My misadventures in Australia 2012

I don’t know exactly what possessed me to travel half way across the world on a whim without doing adequate research beforehand as this was out of character for me.  I suppose I went there to mend my fragile heart, and while I did get the inevitable cathartic experience, as solo travelling forces that upon you, I also had freak weather shadowing what I know could have potentially been an unforgettable trip, despite my emotional state.  Not wanting to fall into the pity trap, I tried my hardest to make the most of my experience while out there.

My first stop was Sydney, where I stayed on Macquarie Street at the Quay Grand Suites, a stone’s throw from the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens.  This was my home for a few days, where I was able to freely explore the city’s cultural offerings.  I spent an afternoon wandering around the infamous Rocks area, a quaint part of town full of cute little boutique shops and wonderful bars with appealing interiors (my guilty pleasure, I must admit).  One evening I caught a ferry to Manly, a surf beach lined with trees that looked unusually like conifers as opposed to palm trees, and innumerable bars.  In my search for an adrenaline hit, I joined a group tour and spent an afternoon on Sydney Bridge – I actually climbed the bridge, safety harnesses in place and dressed in an embarrassing light grey boiler suit!

The Great Barrier Reef is made up of nearly 3, 000 individual reefs, around half have names, while the others are known simply by a five-digit number.  I chose to stay on Hamilton Island in Queensland as it had easy access to the breathtakingly beautiful Whitsunday Islands.  Unfortunately, I returned home without seeing the Barrier Reef due to the adverse weather conditions.  So there was no snorkeling trip to Chalkies beach, no water sports trips, or an afternoon lazing around Whitehaven Beach soaking up some rays.  The furthest I got was Catseye Beach, which turned out to be full of jellyfish!  As the rain persisted, outdoor water activities were ruled out, so I mostly spent my days listening to music on my ipod, walking barefoot in the rain for miles and miles, (flip flops caused a few nasty slips on the wet tarmac, so I quickly learnt that wearing no shoes was a far more practical option), sipping cappuccinos by the Marina, and participating in the spinning classes at the resort’s gym.  Other than that, I also went to the shooting range one morning and got to ‘play’ with a .22 calibre rifle and pistol.  It felt good, especially when I hit the target ten feet away!  When I ran out of ways to entertain myself in the rain, I decided it was time to return home as the weather showed no signs of clearing up.  So I left a week early, but I have plans to go back, and next time I want to share my experiences within a longer time frame and travel more extensively, be it with a friend, or a partner.  It’s too beautiful not to share the experience, and so damn chilled out there – it’s the perfect contrast to London life.  I have already chosen the hotels – a self contained apartment in Darling Harbour, which was my original choice, and one night at the exclusive luxury retreat of Qualia on Hamilton Island, or perhaps a few depending on how full my pockets are on my next visit!

© Copyright Vanessa Sicre

Embracing a new start in Belize 2012

When I thought about my expectations of Belize, the country conjured up images of turquoise waters, miles of sandy beaches, beautiful diving and snorkeling sites, jungles and Mayan ruins.  I almost stepped foot in the country while I was living in Mexico aged 19, and had loosely planned to go there via Guatemala, but ran out of time.  Following a stressful 2011 after the death of my father, I decided the perfect way to kick start January 2012 would be to fly out to Belize for a week, to chase some rays and recharge my batteries whilst being among nature.  So off I flew, and three flights later I landed in the sleepy fishing village of Placencia, in Belize.  My home for that week was Turtle Inn, the brainchild creation of Francis Ford Coppola, which consisted of nineteen beautifully crafted cabanas of bleached thatch and native wood, decorated with furnishings inspired by Balinese culture.  The hotel was suited more to honeymooners than for a thirty plus year old single woman, I later found out – but no matter, it was only for a week and hardly an issue as I actually met some lovely attached people out there.

I arrived truly exhausted and in desperate need of a wash, as one does after long haul flights, so imagine my amusement when I discovered I not only had an indoor bathroom, but an outdoor shower too, and baptized the latter one immediately, then headed out to town and planned some activities for the week that would see my stresses slip away, and stretch beyond the confines of the hotel swimming pool and the beach.  I cycled in on an old fashioned bicycle with no hand brakes, only a peddle which I had to turn anticlockwise to brake, an interesting technique to say the least, as I had never encountered these two wheelers before.

The first activity I booked was a boat trip along Monkey River, where I spotted black howler monkeys en route, crocodiles by the water’s edge, turtles, and a solitary yellow / green iguana perched up high on the branch of a tree, basking in the thirty degrees heat!  The next stop was Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, and not one animal in sight with the exception of various kingfisher birds along the river; I was disappointed not to spot any jaguars that so many people had mentioned lived within the confines of the sanctuary, so moving on from the animals, the highlight of that trip was the river tubing.  The aforementioned activity involved not quite a tube, but something akin to a car tyre minus the ridges, into which I sunk my slender body, with feet and head sticking out on either side of the so called tube.  And into the river I went, chilling in the sun with the gentle current of the water carrying me effortlessly upstream.  A word of warning though, to reach the site I had to trek through miles of sludgy mud!  I followed in the footsteps of our guide and ended up removing my Converse shoes and going barefoot in the mud as the grip was better, and thankfully I was only wearing shorts, so the mud that rode all the way up my legs was easily removable.  Preceding the tubing, I swam under a beautiful waterfall, felt the water spray me, and then come crashing down on my body, cooling me from the intense heat of the sun, and really feeling the full force of the water – pure bliss.

The penultimate day of my trip I signed up for a visit to Laughing Bird Caye, a world heritage site renowned for its snorkeling and diving.  Having previously been accustomed to seeing live lobsters in miniscule fish tanks at Spanish restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a few in the wild waters of the Caribbean sea in Belize.  But the biggest shocker of the day was having an eagle ray swim by within a less than a metre of me, fortunately, without stopping to explore me!  I, on the other hand, just floated on the water playing dead, completely paralysed, but less out of fear and more in awe of the creature I had before my eyes.

Physical activities such as swimming, cycling and trekking were counter-balanced by holistic therapies; on one occasion I opted for a Thai massage out of curiosity, and had my body stretched and contorted in many positions I never even thought possible.  By the end of the week, I felt like my batteries had been recharged, and even though I had blown all of my savings in the space of a week, it was without a doubt the best investment I had made in months, as I was able to piece my body and soul back together in such an incredibly short space of time.  Plus money can always be recouped at a later date in future!

© Copyright Vanessa Sicre

Sailing the seas in Mozambique 2011

I have been fortunate enough to have visited Africa several times in the past fourteen years, with both my immediate and my extended family, on safari around Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana, and every trip has left me hungry for more visits.  This time I opted for a water based travel adventure, which took me to Mozambique.  I flew direct to Nairobi where I paid $10 to have my passport stamped for my visa, then connected onto Pemba via Maputo, where visas were an entirely different affair.  I was photographed, and fingerprint samples were taken, before being told to hand over $70 to the officials and waited about ten minutes for a print-out of my visa with a miniature portrait of myself attached.  After that I was ready for phase three of the journey, a four hour drive that led us straight to a beach in the middle of nowhere – including a challenging walk along the beach with a wheelie suitcase and local children following us (I went with a party of five, a family from South Africa) – and straight onto a dhow, which is their version of a sailing boat.  The dhow took us to Mogundula Island, and we sailed the sea as the sun was setting on one end of the horizon, and the moon rose on the other side.  It was a beautiful sight to behold.

My first night on Mogundula Island was a restless affair in a tent that almost toppled over with the force of the rain and wind at 4am.  Fortunately, by 6am, the weather had cleared and we were all able to go snorkeling in the aqualine waters, returning for an evening meal of locally sourced, grilled kingfish and crayfish served by the campfire.  This was only supposed to be a two night stay, but the strong gale force winds and persistent nightly showers meant the sea was too rough to leave the island, so we got stuck on the island an extra night.  I could not help feeling like time had come to a standstill on the island, with the bad weather chasing us into our sleep, and also throughout the day at intervals. 

Ibo Island on the Quirimbas Archipelago was the next, much anticipated stop  – with a population of only four thousand people and made up of twenty three islands.  It had been a major trading centre in previous centuries, when Africa’s east coast had been controlled by Arabs, and then later became a Portuguese colony.  Admittedly, not quite what I had envisioned as it was incredibly rundown and in need of repair, but the lodge itself was housed in a magnificent and beautiful historic mansion that had been renovated with teak furniture and boasted huge rooms and high ceilings.  Staying in Ibo Lodge was like stepping back in time, with electricity being supplied by their own generator and available only for about eight hours a day, no television (fantastic for getting those creative juices flowing), and water filtered and supplied by nature’s rain.

After a night of restful sleep on Ibo Island, we set off at 9am on a dhow for a snorkeling trip that exposed us to a wonderful underwater world full of beautiful red starfish, clownfish, lion fish with what looked like wings on either side of their bodies, puffa fish (always an amusing sight), giant sea urchins, and also sea cucumber, which around the islands are apparently a valuable commodity – mighty ugly beast of a creature too!  Kayaking was next on the agenda in the late afternoon.  The views were breathtaking, I was so upset I didn’t have my camera on me.  We saw some beautiful black and white birds swimming close to the surface of water, in the direction of the setting sun.  It would’ve been such an amazing picture to capture on camera.  Even the flying fish put on a show for us.

The morning I was due to go back home, I wasn’t even sure I’d leave the island due to adverse weather conditions, but I got lucky and only the afternoon flights were cancelled.  I got to ride up-front next to the pilot on a 5-seater plane to Pemba airport, mesmerized by the view.  As we were flying in the air, I remembered how as a child I used to look out of the plane window and believe I could really touch the clouds and stand on them, that they’d be all fluffy and I’d float on them – all very magical.  Obviously this was long before I discovered that clouds are formed by condensation when the water vapour in the air is cooled, and had I tried to walk on clouds in reality, I would have simply fallen right through them and to a nasty death!

I arrived early at Pemba airport, and turned out to be the only white girl there, but for once I wasn’t hassled by any of the locals, much to my relief.  I sat down and waited for my connecting flight, replaying the moments that made my trip, and recalling that the purpose of it had been to go in search of solo time, to just breathe and escape a confusing relationship I had got myself caught up in.  I fulfilled my purpose, I gained more clarity while away, and ended the relationship, feeling much happier as a result.

© Copyright Vanessa Sicre