We are still here...

Hola mis queridos amigos <- So great to have Spanish speaking friends around when you need them (as my Spanish is getting RUSTY)! Here we are still alive in Australia for 8 more days before flying out to BALI, WOW! (picture; Petteri spotted a Koala in Magnetic) We left Airlie Beach the next day and said goodbye to Whitsundays as we got a ride from a Dutch couple; Hans and Evelin, we me in Fraser Island. Our next stop was Townsville 3hour drive from Airlie. As we drove by the endless sugarcane plantations I kept on thinking how sugar is actually made into the form we consume it. If anybody knows please let me know :) Yeah, I know I could just check it from the Internet, well nah! Can’t bother. (picture: Rock Wallabies)

Anyway, we stayed that night in Townsville, even though the city itself didn’t really impress us. We booked a tour to Magnetic Island for 2 nights departing the next day. In the hostel we met some familiar faces; Tina, the German girl who was sailing with us in Whitsundays and 2 Finnish girls; Anna-Maria and Tiina who I met before Christmas by accident in a sushi place in Sydney. World is really a small place. The Finns also were heading to Magnetic the next day, so again we got a big Finnish delegation :) (picture: Albino monkey; Magnetic Island)

Magnetic Island is located a 20 minute ferry ride from Townsville. It is famous for it’s untouched national park, nice beaches and a sunny climate (Magnetic Island averages over 320 days of sunshine per year). But of course the sun was hiding almost the whole time we were around :S Typical!

As we arrived the island we decided to rent a Barbie to get around the island better. We chose a beautiful pink Barbie moke, which was SO cool! Really could use one in Finland! This was the first time for me to drive on the left side, SCARY, but managed without a scratch. Actually I was a bit nervous cuz I haven’t been driving any motor vehicle for a whole year. We picked up the Finnish girls with us and just cruised around the rest of the day. (picture: Barbie & Ken)

The next day I signed up for advanced diver course, because the Australia’s best diving site ‘Yongala wreck’ lays close by the island and for that I needed to be certified to get as deep as 30 meters below the sea level. The first day of my course included 3 dives; Navigation dive, Naturalist dive and something else which I can’t remember anymore. I did the course together with another English girl, Laura. (picture: Petteri is scared when the girls are behind the wheel) We were lucky as there were only 2 of us, because usually there are a lot more people at the same time, but now we got exclusive teaching :) Petteri went to explore the nature and did some koala spotting in the National Park.

On my second and the final day of diving was by far the most challenging and most AMAZING day of my entire life. It was time to see the Yongala ship wreck. (picture: Yongala wreck) The first surprise was to realize that the boat trip took 3 hours one way with a tiny boat. The ride was rocky all the way and the first people spewed after an hour. I lasted 2,5 hours but after that I was throwing up the rest of the trip, on the boat, in the water and even when diving (which was an experience itself). Even though I was feeling really shitty and could barely jump into the water myself, after getting into 10 meters and deeper I felt great. My condition got immediately better and as we descent deeper all the way to27 meters and when seeing the wreck and all the marine life; giant fishes, sea snakes, huge turtles, stingrays and many other creatures I can’t even name, I felt like never before. The feeling was indescribable and I felt like I was in some discovery channel documents. All the colors, corals and fishes!!! Too bad that the pictures I took weren’t any good :(

The history of Yongala in brief goes something like this; ‘A luxuriously appointed passenger and freight ship, SS Yongala sailed into the eye of a cyclone on the 23 March 1911. It was not identified until 1958, having lain undisturbed for nearly 50 years. On board had been 122 people, a racehorse called Moonshine, a red Lincolnshire bull, and cargo for northern ports. Only the horse was found.’ We did all together 2 dives to the wreck, around 35minutes each! I f you ever have a possibility to go diving there DO IT! As I said by far the best experience of my life! Meaning only the diving…the spewing part almost killed me.

On our way back to Townsville the people who managed not to get rid of their meals on our way to Yongala were now all feeling the same pain as rest of us as the wind was blowing 55m/sec. In some point I thought that we are all going to die and even the crew revealed to us that they’ve never been out there with same kind of weather conditions. But luckily we made it, safe, but freezing as all my clothes were soaking wet from the ride. And the best part; now I’m certified advance diver!!! (picture: it's me)

We took the bus with Petteri the next day and left Townsville. Our original plan was to go skydiving in Mission Beach, but continued all the way to Cairns as the weather was so bad.

On Friday Piritta got back from her 4 days diving trip and it was to celebrate her farewell as she is leaving Australia today (11 June). As Piritta and I have our old tradition on Fridays, also this Friday we draw a litre Friday bottle. Yes, and the night was wild!!! Also Piritta’s friend Maria from Finland, David (Maria’s bfriend) and Roshine (Piritta’s English friend) came to Cairns to party. And what a party that was… Unfortunately what happens in Cairns stays in Cairns :) (Picture: from left; Roshine, Maria, Pirre, me after big night out)

Today we are leaving Cairns and our plans have changed a bit. Instead of flying to Darwin we are doing a road trip together with Maria and David… Yes it’s going to be a long trip; 2700km… And outback! Hopefully we have a better luck than the backpackers in Wolf Creek :S I’ll let you know how it went as we arrive (hopefully) alive to Darwin after 4-5 days. Till then take care and remember that Aino loves you all very very mucho!





Picture above: Maria & David