Time to go home.....

     

We're in Townsville now, the recognised capital of Queensland. Again this place appears to have an identity crisis. It has a beautiful marina and coastline, it reminds me of sandbanks in the UK, but the classy frontage hides a tatty port type town consisting Irish bars and low budget accommodation. On this occasion I splashed out and we had the best room of our stay, still hostel (YHA) a move which didn't pay off....it was so noisy!!

We head off to magnetic island via the local ferry, its 20km off the coastline. It's one of natures untouched beauties. We visited the Kuala sanctuary which sadly wasn't a sanctuary, more a money earner from the tourist where animals are overexposed to humans and overhandled, particularly the Kuala's which are nocturnal ...this upset me and we left early heading for the beautiful beaches. We take a walk from horseshoe bay to balding bay, interconnected by a woodland boulder track up hill. We pass a few people en route and exchange pleasantries. On arrival we initially stand admiring the stunning bay enclosed by giant boulders/rocks...it's really pretty and I'm looking forward to a rest after an hours trek. As I scan for a spot to sit I notice a dark haired potbellied man, mid fifties with his back to us. It seems his but-cheeks are glistening in the sunlight but I'm not quite sure? I turn to Owen asking "he is wearing clothes right?", Owen assures me it's my eyes and all is well but this guy notices our arrival and as he swings around his 'crown jewels' slap against his thigh and Owen shouts "oh no he's not got anything on!" and the harsh reality hits we've landed ourselves on a nudist beach (or as they're now titled 'clothes optional') .....mmmm not ideal, but a bloody nightmare with your 18year old son repulsed by the indignity of it all! As the man makes his way towards us we 'leg it' .....our only exit the steep climb from whence we came, the climb nearly killed me but neither option had any great appeal....we've had better afternoons! I kept chuckling to myself but still to this day Owen cannot see the funny side of it, which of course amuses me greatly!

We've made it to Cairns and it's Owens turn for the bungy, again I only announce this to him a couple of hours before he jumps, this method really works (it would not work for me) but my un conquered fear meant a couple of sleepless nights about it!

He waves over the edge seemingly unphased by the height. My heart is in my mouth as he approaches the ledge and he does great, he doesn't overthink it and jumps.

He was shaking when he returns to me, I had a beer waiting of course and his fast speech and wide eyes confirmed the adrenalin rush was still coursing through him.....he was thrilled at his own achievement ....an unforgettable  moment for him...and a heart stopping mother moment for me!! Well done son x

I've always wanted to do canyoning and we spend the next day in the rainforest riding the river, abseiling and rock jumping. This sorts the men from the boys and in the first half an hour we're jumping off a 10m cliff ....wow what a rush it gives you In a beautiful and natural environment. It was two young local lads 'Jack' and 'Dom' who were our guides for a small group of ten. Their energy and enthusiasm was infectious and made me want to smash through my fears, pushing my boundaries all the way with their fierce encouragement. I absolutely loved this experience, one of my all time personal favourites!!

Well the east coast road trip would be complete without a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We set off on a day of snorkelling and scuba diving. Owen wanted to try scuba so we included an introductory dive into the day. I agreed to do it with him to share the experience....Sadly though Owen follows in my footsteps and although very confident in water had problems with the regulator which caused a panic attack ....admirably he completed the dive but vowed never to scuba again. Seems the Williams are destined to remain above sea level!

Our final day in Cairns is spent in the tropical rainforest and river crocodile watching. 

The grand hotel in Cairns sits on the corner of the street that our hostel is located and not a single thing about this place is grand. The smell of stale cigarettes and beer stained carpets immediately reminds you of a rough 'spit and sawdust' English boozer. The clientele this place attracts is beyond comprehension. It hosts aborigine descendants laden in fake gold, the stereo typical Ozzy hardened drinker who's unravelling lives have led them into alcoholism, chain smoking and narcotics of some description....anything and everything which can crawl it's way from the gutter resides here. It's the arse end of the world. So we head off to sample the delights of this place. Two schooners cost 6.50aud (around £4), we sit and watching the bedraggled solo guitar artist and in no time I'm struggling to keep a straight face. As he plays a familiar song a drunken man enters the bar dancing....it's uncomfortable as he beckons us to join him so we head outside. There's a group of men at the next table and one very drunk man we'd observed earlier asks me "is that your younger brother?" whilst winking a successful wink to his cronies thinking I can't see his drunk and deliberate motions. I reply "it's my son" and of course he responds "you don't look old enough, come and sit here next to me!" Again he turns to his cronies stating ''I haven't had 'it' in a while'. My stomach gagged and Owen, mortified by this ridiculous situation swallowed his schooner in record time stood up and announced 'we're leaving'. We never returned to the grand hotel. 

We fly south back to Sydney and make our way to Bondi Beach. Second to Byron Bay this was my favourite places visited in Australia. It's everything you imagine ....powder white sand, roaring waves made for surfers and inhabited by the coolest dudes ever. We stay at Bondi Backpackers located on the sea front, you literally fall out of the hostel onto the beach...it's an incredible location. The compromise is the institutionalised bunk bed and two wc's between twenty rooms (rooms note, not people!)...I didn't enjoy that but the overall deal made 'roughing it' worthwhile. 

Whilst in Sydney we meet with a couple of friends....i'd forgotten how much I miss my friends.

Had a great evening in Kirribilli with Liam & Jenny....who treated us to our first restaurant meal in weeks!

On the ferry to Manly

Owen off for his first surf lesson with 'instructor' Adam 

I enjoyed the coastal walk while the boys surfed

                                            I lovely day in Manly with Adam & Chloe

Our trip ends with a few days in Dubai. It's never been a place that's really appealed to me but it would've been a missed opportunity not to visit during the stop over connection.

Driving from the airport the young city remains ever expanding. There is construction ongoing to every aspect of the eight lane highway! This spoils the landscape and our initial impression. I'd paid for this leg back in November and so was now about to reap the rewards of my forward planning on this only occasion (I knew the budget would be creaking). Our hotel is nothing special, but from the hostel standards we'd now become accustomed to this place was a palace! The Porter takes our tatty backpacks (which makes me extremely uncomfortable) and we enter a tempered room of Luxury bedding, tea/coffee facilities an ensuite bathroom with breakfast included - ahhh man it's heaven.

To sum Dubai up in one word I'd have to use: RIDICULOUS. It's everything I thought it would be and everything I don't like, but not having high expectations means anything good I discover whilst here is a huge bonus! It's 'over the top' flash, lavish, ostentatious and all a bit phoney. What we're led to believe through media and advertising is very different to the realty of it all. 

We get stuck into a city tour and the earthy 'old town' with the souk's has the most appeal to me. I find it hard to imagine the women's lives in Dubai. Typically one of multiple wives living communally in a single dwelling with in laws in 40 degree temperatures....it doesn't take long for me to conclude I wouldn't last too long in this world - what I'm not sure on is who I'd kill first?! 

One thing I do like about the emirates is that foreigners can never obtain citizenship. Only marriage to a local can offer this, but even then the benefits only go to the children born. The local population forms a very small portion of dubais 8 million population and in an attempt to increase these numbers the government have ensured all benefits, good jobs, healthcare, maternity packages (they encourage big families) etc, go to its people - essentially looking after its 'own' first. Foreigners provide investment and skill sets where handsome salaries can be earned, but it's not for me....I could never live here it's 'emotionally baron', there's no heartbeat behind the glitz and gold.

Another nice point was when we visited the famous and gigantic mall...it was rush hour and bustling, as we entered the mall there was a small gathering of press. We later found out that Sheik Mohammed (the popular ruler of Dubai) had stopped to meet someone for coffee!! There was no waiting security, no cordons and no disruption to the mall.....can you imagine chaos if the Queen visited Nottingham?

The financial crash of 2008 leaves Investors sore and buildings unfinished. There were originally three palm islands to be built, only one was finished. The other two are abandoned wasteland now. The 'Island of the World' (man made islands which form a map of the world) also abandoned leaving investors millions in losses. Perhaps Dubai's ego is to blame rather than the crisis? I question how much foreign input contributed, around this time unsustainable salaries had to be offered and I suspect the country was 'ripped off' in its naivety but desperate plight to build the 'biggest and the best'.....I can't help feel however this is a bubble always destined to burst.

To complete our trip to the Middle East we head of on safari into the Arabian desert. The 4x4 experience over the dunes was scary but extremely thrilling and a night of camel riding and belly dancing was the perfect end to our time in Dubai.

The camel ride

Sand Boarding!

the beautiful belly dancer

My six month journey is now at an end and whilst I absolutely do not want to go home I don't feel unhappy about it. I feel extremely privileged to have had this opportunity and sharing this final month with my son completes the dream. This experience, with all its trials and tribulations is the most positive thing I have ever done for myself and the garnered memories are lifelong treasures holding higher value than any material riches. I achieved many of my life long wishes in this short window of time and I'm looking forward to replenishing this list. People say 'it'll change you' but I don't think that's true, I think the fundamentals of our character and soul remain, but travel for the 'heart thinker' positively expands our compassion, empathy and perspective for real suffering, hardship, courage and kindness and instills in your heart that this world is full of quite remarkable and amazing people of whom I had the privilege of meeting an unforgettable few. I feel a very fortunate woman but it's time now to re-enter reality - perhaps just while I dream some new dreams! x

To understand life we look backwards, to live life we must only look forwards.

Having been in Australia for a couple of weeks now, I feel I can say it's not really inspiring me....It feels soulless and I have no passion for it at all. It doesn't have the charm and character of other countries, it's westernised. I feel sort of numb inside here, it's all a bit of a 'nothingness' and my senses are dulled. The coastline is thousands of miles of flat and dare I say it uninteresting beaches, miles of golden sand with crashing waves - very nice, but very samey. There are some little gems amongst the rough of course, they are few so we 'max them out' when we stumble upon them! It's not entirely unexpected, it really is as I envisaged it but I'm struggling here and just not feeling the oz experience, it's definitely a young persons scene. I thought the culture might make up for the lack here but it's so inundated by tourists, the natives barely shine through - I'm not sure they're bright enough to shine through though having said that (if you catch my drift). Nevertheless we are enjoying the road trip experience together, it's special time in which life long memories are created. I'd hoped this adventure might change Owens long standing dream to live in America and whilst he likes it more than me, it's merely reinforced his desire to live the American dream....drat!

Arriving in Noosa, to mix things up a bit we head off on a wild camping trip to Fraser Island (or k'gari it's traditional name). Its a '4x4 tag along' where you get to drive off roading through the sandy beaches exploring creaks, natural lakes, shipwrecks and iconic rocks with evenings set around a warming campfire with a guitar, dijeridoo and Australian wildlife keeping you company at night. Sounds fab right?

It's difficult to find things to do which suit both Owen and I. On this occasion I called this one very wrong....or was misold a very expensive trip! I was concerned as an 'oldie' I may cramp the young ones style but was firmly assured by the agent it was suitable. This was utter rubbish however, and It was very much set to appeal to young travellers.

There were two older German women with their 5 younger children so they stayed together in a group.  I ended up in their vehicle however and one 'sergeant major' German mother (Ankor) adopted me as her third child, ordering and dictating my position in the vehicle. I did an excellent job of biting my lip and surprisingly spared this womans life....but it was a battle with the powerful urge inside of me not to pummel her into the ground!

The remainder of the group (around 25 people) were no older than early twenties, they were well educated from privileged backgrounds and the battle of the personalities begins almost immediately. There's a 20 year age gap between them and me and all my worst nightmares come true.....the gap was just too big to close! I feel like the unfunny clown at a kids party. Owen struggled too with the overbearing falseness resulting from people 'trying to hard' to be popular.

 The ferry journey across to Fraser Island 

 Deflating the tyres for off roading.

 Camp

 Our Group

 Swimming the creek.

 Star Gazing

The tour (with its hiked up prices) all felt like forced fun, like being at brownies or scouts. I'm sure the guide (fuzzy) is an alcoholic sociopath too....he thrived on his position of power but he's far too merry/*issed on the first night and being in his vehicle bothers me...he's reckless and it's nearly rolled on a couple of occasions. It's patently obvious none of his story's are true and his knowledge and experience is extremely questionable.....he's winging it, I know he is and he knows I know he is.

Now I love camping and have been on many occasions but this set up was terrible, one chemical loo (between 35 people) .....you can imagine the state of it right?, no wash hand basin, no torches (I destroyed my phone in the sand having dropped it using the torch) .....it was missing the very basics.

Frozen sliced ham in wraps and a single Maryland cookie for desert was quite unforgettable....the promise of delicious and nutritious food also undelivered. Surly for £300 each for two nights (a staggering £9,000 total bill for the group) you can stretch to a few necessities. Following a night of heavy rain, the tent, my shoes, towel and clothes are soaked, ...Ahhh man it's like being in hell.

Owen really enjoyed the overall experience, he stayed up late with the group with a few beers (I went to bed at 8 (as always) so I didn't cramp his style) , but he did remain on the periphery of the group, unconvinced also by the falseness of it all. I should note though In fairness there were a few great kids who stood out for me and overall the whole concept is wonderful and we managed to obtain some memorable moments. Fraser Island is un-evolved, remote and pretty, I managed to see the sunset and sunrise, remote and peacefully in the sand dunes...this was special.

On our return we had a day in Noosa, a quaint but 'upperclass' seaside town. We couldn't afford to dine or drink out here...everything was just beyond our reach financially. So Owen headed off for the day skating and I did a spectacular coastal and rainforest walk making use of the 'free' things to do. Our treat was a 10 dollar (£6) Thai takeaway with a few cheap beers during happy hour in the hostel ....living the dream eh!

Next stop Agnes Water / 1770. This was just a quick stopover to break the long journey. What a strange place this is. We arrived about 7pm and by 8pm the town was closed. It was bizarre, the folk are weird. It felt like you'd entered the Town of the Chainsaw Massacre  ....we joked, but quietly both felt we could be the next victims of the local serial killer, it could have been any one of them...the butcher? Liqueur store owner? hostel owner?!!! There was some very odd noises outside that night, I was up all night, I was a nervous wreck and wiped out the next day.

 The paperback forest walk, Agnes Water

We visited the local kangaroo sanctuary, this was fab, it was really lovely to see these animals up close. The eccentric, opinionated but passionate owner painted a very dim conspiracy based theory of the Australians approach to their native animals, estimating the majority of primary species extinct with the next decade. A woeful story, and sadly not the first time I've head it. It appears this country is extinguishing itself and it's heritage but there seems to be a distinct lack of interest to prevent it all happening from the seemingly dimwitted communities.

Next up Airlie beach and unbeknown to Owen we're here for a specific experience - a sky dive! Owen had told me when he arrived in Australia he would do one on the condition I didn't tell him when. We wake at 5.45am and he thinks we're going on a boat trip....I break the news gently that the day has come and it's received surprisingly well!

 Airlie Beach marina

 The night before.......

I am apprehensive as it's a very different feeling when your going to watch your child jump first (he called shotgun) and your natural protective parental instincts kick in.  I question quietly is this the right thing to be doing? But I can easily justify it in reminding myself .....it's called living Williams!! The battle of 'The Twits' gets underway and I know neither of us will back out as neither of us could stand the lifetime of ridicule from the other that would follow. We're tucked tight inside the tiny aircraft and alls calm, we're feeling pretty good and relaxed ...then they open the door and the outside world rips in. Owen dangles his legs from the plane and in seconds he's gone, they disappear below the plane. I felt frantically worried for him. I put my legs outside fighting every resistive instinct to climb back in ...and with a push fuelled by adrenalin we're gone immediately somersaulting through the air. The sensation is incredible, thrilling and exhilarating, the atmosphere and views are picture perfect on a crystal clear sky blue sunshiny day. You feel such a tiny fragile and vulnerable being, helpless in the moment and completely reliant on your parachute functioning. I could see Owens Shute floating subtly below me, I felt relief and as ours opened and the pull back kicked in I remained still enjoying every single second of being up there....simply incredible! Owen did amazing and I was very proud of him, a fantastic experienced shared between us.

 Sitting on the floor, legs tucked down the planes tail 

 Celebrating with a beer!

We spent the afternoon on board a little outrigger chilling with more beers as a well deserved treat after the adrenalin pumped morning. I really liked Airlie Beach.