Daydream Island

Aug 12th:  We ate breakfast with the dutch family, a very nice couple and their 2 teenage children.  We also smuggled another 10 packets of vegemite from the buffet.  We've been doing this for some days, now.  Vegemite, made popular in the western world through the lyrics from the Men At Work song, 'Down Under', is a yeast extract eaten on toast, biscuits, etc.  We thought we'd bring some back for our friends, serving it at an Aussie-style brunch.  Sharie and Goran are scared we're going to get caught (we've taken about 50 packets).  I say it's all part of the tour.  Relax.  Sharie claims it tastes nasty, too salty.  I've not tried it, yet.

Further north, mostly passing the same type of landscape as yesterday.  White, lethargic cattle lie about in the fields.  Occassionally, an excited 'whoop' comes from the front of the bus, 'Oh, a kangaroo!'  But, usually too late for anyone else to see.  Sue says it's too hot for most of them during the day, so they sleep, waiting for the day to cool.  She also explains that they're actually the kangaroo's smaller cousin, the wallabie.



We arrived at Airlie Beach, a pristine seaside town, where I bought a safari hat before we took a commuter boat to one of the Whitsunday Islands.

Airlie Beach

The journey over was wonderful; the gorgeous waters, sail boats scattered in every bay, lush islands. We're staying at Daydream Island Resort.

We arrived near dusk, though light enough to walk around the grounds.  There were lagoon like swimming pools, a man-made stream with sharks and sting rays, and a cove with mermaid statues sitting on the rocks.  There were even wild wallabies roaming the grounds.

The hotel was also eye-catching.  Statues of mermaids, fish hanging from the ceiling.  We'll be staying here for 2 nights.

Heading to 'Rocky'

Aug 11th:  The rain came in sheets last night.  Just straight down, not even moving the boats moored in the harbor.

I was the last one awake, so ate breakfast alone.  At brekky, Alice (the Chinese lady who lives in Melbourne) asked, 'Where's Mr Bean?'  When I mentioned it to him, Goran was not amused.

We drove 412 km today, only stopping once in a small town for a quick stretch of the legs.  We mailed postcards and looked for a drug store, since now Goran and Sharie have colds.   The first place we thought was a drug store was actually a museum, just tucked between other stores in a street lined with stores and restaurants sharing common walls.

The landscape didn't change much all day.  Big open, arid-looking fields, with tall trees scattered here and there, low hills in the background.  Occassionally, a sugar cane field would appear. Jeff would play a CD or Sue popped in a video for us (the bus had TV monitors hanging along the center aisle ceiling).  The subject was always about Australia, of course.  We would doze, I'd read some from my Kindle, doze some more.

Headed toward Rock Hampton, or 'Rocky'.

Just before reaching Rocky, we stopped at a tourist spot - the monument welcoming us to the Tropic of Capricorn.  The trees surrounding the spot were orange flowered and swarming with colorful lorikeets.  We spent more time taking pictures of them than the latitudinal landmark.

From there, we visited the local Rock Hampton Botanic Gardens along a lovely lake.

There was also a small zoo, blink and you‘d walk by it.  As I hurried back to the bus, I saw this guy sitting alone, keeping vigil over his tail.

We entered Rock Hampton near nightfall.  Jeff gave us a quick drive-around, along the Fitzroy River, through the town. There didn't seem to be much to brag about here, except they get an average of 300 days of sunshine a year.

We ate Japanese at Wok Me in a nearby mini-mall, watched Animal Planet and slept a fitful night in a flea bitten hotel.

Fraser Island

Aug 10th:  Poor Sharie.  She's pinched a nerve in her neck and is suffering.  Actually, we're all suffering.  Sue gave her some Tiger Balm to soothe it, but we've been encouraging her to see a doctor.  That's why we bought traveler's health insurance - use it!  But, no, Dr Mihalopolous knows better and will manage her own treatment, thank you.

 This morning we took a ferry from Hervey Bay to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. We had a special tour guide/bus driver, the lovely Jared, who promised us a 4-wheel adventure through hard wood rain forests, pristine fresh-water lakes, the colored sand formations of Coffee Rock and, if we're lucky, Dingoes!

Wait a minute, 4-wheel driving?  Uh-oh, Sharie.  It had rained the night before and many of the roads to the dock were flooded.  I dreaded a cold, dreary, drizzly day hopping on and off a bus with a cranky, suffering Greek woman, cursed by the gods!

There were several large tour groups going over on the ferry and we were packed into the boat.  It took about 20 minutes and we met up with another guide/driver who explained we'd be splitting into two smaller buses.  Goran and Sharie scrambled to make sure we separated from the Italian, and off we went with Jared.

Arriving at Fraser Island.  Uh, where's the land?

Be 'Croc wise!'

Several of our tour members are seniors and you know I respect and love my older folks, but I admit I got a laugh watching everyone jostled vigorously about.  Sharie was in hell.  We were like spineless rag dolls as several times the bus leaned perilously close to toppling.  There were huge pot holes, fallen trees and sand moguls everywhere!

A 'good' stretch of road

Along the way, we learned about the island's namesake, a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser, that there are still over 300 residents on the island, lumber was exported from the island for years, and we'll see the shipwrecked S.S. Moheno on the beach.

Walk ways had been built for tourists we got a close look at the amazingly clear streams, the variety of exotic trees and giant ferns.

That's a stream flowing there, folks!  See it?

From there, we made our way to the beach, where we saw the outcropping of coffee-colored sand cliffs:  Coffee Rock.

Along the same stretch of sand was the shipwrecked S.S. Maheno; a former luxury liner, turned hospital ship during WWI, sold to the Japanese, wrecked in a cyclone, beached on Fraser Island, and used for target practice during WWII.

Over 3 stories is buried beneathe the sand.

Just inland from the ship pooled a clear pond of water, collecting from a stream from the inland.  There was a sign posted warning ...

Goran and I chucked our shoes and waded across the pond to take a short walk along a pier leading into the center of the island.  It doesn't go too far, and we returned about 15 minutes later to see 3 dingoes roaming on the beach! 

Who's watching the children?!  Sharie?  OMG, WHERE'S SHARIE?!

We finished our island adventure with a drive farther inland, to an amazing lake along a white sanded beach.

We returned to the ferry dock near dark, exhausted from a day of being shaken and tossed.  Sharie got more excited about the ferry cat, a ginger who had no interest in the hundreds of passengers invading his space, than anything she'd experienced the entire day.

Australia Zoo

Aug 9th:  One of our travel mates, I won't name names - but, she's Italian - had a fit at breakfast because the toaster was too slow.  So far, this has been the only drama from this tour group.  No affairs, no arguments.  It's a little disappointing.  There have been some questionable looks, though, when Sharie accompanies us into our hotel room each night.  I like to think they're appalled and titillated at the same time ... who is this woman of questionable morals? 

Whoever she is, she forgot her prints from the Australia Art Museum back on the island.  No schadenfreude this time.

We headed back to the mainland and drove 170 km north to Beerwah to visit the Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter!  Crikey!

I'd never seen an episode of Steve Irwin's show, though knew of him, of course.  He's an Australian national icon.  And, folks can have their insensitive opinions about the circumstances leading to his untimely death; but, you can't deny his fame has produced wonderful things.  The Australia Zoo has a children's wish granting foundation, they sponsor an annual Red Cross blood drive and several other charitable ventures.

The park was like a giant petting zoo!  Of course, not every animal was accessible to eager hands.

Crocodile

Rhino Iguana

Wombat

A rare Goran with Kangaroo

Evil-eyed kangaroo with a common variety Gymmy

Koala with Sleep Disturber

Cassowary

When we returned to the bus, I made a huge faux pas.  I innocently insulted a national treasure.  Bindi Irwin, Steve's 12-year old daughter, has her picture posted prominently in the gift store/food court building.  Her smile seemed so strained and I got the sense that Steve might have left behind some unhonored endorsement deals that were renegotiated to now include Bindi.

So, I said to our tour guide, Sue, 'Don't you think that Bindi Irwin looks wierd?'  The expression on her face was as if I'd just back handed her.  I tried to back peddle, 'Uhh, I mean, she looks like she's being forced to be the face of the zoo.  Like she's not having fun at all.'  

Yeah, it knew it was weak.  Sue could tell that I thought Bindi Irwin looks like a bat.  But, a cute bat! 

I could practically smell her disappointment in me.  Up until then she'd been chatty and playful with us.  For the rest of the day, all the way to Hervey Bay, I felt distinctly out of favor.

Tangalooma

Aug 8th:  Sharie entertained us with a gargle snore last night.  It was funny at first because I couldn't believe it was real.  The humor waned quickly, though, when my own sleep wouldn't come.  Goran slapped the side of her bed and barked, "Sharie! No snoring!"  And it worked.  Then, later in the night, Goran started doing this familiar sleep fidget that precedes his nightmares.  So, I said, "Goran! No screaming!"  And it worked.  These triple rooms are going to be ripe for sleep deprivation.

Since the whale watching tour didn't start until 11:45, we slept in and skipped breakfast. Brekkie includes the usual bacon, eggs and toast; but, in Australia, you also get tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and spaghetti!

There weren't enough whales on the tour for my taste.  There were a couple of playful ones who swam back and forth underneath the boat, though they didn't breach the water very often.  Getting a good photo was frustrating, since you never knew where it would happen.  At one point, for a good half an hour, it was a non-stop scramble of passengers racing from one side of the boat to the other.  Someone would shout,'Over here!' and off they went.  Aw, too late.  Then, from the other side, 'Over here!'  Once you stopped with the laps, it was pretty comical just watching the watchers.

Maybe through here?

Ahhh, there's one!

After the tour, we took a nap, 'cause we needed our energy for our wild dolphin feeding later that evening!! Every evening one or more (of the same 4) wild dolphins come into the shore and the resort brings out buckets of fish to feed them.  It's a popular event, so the crowds are big.  There are lots of rules, many 'don'ts' and 'can'ts'.  You don't get to feed them more than one fish, which you have to hold a certain way (and a 'guide' will hold your hand) and you can't touch them!  Oh, and they have to come to you ... SHEESH!  Can I look at them?

It was cold and you had the option to wear waders; but, for our 2 minutes of at-arms-length contact, we figured we could stand the chilly waters in our shorts.

The daylight was gone and our cameras couldn't catch a clear shot, but we did it!

What is that?

It's a dolphin, I SWEAR!

I'm not taking 'direct contact with dolphins' off my bucket list, but I got my taste for more!