We flew to Australia on the first day of the holiday and arrived in Cairns the next morning at 6am. The hotel were great and let us go straight to our room, which was a lovely modern apartment in a complex. It felt a bit like a new housing development in the UK only hotter, and with swimming pools and BBQ spots dotted around, and the apartment was complete, with a washing machine and kitchen and was immaculate. So we went straight to sleep (well it was an overnight flight!). The rest of that first day we went into Cairns city centre to get lunch and shop a little bit (I had forgotten my swimming costume). Cairns is small but we liked it. It was consistently low to mid 30's the whole time we were there, and not nearly as humid as we expected. It was so nice to be able to shop where everything fitted again, and wander around in the sunshine.
The next day we went out to the Great Barrier Reef on a huge catamaran. We had hoped to post our Christmas cards from there so they would have a special postmark, but they didn't sell stamps, just specially made postcards. So the Christmas cards we sent all went to the Great Barrier Reef on a little trip and then came back again before they got posted. We were driven up to Port Douglas on a coach with a cool driver (cool because he knew so much, he was moody as anything if you actually dared to speak to him) who told us loads about the local area and how things have changed since tourists came. We went to a part of the reef called Agincourt ribbon reefs, right on the outer edge. The company we went with has a team of marine biologists to monitor the reefs and animals around them and teach tourists about it all and how to conserve the area. They did a talk on the way out there and you could go snorkeling with them explaining what everything was if you wanted to. We decided to do that, and since it was such a calm day, they took us around to the outer edge (they usually stay in the lagoon behind as the sea is too rough).
We were right where the continental shelf ends and the deep ocean starts, and you could look down and see a beautiful reef and fish on one side and just darkness on the other. If you swam out a little bit you started to feel really strong currents pulling you around. It was a bizarre sensation. We saw so many gorgeous and weird and wonderful fish, and giant clams and even a reef shark, and the colours of the reef were amazing. The biologist was pointing all sorts out to us and explaining what everything was and how it lived. Unfortunately, every time she pointed something out, we had to put our heads under to see it (I am aware that is generally the idea with snorkeling). This was not good for me, because I couldn't see the waves coming, I could just feel them bobbing me about, and before long I felt really ill. I had no idea you could get seasick snorkeling, but I managed it. Eventually I had to get back on the boat, and that was still moving too so I was sick over the side. When everyone else came back on, the boat driver had put me on a little box in front of his window. Will did the whole thing and loved it, and I am glad I did a little bit, because what we saw was amazing.
The company had a big pontoon in the lagoon so we were there for the rest of the day, but I still felt like I was moving around and unsettled. We did a little bit more snorkeling right by the pontoon where it is calm and so the corals are even more spectacular, because they are the delicate ones that don't have to withstand the waves, but I still avoided staying under for too long and just swam about a bit. One other unfortunate thing was that we didn't really tan much in the water because this time of year is box jellyfish season and we had to wear these full body blue lycra suits, so instead of lazily drifting over the reef going brown as I had imagined, we sort of floated about like giant blue tellytubbies. I think I am just going to have to come to terms with the fact that the ocean and me aren't compatible. I was very relieved to get back to dry land.
The next day we were supposed to be doing a whole day whitewater rafting on the Russell river, but they called and said the water levels were too low. We chose to go to the Barron River instead which is a lower difficulty level and only a half day, so we mixed it in with a trip up into the rainforest to a village called Kuranda. The ride up was on a massive old steam train, winding up through the rainforest and in and out of tunnels. The building of the railway was pretty much what made Cairns, so it was interesting to see. We went past huge waterfalls and so many lovely views out to the ocean. It is odd to be in a rainforest looking at the sea! I was taking loads of photos, and the train had a commentary which pointed out where good shots were, but my camera died half way up. It had been clinging on ever since it fell down the steps with me on excursion, but it finally gave up and refused to switch on. So I have very few of those good shots that were recommended. I was so annoyed, I sat there just pressing the button for ages, but eventually I bent down to put the camera back in my bag. As I leaned forward, the underwire of my bra snapped in half. Again, I have never known that to happen, and I was gobsmacked. Up in Kuranda we bought a few things in the village. 2 of them broke almost straight away. Will was questioning whether to bother with the rafting in the afternoon given our run of luck, but there was no way we were giving that up, it was the bit we had looked forward to most about going to Cairns.
Kuranda is very pretty. We finally posted the Christmas cards, and the trip down was on a big cable car over 7km of the forest. It was stupidly busy so we were crammed in with four german tourists, but the view of the trees was gorgeous. If you have ever seen Medicine Man, it was like that part where she comes out of the canopy and just sees the view for miles around over the tropical rainforest. It is weird to think how many things live down there, it seems so dense and impenetrable.
At the bottom we were picked up by the rafting people and driven to the river. We were in a raft with a really good fun group of people, but the rapids were quite small so we didn't get quite what we were hoping for. It was such a shame the harder river was closed. Again, on both sides we had the rainforest, and in between rapids we just paddled down and chatted, so it was really peaceful and nice. The sandflies took a liking to me before the end when we paddled into lake placid, so I was bitten all over my legs, but I didn't notice that until the next day. I do love rafting!
By this stage we were exhausted so we decided to spend the last day in Cairns just lazing by the pool, reading and relaxing. It was lovely. The next day we flew down to Melbourne. we had to circle the airport for a while as all ground operations were suspended due to a huge storm. For a city in drought, the floods were quite a shock I think!
We got the bus into the centre and went to our hotel, which was ok but not nearly as nice as the one we had just come from. In Melbourne we did a lot of walking and explored the city. We went up the Eureka Tower and down into Southgate a few times, took the city circle tram around to get a feel of things and found little streets and alleys full of bars and cafes and cool little shops. We had a lot more time to relax and lie in, which was lovely after the rush of "doing things" in Cairns. On Christmas eve we hired a car and drove out to the Yarra Valley, to the east of Melbourne. This is a beautiful wine growing area, and we visited 3 wineries and had lunch from this cool little restaurant with spit roasted beef. They had even tried to do Yorkshire puddings but I am not convinced they had ever actually seen one! We were glad it was a bit cooler so we could enjoy a nice roast dinner, as we had been warned that is not what happens at Christmas in Australia typically.
After we had finished with the Yarra Valley, we drove down to Geelong (or the City of Dreams as Kate keeps calling it). We hadn't told anyone what time we were coming, as we thought we would call to ask directions when we got closer, but we actually managed to find the house all by ourselves. And obviously there was no-one in. Kate and Adam had gone to Church and her parents were at the holiday house. We waited a while and then they came back and we were given the grand tour. Kate is the youngest of 8 sisters so the house was built for a family of 10 by a very wealthy man. It was amazing. we were given a room with our own bathroom and then we all went out for a nice Italian meal.
The next day was Christmas day. We had a nice slow morning and then drove to Adam's house for a Croatian Christmas lunch. We had Cabbage rolls and cold meats and roast potatoes, and much, much more. They all kept trying to make us eat! There was just so much food. We had been warned about the first grace, where most people knelt down and all joined in in Croatian, and which went on for a good 5 minutes. We hadn't been warned about the second grace after the meal, which started mid conversation and with no warning at all, and which we talked through at least a minute of before we noticed. Everyone found it quite funny but we were so embarrassed! Adam's family were lovely, but it didn't feel very Christmassy to us, in short sleeves and with bright sunshine outside.
When we had finished at Adam's, we drove down to Airey's Inlet to Kate's holiday house for Christmas dinner with her family. As I said, she is the youngest of 8, so there were her parents, 7 sisters and their 7 partners, and 17 nieces and nephews. There were too many to remember names, even. We felt more in the way there than anywhere because there was no way we could join in and know everyone. They started their Christmas with a performance show, where each family performs something like a song or dance or poem. With so many people it must be terrifying even in front of your family, but we were going to do a rewritten version of their football team song, and chickened out big time! Fortunately Adam and Kate were very good and said nothing about it, because Kate's dad said if he had known what it was we had planned he would have made us do it. I am sure they would have loved it because they are all massive fans and their team won the AFL premiership this year, but even so, we were wimps and very scared in front of 34 strangers!
The next day we drove back into Melbourne as we had tickets for the boxing day test match Australia Vs India. It took us 1 hour to get into the city centre, and then more than double that to park, so we missed the first ball, but we were there in time for the first wicket. The atmosphere in the MCG was amazing, over 68,000 people in a good mood. I sat under a sarong for most of the day so that I didn't burn, but even so I managed to get a weird stripe on my arm. Megan got a matching one, and so did a friend of hers on the other side of the stadium, so I have no idea what we were all doing!
The next day we decided to drive the Great Ocean Road. We set out early and had breakfast in a small town called Lorne, lunch in Apollo Bay, an ice-cream in Port Campbell and dinner in Warnambool. We hadn't realised before just how much of the Great Ocean Road is inland, away from the sea. For a long time it runs inside a Temperate Rainforest, which was a lovely change and we really enjoyed driving there. Along the way we stopped in little places that had been recommended to us, like a track in a tiny place called Kennet River to see Koalas,
or a stop called Gibson Steps, where the beach and the view were amazing. We also stopped at the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge (although it collapsed a few years ago), but everywhere we went, we were overrun with flies. They were just everywhere! We called it speed tourism, because everything was waving madly, stop and take a photo in 1 second flat and then swipe again. Will said everyone must very friendly around here, they all kept waving at each other. The flies are apparently not usually so bad, but it was a very short winter and this year they are a nightmare.
We drove back inland, on a much shorter road, and it was a long day but we loved it.
For our Christmas present Kate and Adam had given us tickets to go to a place called Sovereign Hill, a kind of Gold mining version of the Black Country Museum. We went there on the 28th. It was a cool little place, with a mine tour, all the old shops and streets and people dressed up doing scenes as they would have been. We saw a 3kg gold ingot being poured, and tried panning for gold in the creek, stopped for lunch at the old bakery and wandered around the museum. It was almost 40 degrees and dusty, and the woman at the desk said she had never seen it so busy, but it was an interesting day. That night we stayed at a hotel in the city so we would be out of Kate's way the next morning, and we met up with friends from Tokyo who had travelled to Geelong.
The next day was the day we had come for - Adam and Kate's wedding. They had a full mass, and the reception was held in the old wool stores which is now the university. (They don't usually do weddings but Kate's dad is very influential). It was so lovely, fantastic food and drinks and a huge hall with a Croatian band and lots of dancing. Everyone had a fantastic time. The order of things was new to me, with a kind of compere doing lots of the talking, and then the speeches and first dance slotted in between different courses of the meal. By the time we finished eating it was 10.45pm! But the time had flown, it was a great day. Croatian weddings have a tradition of having a second day. Apparently it started because lots of people would cook for the family at the wedding, so the next day the family would cook for the rest of the people to say thanks. It is all catered now, but the tradition has continued, so the next day we all went to the Croatian hall for another feast - it was like a second Christmas day. The main parts of the meal were catered, but all the desserts had been cooked by friends and family so we tried lots of little homemade Croatian treats, and left feeling like we never wanted to eat again (a bit of a theme every time we met Adam's family!).
New Years Eve was our last full day. We didn't feel like we'd stopped much at all, so we just hung around Kate's house, swam in the pool and played snooker, read and slept all day! It was lovely. In the evening their friends came round and we sat outside (it was still 42 degrees at 6pm) and ate even more (i lost 2kg while I was away - how? how?!) and swam and chatted. We put the radio for the new year but they played 3 Red Hot Chilli Peppers songs in a row right through midnight, so we just guessed when it was by the sound of the fireworks in the bay. There were 6 people still in the pool at midnight, it was so warm. They don't sing Auld Lang Syne in Australia, so Will and me did a little one by ourselves. We had to get up at 5am the next day, so we went to bed pretty soon after midnight but it was so hot we didn't get much sleep.
We drove to the airport the next day and I managed to sleep a bit more in the waiting area. Our flight was direct to Tokyo (a lot of our friends had to change so we were lucky) and it is a 10 hour flight. Because there is very little time difference this meant it was an all day flight, so we got through a lot of films trying to stay awake! It was like jet lag but without a time change, and before you arrive. We got the train back into Tokyo from Narita, and our apartment felt really small again after all the high ceilings and huge rooms in Australia, but I don't think I have ever felt so happy just to get into my own bed.
