Some of the less cuddly animals.

Cassowaries are really strange

Wombats are so cute.

Tasmanian devil

Brisbane

On then down to Brisbane. We met up with Graeme and Hazel who were flying off to Melbourne to meet Graeme’s mum and had a night out at the Bronco’s club. We walked all round the city and also cruised along the river on the citycat. We then decided that it would be a good idea if we could get tickets for the one day cricket match against New Zealand especially as we had to win to qualify for the final. We set off to the GABBA only to find that all the ticket offices were closed and that we had to go back into the city to get the tickets. It wasn’t a complete waste of time though as we did get to see the England team practising in the nets. We the trundled back into town to get our tickets and at $25 (£10) we thought we got a bargain. We got to the ground on match day and decided to have a couple of beers before the match. We then went into the ground and staked our claim to our seats and sat back to watch the match. We hadn’t realised that we surrounded by kiwis until it was too late! We batted first and made a reasonable score of 270. At half time we headed back to the pub. After being told that the match had restarted and that New Zealand were scoring at an alarming rate we rushed back to our seats. After much nail chewing, berating of the team and Graham huffing and puffing at the English performance we actually won the match. Which of course was never in doubt!! It was then back to the pub on the free transport provided. We’re on a roll.

The Sunshine Coast and Australia Zoo

We headed off south down to the sunshine coast which is the area of coast just north of Brisbane. We had been warned that it was very commercialised and only there to extract as much money from the tourists as possible but it was still a bit of a culture shock. The beaches are superb and there are no stingers so swimming is possible but the high rise hotels and shockingly expensive campsites were a bit of a surprise. You would think with all that competition that prices would be low. The only reason we didn’t carry on straight to Brisbane was that we wanted to go to Australia Zoo and it was only a short journey from the campsite where we decided to stay.

Australia Zoo was amazing. Even though it was a bit pricey to get in all the shows were included in the price. The first show was the giant Aldabran tortoises then it was into the crocoseum for the snake, bird and finally croc show. We wondered how they would carry on after Steve’s death but they talk about him in nearly every other sentence and everything is done as it was before. We then wandered around looking at the animals until it was time for feeding the otters who were really cute. Then it was wandering round until it was elephant feeding time and I got feed an elephant and they eat really quickly. Then it was on to the tiger show. Why any one would want to play with two full grown tigers is beyond me especially when it came to taking their toys away from them. If a tiger wants to keep it’s toys I say let it. It was a wonderful day and the zoo is so well run and the animals are wonderfully looked after which is not surprising I suppose.

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island.

We arrived in Hervey Bay which has a fantastic beach but is apparently more of a retirement town than a tourist town. The only reason people stop there is for the crossing to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world and is only accessible by 4WD. We booked ourselves onto a 2 day/1night tour. We were picked up from our site and taken to River Heads for the crossing over to the island. Our first stop was at Central Station which years ago was a logging depot. We then took a walk along Wanggoolba Creek which also know as whispering creek or invisible creek. It is a sand creek and as there no rocks the water runs silently along it. We then walked through Pile Valley where there are huge satinay trees which have almost been logged out on the island due to their excellent timber. They are very tough and have been used to repair Tilbury docks, in the building if the Suez Canal and even in Venice. It was down to 75 mile beach the M1 of Fraser Island. We stopped at Happy Valley Township for lunch and then it was on to Eli creek, the biggest creek on the eastern coast of Fraser for a paddle and to cool down. We walked as far as we were allowed through the water and then back along the edge. Next stop was the Maheno shipwreck. The Maheno was a cruise ship built in Scotland but was wrecked in 1935 after it had been bought by the Japanese. It was then on to the Champagne Pools, they are shallow rock pools safe for swimming. Our last stop of the day was at Indian Head the only rocks on the island. We climbed to the top for a look out over the ocean and to try and spot some sealift. We saw rays, sea eagles, turtles and the shadow of a shark. The best bit was when from out of nowhere an Australian Air Force jet flew low over the beach. It then headed out to sea and came back and buzzed us on the cliff!!

We were up early the next morning and went on a hike to Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby used to be a creek but a sand blow has cut it off from the ocean and it has formed a deep lake. The first 800m was through bush but the next 1km was across the Hammerstone sand blow which was like walking through the desert. After a swim it was another 2.3km hike through the bush to get back to the bus. We then went back to Central Station for lunch and then on to Lake Birrabeen which is perched in the sand dunes for another swim and then on to the barge crossing home. A really great couple of days.

Mackay to Bundaberg.

We left Airlie Beach and headed on down to Mackay which really is not a touristy place but had a very good sports club which did a mean chilli and mango crab. We went to the Eungella National Park on a hunt to find platypuses. We started at Finch Hatton Gorge where we visited the Araluen Falls and then on to the Eungella Township where we were nearly guaranteed to see platypuses but they must have been on holiday when we got there. Not one to be seen although there were plenty of turtles and bird life. It was then down to Yeppoon and Emu Park on the coast and then inland to Rockhampton. Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia and has concrete bulls dotted around the town. It also is the eastern coast start to the tropics. It has a beautiful botanical garden but not a lot else. Our next stop was at the town of 1770 where James Cook first landed in Queensland in 1770 hence the name. We were going to do a trip to Lady Musgrave Island for some more snorkelling but the boat was full and we didn’t really want to stay another night so we carried on down to Bundaberg. Just east of Bundaberg is Mon Repos beach and Turtle rookery. We (actually I) thought that it would be wonderful to see the loggerhead turtles either laying their eggs or hatching and running to the ocean. It was a long night but eventually we were taken down to the beach to see a nest that had already hatched but they had held back some baby turtles so we could have a look and watch them run to the sea. They are so cute but they only have a 1 in 1000 chance of making it to adulthood and returning to breed themselves. We had a look round Bundaberg but didn’t get to the distillery where they make the Bundaberg rum.

Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands

We arrived at Airlie Beach and had a wander round to check out the trips to the Whitsundays and of course the pubs! We were just wandering around when Donald Sutherland came out of a restaurant with his minders and walked passed us and jumped into his merc. We both looked at each other to make sure that we weren’t seeing things. We decided on a two day/two night sailing trip round the islands.

We boarded the boat just after lunch loaded up important supplies of beer and a change of clothes. We were given a cabin with bunk beds and guess who had to have the top bunk. It wouldn’t have been so bad if there was a ladder and it didn’t feel like you were sleeping in a coffin. Still we could have been sharing with god knows how many others. We set off and sailed to Whitehaven beach where we anchored for the night. We were up early the next morning and the view of the beach was awesome. It is considered to be one of the best beaches in the world. 7km of pure white powdery pure silica sand. After the rest of our fellow sailors where woken by a loud blast of ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ we were taken over to the beach. We walked along seeing rays and fish. We then went to Luncheon Bay for the most amazing snorkelling better than the reef at Cairns. We had to wear stinger suits which looked very fetching! Our last stop was at Hook Island where we watched the sunset and spent the night. The next morning we sailed back to Airlie Beach but the weather took a turn for the worse and it rained on and off all the way back. Which wouldn’t have been a problem but there was hardly any covered areas to shelter in and still see the views. After we got back we met up with every one in the evening for a beer or three. We had a great time.