Australia. Fraser Island

I booked myself on a tag along tour of Fraser Island which left on the 31st March. This is mix of self drive with guided tour of Fraser Island. The cars are 4x4 as you are diving on the sand. I had to watcha safety video about how to drive on sand and general safe driving technique before I left at a hostel just along from the one I was staying at. I was really surprised that I was the only one there and leaving from Rainbow Beach. I got collected and joined a car full of Germans and one Canadian. After they all started speaking German and I had no idea what they were saying I jokingly said that my German was not that good and I couldn't understand them. The Canadian looked at me happily and they then spoke mainly in English. Emily the Canadian girl later told me that they had been speaking in German the whole way from Noosa in German and she could get involved in any of the conversations. Together we later decided that it was not ignorant of us to expect people to speak English, as we were in an English speaking country.

After a couple of stops we drove to the ferry terminal, which was a completely picturesque stretch of beach from which you could see Fraser Island very nearby. After come awkward car grip photos we waited for the ferry. After looking back at the photos it seems so funny that we weren't so friendly as we got on so well!

We boarded the ferry and made the 10 minute crossing to Fraser Island! 

We arrived on Fraser Island and it is so weird that you are driving on the beaches. There are no roads, only the beach and some inland sand tracks. The whole island is a sand island apart from a couple of volcanic rocky outcrops. 

We drove along the beach and made it to our base camp. We are camping on the island and there was a pemenant camp set up. We also met some other group members who had come from Hervey Bay. After lunch we set off up the beach to a sand blow and to Lake Wabby which is a ever moving enormous sand desert which has created a freshwater lake in it. On the way to the lake we stopped on the beach and were told about shellfish called wongs. These are like clams and they burry themselves into the sand. You can tell where they are by the small round patch of raised sand above them. We dug down and found these shellfish. When you pick them up they squirt water at you! We collected afew each for dinner. 

We then headed off for Lake Wabby. 

After a bit of a hike we made it to a sandblow. This is a high area of sand form by the wind blowing sand up from the beach and it looked like a high desert! 

At the edge of the sandblow was Lake Wabby. Wabby means crow. The lake was pushed up against a forest and was beautiful. My photos don't do it justice. We went of a swim and got nibbled by lots of fish! After we got out our guide then told us about the fish life in there, from the tiny to the foot long catfish. Argh!

After the hike back we drove back to the camp and got the BBQ on! The sunset was amazing and our camp was right next to the beach so it was amazing to see it and see the reflections made my the water on the flat sands. 

After the BBQ the drinking came I to full force! There is nothing to do after dark so  drinking and drinking games commenced! It was team UK against the world! Before bed some of us went to the beach (with our dingo sticks!) and gazed drunkenly at the stars. They were spectacular. The Milky Way was out and we tried to decipher some constellations from a phone app. It was brilliant. 

After a terrible nights sleep from being scared about the whole made in our tent from a dingo trying to get at my bag earlier in the evening (whoops my bad) and the heat and humidity we got up for a long day ahead of us. After a great camp breakfast and a cold outdoor shower we set off. 

We drove past a makeshift aeroplane landing strip on the sand and we stopped and our guide asked if anyone wanted to take a trip for $75. I did! A few of us did and it was amazing! We were in a little 6 seater plane so we all got a window seat and we used the beach as the runway! We did a little joy ride along the coast and inland. We saw so much and I am so happy I did it. 

After this then headed off to Eli Creek. This was a freshwater creek which was so clear! It had been filtering through a huge sand dune for the past 400 years and making it's way out to the sea. The water has a pretty strong current so you can float down the creek. It was so relaxing looking up as the rainforest above. 

We then carried on driving northbound up 75 Mile Beach. We passed the Maheno shipwreck on the beach. Maheno means paradise in Maori and the aboriginal name for Fraser Island is Kari which means paradise too. It was shipwrecked during a cyclone in the early 1900's on its way for melting down in Japan. It could not be moved so has just stayed there. 

Not the most exciting stop, an old boat. We carried on further north for our next stop which was Champagne Pools. These are a group of rock pools which are supposed to look like champagne when the waves crash over the rocks into them. The champagne was a bit flat when we were there but still good fun and beautiful. There were loads of colourful fish in the pools. 

We then drove a little back down the beach to Indian Head. This was a rocky outcrop that was so named by Captain Cook as when he was sailing past he saw a bunch of aboriginals standing on there and he though that they were Indians. The views was fantastic and we saw a turtle and a ray and dolphins riding the surf from the top. 

This was the last tourist stop of the day, but our guide had a couple of surprises to show us on our return to camp. The first of which was a whale skeleton! The whale had been beached a year ago and was not able to be rescued. It's body was moved off the beach into the dunes to be feasted on by the animals. 

The next surprise was some bubbling sand pools which were created by the fresh water being forced up to the surface. They were about knee deep and had humate at the bottom which we learnt was like fossilised organic matter and was impermeable to water so the water was forced upwards. This humate created the base of a lot of the lakes on the island. We were also shown some black patterned sand which was mineral sand. The sand was mined to create titanium. It was a very pretty pattern!

After this we made our way back to camp and got a much better nights sleep  as it was so much cooler and less humid :)

Our final day was made up of driving inland. This meant driving on tracks in the forests aposed to driving on the beach. The tracks were single track and very bumpy. It was much more fun to drive on these. We stopped in the bush for a quick photo opportunity and the chance to see some kaori trees. Just like the ones in NZ, but much smaller! 

We then drove to Lake Mackenzie. This is a sandy fresh water lake and one of 20 on the island that is above sea level and there are only 40 in the world. The humate is what allows for the lake to stay out. It was a beautiful crystal clear turquoise lake on super fine white quartz sand. It was idyllic. Would be amazing if there was no one else there!

After lunch of yet another wrap, we took a very short rainforest walk along a stream where the aboriginal women would have come to give birth. I can see why they chose it was it was incredibly tranquil. You couldn't hear the water moving and the vegetation was stunning. 

Our tour pretty much ended here. The group split up and those heading to Hervey Bay left to catch their ferry whilst we waited and then got ours to Rainbow Beach. 

The trip was awesome and definitly the high point was the aeroplane ride. Definitly a trip I'll never forget and especially the dingo!! Argh!!

Australia. Byron Bay.

After a marathon 12 hour overnight bus journey from Sydney I arrived exhausted in Byron Bay on Thursday 27th March. It was so hot! So much hotter and more humid that Sydney and it was also very grey. I think the rain was hitting the whole east coast. The farmers seemed very happy about this in the newspapers, but not me so much! 

I got to my hostel which was so far out of town! But it was amazing. Like a big hippy place with hammocks and yoga and nice outdoor space. It was also right on the beach which was amazing. I had chosen this place because of all this but hadn't realised was so far out of town in a place called Belongil. Think this will be a dry stay as not prepared to trek back from town after a night out! Anna was staying in town so it turned out to be hard to arrange to meet her. 

I took a walk along the beach in the afternoon of day one into town. It was a wet and windy 20 minute stroll along the beach. I was surprised at how warm the water was! Much warmer than Sydney, but still too rough to be tempted in! Town was cool. A mix of hippy and surfer shops with a great selection of restaurants bars and cafés. The hippy shops were amazing, but need to remind myself that I'm going to Asia and can do this shopping there! This is a photos of the rainbow shop, very typical of Byron! It's full of hippy shops and places to get readings and healing. 

The rain then didn't stop all evening, but it was cool to hang out and cook dinner and listen to the band play at the bar next door. 

The next morning the monsoon continued :( I was so bored! It's ok when it rains in a city as there are still galleries and museums you can visit, but there was nothing to do here. We had sofas in our room so we could hang out there as all the hammocks were wet! Luckily the rain eased off at lunchtime and we went into town for a coffee and get some souvenirs with a girl from my dorm. The shops really were great and it was so hard not to buy anything! Then the blus sky came out!! Hurray!! Beach afternoon! It was really windy but it was nice as it took some of the heat off. The kite boarders were out and Byron looked like I wanted it to!

The hostel has yoga classes and I went to class that evening with a couple of girls from the room. It was in a big Indian tent and it looked amazing! The tent had leaked in the earlier rain so inside it was incredibly humid. I have never sweated so much in yoga! I though at one point I would have to give up. I was dripping! My legs were dripping and I was soaked! Crazy. The two girls I was with were totally giddy over the instructor and whilst chatting to him later he offered to take us out to a frozen yoghurt shop which he said was the best. They were so excited and we went and the frozen yoghurt was amazing! Then we walked around listening to the buskers and then watched as he hit in our 18 year old friend really hard! It was hilarious and so obvious. He even showed us his room in the hostel then talked about the stars. Classic. 

Saturday was a great surprise to wake to blue sky. I had tried to get up and watch the sun rise, but it had been too cloudy and very underwhelming! I hit the beach in the morning and got absolutely cooked. It was so hot, such a difference to everywhere else I'd been this trip. After lunch I took the walk to Byron Head to see the lighthouse. It was supposed to take an hour and I really wanted to do it. I walked along the length of our beach, Belongil beach then onto Main beach, I was glad we were staying in Belongil as the beach was some much nicer and quieter. I could feel myself cooking in the sun. At the end of the beach the climb started. It said it was 1.5km to the lighthouse so I started the climb! The beaches got better for surfing around this area, but still not great. 

The climb went on and on and I was so hot and humid I was really struggling! We hit the most easterly point in the Australian mainland, there was a path out to a rock pinnacle but I could not face it!

I finally made it to the lighthouse, which was very pretty. As I was climbing the last few stairs I had a revelation, why do I keep coming to look at lighthouses?!! I've seen so many especially on this trip! I come from a small craggy island with loads of its own lighthouses, why do I need to visit Australian lighthouses which were probably built by British people anyway!!! (I was having a tough time!)

I was glad I made it, but then had to get back home! I finally got back into town and got myself another frozen yoghurt. Was definitly needed! I'd spent too long in the sun and was feeling really bad. Very headachy and confused. Got the shuttle back and went to bed! At least I wasn't burnt! 

My bus to leave Byron was at 7:45 am so whilst waiting for the shuttle bus I went to beach and saw a magnificent sunrise. At last! It was beautiful. Maybe I was there too early the day before! It was a great memory to leave such a great place with. And the lighthouse was flashing! 

Back to Australia! Manly

I arrived back into Sydney on Sunday 23rd and wow it's hot! But looking at the weather forecast, it going to be wet. My curse of the rain again! I'm staying with Katie again in gorgeous Manly and she says it been perfect blue sky the whole time I've been gone! Typical! 

Katie had Monday off, yay! So we went shopping in the morning looking for bikinis, probably more of a nightmare here than at home! No busty ladies in Aus it seems! After that we went up the coast to Palm Beach. This is the beach that they film Home and Away at so we were very excited! We drove up through the very expensive suburbs of north Sydney up to Palm Beach. It was so beautiful. Amazing houses in the rainforest looking out over the beach or harbour. Very glamourous! We stopped at a beach cafe for lunch. Very posh with huge bunches of georgous  flowers everywhere. We shared a pricy fish and chips which was amazing. 

It started to chuck it down as soon as we got there! After lunch we ran to the car and drove to the Home and Away beach. I tried to find the same spot the Ben took his photo in from this beach, but the bin that I remember him standing next to had gone! Who would have thought that Sydney council would have updated their rubbish bins in the last 14 years! We walked up to the beach past this building and then got told that we couldn't walk that way. We were about confused but then twigged that they were filming! At the surf club! Haha! We saw them in school uniforms trying to keep out of the rain. Katie was very excited! We walked along the beach which was so beautiful even in the grey. It seemed to make the sand seen even more orange. 

Home and Away surf club heehee,

We tried to find the photo spot but couldn't so just chose one. 

We then filmed ourselves singing the Home and Away theme tune. So funny :) we did this about 5 times as Katie thought that she wasn't pressing the start button on the video but she was so we have 5 copies. The film crew must have thought we were mental. 

Tuesday had a sunny start so I went to the beach bright and early. The surf was really good and I enjoyed watching the surfers whilst sun bathing. The weather clouded over at lunch time and then chucked it down on my way back from the beach. We were going to meet Paul and Anna in manly that afternoon but they were really late and didn't end up getting here until about 6. I'd met Katie at 4 and had already finished a bottle of wine by then. We had a good evening of wine and an amazing $5 steak. 

Wednesday was grey. It was grey when I got up and grey all day except for when I walked into town to post my box of stuff home it chucked it down. Perfect timing! I met Katie for a Mexican lunch and then went home to pack as was getting the 11pm bus to Byron Bay. Katie really kindly drove me to the bus station and we stopped off on the way for a drink in a pub with the best views!

Then got on the but with Anna for the long 12 hours to Byron Bay!

Leaving New Zealand

New Zealand has been an amazing adventure. Definitly and incredibly beautiful country that I can't wait to explore again. I'm not sure if I could live there but definitly visit for extended visits! I've net some great people on my kiwi experience and my expectations were definitly exceeded about who is meet. Only about 4 girls I'm glad I never have to meet again! Mostly 18 year old over confident girls! My really happy with the group of people I met. Mostly mid twenties and a really good mix. Definitly need to work hard and keep in touch. 

The islands are so different. I think I prefer. The south island because of its pure luscious beauty and Queenstown was a great party town. I loved all the lakes and forests and beaches. The Abel Tasman, and Catlins were definitly high points. 

The north island was more rugged and less green. It was still amazingly beautiful and the Coromandel was probably my favourite part of the whole country. Hot Water Beach and Cathederal Cove was probably the highlight if my trip, seeing the Milky Way from the hot water pools we made on the beach. Looking back over the Toronga Crossing photos and memories, that was definitly another trip highlight, despite feeling quite strong hatred towards it whilst doing it! 

I am so glad I made this trip and so happy to be persuaded into it my Alex P and Ben. I can't wait to come back, and do that bungy jump!