A wee good time!

We woke up early the next morning to catch our tour to Fraser Island. The bonding the night before must have been very effective as our new best friend had expected we would be late, and was out at the bus stop holding it so it wouldn't leave us behind. Thank god for that. The bus picked us and a few others up and dropped us off at the dock to catch the ferry to Fraser.

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. Travellers have to use a 4x4 to move throughout the island and explore all of its hidden gems. It's over 70 miles long and stretching all along the east shore is hard packed sand that serves as a highway and a runway for all the tourist visiting by truck or by plane. Along the east shore is also some of the most dangerous swimming water in Australia. So dangerous in fact that no one actually swims in the ocean. This is not a problem however, as the island has over 30 freshwater lakes dotted through out with water that has been filtered by the sand over hundreds of years. The lakes are considered some of the cleanest lakes in the world.

We booked a two day/one night Cool Dingo tour which was recommended to us by various people we had met on the journey. Once on the island we met our tour guide for the next two days. He was a gregarious Aussie in his early thirties called Brad . He was extremely crude (even for Aussie standards) which made for a highly entertaining and hilarious tour. Within the first hour of the tour he was giving travel suggestions to a fellow Cool Dingo passenger that we had just befriended waiting for the ferry. She was from Bristol and traveling solo for a few months all around Australia. Come to find out later that she was only 19 years old and Brad had told her that the best thing to do in Oz was to take Ecstasy and go to the zoo. ?!?! Totally normal.

The first day started with an incredibly bumpy ride through the island. Fraser hasn't had rain in months which made for lots of soft sand and very difficult driving conditions. It was entertaining none-the-less to see everyone bumping up and down in their seat. Our first stop was a rain forest walk to a secluded lake in the middle of the forest. In true Erin fashion, our guide dropped us off in the middle of the rain forest to start the hike and I was desperate to go to the loo. As everyone was unloading off the 4x4 and getting ready for the walk, Brad convinced me to sneak off further down the road where no one could see me and have a cheeky squat. There was no one else around but our tour group and all the roads are essentially just sand paths through the forest so this seemed like a reasonable enough idea. So I ran along the road about 10 meters away and squatted. Not even 30 seconds had passed and I heard the sound of another 4x4 grinding its way through the sand and heading right towards me. Awesome. As I sat there trying to figure what the hell to do, I had images in my head of little kids in a bus with cameras ready and the tour guide saying, "and if you look to your right kids you will see the islands most primitive form, a squatting American female marking her territory on the side of the road."

With the overwhelming fear that I was going to make the next Fraser Island postcard, I did the impossible. I stopped peeing mid-way through and quickly made myself presentable. Meanwhile, the entire tour group is aware of whats going on and are having a huge laugh as the new 4x4 pulls up. Little did I know, Brad had stopped the new vehicle and told them to wait a second because there was a blonde having a wee further down the road. Classic Erin move..... and I still had to pee.

Eventually we began the hike through the rain forest. It was absolutely beautiful with colorful wildlife bringing it to life. There were massive trees all along the trail that made even Paddy look like an ant. The trunks were the width of an average car and they stretched high into the sky with their leaves capturing a view of the island that we could only dream off. The largest tree that we passed was estimated to be over 5,000 years old. The hike was just under three hours total..... and I tripped not 5, not 10 but more than 20 times. It got so ridiculous that we just stopped counting and everyone stopped asking if I was okay. (Corinne, Dac, I have no doubt that you would have had at least 40 falls each!) ha.

A few stubbed toes and scrapped knees later and we were treated to a dip in Lake McKenzie. This was my favorite part of the tour. Lake McKenzie is the most notorious of the freshwater lakes on Fraser Island. It is absolutely breathtaking and has all the beauty of Whithaven beach in the Whitsundays (sand made of nearly pure silica) but without all the danger. We were actually able to swim in the water without the fear of meeting a killer jellyfish or hungry reef shark. Something about the PH level of the lake prevents any algae or marine live from living in the lake. Kind of a bummer for the fishes but I will say that it is a pretty cool feeling to be swimming around and accidentally swallow a bunch of water, only to realize that you are not gagging because its freshwater and not salt water. We stayed at Lake McKenzie for a few hours. It was a perfect way to end the first day.

Luck of the Irish

The next morning Paddy and I woke up early and went for a run on the beach before getting on the road again. Weeks before the trip I had images in my head of Paddy and I in a fast jog along the beach, possibly just running in our bathing suits, strutting our golden tans with all the other fit Aussies (think Baywatch).  Instead, I was hyperventilating after just a few minutes of slowly jogging in the roasting sun and was barely able to lift my feet in the soft sand. Just a short 20 minutes later with my face as red as a tomato, I decided I had had enough. Not exactly how I had imagined it to be. I'm now convinced that the beach is strictly for lying on. 

After recovering from our light jog, we got back on the one lane highway and headed for Hervey Bay. The scenery was not much different that the day before but this time lasted even longer. We were on the road for hours. After a while, its interesting to see how your perception of the things around you change. We became increasingly aware of all the bush fires and it was strange to see how beautiful the bush was after the fire. The trunks were a dark charcoal black color and the trees still had leaves, fire red leaves. It was as if they still resembled the blaze even after the fire was out. It was beautiful and incredible to see how quickly the trees in this area recovered from fire. Australia is a constant reminder to me that nature is stronger that we think. 

Hervey Bay is a small town right on the east coast which is home to my lovely old neighbor and dear friend Elle MacPherson (Hi Elle, thanks for reading the blog!). Just off the coast is an island called Fraser which is the largest sand island in the world. We were hoping to book a tour of Fraser Island for the next day. But as the day would have it, we were arriving very late into Hervey Bay and most places were shutting down for the evening. We made our way to the campervan park along the beach to get a spot for the night and much to our surprise they were shutting down as well (everything seems to close around 6 in Australia, its like employers want to go home or something). I jumped out of Tulula to catch the woman shutting the office and asked her if they had any availability. She was very sweet and said yes and asked if we were able to pay by cash. Then Paddy came strolling in and started talking to me, much to our surprise this woman was delighted that he was Northern Irish. She quickly called her husband in, who in fact was Northern Irish as well, and they immediately starting bonding over Belfast (even though they had hardly anything in common as the man had left 40 years ago).

2 hours of bonding later, the couple sorted us out completely. They got us on a tour to Fraser Island the next morning, a place to stay that night, a night for free to leave Tulula on the campervan site while we were on the island, and they weren't even going to charge us for power. As if this wasn't enough already, we didn't have to pay for any of it that night.  I told the woman we didn't have any cash on us and she gave me a warm smile and said not to worry about it, we can pay for it all later. This was a very fruitful bond already!

Then there was Tulula

The next morning after the sailing trip we picked up the campervan. The directions led us to some remote parking lot out of town to pick it up where we filled in all the necessary paperwork in a 1970’s trailer that still rocked the orange shag carpet and brown and burnt orange plaid upholstery. Very dodgy but all legit it seems.

We have named our new travel companion Tulula and are relying solely on this chunk of metal to take us down to Sydney safely. She’s got a bed, a fridge, microwave, stove, plenty of dishes and cutlery and she is almost tall enough for Paddy to stand up inside. We like her a lot.

The first day of driving was a long one (at least we thought so at that point in time). Paddy unfortunately has to do all the driving, as my driving licence has expired (a recurring theme with government documents for me at the moment). There was not much to see on the road other than miles and miles of bush land (it was dead grass and trees as far as the eye could see), remains of bush fires and a lot of road kill. I was beginning to think that no animals or vegetation could possibly survive in Australia.

We drove for about 5.5 hours to a small place called Clairview. The campervan site was recommended to us by a taxi driver in Airlie beach so we thought we would give it a go. Little did we know that the town of Clairview consisted of just the campervan park. There was no other shop, bar, or restaurant other than what was provided by the campsite and all the town “locals” appeared to permanently live in the campervans.

Nonetheless, it had a great location, right on the beach with loads of wild parrots, and we were sick of driving for the day. We ended up mingling with a few of our neighbours as we couldn’t get Tulula’s back door open. She was being a bit stubborn. Without opening the back door though, we couldn’t make the bed. So, after an hour or so and a group effort from the neighbouring men, we finally got the door open. Let me clarify that, three men (including a mechanic) tried for about 60 minutes to get this door open, with lots of various tools being used. Then, after the men gave up and agreed that it would have to go to a Toyota dealer to be repaired, Paddy simply turned the van key to unlock all the doors and the back door opened. Go figure. We made dinner in the campervan that night, hot dogs, green beans and baked beans, and then planned the next leg of our trip while regretting the decision to have so many beans…...

"Town" decor in Clairview

Oh they really did try their best!

The campervan park beach.

This is the life.

Airlie Beach is a small backpacker town right on the coast which serves as the best port for travellers seeking to explore the Whitsunday Islands. It consists of a one mile long strip with all the town has to offer: fish and chips, heaps of hostels, packed bars and clubs that appear to have 24 hour happy hours, cheap beach clothing, and Internet cafes. We had a booking at the Airlie Beach YHA hostel. Coming from the 4* star hotel room the night before, this was somewhat of an adjustment. It’s been a while since I have had to share a toilet and shower with complete strangers, but it had a bed and it was cheap. That’s all we really needed.

The next morning we woke up early for our Whitsunday adventure. We booked a 3 day, 2 nights, sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands on The Drifter. The boat was “an old wooden ship”. It was relatively spacious and we were excited to meet some other travellers. On our boat we had a young Danish couple, two Northern Irish people of course, a lovely French couple with their 23 year old son, a Canadian girl who was clearly shagging our Kiwi dive instructor, a German guy our age travelling on his own and finally, our jolly Australian skipper who loved Country music and looked like he regularly enjoyed some fish and chips (although this did not stop him from wearing itty bitty briefs to go swimming).

Our boat, The Drifter.

The Drifter Crew.

Erin and the Skipper, Bernard.

An eagle soaring over the boat one day.

We took off that morning on the Drifter and were given a nice debriefing on safety precautions and things to look out for in the water. In a nut shell: everything in the water will either kill you or cause you serious pain. Haha. Our Kiwi guide first discussed the reef sharks, the sting rays, the poisonous coral that could live inside you if you were accidentally step on the reef with your barefoot, and then the current that could easily sweep you into the great blue ocean hundreds of meters from your boat within minutes. Then he so calmly discussed my favourite part, the box jellyfishes. This part of the East coast has seasonal visits from box jellyfish. These are not your average jellyfish; they are the most poisonous creature on earth. Not exactly something a good pee on the leg can cure. The start of the “stinger” season, as they call it, is October. Of course, right when we were there. As anyone who has ever gone on a beach vacation with me knows, I am terrified of underwater creatures. Seriously terrified. So as if the sharks and barracudas were not enough to keep my bum on the boat, this was convincing me to not enter the water the entire time I’m in Oz.

After a few hours of convincing and the promise of a wet-suit, I jumped into the water with Paddy for our first snorkel. It was scary at first but Paddy and I had a great time. We saw some amazing fish, including a school of barracudas. The three day trip consisted of checking out a handful of the 74 islands and snorkeling just off their shores. On our last snorkel Paddy and I saw the famous “Elvis” fish. I believe it’s actually called a Napoleon fish but whatever the hell it was called it was bigger than a small boy (or Nils) and it scared the shit out of me. I immediately jumped on Paddy’s back afraid it was going to eat me and Paddy looked at me with wide eyes asking if we can follow it.

In summary, it was a great trip with good company, surprisingly delicious food and unbeatable scenery (including a stop to Whitehaven beach which I would love to try to describe, but I am afraid my words could not give it justice.) For those of you who spent hours trying to convince me that I must go for a dive while I was up here...... you would be happy to know that I went for my first dive on the last day (depsite the fact that my very manly boyfriend had already dived on a previous trip and was refusing to do it again). I really did enjoy it although not sure I will be rushing out to get certified anytime soon. We only went under about 30 feet but it was incredible to see the coral and the fish so far below the surface of the water. Thanks for all the encouragement guys!

A little romance on the beach.

A group of Japanese tourists arrived on Whitehaven beach by plane. Here it is taking off right by our boat.

The Beginning

No, your eyes are not deceiving you, Erin Malone has finally begun blogging. Oh god, the pressure of a good blog.

Hello everyone! Bamford and I have just finished our first week in Australia. To give you a quick idea of how it is going thus far, Paddy has dubbed this trip "Erin's World Sleeping Tour".

We started the adventure on a very very long journey to Singapore (12 and a half hours). Watched a few movies, enjoyed a good cottage pie and then slept for about 8 hours. I don't think I have ever slept that well on a flight. We hung out in Singapore for just a couple of hours where I spent way to much money in duty free and then off we were again for another long hull to Brisbane. Watched Australia on the flight (appropriate and very good, highly recommend!) and got more sleep.

When we got to Brisbane we headed to Paddy's friend Grants flat who was kind enough to take us in for two days. Once in the flat....we slept again. Until 2 in the afternoon. haha. Once Paddy finally dragged me out of bed we went out an explored the city. We really enjoyed Brisbane. It's a very laid back city with a man made beach in the middle of it. Gotta love going to a beach for a quick dip on your lunch break. We strolled around the streets for a few hours checking out the sites and the stores. Then the craziest thing happened. At about 5:03 the streets were swarmed with young professionals. Literally every building in the city was spilling out workers. No one seemed to work past 5 o'clock. I need to adopt this lifestyle.

We went out on the town the two nights we were there, led by Grant and his Aussie chick, Elissa. Enjoyed some fantastic Chinese food and explored a new bar that had just opened in the Valley called CouldLand. The last night we were there we were out until 2 am. Our first late night! wohoo. But as the jet-lag finally starting kicking in, I was wide awake at 6 and couldn't fall back asleep. Not so cool.

Elissa, Grant, Paddy, Erin on the lash in Brisbane.

That morning we caught a flight to Airlie Beach where we would catch a ferry to Hamilton Island. This was going to be our one spoiled night..... we went from sleeping on a plane to barely sleeping on a futon and then finally treated ourselves to a 4* star hotel on a gorgeous island in the Whitsundays. We walked in the room to find that it had the most breathtaking view we have ever seen. My attention however was immediately turned to the two incredibly comfortable king size beds that took up the room. I contemplated Paddy and I having one each to maximize the sleeping experience. (See Dad, of course we are sleeping in separate beds.) ;-)

View from our hotel room.

Feeling the temptation of the awaiting beds, we immediately left the room to explore the island. It was like a mini-Disneyland. Oddly creepy in the fact that the island is in its own little self contained world. People drive around in golf carts and they all seem to know each other. The island has everything you would need: one grocery store, one doctor, one fish and chip shop, one post office, one Italian restaurant, one seafood restaurant, one put-put-golf course. It was entertaining to say the least. We opted for pizza on the harbor that evening and watched the sun set over the sail boats rocking in the bay. After strolling around the harbor, we headed back to enjoy our luxury hotel room a bit more. Now, I have to say what happened next has not happened to me since I was about 8 years old...... so, no, this is not routine and I promise I am sometimes a cool person. We walked into the room chilled out for a little bit and then I passed out cold at 8 pm. Yes, 8pm. And did not wake up again until 7 the next morning. It was awesome. This is where Paddy dubbed the trip "Erin's World Sleeping Tour".

That morning we decided to hike up to the second highest point of the island. I took some convincing to get up there as signs at the beginning of the trail said beware of wildlife. I was not planning on meeting a poisonous snake so early on our trip. We made it safely up the hill though and the views were well worth it. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and you could clearly make out the reef beneath the tourqoise water. We could see a handful of the other Whitsunday Islands including the one that has been converted into a golf course. Man's dream come true, an island where the only thing to do is golf.

View from the second highest point on Hamilton Island.

We finished our adventure on Hamilton Island by relaxing a few hours on the beach and getting our first sunburn! Naturally. Then took the last ferry out to head back to Airlie Beach.