Oz East Coast - 1st leg
Trip Start
Apr 11, 2008
1
5
6
Trip End
May 12, 2008
Airlie Beach, Australia
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
It's been a week and a half since I left Sydney, and I can't believe I've crammed as much as I have into that time. Luckily, I've got a free day to sleep in and do very little apart from update you on what I've been getting up to.
I left Syday last Monday (21st April) and went to Surf Camp. That consisted of getting drunk at the night, then getting up at 6am (!!!) for a 2 hour surf lesson. I didn't think I'd be very good, and was tempted to stay in bed if truth be told. But it was much easier to do the basics than you'd imagine, and you won't be surprised to hear that my competitive side kicked in; not against anyone else, just myself. I managed to stand up on the board quite a few times, only on the baby waves, not the big tubes, but still, I was really pleased with myself
Lennox Head, near Byron Bay
! My God, was I aching the following day, though!After surfing, it was off to Byron Bay. I'd made friends with a few girls at Surf Camp and we stayed together at Byron Bay. It's a nice enough town, but I was onyly there for 1 night. The weather was still a bit hit and miss, but it wasn't as great as I'd expected. I've met other people who loved it there, so maybe it's just me. We had a great night there, and I had my first, much needed, night out since arriving in Oz. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!
After Byron, I headed to Hervey Bay for my Fraser Island trip. I spent the night in Brisbane on the way, but was there for less than 12 hours, and was asleep for 7 of those, so I haven't actually got much to tell you about it I'm afraid! On arriving in Hervey Bay, I met the rest of the people I'd be spending the next 3 days on Fraser Isalnd with. There were 26 of us in 3 4 wheel drive jeeps, that were bright pink! I'd left my driving license at home so I couldn't have a go at driving. To be honest it was nice to let someone else worry about driving on soft sand etc having never driven on that surface or had any instruction on it. Our jeep was predominantly driven by 2 boy racers that were 21 and 22. It was a bit hairy at times, but they did a really good job over all
My Surf Camp Buddies
! For those of you that don't know, Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. It's got loads of freshwater lakes that you can swim on, but you can't swim on the sea because it's a breeding grouind for sharks.I loved Fraser Island, it really is beautiful. We were camping each night, and were virtually on the beach. This was one time in the trip where non-foxiness really did have to be tolerated! We had a really good group of people which really made the trip. There was 1 jeep in the group that had couples in their late 20s - early 30s, another jeep that had 8 people under 25 and a 29 year old, 4 of them from the UK and the rest were friends that were studying in Sydney but were from various different countries. Our jeep had 3 English lads, a couple from England who were 19 and 3 French guys, around 24. I think the rest of us were a bit too loud for the couples, and on the 2nd night of camping we got split up and they camped at a different site to us. That night, someone left the cool boxes out after we'd gone to bed and the dingoes were hanging around the campsite. At one point there were 6 of them; they managed to tip the cool box containing the food over and ate all the food. Some of the guys saw the dingoes, but they weren't going to get in the way of 6 wild dogs, so they left them to it. It might have been a different story if the dingoes were after the beer! I found it quite scary, because the dingoes hung around for a while afterwards, looking for more food
Ozzie Wilderness, on the way to Hervey Bay
. If they were to attack humans, it's usually children they go for, but we were told a story by our bus driver about dingoes killing a 30 year old man, so I was a quite scared. But it all worked out fine. The only problem was that I lost my phone on the island! I only hope a dingo has eaten it, and it's vibrating in his belly every time someone sends a text!We had another late night after the trip, when we stayed in Hervey Bay again before heading up north. Drinking games were inevitable and before I knew it, it was 2:30am and I had to be up at 6am to catch the bus! I did make the bus, and headed North to Kroombit Cattle Station. It's supposed to be a proper Ozzie farm, and we could take part in some activities. I sat out riding the mechanical bull, but did take part in the goat rodeo. My role in this was to lift a goat up by its legs and then place it on the ground to be branded. Our group was full of girly girls, and needless to say, we came last! But it was all good fun.
It was another early start the next day and a long bus journey to Airlie Beach ,which is where I am now. I start my 2 night sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier reef. I've bought my hat, my seasickness pills and have just got the booze left to buy. I hope my group is as good as the group I was with on Fraser Island; if so, I know I'll have a brilliant time!
I hope all is well at home, I can't believe I've only got a week and a half left in Australia. I'm really tired today, but am having such a good time, it really is worth it.
I'm still taking care, especially around dingoes!
Vicky
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