Brisbane Feb 19-22

On Thursday, we took the bus from Hervey Bay to Brisbane. This was my last day to travel with Anke because she is flying to Melbourne on Friday and back to Germany on Saturday. We also met my friend Alexa in Brisbane. Alexa is from Switzerland. She was one of my roomates for 2 nights in Sydney and now we are reunited in Brisbane!

Last night, we hit the town to celebrate. That's Alexa on the left and Anke on the right.

I'll post some more pics of Brisbane after the weekend.

Feb 16-18 Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

Hervey Bay, Feb 16

On Monday, we took the bus from Surfers Paradise to Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is known for 2 things. First, it is one of the best spots in Australia to whale watch during the winter time. There were no whales to see this time of year though. Second, it is the most popular launching point for Fraser Island. That was our purpose for Hervey Bay. We spent the night here and took off for Fraser Island the next day

Fraser Island, Feb 17-18

Fraser Island is a good sized island off the east coast of Australia. It is the largest sand island in the entire world, meaning it is built entirely of sand. It has some really unique wildlife and scenery.

Alot of people like to camp on the island. We didn't have time to plan this so we took a 2 day, 1 night bus tour.

There are no paved roads on the island, only sand roads. So, you have to have a 4WD vehicle to drive there. We had a huge 4WD bus. I am told this is one of the largest 4WD buses in the southern hemisphere (I thought Tony might be impressed by this). Here is our bus:




And here are some other typical 4WD vehicles for those who do a self drive tour.



It was an adventure just riding around on the bus.....That was one bumpy ride! My back is still sore!

We saw some cool wildlife on the island. There is a huge population of wild dingos and I saw 2 of these on the trip. This is the best picture I got. It just looks like a big dog.



I also saw a huge, ugly lizard!

I also saw my first wild kangaroos on the bus ride to the ferry but didn't get any pics. They were just hopping around in a field. I will get some kangaroo pics before I leave!

Fraser Island is known for its perched lakes and these were my favorite part of the trip. Perched lakes are fresh water lakes that form in the hollow of a sand dune. The water was crystal clear and the scenery was beautiful around the lake.

Here is Lake McKenzie.

It rained most of our trip but we got some great sunshine just in time for Lake McKenzie. As you can see below, I was pumped!

We also went to Lake Wabby which was another perched lake. First, we had a 1.8 km hike through some sand dunes to get to the lake. I really loved the sand dunes. I have never been in a desert before so I'd never seen so much sand!

Finally, I arrive at Lake Wabby. Another crystal clear lake.

I even saw some catfish swimming around in the water.

We spent a lot of time driving down the 75 mile beach which serves as a highway for the island. This side of the beach faces the Pacific Ocean. Nobody swims here though. The undercurrents are very strong and there is a significant shark population in the water. Yikes!!!

You can fish from the beach though. We even saw a lady catch a fish!

Two of my roomates, Caroline and Leonard from France.

A massive shipwreck on the beach.

We climbed to a nice look out point on the island. The views were great but again it was raining so they could have been even better! We were told that you can often see sharks swimming in the water from this look out point.

The view of Fraser Island as our ferry pulls away. It was a great trip.

Feb 10-15 Coffs Harbour, Byron Bay, and Surfers Paradise

Coffs Harbour, Feb 10-11

On Tuesday morning, I took a bus from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour is a beach town and I stayed here for 2 nights. Unfortunately, I didn't have great weather here which was the start of a trend for the rest of the trip. But, I did get to spend a day at the beach and I met a good buddy Nitzan from Israel. Nitzan is on the left in the pic below. He is one of the most well traveled people I have ever met so I enjoyed talking with him.

I also got to enjoy a $7 all you can eat pizza night at the hostel on Tuesday night! I had forgotten what a joy this was for cash strapped young 20 somethings. They were pumped!

Byron Bay, Feb 12-15

On Thursday, I met up with my friend Anke again and we took a bus to Byron Bay. I traveled with Anke for the next week and it was great to have a travel companion.

Byron Bay is supposed to be one of the best beach spots on the east coast so I was looking forward to this trip.

On the first day, we walked up to the Cape Byron lighthouse which is supposed to be the most easterly point in Australia. There were some great views from up here. Once we got to the top, it started pouring rain and we had to take a cab back down. I got some good pics but they would have been sooo much better if it had been sunny.

On Friday, I went sea kayaking! This is one of the things I had really been looking forward to. The trip was scheduled for Friday morning and there was a light rain when we arrived. We decided to go anyway.

Have you seen the movie Castaway? Remember when Tom Hanks makes his escape from the island and he has to get his raft past the waves before he can set out to sea? Well, that is what sea kayaking was like. We started on the beach and then went straight into the ocean taking the waves head on. It was awesome! It was like going up a steep hill, then you are lifted up, and then you fall down with a thud into the sea. We did this through about 5-6 waves before successfully reaching calmer waters.

That's me in the green shirt in the back of the kayak.

Here is a good pic of some other people.

We had to cut the trip early because it started storming pretty bad and the waves were getting rough. When you bring the kayak back to shore, you have to navigate the waves again. Its a bit like surfing.

Our trip to shore didn't turn out so well! We almost made it in but then capsized in a wave. You can see our kayak below but we're under water at this point. It was fun!

From this point, it rained continuously until Sunday morning. So, I didn't do much except hang out in the hostel and enjoy some of Byron Bay's nightlife. Sunday morning was beautiful and I tried to kayak again but they canceled the trip because the surf was too rough. :( Oh well, at least I got to hang on the beach.

Surfers Paradise, Feb 15

On Sunday afternoon, I took the bus to Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise is on the Gold Coast and it is really commercialized unlike the other beach towns.....lots of high rise hotels, nightlife, etc. I was only in Surfers Paradise for one night so didn't do much.

Feb 6-9

Feb 6

Friday night, I went to see Marley & Me at the Sydney Open Air Cinema. This was a very cool place. The movie theatre is outside and it faces Sydney Harbour. The movie screen actually sits in the water. Beyond the movie theatre, you can see the Sydney skyline and the opera house. It was an unbelievable view! I tried to take some pics but my camera doesn't work great at night. Here's some shots of me and my friend Anke in front of the opera house on the walk there.

Feb 7

On Saturday afternoon, I hung out at Darling Harbour. This is a pretty big tourist spot. They had some rowing competitions going on during the day.

For lunch, I ate at a restaurant in China Town and then had dinner with some friends on Saturday night.

Saturday night was my last night in Sydney. This is a great city with so much to do. I highly recommend it to everyone. I would love to do more but its time to move on! I fly out of Sydney so might have a few extra days at the end of my trip to do more.

Feb 8

On Sunday, I took a 2 hr train ride to Katoomba which is in the Blue Mountains. There is a lot of hiking and adventure activities to do here. I didn't do much because it was so hot but I did see some good views.

Feb 9

The heat wave is finally over!....Today its perfect weather in the 70's. I took a train to Newcastle which is a city on the beach. I'm only here for the night. I took a walk along the shoreline of Newcastle and was blown away by the beaches and the natural coastline. The pictures don't do it justice but here they are.....

They have a lot of these which are called ocean pools. They are for pansies that are scared of sharks. Someone like Beardsley would probably stick to one of these. They are filled with water from the ocean but completely isolated from it.

I walked out to the tip of this light house. They say you can sometimes see dolphins or whales from this point but I didnt' see any.