Blogs from Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 22

Mita tapahtuu kun laitetaan yhdeksan tuntematonta ihmista englannista, irlannista, hollannista, saksasta, kanadasta ja suomesta samaan maasturiin kolmeksi paivaksi. Sen saan tietaa huomenna kun lahetaan kiertelemaan Fraser Islandia vuokra maasturilla. Teita, kaupunkeja tai kylia ei ole, vain rantoja, hiekkadyyneja, kristallinkirkkaita jarvia ja paljon kojootteja ja haita. Yot leiriydytaan milloin missakin rannalla ja nukutaan teltoissa. Reissu kuulostaa uskomattoman hienolta varsinkin kun aurinko on vihdoinkin ruvennu sateiden jalkeen paistamaan. Sen jalkeen lahden viettamaan erilaista joulua seilaillen paratiisisaarelta toiselle. Eli jouluaterian tana vuonna syon Whitsundaysilla purjeveneessa. Ja siina sivussa opin myos purjehtimaan. Todellinen testi oonko paassyt yli merisairaudestani kun vietan kolme paivaa/yota veneessa. Uuden vuoden vietto tuotti mulle vahan paanvaivaa, kun kaikki... read more

July 17 - 24, 2006 Hervey Bay Hervey Bay is a nice stretch of little towns along a coast rich with recreational opportunities and diverse sea life. The town rests on a migration route popular with humpback whales, who come up from the Antarctic to birth their young, sharks and dolphins. Not far off the coast lie a pair of jewels, Fraser Island and Lady Elliot Island, easily reached from Hervey Bay. The area has grown from 15,000 to 55,000 residents in the last 15 years but retains the feel of a very small community (albeit one frequently overrun with tourists). We stumbled into a nice motel, the Hervey Bay Motel, owned and operated by an accommodating and informative proprietor named Glynn. Glynn happily suggested a few places in town to eat and helped us to ... read more

Brisbane We left Stanthorpe and headed towards Brisbane, a journey of 250km. We were both very excited to get back to the ocean, which we hadn't seen for 5 weeks! The drive to the coast was a lot easier than the drive from the coast had been because it was mostly downhill as we decended the 922m above sea level that we had been working in. Time to get rid of these farmer tans! We got into Brisbane in the late afternoon and went for a walk around the Queensland University of Technology campus. This brought back memories of being in school and campus life. Carolyn read the Lonely planet book a bit and I had a snooze in the shade in the Botanic Gardens that are adjacent to the university. We also walked around a ... read more

Next stop: Hervey Bay. We were staying in a really nice hostel here, with an won bar and sort of restaurant and all rooms were to be accessed from outside. Bit like camping :). The first night here we had dinner in the hostel, together with Rem and Mar (remember, Emma's friends), who also happened to be staying in the hostel. Afterwards we had some drinks with some others who were staying/working in the hostel, actually really cosy. Next day we rented bikes and explored Hervey Bay. Turned out to be a very beautiful little (although, little, hmm, also pretty widespread) place, especially the harbour. In the evening we had some sort of picnic on the area of our hostel, really cosy, and then went to bed early, to be fit for our big day, our ... read more

People come to Hervey Bay for 3 main reasons - whale-watching (the season finished a couple of days ago), access to Fraser Island, and (latterly) house-buying, due to it being the next underdeveloped stretch of coast heading north from Noosa. It's inconveniently laid out in a sprawl of originally separate suburbs, such that end to end is a good 7km. Quite why it's pronounced "Harvey Bay" is a question I can't answer. My reason for coming was purely as a base from which to visit Fraser Island. With a cold looming on the horizon, and my intention to dive at Rainbow Beach in a couple of days' time, my Hervey Bay diet was 90% Strepsils. I'd been warned that the place was sub-Airlie Beach in terms of backpacker behaviour but I didn't see or even hear ... read more