River of Mirrors

My last stop in Australia was a place called Noosa. Its quite a small, quiet place just north of Brisbane. Its set on lovely beaches and surrounded by everglades. I stayed in a really nice hostel called Dolphins Beachouse. The rooms were more like apartments with two four bed rooms, a kitchen, lounge and tv. On my third day in Noosa, I set out to the everglades. From here I hired a canoe with friends and we set off down Noosa River. There were two to each canoe, the power coming from the person sat in front and the steering from the person at the back. I shared a canoe with a girl called Becky who I had met in 1770s and then again on Fraser Island. At first it was pretty hard going and my arms were aching so much. Firstly, we decided to take a detour from the route we had been given and go up a different river as we had been told it was really beautiful. The trees each side of the river created a canopy over it and it was stunning. We headed up this river for around one and a half hours before turning back to head towards camp. Our camp site was called Harry's hut and we had been given directions to get there. Along the way we would meet lots of other people in canoes and boats and when then asked us where we were staying and we told them most people replied with "good luck" or "by tonight??". From this we assumed we still had a long way to go but none of us minded as we were just enjoying the canoeing so much. It wasn't too late when we arrived at Harry's hut which was just a toilet block and a clearing for tents so we put our canoes to bed, and set up camp for the night. As the lamps we were supplied with failed give off much light and we were all getting eaten alive my mozzies, we resorted to sitting in our tents, with our torches playing endless games of cards.

The following morning we awoke to the most incredible sound of birds. It sounded like there were thousands of them, all with really unusual song. There was three of us in the tent and we all went to sit up together and simultaneously our arms dropped down like lead, I could barely lift them above my waist after all the rowing the previous day! Myself and Becky were keen to be the first ones on the water for the row back home so that the water would be still and quiet so we got up early, and quickly packed our tent and set off. This turned out to be a really great decision as the river was amazingly beautiful and peaceful with only the undisturbed wildlife. The river has two inches of teatree on the surface which acts like a mirror creating the most spectacular and perfect reflection of the trees and the sky. It was absolutely breathtaking, I wish the pictures could really do it justice. Along the way, we saw some stunning birds, including pelicans and eagles as well as snakes and fish. The water was tempting to swim in but as it is populated with bull sharks, which are known for being aggressive, we decided against it!

Eventually the other canoes stared to catch us up which was a shame as the water was less still so the reflection wasn't as good but we were really lucky to have seen it for as long as we did. Most of the time, Becky and I managed to do well at steering the boat but occasionally if whoever was steering was too busy looking round at the scenery then we crashed into the reeds or logs coming out of the water which resulted in lots of laughter. However, one time we were a little ahead of the others and we veered off track and got stuck on a log. The banks are high so you can't get out and push the canoe so we were well and truly stuck!! We started to see the others coming round the corner and were too embarrassed to let on that we had got stuck so quick thinking from me I got the camera out and started to pretend we'd stopped to take photos. Becky then got the biccies out and we waited till the others had passed, I don't think they had any idea, it was very sneakily covered up! Once they had passed we were able to panic again but after some serious jumping up and down the canoe dislodged and we were off again.

After the canoeing, I went back to Noosa where I stayed two more nights in order to visit the famous Steve Irwin's zoo. The zoo was fantastic, especially the crocs and croc shows which of course are Steve's favourite! Unfortunately Steve wasn't there that day though. I watched the tiger show, crocodiles being fed, fed an elephant and held the most gigantic python! All in all, it was a really great day. That, more or less, brought my Australia trip to an end. I had just two days in Brisbane to wait for my flight to New Zealand. I was really sad to leave Australia, it had become my home over the last couple of months and I had become used to the way of life there and, of course, the weather. I just couldn't believe my time there was over, it had just been the most amazing adventure and I loved second of it. At the same time as being sad about leaving Australia, I was also really excited about getting to New Zealand which is where I am now. I'm staying in Christchurch at the moment and have picked up a campervan today which I'll be travelling around the country in. I'll be travelling with a friend that I met in Sydney so it will be great to have some company! I just drove the camper for the first time and it was pretty scary as its huge but I should get used to it soon. Tomorrow we set off on the road trip of a life time, I can't wait!