Hello from Down under!
Yes, I know, it was somewhat quiet lately, sorry for those who would like more updates. It’s hard to find the time to write between work and activities in my spare time.
You are probably wondering what has happened since the last time. To start with, I finally bought a car in early December. Well, more like half a car, to be honest. I teamed up with Marion on this one. For the more curious, it’s an old lady, a Mitsubishi Magna from 1995. Not that I needed a car to work, I’m 10 minutes walk from the company I’m working in but it’s quite convenient to get around on my free time.
Speaking of free time, as soon as I bought the car, I’ve been to Fitzroy island, an island off the coast of Cairns. It’s a beautiful little island and a perfect place to relax on the beach and swim up to the corals that run along the beach. You can also take a short hike to the highest point of the island and have drinks at the only restaurant to quench your thirst once you are back.
You might know that I was on vacation from December 20th to January 8th. I left Tolga during these two weeks. I drove down to Sydney with Marion. With hindsight, I congratulate ourselves for having achieved such a feat in such a short time, it is really far 🙂 We made a few stops along the road. First, we visited the Townsville Aquarium, the largest living coral reef aquarium. After that, we continued our southward descent and stopped at Airlie Beach for 5 days. We had booked a cruise around the Whitsundays on Monday, December 25th. As we arrived two days earlier, in the meantime we walked around Airlie Beach and spent Christmas on Coral Beach, a nearby beach. The beach in question was at the end of a short walk. We had bought some supplies for the occasion of course. Nothing comparable to what you can find in France of course but still a good little picnic. We ate on this beach completely isolated, alone, facing the sea… magical!
On Monday we boarded the Matador, a former racing boat. We were 20 on board for 2 days, including one night sleeping on the boat. The crew of the boat took us around the islands on sites where we could swim and observe fishes and corals of all kinds. Corals are unfortunately damaged and there are only few places left untouched by the Hurricane Debbie which occured last year. We also went to Whitehaven Beach, a famous beach for the whiteness of its sand which is characterized by 98% pure silica. The sand has been used by the NASA to make the Hubble telescope lens. It is now absolutely forbidden to collect sand on this beach.
Once back on the mainland, we had about a day to reach Harvey Bay, 900 km further south. We had booked a 4X4 to spend 3 days on Fraser Island. On this island, the only way to get around by car is by driving on the beach. It was very nice to be able to pitch the tent on the beach and sleep in front of the sea. I am still disappointed by the crowd on the island at this time of year. The beach was a real highway! Also, like most places in Australia, the attractions on the island are made up for tourists. It’s actually just another nice island on the east coast, nothing else. What made my stay a positive and pleasant experience is without a doubt my co-driver 😉
We finally started our last stage to Sydney. We had decided to pitch the tent in a camp about 80 km west of the city because all the hostels were pretty much booked up or overpriced. That said, our plans changed just before we got there. Marko sent us a text message to invite us to come over. He was renting a room and we could sleep there during our stay in Sydney! It was really cool to see him again after almost 6 months. We arrived on the 31st in the afternoon, just in time for the fireworks. We joined Marko to see the fireworks and despite the impressive number of people present for the occasion, we found a good spot to enjoy the show. The next day, Marko showed me around. We went to Bondi Beach, Sydney’s most famous beach, walked over the Harbor Bridge, passed the Opera House, and took the ferry to Manly, a nice suburb.
We had to hit the road for Tolga on Tuesday. The outward journey is always quicker than the inward one and we had 2500km to go. On the way back, we stopped at Agnes Water to take a surf lesson. It was a good experience even though I discovered that it was really not my thing. We then stopped again at Airlie Beach because Marion had planned a flight over the Whitsundays Islands. After another night spent in the car along the road, we finally arrived in Cairns to spend our last night in a backpacker before returning to Tolga on Sunday night.
So I’m back in Tolga. I got back to work since the beginning of the week. My future plans are finally clearer. I’m gonna keep working until February 2nd. After almost 4 months of work, I can’t wait to be done with that. It will be so nice to get back at Evolix and work again with my awesome colleagues!
So to get back to my upcoming plans, I will spend 4 weeks in Cairns in February to take English classes in a school. The 4th of March, I will take off to Bali for 10 days and meet Marion there. On the 15th I will fly to Bangkok to spend 3 weeks in Tailand with Lucile and on the 10th of April I’ll visit Myanmar for 2 weeks.
I hope this article makes up for the long wait. I wish you a happy new year full of good things and so on…
See y’a for another article 😉
Click below the see the album 😉
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