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Published: August 7th 2008
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We had an early flight to Hervey Bay and once landed we picked up our hire car to make the 3 hour drive up to Agnes Water. Hervey Bay would be our base for the following two days, but to start with we had booked a tour of Lady Musgrave Island further up the coast to see the Great Barrier Reef first hand.
The drive to Agnes Water was scenic and the nice thing about Agnes Water and the accompanying town of 1770 is that neither are too touristy or crowded. They are pretty much stopping off places for the Lady Musgrave Island tours, and so the beaches in both towns are unspoilt and uncrowded. We had booked a night at the Southern Cross 1770 Backpackers Hostel which was in an absolutely lovely setting. It was a shame about the grumpy manager but the nicely decorated cabins, landscaped gardens, table tennis and pool room more than made up for that!
Early the next morning - day 2 - we drove a short distance to the ferry harbour where we boarded the Spirit of 1770 cruise boat for a 2 hour crossing to Lady Musgrave Island. Lady Musgrave Island was
named after a former Australian Generals wife, and all began years and years ago as a rock in the pacific ocean which slowely grew and grew into the beautiful island it is today. The boat docks at the pontoon about 1/4km from the Island, and this is where the snorkelling and scuba diving takes place from. I was very excited about seeing the Reef - I had been snorkelling in Thailand and the Carribean but the Great Barrier Reef was up there with the best places in the world to do it. I was a little dissappointed with the colour of the coral - not the bright primary colours I was expecting but a lot of browns - our tour guide said this was due to the time of year and the fact that the sun was not so bright that day, which effected the appearance of the coral.
However, we did have some exciting moments when we spotted turtles swimming below us and there were many beautiful fish (including the zebra fish - my favourite). We also learnt that if we are ever stuck on an island to eat fish that is silver in colour (as they are
fish eating fish) - not the colourful pretty ones as they are algae or plancton eating fish and may be poisonous. Well I would happily be stuck on Lady Musgrove Island - it is sooooo beautiful. All kinds of flora and the most beautiful beaches. We had a 45 minute walk around the island and then hopped back on the boat for some buffet lunch - which was delicious! The Spirit of 1770 tour is very expensive but the tour guides do everything they can to make your day enjoyable. We also had the luck of spotting a blue whale breaching on the water.
A pretty chilled out day, and well worth the drive up the coast. After our tour had finished though we had to make our way back down to Hervey Bay where we would be setting off the following day for a tour of Fraser Island.
Fraser Island is paradise!! It is simply stunning. Early on day 3 we were picked up by our tour bus and ferried across the Sandy Straights to Fraser Island. This only took 30 minutes, and gave us plenty of the day to spend on the biggest sand island in
the world. Our 4wd bus drove up and down windy tracks showing us the alpine woods and ran through a little bit of the history surrounding Fraser Island. The drive was so scenic, and our first stop was to Lake Mackenzie - and 'wow' is how I am going to describe it. Clear beautiful turquoise water with pure white sands - it is still and peaceful and perfect for a dip in. Well it would have been perfect if it wasn't for the fact it was Australia's winter. I did manage to dip a couple of toes in though. brrrrhhhh.
With Lake Mackenzie behind us, the bus set off for a 45 minute windy tour to our lunch destination. A quick stop here for a buffet lunch and then a fantastic drive along the beach (they actually call it a highway!) towards the Coloured Sands and the Maheno Wreck. Both of the latter are stunning. The weather was behaving itself beautifully that day - and despite the fact it was winter, we both caught the sun. What an absolutely amazing place. This tour was incredible - and if we ever come back to Australia we will definitely take the
option of renting our own 4wd and bringing some camping gear (if we can brave the dingos!).
What a perfect end to our Australia journey. And now we were beginning to feel excited about New Zealand. What an adventure...........
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