An Australian round-up...
Trip Start
Sep 20, 2009
1
11
40
Trip End
Mar 01, 2010
Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I am now in NZ and for fear of just getting sooooooo behind on this blog I am going to give you the remains of my Australia trip in one hit. Here goes!
11/12 Nov - Rainbow Beach
Rainbow is generally the place people hit to do Fraser Island. We had decided not to do this trip as I was more keen to do a Whitsunday diving strip later on. But hey - thought it would be worth the stop here just for a bit of a break, nice beach yada yada.
After chatting to the local barman in the backpackers I somehow managed to persuade him to drive us up to the Inskip which is where the ferrys go back and forth all day to Fraser Island. And then when we got there we discovered the ferry was in fact free so we got ourselves over to Fraser Island after all. Ok - so it wasn't a big full on trip and we couldn't go into the heart of the island and see the lake etc but we did walk for half an hour or so along the coast and had a most stunning beach to ourselves for the whole day. Nice work on our part I thought. And at the end of the day, we hopped on the ferry back where our friendly barman was waiting to pick us up just as he had promised. Bingo. Job done.
That eveing I joined the guided walk to a nearby sandblow to watch the sunset which was pretty awesome and a good fun crowd. I even tried my first bit of bush grub - a seed pod from a small branch which was ever so sweet and used to be eaten as a kind of desert by the aborigines - or so I was told...
The other 'interesting' highlight of Rainbow Beach - there was some live music one evening and I got chatting to the guy just before he was ready to set up and he had his 3 kids with him - divorced from the wife and it was his weekend to have them - lovely kids and all that (actually they really were lovely and most beautiful looking) but anyway - get this. He asks me if I would mind keeping my eye on them and make sure they eat their dinner whilst he was setting up! Me!! Is he serious! He offered me a free CD of his to say thanks. How could I say no. So I didn't. So that was my little job for a few hours or so. It was all cool of course - the kids and I got on pretty well. Getting them to eat the fish and salad and lay off the chips was a little tricky (instructions given to me by dad) but we got there in the end. And when we were done I took them to their room and told them where I would be if they needed me. Bless em. My work at Rainbow Beach was done. I WILL go to heaven.
13 Nov
Nothing to report here really. We were Greyhounding it overnight to our next destination so a 12 hour coach ride from Rainbow to Airlie Beach. An interesting stopover for 3 hours at Hervey Bay. A strange industrial town where we visited a bar to pass the time. The locals were a bit odd. A little in-bred I am thinking. All gambling at the slot machines just inside the pub. LOTS of slot machines. An unhealthy amount! We drank, we ate, we left.
14/15/16/17 Nov - Airlie Beach
Airlie Beach is a lovely town. Really pretty, quite busy which was actually quite nice after avvery quiet Rainbow. Really nice little shops. Lovely lagoon - no beach as such so not sure why it is called Airlie Beach. Very happy atmosphere. Really friendly locals. I just liked it. A lot.
From here I had booked myself on a 3 day / 2 night excursion to the Whitsundays on a diving boat - Wings 3. A pretty awesome boat in fact. The crew were a good fun bunch - all from the UK I must add which I wasn't expecting not that it matters of course. The group on the boat - 28 of us I think - were a lovely bunch too - we all got on and seemed to gel well. We cruised the beautiful calm azure waters of the East Coast of Australia over the 3 days stopping at various wonderful bays for diving or snorkeling opportunities, evenings spent on-board Wings 3 being entertained by the wonderful staff with photos of the day gone by and being fed most wonderful food by our chef Mike - cheers Mike by the way, it really was top nosh! The evenings were so clear and warm - we all sat on deck bobbing on the waters with the millions of stars overhead, having a drink and a gas until bed time called. The cabins we slept in were tiny but perfectly adequate and it was so nice to be rocked to sleep by the gentle waves of the waters that surrounded us. Our last day was spent on the famous Whitehaven beach. It was truly a stunning beach. Very white sands and very very calm and warm water. Very pretty. Although give me a wild rough coastline any day - remember Natures Valley back in South Africa - hmmm.....it tops Whitehaven in my book I'm afraid to say! But it was lovely all the same. We had a good amount of time to chill here and have plenty of much wanted photo's before returning to Wings 3 for the last night. The diving for me unfortunately wasn't the best experience. I had never dived before and was so excited about it but had constant trouble with my ears. I had trouble equalising them so they were quite painful. I had blood from my nose on my second dive and my ears were getting no better so I stuck to snorkelling after that. As it turned out I was very close to bursting my eardrums according to the pharmacist and was then on anti-inflammitorys for the next 2 weeks with my head sounding like I was in a bubble - very annoying. But they eventually sorted themselves out and I wouldn't want it to spoil what was a brilliant trip. And not one ounce of sea sickness! We had a great party night back on main land for all the group and some of the staff which took place at the bar of the backpackers I was staying in. It was nice to see everyone that evening - although it was strange seeing people in real clothes as apposed to wet suits or swimmers! Hoorah for the party! Cheers Island Dive - top work!
18/19 Nov - Magnetic Island
From Airlie we took a trip to Magnetic Island or as it is affectionally known - Maggies. A short ferry ride across the water and we arrived. This island has 360 days a year of summer and today was no exception. Temperatures in the high 30's if not early 40's - beautiful little Maggies was hot hot hot!!
We stayed at Base Backpackers - a chain which is widespread throughout Oz and NZ. Known for its 'outrageous' parties this was not going to be a quiet affair.....We were upgraded at this backpacker to a ladies dorm known as The Sanctuary (not sure how that fits with a 'crazy' party place but still) where we were given white fluffy towels, shampoo & moisturiser, free breakfast tokens, vouchers for a dollar off per drink and a wristband which entitled us to free bubbly between 6pm and 8pm. That is NICE dear.
Base was situated right on the beach with our own little walkway from the pool onto the sand. Not a bad spot at all for $25 per night with all those freebies. This was a treat and a half for the discerning backpacker.
I spent my time here exploring Maggies taking myself off on a 12km trek around the south west part of the island. It was a roasting day but much of the walk was in some sort of shade so just about bearable. Maggies is an adorable place. Every house is different and stands alone in a well looked after garden full of brightly coloured tropical plants and flowers. Each little village has its own character with little boutique shops - well probably just the one shop per village really - and scooting around the island are Mokes which are like little barbie doll cars for the tourists to hire - they are tiny and unique fitting in very well with Maggies. This is the sort of place you could come to escape the world for a few weeks or indeed retire here. The old dears on the bus are hilarious. You can tell they were born and bred here and have probably never stepped off the island - I doubt they know where the ferry port is bless them. The bus driver is an old eccentric driving in a loop around the island over and over again day after day. You get the picture. There is nothing not to like about Maggies. Apart from maybe Base Backpackers. Who insist on playing music as loud as possible until the early hours with a DJ who really does not know how or when to shut up. He really was awful. I wonder what the locals think of Base? God I must be getting old!
20, 21 Nov - Mission Beach
Arrrr...lovely Mission Beach. Well - actually when I say that what I mean is lovely Scotty's. This is the backpacker where we stayed and it was a lovely little place to kick back and unwind for a few days before heading further north for the last part of our trip. Scotty's was a small affair with each room having a balcony facing out onto the beautifully maintained garden with tropical plants and a lovely bright and clean pool as the main focus. The staff were fun, friendly and very helpful. The fellow backpackers here were all cool, chilled out, over 21 which made a nice change and generally a nice bunch. We decided we would make use of Scotty's and just chill round the pool for a few days, kicking back, chewing the fat - that kind of thing. It was a nice change to do nothing for a few days. Catch up on diary writing and internet stuff. And some sleep which lacked at 'crazy Base.'
Enough said - but thank you Scotty's - you were perfect.
