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8th Nov 2006
Australia: Bryon Bay to Magnetic Island
From Byron Bay we travelled up to Brisbane, where I was glad to stop only one night. On the way we went zorbing a great stop but nowhere near as good as in New Zealand. Early the next morning we caught the bus again to Noosa, which is an upmarket seaside town. When we arrived there was a triatholon taking place, their main event of the year. The competitors had to swim 1.5km, run 10km and cycle 40km rather them than me in that heat! We stayed at the YHA hostel which was a historic lodge building in the centre of the town next to the beach. I left from here the next morning on my Fraser Island tour its a brilliant place to start from as we drove along the beach all the way to Rainbow Beach, where we caught the ferry. The sands at Rainbow Beach are different colours due to different mineral contents and so make lovely patterns in the cliffs and the streams. Fraser Island was idyllic we swam in four very different lakes, plus in creeks and some pools called Champagne Pools (when the water breaks over the rock wall it looks like champagne). We also did many walks across sand dunes and through forests where I saw animals such as lace monitors and golden orb spiders. We also saw a tiger shark, turtles and humpback whales from Indian point at the tip of the island as well as spotting many birds of prey such as sea eagles, ospreys and Brahminy kites. We met a local from the island who scared us with his stories of how he was bitten by snakes and spiders!
I had a morning to go body boarding in Noosa the day after returning from Fraser Island then went onto Hervey Bay, stopping for lunch and to learn how to play a digeridoo. The hostel at Hervey Bay (Beaches) was lovely there were only 3 people in our room and we had single beds! I cooked dinner with a guy called Sav then went to the hostel bar which was a fun night.
You`ll all be surprised to hear my next stop (not chosen) was a cattle station, but you`ll be even more shocked to hear that I went horse riding. Nearly got off within the first 5 mins but was persuaded to stay on and ended up mustering some goats into a pen. We weren`t very good at this only 50 goats out of 200 made it to the pen. Later in the evening we learnt to crack a whip beware I was good at this! Then after our lovely roast beef dinner we had a go on the mechanical bull I managed to stay on for 3 bucks, while Ester my Italian friend showed us all up by riding it for 10 bucks! The boys were not so keen on this activity much to our amusement!
As we had a full day of driving ahead of us, I was super keen and went swimming at 5am! I hopped out rapidly just before 6 due to feeling something around my ankles it wasn`t possible to ascertain what this was as the pool filter had been broken so the water was cloudy. Eventually we reached Airlie Beach in the evening. From here I went on a tour of the Whitsundays on the Ocean Rafting boat, which was a speed boat so could take us to many places in one day. We stopped for lunch on Whitehaven beach and also did some snorkelling.
I`ve spent the last few days chilling out on Magnetic Island, a pretty island across from not so pretty Townsville. This is where the Japanese were going to attach during the war as there is a major harbour here. The highlight of my time on Magnetic Island was the tour around the koala sanctuary. Again you`d better take a seat as there are pictures of me holding a crocodile, a snake and petting a cockatoo!
Chilling out is only fun for so long, so I caught an early ferry over to Townsville and have around ReefHQ which is a brilliant aquarium. From here I`ll be going onto Mission Beach, where the plan is to eat kangaroo for dinner then go Xtreme rafting on the Tully river to see what I have in store take a look at www.ragingthunder.com.au.
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Diary Photos
| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Cape Byron with Dave, Simon and Charlotte |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Cape Byron, most eastern point! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Bandana night at Cheeky Monkeys |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Long, white, empty beaches nr Byron Bay |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| On the way to Fraser Island with Rainbow beach in background |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| This is why I avoided self drive.. |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Fraser Island |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Maheno Shipwreck, Fraser Island |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Stuck in the sand |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Sandblows on Fraser |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Swimming in Lake Wabby, Fraser |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Golden Orb Spider |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Fraser Island group and new bus |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Paragliding near Rainbow beach - best view so far! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Lace Monitor |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Me on a horse - called Freckles! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Myself, Ester and guide Lawrence on Ocean Rafting in Whitsundays |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Lagoon at Airlie Beach was really warm! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Me holding a CROCODILE! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| A bigger crocodile! |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| Petting a blue tongue lizard |
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| 8th Nov 2006 |
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| His feathers were sooo soft! |
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Diary Movies
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