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anja78
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Diving Course Options Queensland
Diving courses in Australia are offered along the coast in Queensland, and there are many possibilities of where and how to take a course. The best may be a several-day diving course trip from Cairns to the Great Barrier Reef, where you stay on the boat over the whole period of the course. The cheapest option are courses in southern Queensland, with the reef is farther away from the coast. These courses take place in to a large part in a pool and may only include a single trip to open waters, probably not as far as the Great Barrier Reef.
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anja78
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Introductory Dives
Most companies who offer reef-trips include an optional introductory dive. These dives aren’t cheap, but they are definitely worth the money. The dives take about half an hour in a group of around five people and after you’ve done this, you will be eager to do an entire diving course. The feeling underneath the ocean, once you’ve conquered the first panic of completely submerging yourself with only your oxygen mask to breathe trough, is overwhelming. Very much recommended
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Edgey
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Every city looks the same
Unless you like diving or sailing, Cairns did not impress me much. The pubs and bars were very much like the pubs and bars back in the UK. Very expensive, very modern and surprisingly very quiet. The hostels were huge and full of all the home comforts I was there to get away from. If I could visit that part of the world again, I would head North past Cooktown to where some interesting, rural communities are rumoured to be.
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Edgey
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The sports car
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I put my thumb out as my companion hid in a hammock in the trees. It worked. We got a lift in a sports car. Problem. The driver only expected one extra passenger not two, so I had to sit in between the seats. The good news was he wasn´t drunk and told us a thing or two about working in the mines nearby. He was shocked that we had been dumped on the side of the road and took pity on a pasty English girl trying to flag down a lift. I was so pleased he had stopped that I could have kissed the ground he walked. Wolf Creek factor: one
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Edgey
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The American teacher
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
I found out he had organised concerts with big names in the 70s to fund his education. I found out about his job, his wives, his life on the road. He was very talkative. But The American Teacher dropped my companion and I off in the middle of nowhere. The town, which was meant to be round the corner, turned out to be 200km away. There is a lesson here: ask the questions, plan ahead or take a map. Above all, being stranded on the side of a road without water in 40oC heat is not a good idea. Especially when companion comes back with a discarded bottle of what looks like typhoid water. I wrote help on signs to pass the time. They might have been needed later. Wold Creek factor: seven.
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Edgey
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How to get round working on a farm for a second year visa
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Farm work sucks. The only redeeming factor is your workmates, who hate it as much as you do. Apart from sponsorship and cash-in-hand work, this is the only way you can stay in Australia longer than your one year working holiday visa. Farmers have been know to sign people off for a sum. There are also rumours the government only checks one in five applications for another year too. It´s up to you whether you take the risk...
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anja78
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Queensland's campsite-booking system
Most of Queensland’s National Park camping areas need to be booked in advance and unless you are able to go the appropriate booking center in advance you will need a credit card. This may be a good way to secure a spot if you have planned your vacation ahead of time, but for the more spontaneous it is annoying as some sites have already been booked out a long time ago once you get there. The long-since-empty home bank account to which the credit card is linked is another story.
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