Blogs from Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 10

Geo: -20.2679, 148.716In the morning we hauled the anchors and sailed for Hayman Island. As we reached Blue Pearl Bay a sea turtle stuck its head out of the water. Excited, everyone jumped into its wetsuit and into the water. Of course by that time the turtle was gone. But all of us were looking for Nemo again anyway. In vain, as we found out later. After the snorkeling we made our way back to Airlie Beach. Back in town I realized what an idiot I was forgetting my swim shorts on the boat. I hung them up to dry in the cabin and forgot to pack them later. Of course, when I returned to the boat two hours later the crew told me they hadn't "found anything" during the cleaning. It was a painful reminder ... read more

Geo: -20.2679, 148.716Today I started my sailing trip on the boat "New Horizon" heading for the Whitsunday's. A group of 74 islands within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. So, no touching or taking of anything! As we sailed towards Hook Island we saw a baby whale ;) For the night we anchored at the Nara Inlet, a breeding ground for Hammerhead Sharks. Not at the moment though. Our crew provided a delicious seafood dinner and we enjoyed the beautiful sunset with a couple of Carlton Draught's ;)Heute begann ich meinen Segeltrip auf dem Boot "New Horizon" zu den Whitsunday's. Einer Gruppe von 74 Inseln, die zum Great Barrier Reef Marine Park gehoeren. Deshalb, Anfassen oder Mitnehmen streng verboten! Als wir Richtung Hook Island segelten sahen wir einen Baby-Wal :) Fuer die erste Nacht ankerten wir ... read more

Geo: -20.2679, 148.716The Greyhound Bus picked us up around noon and we drove to Hervey Bay, another beach town and gateway to Fraser Island's west coast. After a 3 hour wait I got on another bus which would take me all along Capricorn Coast to Airlie Beach. A 15-hour overnight ride! The good news is I won't have to pay for a hostel and save time. But that's about the only good thing about overnight travels. Along the way we stopped in tiny Town of 1770. The funny name comes from its historical significance as the place of Captain Cook's first landing in Queensland, which is why this stretch also calls itself 'Discovery Coast'. The full moon actually made the ride quite interesting as the light gave the bushlands a dreamlike atmosphere. Not a bad trade-off ... read more

Grandpa here is the password Austrailia or austrailia2012 The letters should not because sensitive We are iairlines beach until the 23rd it is a spectacular location and so so tropical it is hard for us to believe that it is winter here! The weather is quite perfect but it does get chilly quickly when the sun goes down at 6 pm each night. Quite amazing actually as it disappears in about two minutes! We spent the day on Camira yesterday - an 80 ft catamaran snorkeling and spending time at the famous whitehaven beach on Whitsunday island. The sand is pure white silicA that cleans jewel really well and feels like baby powder. It is a protected park so you can't bar.ing sand back so you will just have to trust us with how amazing it ... read more

So we headed off to the "bullzeye" Rodeo in the "Great Western" hotel on Saturday night. There was a mini bus going from our hostel in Emu Park, carrying about 10 people. We were all given a can of beer and a cowboy hat before we left. Full of excitement, we undertook the 40 minute journey nto Rockhampton. So we arrived and whet an experience it was! It was like walking on to a set of a country and western movie. Real cowboys standing at the bar- check shirts, wrangler jeans and leather chaps. Along with this they had that country accent, the walk and general demeanour of real life cowboys! It was surreal, really it was!There were real, famous bull heads on the wall, taking pride of place. These were champion bulls in ther time ... read more