Some might say we we're greedy to take a second holiday (after NZ) this past Christmas/New Year and they'd probably be right - but I've always been one for plenty of holidays to different places and remember something a good friend mad Geof once said "you've got to be out there doing stuff and not sitting around thinking about it"...
Anyhow, the trip to Whitsunday Islands up in Queensland, Australia was the idea of Kris and Sarah, friends from the UK who planned to be over for New Year. They suggested it way back in mid 2008 before I knew much about the Whitsunday area but knowing Kris as the well traveled bloke he is let them do all the organising. Him and Sarah got us a great apartment in Airlie Beach called Portside Apartments and Kallan and Nat the other couple coming along sorted cheap flights.
Airlie Beach is pretty small but has all you need and is a good base for trips out to the Islands themselves. After some debate (you know me) we all kinda agreed to go on one larger boat trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef and one smaller one to Whitsunday Island and the famous Whitehaven beach. Only two operators go to the GBR and unfortunately both take huge groups of people with not a lot of adventure involved. After a horrifically long journey to which Mel felt seasick all the way to the reef (our boat broke down) we we're dropped on the pontoon where the hoards of people filed off and into the enclosed area for snorkeling around (and over if you dare evade the security who are circling in boats which Mel and I did) a rather worn out and colourless reef. Before snorkeling with Mel I did shoot down for a scuba dive, the deepest we could go before hitting the bottom was about 13 metres and the diving was pretty unattractive but worthwhile only for the huge Maori Wrasse fish who pretty much followed us on the dive the whole 45 mins we we're down - awesome!
The only other activity worth mentioning on this day trip was the water slide off the pontoon into the ocean, always a crowd pleaser and a whole lot of fun for the big kids among us.
The second day trip we took on a smaller, faster speed boat with only 25 people was a lot better. We could get around Whitsunday Island quickly and go places the bigger boats couldn't get. Our captain, a friendly South African was great to talk to and very cautious while making sure we had some fun and got the adrenaline going. Hats off to Ocean Rafting, an award winning business who know how to organise a great day out on the water.
The rest of the trip was spent either in the apartments pool, eating, drinking or getting plenty of sleep.
A few tips if planning a trip to the Whitsundays:
1. don't believe the hype about 'stingers', they are there I'm sure but we didn't see any and the suits you can hire to protect yourself are no fuss at all
2. don't try to get to the outer Great Barrier Reef from Airlie Beach, save that for when you are further up North as I'm sure it's more spectacular than the disappointingly destroyed spot they take you to
3. go on a trip with Ocean Rafting, they rock in my opinion! Oh and make sure they take you to Mantaray Bay to snorkel, stunning!
Bonza
Tim
P.S. Mel's pregnant, but most of you already know that right...
Friday, 30 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
New Years Eve in Sydney
Crikey, two blog posts in one day but I'm on a bit of a catch up again!
It's hard to believe I'm 32 and only just had my first Sydney based New Years Eve. It's long been regarded as 'the place to be' and did not disappoint. It was always going to be touch and go if we made it back from NZ in time to host a party at our place as our flight was scheduled to land in Sydney around 5:30pm on NYE. Fortunately Air New Zealand did not let us down and we even managed to meet friends Steve and Sara Rofe at the airport (they we're coming down from Queensland for the party) to share a cab to Balmain.
Some other friends Jane and Ian had kindly been round to our place earlier in the day to get the meat out of the freezer and drop in some balloons, lights and poppers. After setting these up the drinking started around 7pm and then the BBQ got cranked up. As far as NYE goes it was pretty tame for most the evening (we’re getting old eh) although we did have a few extra 'cheers' when Kris and Sarah returned from 'getting some fags' to announce they just got engaged! Sarah then spent a lot of the night talking to family and friends back in her home country Canada – bless her.
The kiddies’ fireworks at 9pm we're pretty impressive but nothing compared to the main event at midnight. The view from our bedroom balcony lived up to expectation, the photo next to this blog post an example of what we saw for around 15 minutes non-stop.
The last of us finished up at around 3am after a quick drink at our local, The London Hotel in Balmain and then a final session involving red wine and lots of cheese and crackers back at home - nice!
If we're in Sydney to see in 2010 it might be good to go right into the city somewhere and soak up the atmosphere there, we'll have to wait and see if that’s an option.
Cheers
Tim
It's hard to believe I'm 32 and only just had my first Sydney based New Years Eve. It's long been regarded as 'the place to be' and did not disappoint. It was always going to be touch and go if we made it back from NZ in time to host a party at our place as our flight was scheduled to land in Sydney around 5:30pm on NYE. Fortunately Air New Zealand did not let us down and we even managed to meet friends Steve and Sara Rofe at the airport (they we're coming down from Queensland for the party) to share a cab to Balmain.
Some other friends Jane and Ian had kindly been round to our place earlier in the day to get the meat out of the freezer and drop in some balloons, lights and poppers. After setting these up the drinking started around 7pm and then the BBQ got cranked up. As far as NYE goes it was pretty tame for most the evening (we’re getting old eh) although we did have a few extra 'cheers' when Kris and Sarah returned from 'getting some fags' to announce they just got engaged! Sarah then spent a lot of the night talking to family and friends back in her home country Canada – bless her.
The kiddies’ fireworks at 9pm we're pretty impressive but nothing compared to the main event at midnight. The view from our bedroom balcony lived up to expectation, the photo next to this blog post an example of what we saw for around 15 minutes non-stop.
The last of us finished up at around 3am after a quick drink at our local, The London Hotel in Balmain and then a final session involving red wine and lots of cheese and crackers back at home - nice!
If we're in Sydney to see in 2010 it might be good to go right into the city somewhere and soak up the atmosphere there, we'll have to wait and see if that’s an option.
Cheers
Tim
Christmas Day
It was SO good to be able to spend Christmas with my family in NZ this (now last) year!
We started the day with mothers home-cooked eggs benedict which was pretty bloody good and washed down with some champagne. We then moved on to my sisters place (just round the corner) where a full-on turkey lunch awaited us. Kelly made some pudding (pics on my Flickr photostream if we're connected as friends or family) which was like a layered cake thing with cream, puff pastry and some chocolate - it was pretty darn good too!
The highlight of the day for everyone was watching Ella (my new niece) open her presents and just be generally entertaining like kids are.
Last but not least was another turkey dinner at my Nan and aunt Jodi's house. I've not had much of a chance to spend time with them over the past few years so it was nice to have a good catch up with everyone, enjoy some good food and be entertained by Brynn, Jodi and Shane's new baby boy (who is a cool chap to hang out with already!).
Another highlight was watching Nigel open a 1997 bottle of red, it took a while to talk him into it but once open we had no trouble getting through it - as you do!
The idea for this next Christmas day of 2009 is for Mel and I to host in Sydney. It will be awesome if mum, Kelly, Nigel and Ella can make it!
Bonza!
Tim
We started the day with mothers home-cooked eggs benedict which was pretty bloody good and washed down with some champagne. We then moved on to my sisters place (just round the corner) where a full-on turkey lunch awaited us. Kelly made some pudding (pics on my Flickr photostream if we're connected as friends or family) which was like a layered cake thing with cream, puff pastry and some chocolate - it was pretty darn good too!
The highlight of the day for everyone was watching Ella (my new niece) open her presents and just be generally entertaining like kids are.
Last but not least was another turkey dinner at my Nan and aunt Jodi's house. I've not had much of a chance to spend time with them over the past few years so it was nice to have a good catch up with everyone, enjoy some good food and be entertained by Brynn, Jodi and Shane's new baby boy (who is a cool chap to hang out with already!).
Another highlight was watching Nigel open a 1997 bottle of red, it took a while to talk him into it but once open we had no trouble getting through it - as you do!
The idea for this next Christmas day of 2009 is for Mel and I to host in Sydney. It will be awesome if mum, Kelly, Nigel and Ella can make it!
Bonza!
Tim
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