East Coast Road Trip - Day 9 - Tin Can Bay

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We are up and out of the caravan for 7.30am this morning so we can go and hand feed dolphins at the local bay. I am a bit apprehensive that they will actually appear, but sure enough when we get there, there are 3 indian pacific dolphins gliding about in the shallow water, about 3 metres from the beach. There are a few other people standing in the shallow water with the dolphins so we climb in too, even though it is pretty cold! The dolphins swim by about 1 foot in front of us and we can see all the scars, bites and scratches from where they have been attacked by bull sharks in the bay and surrounding estuaries. I am constantly on the lookout just in case I see one coming our way, as bull sharks are well known for being very aggressive and can attack in knee deep water. I have an escape plan though- it basically consists of throwing Greg in front of me and then running out of the water as fast as I can. We buy some dead fish from the kiosk so we can feed the dolphins, and it is amazing as they come up and take the fish right out of your hand. What an experience, and to think it would have cost us about 200 dollars to do the same thing at Seaworld. It’s only 8.15am by the time we are done and we don’t really know what to do with ourselves… We are never usually up this early!

Once again we are faced with more decisions about what to do and where to go next. The possibility of trying to get some fruit picking work around this area comes to mind so we phone around a few places. Nowhere seems to be looking for anyone for another week or so, so we decide to book our tour for Fraser Island in the meantime. Fingers crossed the weather will be nice. You get to Fraser Island mainly via Hervey Bay, so we decide to drive up there and stay a few nights before our tour begins. On the recommendation of our guru, the lonely planet, we head to a hostel called The Woolshed. It’s really homely and run by a couple of ex-backpackers who live at the back of the hostel with their kids and a cute staffie dog. On the way there, we stop off at a place called Maryborough, which is where the creator of Mary Poppins lived. There is a Mary Poppins statue and a signpost saying Cherry Tree Lane outside her home where she was born. The rest of the day and night we potter about using the free wifi at McDonalds and then watch The Sum of all Fears with Morgan Freeman.

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Photos

Maryborough
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