After a few more days in Airlie Beach, Nikki, Marc and I hit the road again (in another less then swanky Wicked camper van) on our way down the east coast back to BrisVegas. We hit up Rockhampton, Bundaberg (Bundy Rum Distillery), Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, Anges Water and the Town of 1770, Noosa,the Eumundi markets and ended back up in Brissy to see Marc and Elicia off back to Canadia.
We did a tour to Fraser Island which was so necessary because its the world largest sand island.... covered completely in sand... crazy az! During this tour we stopped at the Central Station(a former forestry camp), walked along the Wanggoolba Creek (called silent creek because it flows over top of sand), drove along 75-mile beach, took a scenic flight ride around the whole island and got some stellar shots, saw the Pinnacles (made up of 8 different types and colours of sand), the Maheno ship wreck, Eli Creek and the final stop at Lake McKenzie (where I actually ran into someone I know from home).
We stayed in Beaches hostel that night and met 4 Irish blokes who were absolutely hysterical and provided us with an entertaining evening. The one dude, Michael, was putting together a massive collage of people he had met along his travels. The thing was, they all had to be cock-eyed. Our ridiculous pictures are now on FB for all to see.
The Bundaberg Rum Distillery was great too! We got to take a tour of the place and learn about the rum making process. Also stopped by the bar for some free drinks! We taste tested quite a bit that day, and I'm pretty sure it was only 11:30 in the morning ha ha!
Anges Water and 1770 were extremely small. So small, if you blinked you might miss them. We spent our time touring around and hanging out at the beach and met up with Fran, Jenny and Wendy from our sailing trip. We had a wicked reunion and a lovely BBQ feast for dinner at their hostel. Hopefully we will meet again in the UK one day!!
Noosa was another great surfer town. We stopped here for a day to do some shopping and to hit up the Eumundi markets the next morning. Noosa was a bit of a ritzy town with cool shops and a huge retirement community. The Eumundi market was huge with over 500 vendors selling everything you can possibly think of. We bought a few souvenirs before heading back to Brisbane. If anyone is ever around this town, I recommend going. It was amazing!
We had a few days left in Brisbane with my fam jam to chill out before Elicia and Marc had to fly back home. Monica took us her to her campus and showed us around. It was a beautiful day out and we had a nice photo shoot by the water. This was heaps of fun (no matter what anyone says).
The 6 of us had an awesome time together and it was hard to believe that the over a month had flown by already. Nikki and I said our goodbyes to Monica and Jay and made our way over to a night with a friend from home, Jenica! Jenica lives in Rubina, a lovely area around Bond University (Gold Coast). We had a nice catch up with her and she took us around to some of her favorite spots, her restaurant, Roberto's(where they make fabulous GF pizza)and Bumble's, a small, yet very charming breakfast joint in Surfer's Paradise with a great atmosphere!
After our great visit's, Nikki and I boarded a flight to Perth! Wild, wild west, here we come!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sailing on board the Condor
As predicted, Nikki and I slacked off big time and only blogged a total of 3 times while out in Oz (hey, 3 is better then none right?).
We can't just leave the site the way it is because no one will ever know what happened on the rest of our journey (and heaps happened!). Luckily, we both kept journals and are going to continue updating the blog with all our greatest memories.
We last left off in Airlie Beach- the gateway to the world famous Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef- as Nikki, Marc and I got ready to board onto our sail boat, the Condor, for our first ever sailing experience. Check it out here: http://www.sailing-whitsundays.com/WhitsundaySailing.php?id=1035
We walked over to the Airlie Beach Abel Point marina (just a short walk away from the main strip) to wait to board our boat. The marina is just beautiful. Man-made rock divider walls separate the boats from the ocean. From a birds eye view, it is extremely appealing and nothing like I have seen before. The water is crystal clear which only adds to the amazing view. Just before boarding, we met our deck hands, James and Tane, and we knew we were in for a good time when they announced to put all our "beverages" in the cooler and everyone started to pull out there numerous bags of goon to add to the pile. Please, we had a group of Irish on board... and no one parties like to Irish!
Our group consisted of our 3 deckhands, James and Amon(from New York, Tane (Kiwi) and Captain Dave (a BA sailor who has apparently won several awards for sailing to various locations in record time). ot only did we have prime crew members, we also met some wonderful people. Tyla, Fran, Harriett, Jenny, Wendy (from the UK), Yvonne and her gang (from Ireland), Carla (from Canada, what up!), some blokes and Sheilas from Germany, Mexico oh and I can't forget the Norwegian! We sailed to our first snorkel spot, Blue Pearl Bay and also where we docked the boat for the first night. Great snorkelling and an even greater sunset. I have got to hand it to the deck-hands, for being on a sailboat, my expectations for food were pretty low as I did not know what to expect. However, the food on this boat was unreal! They were so accommodating to my gluten-free diet too (as are most people in Aus because they actually know what it is there.... get with it Canada!). After filling our bellies with some great sailboat grub, we spent the first night under the stars chatting and of course, as they say in Australia.... slapping some goon.
The first night on board was a bit rocky. Marc, Nikki and I got our own private VIP room in the corner of the ship (since it slept 3 people) while everyone else slept in the open concept space on the bottom level. We heard rumours about these boats having a bad case of the bed bugs, but luckily, we didn't run into any. The only down-side was that our room smelled really bad. Other then that, it was a great experience (if you don't mind the boat rocking you all night).
Day #2: We sailed around the islands more, passing Hamilton Island, to Luncheon Bay (where we actually did not have lunch)to Tongue Bay and Whitehaven Beach, Nara Inlet and Caves Cove for more snorkelling and fun in the sun. Whitehaven beach was everything I ever imagined it to be and more. 98% silica sand.... fine enough to clean your jewelry with and fine enough to dominate your camera if it ever fell in the sand. The whitest and purest sand I've ever seen. We had a chance to walk to a wicked viewpoint where we snapped some pics and then went to play on the beach. We took mass amounts of pictures and literally just tried to soak up every once of that beach as we could. It was like a dream. As Nikki would say.... Livin the dream!
We hit another snorkel spot that day and did some more exploring before another amazing dinner. The second night, we watched another incredible sunset while rocking out to Tane's tunes on the guitar. Gotta love sing-a-longs! We also had a few competitions this night, one included: gather into groups with people from your own country and sing your national anthem the loudest. I'm proud to say the Canadians won... singing the anthem not only in English, but en Francais!
The last day, we ended our tour with another snorkel where Marc suited up in his wetsuit (which hugged him nicely) and paraded around doing squats around the boat. Typical. The snorkeling on this tour was amazing. Unfortunately Nikki stung her arm on some rando coral (which she said hurt heaps).... but at least she has a nice looking scar to prove she was there!
Just when we thought the tour was over, James and Tane announced a reunion party at Beaches (a local hostel) that night. We got together for some dinner and Mica's (an amazing drink) and a night of dancing. GREAT last night, GREAT memories and even BETTER pictures!
We can't just leave the site the way it is because no one will ever know what happened on the rest of our journey (and heaps happened!). Luckily, we both kept journals and are going to continue updating the blog with all our greatest memories.
We last left off in Airlie Beach- the gateway to the world famous Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef- as Nikki, Marc and I got ready to board onto our sail boat, the Condor, for our first ever sailing experience. Check it out here: http://www.sailing-whitsundays.com/WhitsundaySailing.php?id=1035
We walked over to the Airlie Beach Abel Point marina (just a short walk away from the main strip) to wait to board our boat. The marina is just beautiful. Man-made rock divider walls separate the boats from the ocean. From a birds eye view, it is extremely appealing and nothing like I have seen before. The water is crystal clear which only adds to the amazing view. Just before boarding, we met our deck hands, James and Tane, and we knew we were in for a good time when they announced to put all our "beverages" in the cooler and everyone started to pull out there numerous bags of goon to add to the pile. Please, we had a group of Irish on board... and no one parties like to Irish!
Our group consisted of our 3 deckhands, James and Amon(from New York, Tane (Kiwi) and Captain Dave (a BA sailor who has apparently won several awards for sailing to various locations in record time). ot only did we have prime crew members, we also met some wonderful people. Tyla, Fran, Harriett, Jenny, Wendy (from the UK), Yvonne and her gang (from Ireland), Carla (from Canada, what up!), some blokes and Sheilas from Germany, Mexico oh and I can't forget the Norwegian! We sailed to our first snorkel spot, Blue Pearl Bay and also where we docked the boat for the first night. Great snorkelling and an even greater sunset. I have got to hand it to the deck-hands, for being on a sailboat, my expectations for food were pretty low as I did not know what to expect. However, the food on this boat was unreal! They were so accommodating to my gluten-free diet too (as are most people in Aus because they actually know what it is there.... get with it Canada!). After filling our bellies with some great sailboat grub, we spent the first night under the stars chatting and of course, as they say in Australia.... slapping some goon.
The first night on board was a bit rocky. Marc, Nikki and I got our own private VIP room in the corner of the ship (since it slept 3 people) while everyone else slept in the open concept space on the bottom level. We heard rumours about these boats having a bad case of the bed bugs, but luckily, we didn't run into any. The only down-side was that our room smelled really bad. Other then that, it was a great experience (if you don't mind the boat rocking you all night).
Day #2: We sailed around the islands more, passing Hamilton Island, to Luncheon Bay (where we actually did not have lunch)to Tongue Bay and Whitehaven Beach, Nara Inlet and Caves Cove for more snorkelling and fun in the sun. Whitehaven beach was everything I ever imagined it to be and more. 98% silica sand.... fine enough to clean your jewelry with and fine enough to dominate your camera if it ever fell in the sand. The whitest and purest sand I've ever seen. We had a chance to walk to a wicked viewpoint where we snapped some pics and then went to play on the beach. We took mass amounts of pictures and literally just tried to soak up every once of that beach as we could. It was like a dream. As Nikki would say.... Livin the dream!
We hit another snorkel spot that day and did some more exploring before another amazing dinner. The second night, we watched another incredible sunset while rocking out to Tane's tunes on the guitar. Gotta love sing-a-longs! We also had a few competitions this night, one included: gather into groups with people from your own country and sing your national anthem the loudest. I'm proud to say the Canadians won... singing the anthem not only in English, but en Francais!
The last day, we ended our tour with another snorkel where Marc suited up in his wetsuit (which hugged him nicely) and paraded around doing squats around the boat. Typical. The snorkeling on this tour was amazing. Unfortunately Nikki stung her arm on some rando coral (which she said hurt heaps).... but at least she has a nice looking scar to prove she was there!
Just when we thought the tour was over, James and Tane announced a reunion party at Beaches (a local hostel) that night. We got together for some dinner and Mica's (an amazing drink) and a night of dancing. GREAT last night, GREAT memories and even BETTER pictures!
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