Blogs from Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 1248

Arrived in Airlie Beach this morning. the hostel bar is holding a foam party tonight and a wet T-shirt comp tomoz...its that kind of place. Checked in for sailing trip tomorrow and then wandered round the town abit with Sara. its expensive! Early night and feeling a bit tearful. Hard to pinpoint why...prolly just exhaustion and realisation of shortness of money!!! eep!!! will i starve?... read more

Our last day on the beach was a bit on and off with the tropical rain storms, but was more than worth the odd bit of rain as the waves were, I can honestly say, the biggest I have ever seen in real-life and the local surfers took full advantage of this. These guys were seriously good surfers, I be surprised if at least one of them weren't Pro, it was amazing to watch and got some awesome footage! One last big night out in Byron with a pub crawl landed us on the beach for the sunrise, near the lighthouse which is the most easterly point in Australia, therefore the first place for the sun to shine Downunder, awesome. Sadly it was quite cloudy and the rain began to fall, but was still a fantastic ... read more

Geo: -21.1434, 149.187Dag 18 : 27/03/2006Vandaag zijn we van Eungella doorgereden naar Mackay. Een mooi tochtje door de talloze, kilometers lange suikerrietvelden van Queensland. We hadden daar weer een prima hotelletje in de Mackay Marina. Ik moet toch zeggen dat de standaard van de hotels hier zeer hoog ligt.Ook de vriendelijkheid en behulpzaamheid van de Australiers valt enorm op. (de deeltekens op de woorden ontbreken omdat die niet te vinden zijn op de toetsenborden)Deze dag was verder een relaxdagje. We hebben over het strand van Mackay gewandeld en wat in de pool gezwommen.Het wat hier een prima weertje. Weer veel warmer dan in de koele bergen van Eungella NP.... read more

I find myself on another transfer to the coach station, ready for another coach journey, this time sat next to a venomous Canadian drama queen with an attitude problem. I decide that rather than making the effort to be polite to her, I'll just avoid conversation as much as possible, and this tactic seems to work. My Journey takes me to Rainbow Beach, a small town which is becoming increasingly popular as an access point to Fraser Island thanks to its close proximity, being only a 15 minute barge trip away. Rainbow beach itself is far from picturesque, but by sheer virtue of its tiny size it is a pleasant town. The 'business centre' - a strip of about 5 cafes and about as many shops - leads you down to the beach with its perfect ... read more

Last few days in Oz so it’s time to hire the first car of our trip. Pick up our tiny Hyundai Getz, head off on the Gympie Road, then the Bruce Highway (Yep, it’s really called that), finally the Sunshine Motorway. 80 minutes after setting off we find ourselves at the Beachside apartments in Mooloolaba. They’re not quite beachside, but they’re definitely apartments, separate bedroom, lounge and bathroom. Good(ish) cooking facilities which I almost immediately put to use as I had been gagging for spaghetti ailio, olio e peperoncino, I had seen it on many menus while in Oz, but always with the unnecessary addition of bacon (always) and chicken (frequently). Just not traditional, and not in the title either. First time I’d cooked in weeks, and it was delicious. The apartment was really nice, balcony ... read more