Blogs from Rainbow Beach, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 13

I have returned unscathed from Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, and had a fantastic 3 days of driving, camping, wildlife spotting and squatting in bushes(!) with some great people. Kathy and I arrived in Rainbow Beach on Mon 10th. After finding our room and dropping off our stuff, we headed out to explore; it didn't take us very long because there is only one street of shops/cafes and the beach!!So we had a paddle in the sea and lay on the beach to compare it to Noosa and then headed back for our Fraser Island briefing. Here we were shown 2 videos; one was about driving on sand, dos and don'ts of camping etc and the other was a safety video showing us what to do if we encountered a dingo and ... read more

Hey all! The next stop after Hervey bay and Frazer Island was Rainbow Beach. Rainbow was an unexpected but pleasant surprise... it's relaxed and beautiful... reminded me a little of Waiheke. I stayed in Rainbow from June 1 to 10 at a cool hostel called Pippies... it was the first hostel in Australia that is close to the quality of those in New Zealand. I spent most days on the beach... surfing, swimming or just enjoying the sun. I spent my birthday there... pretty low key... my friend Jodi bought me a "Canadian Breakfast"(Pancakes and maple syrup). Couple night we went up to Carlos sand blow to watch the sunset... absolutely awesome! We also brought up a boggieboard to surf down the sand... then to clean up we jumped into the pool at some swanky resort. ... 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

I've arrived at the Sunshine Coast - I'm once again a traveller!! I flew into Maroochydore a week ago - Easter Sunday. I stayed at a backpackers called the Cotton Tree Beachhouse Backpackers - it was a nice, quiet hostel. Sadly, though, the first day I stayed in Maroochydore it rained...and so instead of heading to the beach, I spent a few hours at the shopping mall. Not exactly what I had planned for my arrival at the sunshine coast. I DID, however, meet some nice people at the hostel, and it was nice to hear their tales of coming down the coast, and to start planning my stop-overs on my way to Cairns (thanks Joyce!). The second day I decided to head up to a place called Rainbow Beach - it is the second alternative ... read more

Never share a dorm room with 7 girls. Especially when that dorm room has only 1 shower, in the same room as the 1 toilet. A room shared with the fairer sex may smell nicer than a room shared with other blokes - but this comes at a price. I awoke at around 07:15, but it was gone 09:15 before I was able to get into the shower and get out for breakfast. ON the plus side though this did give me the opportunity to have a good lie in! Today was the day for Sea Kayaking, which promised to offer a chance to catch some rays, work out my upper body and hopefully see some dolphins. I was one half of team 'Alex', the other half being made up of Alex, a German Schoolteacher. I ... read more