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Published: November 8th 2007
My apologies and thanks to those of you who have patiently awaited the third installment of Tracy's travels. I assure you I have done you all a great service by sparing you the gory details of my first two weeks in Australia which consisted of little more than furniture shopping and decorating the new apartment in Sydney. It was only when I found myself rearranging a pillow for the third time in one afternoon that I realized it was time to bid Simon and Sydney farewell and head up the coast for a little fun in the sun.
My first stop was Byron Bay. To my great relief, Australia now boasts of two low fare airlines - Jetstar and Virgin Blue - which make traveling from one destination to the next more economical and far less painful than the Greyhound buses i became so well acquainted with my first trip to Australia. For those of you who have not made it to this vast continent, keep in mind it is the size of the US and the distances between stops can easily be a 12-18 hour bus ride...in other words, FLY!
Byron Bay is a majestic little spot about
800 km north of Sydney (that's 500 miles my fellow Americans). It's the pinnacle of the Hippie lifestyle in Australia with happy herb shops and a never ending supply of dreadlocks and bare feet. In that sense it's quite like my hometown of Boulder, the major difference of course being that where as Boulder has the mountains, Byron has the sea.
Admittedly, the transition to the backpacking world was not an easy one for me. Whereas six years ago I remember feeling I could traipse around Oz with nothing more than a pack on my back and a smile on my face until the end of time, this go around I suddenly found myself feeling a wee bit out of place and dare i say it, "OLD", at the ripe age of 26! When I showed up to dinner the first night with my $14 personal pizza and $17 bottle of wine I knew it was going to be a rough transition. My fellow diners were of course gorging on spaghetti with some rendition of red sauce for the 140th evening in a row. Traditionally this meal was accompanied by a bag of wine - yes, a bag! I
Australia's Most Easterly Point
At least that's what the sign said!quickly learned that cheap boxed wine was the preferred alcoholic beverage however as the box proved quite cumbersome to carry with a back and gear, it would be discarded so as to leave its owner with a lovely metallic, malleable plastic bag. After the 12th offer for a lovely mug of this "wine" I dug deep within my backpacking soul to determine if I too could join this bag-toting club and came up with a difinitive, Hell NO! So, I made peace with my old age ways and continued to spend a typical backpacker's week's alcohol budget on a single night's bottle of wine. This got me through a lovely 5 days at this destination.
One of Byron’s most famous sights is its lighthouse. A dramatic setting, the lighthouse sits atop the most easterly point of Australia with cliffs and waves crashing at a distance below. Lucky for me it happens to be whale season here and I was able to spot a mama and calf Humpback jumping about in the distance. This however was to be the tip of the iceberg.
My last day in Byron I went out on a kayaking trip. A pod of 300-400
Feeding the Roo
I honestly could have fed these things all day long. Granted the big ones were a little intimidating but the experience was priceless. wild dolphins live in the bay year-round and we were lucky enough to receive a visit from quite a few of them while out on the water. They circled the boats, diving underneath them while nipping each other and generally having a great time. Simultaneously we had sea turtles popping up at the bows and hanging about to see what we were up to. Most exciting however was the spotting of a humpback whale a mere 100 meters in front of us. In our excitement we drifted into some pretty rough water in hopes of getting a closer look but alas our much smarter friend went off to find calmer waters elsewhere. A bit crestfallen, we resigned ourselves to riding some of the more exciting waves offered up by the choppy sea. Well, more specifically, my kayak rode these waves thanks to the instructor I had in the backseat of mine. As for the other boats, we got a good laugh watching each flip after the other in their attempts to ride. Sometimes traveling without a partner has its advantages! Luckily the shark that attacked a kayaker 3 days prior was no where to be found on this day!
Wise Koala
This was my first furry friend spotting at the Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and he just sat there with this look on his face that made me think he had been through the routine once or twice before. Several hours later I said farewell to Byron Bay and boarded a bus to Brisbane. While Brisbane as a city is quite “missable” for a traveler, I found it a worthwhile stop if to only visit the koala sanctuary about a 40 minute bus ride outside the city. Between the loosely guarded koalas and free roaming kangaroos I was just shy of being in heaven. Although I must admit that each time a kangaroo came hopping by me I had flashbacks to a roo that decided to initiate a boxing session with an innocent passerby on some American reality show. America’s Funniest Home Videos perhaps? These roos however seemed more content to nap than bother with the gawking humans.
Next stop, Airlie Beach. This was the jumping off spot for the Whitsunday islands and honestly I find it hard to put into words how gorgeous this destination is. My primary purpose for heading out to the Whitsundays was to dive, however even if you are a timid snorkeller this would be a worthy trip. I lived aboard a sailboat for 3 days/2 nights with 12 other passengers and 3 crew. Needless to say living in such close quarters we
Whitehaven from Above
Granted I did not have the pleasure of taking this shot but it was too good to omit! got to know each other fairly quickly. For instance (and of the utmost importance if you valued your health) who absolutely not to follow in line for the bathroom.
Our first day out we stopped at Whitehaven Beach which is consistently recognized as one of the top 10 beaches in the world. For good reason. Stretching over seven kilometers, the beach features pure white silica sand fringed by the most brilliant blue water. Due to its World Heritage status, virtually nothing is allowed on the beach, including people apparently seeing as how we were the only souls there for the entirety of our two-hour exploration. We stayed within the islands our first day and night and then to our great fortune conditions allowed us to make the journey to the outer reef for our remaining days. I packed in 5 dives which were all phenomenal. I will let the photos speak for themselves.
Although I was quite sad to say farewell to the Whitsundays, I was excited to reach my last destination, Magnetic Island, because I quite literally knew nothing about it. Magnetic Island is about a 20-minute ferry ride from the port of Townsville. My first impression
is that, like many places in Australia, it’s having a bit of an identity crisis. It’s a sleepy little island with quite a few fulltime residents who have clearly been living there for decades enjoying the simple lifestyle of this community. There are a couple buses that circle the island all day and guaranteed if the bus driver does not know your first name (as he does in the case of all locals) he will have some sort of anecdotal story to share involving your native country (as he does for all backpackers). Both these groups however seem to be at risk with the building of high rise luxury condos and all the changes that come with them. This was not my first stop where I witnessed massive development (the likes of which was completely absent from my trip in 2002) and it’s hard not to be a little disappointed to see it happening.
In all honesty, my four days were largely spent lazing by the beach, reading my book. One afternoon however I went exploring because I had been told that I could see wild koalas at the old WWII forts sight. Magnetic Island was used as a
lookout station for The War and some of the original structures are still intact and can be seen throughout this hike. I was halfway through, absolutely dying from the heat and thoroughly disappointed at having not seen any koalas when I walked down from the lookout and right there in front of me was one sleeping on a low lying branch. I could pet it (if I dared risk having my eyes scratched out by those 4” claws), it was so close. He was snoring away - as they do for 20 hours a day - completely oblivious to my fascination and photo-taking frenzy. As luck would have it I saw two more on my hike down. There is definitely a satisfaction in seeing a rare animal in their natural habitat that can never be recreated in a zoo or sanctuary.
Alas, I have since returned to Sydney where I will be stationed for the next month. I know this has taken most of you 4 days to get through if you even managed to get to this last paragraph, so I will happily save all Sydney tales for the next entry. Stay tuned and as they say here,
Arthur Bay
One of the many incredible vistas seen from the old WWII forts. see you later (or rather, see ya layta)!
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nina
non-member comment
i feel ya!!
just wanted to say love the pics and i am completely understanding and sympathetic to those "old" feelings that have come up for you! I however have decided to ignore them, as i refuse to admit that we are getting old!!! -n