Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 1229

As promised, i have had my photos put onto cd finally so thought id do one entry for stuff i did in my first week and then another one later about this week, the sanctaury and other stuff. I CANNOT believe ill have been here for a fortnight tomorrow! Time is flying by and im loving every minute. So what did i get up to last week? Erm... I visited lots of free touristy things. The queensland art gallery was v.cool and had a good mixture of contempory and 'traditional' art. Was also a boiling hot day and it had air con so that was a big bonus!!On the same day i also went to the Queensland museum cos it was next door. It wasn't so good but since it didnt cost anything i just zipped ... read more

On Sunday, the day after my skydiving experience, Dave, Chris, and Shane flew to New Zealand. I spent the morning with Dave, buying the last minute souvenirs he needed from Australia...it's always a shame to have to say goodbye to people you've spent a lot of time with during your travels. Travelling creates an atmosphere where a week together can feel like a lifetime. After daying goodbye to Dave I randomly bumped into an old roommate from Melbourne, Adam. He was working at a hostel called Gilligans in town, and we decided to try to meet up (he was travelling with Dave and Clare from our house as well). I ended up meeting Drise and Jimmy from my room at PJO'Briens (where we get our free dinner every day). That evening, instead of going out, the ... read more

Well, I took Sashas advice and just drank water last night and Im not planning on drinking for the rest of my trip. Which is only one week but still. Im in airlie beach until wednesday and will be arriving in Cairns by Friday. Ill spend a few days there and then fly back 'home' to sydney where I have a job interview for a place like sport chek. I do have millions of pictures to upload but it takes too much time when im paying for internet. I miss my comments from everyone. Make sure everyone gets a mic so I can talk to them online when back in sydney. Happy birthday to Marcel, sasha, Angie, and my mom that all occured in the past two weeks. Im off to go hang out with Shayle ... read more

Spent most of the morning lazing around Lake Wabby, a huge, algea-green lake boarded by a massive tropical rainforst on one side and exhausting Sahara-esk sand-dunes on the other. It wasn't quite as stunning as Lake Makenzie, but fun to swim with the large black cat-fish and roll straight down the burning white dunes into the cool water. During the afternoon we raced across the sands to the shipwreck of The Maheno, the most famous of the Fraser Island wrecks that was driven ashore just north of Happy Valley during a cyclone in 1935. A Scottish-built vessle and once a well-known trans-Tasman liner, the Maheno was bound for a Japanese wrecking yard when she met her stormy end. Today the hull lies slowly deteriorating in the harsh salt environment. That evening all 4 teams had managed ... read more

A 7am start saw Team A laboriously check, pack and ready our trusty 4WD ready for 2 days and 3 nights on the Dingo-infested sand island - Frasier. We'd been briefed, mentoured and knocked into some sort of safari-shape by videos, talks and demos and were finally ready to hit the road. Nobody else wanted first drive, so I stepped up, jumped behind the wheel and started her up with a tractorous roar. There were 3 other teams setting off at the same time and rougly 8-12 other 'Dingos', (the tour company), crew already out there exploaring the island. The 4WD was a bit of a beast, what with a roof-rack jam-packed with 3 days worth of food, 6 crates of beer chillin in the Eskies, 5*4l casks of Goon white wine, sleeping bags and tents ... read more