Moving south
We took the ferry back at 3:30pm and headed for hydeaway bay, a place LJ’s grandpa had recommended. We got there after dark, so not being able to find/ see the ocean we set up camp at a caravan park. LJ and I have turned into grandmas on this trip, we go to bed around 9 or 10pm and wake up between 6 and 7am. Its really not a choice when you’re camping in Australia, the birds have an opera that starts as soon as the sun comes up and being that its summer the tent become a mini sauna not long after the opera starts. Being in this routine, the next morning we had the tent packed away by 7am and made off with a free night stay.. shhh!
We made our standard oatmeal down the road looking over the beach and decided to explore coffee in hand. We discovered that the first 300 meters was shallow coral, shallow as in, no deeper then my knees. We had a nature exploration for the next hour, sea cucumbers, fish, coral, calms and my favourite being scardy cats. Not their real name but I had to name them something. They are this little plants that are red, blue, white, pink or orange, and when you come near them they all retract into their pod, I loved them.. haha.
After our marine life fun, we stopped in Dingo Beach for directions to Airlie Beach where we decided it must be called Dingo Beach because they breed with the dingos. Airlie was beautiful, definitely tourist, but that’s what I am. LJ nonchalant directed me to a booking office to look at all the amazing stuff we could do and next thing I knew I was handing over money. Totally worth what we are getting for our money, but I now have to really watch myself with money.
What we planned? 1 full day on around the Whitsundays, snorkelling, Whitehaven Beach, hiking, lunch all included. The next was Fraser Island, 4 night and 5 days on Fraser with 6-10 other people. We get handed a 4 wheel drive and go for our life exploring the island. Im pumped!!
We had met Chris a week or so back when we were driving up to Townsville. He had given us his address being (Airlie Beach) and phone number and said we could pitch our tent in his front yard if we wanted. We called him earlier in the day and he said we were more then welcome. Chris was great, he greeted us with a beer and introduced us to his two big dogs. We chatted for a good while until Georgie his girlfriend) came home, he asked what we hadn’t eaten since we had been on our trip and our asked we veggies and meat, so that’s what was made. They wouldn’t let us help with dinner at all and were served an amazing meal, after noodles and soup for dinner night after night, this was gourmet to us. They were great conversation, and told us they were more then happy to have guests. Chris being from England, his family is on the other side of the world and Georgie having no family left. We spent the rest of the night on the porch drinking XXXX gold beers and playing with the tree frogs which are 10 times bigger then the ones I’m use to seeing at home.
When we had met Chris the first still just outside Miles, he was driving a huge school like bus. He had just bought it and planned to revamp it into a travel bus that he and Georgie would take all around Australia. That was our sleeping arrangements for the next few nights, which was actually amazing because it didn’t become a suana in the mornings.
Eungalla national park
It was nice to finally have a lazy morning before we headed off to Eungella National Park. Chris made us really coffee (not instant), while we chatted with chain smoker Georgie on the porch. Our GPS who we have just started calling “m” names gets confused, so meridith ended up taking us a funny way. The drive to the park was beautiful, probably my personal favourite scenery thus far. Lush hills, with cows to decorate, mango trees lining the road and a few palm trees mixed into the a country type to spice it up.
The hike into the park was nothing, only about a mile till we got to the falls, which was a good thing since it was so humid. On the way up LJ tried to catch lizards and I kept my eyes on the trees. One of the things I’ve been telling LJ is that I wanted to swim under a waterfall while I was here, well today I got to do that. It was so nice to be back in fresh water that was actually refreshing. We watched the boys jump off the huge rocks a few times before we conquered the boulders. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon staking out a boulder to lay out and read on.
We took a different way home and was even more beautiful then the drive out, LJ was great and ran over all the snakes we saw on the road.
Just as we pulled in the driveway Chris was leaving to take the dogs on run, so we went with. They leave across from 100’s of acres of sugar cane fields and take ziggy and mini to one of the cleared fields. The sun was setting which made it all picturesque, it was so nice to enjoy the afternoon, instead of hurrying to throw up the tent, make dinner on our gas stove and get showers in before it got to dark. It was a nice to know that there are good people in this world that still look after one another and that it was totally genuine. Whitsundays
Jan 7 2010
Georgie works in the harbour right next to the Mantaray docks and offered to drive us so we didn’t have to deal with parking. Being a part of the industry she introduced us to the crew on a more personal level, then gave us a few motherly words and smiles and waved goodbye. The boat was comfortable, large and a smooth ride to Hamilton island reef that only took about an hour. Once we parked the boat a bit off shore we threw on the stinger suits and masks and started for the reef which was a good 300 meters from the boat. Once I got to the reef, I had to stop for a second and just float, take it all in.
by far one of the most amazing pieces of nature I have ever seen. Although this once the second time I was snorkelling the GBR this spot was much better and much bigger. We also were allocated more time. Next stop was Whitehaven Beach, they dropped us on the opposite side of Whitsunday Island, then hike to the lookout and then down to the beach. This is one of those places that’s on all the postcards, in plenty of photography books, magazines and see on the discovery channel. Whitehaven beach has sand like no other beach in the world and is the 4th most photographed place in Australia. This sand has the most silica which is the necessary chemical needed to make high quality lens, so NASA is always trying to get its hands on the white sand. The boat side of the island on the other hand is all coral and shells, I love the contrast.
Of course it was another lovely dinner of salmon with Georgie and Chris followed by Cadbury chocolate, I love life. haha
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