Us in the Rolling Rock
Me excited about seeing F1!
Quite hungover we got up early and went to Austrlia Zoo (I got up even earlier and spoke to Mark on Skype!). It's the Zoo that was run by Steve Irwin, and it was great! Dave nd Jill came with us and we managed to get in on a family of 5 ticket - no idea how! Very different looking triplets?! But it was a great day, we sa an amazing show with paradise birds and crocs. We also fed elephants and had photos taken. Then Me and Lil had a photo with a baby Alligator and Rach had a python. There was no way I was touching that snake! It was a really good day and we saw so many things. In the evening we chilled out and watched a film - Dirty Dancing.
Us with a Croc statue!
Me with Elephant saliva on my hand after feeding an elephant!
Me holding the baby Alligator
Me and Rach went to PeterPans to pick up all our details, we then found a book exchange where I got a new beach book to read! Lil had to sort out her bank but then met us on the beach for our packed tuna sandwichs! And then we were off to our surf lesson! We squeezed into wetsuits and lugged out boards down to the shore. There was about 15 of us and we had one teacher and 2 helpers, it was so good! We all mastered the bodyboard technique of catching wave, and then he called up in for the big lesson of standing up! You have to kind of balance on 1 leg with your bum in the air to get two feet on the board - all whilst riding a wave! All 3 of us managed to do it at least once, which was brilliant! I did one really good run where I stood up all the way to the shore - I was so proud of myself! But it went very down hill as I got more and more tired! That night we cooked Fajitas for Dave and Jill to say thanks! (well Rach did most of the cooking!) and then we had popcorn and watched Love Actually, worn out and tired on the couch!
Us in our wetsuits!
We caught a bus this morning to Rainbow beach, about 3 hours, and we are waiting to start our Fraser Island tour tomorrow. Iwrote this bit of blog - nut not allowed to put photos on so I will add to this when I can! We spent the day having a look around the town, laying on the green outside the hostel, and then in the evening we had a xouple of drinks with a group o irish lads that were sharing our dorm. Rachel is doing the Self drive tour - About 10 people are given a 4WD truck and are left to look round the island, they have to camp and cook on a gas stove. Me and Lil are doing the guided tour - We go around in a group of about 15 on a big monster truck type bus, we have a hostel on the island and we get led around the island by a guide. ( We were a bit scarred from our Uluru camping to camp again! Plus we wanna know what we're looking at!)
Wednesday 29th July
We end up leaving at the same time as Rachel - even though she was up 2 hours earlier than us haing talks and loading up the truck (hehe!). We ended up on boats next to each other, waving accross the water! We got to Fraser Island - It is beautiful. The worlds largest sand island - it is 92% sand, and also has the worlds largest above sea level fresh-water lake. (That's right we learnt things on the tour!) The beach runs as far as you can see (it's 125km long - thought I'd throw another fact in there), the sea is beautifully clear and it's full of tropical plants and animals. The first day we drove off the beach and through the road - I say road I mean pathways of sand through the trees, going up and down and feeling like the bus could fall over at any minute, trees bashing against the windows, how I didnt throw up I will never know! We went to Lake Birrabean, It was beautiful, crystal clear and surrounded by the whitest sand I have ever seen! It was beautiful. We sat there for quite a while, getting to know the other people on our tour and taking photos. Some people swam but it wasn't very hot that day! I did paddle quite a way in and saw some tiny little greem fish that looked like tadpoles. We then went back over the gutwrenching 'roads' and to 'central station'. This is where all the loggers used to be stationed on the island - nly 2 run down huts left now. We did a walk through the rainforest, it was so pretty the trees were so tall it was quite dark. There was also a strem running through but it was silent, it ran through the sand and you couldnt hear it, it was also so clear alot of the time you had to look for it! After that we headed back to our hostel and had a shower - it was like a running tap! We have to be back at the hostel by 4ish beacause of the high tides! The beach is used as the road to get to most of the island so if you're not there by 4pm you're screwed! That night we had a BBQ and we tried Kangaroo, it was lovely so sot and a bit like tangy beef! We had a few drinks in the bar with our group then went off to bed!
Me and Lil on the Rainforest walk
At the bar with some of our group!
Thursday 30th July
We spent most of the day driving on the beach - thank goodness - not sure I could face a long stint on the 'roads' again! We went to The Pinnacles - to see over 50 shades of sand, I could only see about 4 to be honest! But it was very pretty. We then went to Indian Head, a cliff looking out to the sea, we climbed up the roack and it was an amazing view. We saw some manta rays from up there and some whales in the distance. We also saw the Irish lads from our dorm before ( We actually kept seeing them all day - it was weird! Especially as they were on self drive like Rach!). We then went to the Champagne Pools, natural pools by the sea, filled by the waves. Unfortunately a german guy rom our tour stod a bit close to the edge and got soaked including his camera! But the pools were lovely we got in for a bit but it was ice cold so we wern't brave enought to actually swim like some people! We have discovered by now that most of our tour group is Irish! 9 out of 14! The Irish are everywhere!! Our guide then showed us Pippy racing. You find a lump in the sand and then dig until you find a Pippy - small shell fish thing. You then all walk to the sea and put the pippy's in, once a wave comes in and gets them wet, the sea goes back out and a weird little tongue/fin pokes out of the shell, and it slowly drags itself back under the sand, was so weird! Mine beat lil's one! Although they got mixed up a few times in the waves so bit hard to tell! We then went to Eli Creek where we saw Rachel and her group we sat and chatted to them for a bit, Rach said they were freezing at night mwahahaha! Then Me, Lil and our friend from our tour Katrina, walked down the creek - it was so pretty, beatifully clear and surrounded by amazing plants! We then went back to the hostel, on the way stopping to get photos of a shipwreck thats been on the island for years - very pretty, just on the beach slowly rusting, got some great photos! We got back and had some spag bol. Me and lil then walked down to the beach and saw a dingo, was so cute! Was scared Lil was gonna try and stroke it but she managed to control herself! We then went back and got on the goon! We played drinking games with Katrina, Jen and Cat ( al irish!) and a german couple called Matius and Ena. They were so funny! Me and Lil learned a few more drinking games too that I shall be bringing home! After our drinking games marathon we headed down to the bar with everyone else (A walk along the dingo fence in the pitch black!). We had a good dance like crazy people, and even learned some dances from the australian locals! Was a really good night!
Me and Lil with Rachel at Eli Creek
Me and Lil with Jen, Cat and Katrina...at the bar after drinking games!
Friday 31st July
Back into the bus with a hungover groan from everyone! Also forgot to mention there was a lady on the tour called Carol who we met at Alice Springs airport and at Noosa, what are the chances! Anyway... We had a 2km walk to Lake Wabby. Again very pretty but this was a lot bigger and was more a greeny pond colour. We spent a few hours there. We had a paddle and saw some cat fish in there. Lil was brave and went in but it was freezing so I only went to the knee! The guide was then showing us how to sand board down a sand dune! Me. Lil, Katrina, Jen and Cat decided to give it a go! When we got up there we nearly chickened out! It was really steep and you went straight into the lake, but we did it and it as a lot of fun! We then sunbathed and played 'I went to lake wabby and I bought a ...' very funny game and in the end the whole group was helpi ng us remember! We then headed back to the boat and back to Rainbow beach. The girls were in the same hostel as us on Rainbow beach -'Dingo's' so the 5 of us went our for some pizza, was really nice. We met up with Rachel again and exchanged stories! That night we had some drinks at our hostel, then went over to next door for some cheap cocktails, played some drinking games. We ended up at a beach party with a big group of 30 or so people from a mixture of fraser island tours. We all sat around the fire chatting and playing drinking games with goon! It was really good! We got in about 3am and nearly got chucked out by security for making too much noise!
Our tour, with Guide Cameron at the front
Beach Party!
Saturday 1st August
We spent the day recovering on the green in front of the hostel 'Dingo's', with Katrina too! We then got our bus at 3:30pm to Hervey Bay. We arrived at 6ish and had a look around, we were staying at a place called Koalas, didn't have much atmousphere but we got our own room and bathroom for the 3 of us! We saw a possum in the dark and me and rachel screamed our heads off, made us jump! He was cute but not as good as George from Brisbane! We had jacket potatoes and an early night to recover from Fraser Island!
Sunday 2nd August
Me and Rachel had booked a Whale watching tour or today. Lil has already done hale watching before so she had a chilled day. We got a shuttle there at about 1:30pm and waited by our boat. We saw the irish lads again at the dock- everyone seems to be doing the same route! The company told us that there as ony one pod of whales in the bay and that they had left, we could have got our money back btu they said if we didnt see any we could go back the next day! About a third of us decided we still wanted to go! And luckily they let us! I had my travel tablets and they semed to work -didnt really get sea sick at all! On the way out to the place they whales might be, we saw about 3 dolphins all swimming alon with the boat, they stayed with us for a while, everyone leaning over the edge trying to take loads of photos. We got a great view as it wasnt a full boat. Me and Rach then had a free tea and cakes! Then luckily we saw some whales! A pod of 3! They were massive, one came right up to the boat at one point, it was quite scary! Got a few good pics of their tails flicking up and rach got some great videos on her camera. We had some noodles back at our hostel and then met up with the Irish lads for a drink - one of them was in hospital with apendicitis, ouch!
Me and Rach on the very windy boat!
Mr Whale
Monday 3rd August
We spent the morning on the beach, it was really hot! It's the first time we've hit heat that has been unbearable, it's definatelty getting hotter as we go north! We then got our bus in the Afternoon to Agnes Water. It was a 4hr drive, not too bad, mostly slept! We got to out hostel - Beachside Backpakers, had some lasagne, me and lil played some scrabble (nerds!) and went to bed.
Tuesday 4th August
We borrowed some bikes from the hostel, and rode into town (yes I actually rode a bike!). I wasnt feeling too good, so lil and Rach went off to do a bit of surfing and I meandered around the town and headed down to meet them on the beach. When I caught up with them (easy to find - pastiest ones on the beach!), the waves were so rough they had already given up! We spent a bit of time on the beach and then headed back, and now I'm writing and finally up to date! wohoo!! Plan is to get $5 dinner from the hostel tonight and wacth a film in the tv room. It's a really quiet town, so not much to do. Plus I'm not feeling too good, so welcoming a quiet night!
Got an overnight bus tomorro night, not looking forward to that. But in the day me and lil might do a motorbike tour of the town and Town 1770. They are proper old hogs that only go pretty slow apparently so were gonna go cheak that out! Then our Bus takes us to Airlie Beach. 22 days left now - it's going very quick! Miss you all xxx
Well done Hollie, that was some catching up. Sounds fantastic and Im sure youll all make the most of your 22 days. Will be thinking of Libby tomorrow xxx
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