Before we left Melbourne we did a quick visit back to the Brighton Beach (Bath?) Houses. The sky that evening was just incredible. We also were invited to a Jewish New Year dinner which was great to be a part of. I must admit I haven't been the best Jewish person while I've been here so enjoying Jewish New Year with friends in a jewish home was a real treat.
Brighton Beach Bath Houses
The Brighton Sky
Early Monday morning we boarded a plane to Hervey Bay, via Sydney. Flights went well and we arrived on time. We picked up our car and I DROVE and we made it to our destination in Hervey Bay. We snooped around a bit and arranged our day tour to Fraser Island. While checking out the beach we spotted a group of camels. They seemed out of place but they were cool to see.
Camels on the Beach in Hervey Bay
We then headed back for our first of many happy hours. It became a tradition for the three of us at the end of every afternoon that we sit down and enjoy happy hour. Obviously it involved a variety of beers (I can't even remember how many different Australia beers we tried) along with tasty snacks. I highly doubt this trip helped my ever expanding waste line but at this point I just don't care. The weight will come off when I'm back home in a job I love, with people who care about me (oh I little Ironman training won't hurt either).
The next morning we headed to Fraser Island via boat. Fraser Island is the largest all sand island in the world. Everything is built from sand. It was so weird to see trees and plants grow out from the sand. Our first stop was at Lake McKenzie which has beautiful soft white sand and crystal blue waters. We swam in the lake and it was so nice and refreshing. From Lake McKenzie we headed to Wanggoolba Creek before driving along 90 mile beach. Our sand friendly vehicle drove along the beach (like I did when I was in New Zealand in April) and the view from the window was incredible. We saw a dead shark ;-( but alive whales in the water. We stopped a few times along the beach to check out the Maheno ship wreck and the Pinnicales, a unique rock formation. We also stopped at Eli Creek (which we walked up). We had a great day on the island.
Lake McKenzie
A typical sandy road on Fraser Island
Maheno Shipwreck
90 Mile Beach on Fraser Island (we drove on this beach)
The Pinnicales
Eli Creek
The next morning we were up early and headed to Noosa. We arrived without a place to stay and we quickly headed to the tourist information center. Some how we must have looked the "right" way because we ended up scoring a fantastic three bedroom condo with everything we could every need at a really reasonable price. It was definitely our most luxurious place to stay and we took full advantage of it.
The Noosa area is really beautiful for so many reasons. While there we had some down time on the beaches and we did a great hike through Noosa National Park which provided us with amazing views before we ended at our final destination of Sunshine beach. During the hike we saw dolphins and whales in the water. We also experienced a total dust storm which played havoc on my lungs but allowed Nancy and Tammy to see the outback - the joke was that the outback blew to the coast since they didn't have time to visit it themselves. We saw a Koala in the wild (which I know made Tammy and Nancy extremely happy). We had happy hour at the surf club which you can see by the photo below was a tough thing to do. We also managed to each spend a bit of money buying new things to enjoy. In addition we hiked up to the look out point and got some excellent pictures of the Noosa Heads area. We also met up with crazy wild turkeys.
Noosa Beach
A View from the Hike
Alexandria Beach which we had to walked across to continue our hike.
We found out that it's a "nudie" beach at the far end
Sunshine Beach
One of many beers we tried during our nightly happy hour.
Noosa Heads Area from look out point.
A very difficult happy hour.
One of many wild turkeys we saw.
After four days and three nights in wonderful Noosa it was time to move on. Our next stop was the Gold Coast but before we arrived we headed to Eumundi to visit their twice weekly market. The Eumandi market was great and I managed to pick up another super cute and very Karen purse.
Me driving a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car
with the cars coming in the wrong direction and SURVIVING !
Once back on the road we finally made it to the Gold Coast after being stuck in some bad traffic. It took far longer than we had expected and since we again didn't have a place to stay we headed to the tourist information for some help. They weren't much help so in the end we just looked for a place with a vacancy. Surfer's Paradise was pretty full with school holidays and the university games on but we were lucky to score a two bedroom apartment right near the beach. We then headed to the Ugg factory outlet and all three of us did some damage there but Tammy wins hands down. She sure has lucky daughters back at home. We then checked out the view point Debbie and I had discovered when we were there in July. We only had one full day in Surfer's but managed to surf and sun the day away. We had an excellent surf lesson and Nancy fell in love with our instructor. One full day was just long enough in Surfers and we left early the second morning for Byron Bay.
Tammy and Nancy at the Gold Coast Look Out
The Gold Coast Beaches
Me playing tourist on the big surfer's paradise chair.
On our way to Byron Bay I was told about a hike called Mount Warning which is located in the Byron Bay Hinterland. It wasn't an overly steep hike until we hit the final climb which required a chain to get up (and down). The view from the top of the mountain was amazing and when we finally got to Byron Bay we could see the mountain in the distance. Mount Warning is apparently the first place in Australia that the sun hits each morning.
The beginning of our hike.
The steeper chain section of the hike.
The VIEW from the top!
Us at the top!
Once back in the car we made our way safely to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is another great surfing town. The people are a little different but it has a really nice feel. We snooped around there a fair bit (ie read more shopping), hung out at the beach, did a short hike to the Byron Bay light house, and continued our happy hour traditions OF COURSE!
Byron Bay
(Can you see the white light house in the background?)
The small town of Byron Bay
Me relaxing on the beach in Byron Bay
Me and Tammy on the way to the light house.
The AMAZING view on the way to the light house
Yah, life was tough that day.
The Lighthouse
We spent three lovely nights in Byron Bay before it was time to drive to Balina to return our car and fly to Sydney. On the way to Balina we stopped at Lennox Head and we looked around Balina before we headed to the airport. When we got there we found out that our plane never left Syndey in the morning and so our flight was cancelled. We ended up boarding a double decker bus (and we took the top level front seats) and drove back to the Gold Coast airport before flying from Collangata to Syndey.
Top and front of the bus fun!
Thankfully the plane waited for the bunch of us and we finally arrived in Sydney close to three hours later than expected. We were greeted by 34c which was wonderful but didn't last long. We spent the first night exploring Manly beach before heading back to our hotel. The next morning we were up early for a full day tour of the Blue Mountains. Obviously you can't do the Blue Mountains in a day but we definitely did a lot.
Proof we eventually made it to Sydney.
The Blue Moutains
Girls just having fun in the blue mountains.
More fun!
The Three Sisters
Nancy in HEAVEN!
Some of the 1000 steps we took down into the mountains.
Tim, the Kangaroo
Nancy named the two we saw Tim and Tam.
Oh, I guess you can't tell from the above photos but it RAINED while we were in Sydney. On Friday night Nancy and I went for a stroll around town and it totally POURED. It rained all day Saturday too while we walked up Oxfor street, shopped at Paddington's market, and explored Bondi Beach. We tried to get tickets for the Opera but unfortunately the only seats they had left were awful with limited view. We walked through The Rocks area market and walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge all in the pouring rain. We enjoyed our happy hour in Darling Harbour. It was miserable to be walking around but we did what we could with the weather that we had. I've been to Sydney twice now and BOTH times it has been raining. Maybe I'm just not suppose to go there.
Bondi Beach
The Rocks Market
The Opera House and Bridge as we travelled
by ferry to Darling Harbour
This morning we were up early and dropped Nancy off at the airport. It was so sad so see her go but we had so much fun together that I'm hoping our good times will get me through these last eleven weeks. Tammy came back to Melbourne with me which is fantastic. She's going to bum around here a bit and see some of the local sights before joining me in the half marathon on Sunday. I have run no longer than 45 min in the last three months and I've done that maybe three times. It will be VERY interesting next Sunday especially since they discourage walkers. Hmmmmm...
Until then.... it's back to work tomorrow which I am NOT looking forward to. It's also concert week, three students left my classroom at the end of last term so I'm sure there will be a new one or three waiting to join my class tomorrow and it's my classes' turn to lead the Friday assembly. Oh I just can't wait.... NOT! Eleven weeks of teaching left before I head back to my school at home which I love and miss a ton. I'm tired of so many things with the school I'm with right now. It's just really too bad I'm in such a transition year on so many levels.
Keep the e-mails coming I really do love hearing from you.
(Sorry for they typos and grammar errors in this post. It's taken far too long to write and I just need to get it up for you to read. If I have time I will fix things up. Remember, I NEVER claimed to be a writer).
2 comments:
Those gigantic lizards at Lake McKenzie really creep me out. It is pretty there but I much prefer the "nudie" beach at Noosa.
At last!!! Again, great photos....so glad you had such fun. Counting the days....RWN
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