Down Under Episode 3: Flying high with Fraser Air… No XXXX just now
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Hello again!
I've got some time while Micki packs her things so I thought I'd fill you lot in with what's been going on around here.
So we never made it to Rainbow beach. The weather was … surprise surprise … not good enough for diving so I missed out on my gray nurse sharks again (I get the feeling you don't ever get to go diving here). We spent the day boogie boarding and surfing instead, which was very nice! We then drove up the coast to Hervey Bay and checked into the weirdest hostel experience to date. The Mango hostel is a very nice looking hostel in a very nice Queenslander house, the owner however is a very weird guy. He informed us that the tour we had booked is shit and that we should go with his eco-trekking program instead... having had enough of trekking we kindly declined his offer. He reminded us that our tour is going to be very bad several times and he also told us that sailing around the Whitsundays is very crap and that diving the barrier reef is also crap, unless you do it through him... what a freak!
The next day our pick-up came at 7 am and we were whisked away towards Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and is over 120 km long and 20 km wide. It has a 90 km sand highway along the eastern beach where cars drive up and down at speeds of 80km/h. The sand highway is also a landing strip for airplanes! Pretty cool, eh!?! Our tour guide Karl took us around the main sights for the following two days, but because of the tides a lot of the northern island was inaccessible to us, including the Moheno Wreck. Luckily the kind fellows from Air Fraser took us on a 20 minute scenic flight up to the wreck and over the island for 40 euros each! Bargain! I even got to ride shotgun which was sweet as! (I seem to be getting all aussie with my writing … still, no worries, eh). Karl was by far the best guide I have ever had. Short with gray hair, he looks like a garden gnome but he knows everything about that island, and he is the funniest guy ever! He really made our day! I'll let the photos tell you the rest of the story.
We left Fraser behind us and then began the 900 km long and surprisingly boring drive up to Airlie Beach, home of the Whitsundays. We split the drive over 2 days and spent a little time in some of the villages along the way. We even spent the night in our camping van at one of those trucker stops along the motorway... anything to save a couple of bucks :)
So here we are, in Airlie Beach, and tomorrow our tall ship “Alexander Stewart” leaves the marina for 3 days of sailing around one of the most beautiful places in the world … quite a sales pitch, eh!
Take care,
Robbe & Micki
p.s: Finally it has stopped raining!
p.p.s: New photos up! Enjoy!
Posted byRobbe at 11:42
Hej! Härligt att höra om era äventyr :) Ja sitter alltid o läser historiena me helt mega leende på läpparna :D
Hoppas ni har fint väder under seglingen!
Kram till er båda!!
Jag kan tänka mig grinet ni har haft då ni skrev texten i sanden på bilden i Robbes album... Så fräckt! kramar!
Gabban
Låter härligt med 3 dagars seglats :) Enjoy!!
kram Heidi