When I arrived in Cairns, the tropical heat immediately fell down on me. What a difference with Sydney!
The courtesy bus picked me up and dropped me off at the front door of The Asylum backpackers, a pretty dodgy place but fine enough to sleep. I immediately went to look up my sissy and her crew. We bummed around the small town for a bit and booked a diving trip (or for some: snorkelling) for the day after - eesh, my first diving experience!
So the next day we set out pretty early (too early, it seemed later) and arrived at the boat which would take us to the outer Great Barrier Reef. Checked in and had to go through a whole list of medical conditions, making sure you had none of them. After that, we set out for the big blue ("it's big... And blue!" - "I knew it!").
Us divers got a very quick diving introduction and were then taken down straight into the water. Scary at first, but once you got your breathing right, it was so much fun! The only problem was trying not to hit the coral with flippers - the reef is badly enough damaged as it is, thank you very much. We saw a few little fish (amongst which Nemo and his daddy) and a lot of beautiful coral. And we got to hold a sea cucumber :-).
The rest of the day on the reef was spent snorkelling, which was so gorgeous. The weather was perfect, the water crystal clear and the fish very colourful and beautiful. I even got to chase turtle Crush to try and get him on the photo :-).
After the diving we got treated by sissy to a cocktail in Outback Jack's (thanks again for that, duuuuuude ;-)) and we went to bed pretty early because it had been a long day.
The day after - and my last day with the Belgian crew - we rented a car and set out for the Daintree national park, the place with some of the oldest parts of rainforest in the world. Pretty impressive to see of course. We went all the way up to Cape Tribulation, where we walked around a bit, saw the biggest spider ever and enjoyed some deliciously empty beaches (watch out for the crocs though).
In the middle of the night it was goodbyes here and there to the Belgian crew, who had a very early flight, and when I woke up I was on my own again. Flying solo for the first time eh!
I rented a car (a cute little red Hyundai Getz) and drove around the Atherton Tablelands - west of Cairns - which were nice but not as spectacular as the Daintree. Ah well, it can't all be golden :-).
From Cairns I got the overnight bus to Airlie Beach, where I had planned a sailing trip to the Whitsundays.
This trip (2 days, 2 nights) was awesome! The former racing yacht was called Boomerang, and that soon became a motto rather than the name of the boat :-). I got to know the other people on the boat and they were all amazing and we had such good fun. The crew on the boat were also very cool and the food was delicious.
And then I haven't even spoken of the Whitsundays. This must truly be heaven on earth. Of course we were the lucky bastards with perfect weather throughout, but still - water in all shades of blue, a clear blue sky and burning sun, pearly white beaches, and getting some snorkelling done. When we were up the first morning, we were joined at breakfast by Flipper and his little kid. Beautiful! And at dinner another Crush (I'm guessing it was his father) poked his little head out of the water for us. What do you want more?
Back on land there was a nice party with fellow Boomerang sailers and the crew. Unfortunately time to say goodbye again!
From Airlie Beach, on it went down the east coast to Emu Park, which is close to Rockhampton. For the first time here I got to witness some of the flooding - it makes you go real quiet. The fields next to the highway were nothing less than lakes, and everywhere in Rockhampton I saw water creeping in gardens etc. Spooky!
From Rockhampton I took the ferry (of hell) to Gladstone. Anyone who has done the
Stewart Island Ferry in New Zealand: that was nothing compared to this one! Luckily yours truly was fine, but I did end up watching a little kid for a while since his parents were hanging over the railing outside, if you get my drift.
After a few more buses and a very boring day in Hervey Bay, where there was nothing to do and where it rained, I arrived in Rainbow Beach early in the morning.
That same afternoon I had a briefing to go on the Fraser Island Trip. This trip was tag-along, which means that if you want you can drive a 4WD yourself, and follow a lead car. On this briefing we received every possible warning about dingos (quite aggressive stray dogs), marsh flies and the ocean ("And remember folks, do not swim in the ocean!"). We were also divided in teams and were en ready to go the next day.
After again a briefing in the morning (with as a highlight the number of ways we could die) we loaded up our Land-cruiser with our camping gear and set out, following the lead car.
Now, when you arrive at the island after a short barge ride, the only thing you see is beach. Of course, it's the world's largest sand island so you get a lot of beach, but the eastern beach being 123 km long, it does something to you. The remoteness of everything was really amazing to see.
Practically all the things we did on the island were accessed from this beach. We went to Lake Wabby, which is known for its high quantity of tea tree oil which makes your skin soft, and which is famous for the catfish nibbling at your feet when you sit still enough. I sat still enough :-).
The next days it was cooking food (and doing the dishes in the ocean), seeing Indian Head (the most eastern point of the island where they threw aboriginals off the cliffs in an act of 'purifying the country', sadly enough), going to Eli Creek and, last but not least, spending some time at Lake McKenzie, the pristine blue lake with white beaches that you see on every postcard of Fraser Island. Heaven!
Now the road goes down again to Noosa Heads and Byron Bay. I will catch you later folks!
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