move on and leave Australia. The only thing left to do was to sell the damn campervan. I ended up staying an extra day in Airlie to sell the van while Servane went down to Brisbane. I finally managed to sort it all out and sell it literally an hour before my flight.

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We said farewell to the parents the next day and the brother the day after that. We had our ups and downs but on a whole I think we all got along pretty well. We headed back down to Cairns and started the long search for work.

As we have only a month left in Australia, we needed to find work as soon as possible and the money even sooner. However, our search didn’t take too long and our first call found us something. The Long Island Beach Resort was looking for people to work in the restaurant and bar and to start asap – result! We left Cairns the next day and drove back down the coast only stopping for about 10mins in the 9hr drive. We stopped off to advertise our van for sale (no roads on island), buy our sailor style deck shoes (which gives you an idea of the uniform) and to stock up before getting the boat back into the island.

Will update with a few photos of work asap.

Pics of van from Ad

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The Whitsundays contain over 90 islands, mostly uninhabited and continental (the tips of underwater mountains). The surrounding water is a marine park and fall within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Still tired from last night, we had to get all our stuff together and get to Shute Harbour to catch the morning ferry to one of the islands. When we arrived we decided to meet my parents a day later and stay a night on the island, thanks to a deal they were doing at the time.

Our first stop was Hamilton Island, which we stayed for two hours. The most built up of all the islands, Hamiton has the big flashy resorts and a few of the high rise hotels aswell. It attracts the money aswell, judging by the size of some of the boats at the marina. We spent out time looking round the colonial style shops on the wharf. Unfortunately we didn’t have time but the only way to get around the island is to scoot around on a golf buggy like some crazy golfers grand prix. We also saw the Koala Sanctuary on the island.

After the lunch on the boat, our next and main stop was Whitsunday Island and Whitehaven Beach. The biggest of the islands, we spent the four hours we were there relaxing on Whitehaven Beach on the south-eastern tip. Supposedly the best beach in Australia and one of the best in the world.

Then onto Long Island where we were spend the night. The island is only 2km wide and 9km long but big enough to house 3 resort, one of which was the Long Island Beach Resort, which it turns out we were to come back to but not know at the time. Nice resort with loads to do, such as the rainforest walks, which we did the following day and a good beach, which we spent a few hours on before getting the boat back to Shute Harbour and Airlie Beach.

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Sitting between the Great Dividing Range and the coast, Airlie is a jumping resort town and gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Backpackers seem to outnumber everyone else here, coming into town by the busload to do the Whitsunday sail but spend most of their time frequenting the nightspots around town.

We arrived in Airlie in the afternoon and spent the next good few hours looking for accommodation, which wasn’t easy. I suppose just coming into the high season we were to expect this.

First impressions were that of the guidebook, busy resort with loads of shops, cafes and bars and even more young backpackers all out for a good time, needless to say my parents weren’t that enthusiastic. We spent the day lounging by the artificial lagoon as despite the name Airlie doesn’t have any beach to speak of. And at night after the folks were off, we went to a few bars including a place which had a foam party on the first night and a wet t shirt comp the second.

We spent two days in Airlie before going our separate ways, not being a big fan of long boat journeys, my parents decided to go onto Townsville and Magnetic Island and we decided to do a tour of the Whitsundays before meeting them up there.

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Whilst making our way up to Airlie Beach, we decided to do a pit stop and stay for a few nights somewhere along the way. That somewhere is Yeppoon. While its also the gateway to Great Keppel Island, Yeppoon is an attractive seaside town in its own right. Just south of Yeppoon, is Rosslyn Bay, the departure point for Great Keppel.

After having a few issues getting accommodation in Yeppoon, we stumbled across a 3 bedroom apartment which is right on the beach, which is a stroke of luck. During our first night, although we didn’t have too much luck in the last casino, my dad insisted on having another go and with his sense of finding these things, it didn’t take us long.

We took a ferry over to Great Keppel Island during the morning of writing this section. The landscape is ok though, expansive beaches, motionless blue water, bottle green forests peppered with walking tracks. But of course we didn’t really make the most of it and spent all of our time on the beach which we could’ve done anywhere I suppose. But it was still nice especially since it was the best sunshine we’ve had for a long while.

Onto Airlie Beach

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The worlds largest sand island was created thousands of years ago by longshore drift and sand washing off Australia’s east coast. Its hard to imagine as looking at this from the shore, it has an interior of rainforests, gorges, streams and swimming lakes. All of these are on a landscape that is 120km by 15km surface area and due to the enormous depth, contains more sand than the Sahara desert – apparently.

We had a choice of two ways of getting over onto the island, either getting the passenger ferry and getting on an organised tour, or doing the fly drive. Taking off from Hervey Bay on a single-engine 7 seater Cessna and landing on the beach on Fraser, then renting a 4WD and doing the island ourselves. Its fair to say that after a dodgy experience at the Grand Canyon in America, my parents we quite happy to get on the tour but we managed to convince them otherwise.

Theres a strange feel about Fraser Island, as 4WDs and buses with towering wheel bases and fat, chunky tyres all pull in to refuel against an idyllic beach backdrop of white sand and waving palm trees. The abundance of sand and the lack of paved roads mean that only these vehicles can negotiate the island.

Well worth it though, the sights from the air were just awesome, a bit daunting at times, especially when the pilot was not much older than Servane or me but we got on and off the island without dramas (although my mum had her eyes shut the entire time). We took the 4WD on the highway of the island (the beach) and visited places like Lake McKenzie with clear blue waters formed by water accumulating on top of a thin layer of twigs and leaves, the Maheno, a passenger liner that was blown ashore by a cyclone in 1935 and Central Station which apart from anything else the experience of driving through a thick jungle on top of pure white sand hills is pretty bizarre. We also managed to scale the sand dunes that make up a significant part of the island and are getting bigger every year.

Lake Mckenzie

We never stayed on the island but there was enough to keep us amused for at least a few more days, but due to timescales we had to leave.

Central Station

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We picked up my brother from the airport and passed through Brisbane on the way up to Hervey Bay. It is Australia’s third largest city, and is also known for the high-rises and casinos. As we only passed through, we didn’t get to see too much and what we did seemed similar to what we’ve done already.

Hervey Bay itself is either a very popular place for spotting migrating whales or a launching pad to get to Fraser Island. Although we used it for the latter, it still has some pretty spectacular beaches, which the local retirees came to see a long time ago and ended up staying for.

Me getting 'roped into' work at the marina

But to be honest we didn’t spend too much time on the beach during the one day we were here due to the fact we decided to stay in an apartment on the beach and make use of the tennis courts etc. that they had to offer. Well that was the plan but we spent most of the day on the balcony/garden enjoying the sun (and a few drinks). We booked our trip to Fraser for the following day.

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Surfers stands at the centre of the Gold Coast and earns its name as a giant, tacky, tourist development area consisting of endless shopping malls, theme parks, high rise hotels and miles and miles of bars, having said that, Surfers has some excellent beaches and a few quieter areas.

And due to one reason or another, we managed to stay is one of these quieter areas outside Surfers for the first night, called Nerang. Bit of a hicksville, it gave my parents a look at the ‘real’ Australia, but by the end we were all looking forward to getting back to the other end of the scale and getting a bit of excitement.

Didn’t have too far to look as the next night we found ourselves in Jupiter’s Casino in the centre of town. Its easy to see why they say that the Aussies are one of the biggest gamblers in the world. This area has more ‘pokies’ than all of Las Vegas. Its by far the biggest place of this kind ive been in, multiple levels of pure gambling craziness. Needless to say, its good we don’t go in these things too often.

My mum and Servane looking thouroughly bored

The beach had some excellent surfing breaks along with pure white sands, but of course you had to share this with about 200 other people.

Onto Hervey Bay.

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We met up and had a drink with friends we previously met in Coral Bay on the west coast, who were just recovering from the Splendour in the Grass music festival which we just missed. The remnants and leftovers from this do could still be seen with hundreds of young people still mooching about in the streets.

We managed to pay a visit to Nimbin, the ‘alternative’ centre known for its hippies and marijuana. Also called the bush Amsterdam, it was quite funny to go if only to see all the crusties.

A few days later we met up with my mum and dad, who had made the long journey over from England and the less long journey down from Brisbane to meet us. Unfortunately they didn’t bring the weather over from England with them (never thought Id be saying that) and it rained almost constantly whilst we were there, so as a consequence, we spent most of our time either in the van or in their cabin.

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As we moved up from Victoria, to New South Wales, we came to the place first set foot by Captain Cook in 1770, who decided to compare the area to Wales, hence the name. The UK then began to ship its convicts to Circular Quay in Sydney to establish the first European settlement in 1778. There, that’s the history lesson over.

We made it to our hotel with no dramas this time, probably due to the fact we took two toll roads to take us straight into the heart of the city and where we were staying, Kings Cross, another place renowned for its seedier side.

We made it to the most recognisable area of the city, the harbour which consists of the Oprah House, bridge, Circular Quays and The Rocks. After taking a few pictures, we had a guided tour of the Opera House. A place where 3000 performances ranging from ballet, opera, plays, concerts, even sumo and boxing on rare occasions. Not without its problems though, the building and designing of the place took 10 years longer than expected and 95 million over budget, the chief designer walked off the job and has never seen it completed. A worthwhile visit that looks pretty stunning close up.

We spent my birthday in style, staying in a 5 star hotel and getting complimentary champagne and chocolates in our room. In retrospect probably a bit too posh for us, especially when we got the valet to park our big blue van behind the Mercs and Porches in the car park, highly amusing.

We experienced some of the nightlife in Kings Cross and also went to Darling Harbour, the following day, which is basically a huge waterfront leisure park. On the day we were due to leave we spent the day at the Rocks, enjoying the weather and the attractions that the coffee festival brought.

Botanical Gardens

Darling Harbour

Onto Byron Bay

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Over half of the population of Melbourne has a parent who was born oversees. Waves of immigration have brought settlers and influences from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

It is the biggest metropolis we’ve seen since Perth and as difficult to navigate and find anything, just like any city centre I suppose. We spent the first at least two hours looking for a hostel in the city centre only to be told that we would have to pay hundreds of dollars for parking and that’s if we could fit our van under the height restriction in the car park.

We ended up staying in an inner suburb of Melbourne called St Kilda. Known for its seedier side (we wouldn’t want it any other way), St Kilda was home to our Victorian-style hostel called Olembia Guesthouse, which was a really friendly and homely place and ended up being our home for the following two days.

Our time was spent mainly exploring the streets, laneways and arcades, which were easy to get to either by foot or the tram that sprawled the city. Visiting the National Gallery of Victoria, a collection of international art, followed by the Queen Victoria market which is supposed the be the biggest market in the southern hemisphere (which apparently used to be part of Melbournes first cemetery – an estimated 9000 bodies still remain under the carpark).

We never managed to see any of the clubs or much nightlife in Melbourne, purely for the fact it was almost zero degrees outside when we were there, and as we were staying a fair few miles out of the centre, where the action was, we decided to save it for Sydney.

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In between Adelaide and Melbourne is the Great Ocean Road. Long stretches of beaches and limestone cliffs on one side, contrast with the very English looking green forested areas on the other side.

Although the weather was cold, wet and windy when we were there, it still had some pretty stunning views.

We started from Port Campbell National Park, the most photographed stretch of the road due to the limestone rock stacks, gorges, arches and blowholes. Loads of stops along this part of the road but the highlights have to be The Twelve Apostles. These are seven rock stacks abandoned to the ocean by the eroding mainland. No-one is too sure what happened to the other five- or if there ever were five others. Also the Arch and London Bridge were worth a stop. Apparently it used to be one rock platform linked to the mainland, but in 1990 it collapsed, stranding two tourists who were later rescued by helicopter.

The Twelve Apostles

Thunder Cave

Twins

Archway

London Bridge

Bay Of Islands

Otway National Park has relatively untouched rainforests which is what attracted us to do the Maits Rest Rainforest Boardwalk, a 20min walk through a rain-forest gully which was pretty amazing.

We planned to make it all the way to Melbourne in one day but after everything, we ended up treating ourselves. We spent the night in a sea-side cottage in Apollo Bay. Primarily a fishing village but popular with Melbourne weekenders due to the beaches and rolling green hills.

Our little cottage for the night

Onto Melbourne.

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While England was enjoying 30 plus degree weather, we were freezing our bits off with 5 degree heat outside. Sods law i suppose. This is part of the reason we didnt stay too long and are trying to head further north asap.

Adelaide was quite cool though, same as any other city in Oz i suppose, clean streets, friendly people and enough coffee shops to shake a stick at.

Nightlife was especially good, to which Servane and myself soon found out.

Onto Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road.

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They werent joking when they said that people dont appreciate the scale of Australia. We have been constantly driving, every waking hour for the past 4 days. Covering 3000km and only three quarters of the way across. We crossed the Nullabor plain, which actually means no trees. Not only are there no trees theres not a lot of anything at all. We pass through small isolated 'towns' that all look the same and sleep on the side of the road. The most exciting part of the trip was getting to the 165km straight road which goes to show how bored we actually were.

We finally arrive in Adelaide and check into a hostel straight away

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The Round House, one of the first real prisons in Oz.

On the way we visited the Stromatolites. The oldest living organisms on and earth and can only be be found in two places around the globe.

Thousands of tiny shells make up the blocks they used to use to build houses

Apparently the foam is caused by them 'breathing'

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We werent sure what to expect from Perth but it turned out to be a really good place and definately the best city weve come across in Oz.

After spending so long in the van we thought we'd treat ourselves by getting a room at a hostel, might not sound like much but to us it was pushing the boat out.

Didnt do too much in Perth, we went out on a couple of occasions as the nightlife was pretty good. We managed to do the Swan Valley also which is one of the main wine producing regions of Australia. We did the wine conaisseur thing for the day and went round a selection of the wineries, tasting many different wines and ports, one bottle we tried was $95. Also visiting a chocolate factory, not quite Willy Wonkas but ok nonetheless.

Apparently the largest musical instrument in the world called the Swan Bells.

More pics of dolphins we werent able to put on last time

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But Monkey Mia is known for the dolphins, especially the 'dolphin interaction'. They come into the shallow waters everyday and get fed by the park rangers, during which time the rangers gives a talk about dolphins in general. Quite a good experience and Servane even managed to feed one of them.

Saw the giant pelicans on the beach, with a wingspan of apparently over 3 meters.

Spent our night at a place called Eagle Bluff just outside the resort. You are supposed to see sharks from the top and although we didnt see any, we did catch the sunrise in the morning.

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Nearly never made it to Cape Range. They say that the most dangerous time to be driving in the outback is either sunset or sunrise. I shall now listen to these warnings a bit more after nearly running down a full sized cow, after going sideways to miss it and eventually stopping half in the ditch, only centimeters away. Someone was smiling down on us that evening.

Anyway we did eventally it make it to Cape Range National Park, stopping to buy some snorkel gear and a fishing rod, the only things to do here are swimming and fishing.

Pretty nice scenery though. Turquoise Bay:

Dont know if you can see this properly but this lizard was massive

Like i said, bought a fishing rod expecting to catch everything in the sea although i did catch one fish, i spent the majority of the time staring at the end of the rod. Servane thought it would be funny to write in the sand.

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We actually made it all the way this time, bit of a detour but as its supposed to be a main highlight we thought we'd give it a crack.

Dales Gorge itself was pretty awesome though well worth the detour. Apparently the cliffs are thousands of millions of years old and the river that is carving its way through the gorge is unearthing fossils etc. of equal age.

Couldnt do all of Karijini unfortunately as the main gorge way 4wd only and we didnt realy fancy risking it what with everything thats happened.

We did a days worth of walking covering a few kms going to places like Fortesque Falls

Circular Pool

View from bottom

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Broome is a winter holiday resort for all Aussies living in the southern half of the coast where the temperatures are very cold at the moment. Even though there isnt too much to do, weve still had a good time in Broome, we met up with some Aussies at our campsite, travelling up the coast for winter. We spent the first week with them lot, going to the beach, horse racing and of course a bit of drinking.

Cable Beach

Sand Surfing

Broome Races

Stairway to the Moon. This is a natural phenomenon that occurs evry month when there is a full moon and the tide is low enough. The moon rises above the horizon and they say that it looks like the mud flats are giving the impression of a 'Stairway to the Moon'.

Guntheaume Point

On attempting to leave Broome a week ago we our engine basically blew up. So there we were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no signal on the phone hopelessly flagging people down to see if we could get towed the 120km back into Broome. Luckily for us someone had the means to bring us back and we have been here until today.

Next stop Karijini National Park.

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Coming from Kakadu to Katherine was a mere 5hr drive and barely visible on the map, after a night in Katherine itself, we made our way straight to the national park.

Between the territorys monsoon tropics and dry zone, the park is known for the 15km gorge that goes through the park. We took part in a bushwalk (insert joke here) through the park, ending up at the face of the gorge where we thought we'd be able to take a swim in the river only to find out that crocodiles had been spotted recently.

We also had a visit from one of the locals during dinner one night.

Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park remains copyright of the author JimmyHill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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