Quit Dreaming and Go Somewhere

So. Whitsundays. (Or “Wetsundays,” as Jim calls them…)

First of all, the Whitsundays are a group of islands, FYI. And every backpacker traveling up the east coast does the islands as well as Fraser Island, so we weren’t breaking any new ground.

Jim and I went to the pier at 3pm and there were tons of other young people standing around waiting to get on their boat, called Tongarra. Finally our group was called together and we walked down the dock and got on the boat, a catamaran. (Or “catamaring” as Jim calls them…)

All 23 or so of us are herded below deck to set down our bags, and the hallways is so narrow only one person can get thru at a time. The room is tiny and we all pile our stuff in there and throughout the trip, it is a major pain in the butt to go down there and try to get to your stuff. #1, because is it very hot and stuffy under the deck and you feel sick-ish, #2 because there are usually other people down there and you can’t get to your stuff because it is so narrow and #3 The boat is rocking and throwing you around a bit. (more sick-ish)

Pic: the hell-hole

Right away the captain, who looked like Sideshow Bob, told us that it was too windy to go to Whitehaven Beach, which is basically the most famous part of the Whitsundays and apparently one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. He said he tried to make it there a few days ago and 17 of 23 people on board got sick.
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BUG – The Backpackers Ultimate Guide to Australia

I use this site EVERY time I go to a new place to read the hostel reviews. The reviews are better than I’ve found on other sites like hostels.com and hostelworld.com.

Great site!

G’day all,

I just spent an hour adding lots of pics. There are a bunch on the Fraser Island entry and ones in “Easter in the Sticks” and “Movin on up” I think. If you just scroll down you can see them. What do you think?

Currently we are in Airlie Beach and we go on the Whitsundays trip tomorrow. it’s supposed to be amazing. We are on the boat 3 days or so.

There are all sorts of boats/ships you can choose from, some have 14 people on board and some have like 45!! Ours has 20-something. You sleep on the boat. Everyone says that the tris is amazing. You do snorkeling and see SO much cool stuff. But you have to wear a “stinger” suit because of the deadly jellyfish. The only thing that worries me is that the suit doesn’t cover your head, hands or feet, and I KNOW I’ll be the one to get stung on my face or something.

The beaches are also supposed to be some of the best in the world.

Another consistent report we get is that the waves are extremely rocky and lots of people get seasick. I am quite worried about this.

Anyway, see you in a few days. When we get back, we might take a long overnight bus all the way to Cairns, our last stop in Oz. Then it’s off to COLD New Zealand!

Go Red Wings!

A tiny snake in Airlie Beach.

Hi y’all..

I had no idea Australia had so many tiny little towns that were so…..well, hick! Other than the main big cities here-Sydney, Brisbane, Adeliade, Melbourne, Darwin and Perth (maybe Cairns so some other ones I don’t know about) the rest of the country is small little burgs with shops that close early and …they are just very quiet and empty!
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Yesterday and the day before we did Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island. I think something like 99% sand!

We booked the trip at a Peter Pan office (travel agents for backpackers) along with the Whitsundays trip (these two things are considered MUST do’s if you are in Australia.) The name of the company was Fraser Experience.

So the next morning we got picked up by a neat 4-wheel drive van that looked really sturdy. There were about 8 of us total, 2 Irish, 1 Swiss, and a couple “poms,” which Aussie love to call the Brits. (“Bloody pommies!”) Our driver was a totally Aussie guy named Jason. He was hard to understand and was a bit sexist… but very informative.
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Hi everyone,

I’m about to do something really annoying, but I also thought it would be fun. I’m adding a Donation button so if you have tons of extra cash just sitting around (I know you do) and you spend hours each day reading my blog (I know you do!) you can just click and send me a few bucks. You have to have a PayPal account though. Here is a sample of what your generous donation might fund:

$1.50 – A delicious, mouthwatering chocolate bar. (Yes, they cost that much!)
$3.00 – A greasy and artery-clogging Aussie meat pie to fill my belly for lunch
$4.00 – One hour internet
$5.00 – Wash and dry my stinky clothes so I don’t look homeless
$12.00 – The first bottle of wine
$6.00 – The second bottle of wine
$10.00 – Random museum/gallery/park/zoo entry fee
$18.00 – I really need a haircut
$19.00 – A new swimsuit since my old one had mildew
$20.00 – One night in a dorm bed in a hostel shared with like 10 people
$25.00 – New Zealand guidebook
$28.00 – The wine tour of the Hunter Valley (hiccup)
$40.00 – A pair of shoes and shirt to wear so I can set foot outside the hostel without wearing a dirty t-shirt and grimy sports sandals
$80.00 – Hiking boots for New Zealand
$100.00 – A trip to the largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island
$200 – My bus trip from Sydney all the way to Cairns
$1,000 – All of Thailand. For both of us. Ha.
$10,000 – Another trip around the world!
$100,000 – Enough to start my own hostel.
$10,000,000 – A small island country.

If anyone DOES send me any money (which I obviously don’t expect) I will send you a postcard (granted you send MORE than the cost of a postcard… about $2) and you can ask me for other stuff if you want. (Vegemite anyone? I forgot to mention I tried some on toast at our friend’s house. It was super salty and had a NASTY aftertaste!)

Anyway, don’t think I’m a butthead for doing this, I just thought it would be fun. I don’t expect anything! I just love reading any comments. That makes my day.

Did I mention I saw a koala in the wild today? Jim spotted it right outside the national park in Noosa. He was WAY up high in the trees!

Thank goodness Jim’s camera is super awesome because I was able to zoom in on the picture. *We* couldn’t even see the koala as well as this picture shows!

I forgot how great hosteling was. It’s like a whole different way of living. Like a commune, ha ha. But every single day there is a new person or 2 or 8 in your room from Germany, Ireland, England, Canada, etc (those are the most common). You talk to them, sometimes you hit it off and go to the pub with them or something. You see the same people over and over while you travel too– we saw the same German guy in Sydney, Byron and Brisbane!

You share rooms, kitchens, TVs, bathrooms. It’s cheesy, but you know you are all sharing roughly the same experience. You know these people all wanted to see more of the world and learn new things, just like you. You know they are spending most of their hard-earned money for a chance to take a trip that most people only dream of taking.

Currently the most common question you ask a new acquaintance is, “Are you going north or south?” because everyone around here in Oz is pretty much going up or down the East Coast.

But after that, the most common questions are: “Where are you from?” “How long have you been here?” “How long do you have left?” and “Where else are you going/have you gone?” I guess those are pretty obvious questions, though.

But obviously not everything about hosteling is great. You have to deal with dirty bathrooms and dorm rooms and kitchens, inconsiderate dorm mates, rude workers, foam beds (my back is killing me today!) and other annoying things.

Ok, that’s it for now.

We are now in Noosa, about 2 hours north of Brisbane. We ended up staying two nights at our friends’ house, and we had a great time. They were the best hosts EVER and their hospitality was great. They were so laid back and funny and generous. We even went and played a little cricket!! Can you believe it? It was sort of like a batting cage except you have a cricket bat and we took turns pitching. Pitching was the absolute hardest because you aren’t supposed to bend your arm. So that was really fun to try. You’ll see pictures. (It’s really hard to post pictures here because there are rarely pure internet cafes–they are usually travel agencies without the equipment to post pics.)
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Jim knows two people who live in Brisbane. If it wasn’t for that, we probably would have left already.

Yesterday we spent most of the day with a guy named Dan that Jim met briefly in Argentina years ago. Dan just showed up at the hostel and drove us to Mt. Coot-Tha, which gives you a great view of Brisbane. Then we went to this place that was a man-made beach! It was really nice but weird–a beach where there shouldn’t be one! We had a beer and just talked for a long time. And later we went out at night again.

Today we are staying at him and his girlfriend’s house. What a super great guy!! And now I get to enjoy free internet. SCORE!

I guess there was a real hot streak here for a few days a while ago (I’m talking like 115 degrees!) and they have candles in their house that actually MELTED just from the heat. And their fish died. Can you believe that??? It’s actually pretty warm in here right now. I’m sweating.

The candles

For Jim’s birthday we went to a really nice steakhouse (won an award for being the best one in Australia!) and Jim had a really good steak… which makes him happy!

Just wanted to tell you all it makes me smile when I read your comments and I love them!!

After Brisbane we’re going to Noosa, I think.

We got to Brisbane today and are staying at a huge 500-bed hostel called The Palace. We are only staying because Jim knows someone who works there. It is supposed to be a huge party hostel with a bar underneath that is loud all night. Great.
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