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Hello hello! How are we all, good i hope :)
Well i've had an eventful few weeks! I last left you in Airlie Beach about to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands on our boat the British Defender. If i'm honest the boat was a lot smaller than i was expecting, everything was really compact - the bathroom was the toilet & shower with the tap having an extendable hose to turn it into the shower head - very err resourceful. There was a huge platter of fruit to welcome us aboard which basically set the tone of the trip for the next 3days - there was no danger of going hungry that's for sure! We set sail & immediately were involved in putting the sails up, which was really good fun. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great & it started to rain but that did not deter us from our fun - so we donned our trendy wetsuits & went snorkelling at Caves Cove, which was really good apart from the danger of the Irakanji jellyfish lurking in the waters (it is 1-2cm big so you cant see it coming). We spent ages jumping off the boat in as many way as we could come up with - a word of advice - cartwheeling off the side isn't clever unless you're excellent at is as i landed on my side & it was painful :( When we returned to the boat we were presented with mountains of nachos & then a huge meal of chicken green curry. I'm surprised the boat didnt sink due to the sheer volume of food. We anchored for the evening in Nara Inlet, when the moon came out it was beautiful just watching it reflect off the water with the silhouettes of islands in the background. It has a very calming influence.
The next morning we were up & awake at 6am en route to Tongue Bay - it was raining pretty heavily most of the morning so we all had to borrow some bright yellow raincoats, it made us look like an army of lemons as we descended on the beach & went for a walk to a lookout point with a spectacular view. We headed down to Whitehaven beach and miraculously the rain stopped! Whitehaven beach is absolutely beautiful, it has the the whitest, softest sand i've ever had the pleasure of walking on. The water was so blue & there was even stingrays just chilling in the shallows - hands down the best beach i've ever been on. As none of us were prepared for the break in the rain most of us got burnt in that brief hour of sunshine - classic. After lunch we headed to Luncheon Bay for more snorkelling which was frickin awesome! The visibility was amazing & we saw some huge fish including giant trevally & wrasse. The coral was really bright colourful & vibrant, one of the best snorkelling locations i've been lucky enough to visit during this trip. Embarrasingly i fell off the boat as i was about to jump off! Once back on the boat we had dinner, played cards then had a fun evening playing drinking games.
The next morning we were up & snorkelling in the water around the boat at 8am - the conditions weren't great & my mask kept filling up with water so not the best. I spotted some dolphin as we sailed back to Airlie Beach & the sun came out to round off a wicked few days. We then hung out by the lagoon before getting the nightbus to Rainbow Beach. I think the Whitsunday Islands are gorgeous & ihad a great time & would recommend the trip to anyone but would hope to have better weather.
So we arrived in Rainbow Beach & spent the day chilling out & catching up on the sleep we didnt get on the bus. We then had a meeting with a guy called Merve who was in charge of our trip to Fraser Island - Merve was such a character - imagine a guy with long hair & a massive beard & no shoes who liked the words "cool, peace & love" and didn't want any "d*** " on the trip - tres amusant! My group consisted of me, Jo,an Irish girl called Aoife, a Canadian guy called Ed & 2 German girls called Paula & Steffi. Should be a good trip!
We set off after packing up the 4WD's - our driver was a guy called Mick who was lovely & looked like a Viking! On the ferry over to Fraser Island we saw some dolphins which was an excellent start! We set up camp before heading to Lake Wabby, which was gorgeous. After a 2.4km walk we arrived at the "sandblow" which was an area of huge rolling sand dunes surrounded by green forests with the sea in the distance & a green-blue lake at the bottom - stunning. One of the guys on the trip managed to catch a catfish with his bare hands! It was very impressive. We wandered back through the forest & saw lizards & porcupines. We made steaks for dinner at the campsite then spent the evening lying on the beach watching the stars (we were lucky enough to see the moon rise) & getting drunk on "goon" which is Australian wine in a bag - very classy. Ed got so drunk that when he stood up to go to the toilet he fell straight over into the middle of the circle! There was a moments pause while we registered what just happened before all bursting into laughter, it was hilarious.
The next day wasn't great weather-wise but it was still a fun day. We went to Eli Creek (otherwise known as Hangover Creek) for an hour or so then stopped off at the shipwreck of a boat that was supposedly nearly as big as the Titanic that sank nearby. Unfortunately my camera broke within an hour of being on Fraser Island so i can't document it :( We then went to Champagne Pools - aptly named due to the bubbling effect the waves have when they crash into the rock pools. After that we went to Indian Head which had a awesome view of the coast & we spotted whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles, huge fish & eagle rays. It was brilliant!
The next morning we packed up camp before driving to Lake McKenzie, which was absolutely gorgeous. We only had 2hrs there & i wish we had longer. It was gorgeous, the water was so clear & it was such a beautiful place in the middle of a forest. Great end to a wicked few days.
Jo & I got on the coach to Noosa at 7:30am the next day where we checked into an awesome hostel called Flashpackers (best hostel i've been in in 3 months! the owners made a real effort to know everyones names & were really helpful). Noosa is a lovely place, very chic with cool boutique shops & a really nice atmosphere. Its called a National Park & beaches, wish we could of stay longer but we unfortunately we couldnt. The next morning we set off at 8am to the late Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo - we had a great day feeding elephants, patting koalas & kangaroos & watching crocodiles being fed.
Saturday 2nd October saw us arriving into Brisbane in the pouring rain. We dropped our bags at the hostel & wandered into town for a look about. Brisbane seems like a really cool fun place to live. That night Jo & I got into our pjs & headed down to the bar where we recieved free shots & cheap vodka all night as we were wearing our pjs. After a few drinks my embarrassment died down enough to enjoy the night & we had fun dancing & playing pool until the wee hours.
The next morning we headed to the Southbank to a Thai food & culture festival (not that we needed to know about it having been there ourselves fairly recently). There were cooking demonstrations, traditional dancing & a beauty contest. After that we went to a place called the Powerhouse which was this arty building that had free bands & comedy on throughout the day. There was also an Indonesian festival going on there - Brisbane is very multicultural! We went out for dinner in the West End but most places were shut by 8:30 so our choices were limited. Who shuts at 8:30pm on a sunday i ask you?!
Monday morning greeted us with some sunshine for a change hurray! We got the train to Surfers Paradise then headed to Wet & Wild (a water based theme park). It was a really fun day although at several times throughout the day i feared for my life! I'm such a woose! We were waiting in the queue for one ride when the little kid at the front got scared & decided he didnt want to go down after all. The dad said he would go down with him so they both sat at the top, when the green light went the dad pushed the kid down the ride on it's own! A few minutes later a similar incident happened at the next slide! The poor kids were traumstised, thats tough love parenting going on right there. It was a really fun day :) We then spent the evening compiling our top moments, low moments, best quotes & the tunes that have been the soundtrack to our trip. Jo flew home on Tuesday & left me all on my own! :( Will miss her terribley, have had an awesome 3 months travelling with her & i'm so pleased i got to share some amazing moments with her, i'm very lucky. But now i'm on my lonesome riding solo....the beginning of the next chapter....
- comments
Kath Tansey Wow! That was an amazing post on your blog. It all sounds brilliant. Hope you are not too lonesome now.
Anne Hiya Jill I have really enjoyed your blogs.. your dad read me a couple and i read the last one when i was there last week, but now i can look up your blog at home as your dad gave me your address, you lucky girl it sounds like you are having a fab time.. keep it coming its like an amazing novel you can't put down. Anne x