Finally we make it to the Whitsundays!

              So after the cyclone hit we ventured up to Airlie Beach where our Whitsunday sailing tour was due to cast off.  We made our way to the tour info desk to check in and they had informed us that the harbor master has put a hold on all boats leaving till yet another day.  The lady at the desk said they had requested special permission to leave a day earlier, I mean the weather was clear and it was the first sunny day we had seen in at least a week.  Unfortunately, the sailing company was not granted permission.  The lady tells us that we would be switched from a three day/two night tour to two full days/one night trip or we could re-book for the same trip we had but it would be later in the week.  We decided to go ahead with the two days/one night tour. Finally we were re-booked and ready to leave the next morning. 

                The name of our boat was the Condor.  The sail boat was about 75 feet long and had room to sleep about 30 people or so.  It was both of our first trips on a sailboat and we had a blast.  Once we motored out of the harbor we raised sails and she took off.  The Condor is an old racing boat that was used in the sailing race from Sydney to Hobart. All of the boats the companies use have been previously raced. One of their sail boats won America’s cup a few years ago.  

When the boat finally started to catch the wind, the pitch was amazing.  We all sat on the high side and it was crazy how close to the water the low side would get.  So we spent about 2 hours sailing out to the islands when we made our first stop.  We stopped at the historic Whitehaven Beach.  Chances are if you see a postcard of an Australian beach, it was probably this one.  It was an unbelievably awesome river outlet that is carved through white sand.  We hiked up to the viewpoint for some pictures and could see a bunch of sting rays down in the shallow water ways.  After the view point we then had some time to go down to the beach to explore or go for a swim if you wanted to.  We had to wear stinger suits in the water because it is stinger season. Some of the stringers and jellyfish can be deadly so the company will not let you in the water without one of the suits.

                When our time was done at Whitehaven Beach we loaded up in the dingy (small boat we took from the sail boat to shore) and headed back to the boat.  We motored to a nice calm bay for the evening and on the way the crew was cooking up a delicious meal that we got to enjoy at sunset.  After dinner we had the rest of the night just to chill out on board and drink some goon.

 Well, before I start talking about the next day I figured this might be worth a mention.  Before when I mentioned that there would be about 30 of us sleeping in the boat you probably didn't think much of it.  Well what I should have said is that we were crammed in the boat.  Below deck it was full of “bunk beds,” all in an open room. Luckily, since Teala and I are a couple we got a double bed, but the bad part was there was a guy sleeping on a single bunk right above us.  I mean literally right above us.  Like close enough if I were to roll on my side, oh wait, I couldn't even do that because that is how close he was.  We happen to get the loudest snorer ever above our heads.   Imagine all those times people snoring, driving you nuts, and keeping you up all night, I have no pity for you; this was a thousand times worse.  Yes Mom, he was worse that you.  Since we went to bed before this guy I had managed to fall asleep only to be punched awake by Teala because she thought it was me (it was that loud).  So we both lay next to each other for the next few hours listening to this guy saw the loudest logs I have ever heard.  Once half of the boat was awake listening to this guy, a guy next to us came over and punched him until he stopped.

So the next morning we got up and so did our friend above us.  I know he got a great night’s sleep because I heard him the whole night.  He got up smiled, totally oblivious that he kept half of the boat awake during the night and went to eat breakfast.  The bay we anchored the boat was also our snorkeling stops.  The water clarity wasn't the best, but we figured it wasn't going to be the best since the cyclone just battered the area only 3 days before.   It was still a fun time.  One of the crew members had some fish food that she would throw out and all the colorful fish would swim in and snatch it all up.  That is when we got to meet Elvis.  This huge super colorful fish, I’m not sure what kind he was but had to weigh at least 100 pounds. It was the biggest fish I have ever seen snorkeling.  Unfortunately one of the guys on the tour dropped his camera into some coral and about 10 of us spent a good half hour looking for it but with the currents pulling us it was hard to know exactly where he dropped it and did not have any luck finding it.  We know how that feels after Central America.

After snorkeling it was time for lunch and then time to make our way back to port.  So once we were all packed up we all got ready on the high side and the sails went up and we were cruising back towards Airlie Beach.  The trip was great.  Sailing was so much fun, we both agreed we would love to do it again.  We both agreed though, that we were glad that it was only one night because we weren't sure we could deal with the snoring guy for another night! We are heading towards Cairns now to see the Great Barrier Reef!

Flooded road to the waterfall

Cedar Falls!

The cabin of our sail boat!

Finally visiting the Whitsundays!

Whitehaven Beach

Our sailboat.. the Condor

The skipper hard at work!

Whitsundays... not yet!

          On the way to the Whitsundays we stopped at a beach town on the coast called Hervey Bay. We were walking near the ocean when we saw a few dolphins out in the water. I love seeing wildlife in the wild so I was stoked about this. After, the walk we decided to stop at a free zoo in town. We just happened to get there during feeding time so we got to see the zookeeper feed the chimps. They ate just like a human with a spoon and bowl. Pretty groovy! Did you know humans share 98.6% of the same DNA as chimps? Fun Fact. After that we went to the koala feeding. The zookeeper gave us a lot of information about koalas including their habitat, feeding habits, family life, etc. Afterwards she let us go in their cage and pet the koalas. An unexpected great day full of wildlife!

We were supposed to leave on the Whitsundays Islands tour when we saw that a cyclone was headed straight to the islands. It wasn’t an hour after we got news of this that the tour company called and said our trip was delayed a couple of days. We decided to stay the night in a city south of the islands deporting beach town, as we assumed they would have more to do. There was a park nearby called Eungella National Park so we headed there for a two day trip. It was a beautiful park in the middle the mountains/rainforest. Unfortunately, they were getting the weather from the cyclone so it was very windy and rainy. We didn’t get to do as much hiking as we would have liked, but we did get to see the platypus playing in the water. We got there in the afternoon and saw one a couple times, but got up early the next morning and saw a few. They were so much smaller than I would have thought. They are unique to Australia so we felt really lucky to see them in the wild.

The following day we headed back to the city Mackay. The only free overnight parking was a boat landing with a park attached to it. Being parked right next to the ocean we definitely felt the cyclone weather. The wind was so strong it was rocking the van and large pelts of rain were hitting the van. It was a little freaky, but at the same time awesome to fall asleep to.

We decide to spend the next rainy day at the mall. En route to the mall the vehicle starts to overheat. We pull over and let it cool down before we continue our drive. We checked the fluids and everything looked good. This is strange. Once we get back on the road the van over heats again. What is going on?! It’s cyclone weather outside and we are stuck in our overheating van… this is what dreams are made of. We call every automobile place, but they are closed because it is Sunday. At this point I am starting to get a bit worried considering we are suppose to be in the Whitsunday area (two hours away) tomorrow afternoon for that tour.  Mark decides to walk to the auto store across from where we are parked at the mall. He comes back with a business card of a guy that does auto repair call outs, we call the guy hoping that he will come check out the van today.  Thankfully, he says he will meet us at the mall in twenty minutes. When the man arrived he checked everything out and informed us that the problem was a broken radiator hose. YAHOOOOOO! A new hose was cheap and easy for him to replace. I offer to go get a new front head light and a new hose while they stay in the dry parking ramp.  There I was, running around the city during strong winds and a complete downpour to get to the car store to hopefully purchase the correct parts… this is exactly what I dreamed of when I thought about wanting to go the land of OZ.  The van got fixed and we were stoked! Next stop: Whitsundays… take two!

The chimp eating an afternoon treat.

Platypus

How neat are they?!

Another platypus

Fraser Island!

We just got back from a 3 day/2 night tour around Fraser Island and it was awesome! Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and the only place in the world where a rainforest has grown on petrified sand. Neat-o! Since the entire island is sand you must have a four wheel drive vehicle to go on the island hence the 4wd tour. We opted for a tag-a-long tour which means we got to drive one of the SUVs behind the guide. Basically there were four Toyota Landcruisers each filled with eight people and we took turns driving around the island following our guide. Our group consisted of us, Matt from NYC (first American we have met!), Rafael (a German who worked in the finance industry and had a month off to travel between switching jobs), Yon (a young German boy who is here working on his holiday work visa, mostly working fruit picking), and three French girls who kept to themselves the whole trip.

The first day we loaded up our Landcruiser and headed for the island. We got on a ferry to the island, which was Mark’s second time on a car ferry (the first time was a couple weeks). Yippie for new experiences! Once the ferry pulled up to the beach we began to drive off the ferry and within two minutes we were stuck in the sand! Rafael got it stuck, but had us out in a matter of minutes, pretty impressive! We drove all across the island and then to Lake Mackenzie. The lake has no tributaries so the water is land locked; it has a layer bed of bedrock underneath preventing water drainage. Lake Mackenzie was beautiful, white sand beach with crystal clear water. We swam for awhile even through the rain which it made it all the more magical.

After swimming we headed back to our campsite. Along the drive back we saw some dingoes. I was pretty surprised how skinny they were, and how harmless they looked. But, then I remembered the old saying “The dingo ate my baby!” and I quickly kept in mind how dangerous they can be. The campsite was just a short walk to the beach, but unfortunately you can’t swim there because there are a ton of sharks. Since two groups the size of our group leave every day the campsite is pretty full of people, something like 160 people were at the campsite. The tents were already set up and they had a few big communal areas with stoves and tables to cook. We grabbed our group food and started cooking dinner and playing cards. We had our first experience with “goon.” Basically the cheapest alcoholic drink to buy is goon, goon is bagged wine. We ordered a bag and started on our bag. EVERYONE had a bag of goon and soon enough people were dancing on tables and hollering like it was a college frat party… bring on the old days! There was a communal area that had lots of lights and loud music they called “club dinkys.” I should mention the entire camping area has a fence around it to keep out the dingoes. Apparently a couple years back a guy had too much goon and walked off the campsite with a bag of chips and chocolate in hand. Needless to say he was brutally attacked by the dingoes, but lived to tell the tale and has appeared on TV shows for living through the attack. Cray, Cray!?

The guide told us not to keep any sweets or food in the tent because the rats will chew a hole through the tent to get the food. YIKES! Bears, elk, deer… okay sure, but rats.. sick! There was a hole in our tent from what I presume was previous rats on the hunt. We covered the hole, but that didn't stop me from waking up every hour freaking out and turning on the flashlight to check for rats. You can imagine my excitement when I heard the French girls in the tent next door screaming in French. The next morning I find out they saw the rats and they were MASSIVE… they have a burrow right behind our tent! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

The next morning we awoke to a group of girls looking for a guy on their tour. The group had an early start since it was last their day and the guy never showed up. This led to a full on island search. The guides didn't seem to be worried at all; they were acting all nonchalant about it, not even looking for the guy. From guide experience, Mark and I nearly had heart attacks when we lost a kid from our tour on Fremont St. in Vegas and there weren't even dingoes or sharks to be worried about there. Rafael suggested to the guide we start our day since the missing guy wasn't on our tour and the guide agreed and off we went. I was astonished that nobody was super concerned about this, I assume it happens quite often. (I have a feeling the goon has something to do with it)  Later, they found the guy 55 kilometers away, he got in an argument with some people at the beach and just started walking and didn't stop. Hell of a walker!

                We spent the morning checking out a shipwreck. The shipwreck is right on the beach and it was pretty cool to see. After that, we headed to Eli Creek. Eli Creek was a natural fresh water spring. We filled up our water bottles with fresh water straight from the creek, how neat! The water was freezing, good for drinking, cold to swim in! Then we floated down the creek where it ended at the beach. After hanging out at the creek for a bit we went to the highest point on Fraser Island, Indian Head. We did a short hike to the top and took in the awesome view. They say sometimes you can see sharks in the water, but we didn't see any. After Indian Head we headed to Champagne Pools. Champagne Pools are natural tide pools, little saltwater pools surrounded by rock walls. Everyone swam for a bit before we headed back to camp for night two. That night we hung out by the fire and played a lot of cards. We also walked out to the beach. It was beautiful. You could see a million stars and hear the ocean crashing. It was a definite highlight of our trip.

                The last day we did a hike to Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby was a lake half surrounded by forest and the other half by sand dunes. It was a neat walk out there through the forest and then over sand dunes. We swam for awhile and enjoyed our last day on Fraser before heading back to the main land. I got to drive a bit, and may have gotten it stuck, but got us out! Mark loved driving. He drove in the sand, ponds, through the forest, and even through a bit of the ocean when we were leaving. It was a fun experience and I am glad we did it!  Next stop: The Whitsunday Islands!

Ferry to Fraser

Lake Mackenzie

The dingo ate my baby!!!! Apparently it's true.. it happened once!

Driving on the beach

The cooking area

Our tents.. next to the rat hole!

Dinner time!

Our group with the shipwreck in the background

Eli Creek

Champagne Pools!... Shark free!

The walk to Lake Wabby

A swim in Lake Wabby

Ocean drive!

The big leap in Byron Bay!

The other day Teala and I went skydiving for the first time and all I can say is what a RUSH!!!  We signed up to go in Byron Bay which gives you amazing views over the ocean, the peninsula, which is Australia’s furthest eastern point, and the continental divide mountain range in the background. 

After getting suited up in our harnesses we met our tandem partners.  Teala had some British guy and I had a cool dude named Richard, who was a retired cop and did this for fun and then would move over to the U.S. in our summer and do the same thing in Pennsylvania.   Since this was a once in a life time opportunity we both decided to purchase the extra video option, which is our tandem partner shooting video on a GoPro.  Sorry we couldn’t get the videos to load!

There we were, hearts beating as we boarded this tiny puddle jumper loaded as full as it could possibly be with skydivers.  The flight up was amazing with the views of the coast line and mountains, but it was hard not to think that in a few minutes we would be jumping out of this plane.  Teala and I were the first two in the plane, so of course we would be the last two to go.  When we reached 14,000 feet the pilot flipped on the red light which I have seen all too many times in war movies that it is go time.  Slowly people were filing out and falling into the earth below. Teala would go right before me and to be honest I have never seen such fear in her eyes.  As her tandem partner scooted her toward the open door it becomes real that she is going to be leaping out of this plane.  So as they are sliding closer and closer, all I hear Teala say is, “OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” then silence as she suddenly disappears.  Then all I can think is “Damn, now it is my turn”.  Richard informed us before we left that you would slide to the edge of the door and literally be out of the plane for a few seconds while he made sure ever thing was all clear. 

So yeah there I was just hanging outside of this plane; I looked down and saw Teala, just a tiny ant in the sky.  It felt like minutes but only seconds, and then all of a sudden I was flying like Superman.  It was awesome!  Hair flying, cheeks flapping at 120 mph!  The 60 second free fall was over too quick but the parachute ride was just as good.  It gave you time to really look around and appreciate everything.  And then all too soon it was over with.  We both agreed that it was one of the best things we have ever done and definitely want to do it again… New Zealand maybe?? 

So be sure to ask when we get home to see our videos.  They are both pretty funny but I think Teala has me beat.  Her facial expressions are priceless.  I have a permanent vision now stuck in my head of her freaking out right before her jump and joke about it with her daily.   Needless to say Byron Bay was a success. We spent another day at the beach and then headed north. We made a few stops along the way to Fraser Island on the Gold Coast otherwise known as Surfer Paradise. The southern part of the east coast is not built up at all. There are tons of very small towns situated on the beach. The north is built up. There are lot of skyscrapers near the beach and big cities. But, also the biggest waves so there are tons of surfers here which provided us great entertainment, especially as the surfers were preparing for the PRO tournament in a week. It was pretty cool. Next stop… Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world!

 

A design on the beach in Byron Bay.

Byron Bay

The Gold Coast lit up at night.

The city in the distance is Brisbane

In the north the ocean can be a bit dangerous to swim in so most of the cities have lagoons. They are basically manmade pools, some salt water and some not, with a beach around them. They are pretty neat and free to everyone.

The lagoon in Brisbane.

Heading up the East Coast!

Our drive to Sydney was…uninteresting. I find it mind boggling that you can drive 22 hours and see nothing. The country is comparable in size to the United States and I can’t think of anywhere in our country where you could drive 22 hours and see nothing. The towns we came across were very tiny, and they were far and few between. Most of the cities in Australia are on the coast, people live on the coast, but inland there isn’t much of anything going on. We drove north of Sydney since we will be spending a week there at the end of our trip. We drove through the Blue Mountains on our way. Unfortunately, it was raining and we were in the clouds so we didn’t see too much and hiking wasn’t an option, but an enjoyable ride after our long drive of unchanging scenery.

On our way out of the mountains we stopped at one of the free campgrounds which was basically a parking lot of a café, but sufficient enough. There was another van with three peeps there so we sat with them all night exchanging stories. The three of them had been in Australia for six months. They originally all came to find work, but with the market of zero jobs they decided to give farming a shot. The couple had done farm work for about a month then bought a van and have been traveling since and the other guy had worked on four different farms since his time here. The stories they shared from working on the farm were incredibly interesting. Once they got lost in the woods while trying to find a cow that had broke its leg, they were there to take him out of misery, the sun went down so they sat in the dark woods lost until the drunk farmer came to find them. The guy said he worked in the outback so these people were loopy, they would just be driving down the road and pull out there gun and start shooting at birds, emus, kangaroos. This of course caught Mark’s attention and we were beginning to wonder if this is something we should do. After talking to them all night we decided it wasn’t for us at this point, but maybe someday. 

We finally arrived at the coast and headed north. The coast is full of small beach towns. They are beautiful, fun, and relaxed towns. We’ve been stopping and staying in all the towns along the way. We have been able to find free camping along the route which is awesome. We did some wine tasting...amazing, and ate our body weight in chocolate and fudge! We stopped at one beach to see some sand dunes and got talking to the lifeguard. It isn't whale season currently, but he said he just saw some whales passing by (probably running late, he thought maybe issues with the calf). They were breaching like five minutes before we got there, but they didn't do it when we were there. But, we did get to see them come up for air, incredible! The other day we took a road we had read about in the guide book called “Waterfall Way.” It brought us into the mountainous rainforests, which I didn’t even know Australia had. We did a couple hikes and saw some beautiful waterfalls. The second largest waterfall in Australia was dried up, but we got to see the massive gorge… pretty stunning! 

I should mention when we did our very long hike in the Grampians we attempted to hitchhike back from the little town to the campsite, only another mile, but we were exhausted. No one would pick us up. It was crazy. We looked normal (I think?) and we were in a national park. I've done it in our national parks numerous times. People start hikes that end up elsewhere and they need a ride back to their car. No biggie right.. well not so much here. Anyway, about a half mile left someone finally picked us up and we were VERY grateful. So, when we passed a hitchhiker

in one of the little towns I insisted we pick him up. We need good karma, and we know what it's like. After a few minutes I convinced Mark and we picked up the guy. He was very nice. He was trying to get to his girlfriends house in the next town, he was hanging with friends in this town and having a jolly time, I imagine from his breath they were all unable to drive after the alcohol intake, thus the ride. He told us about some great places. In fact we were headed to a town where there were flying foxes in the trees. He told us all about them and gave us tips. We did end up seeing them. They are massive! Like bats on roids. Thousands of them. Very cool. Anyway, after we dropped him off it couldn't have been five minutes later we saw a lady on the side of the road hitching. Again, I insist. KARMA! So we pick her up and this, well, was a different experience. She was headed to the next town for a very "special package." Her license had gotten taken away by the police. After we dropped her off we decided we may be a bit more choosy of the hitchers we pick up. We were both convinced the package she was getting was full of drugs, but who knows?! We have just arrived in Byron Bay where we are planning our adventures/excursions for the next couple of weeks… let’s see where this takes us!

Flying Fox!

Artwork on the road!

The drive to Sydney!

Sleeping on a rest stop next to the highway... living the dream! We met a couple that lived on a rest stop for a month... how crazy is that?!

Our first sight of a wallaby!

Roadblock!

The sand dunes!

Cooking dinner by the beach!

Another dinner on the beach!

Some advertising? A giant shrimp.