Travelingbug.org

Aboriginal Music at Sydney Harbour - Video of the Week

I was walking around Sydney Harbour with Patty and Michael.  I met these two guys while I was in Mendoza, Argentina.  They are from Ireland and were moving to Sydney to work and live.  We were walking through and these two guys were playing Aboriginal Music.  I thought it was pretty cool stuff.  They sell CD's of their music, and a lot of tourist were dropping tips in a jar while they were walking by.  Enjoy the music!

Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House- Video of the week

Here is a great video of what it looks like in Sydney Harbour.  The video features the world famous Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.  Enjoy the video!

Bells Beach, Australia - Video of the week

The video of the week comes from Bells Beach, Australia.  This beach is located outside Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road.  They have surfing competitions here every year, and this is the last scene from the movie Point Break.    Peace

Whitehaven Beach, Australia- Video of the week

The video of the week is from the Whitehaven Beach, Australia.  It is one of the top ten beaches in the world.  I was traveling on a boat tour of the Whitsunday Islands that left from Airlie Beach, Australia.  On this 3 day boat tour we stopped at this beach.  It was probably the best beach I have ever been to in my life.  The sand is made up of silica and it is so white and soft.  The water is crystal clear and great to swim in.  In the video I am wearing a stinger suit (so I didn't get stung by jelly fish), and am walking on the beach.  It makes the craziest noises by just walking on it...enjoy

Send me your travel videos!  I want to feature them on upcoming video's of the week.

The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most spectacular places in the world to go snorkeling or scuba diving!  In 1981, it was selected to be apart of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.  This is a must see spot on your trip around the world!  The water is very warm and clear almost year round.  It is the world's largest coral reef system, and can be seen from outer space!  The amount of sea life that can be seen during a one day period is unbelievable!  You will be able to swim with sharks, turtles, clown fish (little nemo), see colorfuly coral and much more!

You are able to access the Reef throughout the Queensland coast.  There are various companies that operate tours from certain points along the coast.  The two best points to leave for the Reef are Cairns and Port Douglas.  Cairns offers a lot of daily packages to tourist.  It has a major airport that has various flights coming in daily.  The tours leaving from Cairns are very crowded because of how easy it is to access the Reef from there.  With a lot of people on the tour it makes it hard to swim by yourself and enjoy the Reef.

The Whitsundays

The Whitsundays are a group of 74 islands that only include 8 inhabited islands.  These islands are only accessible by leaving Airlie Beach in the Queensland Territory.  This town offers hostels, restaurants, and bars for backpackers.  This is a very popular desintation for backpackers traveling the east coast of Australia.  Airlie Beach has tourist offices that offer 2, 3, and 4 day/night boat trips.  The boats usually hold about 10-15 people so if you are traveling by yourself it is a great way to meet new people!

The Whitsundays features one of the top 10 beaches around the world.  The beach is called Whitehaven Beach and it is unbelievable.  The beach is made of silica sand and is so soft and white.  All the water surrounding this beach is crystal clear!  This beach is kind of hard to get to.  You have to drop anchor on your boat , and then take a row boat to shore.  There is a great look out place on the island.  Once a shore, you have to trek about 10 minutes on a path that over looks everything.  After the lookout point, you trek about another 5 minutes to get to famous beach!

During the day on the boat trips you will stop at 2 or 3 different sites to go snorkeling or scuba diving.  A lot of people will go on this trip to get their qualification for scuba diving.  Som boats offer night dives with flashlights.  It is supposed to be amazing.

All the food is taken care of by the hired crew who will prepare 3 meals a day for you while you are aboard.  During the down time on the boat you can just hang out and dring "goons" with your new mates. 

For more information on the Whitsundays you can look through this site Whitsundays, but I would suggest not booking anything until you get to Australia.  Onc you get into Cairns or Sydney you can go to a tourist agency to book a tour for you before you get to Airlie Beach!

Twelve Apostles/Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles are located in southern Australia along the Great Ocean Road.  These spectacular rock formations, which are made out of limestone, were formed due to the constant erosion from the crashing waves of the sea.  There are now less than twelve rock formations remaining due to some of them falling apart, but the ten or so that are remaining are spectacular.  The best time to see the Twelve Apostles is at sunset when the sun "turns" the rocks a lot of different shades of red!  The Great Ocean Road is a road that runs along the southern coast of Australia.  It also features the famous Bells Beach (surfing tournaments), and a lot of different wildlife that includes Kangaroos and Koalas!

You can get to the Twelve Apostles by leaving Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road, if you are coming south from Alice Springs, or coming east from Perth.  I know that leaving from Melbourne there are a lot of group tours that leave from hostels.  All you need to do to join up with a group tour is talk to your hostel (in downtown Melbourne or in St. Kilda) and pay them the required money and that will register you for the tour.  These group tours are generally 2-3 days, and are a great way to meet other travelers if you are traveling by yourself. 

The other option is to rent a car, and travel the Great Ocean Road by yourself!  This is probably the best idea, because you get to do the trip on your own pace.  There are a lot of little beach towns that you can stop at for the day or stop to eat something along the way.  When you are on the group tour you are not able to do this since you are on the tour guides schedule!  If you are traveling by yourself there is still a possibility that you can rent a car with other travelers.  You need to post a sign at the hostel that you are looking to meet up with somebody that is traveling the Great Ocean Road.  You just will have to be patient until somebody contacts you or until you meet somebody.

Once you arrive at the entrance of the Twelve Apostles you are able to walk around different paths.  There is also a helicopter tour that costs about $90 US Dollars.  This tour gives you a once in a life time view of the Twelve Apostles.  If you decide to skip the helicopter tour you can still see great views.  There is a path that allows you to walk up and down the coast to see different views of the rock formations! 

A little bit further down the road there is another rock formation that is not apart of the Twelve Apostles, but it is just as famous.  The formation is called London Bridge.  This rock formation actually looks like a bridge that is standing in the water!  There are bits and pieces of this formation that are starting to fall down!