Sailing the Whitsundays, diving Yongala, Great Barrier Reef and ...

The last week of the journey (sigh) started with a night bus from Rockhampton to Airlie Beach. And what should have been a quiet night turned to be a highlight of the trip, with a wonderfull flight of the bus out of the road at around 4a.m. while everybody was sleeping. Fortunately, the bus did not flip over, and nobody was hurt. We just had to wait for the next bus to pick us up, what was done two hours later. I was anyway on time in Airlie Beach for checking in on the sailing trip through the Whitsunday Islands. I spent the next two days aboard the Atlantic Clipper, a nice boat, known here as the "party boat". The nights were animated, but nothing completely crazy. During the day, we were going to nice beaches (probably amongst the best beaches of the world) for swimming, snorkelling and diving. But for all these activities a special swim-suit is needed, to protect yourself from the jellyfishes, which are amongst the most toxic in the world. After two days, we were back on earth, and I left after a fast lunch to Townsville. There is not to do there, I spent the first evening partying with nice crazy canadian roommates, and the day on Magnetic Island, a good place to see wild koalas and chill on the beach. But Townsville is also known as the main starting point to the Yongala wreck, the world's best dive site. Three hours on the boat to reach the place, but it was worst waiting... So many fishes, colourful corals, the wreck itself, sea snakes (the most toxic snakes in the world), sharks, turtles... arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And then I took another nightbus...

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Skydiving Hervey Bay and chilling on Frasier Island... what else ?

After Byron Bay, I kept on moving north to Hervey Bay. This city is the main acces to Frasier Island, the biggest sand island in the world. I was booked on a self guided tour there. After an evening breefing in the hostel (Roving Frasier, probably the best I've been to), I met the 8 people with whom I'll travel. One american, two irishes and... 5 germans ! In the early morning, we got the car, a very nice pink Range Rover. After all the warnings considering the presence of dingos, spiders, snakes, sharks and other jellyfishes on or around the island, a short breefing about 4WD driving on soft and hard sand, I was the first one to have the privilege to seat behind the stirring wheel. A short break in the supermarket later (mostly for beers...), we headed to the barge and to THE island. It was great fun driving, we didn't get stuck at all, the lakes were amazing, green, blue, red, with white sand around and big dunes. The vegetation is abundant and the wildlife was not that scarring. Camping was also fun, even if the light is gone at half past six, which makes the evenings very long. But our crew was great, and we had heaps of fun all together. We came back the same way we went and the next morning, I was jumping out of a plane from 14000 feet over the bay, landing smoothly on the beach 30 seconds from the hostel. It was great fun, and the five minutes flying (more falling actually) were definitly going too fast... After this adrenalin shot, a long day on the beach was fair enough. The next I left Hervey Bay to Rockhampton and it's famous Great keppel Island. The island was very nice, with it's white sandy beaches, nice reefs close enough for snorkelling, and very few people, this last point letting us almost alone on the beach.

... to thank Emilie and Gareth who helped me planning the trip in New Zealand. It would not have been possible to see as much as I saw without your help.

Thanks guys.

I feel very, very lazy, and I don't have enough patience to write... To be quick, it's cool to have some nice weather, sun, beach and warm water. Sydney was cool, another big city. I am going north to Cairns, through Byron Bay, Frasier island, the Withsunday islands, Magnetic Island and Great Keppel Island... The plan is: relaxing on the beaches, sailing, camping, diving, diving, sleeping and drinking.

Photos will come as soon as... they will come.

I really feel lazy here...

Ok, I feel a bit less lazy today, so I'll try to write a bit more. The first week here in Australia was really nice and relaxing. After all this driving in New Zealand, I just wanted to chill out for a while. I spent few days in Sydney first, time to see the main attractions, the Opera House, the city center, Bondy beach, the aquarium and the australian wildlife center. It was good, but the city is too big for me and I moved slowly to the next destination, Port Macquarie. There is not much to do there... the koala hospital is the main attraction. Injured koalas are brought there when their injuries are too serious to be treated in classical places. These animals are cute, very lazy and seem to have a good life there. After one day I took a bus to Byron Bay, a small town famous for his relaxed way of life, the hippies colonies and surf. The hostel there was good, and after two dives on a rock few kilometers from the coast, I went to a beach soccer competition. This was organized by the main bar - club of the city, and was a good opportunity to meet some mates, and have some beers with them in the evening. A very cool place.

From Dunedin, I started to go north, to be able to be in Christchurch at the end of the week to leave this beautiful country. I first went to Lake Tekapo, via the center of the island and the lake Pukaki, which offers great views on Mount Cook and the surrounding mounts. Lake Tekapo is known as one of the darker place of the world, by night, and an important observation center is based there, on top of a little mount. I hiked to the top at sunset time, and enjoyed the 360 degrees view from the summit. At night the sky is amazing, once your eyes get use to the darkness. From there I drove east to the Rangitata river to experience some white water rafting. Nice people there, and a guide looking like Frodo making fun of me saying I was probably a drug dealer on holiday ! I reached Christchurch the same day, walked around the city, visited the Antartic center the following day and drove north to Kaikoura, a small town on the coast. Kaikoura is a wonderful place between sea and mountains with various wildlife such as dolphins, seals, albatrosses and whales. There I was able to swim with dusky dolphins, a great experience, fly in an helicopter to watch whales from above and share beers with nice american guys after the victory of Obama was reported ! Unfortunately, time to leave New Zealand approches, and I had to move back to Christchurch for my last day here... It's allways sad to leave such a nice place. Let see what the wallabies have to offer !

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To reach the east coast of the southern island from the west, a nice way is to take the Southern Scenic Road. This road brings you right to the south and then follows the south coast till Dunedin. I did the drive in two days, stopping several times for pictures and food. I also stopped in a farm where I watched a swedish couple trying sheep shearing (a national sport here) and lamb feeding. That was quite bucolic... I stopped for the night in a small place on the coast, known as a good surfing spot, and where a penguin colony is settled. I was lucky to see two of them in the evening, while they were coming out of the water on their way to their nests. They are so small, and so funny while moving. The next day I drove to Dunedin, a very nice and historical city. On the way, I visited Nugget Point and the Otago peninsula, two major sites for wildlife viewing. Penguins, seals and Royal Albatrosses are living there, amongst other. It's unbelievable how they keep this region wild and preserved. Awesome again...

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In Wanaka is settled one of the rare canyoning company of the country. They are very friendly, and I went to one of their trip taking place in the Mt Aspiring national park. The weather was beautiful, but the water in the canyon was pretty cold, coming directly from melting snow on top of the mountain. The experience was great, with jumps, abseils and slidings in a nice atmosphere. On my way south, I didn't stop in Queenstown, the world capital of extreme sports, but it seems to be a nice spot if you like adrenaline experiences. I drove directly to the Fjordland, extreme south west of the island. There I spent two days in the fjords, that they call sounds. The first day in Doubtful Sound, a huge sound that you acces by boat then by bus, before coming aboard the final ship which guides you through the fjord to its end on the Tasman sea. Then in Milford Sound, smaller but in my opinion more spectacular. Unfortunately, the weather was really wet these two days, but that's very common there, in one of the wettest region of the world. The road to Milford Sound is also an experience by itself, especially the last thirty kilometers, with outstanding alpine landscapes.

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There are two choices to see the Abel Tasman park. The first one is to walk the coastal track, which brings you from bay to bay through the forest. The second one is to go on sea kayak and explore the coast on the water. It is faster, and as my time here is limited, I chose this option. And that was awesome. The guide was really cool, and brought us first to a very little island with a very little paradisiac beach where we had coffee and home-made cakes. Later on we went to different bays, and saw few pinguins and seals. We came back to our starting point by boat, with one of the numerous water-taxi, since you can acces most of the park only via the sea. I went south the next day, after a morning excursion to the clearest watersprings in the world: the Pupu springs. And actually it's true, the water there is cristal clear and you can see through it perfectly. On my way south, I stopped for lunch in a wonderful town called St Arnaud. Definitely a place to see. Seriously, the lake Rotoroa is quite nice, with a view on the mountains where tourists come skying in winter. But that was a short stop before the real goal of the day, the pancake rocks on the west coast. These big rocks are the result of years of sea erosion and offer a nice and different view on the Tasman sea. I didn't spend much more time there and kept on going south to the glaciers region. I spent an afternoon on the Fox glacier, one of the two main glaciers of the region. The most amazing there, apart from the colour of the glacier in some places, is the temperature difference between the forest close to the glacier and the glacier itself. As the guide explained us, it's quite unusual to have a glacier at such a low altitude, and this is due to the amount of rain falling there, wich is sufficient to keep the amount of ice constant at the top of the glacier (it is moving 5 meters every day !!!). Before leaving the glacier area, I stopped at Lake Matheson, which is famous for it's reflexion of Mounts Cook and Tasman, the two highest mountains of the country. The weather was good, but a bit windy, and the reflexion on the water was not that good. But the place was really nice anyway, and after a short walk around the lake, I moved on south again, to Wanaka. I arrived there in the evening and got a bed in a room with a direct view on the lake and the mountains around. Awesome. 

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South of Rotorua, many volcans have let footsteps on the landscape over years (actually, thousands of years), and some parks are the living memory of this volcanic activity. I visited one of them before reaching Taupo, and Taupo lake, world famous for... trout fishing ! There is nothing special there, except it is the main acces to the Tongarino natural park. And there is where you can find one of the best "one day" hike in NZ, the Tongarino crossing, with scenic views on the volcanic mountains of the park. Unfortunately, the weather was bad (rain, no visibility), and it was not possible to acces the park. I then changed my plans and drove south to Palmerston North, famous mostly for its gardens and... its rugby museum. But before I stopped in a little city called Taihape. From there, a 30 minutes drive through the countryside, with thousands os sheeps staring at me, brought me to the River Valley Lodge. A little paradize lost in the middle of nowhere where you can do many outdoor activities such as rafting, kayak or horse treks. That was my choice, and although it was a bit rainy, it was a wonderful afternoon. I spent my last hours in the north island in Wellington, the capital. This is actually a much better city than Auckland. It was nice walking through the center, looking for the main buildings, the parlement and all these stuffs. The main attraction though is the Te Papa Museum, dealing with the country, its geography, wildlife, history and culture. A big part is dedicated to the Maoris and their culture and the all thing was quite interesting... and free, which is quite unusual for such a big and modern museum. The last morning I went to the coast, where lives a seal colony. After walking more than an hour, I was about to go back on my steps when I saw a first seal lying on a rock, taking a nice sunbath. I was alone there, less than 20 meters from this huge animal which barely looked at me before falling asleep again. On my way back I could see another one, and more impressive, some orcas in the water. They were three of them, a big one and two "smaller", coming very close from the beach (where nobody swims anyway), probably young orcas playing around. This was awesome, I could have stayed there for hours, but the ferry wouldn't wait, and I left quickly to reach the southern island in the middle of the afternoon. First step there : the Abel Tasman natural Park, in the north of the island. The drive was awesome, 2 hours and a half through very different landscapes. First the fjords of the north east, and a road with amazing views, even though the weather was not very helpfull. Then, escaping the fjords, the sun a nice blue sky suddenly showed up and stood with me all across the valley I went through. The last kilometers were on a road along the Tasman sea, with the sun coming down, and all the colours changing slowly.

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