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Published: October 12th 2006
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5th October, Thursday... Dave and Thom dragged me to Movieworld, a Universal Studios style theme park, early in the morning. I think I might be getting a bit old for theme parks and the drinks the night before certainly didn't help. I'd say the highlight was seeing Shane Warne who was there with his kids and was being stared at by hundreds of onlookers, myself included. After a few rollercoasters we hit the road and made it to Brisbane and its one way system in time for nightfall.
6th October, Friday... After a nice early start thanks to all the passing trucks and early morning parking restrictions we moved the van and headed to the botanical gardens in Brisbane, as everything else was closed. There are lots of pretty flowers and trees there including palms and dragon trees (reminds me of the good ol days). Perhaps most importantly I got a haircut and now don't look so much of a greasy hobo (Thom is still fulfilling that role). Walked around Brissy for a bit that afternoon to take in some of the old architecture, there are some nice buildings in Australia but it doesn't seem as impressive as some I've
seen as there's nothing more than 150 years old. Headed out for a bit in the evening before Dave was asked to leave the bar because he looked like he was drunk from his dancing, he tried to explain that was just how he danced but they were having none of it. Funnily enough it was true. Oh well, we piled into a cab where the driver took us the scenic route home.
7th October, Saturday... Enough of Brisbane. The day before we'd tried to book a trip to Fraser Island and the Whitsundays with a great deal of confusion and no resolution other than to head to Hervey Bay (where the boats for Fraser leave from) and try to find a deal there. Slightly annoying as that meant we had to hit the road today and had no time to take in the Australia Zoo on the way (RIP Steve, mate) and no chance of watching the Soccerroos take on Paraguay in Brisbane in the evening (although the game didn't look at all interesting from the telly in the end). Anyway, to Hervey we went.
It turned out to be equally confusing and expensive in Hervey bay
and with all our dallying we missed the chance to do a three day tour of Fraser so went for a guided two day tour instead, departing tomorrow. Turns out you can't sleep in your vehicle on the streets of Hervey Bay and we were asked to move on by a very friendly security guard.
8th October, Sunday... Day one of the Fraser Island tour. A nice early start and got to see the two dutch guys we'd met in the campsite in Surfer's on the same bus as us, what are the chances? After a short ride and wait we were on the boat to the island. First up, a walk through the rainforest. Fraser is the largest sand island in the world but it absolutely covered in trees, something about trees rotting in the sand providing nutrients. Anyway, very nice walk and got to see some kind of dragon as well as a lovely clearwater creek. All you can eat buffet for lunch (glad I picked this tour) and off to drive on the highway. Turns out the highway is actually the beach and isn't such a nice place to chill out with all the 4x4s buzzing
past. It is 75 miles long and has been names such, can't get over the number of cars on the beach though. Got to see a shipwreck and a walk up some rocks (Indian Head) to check out the view where we got to see turtles, rays (poor Steve), dolphins and whales. Very excellent. Back to Eli Creek for a short walk and time to chill. All you can eat buffet for dinner and a couple of beers with the guys from our group.
9th October, Monday... All you can eat breakfast (starting to feel fat now) and the trip out to Lake Wabby. It started out as a nice walk over the sand dunes but started to feel a bit like we were in the desert. This is probably the first time it really hit home that the whole island is made of sand. The lake itself was beautiful, lovely emerald colour water and surrounded by trees, really was like a little oasis. The water is spring water so it was like taking a bath in Evian. Very cool. Back for lunch (all you can eat, I actually went for sald this time) and then off to Lake McKenzie which isn't spring water but rainwater trapped in a very large reservoir. Our guide explained to us it was a nice pH of 4.5 so would make your hair feel super conditioned (why did I chop it all off?) and clean. Only problem was that it was raining (time to top up the lake) and really quite cold. I persisted and swam in the warmer than ambient temperature lake for around an hour before it got too cold and gave up. The water was lovely though, this time blue but incredibly clear, you could see the black 'rock' at the bottom, no matter how far you swam out, with crystal clarity. Actually it's not rock at the bottom but mulched up vegetation and sand hardened up to make 'coffee' rock, so called because it crumbles like instant coffee if you hold it, very odd. Back to the boat and back to Hervey in the cold, this wasn't part of the deal. Met up with two of Thom's friends from back home both called Katy, that should be easy to remember.
10th October, Tuesday... Time to head to Airlie beach (where the boats leave for the Whitsunday Islands) but it's quite far so today we only made it as far as Rockhampton. Lonely Planet decribes it as the beef capital of Australia, how could I resist. We each had a lovely 600gr rump steak and chips and some sausage then bloatedly headed back on the road towards Mackay and Airlie. This time slept in a rest area off the highway, not too bad apart from the smell of the loos.
11th October, Wednesday... Made it to Airlie Beach. Raining. What do you do at a beach when it rains??? Our answer was to have a bbq and some beers. Maybe too many beers but fun was had by all.
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