Arriving in Hervey Bay early in the morning, we were transported by Colin the typical friendly Aussie driver to Koalas Resort Hervey Bay. Koalas is renowned down the East Coast for providing nasty hostels (we discovered after booking our Whitsundays and Fraser Island with them) but this one was surprisingly ok with nice staff. We found this mainly because they upgraded us to a twin room at no extra cost which after months of dorm rooms was bliss.
After a kip we met our Fraser Island group at 3pm and had to sign lots of forms and go and buy supplies for the next three days. We also watched a DVD on the dangers of Fraser Island for those who are crazy enough to do self-hire safaris around the biggest sand dune island in the world. The next day at 6.45am we all met to load up the jeep with our meat, supplies, alcohol and camping equipment. Had a brief explanation on how to drive 4wd and then head off for the 10am barge to lead us onto the island. We had 3 Irish, 1 Canadian, 1 Scot (all of whom knew each other), 2 British girls and us. It looked like it would be fun. To start we saw Lake Birabeen, then drove up the big beach and found somewhere to camp being limited by the tides. After finding somewhere fine, Dave decided we should move somewhere else and in the process got in an argument with his best buddy Paddy and drove v fast through a wash out causing one of the back tyres to come off the rim and puncture. After a swift change of tyre and tension a little bit higher than before due to fear of losing the bonds we paid we finally camped back at the original place. Had some food, enjoyed the beautiful long beach and made some pasta dinner while having a few beers, the lads having considerably more than the rest of us being Irish and all.
The next day, some of us subdued, some of us hung over, we head off in the jeep again only to get a puncture in the only strip of beach where planes land. Apparently there are only 3 beaches in the world where planes can actually land and we broke down right in the middle of one of them. The Canadian and Paddy went off to find a new tyre, our spare already being in use, and we sat baking on the beach, unable to go into the sea because of jelly stingers and tiger shark breeding. 3.5 hours later, they reemerged having been unable to catch a lift back up the beach to us, we changed the tyre and head off up to India Head to admire the stunning scenery via a massive shipwreck on the beach. We arrived back at the campsite on the beach and the lads cooked up a massive bbq of the meat which was brilliant. Considerably happier we settled in for a night of socialising with the other groups also camped there and admiring first the amazing sunset and then the Southern Cross...
Next morning we head off to Lake Wabby where a massive sand dune runs into the water, then we went to get the tyres swapped back at the mechanic who'd fixed our 2nd damaged tyre and then we hit the beautiful Lake Mackenzie. This lake full of pale blue water and the whitest sand you've ever seen, was a beautiful fresh water place to swim. Really stunning and a great finale to the beautiful scenery we'd seen on the island. Sadly this meant time to catch the ferry back to Koalas, unpack the van and face the music with the Koalas mechanics. Fortunately, Dave, honorably stumped up for the tyre and we all got our bonds back. A chinese all you can eat dinner as a group completed the Fraser Island jeep safari.
Friday 14 December 2007
Saturday 8 December 2007
THE ISLANDS
The day after the dive course ended, after a lie-in till 10am (wow) we hit the shuttle bus up to Port Douglas, a pretty little sailing village with a lovely beach. After a chilled day here we returned to Cairns and got ready to head to Magnetic Island. After our first greyhound trip down we caught a ferry out to the island to our Base Backpackers right on the beach. After a stressful couple of hours sorting out our Whitsundays sailing trip and Fraser Island sand dune trip we went in the pool, cooked dinner and had a well earned wine and pool playing relaxation session, ha ha, kind of well earned anyway.
The next day we got the bus to Bungalow Bay, a resort where we shared a little thatched hut and went to the koala sanctuary next door where we got to hold a crocodile, lizard, koala and snake. Great photo opps had there. After another trip to the beach where there was no swimming allowed due to jelly fish stingers, we came back to the resort for some thai food. The next day we caught a bus, then a ferry, then a greyhound down to Airlie Beach. After arriving in Airlie Beach and waiting for an hour and a half before some bimbo from the backpackers came to pick us up (sorry to slate female kind but she didn't even apologise) we arrived at the hostel, cooked dinner, bumped into the Swedes again and then packed again.
The following morning we boarded The Card. Supposedly one of the fastest sailboats in the Whitsundays, it was big and impressive. 23 of us crammed into the boat in rather cosy bunks down below and got ready for a good 3 days sailing. The first day passed with lunch, some snorkelling, a trip to Whitehaven beach (a stunning white sanded spit of sand) and lookout, some dinner on the boat and some amazing southern hemisphere star gazing with a goon in hand (aussie word for wine in a cardboard box - we adapted it to call it our wine baby).
The second day we spent snorkelling and chilling out and doing some sailing, everyone chipped in, it was great to whip across the sea at a vast rate of knots. That evening we disembarked onto South Molle Island where we swam in their pool and spar with the help of a chocolate cocktail and then went for dinner and drinks in a bar/shack with 150 other passengers on other boats from the same company. It was great fun until a dutch girl from our group started drinking her own alcohol she had brought into the bar and our entire group got thrown out due to the license rules. Back on the boat we continued the party with some awesome on-deck dancing and then we did a night sail without any lights which was thrilling.
The next day, we snorkelled again, spent some time on another golden beach exploring the reef around it, had lunch and did some more sailing through an unexpected hail storm and then arrived back in Airlie Beach, tired but very satisfied about 5pm. This was just in time to shower, eat and say goodbye to our buds and catch the overnight Greyhound for Hervey Bay.
The next day we got the bus to Bungalow Bay, a resort where we shared a little thatched hut and went to the koala sanctuary next door where we got to hold a crocodile, lizard, koala and snake. Great photo opps had there. After another trip to the beach where there was no swimming allowed due to jelly fish stingers, we came back to the resort for some thai food. The next day we caught a bus, then a ferry, then a greyhound down to Airlie Beach. After arriving in Airlie Beach and waiting for an hour and a half before some bimbo from the backpackers came to pick us up (sorry to slate female kind but she didn't even apologise) we arrived at the hostel, cooked dinner, bumped into the Swedes again and then packed again.
The following morning we boarded The Card. Supposedly one of the fastest sailboats in the Whitsundays, it was big and impressive. 23 of us crammed into the boat in rather cosy bunks down below and got ready for a good 3 days sailing. The first day passed with lunch, some snorkelling, a trip to Whitehaven beach (a stunning white sanded spit of sand) and lookout, some dinner on the boat and some amazing southern hemisphere star gazing with a goon in hand (aussie word for wine in a cardboard box - we adapted it to call it our wine baby).
The second day we spent snorkelling and chilling out and doing some sailing, everyone chipped in, it was great to whip across the sea at a vast rate of knots. That evening we disembarked onto South Molle Island where we swam in their pool and spar with the help of a chocolate cocktail and then went for dinner and drinks in a bar/shack with 150 other passengers on other boats from the same company. It was great fun until a dutch girl from our group started drinking her own alcohol she had brought into the bar and our entire group got thrown out due to the license rules. Back on the boat we continued the party with some awesome on-deck dancing and then we did a night sail without any lights which was thrilling.
The next day, we snorkelled again, spent some time on another golden beach exploring the reef around it, had lunch and did some more sailing through an unexpected hail storm and then arrived back in Airlie Beach, tired but very satisfied about 5pm. This was just in time to shower, eat and say goodbye to our buds and catch the overnight Greyhound for Hervey Bay.
Monday 3 December 2007
THE REEF
Started our SSI open water dive course at Cairns Dive Centre. Transported to their classroom and pool centre on Day 1 and started the theory. Spent the day watching a couple of DVDs, learning about the equipment and how to set it up and then we went into the water. Having done a couple of fun dives before, it wasn't all completely new to me but it was great to go through it all thoroughly particularly as it's been 8 years since my last one! After practising taking out regulators and taking off masks underwater and a bit of buoyancy we ended the day. Met up with Sophie Tomlinson (another A&O lady)and her mate Kate for a big fat ice cream that evening after we had bumped into Sophie by yet another coincidence at the dive centre!
Day 2 more theory and swimming stuff, this time learning what it felt like to have run out of air as our instructor Ruth turned off the air supply. Thankfully we also learnt what to do if that happens. Em and I had great fun being each other's buddy and inventing our own set of hand signals in addition to the official ones. The second pool session ended with us practising our skills again and then a 50 question exam designed for 14yrs and above so not too hardcore.
That night Em and I bought new swimwear, much needed in this bikini clad land, and then headed off to Reef Teach for a 2 hr session and some chocolate TimTam biscuits to learn about all the fish on the Reef and what to touch and not to touch. Golden rule seemed to be if it is yellow, black and white: stay clear. Buzzing with new found marine biological knowledge we hit The Woolshed, a slightly cattle marketesque bar (delightful) with the 2 swedish lads we'd met in Uluru who had just arrived in Cairns and whom we had bumped into in the street. It's truly off the beaten track this East Coast lark. Ha.
Day 3 we arrived bright and early to get on our boat to take us out to the Great Barrier Reef. When we reached our boat we unpacked, lunched and then donned our stinger suits (major jelly fish season right now) and got in for our first snorkel and then dive. It was brilliant to see the reef for the first time, was quite a short dive as everyone was huffing away quickly on the air being first timers down there. The second dive was just as good and I got over-excited and decided to do the night dive as well that evening. The rest of the group doing it the next day on the 5 day course and Em's ears playing up, Ruth and I headed down into the dark depths.
Seeing the Reef by night felt even more like we were invading the underwater world. Red eyes gleam out at you and although the torches you carry are quite bright, I still jumped (or rather jiggled in the water) every time a fish swam past, it's quite creepy not being able to see all around you. Sadly we didn't get to see any Reef sharks, had hoped to but it was still ace nonetheless.
On Day 4, we were up bright and early for a 6am dive and then an 8am dive. The 6am dive went ok until 3 of us had just swam through a coral tunnel and the other 2 didn't appear behind us. One of them had got down to 20 bar on his air (i.e. practically none) and had shot up to the surface with his buddy too fast and without telling any of the rest of us. In the process of looking for Dustin (said airless one) we missed a shark swimming over our heads. He nearly failed the course, Ruth was not pleased, not surprisingly and we were gutted to miss the shark.
The 8am dive was brilliant however and was filmed for our certification dvd. We got to see a turtle and scratch its back, it likes it apparently because it scrapes the algae off its back on the coral so it feels the same as our fingers scratching. It was unbelievable anyway. After that Em and I hopped in for my 7th dive of the weekend and our first dive as certified divers. It was a little scary at first but amazing and we got to see a couple of giant clams which were enormous and stunningly purple.
Really pleased the course had gone so well and I'd found a new activity to love and explore for the future, we headed back to Cairns and for the after-course party with the dive instructors and all the other divers from the boats. Great end to a great course. Well pleased.
Day 2 more theory and swimming stuff, this time learning what it felt like to have run out of air as our instructor Ruth turned off the air supply. Thankfully we also learnt what to do if that happens. Em and I had great fun being each other's buddy and inventing our own set of hand signals in addition to the official ones. The second pool session ended with us practising our skills again and then a 50 question exam designed for 14yrs and above so not too hardcore.
That night Em and I bought new swimwear, much needed in this bikini clad land, and then headed off to Reef Teach for a 2 hr session and some chocolate TimTam biscuits to learn about all the fish on the Reef and what to touch and not to touch. Golden rule seemed to be if it is yellow, black and white: stay clear. Buzzing with new found marine biological knowledge we hit The Woolshed, a slightly cattle marketesque bar (delightful) with the 2 swedish lads we'd met in Uluru who had just arrived in Cairns and whom we had bumped into in the street. It's truly off the beaten track this East Coast lark. Ha.
Day 3 we arrived bright and early to get on our boat to take us out to the Great Barrier Reef. When we reached our boat we unpacked, lunched and then donned our stinger suits (major jelly fish season right now) and got in for our first snorkel and then dive. It was brilliant to see the reef for the first time, was quite a short dive as everyone was huffing away quickly on the air being first timers down there. The second dive was just as good and I got over-excited and decided to do the night dive as well that evening. The rest of the group doing it the next day on the 5 day course and Em's ears playing up, Ruth and I headed down into the dark depths.
Seeing the Reef by night felt even more like we were invading the underwater world. Red eyes gleam out at you and although the torches you carry are quite bright, I still jumped (or rather jiggled in the water) every time a fish swam past, it's quite creepy not being able to see all around you. Sadly we didn't get to see any Reef sharks, had hoped to but it was still ace nonetheless.
On Day 4, we were up bright and early for a 6am dive and then an 8am dive. The 6am dive went ok until 3 of us had just swam through a coral tunnel and the other 2 didn't appear behind us. One of them had got down to 20 bar on his air (i.e. practically none) and had shot up to the surface with his buddy too fast and without telling any of the rest of us. In the process of looking for Dustin (said airless one) we missed a shark swimming over our heads. He nearly failed the course, Ruth was not pleased, not surprisingly and we were gutted to miss the shark.
The 8am dive was brilliant however and was filmed for our certification dvd. We got to see a turtle and scratch its back, it likes it apparently because it scrapes the algae off its back on the coral so it feels the same as our fingers scratching. It was unbelievable anyway. After that Em and I hopped in for my 7th dive of the weekend and our first dive as certified divers. It was a little scary at first but amazing and we got to see a couple of giant clams which were enormous and stunningly purple.
Really pleased the course had gone so well and I'd found a new activity to love and explore for the future, we headed back to Cairns and for the after-course party with the dive instructors and all the other divers from the boats. Great end to a great course. Well pleased.
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