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Published: November 30th 2006
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At 3am on Thursday 16th Katy, Jo and myself arrived in a small town called Agnus Water, better known for its neighbouring town of 1770 (named after it was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770). Due to the crappy times of the Premier bus we had no choice but to rock up in the early hours of the morning after having been dropped off in the middle of no where and be picked up by a man and his dog (an organised shuttle service - don't worry). This town is still quite unknown, but is an up and coming place for backpackers as it hosts an array of cool, adventurous activities at very reasonable prices and is also very chilled and pretty.
The first day we spent catching up on sleep and chilling on the beach. Lou and Stacey arrived the next night and we moved over to a hostel called Cool Bananas so they could accomodate us all when Bekka (who had been on a ranch) and Preet (who was having a bit of a nightmare time in Airlie Beach) arrived. It was a funky hostel, but the owner was a little intense/sergeant major like, which kinda ruined the
atmosphere a little as we were all afraid of getting told off. We spent the evening chatting to 3 dutch guys and a German guy who we had previously met on Magnetic Island.
Whist wondering round the town, Katy popped into one of the main estate agents and picked up a brochure which advertised 'holiday homes'. After a bit of discussion we decided to spend a further week in 1770 and rented a house at the bargin price of $400 for the week (that being $8 each a night, about 3 pounds). The next morning we moved into our new accomodation and it was just soooo nice having our own space, as well as a sofa, tv, own washing machine and kitchen. That evening we had the duch guys round for a BBQ and had a fun night of drinking games.
The previous morning we all took a surf lesson. It is an absolute must and far cheeper than anywhere else down the East Coast, so we were determined to become pros. Unfortunatly that didn't happen. Although it was much fun and I really enjoyed the challenge and getting sucked under my board regularly, I just didn't have
the upper body strength to get myself up standing. As you can see from the picture, at one point I almost managed but the next moment I was once again under the water. The lesson was good, but the next day we hired a board again and we were even more rubbish that the day before. I have come to the conclusion that I am not a surfer and am happy on the sand.
The following afternoon, me, Katy and Jo embarked on our plane flight over 1770. We had not really thought much about it and just thought it would be nice to take a ride and see the sights. We were dropped off in this field and saw this VERY small 4 seater plane and started to realise what we were in for. Jo sat in the front and was well up for it were as me and Katy were in the back not so sure. Take off was quite scary but once in the air I suddenly felt soooo unsafe all I wanted to do was get out. Katy felt the same and we clung to each other. The pilot, Bruce swang the plane about a
bit whilst we and Katy screamed, he then dropped it giving us the same sensation you get from a rollercoast and we completely freaked. I was terrified and we begged him not to do it again (normally he does a real noise dive). At one point Jo took over the flying and was very brave until we hit and wind pocket and she freaked a bit. Despite this the view was AMAZING and soon I forgot so much about being scared. Half way through Bruce landed us on this beautiful beach that can only be reached by plane or boat. He got us on top of the plane and insisted on taking loads of different pictures, he was really quite funny. We took a stroll along and enjoyed being the only ones of the beach. The second trip in the plane was not so scary and I began to really enjoy the sharp turns and twists. We saw dolphines in the water below and at one point he flew the plane just 2 metres above the sea. Although I was quite glad to have both feet on the ground once landed, it was a brilliant experience.
The following week
was spent sunbathing on the beach, eating a crazy amount of food, watching crappy Oz TV and just completely relaxing. It was just so nice to have evenings together having cooked a BBQ and prepared loads of food to then sit down together and eat. One day we took a long walk across the rocks to find a nice quiet beach, I enjoying scaling the rocks though Preet really wasn't so keen. On the Friday we took a ride on the scooteroos - the most popular activity in 1770. As you can see from the pictures, they are small Harley Davidsons and a large group of you take a tour around 1770 and stop off to watch the sun set. Now I am really not a moter bike fan at all, but for some reason I had convienced myself that this was going to be different, it wasn't!! As soon as I got on the bike and took off, I nearly ended up in a bush and then very nearly ran on of the guides over. As time went on I got better, but it very quickly became clear that I was the liability of the group. I came off
the road twice, nearly hit the guide (twice!!), forgot where the breaks were and nearly collided with a couple and had real problems with corners. It was actually really good fun, but everyone found me a little scary when on the bike. Am glad I did it but think it will be my first and last time on the bike.
Friday was our last evening so we had a very drunken night out at the local pub. There were quite a few people out from our scooteroo tour, so it was cool to drink and chat with others. The next night we got the bus at 2.30am, after having been dropped off in the middle of the night again by man and his dog. Arrived in Rainbow Beach at 7.40am very tired and in need of sleep. Fraser Island to come........
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Di
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What an amazing time you're having, Bec! Thanks for keeping us posted. Not long now till you're here. Richard and Lara fly home from Tassie tonight, they should be in the air now. love and hugs Di