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Published: August 6th 2007
Sleeping
Robert sleeping in airports, on those long layovers (except this was about an hour after we left home...).This is the first of many parts of my Australasian Adventure 2006. We (my brother Robert and I) left home (Belo Horizonte, Brasil) towards Sydney, Australia. But not without a few lay-overs. 1hr flight to São Paulo, 5 hour layover there. 4hr flight to Santiago, Chile, another 4 hours there. 13hr flight to Auckland, New Zealand, 45 minutes there (enough to watch the terrible first half of Brasil's victory over Australia). And finally, 3hr flight to Sydney.
Sydney was OK. The cold and initial travel shock took a bit from it. I get very homesick in the first few days of a long trip. But after that I'm ready for whatever comes. Sydney was a bit cold (in more than one way). We visited all the tourist spots. The Opera House, The Bridge, The Rocks area, the harbour. We even looked for 42 Wallaby Way. But even though it is a nice city, for some reason it did not take to me. I was happy when we flew to the warmer weather of Brisbane.
Arriving in Brisbane we received our rental car, and tried to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the street (don't give me
the "it's not the wrong side, it's the left side" crap... it is the WRONG SIDE!). We spent a day walking around the quiet city, and left the next morning towards Rainbow Beach, our gate to Fraser Island. Of course we had to make a rainy stop at Australia Zoo, and look at the crocs and pictures (yes, only pictures) of the great Steve Irwin (RIP, my man!).
Amazingly, we did not get lost on the way to Rainbow Beach (I ALWAYS get lost). Upon arriving, we found the Pippie's Backpacker Hostal, which was recommended by the nice folks in Brisbane. We quickly made some new friends and played cards for quite a while. The next morning came early when we were picked up by our Fraser Island guide Jason, and two korean girls who spoke absolutely no English. Jason did seem to speak any kind of English I managed to understand either, being he had such a strong accent.
Fraser Island was definitely one of the most beautiful places I've been so far. We visited (under a lot of rain) the Maheno Wreck, Indian Heads, the Aborigene Camp, the Pinnacles. At one point, a seahawk wooshed into
Kangaroo
Fighting off those nasty beasts. the bushes and came out with a huge sea snake for dinner (note to self: no bush bathroom breaks here). The tour was a bit ackward, since our guide Jason was quite a talker (and I couldn't understand a word he said), and the korean girls did nothing but giggle (stereotype?).
Back do Rainbow beach, I enjoyed a morning of surfing (well...trying...) and walking around. We drove back to Brisbane, where I was meeting the head of the School of Medicine of the University of Queensland, to discuss a possible future here. After the meeting, we headed to the airport, to fly to Sydney, and then to Singapore.
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Jena
Jena Hazlerigs
Lost?
You ALWAYS get lost?? Should I be concerned? :P I don't think I'd seen the wreck picture before - it's an amazing image. Heck, they all are! I can't wait to hear more about your trip, I feel like I never got the details!