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Published: November 5th 2011
So I have finally moved away from Cairns a-woo-hoo! Not that I didn't love it there but it was definitely time to move on. For the last week I have been travelling down the East coast, not spending too much time in each place but just enough to appreciate the sea (that you can't swim in) and the beach.
My first stop was Magnetic Island which was cool, I staying in this hostel which is literally right on the beach, that did mean that there was sand everywhere though. They had just had a full moon party there 2 nights before so the entire hostel looked hung over but that didn't really matter because I got to spend the day lying on the beach and doing absolutely nothing. Next I was off to Airlie Beach which is the main base for people heading out to the Whitsunday islands which I didn't have the time or the money to do 😞. I met a couple from Texas though who were reasonably old but insisted on giving me loads of advice on men and telling me how sensible I am apparently, so that was weird. Again I pretty much spent most of the
day sitting by the lagoon; ironically the beach at Airlie isn't actually that big and the sea is full of jellyfish so everyone just goes to the lagoon instead.
After a night bus (worst idea ever!) I ended up in Hervey Bay which is the most pointless town in the world. There is literally nothing there and everything closes at 3pm, I did get my room upgraded in my hostel though which meant that I didn't have to sleep in a bunkbed. The best part about Hervey Bay is that it is so close to Fraser Island which, as I was told over and over again, is the largest sand island in the world. I headed out on a two day trip there with a tour group which was so much fun, everyone there was pretty much travelling alone which meant that we were kind of forced to talk to each other, I met some pretty cool people though. We were being driven around in a huge 4wd coach through the sand which was not the most comfortable ride in the world, but it was definitely entertaining.
First stop on the trip was a place that I cannot remember the
name of but basically we went for a couple of walks through the 'bush' and saw some wild sand monitors (lizards, not people who monitor the sand) and loads and loads of trees. I spent the walks looking at the ground watching out for snakes though so didn't really see much else; you will be glad to know that I didn't see a single snake while on the island, much to the disappointment of some of the group.
We then headed over to lake Mackenzie which is apparently the most photographed spot on the island because it is this bright blue lake with really white sand which makes it really pretty. All of the photographs of the lake are taken from a clever angle because it is no-way-near as big as it looks, it is beautiful though and the sand is sooooo soft. The water was freezing though, and not 'refreshing-after-a-long-walk' type freezing it was just cold. The second day was spent driving up and down the eastern beach which is 75 miles long and acts as a giant motorway, it pretty cool bombing along a beach in a big truck/coach and every now and then drifting into the sea
and having to stop to look at the dingoes that wander onto the beach. One of the last things we did there was climb to the top of one of the 3 rocks on the island where you can look down into the sea where the water is really clear. While there we spotted sea turtles and giant fish-type-thingys and a teeny-weeny shark, apparently sometimes you can see humpbacked whakes and huge sharks there but it is out of season now 😞.
So after 2 days on Fraser Island I have sand in everything I own and have headed on down to Brisbane which I haven't had the chance to explore yet but I will be sure to let you know what I think. Then later this week I am going down to Sydney for a couple of days and then off to New Zealand!!
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