Laura has witnessed the majesty of the Whitsunday Islands, and all from aboard the Camira. Although intent on Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia, there is a budget and it had to be considered when touring the Whitsundays,

“We wanted to do an overnight sailing trip round the Whitsundays but they were quite expensive so we decided to just do a day trip instead. Our boat was called the Camira (means ’strong winds’ in aboriginal) and was a massive purple sailing catamaran.”

The day trip wasn’t so bad though, free drinks all day which saw Jamie (Laura’s boyfriend) ‘cracking open the beer’ at 11am. And despite the onset of what Laura referred to as a ‘monsoon’ the weather cleared up plenty, allowing for a trip to Whitehaven Beach and an ‘amazing BBQ lunch’ on the boat.

Laura and Jamie also spent some time in Airlie. The weather was hot, so the couple spent most of their time in the man made lagoon, a must due to the sea being full of Jellyfish. And, as the friendly types they are, the evening saw them back with some of the guys they’d shared the Camira with for some good old fashioned disco-dancing,

“Went to the bar at Beaches hostel which had a guy singing live, but that closed at 12 […] so we went on to a club called Evolution. The music there was pretty rubbish, loads of techno electro stuff, but was fun anyway.”

Ok, I admit that I have no concrete evidence of disco-dancing, but you’d like to think that was part of the deal, right?

Laura has had, as ever, a rather action packed time since we last checked in – this time visiting Lady Musgrave Island.

Travelling to Agnes Water by coach they arrived at what Laura believed to be possibly the nicest hostel they’ve stayed in so far. From here they took a rather choppy boat ride to Lady Musgrave Island,

“Me and Jamie lasted 40 mins before we started throwing up (we managed to do it at the exact same time which was a lil’ spooky).”

After arrival, and another moment of ‘upchuckness’ that doesn’t need to be detailed here, Laura and Jamie donned their flippers and snorkels and began to examine the beautiful coral of the Great Barrier Reef. The coral is much less damaged than that around Cairns, the reason the guys decided to dive there.

During the dive Jamie was stung by a bluebottle jellyfish, which needed only minor attention in the form of ice. This seemed to greatly disappoint Laura who was expecting far more drama. After a walk around the island and then more snorkeling, the pair headed back to Agnes Water, a far less hectic journey than the outbound one.

The following morning they spent some time in Agnes Water’s neighbouring township of 1770. And here’s a tip from our statravelbuzz pal Pete – if you want to skydive, do it in 1770, it’s where you’ll find the best price!

Laura would’ve liked to spend some more time in 1770,

“[…] but sadly we don’t have many spare days, and can’t really afford to do much else as we’ve just paid for our trip in the Whitsundays.”

A report on that coming soon.

Laura, the STA Explorer known as Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia has updated on her movements north on the Australian east coast.

At the time of writing Laura was in Brisbane arriving from Sydney via Byron Bay and Surfer’s Paradise. She especially likes the easy going lifestyle around Byron Bay,

“I loved Byron Bay last time I was in Oz and now I remember why! It’s so laid back and has a real boho hippy kind of feel to it - there were even a couple of hippies on the beach with a guitar, singing folk songs! Could easily have stayed there a couple of weeks and just chilling on the beach and spending my evenings getting henna tattoos and playing the bongos. But sadly all the hostels were full and we could only stay one night.”

In Surfers Paradise the Laura and her fella Jamie let time get away from them, literally. Forgetting that Queensland time is an hour behind that of New South Wales they spent the best part of two days doing everything an hour early. A noteworthy piece of info should you be traversing timelines during your own Aus travelling.

Once in Brisbane Laura and Jamie visited the street beach, a man made beach and lagoon beside the river. Her idea of getting one in London is nice, though I’m not entirely convinced we have the climate for it. There was also time spent by the rooftop pool of their hostel, which looks from the photos as described - amazing. Next up Rainbow Beach and a Fraser Island adventure… Cam and Sam jealous? Never…

We’re back, and normal service is about to resume, but before it does a run through our friendfeed - the place to keep up with us and our tribe of STA Explorers and their travelling experiences - has spilled the details on all that they’ve been up to over the festive break.

We have to begin with this tweet from Escaping the Grind, Alice in Down-underland and Hang 10 and Party or, Marianne, Alice and Chris, stating that they miss us. Aww. It’s great to see Explorers getting together and having an ace time! We miss you too. Marianne has also posted on the experience of spending Christmas on Bondi Beach and being one of the 1.5 million people bring in New Year in Sydney…

Samantha’s Christmas in Melbourne was all good once the pressies had arrived and the tree was up,

“I could have nearly mistaken it as an English chrissy until walking outside to 40 degree heat…dreaming of a white Christmas, no chance Sheila!!”

Her new year was spent at the Falls Festival, a celebration of the arts, where she welcomed in 2010 with acts including Jamie T and Moby.

Laura and Jamie, Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia, enjoyed mince pies on the beach and had ‘the best NYE ever’ in Sydney.

Alex welcomed in the New Year with 12 grapes, taking part in a Spanish tradition of eating one on each stroke of midnight to bring you good fortune for the coming year.

Like Marianne, Amar hit Bondi Beach despite the weather being somewhat less favourable than glorious sunshine. He was there for New Year also,

“The atmosphere, the 20,000 people at your side, everything. Makes me grin like an idiot just thinking about it again. Yesterday will be with me for the rest of my life. When that bridge lights up it truly is a magical moment. I hope one day that you’ll get to see it for yourself.”

Well, you can see it for yourself thanks to Amar and the power of YouTube.

OK, admittedly not the same, but if it makes you head there next year…

Finally we have Our Little Jaunt who didn’t just celebrate Christmas and New Year in Sydney, it was also their first wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

I think we’re just about up to date. It’s 2010 and we’re looking to expand our community as always, so if you had a superb Christmas break while travelling, or are about to head off to far flung lands let us known via email or Twitter.

This is a quick check in with STA Explorer Laura who has done a bungee jump in Queenstown! It’s on the ‘must-do’ list of a lot of travellers so if you want to know what it’s like first hand then look no further.

Laura did hers at Kawarau Bridge, the original AJ Hackett Bungee jump site. It was about 47 metres high, though is actually a location 400m above Queenstown, which gives it some spectacular views. It is also the only jump where you wear a harness as opposed to an ankle strap.

So how did she find it?

“The bungee itself was the scariest thing I’ve done, almost stopped on the run up so instead of the elaborate star jump I had planned, I half fell off instead, screaming my head off as I went! Seeing all the trees rush up at you is insane, a lot scarier than the skydive! But was amazing, I wanted to do another one straight away!”

It’s a recommendation for sure! There is also plenty in the post on where to party and what to do in Queenstown, so if you’re heading that way then it is worth a read. Especially if you’re into mini-golf and crepes…

Laura, our STA Explorer known as Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia (might need to abbreviate that…) has trekked the Franz Josef glacier!

There are two updates on what she’s been doing in New Zealand (Sunshine and sand flies in Abel Tasman and ‘P’ Party at the Poo Pub) before we get to the hike, a hike that was nearly called off – a case of rain stopped play, but not quite. Despite torrential rain and biting cold Laura and boyfriend Jamie donned the waterproofs and set off,

“It’s in between two steep cliffs, and because of the rain there was dozens of waterfalls running down which looked amazing. The hike itself wasn’t too bad, much harder on the way up obviously but got quite a few breaks while our guide cuthas steps into the ice for us to walk up! Didn’t stop raining the whole day and was absolutely freezing, but I was glad we did it as the ice looks amazing - a mix of white and deep blue.”

The bad weather didn’t ruin what for them was a once in a life time opportunity. On returning from Franz Josef a dip in the hostels spa pool thawed them out before they headed to the bar to celebrate their ‘glacier triumph!’ Awesome work.

Laura has taken a walk up Mount Victoria in Wellington, New Zealand and it sounds blooming lovely.

Laura and her travelling partner Jaime decided to take two days out of their schedule to hang out in Wellington and experience a bit of NZ’s capital. The first evening resulted in an extremely substandard curry experience, which you can read about in the post,

“In the end it got a bit chaotic, people were refusing to pay, the owner was getting all angry…”

The less said about that though probably the better. So, moving swiftly on, Mount Victoria! Their free day turned out to be sunny and hot (no one at travelbuzz is jealous at all…) so after a trip New Zealand’s national museum, the Te Papa, they headed up Mount Victoria and took in the spectacular views of the city. The day out ended in a most satisfactory fashion,

“Chilled out for a couple of hours outside a pub which had a load of bean bags on the grass for people to lay on. Felt very smug when I thought about everyone back home in the cold and rain!”

Oh to be smug about the weather! If you’ve been to Wellington leave a comment below.