Australia, June 1999
Queensland: Noosa, Fraser Island, Whitsunday Islands, Cairns
Noosa Head
Deirdre and I took the Greyhound bus north to Noosa Head. We stayed at the Koala Resort
on top of the big hill. It was basically a resort town for rich people. Not exactly the
type of experience we were looking for. But we went down to the national park on the
spit of land by the sea and went bushwalking before sunset. We trekked by huge vines
and tropical rainforest. A kangaroo passed right in front of us on the path and later
just as it began to rain I saw my first wild koala nested sleeping high in a branch.
The surf was high and surfers were out catching waves. The coast was steep and rough.
It was tiring. That evening we saw the bar was the place for wayward backpackers to party
and drink and play pool games drunk. We observed but passed. The route from Sydney to
Cairns is a party trail for many backpackers. We pressed on the next day to Hervey Bay to our next tour.
Fraser Island:
A wild Fraser Island National Park dingo.
The world's largest sand island. Who knew? Unfortunately I was about to enter my dark
night of the soul. Turns out I hate camping. But that is foreshadowing. Deirdre had a great
time and I suffered fools very ungladly. It is hard for me to recount these three days.
We went to Hervey Bay to Koala resorts to get put into groups of 8 per Toyota 4WD vehicle.
This hostel is a typical Queensland Party hostel with a pub and swimming pool in the
middle of dorms. Everything here is co-ed from the rooms to the bathrooms. Which I
don't mind that much. No one really bothers anyone but eventually I need privacy. I mean
the only place to change is the toilet or shower stall? Get's tiring real quick.
We had to get up very early the next day. We met two British blokes who were 18 in our
room and on our trip who were fun. I was put in charge of getting groceries for 8 people for 3 days.
At first I thought our group would be ok. They were more concerned about the meat and beer
than about what to buy so I could purchase the $80 worth of food without trouble. Our party was
Deirdre and I, 4 young British guys and 2 young British women. All under 20 years old.
Only 20 year olds or older were allowed to drive. Monty and Ben ended up being in our
rooms. They were travelling mates together and very amusing and humorous. We were like
big sisters to them.
The next day before sunrise we had to go over the vehicle and were stocked with camping gear and a full tank. We had
to pool together a damage waiver fee of $600 AUD. We checked to make sure of any marks on
the vehicle before we left and managed to miss a rock hole in the windshield. sigh.
They warned us of the dangers of the sea (killer sharks and skin ravaging
fire weed), not to use sun screen or soap in the pure lake waters, to never drive in
the salt water surf on the beach, and to keep food up from the wild dingoes. So we drove enmasse
in a Landcruiser convoy to the ferry. The island is not far from the coast and the
west end is all Mangrove swamp so we would be exploring the wooded interior and western beach.
Day One
Once we were on the island the roads were basic one lane sandy paths
and we got bogged down pretty much right away. Ben was driving and Monty was elected to kick sand
away from the center of the road so we could pass by in the ruts. The guys got hungry after
the first hour out. They particularly liked Cocoa Crisps Cereal, although it wasnt
very filling. When we stopped for lunch at a campground a Kookaburra bird swooped down
at my plate and tried to get my sandwich. I said "You were cute in Byron Bay, now you are not so cute."
They decided to not follow the planned route we had been given or the map.
We ended up driving around aimlessly for hours.
I just was already having issues with all these 18 year old British yahoos.
We went to the beach at low tide to drive fast up the sand for miles as the island is
75 miles long. Only the top half is national park, the rest is resort owned.
We explored an old rusted ship wreck inbedded in the sand. Towards
dusk we ran into a German guy on his own whose car was having trouble so we towed him
up to the nearest campsite and made camp for the night. I really hate sleeping on the
hard ground! Every nite on Fraser island it rains quite hard, then is foggy in the
early AM and clears by mid morning. So while we were getting our gas heater set up
the German guy stood patiently in the firelight waiting for us to finish so he
could heat some water and I watched him standing there and thought "Hm. Now here
is an interesting guy." I don't know why. It just struck me that he was someone I wanted
to get to know. So I sat down and began to converse with him. Uwe, 30 years old,
has been travelling all over central and eastern australia alone by motorcycle but
went to Brisbane and borrowed a friends car to see Fraser Island. He was highly
intelligent, good looking, and as we talked under the stars by the campfire
I saw the Great Southern Cross for the first time (only visible in the southern hemisphere)
and whenever I saw that star map along the rest of the journey I thought of Uwe and that
evening. I wanted to crawl into his tent with him. But I decided
there was no privacy in that close quarters and kissed him on the cheek g'nite.
We exchanged email and have been corresponding since. That was the highlight of
Fraser Island for me. The trip just went downhill rapidly for me.
Day Two
The next day was more driving and arguing about who would drive and where to go and what
to eat. We saw wild dingo dogs hanging out and they are beautiful animals. Their ears stick up
and they have short tawny tan and white fur. They hang out near the tourist areas and signs everywhere tell
you not too feed them. They are the purest strain of wild dog in Australia since
domesticated dogs are not allowed and dingoes have to be killed every year from biting
a stupid tourist who tried to hang feed one. We did some bush driving over huge
stumps and had to maneuver around when someone came the other way in their 4WD.
People went swimming. I didn't. I loved the pure freshwater ponds where turtles would gather
and poke their heads up to the surface to see us. And the water was so clean it
was invisible. Deirdre chastized me for being "impossible" and trying to boss everyone around.
I just hated everyone on the trip and that feeling just grew to complete hatred by
the third day. I just wanted off the island. That night we parked with 15 other 4WD
and there were huge bonfires and partying into the night. I just felt completely left out and
horrible. I wanted to go home but that was no option. I became surly and cranky and angry.
The mosquitoes were biting and I had to sleep on the hard ground and was developing
a major attitude. My yahoo companions amused themselves by having sex in the bushes
with people whom they didn't even know their names and stupid puerile joketelling around the fire.
Day Three
The next day Monty wanted to drive tho he was under age. I was constantly concerned
re the safety of the vehicle. When it was my turn to drive I went over the biggest
roots as fast as I could manage in 4WD as payback to the others. I just wanted
OUT. Finally it was the third day. We had driven nearly one full tank of gas
on the island. But finally it was time to go back on the ferry. I didn't return
to any semblance or normalcy til a few hours later. Deirdre tried to make things ok,
but I was too pissy to even be gracious about her attempts. I needed chocolate and sugar
in massive amounts in that order.
Once back to civilization we had to clean the car and unpack the stuff and put it
away. Monty and Ben were in our room again. The hostel tried to put us in
the smelly puke room next to the bar. I went right back over there "I have just
spent 3 days sleeping on the hard earth on Fraser island and i will not take
that room!" So they gave us our original room back. In Australia that is called
having a drama and Australians hate dramas. The squeaky wheel gets greased after all.
I do not recommend this Koala Resort Fraser Island Tour for anyone over 30.
Find people to rent a landcruiser with and do it on your own. The Koala tour
is very well-organized, don't get me wrong. Just the type of people who do it may
not be the best travelling companions if you don't want to party and act like as ass for
three days. The next day Deirdre and I went horseback riding at Susan River Homestead,
a cattle ranch. I rode a trotter. We got to gallop and the owner was so kind. His son is the Australian bush poetry champion.
He and I discussed marketing strategy and webpage design. His wife had us in for
tea. We also met a great restauranteur
at the Black Dog Restaurant in Hervey Bay. He treated us to lunch when we read his
fortune with the divining stones we had. I drank 2 cups of cappucino (even tho
I hate coffee) since he gave it to us complimentary and I didn't want to be rude.
On the bus I was practically shaking tho on our way north. It was a much better ending to my
week and I finally was able to enjoy myself again and stop thinking of turning
right around and going home. Fraser Island was my Waterloo. Here I also lost a very
nice pair of Girbaud bluejeans.
Brisbane
I had another brief nightmare to live through before we arrived. The buses did not
connect so we had to hole up in a large Brisbane hostel near the bus station. They
are real sticklers for reservations so whenever I forgot to make one we had to
deal with the hostel staff. But they gave us two beds upstairs. We had to listen
to two people having loud sex in the room next to us. I was getting so fed up.
D fell asleep and finally another girl hit the wall and yelled SHUT UP. Finally
they quieted down. Another party hostel just our luck. I could not wait to get out
of there I was really in a piss poor mood.
Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands Maxi Yacht Cruise
Deirdre with baby wombat.
Airlie Beach is a little peninsula full of former resorts and tons of backpackers and
tawdry travel shops with neon everywhere. We stayed at the least expensive hostel
up the hill, but although it is far from town it is right near a cheap huge
grocery store, and has a free shuttle service to town every hour. A full breakfast
is served with the cheap night's rent and included cereal, juice, toast. YUM. A lot
of hostels make their money off commissions on tours for backpackers. We were
near some fabulous dive areas and they had all the fun resort things to do.
We moved to Koala's for our tour. They held out big packs in storage. We can only
bring limited luggage on the ship. The hostels in this town are excellent because
they were very expensive resorts that were acquired by bankruptcy by smart backpacker
lodging investors after an australia wide pilot strike left this resort area without
any clients. Now it is a backpackers mecca. Bars, the strip, some restaurants, a beach.
Koala's Deirdre loved the shower. She was a high water pressure shower taker and a
lot of the hostels have iffy water pressure. We had a crowded but amenable coed room
with private bathroom and kitchen. D and I took the bus up the hill to the Crocodile
Animal Park. We liked it a lot better than the zoo. The owner, a grizzled Aussie
guy, told us about poisonous snakes. We got to actually hold a koala and baby
wombat and blue tongued lizard. The koala was so soft. He tried to eat my jacket
lapel but we handed him Eucalyptus leaves. He prefers women. I had a little tussle
with a kangaroo. They were running around free and I went up to a mob to tickle
their chin and one grabbed hold of me and I was like "Ahhhh get off me!" D was
like "will you leave them alone?" We got to see Cassowary birds and Dingoes.
Also all manner and size of crocodiles and see them fed chicken carcasses.
I learned a lot here and was happy to actually get to interact with the animals.
Deirdre just loves to sail and we spent a pretty penny on this tour but it was worth
it. We walked over from town to the dock and were told to take off our shoes we wouldn't
see them again for 3 days. We were setting sail on a 3 day tour of the Whitsunday islands
with the 3 person crew of the Anaconda II, the largest maxi-yacht in the Whitsunday islands,
with 23 other backpackers or young travellers of a variety of nationalities.
The yacht is fully equipped. I loved it coz i could finally relax. My feet really loved it.
Everything was taken care of for us. The weather was good. I got a little seasick but nothing terrible. We had a double berth room
and the meals were delicious. We snorkeled at the reefs lining some of the islands. I
was very careful to keep wrapped up, sunglasses, sarong, shirt, sunscreen.
Sarongs are very necessary clothing accessories in North Queensland coastal regions. We were
only allotted 3 minutes a day of running water for a shower. We went to an island where the beach
is made of 98 percent pure silica and looked
for sting rays along the shore. Later another one of the Americans aboard, a guy,
drank too much of the hard stuff and became hugely obnoxious to the crew and
guests. We almost left him on one of the islands but he swam back to the boat and
we used the launch to pick him up. The crew threatened to have him removed by
the coast guard and that was the end of it. I found myself having issues with
hyperventilating whenever I went swimming in the ocean over my head to snorkel the
reef. The crew told us we could dive off
the boat when we are anchored and to minimize the risk of attracting sharks to
not swim after dusk til dawn, to not splash around too much, to not swim if we
had any cuts or were bleeding. We stopped at a resort island where I made use
of the pool and hottub. We got to take turns steering the boat under sail and
the stars at night were amazingly brilliant and peaceful.
We took a stop to South Moll Resort Island and I got to dip into the swimming pool
and hottub and take a hot shower. Just what I needed after being brine girl. On the way home the Captain
was up at the bow standing with another guest under sail. We were going at a fair clip.
He gestured for me to come and stand on the railing with him. He had my back to the sail
and sort of fell on me. He said "I got her, Neil, now what do I do with her?" to his
first mate. I had told Deirdre that I had guidance in Sydney that I would meet someone
on this trip. She mentioned that I didn't meeet anyone on the last day. I said "The Captain is a hot ticket."
Later we were invited to the bar to have dinner with the crew and guests on long
tables and other boats and their passengers were at their tables. It was a huge
party of eating, drinking, carousing, games, music, and general insanity. It was
one of the few nights D and I drank beer --he great Aussie pasttime. So Neil says
to me "I hear you are leaving tonite." I said "yea." He said "Well what if you meet
a guy tonite?" I said "Well, it better happen fast." Turns out the Captain was sweet
on me. So he eventually made his move and we had a lot of fun before the time D and
I had to take a taxi out of town to pick up the bus in Prosperpine to Cairns in the wee hours
of the morning. He and Neil said they thought I was someone famous in the states like
a model or tv star. I said well yes but don't tell anyone. How funny!
Cairns
We arrived in the morning and our hostel we had been recommended came to pick us up.
But it is a substandard hostel by my reckoning. Cairns has many hostels and they
are very competitive. Many offer a free meal with your stay. Check first about the
smoking policy. Our hostel allowed smoking in the rooms, which I thought was unheard of.
There was a filthy room with unclean sheets, we did have a airconditioner (very important
to have in the tropics) but mixed dorms (men and women sleep in the same room)
and I just was appalled at the place. But although we stayed 3 days I did not move
us because Deirdre caught the dreaded Northern Australian flu that was going around so I left her
to rest. This hostel is on the waterfront on the Esplanade, but there are lots
of good hostels so SHOP AROUND is my advice. I went off on early AM day trips.
Day Two
First I went on a day tour of the Daintree National Park and explored where the rainforest
meets the sea, one of the few places in the world to see that. We saw Ulysses butterflies.
They are gorgeous huge blue butterflies that flit about certain trees and over riverways.
Didn't see any Cassowary's (Emu looking giant flightless birds that are becoming rare).
We went to Mossman Gorge and a river cruise to see Mangrove forest. Didn't see any
crocodiles. Went to Cape Tribulation, saw a monitor lizard eating bread fed it by tourists.
Cape Trib is where Cpt Cook ran into a reef and had to stay for a while making
repairs on his ship. Lovely place. Mudskipper fish were skimming out of water at low tide.
It wasn't the best tour but I enjoyed being able to see this spectacular region.
Day Three
These pictures are of my rafting adventure on the Tully River with Raging Thunder
Adventures. Five hours of rafting plus lunch along the river lined with rainforest.
Our guide was completely mad. We were 4 australians, 3 americans and since I paddled
on my left side my arm was so sore. I was so frightened going on that trip. But it
was fantastic and I recommend it to anyone who wants to challenge themselves
and have a ton of fun they will not soon forget. I bought the video they made of all of us.
We had to change into our swimmers (bathing suits) when we got to our destination. I was terrified
of sunburn in that hot sun. We got a quick lesson on steering and guide instructions.
The trick is to jam the feet into the raft's edges and seats. Since falling out of the raft is
the most dangerous. We were instructed to float sitting up feet up down the river if we fell out.
The deadly thing is getting one's feet caught by a rock and the river pushes you face forward and you drown.
Just a few weeks later I read in the paper a man drowned on the very same raft trip by being
pushed under a rock when the raft flipped over. The raft companies have a lot of safeguards in place
with kayakers and people along the river on the rocks to give everyone instructions on to proceed.
Our original guide, a woman in training, hurt her back at the beginning and had to step out. I was
a total camera hog. Our guide made us paddle up into rapids spilling over rocks to flood the raft, and
under cold heavy waterfalls that made me scream. He put me up in the front arms outstretched like
the Titanic through a rapid so I would get water in my face. Ha ha. Our group was good fun. One guy
was very large so when we came to the waterfall rapid we were given zero chance of making it down
intact and he was right. We all huddled together by the bow, went over and all tumbled out. I lost
my helmet and the guide pulled me back up. Scary but fun. We camp by the river for a grand lunch
of grilled and picnic food. The guys with video came upon me. I got my mug into a lot of the shots
they eventually used. It was an excellent day and I overcame some major fears as well.
Day Four
Deirdre was feeling slightly better so we took a bus to Tjapukai Aborginal Cultural
Center north of town to take in Dancing and Aboriginal Rainforest Tribe education.
We learned how to throw a boomerang, how to throw a spear, watched a movie about
the tribe. It continually horrified me how the white people treated the native people
like animals, shot them, imprisoned them, starved them, broke them, but they
are coming back now, retaining their language, pride, and cultural identity again.)
It is an interesting blend of ancient ways like talks on rainforest
bush tucker, and how to play a didgeridoo, with high tech movie and
short play with special effects to imitate the Dream Time. Excellent place to
visit. I highly recommend it. Then we had to get back to catch the plane and
I managed to get us on a bus that gets us the long way home and we got our
stuff and hurried to catch the bus to the airport, but it never showed. I started to really get
nervous and freak out. D told me to calm down.
I commandered a cab and got me, D, and two backpackers there for $10 AUD.
The driver was so great coz I was freaking out thinking we needed one hour
extra to check in and he said "No worries as long as you are there before it leaves
you'll be right". Gotta love this Australian way of doing things. Ironically
of all the airports we went thru including the huge LAX and Sydney, this airport
was where I had to totally unpack all my carry-on going thru security for the
guard's reassurance. Funny that. Ok so next we turn our attentions to Darwin and
Kakadu National Park and Katherine Gorge region of the Northern Territory.
On to Northern Territory
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Updated February 21, 2000