We arrived in Hervey Bay and made sure we were definately booked on our fraser island tour. Unfortunately we weren't in Hervey bay that long. It was a beautiful place. Again we hit the beach and the sea was so warm and you could walk out for miles and it wouldn't get deeper!!! Tony made his best sand pyramids yet which included a spinx. Emily sunbathed while he built the castles around her.
The next day we had our Fraser Island tour and Sharon was on with us! We met Sharon in Bryon Bay as she was our room mate once the mad Australia guys had left the party dorm.
Fraser Island is a tour where you go to the island and the company gives you a 4x4 to drive. There were nine of us per vehicle. We were given all our camping equipment and we were given an itinerary that let us know when it was safe to drive on beach because of high tide. It was a desert island so there were no roads. We weren't allowed to drive within two hours of high tide and they planned what we were going to do around this.
The first stop was getting our food shooping. It was a mission as there were nine of us and we had a veggie in the group as well and some really awkard Danes. One of them, Martin didn't want to buy a cheap block of cheese because he couldn't understand how we would cut it. Surely with a knife moron. Therefore he insisted we get the expensive sliced cheese from the counter.
We followed the Swiss guys to the burge although we watched them go around the roundabout three times - ha ha ha. It was easy to get to and we got the boat on time. Tony agreed to drive first on the Island and the roads were awful. Then Sharon drove and she was really good and we didn't get stuck in the soft sand at all. We drove to lake Wabby where we had a long walk through the forest to get there. It was so hot so it was great to jump in the lake once we got there. There was a mountain of a sand dune so Tony climbed to the top and run down it and jumped in. The sand was so hot that Emily didn't know how he got up there without burning his feet. There were loads of catfish in the lake and everyone was unsuccessfully trying to catch them. Christina, the french girl got into a bit of trouble driving back but she was ok. She just had the worse bit of road possible!
The German girls that were with us turned out to be two of the most annoying people ever. Every five minutes they would ask Emily where we were going next and why? Clearly that had not bothered to read the itinerary and they had no common sense!! At the campsite the German girls were waiting for somebody to set up the tent for them. Emily wasn't going to do it she had had enough of baby sitting for the day. She gathered that must have been about 18 and it must have been there first trip away from home.
We shared a tent with Sharon that night and unfortunately we had let a mozzie in!! Emily was pointing the torch in all different directions trying to find the bastard. Then it turned out it was on the end of the torch!! Doh. Tony was trying to flatten out the sand underneath his sleeping bag while Sharon was outside. She saw his shadow and burst out laughing. Apparently it looked so dodgy!
We rose again and again the German girls didn't know what planet they were on. They stood next to their tent for ages. They were so slow and wanted to be told what to do. The first stop was the shipwreak which was from World War 2. It was Japaneese and quite cool although it was decaying quite badly. After the Dane (Martin) decided he wanted to drive. He was so slow it was unbelieveable. When we were in thick sand he kept driving really slow and Sharon kept shouting at him to put his foot down otherwise we would stop and get stuck. Next the inevitable happened. We got stuck because Martin was too slow!!! It was on a road leading up to a campsite so there was a queue of cars behind us. Some local Aussie filmed it as well! Emily, Tony and Sharon got out to dig the sand away from the wheels. Emily had just put her sun cream on so all the sand stuck to her! The German girls got out and stared at us as gormless as usual. The french girl did nothing. One of the Aussies reversed his car behind ours and helped us let down the tyres. Tony got Martin out the drivers seat and managed to drive us out of there. Martin was banned from driving in our eyes.
Tony drove us to Indian head and the German girls complainted that he was driving too fast although he was driving the speed limit! Neither of them wanted to drive so as far as Emily was concerned they could just shut up. Tony had to drive the speed limit as we were so late thanks to Martin. We climbed Indian head and saw all the dolphins in the water below. The German girls asked Emily if it was ok for them to eat their lunch. Emily was losing patience a bit she didn't care what they did - why were they asking. They really couldn't do anything for themselves. They wanted Emily to get the stuff out for them! We headed for the Champagne pools after which was pretty average considering we walked a few miles to get there. The German girls had to be told several times when we were leaving and why. It wasn't hard to figure out if we had to be at the vehicle by three and it took us just over an hour to get there then we would have to leave at 1:45!!
We met up with the other vehicle and decided we would all jump in the fresh water creek to wash. We didn't have long left until we were due at the campsite. We stopped at a toliet and ended up waiting for ages for Christina, the French girl. When she returned she said she had found a shower and used that. Emily and Sharon were so angry. None of us had been able to have a shower and we were all on the way to the creek so we could wash and now we only had about ten minutes because this girl had been a selfish cow. Then she jumps in the creek as well.
At the campsite Tony cooked dinner for everyone although he had grief from the German girls who commented on everything he did and questioned how is was going to put the sauce in the pasta!!! Sharon thanked Tony really loudly for the dinner once we had all eaten but nobody else said anything. She thought that was so rude so she said it again later and again everyone remained silent. That evening Emily got stuck talking to the German girls. She had thought they were 18 but it turned out they were both 24. Emily was so shocked that they were both older than her.
On our last day our tent got up to watch the sunrise. We packed the tent up and Emily had to help the German girls put down their tent as they were being slow and useless again. We went for breakfast and Emily did all the washing up from the previous nights dinner. Martin - the useless Dane did nothing. After we finished breakfast Emily sat back. She wasn't going to wash up the breakfast stuff as well. The German girls just looked at her.
We got underway and went to Lake Mackensie. We got a bit lost and poor Sharon had to drive all the way back over the worse roads. The German girls moaned a lot.
The lake was beautiful. It was so clear that people were taking photos of their body under the water. When you looked at the photo it didn't look like the water was there. It was so much fun at the lake. We watched as a German man put on a show for us with an inflatable peguin and kangeroo. It was so funny.
Our programme said we had to leave at 1:15pm to collect the 2:30 burge. On the way there the boy's vehicle got stuck in front of us so we couldn't move. An Aussie guy behind us got out of his car and opened a beer to watch the show. He was disappointed when the boys finally got their car moving. The French girl nearly killed us with her driving on the way back. We ended up in a bush!! However we did arrive at the burge at 1:45 and had to wait 45 mins. Emily lost it when the German girls asked why we had left the Lake so early then. Emily snapped because a) the programme said we had to and b) they probably wrote that because they realised that if one of us gets stuck then they didn't want us to miss the burge. Really this girl had no common sense especially after we had just watched the boys get stuck!!
Throughout the trip Christina (French girl) complainted that she had lost her sunglasses. But by the lake and on the boat she was wearing some. Then on the boat out of nowhere Martin asked her if he could have his sunglasses back. Confused she responded saying she found them yesterday. Martin was really calm and he was like yeah but I lost them yesterday and now your wearing them and I want them back. It turns out Christina saw somebody had put their sunglasses down and decided to steal them. Unfortunately for her they turned out to belong to somebody in her own group!! Theives never prosper! Especially if their French.
When we got to the hostel we quickly got our stuff together and moved on. We went out for a bite to eat with Sharon and Darren (Darren was in one of the other vehicles but staying in the same dorm as us that night). We were so relived to be back!
We left Hervey bay the next day and we were really unhappy about it as it was a nice place. We siad goodbye to Sharon and went on our way.
At Rockhampton we got a bus and a boat to Great Keppel Island. We had got our timing just right as they were due to evacute the Island the next day due to a cyclone hitting!!
We got our snorkelling gear from the dive centre on the island and then got straight into the water. Within the first ten minutes Emily saw a massive Turtle and pointed it out to Tony. Tony took a while to see it but when he did he began to chase it. It was amazing. It swam so casually as if it was really laid back just like its portrayal in Finding Nemo! We saw loads of Stingrays as well and Emily was a bit fearful of them. A baby sting ray followed her to shore. It was really cute. While we were in the water the crows made off with Emily's lunch and the weather made a turn for the worst.
In the evening we learnt that there was a massive cyclone expected and we may have a bit of trouble getting to Airlie Beach. However we travelled to Airlie the next day through awful weather but once we arrived it was beautiful. Apparently it had passed and gone south so we had missed it! Lucky!!
We had the luxuary of a private room in Airlie. It was Tony's birthday and Emily had managed to get him a card and a cake. The girls we had met in the hostel the previous night had made him a happy birthday sign and stuck it to the wall. We went shopping and then relaxed by the lagoon. In the evening we went out for dinner and ate Kangeroo and crocadile. It was all really tasty.
In Airle we did our Whitsundays tour. This is where you stay on a boat for three days and two nights exploring some of the 72 islands. On the day we were going onto the boat we woke up to an extreme downpour! We were worried the tour might be cancelled. However by the time we had eaten breakfast and made our way to the marina it had stopped raining and we were treated with blue skies.
The boat was call Habibi which is Arabic for 'My darling' and on this boat we had a great crowd unlike Fraser Island. We made our way to our sleeping destination and completely relaxed. Sunbathing and chatting to people on the boat. That eveing dinner was prepared by the crew and it was Tony's favorite. Steak!! We sat up with two Dutchmen Tom and Paul and four English girls.
Our bed was tiny in the boat and it was so hot. The celing was so low if you were on the top bunk that you would bash your head if you sat up! Regardless we slept really well.
We got up for breakfast and the sea was so rough. We couldn't hold our plates still! Breakfast was going everywhere. Emily had to lie down after breakfast as she was feeling sea sick.
We stopped at the beautiful White Haven Beach. A gorgeous white sandy beach and the sand is meant to do wonders for your jewelry. Next we went to snorkel but the sea was so muggy that we couldn't see anything. We did see some fish. The crew then sailed to a different spot for us. Again the visability was poor so we were quite disappointed.
The crew cooked for us again and then gave us a plate full of cake and doughnuts. We stayed up late and the crew went to bed. In the morning Emily was pissed off with the Dutchmen. Apparently when the crew woke up they found that they had been having a food fight and the deck was full of left over doughnut and cake. It is so frustrating that certain people let the group down. The crew had been so good to us and then they had to clean up the whole deck.
Back at Airlie beach we got our bus to Mission Beach. On the coach Tony realised that he had left his MP3 in the internet cafe in Airlie - Doh. Fortunately we rang them and they said they would send it on to us. On arrival in Mission beach there was a free BBQ at the hostel. At the BBQ we met two Scottish girls (Karen and Carol).
At Mission Beach we got a boat to Dunk Island. The Island was beautiful but not only did our snorkel equipment fail us but there was nothing but sea weed. No fish or anything. So we spent the day sunbathing and then we got the boat back. Mission beach was so quiet. There is nothing there. The next day we went to the beach and the town consisted of just a few shops! We just focused on getting everything sorted and doing our laundry. Tony refused to get the clothes from the dryer because they was a grass hopper on top of it so Emily had to go and sort it.
Cairns was definately the place to be. As soon as we arrived we soon realised this. It is beautiful with the Esplanade running all the way down the city. The nightlife is really good and there is plenty to see and do. We chilled on on our first full day but we went scuba diving on the next.
As we hadn't done our Padi Course so we had to do an introductory dive. This is where four of us would go down with an instuctor. We got on the boat and it took about an hour and a half to get to the Great Barrier Reef. Emily was so sick. She was being called down a little before the boat was due to stop to get prepared for her dive. However she was too busy puking and couldn't make it down the stairs. However she was ok once the boat stopped. We got all our gear and we had to undertake three tests. 1) We had to be able to go underwater and clear our goggles out by gently pressing on the top of the googles opening the bottom slightly and blowing out through our noses. 2) We had to be able to cope with losing the breathing tupe and had to blow out our remaining air underwater and get the breathing tube back and then blow out once it was back in your mouth. 3) We had to find the tube if somebody had knocked it out our mouths and it had gone off behind us somewhere. This was done be taking your right arm and circing around your body.
Tony was first to go down while the three remaining people waited. He was fine and stayed underwater. One girl went before Emily and she couldn't do it so Emily was waiting for a while. Once she was done she waited with Tony underwater. Emily was fine with the first too but took too long finding her breathing tube and nearly drown!! She had a second go and it was fine. She went to wait down underwater. The other two girls keep coming to the top all the time and delaying our reef time. However once we were all down we went to explore the reef.
The reef was amazing! The coral was so colourful and beautiful we hadn't ever seen anything like it. We couldn't even imagine it would be this pretty. We saw Nemo and may different fishes including a massive bat fish. He was huge and a turquoise colour. Later on we went snorkelling and saw a little shark!!! Its so unreal what goes on underwater!
On the way back Emily decided to lay on the deck so she wouldn't be sea sick. Unfortunately a man was so sick. The whole boat could hear him in the toliet. He was so loud. Tony was laughing about it so much. The poor man couldn't stop.
The following day we went to Cape Tribulation. On the way we stopped at Mossman national park where we went to the lakes and to the suspension bridge. Our tour guide Tom told us not to be late so we made it back in time. Surprisingly enough it was the Chinese who were late with their constant camera clicking!
Tom didn't mind though. He was what Emily likes to call - a proper Aussie. He was mega enthuisatic about the rainforest and crocadiles and really laid back. He took us to the Daintree wildlife santuary and went to tease the crocodiles. He was so funny. He then ate the ants as he said they tasted of lime so Emily ate one. Tony gave it a miss. We were shown the cassowaries and the kangeroos. We saw a lot of birds. Tony held one of his arm and it did an Evis impression.
Our last stop was a rainforest walk. Tom talked about the different types of trees and how they survive in the rainforest. It was really interesting. On our way to Cape Tribulation Tom told us about the history of the place. Captain Cook named the place as it is all where his trails and tribulations started. He also named Mount Sorrow, Mount Misery and Mount Mourning so we can tell what kind of mood he was in. He managed to get his boat stuck on coral in Cape Tribulation and from there on he was experiencing a lot of bad luck.
We were dropped at the hostel and went to the swimming hole. Tony loved the rope and swung on it and into the lake. The lake was filled with fish. Tony scared them all away. The lake was freezing. We spend most of the day there and Tony went along to the beach while Emily went back to shower. On the way back from the swimming hole Tony had a bug on his back. Emily told him and he freaked out! He threw his bag off his shoulder so quick and his sunglasses flew off his face onto the otherside of the road. Emily could not stop laughing. He was such a weed when it comes to bugs. Carol and Karen had also come to Cape Tribulation. That evening Carol was walking past the dorm when an Aboriginal threw a knife from his dorm and it landed right at her feet. Se picked it up and went into his dorm and asked him if he had threw it at her. It wasn't a small knife. The blade was massive. He didn't answer so she swore at him and asked him again. He ignored her so she went to the restaurant and asked the staff if they had gave someone a knife because she just had someone throw it. Emily watched as Carol stormed off and the woman in the restaurant followed after her to check she was ok. Apparently the manager had come out to have a word with the man as well. We were really angry later when we saw the man in question entertaining all the guests by playing the digeridoo! They hadn't even chucked the guy out!
The next day Emily went Horseriding and Tony decided to do the Jungle Surfing. Tony was disppointed with the Jungle surf as it was too safety conscious. They straped him in on top of the trees and he flew to the next platform but then he had to go through the whole process again. Also he got stuck with some posh twat. The people running the surf made people pair up so they could swap cameras with each other. Tony gave our camera to the posh twat and he took his. Tony warned him that our camera was a bit slow, Posh twat said to get snap happy so Tony did. Posh twat then took photos of Tony with our camera. Posh twat then camplained that our camera was far too slow for his liking. As Tony had his camera strapped to him Posh twat took hold of Tony and took his camera back off him. Tony was thinking that he could have asked if he wanted his camera back. Later on after the surf Tony heard people asking Posh twat would he was going to do when he returned to UK and he replied that his daddy had sent him out to take photos of his travels and he was going to set up his own business when he got back by selling them. Like that is going to work - Loser.
Emily's horseriding was a bit touch and go. She had a really moody horse called Topaz. She would tell it to go one way and it would go another!! Nightmare. It decided to stop in the lake whenever we went threw one. She didn't want to canter and decided to do a fast trott instead which was so bumpy Emily almost fell down. The owner then gave Emily a stick and told her to hit her with it if she didn't canter. Emily hit her once and that was it she was as good as gold. She cantered so fast she left all the other horses behind. It was really good in the end.
Once we were back at the hostel it was time to get on our tour bus back to Cairns. On our way back we stopped for a crocadile cruise. We saw a baby croc and a large male. We also saw two snakes hidden in the trees.
We had a tour through Port Douglas on the way back. Port Douglas is mega expensive, you can only go there if you have money. In the past two weeks the locals have seen Tom Hanks, Kylie and Zac Efron. A lot of celebrities come out. Every US president since Regan has been to Port Douglas. It has a exclusive Island called Double Island near it which costs $27,000 a night!! Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes stayed there last.
On arrival in Cairns we had a early night because we were so knackered. The next day was spend relaxing by the lagoon. In the eveving we met with Carol and Karen to say goodbye. We would leave Cairns for Alice Springs the next day.
