well then. what have i done since oh, what was the last post? like four months ago? that wouldn't surprise me. besides working in surfers paradise, not getting paid for it, and running into just about every financial problem possible, i managed to save enough money/borrow from my savings at home, to make a trip up the coast.
we left from surfers at 7am, super tired after thinking it was in our best interest to stay up all night. well, that was a fail. by the time we arrived in rainbow beach some 7 hour later, i passed out for the entire day. rainbow beach is hardly a town. it's more of a hostel, a liquor store and a beach. you know, the necessities for backpackers. we did though, get to take a very painful walk uphill to see the sunset in a really cool sandy-valley area along the water. it was nice to see the part of australia that doesn't look like miami.
from rainbow beach, we went to fraser island. it's a long, narrow island mostly for tourists. not many locals as there's not much there for them. but it was awesome for us to see. driving in 4x4 trucks down the beach was interesting, yet also made me nervous because the tides could come in quite quickly and "wash you out to sea for the sharks." we were okay though, and i think i was the only one worried about it. people were probably more concerned about the europeans and americans driving the vehicles, not used to driving on the left side. large freshwater pools at tops of mountains, hot rock pools leading to the ocean, rainforests and plenty of dingo's is what we saw. the stars for me were the most incredible part. being out in the country you're about to see the abundance of them which is completely different than at home. i still haven't figured out whether the constellations are the same here. i was convinced they were different because well, that makes sense, right? but someone pointed out the big dipper to me, and then someone else told me that was a lie, so really, i have no idea. but the amount of them was incredible. i just wish i had a camera that could capture it properly.
following fraser, we travelled 4 hours north to 1770. captain cook sailed to australia from the east first landing there. guess what year that was? 1830. just kidding, obviously 1770. there really wasn't much going on in that town. hostel was alright, but the weather wasnt' so great. we took a kayak trip to see the dolphins in the bay, but we didn't see any dolphins. i did see a lot of frogs though. i think 1770 was just a stop to avoid spending 20 hours on a bus in one go.
we got to airlie beach a couple days later, still enduring the unfortunate weather. there was still flooding happening in the area, so it's lucky that we even made it. the hostel was nice, as far as hostels go, but i quickly learned i am not cut out to be a backpacker. not being settled in really stresses me out, and having to live out of a suitcase? staying in rooms with 8 people you don't know? the bathroom being RIGHT there? nope. i give props to those people who spend an entire year doing that sort of thing. not for me. the trip to the whitsunday island though, right off the coast of airlie beach made everything worth it. by far the best experience i've had here.
the atlantic clipper, ahh, the clipper. it's a large yacht/sailboat, i don't know my nautical terminology well enough to properly classify it. so, it was a big boat. such an awesome time though. aside from the insanity occuring at night; drinking games and goon, we visited whitehaven beach which is one of the 7 wonders of the world. even with constant rain, it was amazing. the trip included scuba diving in the great barrier reef as well. it's hard to begin to explain that, pictures can't even do it. we were underwater for about half an hour each time, but it's such a different world down there that coming up is incredibly disappointing. it's the coolest thing i've ever done and i can't wait to get my diving license! plus, we had a photographer following us around the entire time. i mean wait, no, i took all those incredible photos myself .. but this trip was so much fun that i did it for a second time last week!
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