on the road again...

First off, thanks for the comments on the "piss story"... I had to scramble and finish things up last time because the internet place was closing... otherwise, I would've dragged the story further so that you could relate to the agony and discomfort of the experience... lucky you!

We are now in Noosa Heads. We've back tracked a little on our journey north. We bought this travel package that included a 2 day canoe trip through the Noosa Everglades. We were told horror stories on numerous occasions, after signing up for it. The good thing was that it turned out to be a blast. We were a group of 11 on a self guided tour. Everyone was positive and enthusiastic. It seemed that they had all heard the same reviews as well. There were a couple of Irish, 3 English, and 2 Aussie's... again, one of the Irish had never camped before but he survived with more grace than the Londoners did on Fraser. We camped for 2 nights, canoed for a total of 24km and hiked for 12km. It was a physical challenge indeed... (Mark, it kept reminding me of you in the Death Race. I can't believe you sign up for that kind of thing... for those of you that don't know... look up 'Death Race Marathon'... its insane.) Although, I won't be doing any death races, Conrad and I were coined with the nickname, "Team Canada" because we were always sailing past everyone during the canoeing. It was funny turning back and seeing everyone zig-zag across the river, they hadn't figured out the "technique". On the last night we all joined in a little mischief. That day it seemed that one of our canoes had been switched the night before in exchange for a crappy, slow, cracked "vessel". The next day we had set off to see this sand blow which was a 6km paddle each way and a 12km hike round trip. The Aussie got the crap canoe but didn't mention is until after the massive day trip. That night at the campsite, one had mentionned that he saw someone messing with our canoes that night prior. He said he noticed one of them was missing, but he figured they just grabbed one for an evening canoe. He later speculated that they had switched canoes, taking our good one and leaving there crap one.... the weasels. You see, this trip that we were on leaves everyday. So there is always another group doing the same thing, just a day ahead. You have to canoe 6km from the drop off to get to this campground. Once we realized that the canoes had been switched and that we still had a 6km trip to get back to our pick up point we decided to switch the crap canoe with the "new" group. The night was alive with the full moon. Four of us ventured quietly to make the switch. The scene was scoped out. We knew which canoes were to be switched. Two people were to grab the bad one while another two would be grabbing the good one. The scheme was in action. Conrad was in the group that had the bad vessel. I was in the group that had the good one. Conrad's party executed the plan with ease. My group was a little different. I was with a slender, Irishman (the first time camper.) We started by sliding the canoe off the storage shelf. Everything seemed fine..... until the canoe actually left the shelf, then THUNK!!! It was way heavier than we both thought. The canoe went down and we all started snickering. Everyone was trying to remain quiet. Our token photographer, a British girl, started snapping photos, flash after flash. Once we regained what little composure we had left, we finished the task. The mission was a success, despite being a little rocky. Later, we saw the group that we swapped with checking out the canoes but they were none the wiser. In the end, we got back with good canoes and that crap one remained at the campsite. We all figure that its a cycle that goes on with every group. I don't think that canoe has ever actually made it back to the pick up point.

After getting back to Noosa, safe and sound, with only a few new bug bites, we've had the last couple of days to check out the town. Its an incredibly rich town, a playland for the wealthy. Its kind of like a Miami version of Whistler. We haven't done much. We went and saw a really bad movie for $14 AUD a couple of nights ago... a word of advice, 10 000 BC is really cheesy. I fear that Conrad will forever hold it against me that I chose that movie after vetoing Vantage Point. [whoops... my bad]

Today we're off on a 16 hour, overnight bus ride to Airlie Beach. There we will be going on a 3 day sailing trip through the Whitsundays.... can't wait!!!! The trip includes all food (which apparently is amazing) and a half hour introduction scuba dive!!! You can snorkel all you want and there will be plenty of beaches to check out! This is what I've been most looking forward to... not quite as rustic as the camping trips... me likes!

Conrad and I have just spent the day booking the rest of our trip. We'll be in Cairns for 10days after the Whitsundays. From there we will fly to Melbourne and stay for a month. Then we'll fly to Sydney for the last 5days of our trip... then, the inevitable.... we'll be flying home. In the meantime, we're still here basking in the glories of Oz. Until that flight home, we're still living the experience!!!

Life at the end of the Rainbow

Dreamland amusement park back in Surfer's Paradise...

...petting a baby crocodile...
...we came across this little giril behind one of the gift shops. She was sitting alone on this bench, eating a bag of dry noodles. Meanwhile, the crumbs that were falling became food for the scavenging ducks, birds and lizards. She seemed oblivious to the oddity of the situation. We were worried that she had been lost, it turned out her parents were just inside looking around. The situation was all around very odd and unexpected.

We've been in Rainbow Beach for a little while now. After Surfer's Paradise we came here and spent a week at a little motel. Everything here is so local; everyone knows eachother; everything is just a walk down the quaint main street. We spent a week at the motel, formally known as Debbie's Place, lovingly called, "Oh Deb's place, right!" In such a small town we've kept ourselves busy with a bit of hiking. There's this one place called Carlo Sand Blow. Its only a 15min hike and you find yourself in this giant half pipe of sand. On either side of the vast surface of sand you find ocean or forest. The sand is constantly blown by the breeze. At the end of the huge mound you see that the sand is slowly engulfing the forest below. Its like your on the moon. The view was amazing. One morning we got up for a 6am seakayaking trip. The trip ended up getting cancelled due to strong wind warnings. Conrad and I took advantage of the early start and again hiked up to the sandblow. It looked completely different in the morn. We both took a lot of pictures and thoroughly explored the surreal space.

Indeed, we've been quite the explorers. We took the advice of a travel agent here and decided to hike out to Lake Poona. However, if we had known that the hike was 8km long, and perhaps started it before 1:30pm we might have been able to reach the lake. Instead, we hiked for 3hrs through dense forest and jungle. You see, the trail was decieving. What started out like a nice little walk through the trees ended in a flooded path through the dense jungle, getting bit by ants because we were both wearing sandals. At times we started to doubt that we were even on the trail. Thankfully, we did end up staying on the right track. We reached a fork in the road. It was 4pm and dusk was already approaching. We had a choice. We could walk the remaining 1.8km to the lake which we'd been in pursuit the entire afternoon or we could go to the nearest picnic area, only 600m, where we had hopes of hitching a ride back to town. From the wise words of our mothers, we chose, "Safety first." We gave up on the lake quest and sought civilization. We began walking, along the dirt road, on our way back to Rainbow Beach. There was no way I was going BACK on the damn trail with darkness falling... NO WAY! We were prepared to walk the distance back to town along the road but the second passing car responded to our hitching. The drive back was a long 12km, and with every passing bend in the road we were glad that we had been saved.

After vowing never to venture like that again, we had a restful few days. We arranged a Fraser Island trip, planned a Whitsunday's sailing trip, as well as a canoe trip through the Noosa everglades. We just got back from the Fraser Island self-guided tour. Basically, a hostel sends you and 10 others off for 2 nights on camping and 3 days of Fraser Island exploring. They lend you camping equipment and the 4X4. They give you a recommended itinerary and send you on our way. We were a group with two Toyota Landrover 4x4's, carrying 22 people. Despite my secret hesitations, regarding the camping with complete strangers for 3 whole days the trip was a complete blast. Each group has designated drivers that navigate through the sand roads on Fraser. Its was inevitable that you'd be bogged at some point but its all part of the fun. Our group was a mixture of Germans, Isrealis, and British. There were 3 guys from London that had NEVER been camping before. Everyone was mutually in shock when we'd heard this.... before the trip began we knew we were in for an adventure. According to the recollection of these guys the first night, they had opened their tent "windows" for ventilation, they said they couldn't breathe or see. They kept hearing strange noises, which they responded by asking, "Hello, who's there?" Because of the open vents and pitch black the first night's downpour did not end graciously. They couldn't see, couldn't breathe, whilst getting soaked. The second night, while the guys were playing soccer on the beach, one of them dislocated there shoulder. Fraser Island is very secluded and you have to dial a satellite in order to recieve the faintest of reception. After failed attempts at relocating the shoulder we were able to get an ambulance to our secluded beach campsite. Bare in mind, this campsite was so secluded that a shovel got you your own make-shift, well-ventilated toilet. The Londoner was taken in the ambulance, he was helicoptered to the nearest hospital where they relocated his shoulder. Meanwhile, the next morning, one of the two remaining Brits awoke with bites all over the patchwork of his sunburnt lower legs. These bites were huge and one would suspect that he had a mystery sleeping bag mate. By the end of the trip, they all said at the time it seemed like the worst thing but it did supply a good laugh. They all walked away from the experience, however, I think they are more keen on the camper van idea.

While on Fraser we saw a few breathe taking fresh water lakes and saw some amazing look outs. Our first stop was, Lake Mackenzie, where we saw quite a few dingos. They run around freely like dogs. You have to remind yourself that they are wild animals and you are not to encourage them with human contact. We had lunch there, enjoyed a nice swim in the crystal clear water, dodged the sudden downpour under information stands, and then some played a game of soccer on the beach. The Isrealis initiated the game. They were a wild and entertaining bunch. If anything was to happen they were not too far behind. At Lake Mackenzie we found a discarded blow up doll (who would carry a blow up doll all the way to Fraser is beyond me.) They were quick to jump at the photo opportunity. Fraser Island is a world heritage site. One of the member's of our group decided that he could not leave the garbage, aka. blow up doll/ Stacey, on the pristine beach. He carried it back to our truck and "Stacey" became the centre of attention as our front fender ornament for the rest of the trip. We had a lot of looks on Fraser... some with shaking heads; some with thumbs up!

The next day we quickly stopped at another fresh water lake, Lake Wabby. Access to this lake was after crossing a kilometer wide sandblow. We took a quick dip and then drove north to a look out called Indian Head. From the top you can see all the way down the beach in both directions. The view from the cliff edge to the water was enough to make me a little weak at the knees, needless to say, I kept a safe distance. That night we were camping on the beach. There are designated camping sites all along the coastline. As soon as we made it to our selected campsite, the rain started to come down. Beforehand, there was just enough time to set up a tarp, our sanctuary. That day, we had lunch at 5pm and dinner at 10pm. It was Saint Patrick's Day and we had a couple of crazy Irish. They made sure the evening was not a bust... this was the night of the soccer game that ended with an ambulance ride for some.

The following day we were off to see the shipwreck called the Maheno. Its incredible that a ship this large sits and rusts here. Its quite an unsettling tourist stop. A skeleton of rust and water. Everyone got there fill of photos. We had our only group photo taken in front on the Maheno. This was our last day on Fraser Island. We were on a tight schedule. After a brief period of admiration we were off to a fresh water creek called Eli Creek. There was a walkway built running down to one end of the creek. There you find steps that descend into the shallow creek. There you are to return back to the starting point, wading in the knee deep creek. A freshwater snake scurried past my ankle. I shrieked in shock. It was weird. The water was cold like the Nanaimo River. I got a good photo of Conrad just as he's at the peak of dipping in. Unfortunately, I am unable to upload more photos. It seems that these computers only enable me to upload a certain amount. I will try again next time.

We had time for one more stop before leaving Fraser Island. We stopped at Rainbow Gorge. It was another sandblow. The full circuit through it was an hour walk... we've done a lot of walking lately. Finally, we were driving back to catch the barge back to Rainbow Beach. The ride was bumpy, especially when the driver did not see the upcoming obstacles three times. We went flying! Somehow, amidst the rough ride I still managed to get lulled to sleep. Conrad found this entertaining; one of the Londoners found it incredible.

Last night, when we got back we stayed at the hostel we arranged the tour through. We watched a couple of movies and had one last night bonding with the people we'd experienced Fraser Island with. Unfortunatly, the night could not end entirely perfect. We awoke to find one of our dorm roommates pissing on the floor. He actually climbed down from the top bunk, pissed and then climbed back up. Conrad heard it first. We started flipping out but these two guys were heavily out. We were actually screaming at them to wake up as there bags began to soak in this one guys piss. We were helplessly trying to wake them from the barricade of piss that separated up. Conrad yelled, I hit them with one of there towels. Finally, we they awoke. They were groggy and they did nothing. The one guy denied doing it. The other guy just sat there. I still can't believe the whole thing. They were definately on something. They said they had been drinking but it seemed like more. I went and woke one of the managers up. Conrad stayed and made sure our stuff did not get piss on it. Luckily, the guy had done it a fair distance away but it was trickling closer. These guys were both out of it. One guy left and spent the rest of the night walking up and down the fence puking. The other guy went back to bed and slept in his piss filled room. Conrad and I grabbed our stuff and moved to another room. We have the room to ourselves to compensate for the "disturbance". The guys were charged with cleaning fees, but they're still here. The whole thing is weird. Tomorrow we're off to Noosa to canoe the everglades for 2 days. We'll be camping again and I'm sure the saga of this adventure will continue.

We're still here...

We've been in Surfers Paradise for a couple of nights now.

The last few days in Byron were bittersweet. We really liked it there. The vibe was chill, our place was our own, the beach was big and clean. Whats not to love? On the last few days we rented a couple of surf boards. We surfed in the sun; we surfed in the rain. The rain surfing was a thrill... you don't have to worry about "getting out of the rain"! At times, because the water was so clear you could see schools of fish riding the wave as it approached you for a ride of your own.

[Note for ma and Reiko: Sometimes there was seaweed drifting around. It slightly wrapped around my ankles but I didn't run, or shriek, or jump on Conrad's back. I took it like a champ and "calmly" walked away.... maybe the phobia is fading.... mmm, no... the more I think about it, the more my heart starts racing!!!!!]

Surfers Paradise.... What to say? Its definately been a shock to the system. Its a large city with a beach right downtown. The vibe is a lot more high paced than Byron. The first night was bad. We stayed at this disgusting hostel. We had a dirty ensuite bathroom that wreaked of mildew as soon as the shower steam began to rise. This was enclosed by a plastic, accordian-like door that was broken and remained in place with an overdue piece of packing tape. We were sharing the small room with another Canadian fellow (from Edmonton... what! what!) and a Korean guy that spoke very little English. The main entrance, aka. the lounge for drunken hostel dwellers, was an interesting way to come and go. The kitchen stunk and although we tried to make the most of it, it seemed that a rat and another backpacker did as well. Our bread had been nibbled and Conrad's deli chicken was stolen out of our fridge bag! Who does that! That same night we checked in to Ghettoville, we promptly started looking for different accommodation. We've lucked out and have since been staying at a clean, quiet, Irish motel. There is no kitchenette, but we have a toaster and a mini-fridge. Living on toasted veggie sandwiches is luxury!!

In spite of the rocky start, we've spent the last couple of days at one of the amusement parks... Dreamland. We purchased a 2-day visit ticket, so yesterday and today we frequented the rides, waterslides and wildlife exhibits. They have 6 big thrill rides... one of which was called The Giant Drop. Conrad felt this name did not do the ride justice. "It should be 'The Drop of Death' or something," he said. Indeed, it was near death. We fell 39 storeys (119m) for 5 seconds. This may not sound very long but it feels like forever when your body is experiencing a gravitational force of 4G's from the tallest free fall ride in the world! Insane! I screamed murder; Conrad just slightly flinched. We were going to buy the photo but Conrad's face was blocked out by someone's hand. My face looked like a horror movie... sorry, no evidence... you'll have to imagine it for yourselves... or I'm sure Conrad would be glad to show you when we get back, he loves doing that!

Dreamland was quite entertaining. Its a big, outdoor amusement park with a conjoining waterpark. They have an area called Tiger Island, where you can watch Bengal tigers act like big, house cats. There was also a Wildlife Experience area where Conrad and I got to pet kangaroos and baby crocodiles. We even got pictures holding Koalas! It was kind of like a mini zoo. There were Tazmanian Devils, Wombats, snakes, dingos, and a lot more! I really liked this area...

The waterpark area was alright. Pretty typical, I guess. I think Dreamland is more about the rides and wildlife. Either way, Conrad was guaranteed an impressive shreik from myself on almost everything. I don't know whats happened to me... all this screaming must be related to my ageing.

Tomorrow, is our last day in Surfer's because on Sunday we will be on our way to Rainbow Beach. It seems like a smaller town, right across from Frasier Island. We're planning on staying for a week or so. I think we're both looking forward to living in a low key place again...

Sorry about not posting any pictures. This computer is not very fast and will not upload any photos from my camera. I will try to show you a glimpse ASAP! Until then... just imagine...