Blog | soaringthroughthesky

May 12, 2018
5 min

Sydney | So Much To Explore

Sydney is such a magnificent place and holds a special place in our hearts as we lived there for 5 months whilst on our ‘Australian Working Holiday Visa’. We have compiled what we think is the best Sydney has to offer, and at the end we reveal our “must do’s”. Around the harbour Sydney’s Harbour must be one of the most famous harbour’s in the world, take time to appreciate Circular Quay's beauty by having a refreshing drink at the Opera Bar outside the Opera House. And if you

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Mar 31, 2018
5 min

Should You Climb Uluru?

Uluru is one of Australia's most recognisable natural landmarks. Uluru also known as Ayers Rock is a large isolated sandstone rock formation that stands 348 meters high and more than 8 km (5 miles) around and located in the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. The nearest town is Alice Springs which is 450km (280 miles) away. Uluru contains a variety of interesting canyons, caves, crevices and natural formations with springs, waterholes and ancient ca

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Jun 24, 2012
4 min

The Long Way Home via China

24th Jun 2012 - 26th Jun 2012 So the journey home began by wakening up at 4am on Sunday and getting a shuttle bus to the airport, we had arrived early but needed to check our luggage weight on scales, we were a little shocked to see we were over weight but we emptied out our 'maybe' pile and were good, when we got to check in though we were told it wasn't 23kg as we thought but a massive 30kg each so I retrieved the 'maybes' and still had room which was great. We boarded o

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Jun 24, 2012
4 min

Arriving In Your New Country Of Australia

Arriving in a new country for the first time can be pretty daunting, even for the savviest traveller. Some people may be lucky and land on their feet but for others there is quite a bit to sort out before being able to feel at home. By now you will have sorted out your visa and know if you can work and live, (if not then check http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx) but just how to do you go about settling into your new life? The things you need to set up when moving to a

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Jun 7, 2012
5 min

All My Bags Are Packed I'm Ready To Go....

7th Jun 2012 - 23rd Jun 2012 Arriving back in Sydney we put adverts up on Gumtree and posters on hostel notice boards to try sell the van. Within the day we had phone calls asking to view the van. The first couple who viewed it put in an offer and we sold it to them after bargaining them for another few days (as the hostels can end up being expensive). We were sad to see our home of 4 months go but the fat wad of cash and the prospect of going to the toilet whenever, helpe

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Jun 6, 2012
2 min

Our Van

6th Jun 2012 - After spending a third of our Australian adventure in our campervan it was time to sell up our home. We had a great time and experience travelling around- surprising really as it was just an ex tradies van but the bed was comfortable (for the majority), had enough storage to keep all our crap hidden and apart from the odd tyre trouble the engine went a treat (and apart from using the choke to start it).We enjoyed endless hours chilling in the back watching DVD

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May 31, 2012
2 min

The Great Ocean Road And Beyond

31st May 2012 - 5th Jun 2012 Left South Australia and started our journey on the Great Ocean Road. The road was built by soldiers who returned from the WW1, as it gave them jobs and put them back into normality, it was built in remembrance for those who had died in the war. The reason it was built was to do exactly as it is named, be a great ocean drive, and to rival Los Angeles great drive. Our first stop was 'Bay of Islands' which was rock formations in the sea just sitti

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May 25, 2012
2 min

Heading South

25th May 2012 - 30th May 2012 - Crossing the border from the Northern Territory into South Australia, we continued to see more of the same vast landscape, even turning a little more red than in the outback. Also the clear blue skies gave way to a little well deserved drizzle of rain. Our first stop in S.A was the Opal mining town of Coober Pedy. It can get very hot and humid there so 80% of the houses are built underground to escape the heat. I visited an underground church

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May 22, 2012
3 min

Woohoo Uluru + Kata Tjuta + Kings Canyon

22nd May 2012 - 24th May 2012 An easier days drive to Ayers Rock today, but if it had been long it'd still have been worth it. We arrived late afternoon and got ready for the magical sunset which changed the colour of the sky and the rock changed from its usual red to a dark red/brown then into it's nightly black. We ate our dinner facing Ayers Rock- or now commonly known by it's aboriginal name Uluru. After the fun was over we had the choice of paying $40 to camp in Yulara t

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May 18, 2012
2 min

The Never Never

18th May 2012 - 21st May 2012 Left Darwin and headed 670km back down to Katherine. We visited the famous Nitmiluk National Park, and climbed to see the awesome Nitmiluk Gorge previously known as Katherine Gorge. The gorge is huge and was tiresome to climb (for me, not Shan). You can explore for days but we were happy with seeing a little. On the trek back down we came across hundreds of kangaroos just eating their dinner. One had a little joey in her pouch, it was so cute.

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May 14, 2012
5 min

Crocs, Snakes and Waterfalls at The Top End

14th May 2012 - 17th May 2012 Alarm set very early, had a long hot shower then headed all the way to Darwin, it was 969km and took us exactly 12 hours. It was a long drive with more of the same but we passed by hundreds of bush fires which were close to the road, the flames licking up and branches crackling with the heat and the smoke rose high into the clear blue sky. It was 33 degrees in Darwin when we arrived and it didn't cool down much come bed time. As it took us 12 hou

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May 11, 2012
2 min

The long long drive from Queensland to the Northern Territory

11th May 2012 - 13th May 2012 Left Cairns with our hitchhikers in tow, our friends Conor and Jade who we took down to Townsville, they are looking for farm work and Cairns wasn't kind to them, just like it wasn't for us last year. We dropped them off and then we carried on driving, leaving the east coast behind us and travelled to Charter Towers. Within our first 15 minutes we had seen umpteen road trains which are huge and we also ran over an alive snake, it crunched as

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May 6, 2012
3 min

The Awesomely Wicked Great Barrier Reef!

6th May 2012 - 10th May 2012 - And so we headed back to where it all started- Cairns. We used our free meal voucher from TravelBugs and then had some drinks at the infamous Woolshed. The next day we were up bright and early to go on our scuba diving trip with 'Pro Dive' on a 3 day/2 night trip to the Outer Barrier Reef. Now we splashed out on this trip as we knew it looked very professional, the cost was around £400 each! We met up with our friends Rob and Rochelle who we

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May 3, 2012
3 min

Sun, Sail and Snorkelling in The Whitsundays

3rd May 2012 - 5th May 2012 Boarded the Tongarra catameran- our home for the next few days. It was a gorgeous day as we left Airlie and headed for the Whitsunday islands. We lay sunbathing on the deck and got to know our ship mates- which included two guys from our Fraser trip, one being the scary driver. We had a few beers, and dinner and sailed long to the largest island- Whitsunday. We moored for the night and slept out on the deck under the stars, rocking around. In th

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Apr 29, 2012
3 min

Where have we been now?!?

29th Apr 2012 - 2nd May 2012 - Next stop after Noosa was Bundaberg which was a 3 hour journey up the East Coast. Bundaberg is home to the famous Bundaberg Rum Distillery, and to us more commonly known for the Bundaberg Ginger Beer, which we love and think is the best ginger beer around. We visited the distillery but as we are not that into rum, and on a backpackers allowance we decided not to opt for the guided tour but just looked around the shop and ended up buying a bottle

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Apr 24, 2012
4 min

Fraser Island | Our Trip To The Largest Sand Island In The World

24th Apr 2012 - 28th Apr 2012 Arriving in Rainbow Beach, Shannon decided to go surfing again, so he hired a board and took to the shark infested waters (something he only found out later). he had fun riding the waves even though the sea was alot rougher than Noosa. As part of our Fraser Island package we had three nights accommodation (2 before, 1 after) at Dingos Hostel. the hostel was big and the dorms came with en-suits. On the second day we took a walk along Rainbow Be

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Apr 19, 2012
5 min

I'm A Backpacker Get Me Out Of Here

19th Apr 2012 - 23rd Apr 2012 - Headed up to the Sunshine Coast, stopping off to marvel at the Glasshouse Mountains named so because Captain Cook thought they looked as sharp as glass (basically). We then drove to Noosa where we'd be spending the next few days. The first day we chilled at Noosa Woods, used free Internet at Peterpans and called home as it was my Dads Birthday. I found out I had received even more money back from Guernsey tax so we treated ourselves to an (av

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Apr 9, 2012
2 min

Only 9 weeks left of our amazing adventure!

9th Apr 2012 - 18th Apr 2012 - Drove back to Brisbane and parked up on Cricket Street across from number 81- our old house. We went for dinner on Caxton Street before re-tracing our old steps- where we'd either be laden down with shopping bags and crates of beer or I'd be running home from work in my sweaty, swollen, fish splattered feet. We slept on Cricket Street that night and it felt a little odd being back. We had been half heartedly thought we could look for a few weeks

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Apr 2, 2012
4 min

Spending Easter looking for Sharks instead of Bunnies

2nd Apr 2012 - 8th Apr 2012 - And so it was back to Byron to do our diving with SSI (scuba school international) (which is similar to a PADI) and to do a 4 day course on 'Open Water Scuba Diving' which would then make us qualified divers after we completed 4 dives. We had already completed and passed our online theory exams for day 1. On day 2 we had classroom training then in-pool training where we got all our gear ready- oxygen bottles, BC's (like a life jacket), regulators

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Mar 19, 2012
8 min

If the vans a rockin' don't come a knockin'

19th Mar 2012 - 1st Apr 2012 Left Darren and Lorraine's after a lazy morning (and catching up with laundry- who knows when will be next). It was great to see Darren and Lorraine, it's been a long time, and they have a fantastic house and were very kind letting us stay and eat all their hula hoops, monster munch and beer. So it was on the road for us, our plan is to go back up the east coast, up to the top on Darwin, and down the middle to Alice Springs and round the bottom

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Scottish Filming Locations

Scottish Filming Locations

Scottish Filming Locations

Scottish Filming Locations

Sydney | So Much To Explore

Should You Climb Uluru?

The Long Way Home via China

Arriving In Your New Country Of Australia

All My Bags Are Packed I'm Ready To Go....

Our Van

The Great Ocean Road And Beyond

Heading South

Woohoo Uluru + Kata Tjuta + Kings Canyon

The Never Never

Crocs, Snakes and Waterfalls at The Top End

The long long drive from Queensland to the Northern Territory

The Awesomely Wicked Great Barrier Reef!

Sun, Sail and Snorkelling in The Whitsundays

Where have we been now?!?

Fraser Island | Our Trip To The Largest Sand Island In The World

I'm A Backpacker Get Me Out Of Here

Only 9 weeks left of our amazing adventure!

Spending Easter looking for Sharks instead of Bunnies

If the vans a rockin' don't come a knockin'