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Published: April 22nd 2010
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We arrived in Brisbane and immediately had to walk a kilometre uphill, in 33 degree heat to our hostel. Not the most fun aspect of travelling. Our hostel was brand new and very funky, with a nice rooftop swimming pool. We spent 3 days in Brisbane but didn't really do much apart from meeting Dans friend from school who now lives here.
A very short journey from Brissie is Straddie (Stradbroke island), where we stopped for a few days to have a break from the city life. We stayed right beside the beach and had a great time body boarding, and climbing on the rocks by the sea. In the evening we watched the new moon rising from the horizon which was a B-E-A-utiful sight. The following day we did a board walk along the cliffs, spotting a sea turtle swimming below us. Dan got bitten by a horrible looking spider, but as his arm is still there we don't think it could have been too poisonous.
We had another night in Brisbane then headed up to Hervey bay; gateway to the world heritage listed Fraser Island. Our YHA in Hervey bay was beautiful, another tropical resort where we
even got drinks and fruit on arrival. We spent a couple of days lazing round the pool before it was time for our trip to Fraser island; one of the 'must do's' on the East coast. We opted for a 2 day guided tour and were delighted to find out that there were only 5 people in our group and we had 4WD instead of a coach.
Our first day on Fraser began be extremely bumpy and stomach churning journey along a track in the rainforest to our accommodation. After a delicious buffet lunch we drove along the beach to Eli creek and had a stroll down the chilling waters. Apparently there were eels in the water but we didn't spot any. Next stop was the Maheno shipwreck which was pretty cool. Last stops of the day were Indian Head (a walk/rock climb up to a good view) and the Champagne pools. We retired for the day exhausted to our luxurious en-suite cabin.
Our second day on Fraser was equally busy; we did a 5km walk through the bush then across sand dunes to Lake Wabby, where we had a very refreshing swim. In the afternoon we went
to Lake Birrabean - a crystal clear lake with a white sand beach. Overall we had a brilliant time on Fraser Island, and felt it was definitely worth the price of the tour.
For our next stop we ventured off the 'YHA route', to the Town of 1770. We stopped in another nice hostel, although there were literally hundreds of cane toads everywhere! We had a very active stay in 1770, on the first day Julia had another surf lesson, as this is the last surf beach up the coast. She managed to stand up a few more times, but will have to wait til Hawaii before she can practise again.
The following day we went on a 60km motorbike ride with ScooterRoo. Given that neither of us had ever rode a motorbike before it was pretty scary, but surprisingly easy to get the hang of. We rode all through the quiet country lanes, and managed to spot some wild kangaroos which was really cool.
On our final day in 1770 we hired electric bikes, so that we could explore more of the town. It was so much fun whizzing up the hills without peddling, although Dans
battery died twice (which meant lots of peddling back to the hire shop!). We rode all around the beach and up to the lookout in the hills, and both really want to get electric bikes back in England now!
Our next stop is Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays). Keep you posted soon!
Dan & Julia xxx
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Lynn Noon
non-member comment
Hard life
well it looks like you are having such a hard time of it, can't believe hostels have swimming pools and fruit on arrival, you certainly would not get that in England.