The Great Barrier Reef Day 1

July 12 – The Great Barrier Reef Day 1

We were up very early this morning and had Hungry Jacks for brekky. We parked in an area that was pointed out to us as free parking and walked the short block down to Cairns Dive Center. We got checked in, filled out safety paper work then were loaded in a mini bus and driven down to the dock. We boarded Reefkist, the day boat the would be taking us out to the liveaboard, Kangaroo Explorer. We boated out to the reef with a stop at Fitzroy Island. We also stopped for a bit of whale watching along the way and saw a couple of whales breaching. It was awesome they were actually jumping out of the water. We made it out the reef and transferred over to Kangaroo Explorer. We went through the welcome brief then got a tour of the boat before being assigned our cabins. Compared to the last boat we were on these cabins were luxurious. Actually compared to the van it was spacious too. We had some yummy lunch then got ready for our first dive. The first dive was with a guide so they could assess our skills. We went in at East Timor on Moores Reef with Tanya the Dive Master. She is very energetic. We got to hold sea cucumbers, Tanya loves sea cucumbers, and touch some giant clams. I went through my air fairly quickly though. I'm not sure if I just was cold, excited, nervous or what. Previously Beau would go through air faster than me but then again I'm not sure if we really had equal amounts in our tanks. They were also smaller tanks so the air doesn't last as long either. Anyways it was still a good dive. We then moved dive sites to the Fish Bowl at Briggs Reef. Beau and I had our first unguided dive and really enjoyed it. We saw several sea turtles, one only had three legs! A few more giant clams and tons of fish. We also decided to rent a dive camera and attempted to take lots of photos. After that dive we had a break and some dinner before our very first night dive! Since it was our first night dive we had to hire a guide. There were 6 of us in our group plus the guide and it felt crowded. I guess we have been spoilt in the past since we usually have 4 or less in a group. We did see a bunch of white tip reef sharks as well as a sleeping turtle and some red bass. The red bass use the torch lights to help them hunt but we didn't get to see them in action. After our night dive we had a shower then were pretty much too pooped to do anything else so we went to bed.

Cairns

A breaching humpback whale

The Kangaroo Explorer

Underwater Beau

Underwater Diane!

Turtle

Can you find Nemo?

Turtle!

Trumpet Fish

Three legged turtle :(

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Townsville to the Daintree Rainforest

July 8 - Townsville

While we had breakfast I finished charging my computer since it didn't have enough time last night to fully charge. After, we wrote up our ad for the van since we hope to sell it in Cairns. We think if we post it a few days before we arrive we might have some hits. We also cleared most things out of the van and took some “staged” photos of the interior. We hit the road to continue to Townsville. Along the way there was a guy selling seafood so we bought some local blue salmon for dinner. Once in Townsville we again stopped into Hungry Jacks for wifi and got the van posted on Gum Tree. We headed into the CBD but had to take a bit of a roundabout route since there was a few road closures due to the races. Once downtown we tried to go to the info center but they were closed. We were pretty annoyed since it was only 2pm and it's supposed to be open till 5pm. We could see there was a big rock formation in the downtown area so we decided to check it out. We drove up to the top of Castle Hill. It was a very narrow and windy road and there were a lot of pedestrians on it. Beau felt bad that we didn't hike up but I was okay with it. Up at the top we went on two short walks and enjoyed the look outs. Or at least enjoyed as much as we could see, it was pretty overcast and grey. You could, however, see some the racing going on and there were quite a few people on the hill with binoculars. Once we had enough we headed down to find our caravan park. We also picked up some lemon and tinfoil so we could grill our fish up nicely. The fish turned out yummy for dinner and we had a veggy risotto (made from a box) with it. We watched some tv in the kitchen for a bit then I had a shower while Beau played guitar before bed.

July 9 – Driving

We had a slow morning with breakfast and coffee while watching the news. Beau had a shower and I set to work packing up the van. We back tracked a bit and checked out the price of fixing the window ourselves. It was about $35 for a fix kit so we thought we'd we find out how much it was at a shop. Back at Hungry Jacks again we looked up the price of fixing the windshield and from the website it looked like over $100. Obviously we're going to do it ourselves... once we get some sun! We started driving towards Cairns and made a pee break after a little bit. When we got going again the battery charge light was flickering on and off then stayed on. Beau was worried our alternator might be toast or else the battery might be shot. We kept driving until we hit a small town and pulled into a garage parking lot. We checked the voltage of the battery while the car was running and it read about 15V so obviously the alternator still works. We then turned off the van and were able to restart it with no troubles so we think it might be a loose connection. We kept driving through the rainy foggy day and then stopped for a late lunch. We made our tuna wraps then drove on to a rest stop just past Innisfail. We drove about 250km today, originally I had hoped we would go to Magnetic Island today but with the weather being the pits it wasn't worth it. At the rest stop we continued to try to trouble shoot the battery light. Both batteries were fully charged and we don't know where the wires go but we are next to positive it's just a loose connection. Maybe the light will turn off by magic... or removal.

July 10 – Cairns

It rained all night and into the morning. Beau heard that it had rained about 7 inches last night! THIS IS DRY SEASON! Since it was yucky we were pretty slow moving. We drove the 100km to Cairns. It was pretty warm out even though it was overcast and obviously quite humid. We stopped into Hungry Jacks for wifi but they didn't have their $1 menu so we bought a coffee instead which cost a lot more. We then headed into the CBD and grabbed some free parking. We started walking to try to find the tourist info center. We were stopped by a delivery guy who needed a hand with getting a box up some stairs and he pointed us in the right direction for the info center. At the center we asked about going out diving but apparently its high season so there were no deals on and many were booked into next week. Feeling a little dejected we start off down the street but decided to pop into to a tour center. This one said they had a good deal on with Cairns Dive Center where you paid for 2day/1night and got upgraded to 3day/2night unfortunately after she called to book us the deal had expired so we were back to paying full price. They did, however, have one room open on the boat for the 12^th to 14^th. There was also supposed to be a good weather window at that time. We decided to go for it and booked our dive trip. It was $570pp for 3 day/2 night and 10 dives. We'll be double our number of dives. Feeling poor and hungry we split a sub for lunch and then discussed what to do tomorrow. We decided to head up to Cape Tribulation. We drove to the Daintree River Ferry Crossing, caught the cable ferry across then continued to a caravan park 16km further. There were cassowary crossing signs everywhere but we didn't spot one. Our caravan park had a small reptile display and there was also to be crocodile and kangaroo feeding in the morning. Once we found a pseudo-dry spot to park Beau set to work taking the dash a part to try and find our lose connection. Sadly he didn't find it so we just pulled the bulb :P While we were doing this our phone rang and there was a girl interested in seeing the van. Turns out she lives and works in Cape Trib and we set up a meet for tomorrow morning. We then set to work give the van a good scrub down. We made some dinner, chatted with a British guy in his early 20's about traveling then headed to bed.

The Daintree River Ferry

On the Daintree River

July 11 – Daintree Rainforest & Cape Tribulation

We woke up around 8 and met up with the park owner for his daily scheduled crocodile feeding. He has a 3 meter crocodile, Doris, who was rescued from a pet shop in South Australia. Doris used to be known as Boris because the crocodile farm she came from had sexed her as male and it wasn't until after she had laid eggs her new owner realized the mistake. Since it was pretty cool out Doris wasn't very hungry so she didn't eat anything. Afterwards we headed to the kangaroo pen where he had some rescued roos and wallabies. Most had been hand reared since their mothers had been killed in car crashes so they would never survive in the wild. We got to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. It was weird feeling their teeth graze your palm but super cool too. People pay big money for this at the zoos and we got to do it for free. The ground was saturated from the rain and extremely muddy. We had a shower and then breakfast before heading out. We headed to a backpackers to meet up with this girl to show the van. She didn't show up to the meeting until an hour later and only because she had to work. She said she lost track of time. We gave her a quick run down of the van and she seemed interested but we need to get a road worthiness certificate to sell it. We drove up the road to Cape Tribulation and went to the Kuluki lookout. We took a little walk along the Cape Tribulation beach as well before getting back in the van and heading back the way we came. We stopped at the Dubuji Boardwalk and took a nice 1.2km walk through the mangroves and rainforest. We then had some cheese, crackers and tomato for lunch. We headed back down the the Daintree River ferry but sadly did not see a cassowary. A cassowary is a large emu like bird with a big nob on its head, google it, they are very strange looking. They are also in Fern Gully! Once across the river we stopped into the public wharf to find out about river cruises. We decided to go out on the Solar Whisper which is a smaller, electric powered boat. It also had solar panels on the roof. We went for a 1.25hr cruise along the Daintree River and saw 3 adult crocodiles and many baby crocs. Some for the babies were only 6 inches long. We also saw a python that was coiled all up around itself in a tree. It was an enjoyable and quiet way to see the river. Back on land we returned a call regarding the van to the girl from this mornings uncle. He was headed up this way so we agreed to meet him and he could have a look over the van for the girl. We met him around Port Douglas and he had a quick check over the van. Back into Cairns we found a holiday park for the night and had a late dinner. Beau had an e-mail about Bombardier so he gave the agency girl a call and she'll be officially submitting his resume. We got ourselves all packed up for our trip out to the reef tomorrow then headed to bed.

Doris the Crocodile

Feeding a Wallaby

Cape Tribulation

Adult Crocodile

Younger Adult Crocodile

Baby Crocodile

Python

On the Daintree

Whitsunday Islands

July 4 – White Haven Beach and the Whitsundys

The engines woke everyone up around 6am this morning but we put off getting up until the breakfast bell rang at 7am. Breakfast consisted of white bread and cereal but sadly no peanut butter for the toast. A bit disappointing but I guess it's easy for the crew. We were motoring towards White Haven Beach and arrived around 8am. As our skipper Matt says everything's takes about 2hrs to get to. We were load into the tenders (or dingys) and driven to the beach. It was pretty windy out and, since it was still early, fairly cool. We went for a walk up to look out and were rewarded with a great view overlooking the Whitsundays. One our way back down to the beach we spotted some green ants that one of the crew had told us about. Apparently if you lick their bums you'll taste a very strong citrus flavour. Two of the girls decided to try this and confirmed it was true. Back down on the beach Beau and I went for a nice walk along the beach. When we made our way back to where the group was they were playing baseball. Beau joined in and I observed. Beau made a dive for the ball one time and ended up water for his efforts. After the game broke up a soccer game got started and I actually joined in. It was a lot of fun but we had churned up the sand so much it made running difficult. We all got together for a big group shot before heading back to the boat. We had sandwiches for lunch and then put the wind to good use and sailed around to Mantaray Bay. True to it's name we saw a mantaray as we were being shuttled in on the tender. He was just gliding along right at the surface and the tips of his wings were breaking through. The dive instructors were doing everyone's free “scuba experience” which was a brief introductory dive to show people what diving can be like. For those of us who were certified we would get a little bit of a refresher. Beau and I went for a snorkel for a little bit and saw some fishes but not another mantaray. We snorkeled for a bit before trying to warm up on the beach. Beau decided to go for another snorkel while I struggled to warm up. Every time I got close the wind would whip up and cool me down again. When we finally did get to go for our dive we were in with a couple other people. We didn't really do much for a refresher just went over the hand signals. We got to go for a short dive and fed some fish. Once back on the boat I had my 1 minute shower and got desalted. I spent some time before dinner chatting with Rachel who's the trial run photographer on the trip. She's taking marketing pictures for the boat and since this her first time out it's a trial run for her and the owner. She was crocheting so we got talking about crafting and such. She's been making beanies and selling them as she goes, not a bad idea. It was nice talking with some one who's like minded about crafting. She's also American. Dinner was much better than lunch with roasted chicken, potatoes, and veges. We had eaten up on deck and I took our plates down. When I came back up everyone was looking over the side of the boat, there were dolphins. We ended up seeing 4 dolphins, I can't be sure what kind they were but probably bottle nosed. There was a game of charades going on down below but we hung out on deck talking with the skipper and some other people before bed.

Overlooking the Whitsundays

The Anaconda 3

White Haven Beach

Hoisting the sails

Sunset

July 5 – Diving the Whitsundays

We awoke to disappointing news, the seas were too rough so we wouldn't be headed to the Reef. Boo thwarted again in our attempt to go to the GBR. Instead we went to Maureen Bay. We had a dive briefing with Chase and told him we would probably go diving twice so which two would he suggest. He said here and Blue Pearl Bay. So we took his word for it and decided to go for a dive here. It was just the two of us who were going so the photographer, Rachel, joined us. We were double wet suited with our 3/2mm stinger suit and then a 3mm shorty over top. The water is only 21 deg. We were dropped out at the reef and rolled off the tender into the water. Unfortunately the visibility was pretty poor, only 3m, and the sun had disappeared behind a cloud. The vis had cleared up some by the end of the dive and the sun had come back out so we were able to enjoy the colours more. It definitely wasn't the greatest dive and it was pretty chilly but it was nice to go for a real dive again. Back on board we got warmed up and had tacos for lunch. The skipper made a small change of plans again and decided we would go to Blue Pearl Bay this afternoon instead of tomorrow. When we arrived at the bay we were still feeling pretty full from lunch so we put off heading out to the reef for about 30min. We got suited up and dropped into the icy water. The visibility was much better here and there were lots of fish to see. We started the dive by feeding some fish. They went nuts and were all around us. We continued onwards and got to do some swim throughs, we went through gaps between two big chunks of coral. It was pretty cool. We saw some bat fish, butterfly fish, a lizard fish, and a massive wrasse. It was a much better dive than the first one. We got picked up by the tender and headed back to the boat. We had the option of going out to the beach and doing some snorkeling. We opted to stay on the boat and warm up again. I helped the one cook peel a large pot of potatoes and we chatted away for a bit. She's from California. Normally the boat would overnight in the bay and this is where the night dive would occur but the winds hadn't calmed down so we head back to the sheltered Hook's Cove. After a late dinner, I think we had to wait for the fish to be delivered, the two crew girls organized us to play “The Best Game Ever.” We had to split ourselves up into teams and come up with team names. The game was to see which team had the best ______. For example the best moustache, best ninja move, best original dance move etc. You had to pick one person to represent your team and they would show their stuff. It was hilarious! Our team ended up coming second by only one point. We were pretty worn out by the time the game finished and headed to bed.

Blue Pearl Bay

July 6 – Land Ho!

Beau and I had an awful sleep last night. It was much warmer last night so we had our hatch open but, since it was pretty windy, every time there was a gust our door would squeak against the latch then slam shut. So we enjoyed squeeeeeak bang all night. We had another boring breakfast of toast before the engines were fired up to take us over to the Sandy Cay. It was a relatively late start but we didn't have very far to go. It was very windy this morning and we were dropped off at a sandbar that had some reef surrounding it. Chase asked if we wanted to go diving again but we decided just to snorkel. The snorkeling was pretty good though. The tender dropped us up stream from the main beach so we could just float with the current There were lots of fishes around but we had left the camera on the beach. The coral was also very nice too. I got cold pretty quick though. We floated back to the main beach and I quickly got out of the water. Beau was more leisurely about it then grabbed the camera and went back in for awhile. I wrapped myself up in my towel and sarong and tired to warm up in the sun. A couple of people got lucky and saw a turtle while snorkeling. The dive guys said sometimes passengers see them here. Beau finished up his snorkel and we caught a tender back to the boat. We had some lunch and then set sail for Airlie Beach. They hoisted the main sail and the head sail so we legitimately sailed most of the way back. There was a large open area between the mainland and the island and the sea was very rough. There were some big waves that splashed us up on deck. It was difficult to find a spot with some shelter from the wind as well as safe for the water spray. We got back to the harbour and were unloaded around 2:00pm. Beau and I returned our wet suits then headed into town. We grabbed some Subway then headed to McD's for internet. Along the way we got sidetracked into a store selling opals and didgeridoos. They apparently had on the best sales they have ever had before and you could get a small, about 3ft, didgeridoo custom painted, shipped internationally and a free boomerang for $350. It seemed like a really cool idea but it's a little out of our budget. After checking our e-mail we headed to the caravan park we stayed in before and checked in. We both had nice, long, hot showers before having a little nap. Some people for the boat were meeting up at a club called the Phoenix for an after party. It was also advertised on the boat and if you spend $5 you get free pizza. Beau and I arrived a bit after 7 but no one had showed yet. We got a jug and put in our pizza order. A little later the pizza showed up as did about half the people from the boat. We yelled at each other over the loud music then they decided to change venues. We decided we were tired so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the caravan park for a relatively early bed time.

Sandy Cay

 

Airlie Beach

July 7 – Out of Airlie

We got oatmealed and packed up this morning and were ready to get out of Airlie. We stopped in at the Saturday morning market but it seemed quite a few stalls were missing or else the market is just kind of lame. There were a few fruit and veg spots and we were able to get a bunch of vegies but I expected more arts and crafts or at least knick knacks. We stopped at the Hungry Jacks for wifi and Beau got his website updated. We picked up a bunch of groceries then nipped across the road for gas and a grease gun. We are hoping if we grease the ball joint the creaking will stop. We headed out of town and onward to Bowen. Sadly the road conditions leave something to be desired in this country and while they were trying to fix the road in one section is was quite gravely and a passing truck kicked up some rocks at us and chipped our windshield. Beau and I just looked at each other in astonishment for a moment before we started cursing. We even have a rock guard to prevent travesties like this! We'll have to look into getting that fixed now too! We stopped into the info center in Bowen to find out where some bbq's might be to make lunch. The also told us there were some races going on in Townsville and everything would be booked out and our rest stop for the night would be full too. Thanks buddy. We made some lunch in a pretty windy park but then again everywhere was pretty windy. Then Beau greased Dotti all up and it seems to have done the trick, we'll see if it lasts. We drove onwards to just before Ayr, about 100 odd km outside of Towsnville to Home Hill Comfort Stop. It was a rest stop that was just on street parking but there was a kitchen area we could use, bathrooms with showers, and a couple of plugs. The rest stop was quite busy but we parked no problem. The only problem we did have was finding somewhere to plug in the computer since the two jacks were over plugged. We made very spice pork vindaloo. I was surprised at how spicy it was since it was just a package mix. After dinner we headed back to the van and read for a bit.

Airlie Beach

June 30 – Carmila Beach

We were still feeling depressed about our tropical disappointment from yesterday when we awoke. We made breakfast and got chatting with our older Irish neighbour who was spending a year traveling around Australia in his little campervan. We hit the road and drove about 60km to Carmila Beach where there was another free campsite. The camp area was a little difficult to navigate through since it was all sand and we didn't want to get stuck. We found a spot then had a little walk around to scope out some other areas. Where we were seemed the most likely place for us to get out of easily. We decided to set up our great big tarp to give us a little sun shade. After making tuna wraps for lunch we decided a walk on the beach was in order. Actually it was more like a walk out to sea. There was a huge difference between the high and low tide marks. We probably walked for about 1 km before we hit the ocean. We walked through some pretty mucky bits where our feet sank down to clay. We also had to watch out for crabs, snails and sand dollars. It was a nice walk and we soaked up some sun while the on shore breeze kept us cool. After we found our way back to the van we sat around with a book and guitar, as usual. We started making dinner while we had light but by the time we were done the sun had set and the mozies were out in full force. We had dinner inside and finished the night with more reading.

July 1 – Mackay to Airlie

Beau woke up for an early bathroom break and caught the sunrise. He quickly grabbed the camera and took a bunch of pictures of the sunrise. I had a little peak at the sun too but we went back to sleep for a few more hours. We took our time about getting breakfast and packing up. We went for another walk along the beach with our coffees in hand. We eventually got the awning packed up and made a careful getaway. We drove up to Mackay and stopped for groceries and some lunch. We wanted kangaroo burgers but had to go into a second grocery store for our roo patties. We continued on our merry way and finally arrived in Airlie Beach after a total of 200km. We headed straight to our caravan park and arrived just in time to catch the office open. We were both in dire need of a shower so we knocked that off our list first. We then made our kangaroo burgers. While Beau was grilling away he chatted with an older guy who used to drive the boat out to Heron Island. This guy later helped couple skin a fish which Beau watched with interest. After dinner we read in the van for a bit before bed. 

Sunrise at Carmila Beach

July 2 – Airlie Beach

The van has been squeaking lately when we go over bumps and have to make tight turns. We aren't really sure what it is whether it is the suspension or the ball joint so Beau tried to take it to a mechanic this morning. He visited two shops but both had no time for our poor Dotti so we'll try in another time. While Beau was off doing this I put laundry on and got it all hung up to dry. Beau returned and we had some breakfast. We were hoping to visit the library to do some updating but they charged for internet so we were reduced to McD's internet. We struggled to check our e-mails with the crappy wifi. We then headed back to the main drag. We walked to the reception for our boat trip to get some info about our trip tomorrow. I had been eyeing up a big floppy hat and actually bought one. We then had lunch out at a place called Beaches that had meals and a beer for $13. I had a chicken burger and a cider while Beau enjoyed a steak and a beer. We then went for a nice walk along the board walk around the lagoon, a waterfront pool, and over to the marina. When we came back and we stopped into a book store. We swapped a couple of our books for a new one for Beau. I've also been wanting a real pair of shorts and found a pair of short jean shorts for $15. We headed back to the caravan park and had roo burgs for dinner again. While we had dinner the couple from the night before where around and had much more success fishing today. They enlisted the help of the older gentleman from the night before to help clean them. He got through them super quick and made it look a cinch. Beau is dying to go fishing now.

The Airlie Lagoon

July 3 – All Aboard the Anaconda 3

We packed our bags this morning in preparation for our Whitsundays Sailing Adventure aboard the Anaconda 3. We weren't allowed to take any bags with zippers because of bedbugs so we packed everything in our sleepbag bags and reusable shopping bags. We headed into town to the grocery store where we picked up some snacks for the boat as well as electrolyte drink so make sure we stay hydrated. We then went for a walk along the waterfront towards the sailing club. We headed back to the lagoon and decided to sit in the sun for a bit. Once 1pm rolled around we went to check in to the boat and got the rest of the trip paid for. We were pretty hungry once that was taken care of so we went back to Beaches for $13 lunch and drink. Lunch was not as good as yesterday though, I had calamari and it wasn't great. We then walked over the marina to rent some stinger suits. We could rent them from the boat for $22 for 3 days or from another spot for $12. We did have a little trouble figuring out what thickness we needed but settled for 3/2mm, it's 3mm in the torso and 2mm in the arms and legs. With that taken care of we went back to the van. We didn't want to be in the sun any more and the shade was too chilly in the wind so we ended up reading in the van which was a nice warm temperature for the sun being on it. We drove over the marina and scored some free parking. We made some sandwiches for a light dinner then made our way over to the meeting area. We were assigned our cabins and then walked over to the boat. We put our stuff away in our cabins then met back up on deck for a briefing and a glass of bubbly. One of the deckies went through introductions as well as some safety and rules including only being allowed 1 minute showers per day to conserve water since all the water is in a tank on board. We were expertly maneuvered out of the harbour and motored along for about 2 hrs before coming to our mooring for the night.

Agnes Waters/1770

June 27 – Agnes Waters/1770

We woke up fairly early this morning but the sky was against us again. We made some breakfast wraps but they weren't quite the same without cheese and bbq sauce, both of which we are out of. We drove up the road to the Town of 1770 which is even tinier than Agnes Waters. There was supposed to be a great lookout. We walked out to the lookout and while I can see it being awesome on a nice day it just didn't quite have the same effect in dreary weather. We then headed back to the library so I could update my blog. The internet was painfully slow though and took forever to upload a whole four photos. This morning we had seen some pamphlets at the hostel regarding some Whitsunday's Cruises so we decided to have a look at a few online. After the library closed for lunch we headed back to the hostel to make some lunch of our own. We then walked into “town” or rather to the few shops that make up the main hub. We picked up a few groceries and also finally bought stamps for our New Zealand postcards. We had forgotten about them and since we rediscovered them we thought we should send them out. We also popped into a travel agency and got a little more info on other Whitsunday's Cruises. Back at the hostel we discussed what we should do about that part of our trip since we knew it was something we really wanted to do but we were nervous about the weather. It's supposed to get nice tomorrow and remain that way for the foreseeable future but we want to go in a little over a week and weather predictions just aren't too accurate. We hummed and hawed and then debated which boat we should take. We opted for a nicer one that actually goes out to the GBR, Whitsunday Islands aren't actually a part of it, and also is 3 day 3 night. We talked to the guy that ran the hostel and we just had to put down a $50 cash deposit each to secure our spots on the boat for next Friday. We figure if the weather is brutal $50 each isn't much of a loss to not go. I read and Beau played guitar for a bit before we made some dinner. The kitchen and dinning area was pretty crowded but we shared a table with two Aussie dudes. We chatted with them for a bit and they might be visiting a buddy in NY State early next year to do some boarding. Beau gave them our contact info in case they decided to come up to Canada at all, assuming we'll be in Montreal too. We finished off the evening with my nose in a book and Beau on his i-Pod. It was pretty brisk out but the sky had cleared.

June 28 – Agnes Waters

We finally woke up to blue sky and sunshine! Although by the time we had breakfasted and showered it had clouded over quite a bit. We headed back to the library as Beau wanted to check his e-mail and I needed to fix some typos in my last blog entry. While there I had a peak at flights from Kelowna to Ottawa. We found an almost direct, it stops in Toronto, flight from Kelowna to Ottawa with AirCanada for $209. We figured it probably won't be much cheaper than that and not with that good of connections. It's only 6hrs of travel which is nice because we'll have a little monster with us. So we booked another flight. We've really broken the bank over the last few days. But our flights to get us back to Ontario are way better than they would have been if we had done a flight from Sydney to Toronto. So we are getting Sydney-Honolulu-Kelowna-Ottawa for about $1300pp I think I'm okay with that. I called AC to book Monty on the flight but since we are in Australia I dialled the Australian toll free number. I think the guy was a bit flabbergasted at my request. He didn't really know what to do but got all the information and said he'd get back to me... okay. After being a couple big spendas we went for a walk along the “Discovery Trail.” The map showed it to be a short walk but there seemed to be numerous paths we could take and not many signs. We made it to the lookout and then found our way down to Workman's Beach. We then made our way back to the van in a convoluted manner. We drove down to the main beach and soaked up some sun for a wee bit. We then made some lunch in the park before heading out of town. We drove towards Gladstone and pulled into a rest stop about 20min out of town. There were quite a few caravans and campervans at the rest stop but were back in a grassy area. We decided to it would be better back there further from the road. On pulling into that area we noticed a sign saying no camping or caravans, we sort of shrugged and figured it was fine since there were a bunch of people there. We had just gotten settled and were at a picnic table when a lady came by to and mentioned another lady had said there was a ranger around taking licence plates and if we were still here in the morning he would be handing out fines. What?! Another woman came around say she was passing on a message from the powers that be (I can't remember what she actually said) that we weren't allowed to stay in that area. We had to be on the other side of the posts and could only stay for a max of 20hrs. She was going to every site telling people this. We decided not to risk it and moved into what I guess is the designated rest area. Not sure why they haven't fenced off the other part or anything. I think they've been having issues with people staying for extended periods of times in the rest areas. They are all to a max of 20hrs but people have been abusing it. One guy said he'd been for a week and another lady for 3 months! On a separate note dude from AirCanada got back to me and “put in a request” for the the cat but is waiting for confirmation. He said there were no other animals booked on the flight so it should be fine. He also said I would pay for the cat at check-in. I've never done it that way but I think because I called the Australian people they don't exactly deal with it, hopefully I get e-mailed confirmation shortly and it'll all be taken care of.

June 29 – A Tropical Disappointment

We awoke early and full of excitement for our tropical excursion. We quickly packed up the van and headed into Gladstone. We stopped at an ATM and then got brekky and wifi at Hungry Jacks. We made our way down to the marina, parked the van, secured all our valuables and triple checked everything. As we headed to the Heron Island desk we overheard one of the girls apologizing to another guest and our hearts started to sink. We found out that the desalination plant on the island had broken down about 12 hrs earlier and they weren't going to be able to get a part out to fix it until later the following day. Because of this they weren't taking any guests out to the island and probably bring the people currently out there back early. They suggested we reschedule our trip to Wednesday.... that didn't really jive with our plans so we got a full refund and crushed hopes. When we asked about what there was to do in town the tourist information lady told us not much. Not only were our paradise island dreams shattered but we were stuck in a beachless industrial town on one of the first hot, blue sky, sunny days we'd had in a week! We drove up to a look out but it pretty much just gave us a good view of the coal plant. We bought some groceries and gas and high tailed it out of town. We drove to Rockhampton and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in the process. The tourist info girls weren't too much help and the beach was about 40mins out of our way. We had some lunch in a busy park then carried on to a free campsite. We ended up driving about 300km today since we couldn't find anything better to do!

Dolphin Feeding, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg

June 23 – Dolphin Feeding

We were awoken this morning by my alarm going off at 7am. We wanted to get down to the boat ramp by 7:30 which is when we had been told the dolphin feeding was. We had a granola bar and unloaded the bikes. There was a little bit of rain this morning so we had to wipe down the seats, it was also very overcast and grey so we made sure to wear our raincoats. We arrived at the boat ramp and there were some people milling around waiting for the dolphin feeding. Around 8am one of the volunteers got on the microphone and told us a bit about the dolphins we would be meeting. They are Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins and the alpha male, Mystic, is a third generation feeder and comes almost every day, sometimes with members of his pod to get some free fish. He is 21 years old. While we were waiting it started to rain, most of us took cover under the neighbouring cafe's awning. 8:30 rolled around and still no dolphins. Many people grew impatient and sick of the rain so they left. Probably about 9 o'clock Mystic showed up with one of his pod, Patch. She's the oldest in the pod at 25 and was recovering from a shark bite she received from a bull shark about 2 weeks ago. Those of us left came down to the waters edge to get the dolphins used to us before the feeding started. The volunteers had a look over the dolphins to check for new scars or injuries. Once that formality was completed we got our little buckets with two wee fish in them. Beau fed his two fish to Mystic while I took pictures then I pulled a butterfingers trying to juggle the camera and my fish bucket and dropped the bucket. A cheeky pelican scooted in and stole one of my fishes but I didn't let him get my other one. I fed my little fishy to Mystic and the lady told me to go get another fish. So I got another bucket of two fish and fed them to Mystic too. It was super cool. You just held the fish in the middle and the dolphin gently took the fish from your hand. When I went to return our fish buckets the one lady asked me how I liked and I said it was amazing. She said have another bucket so I got two more fish. This time I fed them to Patch. Afterwards the fish were all gone and the rain had let up once again so we biked back to our park. We made breakfast now and enjoyed it with some coffee before set out again. We were driving up to Hervey Bay and stopped in Maryborough along the way. This town is home to the writer of Mary Poppins and when we went into the visitors there was a lady dressed up like Mary Poppins. They also have an annual Mary Poppins festival. Crazy. We went to the grocery store, then got some lunch at subway before driving onwards to Hervey Bay. We took a little drive through town before going to our holiday park. They had free wifi as well as a hot tub. We took advantage of the hot tub and went for a little soak in the rain. Unfortunately 35 deg was not quite as hot as it initially sounded so we didn't get the hot soak we were looking for. We had a shower before relaxing in the van before dinner. This place also boasted a pizza oven, while we didn't have a pizza base we decided to make flat bread (or tortilla) pizzas which worked out deliciously. We spent some time in the rec room on the internet before getting kicked out at 9:30. Back in the van we spent some time writing up before bed.

June 24 – Hervey Bay

It was still raining when we awoke, much to our disappointment. We made a yummy breakfast of sausage and egg taco's with potatoes on the side. I finished updating my blog while we were cooking/eating then we got packed and out of there. We headed down to the jetty to have a look at the bay and Fraser Island. It wasn't really raining at that time so we went for a walk along the 800m historic jetty. There were a bunch of people fishing off the end of the pier. We could see Fraser Island easily from here but we were both glad we hadn't booked a tour since the weather is supposed to suck till Wednesday. Back at the van we looked at the map and decided we would head towards Bundaberg. It looked like there might be a rest stop along to way to stay at tonight. Since we had nothing better to do and since the library was closed today we set off on our way. We stopped into a gas station and Beau adjusted the air in the tires. We found our rest stop about 20km outside of Bundaberg and pulled in. It was only about 2pm at this point but we didn't really know what else to do with ourselves so I read while played guitar. We had some guacamole with chips for lunch and a side of knock off peanut M&M. Then we read some more till we made dinner. It was still raining but it's very fine although there's quite a bit of it. We sat around for the rest of the evening too and in general had a very boring day.

Historic Jetty

Fraser Island

 June 25 - Bundaberg

We were pretty slow moving this morning but it was still raining so we didn't have much motivation to move quickly. We made oatmeal for breakfast and Beau played some more guitar. We finally made tracks around 11:30 and headed into Bundaberg. We went into the info center and found out about a rum distillery in town as well as the location of the library. We went to the library first but the internet was painfully slow and Beau couldn't update his site. We left the library and headed to the distillery. The Bundaberg Distilling Co has been around since 1888 and was opened in order to use up excess molasses created from the nearby sugar mill. We got a tour of the distillery and a couple of taste tests. I tried a “Dark and Stormy” with the original rum and local ginger beer. My other taste test was the Royal Liqueur on the rocks that had a coffee, chocolate, rum flavour. It was very nice. After our tour and tastings we popped into McD's for a snack. We then headed out of town to another free rest stop for the night. Over the course of the evening we discussed our plans for the next two months including when we might go home.

June 26 – Agnes Waters

We attempted to make pancakes for breakfast but the bbq was a little too hot and made it very difficult. They turned out a little more crepe like which was fine and this time we had syrup to go with, yum. Beau made friends with a french couple who had a guitar and ukelele. They jammed for a little bit and Beau showed them some new songs. We hit the road and continued to Agnes Waters. It was pretty gloomy out today and rained some on our drive. We headed to the information center when we arrived and it was raining pretty good by that time. The library was right next door but was about to close for lunch. In the info center we got the low down on the area and heard about some nice walks and views which unfortunately we wouldn't really get to enjoy. We asked about any reef trips since we are at the southern most tip of the Great Barrier Reef. They told about the day trip to Lady Musgrave Island and also about overnight trips to Heron Island. The more we heard about Heron Island the better it sounded. We decided on a 3 day 2 night trip for $318pp (ouch) but it is a 5 star hotel, with all food included. We can go diving off the island for about $60/dive and all the snorkeling we can handle. Normally the boat trip out is $300 but it was included since there was a deal going on via the info centers. We bit the bullet and splurged. We were pretty excited about our trip coming this weekend. After booking the library had reopened so we headed over and Beau updated his site. Then we started looking at flights. The best deal was still JetStar to Honolulu and then WestJet to Kelowna. The prices had gone up from a couple of weeks ago so we decided it was time to giver. We bit another bullet and got flight direct from Sydney to Honolulu on August 13^th for about $700pp and then a flight from Honolulu to Kelowna via Vancouver on Aug 20th for about $300pp. So we'll be getting to K-town for just over $1000 each which is pretty good considering the cheapest I saw previously was Sydney to Vancouver via Seoul for $1200. This way we get to stay in Honolulu and go directly to Kelowna. After we finished maxing out our credit cards for the day (jk) we head up the road to the Cool Banana which is a hostel that lets you stay in your van and have full use of their facilities for $10pp; we were in desperate need of a shower. Since we had kind of skipped lunch we opted an early dinner and had a loaded curry. Afterwards we had nice hot showers and then lounged around in the lounge. Sadly it still rained on and off for most of the evening.

(I picked up some Aussie pronunciation at the library today apparently crocheting is pronounced crochering....wtf)