Tropical Queensland, in the Wet season

I am now on Magnetic Island, an island just off the coast of Townsville, in Tropical Queensland. Unfortunately, I made the brutal mistake of booking my trip during the Wet Season, and it is pouring rain, and apparently will be doing so for about a week. So I am stuck at this hostel, which if it was sunny, would be awesome, as it is right on the beach. As it is, I am stuck here for a good 2.5 days with nothing to do but update my blog.
I probably should have booked my travels in this part of the country for later in the year, when its not raining. I feel like I’m wasting my money, paying to go to all these places and just sitting inside each one watching the rain.

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Luckily for me, the rain on Magnetic cleared up the next day, and I was able to go hiking around the island with a brother and sister that I met that worked at the hostel. We did a 5 km walk around the island. As we walked, the landscape was continually changing from lush forest with flowing creeks, to dry, eucalyptus filled terrain, to red earthed clay paths. The end of our walk popped us out at some waterfalls that are well known and frequented by the locals. This was one of my best experiences of the trip!!! Especially due to the frequent rain, the waterfalls were flowing well and pooled into various swimming holes along its course. The main one had a rope swing, (again with the rope swings!) on which a pair of 4 year olds put my swinging abilities and upper body strength to shame. We hiked further up and found a spot where you can duck under the waterfall and sit in a small cave formed by the rock, completely hidden from view from the outside. After our long hike, we took advantage of the fast flowing waterfall to massage our backs and necks as the water fell upon us. It was awesome!!! Definitely a highlight of my trip.

The next stop proved to be another highlight as well. I took the Greyhound up the coast to Mission Beach, a small coastal town renowned for its river rafting, skydiving and proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. It is also home to the cassowary, a large bird with a bright blue head that resembles an emu. We saw two yesterday on our drive up to the Tully River for my first river rafting experience. As much as I have hated all the rain that has been going on, it did my trip a favor in that the water levels were pretty high and we were able to raft the entire river instead of getting out at the low water level stop off. After a brief introductory paddle lesson, we were off. I think some of us in the boat were a bit confused about our rights and lefts, cause we flipped the boat on the very first rapid we encountered!!! It was pretty exhilarating going through the rapids without a boat! Our river guide had a field day yelling expletives at us after that, but I think he was only half serious. Haha. Needless to say we got our act together after that. Which is a good thing, because the river is actually really dangerous to raft because of all the rocks- apparently 5 people have died rafting it, and just in the last months 2 river guides, on separate occasions, dislocated their knees after falling out in the rapids.
Regardless, the trip was absolutely fantastic- the river wraps through World Heritage National park, this lush dense green rainforest with waterfalls cascading down these massive vine covered cliffs. It was a misty day, with common bouts of rainfall, but it was so warm that it didn’t even matter. The water was warm, and we often got in for a “swim” in calm areas- where we just floated down the mild rapid in our vests. All in all, we were on the river 4 hours. There was a diligent camera crew on the banks, and my boat pooled together for a CD of pictures, so I’ll be putting those up on facebook soon enough.
The only downside to this bit of the trip was getting my razors, perfume and most of my makeup stolen out of my toiletry bag after I accidentally left it in the common bathroom for a few hours. Australia thus far has been really safe, and I often have left bags unattended, but I am going to be more diligent from now on!

Solo Travelling

It has been a while since my last update, so I’m just going to lump in all the big things- Amy moved north of Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast. I went house hunting with her, and we found an adorable townhouse in a town called Maroochydore, which is right on the beach and close to the University she will be attending in July. Brooke stayed in Brisbane for a week to wait for her friend to arrive, and I kept going on my own, not wanting to waste a weeks worth of money to wait for them.
Here’s what’s happened since.
I went to Fraser Island through a company that does “self guided” tours. Essentially what this means is that they set you up with a bunch of people also going to the island, outfit you with a 4WD truck (that seats 10), all camping supplies (tent, stove, dishes) and a map and a loose itinerary and send you on your way. I originally wanted to do a guided tour, but the guy at the travel agency convinced me that self guided was the way to go. I wish I hadn’t listened to him. It took the better part of the morning to get all the gear together and go shopping for food with 9 other people on your group, all trying to decide on what to eat for 2 days. Then we had to drive to the ferry- we got lost. The ferry was late, which meant that we got to the island later and had less time to spend before setting up camp. I was in a group with 2 guys and 6 other girls, and we voted to let the boys handle the driving. The roads were really bumpy and all of them are sand, as it’s a sand island. As we were trekking and bumping along, we realized we had no idea where we were going. Fortunately we made our way to the first lake on the itinerary, but only had time to view it from the lookout before setting off for camp. It’s a really big island, and the slow traversing made it really time consuming to get anywhere. We finally got to our “campsite.” It was just a stretch of dunes on the beach. Turns out we were roughing it big time. “do it yourself” Hole in the ground toilets, no fresh water, it was super hot, there were dead jellyfish lining the beach, and huge massive bitting horseflies. Did I mention that there are wild dingoes? We all cooked meat the first night, which attacted about 15 dingoes, who decided to ravage our camp and rip up any and every thing we didn’t put back in the truck. Including a plastic bag that held our used toilet paper that was tied to a tree. Nasty cleanup the next morning!!! It rained that night, and I spent the evening with a busting bladder and a huge fear of going outside and having a dingo bite my butt while squatting in the bushes to pee. But soon it became too much and I really had to pee. Lo and behold, out somes a snarling dingo, forcing me to leap, pants around my ankles back into the tent, still with a busting bladder. It was around this time that I began cursing the guy who convinced me to buy this tour.
The next few days actually turned around- we managed to find a freshwater lake that we all bathed in (the weather was swelteringly hot, and we were all covered in sweat, sand, and sunscreen) before heading north to Indian Head. The bay was gorgeous, and we went to these massive tide pools (think water deeper than I am tall) that we warm and filled with fish and super salty, making you really buoyant. That night we all cooked pasta, and saw only one dingo. It did rain in the middle of the night however. We had set up a tarp as a rain fly, but kept the windows and door open, since it was so hot. I woke up soaking wet, with one of my tentmates sitting in the middle of the tent. She told me “Its raining.” No kidding! She just sat there, so I was forced to jump into action, by myself, to go outside in the pouring rain and undo the ties holding all the flaps open. I spent the rest of the night soaking wet and covered in sand. Did I mention that on the guided tours you sleep in a hostel?
The last day, we went to Lake McKenzie, which is a MASSIVE freshwater lake with water so clear it looks like a swimming pool. You can open your eyes underwater and see up to 10 feet away, clear as day. It was AWESOME!!! Unfortunately the sun refused to come out, so we didn’t see it in all its glory, and it kept raining in spurts on us, but it was still one of the best things I’ve seen on this trip so far.
Overall, the Fraser trip was enjoyable, but if I ever go back I am 110% doing it guided- you learn more about the island from knowledgeable guides, stay dry at night, and have toilets to pee in. I did enjoy the social aspect of my trip though- there were 50 people total, so even though I went alone, I left with a bunch of friends. Most people are also headed up north, and I even bumped into a few of my friends in the next town- Airlie Beach.
To get from Hervey Bay, where Fraser is, to Airlie Beach by Greyhound you have to take an overnight bus. Mine left at 12:30 am and arrived at 2:30 pm the next day. It was brutal, but it comes with the territory, I guess. Airlie Beach I known as the “Gateway to the Whitsundays” and is where you have to go to catch tours to the islands. I went out on a catamaran called Wings II, which holds 25 people and is geared toward diving vacations. I went on 5 dives, including a night dive. I had a great time- it was so great to be out on the water, and to be able to stay in your bathing suit, even after the sun went down, it was that warm! The crew took tons of pictures, the food was great, everyone was really friendly, and I even got to drive the boat- twice!!! Coincidentally, I had applied to work for that company before I booked that trip, and the skipper introduced me to the owner of the company after we got back. In order to get to know me and get a feel of how I am on boats, he took me out on his trimaran for a race against 4 other boats. We didn’t finish the race, however, because a massive downpour rolled in, like something out of the movies, soaking us to the core, and forcing us to head home. I didn’t mind the rain though, cause it was warm, and the ocean itself felt like bath water, it was awesome.

Melbourne to Brisbane

Hey hey! How ya going? Let’s bring you all up to speed on the happenings: We had a bit of a snafu upon arrival in Melbourne, that I purposefully omitted last entry, but now that we’re not in Melbs anymore, and I can relate on it in hindsight, the chain of events is actually kind of amusing. We booked our trip in Melbourne for 8 nights, (which is a decently long time when you are traveling and have nowhere to stay) because we thought we had somewhere to stay. Another fellow Club Med Turks co worker recently moved to Melbourne, and told us that she had plenty of extra beds and couch space, and we were free to stay with her. Well, when we got there, it turns out there weren’t any extra beds, the place was a pigsty, and though they offered to let us stay in their beds, the sheets were covered with questionable stains…Oh, and also, there was a raging house party in the house as well. So the three of us, Brooke, amy and I conferred, and decided to sneak out into the middle of the night, and call Amy’s friend Stewie to bail us out. He generously let us crash at his house, after receiving our 2 am desperate phone call. After calling around, Amy managed to score us a place to stay at another of her Aus Club Med friend’s house, where we had nice beds and internet access- something I take for granted at home, but which is a HUGE luxury when you are backpacking.
A highlight of the Melbourne area was the Great Ocean Road, a long windy costal route that wraps around the southern tip of Australia’s coastline. We decided to take a tour, which ended up being a really good idea because the tour guide kept us on schedule so that we stayed at every attraction just as long as possible to fit everything in. We stopped along the way to view wild koalas sleeping in Eucalyptus trees, and to have lunch in Apollo Bay, a charming costal town. Finally we made it to the spectacular 12 Apostles, massive rock formations that rise out of the ocean. There are actually only 8 left out of the original 12 due to erosion and the forces of the waves on the rocks, but the view was still spectacular. We continued on to the London Bridge, another large rock formation, that used to form a natural bridge, but which collapsed in 1991, with people out on the edge, so it is no longer accessible to visitors. Overall, the tour was over 12 hours of driving, but it was well worth it. The Great Ocean Road is definitely a must see if you make it down to Melbourne!
The next day, Amy’s friend Stewie took us to his parent’s house in the country, about 1.5 hours out of Melbourne. His parents are avid gardeners, and had a beautiful arraignment of flowers, vegetables, and other flora. Stewie took us in his 4WD truck down a dirt road to a local lake, where we climbed a tree and swung in on a rope swing. It was my first rope swing experience in over 10 years- so much fun! Stewie used to do Circus at Club Med, so he swung in with back flips and layouts, I merely managed a back flop- but it was still fun!
We had to wake up at 3:30 am the next day to fly to Sydney, which was brutal. We picked up Amy’s car and drove to the Blue Mountians, about 1.5 hours north of Sydney. There, we saw the 3 sisters, which are 3 massive rock formations that stick out of what can only be described as Australia’s tree filled version of the Grand Canyon. Aboriginal legend has it that three sisters fell in love with men from another tribe, which was forbidden. The men went to war to fight for their loves, and fearing for their safety, the tribe’s witch doctor cast a spell on the sisters, turning them to stone to keep them safe from the strife. Unfortunately, the witch doctor was killed in the battle, leaving the sisters to remain forever entombed in their rocky forms. Despite the rainy weather, we embarked on a 6km walk under the falls that traversed along the cliffside. The path was really well maintained, and the views were spectacular!!!! The foliage was lush, we were rained down upon by waterfall mist, and witnessed wild black cockatoos soaring across the sky. Other than that, there wasn’t much to do in the Blue mountains, especially given the rain and we spent the rest of the day/night just chilling at the hostel.
The rest of the trip is a bit of a blur- we just drove a lot, in hopes of getting back to Brisbane as quickly as possible. We stopped again at Surfer’s paradise, and it was a lot less crowded than it was the first time we went, over summer holidays. I really enjoyed it with less people, and after going yet again a few days later with Amy and her cousin, I have come to change my opinion of surfer’s and actually quite like it. The shops have a lot of cute clothes and the gelato was delicious!

That's all for now, hope good things are in store!