Back on track....so to speak

After some deep thought and weighing up the options I have finally decided on an East Coast plan - huzzah!

As I can't fly the day after I've finished diving (not until the afternoon anyway - and there are no flights then) and there was nothing in particular I wanted to do - except the night markets which I can do regardless - I decided that I might as well spend the day travelling to Airlie Beach (Whitsundays).

It's roughly an 11 hour journey - by train or bus but, for some unfathomable reason, nobody runs an overnight service of any variety. There's a gap in the market if ever I saw one. Still, I had the choice between train and coach and picked the train as it worked out about the same price but will hopefully be a pleasanter experience. Just hoping that the earlier journey to Alice Springs won't have put me off!

It gets me into Airlie (well Prosperine and then onto Airlie by coach (1hr)) at around 9:30pm, not much time to get my bearings but good enough to find my accommodation and sleep.

This has all meant a fun evening looking at the Day Tours I now actually have time to do. I have also decided to take the mid-afternoon flight to Sydney the next day to give me time to do something in the morning.

The 'something in the morning' is Sea Kayaking. When I was looking for day things that started late this cropped up as a possibility. It's run by Salty Sea Dog Kayaking and they do a half day tour which gets you back at 12:30. Which gives me time to pick up my bags and get the ferry to Hamilton Island for my flight to Sydney.

I'm trying to pick between a a few of the full day tours at the mo. Here's the three front runners:

Reefjet Whitehaven & Whitsundays
Big Fury Island Tour
Mantaray All in One Day

Going to do some scouting around for reviews etc before making a final decision. They all avoid visiting resorts which is good, and you get to see a lot of the islands, plus they all offer free accommodation transfer and I'll be back in time to enjoy a meal, a stroll and some of Airlie's night life to boot:)

I've had fun trying to find travel to and from this area. Some airlines fly out and not in. Some go from Hamilton Island (where there is a big resort - but most of the tours go from the mainland and require a 45min ferry ride) 1 flies into Airlie beach and the another flies into Whitsunday Coast - which is actually nowhere near the coast and is otherwise known as Prosperine (where the train arrives) confusing huh?

All this has means a night missed in Sydney so I'll be ringing STA/the hostel and telling them of my new arrival ASAP.

I feel a lot less stressed now. Which is a good thing as, above everything, I want this holiday to be relaxing and fun - I'm totally excited at the minute just planning it!

P.S I started my packing list....is that too early?????

Brain ache

So after having a rethink of the scuba location - and doing some research - have decided that really its going to be better doing my course in Cairns. Because, despite the excellent looking h20 sportz there really isn't a lot of choice to do the referral course (in fact they were almost the only PADI certificated one I found!) which also include the extra dives etc.

Instead I've been looking at delaying my arrival in Sydney by a day and flying to the Whitsundays to spend a day exploring round the islands and spending some time on the amazing beaches.

I did look at Fraser Island for a while (STA recommended it, along with some other people) but, as I only really have a day I'd rather spend it out in the sun on the water than in a 4WD.Although there were some cool safari-type trips available exploring the flora & Fauna of Fraser, the Whitsundays has one out for sheer beauty and the timings of the trips (which will mean I can fly in early stay one night and fly out early the next day).

Am now I'm ploughing through the websites trying to find an ideal day trip - that leaves late enough for me to catch it if I fly. However trying to find an alternative to that  - hopefully a bus goes overnight!

There are some fantastic looking trips for great prices, trying to go to some of the more out of the way places - like Hook or border island, as wells getting to walk along the amazing Whitehaven beach (98% silica you know!) I'll put some options up when I've sorted out the travel and narrowed down the choices....

Diving rethink

Ever since I started planning this trip I have been set on the idea of diving the Great Barrier Reef (or GBR to those in the know!) and Cairns seemed the ideal spot to do this. I've done all the research found the best referral course I can and all seems set to go as this is the month I've penciled in to pay for it.

However, I've spoken to quite a few folks recently and the general opinion seems to be that if you can't hang around for long then you're better off visiting the Whitsunday's rather than just cruising around the Northern part.

So I've decided to do some looking into diving further south, in particular, closer to Fraser island as this is one of my 'secondary' places I would like to visit - mostly to see what all the hype is about and see if I can spot a dingo...or a shark!

The other option I'm thinking about is changing my arrival date in Sydney and spending longer heading down the coast (at present  have 5 nights booked in Sydney - 3 of which were included in my flight!) and then I can do a bit of both. Hmmm, tricky decisions that need to be made this week.

Right, back to the web and the lonely planet it is then.