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Josie's Giant Adventure
Hello
So far I've been to a couple of places on the East Coast and its really hot, really fun, really beautiful, there's really loads to do and I'm having a really good time. The only thing is I'm moving to fast, but at least I'm seeing loads.
First I went to Byron Bay on an overnight bus from Sydney. Byron Bay is a great backpacking place and has a lovely beach. Unfortunately it's jelly fish season so it's probably not going to be safe to swim in the sea anywhere up the east coast, particularly further north where they have box jelly fish which can kill you - nice. They often have pools next to the sea which are free of stingers though. Or you can wear a full wetsuit and gloves, although it doesn't quite have the same appeal as swimming in the sea in a bikini. I can also confirm that wetsuits far from suit my figure - I've just tried cramming myself into one in preparation for a sailing, snorkelling and diving trip I'm going on tomorrow. Its not a good look on me. At least I will be unrecognisable with a snorkle and mask and I think you even get a hood to protect your head from the jelly fish.
Where was I? Oh yes, Byron Bay. Nice beach. Very very hot and sticky. I went for what would have been a lovely walk up to a light house and past the most easterly point in Australia, but it was so boiling hot that it was a struggle. After spending 2 hours in front of a fan cooling down, I spent the evening in a great pub on the beach, and then went and sat on the beach where a group of people were playing percussion - very hippy and cool.
After Byron Bay I went up to Hervey Bay which is a jumping off point for tours of Fraser Island. I was only there for one night but had fun in the hostel which was a good one, saw the beach and beautiful stars at night, and went to the hostel toga party, although have to admit to not actually joining in by wearing a toga. I think the toga wearers were too drunk to notice I wasn't wearing one though - I don't think any of them could actually see.
At dusk in Hervey Bay, hundreds of thousands of fruit bats fly over the village to go out for the night. It was truly spectacular - for about 15 minutes there were just thousands of them flying over the hostel veranda. So I haven't seen any hanging from trees yet, but the sight of them so many of them flying together makes up for it.
My tour of Fraser Island was really good too. I went on a guided tour. Its the largest island made of sand in the world and its really amazing. We walked through some impressive rain forrest and drove up the main road which is 75 miles of beach and also doubles up as the air strip. Could I drive past the little airplanes without going in one? Of course not. So I did a little plane ride over the island which was, of course, spectacular. Maybe I am destined to be a pilot or something? We went to a point on the island where you can overlook the sea to see the marine life and I saw some sharks and stingray. You don't swim in the sea off Fraser Island as there are loads of sharks and other things that can bite and sting you, which is a shame as its lovely, but there are lakes to swim in that make up for it.
As I am high class, I didn't stay in a camp site with bad or no toilets, I stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool. It was so nice to have some luxury, and more or less at backpacker prices in with the tour I booked onto. The following day we went swimming in fresh water lakes on the island which were beautiful as well. I swam right to the other side of one which was a bit bigger than I though as it took me about 15 minutes to get from one side to the other. But to be in the middle of the lake, floating on my back looking up at the blue sky and accross to the pure white sand of the deserted beach on the other side of the lake, was pure heaven. Our guide was called The Captain and was a really cool old Aussie bloke who made it really fun. Reminded me of Crocodile Dundee a bit.
After Fraser Island I got another overnight bus to Airlie Beach which is where I am now. This also looks like a place full of backpackers with loads of social life. I shouldn't do too much of the social life though as early tomorrow morning I am off on a 3 day sailing tour of the whitsunday islands.
That's all for now, I'll be in touch soon, unless I get eaten by a shark.
Josiexx
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