Interesting Observations:
1. Board games here are RIDICULOUSLY expensive! Scrabble $60, Cranium $85...I think the cheapest board game I saw was 'SORRY' $20.. so now I miss board games!
2. When you order a Milkshake here...if you want an actual milkshake, it has to be a 'thick shake' or else your pretty much getting nestle quick /syrup mixed in milk..
3. Ice coffees and cold mocha drink are very popular here..you buy them at any convenient store, gas station or grocery store, in 250ml or 500 ml cartons.. the are delicious & addicting! They come in many flavours.. Strawberry, Chocolate, vanilla, Espresso, & my two fav's - Mocha & chocolate with honeycomb!
4. im not sure if I have mentioned this before.. but in 'coffee world' over here.. theres no such thing as a double double, 1 sugar 2 milk, and all the other ways we may order it back home.. your options here are:
-machhiato, long flat, short flat, long black, these are all espresso based coffee's also.. in bars, restys & coffee shops, its always made this way, not with ground coffee like we are used to back home..and I must say, its quite delicious.. our new fav way of making coffees at home is with a french press.
5. We are so lucky to live right across from a farmers market that occurs in the play area of the public school across the street every Saturday 8am-12! They sell all kinds of goods from seafood, fish, smoked sausages & ham, bread, organic milk, spreads, dips, fresh farmers fruit & vegg...also they have vendors selling delicious snacks like brat worst & onions on a bun for $6, healthy greek pies (spinach & feta, etc) for $6 - and just across the street! Subiaco is awesome!
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
We ♥ PERTH
So Gorski and I have been settled into Perth now for a few months...and we are both very happy with our decision to move to the West Coast.
Brad got an interview in a lab called SGS - which is known worldwide (there is even labs in Mississauga, London, Sarnia, Calgary & a bunch of others)
So we were pretty ambitious when we first moved, Brad pretty much had the job in the bag.. however finding accommodation was not so simple...in fact, it was a completely stressful time & a struggle at most.
So, as our journey begins in Perth, we started off living in a hostel..not even a private room at that..since the hostel 'gave it away' - even though we booked a private room since we would have all our belongings and whatnot.. anyways, that didn't make the situation any easier.. and of course, we get stuck in a room, shared with 2 other bunk beds..and of course the AC is not working... at this point.. Perth was going through a heat wave of +40 everyday... it was brutal!
We spent just under a week in the hostel, spending our days, trying to remain sane and cool.. mainly applying for places to live or rent online... the way they do things here...is quite the mess!
I understand 'housing' is hard to find... but I didn't think it was going to be THIS difficult. We had set up a few appointments to go see some places for rent.. most of them would text us or call us like 30 mins before we are about to leave..just to notify not to bother coming out.. because its already been rented. Now, the only thing that really pisses me off about the whole process, is that here they set up like an 'open house' kinda concept.. so you have a few people coming at once to see the place.. (most the time.. throwing themselves, money..or whatever else will work because they are desparate for a place to live THAT BAD)
So its pretty much a competition, but thats not what really grinded my gears.. it was the fact that we would call and set up an appt, 'because they will only show it as an open house blah blah blah' yet half the people would contact us back and be like..sorry its rented.. well then what the hell is the point of having an open house- geese.. such a time waster.. needless to say, another pet peeve about the whole thing is that people advertise the place as a 1 bedroom... but really its a 1 bedrm in a shared accommodation...sneaky sneaky! My favourite piss off was when a housing/rental agency called me like literally 2 minutes away from the apartment, to tell me not to bother..after I had taken the train and spent like 30 mins commuting to get there.. SUCH A PISS OFF! So, you can see from my housing rants, this was not a fun process for us..
Needless to say, we contacted this guys who rents his house out.. kinda like a hostel, shared accommodation.. but its a house instead of a hostel...It was a better place to call home for the meanwhile.. but it was in the real suburbs, just residential housing around.. about a 20 min walk to restaurants..and a 15 min drive to the grocery store... we didn't have locks on our bedrooms, but the others who were staying there were very nice, and we just needed to get outta the other hostel. Plus this place had a sweet backyard chill zone, there was no contracts, no bonds just pay weekly for rent.. so it was cheaper to do this move rather than stay in the hostel.
These were some of our roommates.. along with a sweet Uk couple, a great Zambian/Irish guy & another Belguim/China couple (who were the strangest people I think I have ever met)
Right before we moved into this new place near East Victoria Park in St James, we went to check out an apartment about a block from the hostel we were staying at...and from the outside it looked so nice and located right beside a park! Again, we went into the place thinking it was just a 1 bedrm but really we would be sharing with 4 other Brazilians... we were the first ones to see the place, and afterwards, we told her, 'we want the place, what do we do, can we fill out an application'... back home.. it would be.. first come..first serve right... well not here.. she had 20 other people coming to look at it after us.. so we thought.. ohh shit.. they are never going to pick us.. wrote down our names & numbers, thanked her for the viewing and left having little to no hope in actually getting the place...she told us that she would be making her decision in a few days and move in date would be one week from then. So much to our surprise, being Canadian came through for us once again! She had called us and told us that they had picked us Canadians to move in if we still wanted it! We were pumped, gave Nil our notice that we were leaving.. and trekked all our belongings back to where we originally started in the first place...the clouds couldn't have come out for 1 hour that day... thankfully the bus had AC.. and the free BLUE CAT service is right outside the apartment in Northbridge...Shenton St became our new home...
In the meantime, Brad had been working at the lab.. 4 days on 4 days off.. and I was still applying for work..and trying to occupy myself while he was gone..
NORTHBRIDGE
A very cool area, a 10 min walk from Perth Stn (train) a hop and a skip away from tonnes of restaurants... the Western State Library is down the block along side the Perth Museum.. the Northbridge Piazza was a big screen set up right in the middle of it all.. with umbrellas and bean bag chairs everywhere, playing local news, documents, movies, and all for free!
The great things also, the BLUE CAT picked us up right outside our apartment..and will get you downtown to the main City Business District in about 10-15 mins.. where you have access to Murray St & Hay St Malls (which are all outside..kinda like the market downtown Ottawa)
We also spent some time exploring around near neighbourhoods...and one of our fav's was Claisebrook!
Kinda reminded me of Amsterdam style.. houses located on the edge of a cove.. a pretty lil part of Perth..hidden from the rest located at East Perth.
Brad got an interview in a lab called SGS - which is known worldwide (there is even labs in Mississauga, London, Sarnia, Calgary & a bunch of others)
So we were pretty ambitious when we first moved, Brad pretty much had the job in the bag.. however finding accommodation was not so simple...in fact, it was a completely stressful time & a struggle at most.
So, as our journey begins in Perth, we started off living in a hostel..not even a private room at that..since the hostel 'gave it away' - even though we booked a private room since we would have all our belongings and whatnot.. anyways, that didn't make the situation any easier.. and of course, we get stuck in a room, shared with 2 other bunk beds..and of course the AC is not working... at this point.. Perth was going through a heat wave of +40 everyday... it was brutal!
We spent just under a week in the hostel, spending our days, trying to remain sane and cool.. mainly applying for places to live or rent online... the way they do things here...is quite the mess!
I understand 'housing' is hard to find... but I didn't think it was going to be THIS difficult. We had set up a few appointments to go see some places for rent.. most of them would text us or call us like 30 mins before we are about to leave..just to notify not to bother coming out.. because its already been rented. Now, the only thing that really pisses me off about the whole process, is that here they set up like an 'open house' kinda concept.. so you have a few people coming at once to see the place.. (most the time.. throwing themselves, money..or whatever else will work because they are desparate for a place to live THAT BAD)
So its pretty much a competition, but thats not what really grinded my gears.. it was the fact that we would call and set up an appt, 'because they will only show it as an open house blah blah blah' yet half the people would contact us back and be like..sorry its rented.. well then what the hell is the point of having an open house- geese.. such a time waster.. needless to say, another pet peeve about the whole thing is that people advertise the place as a 1 bedroom... but really its a 1 bedrm in a shared accommodation...sneaky sneaky! My favourite piss off was when a housing/rental agency called me like literally 2 minutes away from the apartment, to tell me not to bother..after I had taken the train and spent like 30 mins commuting to get there.. SUCH A PISS OFF! So, you can see from my housing rants, this was not a fun process for us..
Needless to say, we contacted this guys who rents his house out.. kinda like a hostel, shared accommodation.. but its a house instead of a hostel...It was a better place to call home for the meanwhile.. but it was in the real suburbs, just residential housing around.. about a 20 min walk to restaurants..and a 15 min drive to the grocery store... we didn't have locks on our bedrooms, but the others who were staying there were very nice, and we just needed to get outta the other hostel. Plus this place had a sweet backyard chill zone, there was no contracts, no bonds just pay weekly for rent.. so it was cheaper to do this move rather than stay in the hostel.
These were some of our roommates.. along with a sweet Uk couple, a great Zambian/Irish guy & another Belguim/China couple (who were the strangest people I think I have ever met)
sweet chill zone in backyard with built in 'mist'er'
Dodge- the Papillion & Brigette the Aust Sheppard
In the meantime, Brad had been working at the lab.. 4 days on 4 days off.. and I was still applying for work..and trying to occupy myself while he was gone..
NORTHBRIDGE
A very cool area, a 10 min walk from Perth Stn (train) a hop and a skip away from tonnes of restaurants... the Western State Library is down the block along side the Perth Museum.. the Northbridge Piazza was a big screen set up right in the middle of it all.. with umbrellas and bean bag chairs everywhere, playing local news, documents, movies, and all for free!
The great things also, the BLUE CAT picked us up right outside our apartment..and will get you downtown to the main City Business District in about 10-15 mins.. where you have access to Murray St & Hay St Malls (which are all outside..kinda like the market downtown Ottawa)
the view of the CBD from our balcony
Northbridge Piazza
Western Australia Museum
So, we enjoyed our time here.. we spent an afternoon going to Kings Park, right on the other side of the CBD..where you can gock at the amazing water views.
war memorial on hill
CBD Perth
South Perth
Kinda reminded me of Amsterdam style.. houses located on the edge of a cove.. a pretty lil part of Perth..hidden from the rest located at East Perth.
looking back at the CBD- Perth
amazing homes along Claisebrook Cove
Our Brazilian roommates were great! Nathalia is the youngest at 21, studying and working 2 jobs. Taichi is the same age as us also studying English and working, Tiais we didn't get to know as her visa had expired and she had to leave the country...and Zeca is 32, a little more quieter..barely see him much as he's also studying english and working at a car wash. ..his english was probably the most difficult to understand.. but overall we could communicate great with them, and I went to some parties with them when Brad would be working.. very easy to get along with.
SUBIACO!
Currently, we just made our (hopefully) last move! The U.K couple we had met from our first place, they were looking for a house to rent.. because they are planning on staying here long term for a few years.. asked us how we would feel about moving in with them should they find a place... and wow.. did they ever find a beaut of a place or what!
Located right in the heart of the city - Subiaco.. so 2 train stops from Perth, Northbridge, where we were.. but in a beautiful located area, clean city.. kinda reminds me of MTL..cobble stone main street full of cute little shops and stores.. belgium chocolaterie's ...grocery store 2 blocks away..everything is convenient where we are.. we are also closer to the beaches now!!! However, last week there was a 'shark feeding frenzy' that happened on the beach.. where one great white shark and several tiger sharks went to town on a school of tuna... crazy! You can youtube it.. glad I wasn't at the beach that day!
So, make a long story short! We said yes and told the Brazilians we were moving out.. I had already set up a few appts for people to come see the place so they could choose who they wanted to be their new flatmates.. and we moved in March 10th, with the UK couple and the Zambian/Irish fella... so we are all now reunited again but in an amazing 3 bedroom, 3 bathrn HOUSE- 2 levels, AC, full furnished, appliances, laundry, parking, storage..back private patio, front street view patio..and the one of the best parts... BBQ-- not just the shitty oz style 'hot plate' but half hot plate, half charcoal... now were cooking with gas!
Anyways, now that I'm done bragging.. the place is amazing and we are really happy here.. it feels like more of a home for us.. we can take our shoes off and relax.. literally.. the last place we always wore our shoes in the house... it was shitty...and always dirty and whatnot.. plus, our roomies are a lot like Brad and I..and we are all very similar and get along great!
Ill try to upload some pictures once I take a few.. as for the job front for me, I'm still looking..and applying.. I went for an interview last week for a balling cartographer position & a GIS analyst position.. but I was 'runner up' and didn't get the job.. due to lack of experience..great..(sigh) so I'm back on the job hunt again...
Other than that.. not much else is new.. my new obsessions are: olives, avocado's & TimTam's
St Pattys Day here was pretty much non existent in terms of how we celebrate back home.... we celebrated hard for Brads bday at our place which was great.. Jameson Rye.. pints, green jello shooters .. but not a lot of green.. NO where sold decorations...hats..nothing :( ... we went to an Irish bar at midnight and were gutted when they told us they were closed...?!?!? R-E-D-O-N-K-U-L-O-U-S!! crazy Perth and their shutting down at early times and what not.. GAHHH
That is all!
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Cruise
Ok, its been some time since we have updated this.. and Brad hasn't had the time to come and and write anymore about our trip that happened at end of Jan.. so I'm going to try and re-cap before time really passed us by here.
After returning from our amazing trip from being on the ocean and snorkelling and diving in the great barrier reef.. we arrive back at Airlie Beach just in time to celebrate Straya Day!!!
Jan 26th 2012 Straya Day
We arrive back at our hostel at Nomads where they were holding all our belongings while we were out on our cruise. We are feeling pretty rough this afternoon, so while all the Ozzies are already a good start on drinking and partying, we decide to relax and float in the lagoon until we go for our cheap dinner at Down Under Bar (compliments of the Power Play cruise) $10 for any main (pub) meal & a pint / gl of wine.. so like :
-barramundi & chips
-200g rump steak
-calamari salad
-chicken w/ mushroom sauce & potato
-kangaroo burger
etc..
We stayed here a little while with the rest of the Power Play group.. but we moved in quickly as the bar was almost completely DRY - and only 2 beer taps out of like 12 were available.. cider & a shitty low percentage draught.. we took advantage of $4 vodka & cranberries..until they also ran out of cranberry.. so that ended quickly and we moved onto another large bar down the road called Magnums. This place was crazy and very large! Must have been like 5 bars in 1... outside bar with picnic tables.. volleyball area...inside bar..and bar at stage.. and apparently there is an upstairs also..which we didn't even venture too... so many ppl inside this bar..just crammed!!!
After having been drinking for couple hours .. Brad and I know that we have a long journey waiting for us soon... and we are not looking forward to it. 11pm rolls around and we head back to Nomads hostel to grab all our belongings..and walk across town down to the bus station...where we will be getting on a grey hound bus for a 13hr bus ride...
Jan 27th
The bus ride wasn't that bad as we thought.. ya, not the most comfortable mind you sleeping on a bus.. but we saved money on spending it in a hostel for the night and travelled at the same time... the bus had AC which made it nice and we stopped a few times along the way for breaks etc.. I didn't wake up for the first break.. so making having a few brews really worked out perfectly and didn't make the journey feel so long.
We arrive at Hervey Bay and the bus drops us off at the bus station and we wait for our hostel to come and get us. About 30 minutes go by and of course its been pouring rain for the past 13 hours... we are tired.. hungover.. and we just want to get back to our hostel. An hour goes by.. and the van that was suppose to come get us.. every time it pulled up, everyone else jumped in so quickly, as theres only like 8 spaces or so.. that we never make the cut. So, at this point I'm getting a little annoyed.. we have been sitting on a bus for 13 hrs and now we are waiting 2 hours to get picked up- for a 10 min ride.. so I call the hostel and ask them if someone can come pick us up because the other van (its the hostel located right across the road from us) is always packed and they don't have room for us.
Anyways, finally they came and got us and we arrived back at our cute quaint hostel called "woodshed"
Really nice venue... log cabin kinda style... lots of palm trees.. kinda seemed outta place..but really nice, family run, ridiculously clean... very nice! They have like a barn log house where the kitchen is, and inside theres tons of nic-nacs all over the place..beer mugs, beer signs, couches, t.v. old pictures and farming tools.. it was really nice and comfy.
So, its been raining the whole time we have been here..which makes it hard to do anything..especially when you don't have an umbrella and town is about a 10 min walk away... so after waiting all day for the rain to stop ..come around 8pm we knew it just was not going to let up.. so we did what we had to as we needed some grub!
I put on some shorts and my rain jacket, Brad puts on his bathing suit, and we run barefoot all the way to town to find something to eat and one of the street lined with restys.
Drenched at this point.. we decide on this place called 'yummy noodles'. Reasonable price, so we get 3 dishes and share them. They were delicious! Pad Thai, Beef Chilli & noodle, & Hot Pot which was a variety of meats in like a honey teriyaki sauce.
Jan 28 Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Tours
We wake up to a shuttle bus outside our hostel to pick us up to head towards the ferry at the marina.
For those of you who are not familiar, Fraser Island is an island which is made up completely of sand created over 800,000 yrs! Population on the island is about 360 people. On the island is 120 km of lush rainforest, beautiful beaches, rich freshwater pools & 200m high sand dunes.
A variety of Fraser Island plant and animal life is fierce, including sharks & dingo's (wild dogs)
On our bus ride to the marina, we come across our Canadian friend that we met at Airlie beach, Alanna, from Winnipeg, so its nice to see a familiar face and we share the tour with her.
The ferry to get to the island took about 45 minutes.. this ferry did not move at any astronomical speed.. slow and steady.. we arrive at the island and are greeted by Bryan, our tour guide. A local Melbourne elderly man, doing what he truly loves. He introduced himself, and leads us over to our ride..the giant bus!!! The wheels on this thing were probably almost as tall as me, and the bus looks like this huge boat of a thing..
Our group was suppose to be about 30 ppl, but since it was raining like crazy the past day and weather wasn't so good, I guess a lot of people cancelled and we were only like 13. So, we all hop on the bus and this 'thing' was wild. Driving on loose sand, up and down 45 degree steep hills and narrow pathways..it was hilarious. Bryan, trying to control this beast is sitting in his seat at the front and literally bouncing up and down in his seat.. i have no idea how he manages to drive stick with this thing.. so its a bumpy ride to our first destination.
First Stop- Pine Valley
We walk through a bushed rainforest area where we come to a small lake called Basin Lake. The lake is actually located on top of a dune and was a small pretty basin of water. The water here wasn't clear, so it reminded me of the lakes you see back home. Due to the area being a touristy, at the moment no one is allowed to go swimming in it anymore, due to sunscreen and oils on tourist swimming in the lake, that rubbed off into the water and and ended up killing fish.
Afterwards, we walked to 'central station' which is like a rainforest boardwalk. Really awesome! Keeping our eyes peered for snakes or dingo's along the way.. as you walked through the rainforest, the foliage got more and more deep and the cooler it also got in temperature. Huge trees here along the way... a nice bush walk through a fresh wet rainforest. Heat bugs were pretty loud here..and the mozzies also.. but I wasn't too worried considering the island is home to about 200 wild dingo's, 5 of the top venomous snakes, and tonnes of 'oh how I am terrified' of you spiders.
Along our rainforest walk, we come across a natural spring water river running through called Wanggoolba Creek. We spot a catfish from the bridge and an eel also. The water was so clear here that you could see right down to the golden sand that lays below it.
As we head to the end of our rainforest walk, we walk by the famous Satinay trees which are thousands of years old. Their trunks are massive - pretty amazing to see (yessss i love trees) We get to the end of our walk and have lunch in a small little opening which picnic tables and open space. Bryan laid out a ridiculous amount of food..remember it was suppose to be for 30 people... so it was a feast of kaiser buns, meats, pickles, cheese, & salads.. needless to say we all stuffed ourselves not only because we were hungry from trekking through the forest, but because they cannot keep any of the food, any leftovers all get chucked :(
Second stop- Lake Mckenzie
This location is one of Fraser Island's most photographed places, and I can see why.
When we first arrived, it was still a bit overcast and cloudy..so I was worried that my pictures wouldn't turn out as good, because this place was absolute paradise. Blue and green water, white soft powder sand.. wow.
The sand is actually also rich in minerals and can be used as an exfoliant on your skin, Lore has it that the sand lends the lakes anti-ageing properties... it also really cleans your jewellery .. as I cleaned all my silver rings, buried them into the sand and they came out beaming with sparkles!
After our first dip into the water, most of the other crew headed back up the the designated picnic area..with picnic tables, surrounded by a wooden fence to keep out dingos! We swam for a bit longer..Brad, Alanna (the other Winnipeg Canadian) and me..until we joined the others and a bunch of kookaburras for some tea and cookies. Then Bryan told us we had another 30 minutes left before we were leaving this area, so the three of us decided to go and chill down by the water and enjoy the view, Brad went swimming again..and apparently while we were down at the beach, a dingo came by the picnic area.. so we missed seeing it.. gah!
After leaving McKenzie Lake, we headed to our accommodation back at Kingfisher Resort. All of us stayed in 1 large wooden lodge which consisted of 5 bedrooms (2 double bunks in each room), one large shared kitchen and lounge area, outside patio attached to the lodge & men & woman's bathroom/shower.
We head to the famous ' Dingo Bar' and only option for food (other than the convenient store located about a 10 min drive) They have a buffet style, and each day is different. It was pizza, pasta, veg and salads today..and happy hour from 9-10pm -$10 jugs... we get back on the 'jug' train, along with a few shots of tequila, and 'playing in the snow' - we deff needed to have those..which kinda reminded me of polar bear shots. Bryan even bought us 2 jugs for the table..lucky for us Canadians and 2 German's, no one else drank beer but us! wooo! The night only got more random from there on... having a good time with friends and locals playing pool. Brad got himself playing pool with a bunch of older local men who live on the island, and we met another Canadian who works on the island, who then invited the 3 of us Canadians back to his cottage, where he then put on a rope fire show.. its was really cool and crazy lol
DAY 2
7am came around a lot quicker than we all anticipated.. still feeling the effects of the night before..we head back to the 'Dingo Bar' for some continental brekky, and head back out for the day on our cruise.
Today we will spend the day driving up and down the 75 mile highway, which is right along the coast, while making pit stops along the way.
First Stop - Indian Head
We head north east to the island where we then make a quick hike up a dune which arrives at a lookout looking back over the 75 mile highway.. looking out into the ocean and large sand dunes at our backs.
The view is quite spectacular from up here and you can see the sand 75 mile highway as far as possible.. and looking below the cliff we spotted some manta rays below..apparently, Indian Head is the best vantage point on the island to spot sharks, manta's, dolphins and during migration season, whales.
Second Stop - Champagne Jacuzzi Pools
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this place.. it all sounded so awesome. Bryan set up another nice lunch for us with fajita's and then off we went to the pools! This is the only safe spot on the island for saltwater swimming. The whole concept is this; shallow pools of water which are surrounded by cliff faces (& sharp rocks). The waves come slamming over the large rock formations in the water and by doing so, this creates the water to trickle down the rock and create a jacuzzi type flow of small bubbles and foam. The sun finally decided to show its face at this point which was great and we could have stayed there chillin in the jacuzzi all day.
Third Stop - The Pinnacles
This is a section of coloured sand cliffs/dunes that stick out from the landscape along the 75 mile highway.
We only stopped here for about 5 minutes to check out the land formation and snap a few pictures.
Fourth Stop - Maheno Shipwreck
Built in Scotland in 1904 and was the world's first ever triple screw steamer. Apparently, this ship was also used as a hospital in WWI, and then purchased by a Sydney shipping company, planning on using it between Sydney & New Zealand shipments.
Afterwards due to a shortage in funds, it was then sold to a Japanese shipping company for scrap metal. In the midst of trying to bring the Maheno back to Osaka Japan, it was hit by an unseasonal cyclone in 1935 off the coast of Fraser. Then it was abandoned and now lies on the 75 mile highway.
More than half the ship today is buried under the landscape..and eroding quickly due to the salt water.
Fifth Stop - Eli Creek
This is a fresh water creek that is the largest freshwater stream on the east coast of Fraser Island. Apparently, over 4 million litres of water flow from the streams mouth out onto the beach into the ocean every hour!
There is a small knee deep water path that you can walk through and brings you downstream back to the 75 mile highway beach.
Before entering the water here, I didn't notice a creeeeeeepy spider lingering right beside my head.. I was having difficulties trying to cross back again... geeeeww!! At this location we also came across a whole bunch of baby blue frogs, which were about the size of a dime.. and also apparently very poisonous - so I'm glad we didn't pick them up! I guess the oil in there skin is poisonous.. and once it touches your mucus membranes, it can paralyze you or something scary along those lines. We asked Bryan about them, and he said if dingo's were to eat them, they would die a painful and long death.. so enough said.
Afterwards we headed back to the Dingo Bar again for dinner which was roast beef (have not had good beef like that in a while), BBQ foods, curry & rice, salads.. it was really good tonight. After dinner, we were heading back on the shuttle bus to take us back to the ferry... we were quite burnt out at this point from spending the whole day outside and in the sun.. the trip was amazing, and I have no complaints..other than I didn't see a dingo.
Here's a few other pictures to gander on :)
After returning from our amazing trip from being on the ocean and snorkelling and diving in the great barrier reef.. we arrive back at Airlie Beach just in time to celebrate Straya Day!!!
Jan 26th 2012 Straya Day
We arrive back at our hostel at Nomads where they were holding all our belongings while we were out on our cruise. We are feeling pretty rough this afternoon, so while all the Ozzies are already a good start on drinking and partying, we decide to relax and float in the lagoon until we go for our cheap dinner at Down Under Bar (compliments of the Power Play cruise) $10 for any main (pub) meal & a pint / gl of wine.. so like :
-barramundi & chips
-200g rump steak
-calamari salad
-chicken w/ mushroom sauce & potato
-kangaroo burger
etc..
We stayed here a little while with the rest of the Power Play group.. but we moved in quickly as the bar was almost completely DRY - and only 2 beer taps out of like 12 were available.. cider & a shitty low percentage draught.. we took advantage of $4 vodka & cranberries..until they also ran out of cranberry.. so that ended quickly and we moved onto another large bar down the road called Magnums. This place was crazy and very large! Must have been like 5 bars in 1... outside bar with picnic tables.. volleyball area...inside bar..and bar at stage.. and apparently there is an upstairs also..which we didn't even venture too... so many ppl inside this bar..just crammed!!!
After having been drinking for couple hours .. Brad and I know that we have a long journey waiting for us soon... and we are not looking forward to it. 11pm rolls around and we head back to Nomads hostel to grab all our belongings..and walk across town down to the bus station...where we will be getting on a grey hound bus for a 13hr bus ride...
Jan 27th
The bus ride wasn't that bad as we thought.. ya, not the most comfortable mind you sleeping on a bus.. but we saved money on spending it in a hostel for the night and travelled at the same time... the bus had AC which made it nice and we stopped a few times along the way for breaks etc.. I didn't wake up for the first break.. so making having a few brews really worked out perfectly and didn't make the journey feel so long.
We arrive at Hervey Bay and the bus drops us off at the bus station and we wait for our hostel to come and get us. About 30 minutes go by and of course its been pouring rain for the past 13 hours... we are tired.. hungover.. and we just want to get back to our hostel. An hour goes by.. and the van that was suppose to come get us.. every time it pulled up, everyone else jumped in so quickly, as theres only like 8 spaces or so.. that we never make the cut. So, at this point I'm getting a little annoyed.. we have been sitting on a bus for 13 hrs and now we are waiting 2 hours to get picked up- for a 10 min ride.. so I call the hostel and ask them if someone can come pick us up because the other van (its the hostel located right across the road from us) is always packed and they don't have room for us.
Anyways, finally they came and got us and we arrived back at our cute quaint hostel called "woodshed"
Really nice venue... log cabin kinda style... lots of palm trees.. kinda seemed outta place..but really nice, family run, ridiculously clean... very nice! They have like a barn log house where the kitchen is, and inside theres tons of nic-nacs all over the place..beer mugs, beer signs, couches, t.v. old pictures and farming tools.. it was really nice and comfy.
me chillin in the hammock
inside at kitchen/lounge
hostel/cabin rooms
So, its been raining the whole time we have been here..which makes it hard to do anything..especially when you don't have an umbrella and town is about a 10 min walk away... so after waiting all day for the rain to stop ..come around 8pm we knew it just was not going to let up.. so we did what we had to as we needed some grub!
I put on some shorts and my rain jacket, Brad puts on his bathing suit, and we run barefoot all the way to town to find something to eat and one of the street lined with restys.
Drenched at this point.. we decide on this place called 'yummy noodles'. Reasonable price, so we get 3 dishes and share them. They were delicious! Pad Thai, Beef Chilli & noodle, & Hot Pot which was a variety of meats in like a honey teriyaki sauce.
Jan 28 Fraser Island - Cool Dingo Tours
We wake up to a shuttle bus outside our hostel to pick us up to head towards the ferry at the marina.
For those of you who are not familiar, Fraser Island is an island which is made up completely of sand created over 800,000 yrs! Population on the island is about 360 people. On the island is 120 km of lush rainforest, beautiful beaches, rich freshwater pools & 200m high sand dunes.
A variety of Fraser Island plant and animal life is fierce, including sharks & dingo's (wild dogs)
On our bus ride to the marina, we come across our Canadian friend that we met at Airlie beach, Alanna, from Winnipeg, so its nice to see a familiar face and we share the tour with her.
The ferry to get to the island took about 45 minutes.. this ferry did not move at any astronomical speed.. slow and steady.. we arrive at the island and are greeted by Bryan, our tour guide. A local Melbourne elderly man, doing what he truly loves. He introduced himself, and leads us over to our ride..the giant bus!!! The wheels on this thing were probably almost as tall as me, and the bus looks like this huge boat of a thing..
Our group was suppose to be about 30 ppl, but since it was raining like crazy the past day and weather wasn't so good, I guess a lot of people cancelled and we were only like 13. So, we all hop on the bus and this 'thing' was wild. Driving on loose sand, up and down 45 degree steep hills and narrow pathways..it was hilarious. Bryan, trying to control this beast is sitting in his seat at the front and literally bouncing up and down in his seat.. i have no idea how he manages to drive stick with this thing.. so its a bumpy ride to our first destination.
First Stop- Pine Valley
We walk through a bushed rainforest area where we come to a small lake called Basin Lake. The lake is actually located on top of a dune and was a small pretty basin of water. The water here wasn't clear, so it reminded me of the lakes you see back home. Due to the area being a touristy, at the moment no one is allowed to go swimming in it anymore, due to sunscreen and oils on tourist swimming in the lake, that rubbed off into the water and and ended up killing fish.
Afterwards, we walked to 'central station' which is like a rainforest boardwalk. Really awesome! Keeping our eyes peered for snakes or dingo's along the way.. as you walked through the rainforest, the foliage got more and more deep and the cooler it also got in temperature. Huge trees here along the way... a nice bush walk through a fresh wet rainforest. Heat bugs were pretty loud here..and the mozzies also.. but I wasn't too worried considering the island is home to about 200 wild dingo's, 5 of the top venomous snakes, and tonnes of 'oh how I am terrified' of you spiders.
Eucalyptus Trees
Massive Trunks
Along our rainforest walk, we come across a natural spring water river running through called Wanggoolba Creek. We spot a catfish from the bridge and an eel also. The water was so clear here that you could see right down to the golden sand that lays below it.
Wanggoolba Creek
The creek meandering through the rainforest
As we head to the end of our rainforest walk, we walk by the famous Satinay trees which are thousands of years old. Their trunks are massive - pretty amazing to see (yessss i love trees) We get to the end of our walk and have lunch in a small little opening which picnic tables and open space. Bryan laid out a ridiculous amount of food..remember it was suppose to be for 30 people... so it was a feast of kaiser buns, meats, pickles, cheese, & salads.. needless to say we all stuffed ourselves not only because we were hungry from trekking through the forest, but because they cannot keep any of the food, any leftovers all get chucked :(
Brad & Satinay Tree
Second stop- Lake Mckenzie
This location is one of Fraser Island's most photographed places, and I can see why.
When we first arrived, it was still a bit overcast and cloudy..so I was worried that my pictures wouldn't turn out as good, because this place was absolute paradise. Blue and green water, white soft powder sand.. wow.
The sand is actually also rich in minerals and can be used as an exfoliant on your skin, Lore has it that the sand lends the lakes anti-ageing properties... it also really cleans your jewellery .. as I cleaned all my silver rings, buried them into the sand and they came out beaming with sparkles!
Brad enjoying the water
After our first dip into the water, most of the other crew headed back up the the designated picnic area..with picnic tables, surrounded by a wooden fence to keep out dingos! We swam for a bit longer..Brad, Alanna (the other Winnipeg Canadian) and me..until we joined the others and a bunch of kookaburras for some tea and cookies. Then Bryan told us we had another 30 minutes left before we were leaving this area, so the three of us decided to go and chill down by the water and enjoy the view, Brad went swimming again..and apparently while we were down at the beach, a dingo came by the picnic area.. so we missed seeing it.. gah!
One of my fav's of Mckenzie Lake
Checking us out at picnic area
We head to the famous ' Dingo Bar' and only option for food (other than the convenient store located about a 10 min drive) They have a buffet style, and each day is different. It was pizza, pasta, veg and salads today..and happy hour from 9-10pm -$10 jugs... we get back on the 'jug' train, along with a few shots of tequila, and 'playing in the snow' - we deff needed to have those..which kinda reminded me of polar bear shots. Bryan even bought us 2 jugs for the table..lucky for us Canadians and 2 German's, no one else drank beer but us! wooo! The night only got more random from there on... having a good time with friends and locals playing pool. Brad got himself playing pool with a bunch of older local men who live on the island, and we met another Canadian who works on the island, who then invited the 3 of us Canadians back to his cottage, where he then put on a rope fire show.. its was really cool and crazy lol
DAY 2
7am came around a lot quicker than we all anticipated.. still feeling the effects of the night before..we head back to the 'Dingo Bar' for some continental brekky, and head back out for the day on our cruise.
Today we will spend the day driving up and down the 75 mile highway, which is right along the coast, while making pit stops along the way.
First Stop - Indian Head
We head north east to the island where we then make a quick hike up a dune which arrives at a lookout looking back over the 75 mile highway.. looking out into the ocean and large sand dunes at our backs.
The view is quite spectacular from up here and you can see the sand 75 mile highway as far as possible.. and looking below the cliff we spotted some manta rays below..apparently, Indian Head is the best vantage point on the island to spot sharks, manta's, dolphins and during migration season, whales.
sand dunes behind us
75 mile highway along the beachfront
watching the rays below
Second Stop - Champagne Jacuzzi Pools
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this place.. it all sounded so awesome. Bryan set up another nice lunch for us with fajita's and then off we went to the pools! This is the only safe spot on the island for saltwater swimming. The whole concept is this; shallow pools of water which are surrounded by cliff faces (& sharp rocks). The waves come slamming over the large rock formations in the water and by doing so, this creates the water to trickle down the rock and create a jacuzzi type flow of small bubbles and foam. The sun finally decided to show its face at this point which was great and we could have stayed there chillin in the jacuzzi all day.
view from beach
View from top
Third Stop - The Pinnacles
This is a section of coloured sand cliffs/dunes that stick out from the landscape along the 75 mile highway.
We only stopped here for about 5 minutes to check out the land formation and snap a few pictures.
Fourth Stop - Maheno Shipwreck
Built in Scotland in 1904 and was the world's first ever triple screw steamer. Apparently, this ship was also used as a hospital in WWI, and then purchased by a Sydney shipping company, planning on using it between Sydney & New Zealand shipments.
Afterwards due to a shortage in funds, it was then sold to a Japanese shipping company for scrap metal. In the midst of trying to bring the Maheno back to Osaka Japan, it was hit by an unseasonal cyclone in 1935 off the coast of Fraser. Then it was abandoned and now lies on the 75 mile highway.
More than half the ship today is buried under the landscape..and eroding quickly due to the salt water.
Canadians- peekaboo
Fifth Stop - Eli Creek
This is a fresh water creek that is the largest freshwater stream on the east coast of Fraser Island. Apparently, over 4 million litres of water flow from the streams mouth out onto the beach into the ocean every hour!
There is a small knee deep water path that you can walk through and brings you downstream back to the 75 mile highway beach.
Before entering the water here, I didn't notice a creeeeeeepy spider lingering right beside my head.. I was having difficulties trying to cross back again... geeeeww!! At this location we also came across a whole bunch of baby blue frogs, which were about the size of a dime.. and also apparently very poisonous - so I'm glad we didn't pick them up! I guess the oil in there skin is poisonous.. and once it touches your mucus membranes, it can paralyze you or something scary along those lines. We asked Bryan about them, and he said if dingo's were to eat them, they would die a painful and long death.. so enough said.
almost died..(eerie jeebie happening....NOW)
Walking through Eli Creek.. felt like a jungle
Here's a few other pictures to gander on :)
Cave located at Champagne Pools
cool bug I saw on the beach at Champagne Pools
Us above champagne pools with 75 mile HWY in back & Indian Head
a monkey in the jungle at Eli Creek
locals at Hervey Bay fishing..and this is what they caught instead
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