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Having said "I think this jetlag stuff is a load of baloney", Samantha was wide awake at 4.08am playing patience on her iPhone!!

Breakfast with Eric before we waved goodbye and headed home...........

We arrived back in Oundle to be greeted by two very happy dogs, the boys running and bouncing around as if they hadn’t seen us for a month!  I don’t think they could believe we were back, all day as they tried to settle into their baskets they kept one eye open to make sure we didn’t slip away again.

The house was in immaculate condition with Hannah and Sam having done a fantastic job.

We struggle to find the right words to describe our trip/holiday/adventure but some that come close are:- fabulous, amazing, fantastic, out of this world, once in a lifetime, wonderful, breathtaking, brilliant, gorgeous, bonza, beaut mate.........and as well as so many memories we will carry with us for the rest of our lives, the other thing we have brought home is...........a massive pile of washing.

TeamJam signing off - thanks for reading!!!

Homeward Bound :-(

We treated ourselves to a little lie in until 8am!!!  We then had the morning to go to The Peak above Hong Kong, which we had postponed from our previous misty visit. A peek out of our 51st floor window confirmed that whilst visibility couldn't be described as excellent the Peak was not covered in cloud and therefore the trip up would be worthwhile.

We headed through Hong Kong Park to The Peak Tram Terminal. It was only 14 degrees outside but Jonny was still dressed for Australia and his shorts, shirt, sandals combo drew some confused looks from the Puffa jacket wrapped locals – as did his dancing in the fountain! 

The Tram has been running for over 100 years and is pulled up the steep incline by a single metal wire. Jonny said that it had never failed and there had been no accidents, Samantha having inspected the situation and with her health and safety hat on, wondered if that record would hold through today - we are pleased to report it did.  At points the ride up is really quite steep and it is slightly disconcerting that not only are you at 45 degrees to the skyscrapers you can see out of the window, but also whilst at these angles the tram stops to pick up passengers at stations!! 

When we arrived at the top Samantha was very pleased to find that there were actually quite a number of shops, although slightly disappointed to find that most were shut as it would appear people in Hong Kong like to have a lie in on a Sunday morning. After having a quick bite for breakfast and a coffee it was time to have a look around and Jonny took the opportunity to use the Year of the Dragon Wheel of Fortune (or crap as Samantha described it) to help him in a quest for a new job.

We then made our way to the Sky Terrace 428 (it is 428 metres above sea level) and were soon peering out over HK harbour.  Even with the cloud and slight mist it was quite an impressive sight. From the pictures it looks a great place to be at night when the HK skyline is at its best.

Along our journey we have been presented with numerous opportunities to have our picture taken to commemorate specific places or activities and it didn't surprise us to find a photographer with his camera poised on the terrace: we dutifully posed as he snapped away, only wondering what the backdrop would look like, would it just be a white fog?  We needn't have worried, with the power of Photoshop the engineer downstairs beautifully enhanced the backdrop and the HK skyline became clearly visible (if only he could have done some work on the chins)! 

We spent a little bit of time wandering round the now open shops to pick up some souvenirs, and although Samantha wouldn't let Jonny buy the rather tasteful waving gold cat, we did get a bargain on some fridge magnets, 4 for the price of 2 - with all the fridge magnets we have collected on our travels, we think we might now need a bigger fridge!!! 

Our final stop was at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, what Forrest Gump was doing high above HK we're not too sure but it was quite entertaining and presented the opportunity for some final souvenirs.

Back down on the tram, a quick dash through the park, check out of the hotel and it was time to head to the airport for our final leg home.

The flight home took 11 and a half hours, the pilot putting his foot down so we touched down an hour ahead of schedule, and we wondering if Eric would have picked up on the early arrival or whether we would be stranded at Heathrow. 

We needn't have worried as eventually the jovial little gnome appeared and we were whisked back to Speldhurst in good time for a walk round to The George and Dragon for a couple of pints of Larkins.

Having been up for 25 hours (only grabbing a few hours sleep on the plane) we retired to bed for the first time in a month in good ole Blighty but with our hearts still in Australia!

Turning For Home

It is our final day in Australia. We spent the morning touring the souvenir shops of Cairns, stockpiling boomerangs, kangaroos and koalas (obviously only cuddly ones, the real ones don't 
exist in the wild) to bring home. The temperature is a rather sticky 35+ degrees and we don't really know how we are going to deal with the freezing temperatures back home.

Back at the hotel the daunting task of packing awaits. What will fit in, what will we have to leave, just how much will our bags now weigh - it is amazing what you can accumulate in a month. To slightly ease the packing issue we have arranged for a box to be shipped back to the UK, if we don't do this, it looks as though we wouldn't be able to bring any clothes home at all. With bags packed (still with a couple of kilos spare for souvenirs from Hong Kong) box shipped and 

hotel bill paid there is time for an early lunch before we have to head for the airport. 

Lunch was at a little Pizza place on the Esplanade, pizzas were delicious and as we enjoyed 

our last couple of beers we reminisced on our fantastic Australian adventure. 

Eventually we could eek it out no longer and it was time to head to the airport with heavy 

hearts and start our journey home (via Hong Kong). The flight to HK was only 6 and a half 

hours and passed easily with the usual high standards from Cathay Pacific and plenty to eat 

and drink. We got to the hotel at 10.30pm by which time there was just time to have our 

welcome Chinese tea before we collapsed into the very comfortable bed. 

Good night. 

Great...We Should Say So!

Luckily we had rejigged our plans and now had 2 nights in Cairns (only one in HK) and therefore we were able to go on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). As we have said previously, the GBR is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is actually visible from space (the Great Wall of China isn’t).   It is made up of some 2,900 separate reefs that spread along a 2,000 kilometre stretch of the Australian coast from Bundaberg in the south to above Part Douglas in the north.

Glenn from the hotel had advised us that we should head up to Port Douglas and go to the outer reef from there, and so it was that at 8am we boarded a coach and were heading further north, not on the Bruce Highway but on the Captain Cook Highway and one of the prettiest stretches of road in Queensland.  Glenn had given us the ‘top tip’ to sit the drivers side and we were therefore ideally positioned to admire the beautiful coast as we swept by.

It took 60 minutes to reach the Quicksilver marina and transfer onto the ‘Wavepiercer’ catamaran that would take us to the GBR.  The boat trip to the outer reef took 1½ hours and we just sat back and soaked up a few rays.  

Relaxed and excited (even Samantha) we arrived at the Quicksilver Pontoon at the Agincourt Reef and this would be our base for the next 4 hours.  What a fabulous idea, a permanent floating anchorage that had activities for everyone: helicopter rides, scuba diving; full helmet diving, semisubmersibles, underwater observatory, guided snorkeling, alongside a kitchen, bar and shop.

We treated ourselves to a 10 minutes helicopter ride over the reef (2 helicopter rides in a month – way to go!) and boy are we glad we did, what an experience!  This gave a totally different perspective to the reef, Ash the pilot said it was the most perfect conditions, and the views looked like something right off a postcard.  We went up high to get a birds eye view and then skimmed along the surface going from where the reef is only 1 metre deep across the continental shelf where the reef stops and the ocean floor falls 700 metres straight down (apparently the biggest drop is over 1.5 kilometres!) – what a fantastic start to our day.

As we came back from the helicopter a semisubmersible was just preparing to leave and had 2 seats with our names on them.  This was our first experience of the underwater reef and to be honest it is hard to describe it in words.  We learnt about the different types of coral (they are not plants!) and gauped at the vast array of colours, textures and shapes.  And then there were the fish: big ones, little ones, brightly coloured ones, plain ones, fast ones, slow ones, ones you can eat, ones that might bite you (only joking) – so wonderful.  However, the highlight was still to come.  It was kicked off by a ‘fly by’ from a passing turtle (I’m sure he waved!) and then out of the blue, a shark…not Jaws but a harmless reef shark, but a shark nonetheless.  It just drifted by, probably a little grumpy as they normally sleep during the day, which was why it was such a treat.

It was then time to sit down and catch our breath.  Lunch was served onboard the pontoon and was a lovely fresh buffet.  After lunch it was time for Jonny to go snorkeling, so he donned yet another stinger suit, grasped the underwater digital camera he had hired and took to the water.

The snorkeling area was massive, so not at all crowded.  There was quite a current caused by the nearby cyclone a few days ago, in fact a couple of days earlier an older lady had to be rescued as she had drifted 300 metres away from the pontoon (easily done as you can become mesmerized by what you are seeing below you).  The water clarity and visibility was fantastic.  The coral was beautiful and varied.  The fish were just brilliant…but no sharks!

After nearly an hour and a half bobbing about in the water the boats horn sounded and it was time to get out of the water and prepare for home.

Samantha in the meantime had been to the underwater observatory, done some shopping (old habits die hard even when on the Great Barrier Reef) but had not gone back on the semisubmersible as she couldn’t face the jostling with the old people to get on (they can get quite fierce you know when there are only a few seats left – particularly the Japanese!).

As the boat turned for home, our time on the reef coming to an end, we grabbed a couple of cold ones from the bar, sat back and reflected on what had been such a fantastic day filled with wonderful ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences – our only complaint, we wish we had longer, it really is a ‘Great’ Barrier Reef!

Back in Cairns and it was our last night in Australia, I know they say “all good things must come to an end” but do they really have to?  We walked along the Esplanade, a long strip of restaurants and bars (not brash though) and stumbled across Barnacle Bills.  It was busy, good sign, the menu looked nice, another good point and they could squeeze us in – decision made.  We had a great night although Samantha was a little upset with Jonny for having Skippy (kangaroo) for his starter (he also had crocodile which was much nicer than when he had cooked it at Samantha’s 40^th birthday BBQ).

As we walked back to the hotel we reflected on what a fantastic time we had had.  Tomorrow morning there would just be time for some souvenier shopping before saying au reviour to the land of Oz.

A Fond Farewell

So the day has come that we have to hand back Muriel and say goodbye to the little workhorse that has safely (only two minor incidents) guided us the 2,600 kilometres from Sydney.

Whilst the end is in sight the journey is not yet over and we still have a 353 kilometre drive from Townsville to Cairns to complete our road trip.  We pack everything up, Samantha neatly ordering things for easy access, Jonny throwing and squeezing things randomly.  We seem to have accumulated quite a lot of extra stuff on our travels and currently are not too sure how we are going to get it all home.

The trip itself is pretty uneventful.  The scenery is pretty and the road interesting but our heart is not in it, we know this is the last ride in Muriel and that covers the whole journey in a sad dew. 

The highlight was lunch. We stopped in a little town called Innisfail which offered a number of options (but we were determined to steer clear of MacDonalds).  After some debate we decided on kebab.  Kebab…how could we possibly be eating a kebab in the middle of the day, had we drunk 10 pints of extra strong lager on the journey north and now wanted a ‘nutritional’ meal before a fight?   Quite simply, no: it would appear that a kebab is a recognized and respected food in Australia enjoyed by white collar and blue collar workers alike at anytime of day, in fact most kebabs shops we have seen seem to close at 8pm – anyway lunch was delicious!

Back on the road and our final stretch to Cairns went far too quickly and before we knew it we were at the Maui base and unloading our bags (this took some time, I really do not know how we are going to get this all home).

A quick check over (only one mention of the awning – blamed on the screws not the weather!) and we waved goodbye to the Bruce Highway and to Muriel: after 21 days (Samantha would like it noted that there were no hotel stops!) we don’t mind admitting there were a few tears.

The tears quickly dried when we arrived at the Shangri La in Cairns Marina.  Our room, with 2 beds (why do hotels do that these days?) overlooks the marina and we can watch all the boats come back and forth from the reef.  It also has an en suite we don’t need to go outside to use and highly tuned air con – we feel a bit guilty, as we have to admit it is a little nicer than Muriel. 

We booked our trip on Quicksilver to go and see the outer Great Barrier Reef tomorrow and then set about exploring Cairns.

Cairns is an attractive place that has clearly had some investment in recent times.  It is hot again, so our tour around the city is based on hopping from air conditioned shop to air conditioned shop.  One thing very noticeable is the large numbers of Japanese…strange.  Eventually exhausted by the gift shops and opal stores we find somewhere for a quiet drink, The Jack, a British Bar decked out in British Memorabilia and even serving Old Speckled Hen bitter.

We returned to the hotel and got ready to go out for the evening.  Samantha rediscovered the joys of her hairdryer and mascara and looked like a sparkling princess once more.

We ate a Brazilian inspired Australian BBQ restaurant called Bushfire Flame Grill.  We had the churrasco which is basically a whole selection of barbequed meats, some carved from skewers at your table, and a range of side dishes – in fact a whole BBQ for two without all the effort, just fab!

Completely stuffed we returned to the hotel and collapsed into the king size bed with fluffy pillows, still feeling a little guilty and missing Muriel.  Goodnight, sweet dreams.   

Oh Muriel...

“Oh Muriel what have you done now…” is the famous phrase from Muriel’s Wedding and this is what we were saying last night.  As we happily snoozed in our bed we were woken by a crashing sound - to be completely accurate we should say “Samantha was woken by” as Jonny continued snoring away dreaming about his Dad, Madonna and The Northfields (but that’s another story). 

Closer inspection revealed that one end of the awning had come away from it’s mounting and was now flapping in the wind.  Jonny rushed outside, having spotted the opportunity to be a hero (and then realized he should have put some clothes on!) but was unable to refix it.  To make matters worse the storm we had been watching in the distance earlier in the evening was now clearly heading our way – bugger!

Let’s just say it was a restless night as we tried to sleep with the awning bashing the side of Muriel in the gusting wind, the pounding rain, the clattering thunder and our imaginations of how things could get even worse working overtime. 

We were glad when morning came and with it calmness (at least from the weather).  We were now able to inspect thing properly, with both light and clothes!  It did not look good.  A call to the motorhome hire company was not very reassuring: their suggestion being that we borrow some tools and see if we can remove the awning completely.  Jonny examined the situation more closely and worked out that two screws were missing from the collapsed side and if we could reattach these we might be able to avoid the whole ‘removal’ thing.  He enlisted the help of Head Handyman Jim (don’t know if that was really his name but he looked like a Jim, anyway he was a real bonza fella) and between them, with a bit of trial and error (well quite a lot actually), they found two screws that fitted, the awning was secured and retracted and the problem was solved by 10am – hurray!

With Muriel fixed and Jonny feeling very pleased with his handyman skills we could get on with our plan for the day: to go to Magnetic Island, known locally as ‘Maggie”.  We caught the ferry across the bay from Townsville Harbour at 11:30 am (it was good to be back on the water again) and arrived at ‘Maggie’ 25 minutes later. 

Historically the preferred mode of transport on Magnetic Island has been the mini moke: a small go kart like car renowned for it’s poor engineering and always breaking down.  More recently, as parts for the always breaking down moke have become harder to find, the moke has been threatened by a Japenese impostor – the Daihatsu ‘something or other’ and it was one of these that we hired from Topless Cars (now there’s a brand name to attract the boys).

So with temporary ownership of ‘Diana Daihatsu’ we set off to explore the island.  It was a lovely and very laid-back kind of place.  About 2,000 people live on the island, most commuting to Townsville each day on the ferry (better than the 07:40 to Kings Cross) with the rest of the population made up of backpackers come to find some inner peace or party – we fitted in perfectly.

The island’s road network is not extensive so it did not take us long to pop from bay to bay.  We stopped for lunch at Picnic Bay before heading across the Horseshoe Bay later in the afternoon – both were serene.

Alongside the tranquility and laid-back nature Magnetic Island is famed for its wildlife and walks, much of the island actually being a national park (which is why there are not many roads). 

As it is host to the largest colony of wild koalas in Australia (duh – where else would it be) we set out on a koala hunt, walking up to the World War II fort which is now apparently home to ‘Kingston’ and his friends (according to the sign Kingston is a six year old koala and inhabits these parts).

We walked along the sandy and bumpy track, our necks were creaking as we looked into the canopies of the trees: could we see Kingston? What was that noise? Was that him? There he is…oh no that is a termites nest!

After over an hour we returned to base, despondent that our hunt had come to nothing (other than seeing a dead possum) and our heads filling with conspiracy theories.  If you have ever been to Thailand you will know that the Thai’s know how to pull a trick or two.   We think the Australians may have copied a few ideas from the Thai’s – do koalas actually exist in the wild or, as they are so cute and cuddly, and the aussies know they are everyone’s favourites, do they just keep perpetrating the myth to boast the tourist trade – we don’t know about endangered, we think they might be extinct!

We have learnt on this trip that if you can’t trust koalas, kangaroos and wallabies always come up trumps – and today was no different.  Alongside the ‘supposed’ koalas, Maggies is home to a large colony of Rock Wallabies.  So in need of our spirits lifting we went in search of these little fellas.

We needn’t have worried; the map said they would be at Geoffrey Bay and there they were.  First one, then two, three, four, five…all emerging from the rocks (they are ‘Rock’ wallabies!) - looking so cute and lovely.

With our day on Maggie drawing to a close we jumped back on the ferry and headed back to Townsville.  At the ferry terminal we had a decision to make, bus or taxi?  A few weeks ago taxi would have won hands down but we are becoming accustomed bus travellers, however, what happened next still surprised us.  There was a bus a the bus stop so we asked “Do you go to Palmer Street?” expecting a sort of yes/no grunt you would get in the UK but no, the bus driver said “Yes, hop and I’ll pop you round there” – we were the only people on the bus, he didn’t appear to be following any timetable and it only cost $1.70 each – no wonder there were no taxis in sight!

Palmer Street is the main restaurant street in Townsville offering all sorts of al a carte cuisine.  Obviously now completely wowed by the Australian experience we decided to go for Outback Jacks and grab some real aussie grub.  It turned out to be the wrong chose: the food was ok but the service was poor and overall not a great experience (the wine was good though).

Back at the campsite and it dawns on us that this is our last night in Muriel.  Oh Muriel…we will miss you!