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Hi there!
Yes, it's that time again, where i update you all with what ive been up to "In the land Down Under".
Last time i was in Brisbane. The next day was ANZAC day, which is similar to our rememberance sunday services. Pretty much the whole town was shut down for these parades and services. No shops were open, and only restaurants and bars were open. A couple of shops were open later on, and eventually the barricades were taken down in the late afternoon, so i could escape the town centre where my hostel was. That afteroon i just chilled in the Botanical Gardens.
The next morning, i jumped on the Oz bus, and went to Australia Zoo. I went with a couple of friends I met a few days previously, and we had a great time feeding Kangaroos, stroking Koalas, and holding Pythons. Also the Croc show was good fun too. From the zoo, we all went and stayed the night in Noosa. Again due to the lack of time I had, and what i wanted to fit in later down the line, i could only stay in Noosa one night, which we spent sat outside the 7-11 just chatting, and drinking slurpees. (Like Slush Puppies, but MUCH better!)
From Noosa we went to Rainbow beach, which is the main gateway to Fraser Island. I arrived in Rainbow with Will, who i met in Sydney and as also has limited time, so our itineraries matched all the way to Airlie Beach. We ended up going to Fraser Island in the same car, which was cool, with some people he met on the bus between Melbourne and Sydney. The ammount of food we ended up taking was astonishing! But for 11 of us, it worked out quite nicely, and we had 3 lunches, 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts, and snacks, all for only $21 each! Then the alcohol on top, which was again for 11 people, was a lot of alcohol! As i wasnt over 21, i was not allowed to drive, however i didnt mind too much because beach / sand / 4X4 driving it turns out is quite difficult, but very fun according to one of the drivers, who didnt want to stop. On Fraser Island, there are a series of lakes and sights to see. But due to poor weather a few days previously, the company we were with did not allow us to drive to the Shipwreck, and Indian Head, but nevermind! We had fun at the lakes, which had such crystal clear water and white sands, it was amazing. But the sand did end up getting everywhere... :P
When we got off the island, and back on to tarmac roads, our car went wrong. "Rustbucket" as i like to call it, decided not to go anywhere once we changed it in to 2 wheel drive for the roads. For some reason something was grinding when we were going along in 2wd. We decided to stop, to prevent any furthur damages or problems, as the rental company, and im sure like all other companies, like to give out fines for dents, scratches, lost kit etc. We couldnt walk back, as it was 15km to the garage, so we had to find signal, and phone the workshop. After about 45 mins the mechanic came out, and looked at the problem, and said to us to drive back, and it wont cost us anything as it is a problem that was out of our control (Which is good!)
After Rainbow beach, with new found friends from Fraser Island, we went to 1770, which again we only had time to stay one night, but we were able to do the main thing to do in 1770, Scooteroo-ing, which is riding a Chopper around, which is only a moped, so no gears or anything, but you can go 80 kph, which works out to 50 mph. We rode about 60kms in the evening, and rode to a restaurant where you could look out over the bay and watch the sunset, and then you ride back to the town. Unfortunately, one of our friends from Fraser Island fell off the bike, and got hurt quite badly, but it could have been much, much worse in my opinion. She had to go to hospital, and have an operation, and now she is travelling back home as she can not continue with her travels, which is very sad. We had to leave the next morning, so when the main biker guy from the scooteroo came to pick up her bags the next morning, we sent a get well soon card along with it.
The next day we went to one of Oz experience's special stops, where no other company goes. There we were able to do various cow-boy / girl activities, like ranching on horseback, clay pidgeon shooting with a shot gun, catching and pretend branding of goats etc. It was a lot of fun, with a good night too after all the activities. We all had to dress up, and then had a lot of fun and games, whip cracking, talent show, mechanical bull riding etc.
The next morning we were up early, as we had a big day of driving ahead, going to Airlie Beach. On the way we passed a bolwing green where we had a few games to break up the journey. I wasnt too good, but it was good fun. Eventually, after watching a couple of movies we arrived in Airlie. One of the movies was "Goal" which was funny, as the main character makes the "American Dream" and plays football in the premiership for Newcastle United, whilst they were challenging for a Champions League spot... Newcastle at the moment are fighting with relegation, which i and a few others found funny.
Anywho! Airlie Beach is where i am now, and it is very nice when its sunny, but apparently its one of the wettest places in Oz, or it definately seems like it! Its weird, as you can have nice sunshine one moment, and then a downpour for 10 seconds, and then sun again. Ah well. 1st night in Airlie, everyone on the bus went out for quite a hectic night, but was great fun.
Airlie Beach is the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands, but is sometimes known as the Wet-sunday Islands, due to the sheer ammount of rain in the area, which we saw a lot of on the boat i was on, called the Boomerang. This sailing trip was good fun. It was a Maxi Sailing Yacht, so was going very fast at times, and rocking over on to one side so we had to sit on the high side with our legs over the side, getting wet, which was cool! We stayed 2 nights on the boat, and got to see some cool things like Whitehaven Beach, and we went snorkelling and saw lots of fish, and a sea turtle, which one of the crew tried to catch, but failed.
Now i am back on the mainland, just chilling and getting ready for the bus tomorrow to Magnetic Island, where i will be doing a scuba dive course, which i found out here in Airlie i am medically fit for ;) I spend 5 nights there, and then go to Mission Beach for 2 nights, and then Cairns for 2 nights. Its weird that i only have 9 days left in Oz, and it doesnt feel like any time at all since i arrived, and left NZ and arrived in Oz. Got 5 weeks left in total!!!
Weird...
Anywho, thats all for now.
Cyer later!
xx
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