Kia Ora! That's hello in Maori :)
Grrr I am very sad to report that I wrote a fabulous blog about our New Zealand adventures and it somehow got deleted. So I was boycotting blogger for a while.
But now were back!! First official post from NZ!!
New Zealand is gorrrrgeous. Just like everyone pictures. Well actually maybe people don't think about NZ but they should because its so pretty!
We flew into Christchurch and spent a night there before beginning our bus tour around the country. We didn't see much of Christchurch because we were only there to pick up the bus but it was the main area that was destroyed by an earthquake in 2009. A lot of the city has been rebuilt but many hostels and hotels and restaurants are still damaged. They are still working on rebuilding the roads and putting new water pipes and power lines in. They've come a long way but there is still much to be rebuilt. Christchurch also gets an average of 1,000 mini earthquakes a year or something ridiculous like that! A lot of the tour buses no longer go through Christchurch because the roads aren't suitable for buses but eventually it will be a thriving city again!
So, we met our bus tour by the airport and joined 30 other backpackers and headed to our first stop, Kaikoura. The bus company is called Stray and it's a hop on hop off bus where we can travel around and stop wherever we want for as long as we want. Our bus driver's name was Dippy...not exactly the brightest bulb in the shed as his name might suggest!
Kaikoura is a small town know for its marine life. There isn't much to do in town itself but there are loads of whale watching, dolphin swimming and fishing tours. Apparently it's one of the best places in the world to whale watch and they guarantee you see a whale every time or else your money back! They also supposedly have the best fish and chips in the world but I forgot to get them :-/
It was our first day and we wanted time to relax so we opted to walk around the town and see some seals instead. It's crazy, you drive down the street and there are dolphins playing and seals basking in the sun. The whole coast is like this, huge mountains going into ocean and animals frolicking in the bright blue water! Gorgeous!
That afternoon we wanted to sit in the common room and guess what was playing on tv...yup you guessed it, LOTR! Of course I fell asleep five minutes in so I have yet to watch it. Some day!
Not much to do in Kaikoura for nightlife so we played trivia at the pub in our hostel with our new Dutch and Finnish friends. Here's some trivia: What sport uses a piece of equipment that's 8ft x 13ft?!? Answer to come in a few days!!
Also. Funny phrase from Finlandia. Apparently in Finland, when you say "I'm angry," the literal translation is (excuse my language) "I have a penis on my forehead." Awkward!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
New Zealand!!
Happy Easter!!!
Helloooo New Zealand!!!
After spending an entire day at the airport running around to different terminals, we had a nice flight to NZ and arrived in Christchurch shortly after midnight. Poor Karina got stuck chatting to an older NZ man who went on and on about how much he loved NZ while I read my book. Finally finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series!!! So good!!
Anyways just a quick post saying we made it safely to NZ and begin our bus journey around the country tomorrow!
Tentative itinerary:
We start in Christchurch on the South island, then head up to Kaikoura, (lots of whales and seals), cross over to the north island to Wellington, Rotorua for some hot bubbling springs and natural geysers and volcanoes, Auckland tmrw, bay of islands for the wknd, then hopefully get a car mon-fri and do the coromandel harbor, lake Taupo, Matamata (Hobbiton...LOTR!), back to Rotorua, Waitomo Caves (blackwater rafting), tongariro crossing (hiking across volcanoes), Napier, back to Wellington, then cross the ocean back to the south island to pick up the bus again and go to Abel Tasman (kayaking a national park), Franz Josef (hike a glacier), Milford Sound, Stewart island, then end up in Queenstown for some end of trip partying and activities! We fly back to Auckland on the 28 and fly out on the 29...Exciting!
Helloooo New Zealand!!!
After spending an entire day at the airport running around to different terminals, we had a nice flight to NZ and arrived in Christchurch shortly after midnight. Poor Karina got stuck chatting to an older NZ man who went on and on about how much he loved NZ while I read my book. Finally finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series!!! So good!!
Anyways just a quick post saying we made it safely to NZ and begin our bus journey around the country tomorrow!
Tentative itinerary:
We start in Christchurch on the South island, then head up to Kaikoura, (lots of whales and seals), cross over to the north island to Wellington, Rotorua for some hot bubbling springs and natural geysers and volcanoes, Auckland tmrw, bay of islands for the wknd, then hopefully get a car mon-fri and do the coromandel harbor, lake Taupo, Matamata (Hobbiton...LOTR!), back to Rotorua, Waitomo Caves (blackwater rafting), tongariro crossing (hiking across volcanoes), Napier, back to Wellington, then cross the ocean back to the south island to pick up the bus again and go to Abel Tasman (kayaking a national park), Franz Josef (hike a glacier), Milford Sound, Stewart island, then end up in Queenstown for some end of trip partying and activities! We fly back to Auckland on the 28 and fly out on the 29...Exciting!
Last stop: Byron bay!!
We hopped the bus to Byron bay after a nice afternoon on the beach. Unfortunately we had to share the bus with some giants fans... But anyway due to a random time zone change when you go to new south wales our 2 hour bus ride was actually one hour! Sweet!
Side note from Alexa: I have never experienced so many time changes in my life! First Boston to Phoenix, then LA, then our plane to Fiji was an hour early due to daylight savings in Fiji, then we had to fly there, then nearly every city in Australia had a different time zone (including a half hour difference in Alice springs...how does that work?!) Then there was daylight savings back home, then the bus, now new Zealand...I officially give up trying to figure out what day or time it is and I'm going back to Fiji time where it doesn't actually matter what time it is!! So my apologies for emails and messages that come in the middle of the night :-)
Ok back to Karina!! We arrived in Byron bay and in search of our hostel had a very nice introduction to the area. Multiple groups of People playing music on the sidewalks, other people dancing to that music on the sidewalks, free BBQ in the park, dreadlocks and hippie attire everywhere (shoes scarce). We realized we were going to like this place.
The area is very small, just like 3 main streets but a lot of shops and bars/pubs. For such a laid back hippie place the food was sadly still very upscale and expensive. So back to a diet of noodles and bread.
We stayed at nomads which is another big hostel chain in Australia, very nice! When we arrived our room was empty but it had a balcony! Yes!!! So we went out to find dinner and explore the town for a bit. When we returned the room was still empty so i thought it was going to be pretty dull in there. We left to shower and change and returned to the party in our room! Woohoo! We had already bought a box of goon and a group of 3 Australians arrived with their "eskie" and when we asked if we could out our goon in it they were very impressed with our assimilation to the lingo! Our new family also consisted of a nice girl from Montana who had never seen the ocean before and 2 crazy/hilarious Irish doctors! (who we later realized werent actually stayinh in our room...took Alexa 24 hours to realize this and she kept thinking the Australians were Irish and just met today. It was a very confusing night!!) This is why I love traveling! After some drinking on the balcony, trying and failing to teach the group a few different card games we decided to hit the town. We suddenly went from a group of 2 to 8! I almost forgot how much Aussie and Irish like to drink and share and was the victim to a few too many Jäger bombs (will help explain what's next)! The music was great tho and we danced it up till closing! Then someone (still not sure who) had the great idea of hitting the beach! It was still pretty warm out and the water was calling us so Alexa and I ran into the water to get our toes wet which was great fun. The Aussies took it one step further by stripping down to undies and running in... So, when in Rome right?! We had the best swim which wasn't too easy between the big waves and strong current but it is definitely a night and experience I will never forget :)
Alexa here -- don't worry parents, no jellyfish! Or sharks! Well maybe there were but we survived. Also, they aren't kidding about the rip and current...solo strong! Not necessarily a rip that pulls you down but you have to swim really hard to stay in one spot.
Anyways, we then brought most of the beach back to our room via sandy clothing (still finding sand everywhere a week later!) and had a well deserved nights rest.
Sat: the night before we discussed with our newly acquired Aussie friends a day trip to Nimbin and they wanted to go too, and, even better, had a car to take us in!! Felt like real people (vs backpackers) for a change :)
Ok family...to the dismay of our friends, this blog has thus far been pretty PG. So, to give the people what they want, we're about to spice things up a little here. We figure were old enough to share these stories with our parents without getting in trouble and you all lived through the '70's so why not. Stop here if you don't want to hear!
To be honest, the whole point of Nimbin is that it's this little hippie village lost in time in the middle of these hills and you can buy cannabis cookies there. (alexa here...weed!!) We thought it was legal (Amsterdam style) but turns out its not, they just don't care! When police do enter the area everyone yells out "bicycle" and the illegal activity is paused. So we got there after a long winding drive, had some lunch, and wandered. It's basically one street, not very long. We passed a sweet older woman knitting who said "cookies! Cookies!" when you walk past. We showed interest and she said "come to my office it's behind this tree!!" and we each got ourselves a $5 cookie. The town had all kinds of marijuana paraphernalia and decorations, pretty cool! Bringing out our inner hippie!!
After our adventures in Nimbin, we headed back and took a much needed nap. For our last night in Australia (it's bringing a tear to my eye just thinking about it!!) we went out with our new friends to a place called Cheeky Monkeys and danced the night away on a dance floor made out of picnic tables!! We finished the night back on the beach finishing the last of our goon. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim that night so we huddled on the beach instead and retold our stories of our Australian adventures.
The next day we checked out nice and early and wandered around the town some more. We finished the last of our food and headed to the beach to test out our cookies. They weren't as strong as everyone said they were but nonetheless Karina and I enjoyed some life discussions and went for a swim in the ocean. We realized just how strong the current was...guess we hadn't noticed the night before! I learned how to blow water out my nose instead of having to hold it every time I dunk, thanks Kar! In Byron there is a lighthouse that is the most eastern point of Australia and the first to see the sun each day. We were too lazy to walk to it but we could see it from where we were, pretty cool! We've now been to the most western, southern and eastern points of Australia. Sweet as!
Our bus back to the Sydney airport didn't leave until 11pm so we spent the rest of the day showering, packing and running last minute errands. It rained on and off all evening of course...why should our last day be any different!
Our bus was fine, slept on and off most of the way and had some strange drug-induced dreams but we made it to the airport safely and killed a day there before boarding our flight to New Zealand!!!
We had an amazing time in Oz...met some incredible people and saw some amazing places...hopefully we'll get back there someday! Thank you to everyone who helped make our journey unforgettable!!
Next stop: Christchurch, NZ!!!
Side note from Alexa: I have never experienced so many time changes in my life! First Boston to Phoenix, then LA, then our plane to Fiji was an hour early due to daylight savings in Fiji, then we had to fly there, then nearly every city in Australia had a different time zone (including a half hour difference in Alice springs...how does that work?!) Then there was daylight savings back home, then the bus, now new Zealand...I officially give up trying to figure out what day or time it is and I'm going back to Fiji time where it doesn't actually matter what time it is!! So my apologies for emails and messages that come in the middle of the night :-)
Ok back to Karina!! We arrived in Byron bay and in search of our hostel had a very nice introduction to the area. Multiple groups of People playing music on the sidewalks, other people dancing to that music on the sidewalks, free BBQ in the park, dreadlocks and hippie attire everywhere (shoes scarce). We realized we were going to like this place.
The area is very small, just like 3 main streets but a lot of shops and bars/pubs. For such a laid back hippie place the food was sadly still very upscale and expensive. So back to a diet of noodles and bread.
We stayed at nomads which is another big hostel chain in Australia, very nice! When we arrived our room was empty but it had a balcony! Yes!!! So we went out to find dinner and explore the town for a bit. When we returned the room was still empty so i thought it was going to be pretty dull in there. We left to shower and change and returned to the party in our room! Woohoo! We had already bought a box of goon and a group of 3 Australians arrived with their "eskie" and when we asked if we could out our goon in it they were very impressed with our assimilation to the lingo! Our new family also consisted of a nice girl from Montana who had never seen the ocean before and 2 crazy/hilarious Irish doctors! (who we later realized werent actually stayinh in our room...took Alexa 24 hours to realize this and she kept thinking the Australians were Irish and just met today. It was a very confusing night!!) This is why I love traveling! After some drinking on the balcony, trying and failing to teach the group a few different card games we decided to hit the town. We suddenly went from a group of 2 to 8! I almost forgot how much Aussie and Irish like to drink and share and was the victim to a few too many Jäger bombs (will help explain what's next)! The music was great tho and we danced it up till closing! Then someone (still not sure who) had the great idea of hitting the beach! It was still pretty warm out and the water was calling us so Alexa and I ran into the water to get our toes wet which was great fun. The Aussies took it one step further by stripping down to undies and running in... So, when in Rome right?! We had the best swim which wasn't too easy between the big waves and strong current but it is definitely a night and experience I will never forget :)
Alexa here -- don't worry parents, no jellyfish! Or sharks! Well maybe there were but we survived. Also, they aren't kidding about the rip and current...solo strong! Not necessarily a rip that pulls you down but you have to swim really hard to stay in one spot.
Anyways, we then brought most of the beach back to our room via sandy clothing (still finding sand everywhere a week later!) and had a well deserved nights rest.
Sat: the night before we discussed with our newly acquired Aussie friends a day trip to Nimbin and they wanted to go too, and, even better, had a car to take us in!! Felt like real people (vs backpackers) for a change :)
Ok family...to the dismay of our friends, this blog has thus far been pretty PG. So, to give the people what they want, we're about to spice things up a little here. We figure were old enough to share these stories with our parents without getting in trouble and you all lived through the '70's so why not. Stop here if you don't want to hear!
To be honest, the whole point of Nimbin is that it's this little hippie village lost in time in the middle of these hills and you can buy cannabis cookies there. (alexa here...weed!!) We thought it was legal (Amsterdam style) but turns out its not, they just don't care! When police do enter the area everyone yells out "bicycle" and the illegal activity is paused. So we got there after a long winding drive, had some lunch, and wandered. It's basically one street, not very long. We passed a sweet older woman knitting who said "cookies! Cookies!" when you walk past. We showed interest and she said "come to my office it's behind this tree!!" and we each got ourselves a $5 cookie. The town had all kinds of marijuana paraphernalia and decorations, pretty cool! Bringing out our inner hippie!!
After our adventures in Nimbin, we headed back and took a much needed nap. For our last night in Australia (it's bringing a tear to my eye just thinking about it!!) we went out with our new friends to a place called Cheeky Monkeys and danced the night away on a dance floor made out of picnic tables!! We finished the night back on the beach finishing the last of our goon. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim that night so we huddled on the beach instead and retold our stories of our Australian adventures.
The next day we checked out nice and early and wandered around the town some more. We finished the last of our food and headed to the beach to test out our cookies. They weren't as strong as everyone said they were but nonetheless Karina and I enjoyed some life discussions and went for a swim in the ocean. We realized just how strong the current was...guess we hadn't noticed the night before! I learned how to blow water out my nose instead of having to hold it every time I dunk, thanks Kar! In Byron there is a lighthouse that is the most eastern point of Australia and the first to see the sun each day. We were too lazy to walk to it but we could see it from where we were, pretty cool! We've now been to the most western, southern and eastern points of Australia. Sweet as!
Our bus back to the Sydney airport didn't leave until 11pm so we spent the rest of the day showering, packing and running last minute errands. It rained on and off all evening of course...why should our last day be any different!
Our bus was fine, slept on and off most of the way and had some strange drug-induced dreams but we made it to the airport safely and killed a day there before boarding our flight to New Zealand!!!
We had an amazing time in Oz...met some incredible people and saw some amazing places...hopefully we'll get back there someday! Thank you to everyone who helped make our journey unforgettable!!
Next stop: Christchurch, NZ!!!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Surfer's Paradise
Ahh so behind again!!
So, after Brisbane we took an hour bus ride down to Surfer's Paradise, aka Sin City!
Surfer's reminded me of Miami. Well I've never actually been to Miami but it's what I imagine Miami would look like. High rise buildings on the beach and glamorous shops on the street...only thing missing was our boyfriend Pitbull and Cubans!!
We stayed at a hostel called Surf and Sun and were upgraded to a private apartment with a queen size bed, kitchen, living room, bathtub, tv and a freezer! First freezer we've seen in three months!!
Apparently Surfer's is the second biggest city in Queensland (to Brisbane) but it didn't look that big. They're also known for their four big amusement parks but we couldn't be bothered, we preferred laying on the beach and shopping!
Everyone who goes to Surfer's does a hostel-sponsored pub crawl so naturally we had to join in on the fun. Wednesday night we joined 200 other backpackers and hopped around to four different bars with inviting names including Sin City, Vanity and Shooters. Good times!
The next day we tried to lay on the beach and soak up some rays but of course it rained as soon as we got comfy. Luckily it rained after we had our picnic! So instead we spent the day wandering around and eating the delicious food we prepared in our very own fridge! And we finally booked the rest of our lodging in Australia (only one more stop :( )
Thursday night is ladies night in Surfers so naturally we had to have a night on the town! Free entry and free drinks all night...didn't spend a single dollar all night, great success!
Surfer's paradise is the first place we have really met other Americans and other Australian backpackers! They were everywhere. Unfortunately the American accents are so ugly after months of not hearing them, especially one belonging to a girl from Florida- terrible!! When we meet other east coasters we don't mind the accent as much so that's good. At ladies night we certainly mingled with some local Australians. Again, all under the age of 20 which is pretty awkward. One Aussie was going to la soon and wanted to know of he could drink there if he scratched out his birthday on his
ID from 94 to 91. Then when we told him that still wasn't old enough he asked if he could marry Karina to get citizenship. As tempting as the offer was, she declined...
After our night out, Karina went to bed and I stayed up to message some of you lovely people at home (seriously...who's idea was it to go to a place with such a crazy time difference?!?! I've had enough 5am bedtimes to last me a lifetime!) and ended up meeting an Irish guy, an English guy, an African Norwegian, and an African French guy...talk about international love! I guess smoking cigarettes brings people together...those Europeans and their smoking. Oh, and our Canadian friend (and by friend I mean not friend at all- more like barnacle) who we hung out with two nights in a row wandered her way home at 4am and plopped herself down next to MY new friends and pretended she didn't know me. How nice of her.
Anyways. Good times were had in Surfers Paradise...it truly was paradise! Beautiful. And great nightlife and cheap food. Hopefully we'll get back there someday!
So, after Brisbane we took an hour bus ride down to Surfer's Paradise, aka Sin City!
Surfer's reminded me of Miami. Well I've never actually been to Miami but it's what I imagine Miami would look like. High rise buildings on the beach and glamorous shops on the street...only thing missing was our boyfriend Pitbull and Cubans!!
We stayed at a hostel called Surf and Sun and were upgraded to a private apartment with a queen size bed, kitchen, living room, bathtub, tv and a freezer! First freezer we've seen in three months!!
Apparently Surfer's is the second biggest city in Queensland (to Brisbane) but it didn't look that big. They're also known for their four big amusement parks but we couldn't be bothered, we preferred laying on the beach and shopping!
Everyone who goes to Surfer's does a hostel-sponsored pub crawl so naturally we had to join in on the fun. Wednesday night we joined 200 other backpackers and hopped around to four different bars with inviting names including Sin City, Vanity and Shooters. Good times!
The next day we tried to lay on the beach and soak up some rays but of course it rained as soon as we got comfy. Luckily it rained after we had our picnic! So instead we spent the day wandering around and eating the delicious food we prepared in our very own fridge! And we finally booked the rest of our lodging in Australia (only one more stop :( )
Thursday night is ladies night in Surfers so naturally we had to have a night on the town! Free entry and free drinks all night...didn't spend a single dollar all night, great success!
Surfer's paradise is the first place we have really met other Americans and other Australian backpackers! They were everywhere. Unfortunately the American accents are so ugly after months of not hearing them, especially one belonging to a girl from Florida- terrible!! When we meet other east coasters we don't mind the accent as much so that's good. At ladies night we certainly mingled with some local Australians. Again, all under the age of 20 which is pretty awkward. One Aussie was going to la soon and wanted to know of he could drink there if he scratched out his birthday on his
ID from 94 to 91. Then when we told him that still wasn't old enough he asked if he could marry Karina to get citizenship. As tempting as the offer was, she declined...
After our night out, Karina went to bed and I stayed up to message some of you lovely people at home (seriously...who's idea was it to go to a place with such a crazy time difference?!?! I've had enough 5am bedtimes to last me a lifetime!) and ended up meeting an Irish guy, an English guy, an African Norwegian, and an African French guy...talk about international love! I guess smoking cigarettes brings people together...those Europeans and their smoking. Oh, and our Canadian friend (and by friend I mean not friend at all- more like barnacle) who we hung out with two nights in a row wandered her way home at 4am and plopped herself down next to MY new friends and pretended she didn't know me. How nice of her.
Anyways. Good times were had in Surfers Paradise...it truly was paradise! Beautiful. And great nightlife and cheap food. Hopefully we'll get back there someday!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Brisbane
Back to the city!
After two weeks of roughing it in tents and on a boat, we're here in Brisbane enjoying city life!
We're staying at Brisbane City Backpackers and have free wifi finally! There are 14 girls in our room. Yikes.
This city is great! Not too big but lots of shopping and restaurants. Our first day we went grocery shopping and bought real (and delicious) food to cook. Mexican one night, Indian the next and (veggie) chicken and rice for our last nite. Finally a place with affordable prices! We had been practicing the conversions on how to order meat and cheese from the deli and were so proud of ourselves for ordering 1 gram of cheese from the butcher. We weren't sure why he was laughing at us until he handed us one crumb of cheese and said here's your gram...oops!
On Sundays in Australia they have a thing called "Sunday Sesh" where all the bars play music or have a band all day and people hang out and consume alcoholic beverages. Karina and I hung out at our hostel bar and then went out to explore the city. Unfortunately not much happens on Sunday nights after Sunday sesh so we just sat at an outside bar and watched soccer like true Aussies!
Monday we walked around the city some more. We were going to take a free walking tour but were on Armenian time so we didn't make it. Actually, we've been on Karina time lately not Alexa time so it wasn't my fault! Instead we walked around some pretty botanical gardens, lounged by tge river and did some shopping (we actually bought stuff this time unlike all the other times we've gone shopping!).
At night we made some Irish friends and played trivia at our bar. Some how we came in second to last even though we got most of the questions right...not sure how that happened! Then we went to another hostel for some dancing with our Irish friends. Apparently two of our new male friends had a bet going that we were more than just friends...maybe we should stop hanging out so much! They were also amazed we haven't fought since we've been here!
Tuesday we went for a stroll and sunbathed in the lagoon. No beach in Brisbane but they have a huge swimming pool area with sand that they call the lagoon, so nice! It's in an area called south bank and there are lots of shops and cafes. We met up with our friend Minty and hung out with her for the night. We cooked dinner and snuck up to the rooftop balcony to eat it, so romantic! After dinner we hung out in "The Valley" with our Canadian friends which is an area with bars, clubs, restaurants, etc. It was supposed to be a happening place every night but it was a little slow on a Tuesday. We couldnt dance with our shoes off which was annoying and doesnt make sense since nobody in australia wears shoes! Oh well, still had fun! Except the Canadians were very obnoxious when drunk. And one was related to George Bush. Enough said.
Wednesday we had to up and out of our hostel early so we met up with minty for a final goodbye and some last minute sight seeing. We walked around in the sun and found a farmers market!! Free samples for lunch :) and we bought real bagels which were amazing! Again we were on karina time and almost missed the bus but we made it! (Karina here- for my credit I am always way early to flights so don't worry mom!)
Sad to leave Brissy! Next stop: Surfer's Paradise...aka Sin City!
After two weeks of roughing it in tents and on a boat, we're here in Brisbane enjoying city life!
We're staying at Brisbane City Backpackers and have free wifi finally! There are 14 girls in our room. Yikes.
This city is great! Not too big but lots of shopping and restaurants. Our first day we went grocery shopping and bought real (and delicious) food to cook. Mexican one night, Indian the next and (veggie) chicken and rice for our last nite. Finally a place with affordable prices! We had been practicing the conversions on how to order meat and cheese from the deli and were so proud of ourselves for ordering 1 gram of cheese from the butcher. We weren't sure why he was laughing at us until he handed us one crumb of cheese and said here's your gram...oops!
On Sundays in Australia they have a thing called "Sunday Sesh" where all the bars play music or have a band all day and people hang out and consume alcoholic beverages. Karina and I hung out at our hostel bar and then went out to explore the city. Unfortunately not much happens on Sunday nights after Sunday sesh so we just sat at an outside bar and watched soccer like true Aussies!
Monday we walked around the city some more. We were going to take a free walking tour but were on Armenian time so we didn't make it. Actually, we've been on Karina time lately not Alexa time so it wasn't my fault! Instead we walked around some pretty botanical gardens, lounged by tge river and did some shopping (we actually bought stuff this time unlike all the other times we've gone shopping!).
At night we made some Irish friends and played trivia at our bar. Some how we came in second to last even though we got most of the questions right...not sure how that happened! Then we went to another hostel for some dancing with our Irish friends. Apparently two of our new male friends had a bet going that we were more than just friends...maybe we should stop hanging out so much! They were also amazed we haven't fought since we've been here!
Tuesday we went for a stroll and sunbathed in the lagoon. No beach in Brisbane but they have a huge swimming pool area with sand that they call the lagoon, so nice! It's in an area called south bank and there are lots of shops and cafes. We met up with our friend Minty and hung out with her for the night. We cooked dinner and snuck up to the rooftop balcony to eat it, so romantic! After dinner we hung out in "The Valley" with our Canadian friends which is an area with bars, clubs, restaurants, etc. It was supposed to be a happening place every night but it was a little slow on a Tuesday. We couldnt dance with our shoes off which was annoying and doesnt make sense since nobody in australia wears shoes! Oh well, still had fun! Except the Canadians were very obnoxious when drunk. And one was related to George Bush. Enough said.
Wednesday we had to up and out of our hostel early so we met up with minty for a final goodbye and some last minute sight seeing. We walked around in the sun and found a farmers market!! Free samples for lunch :) and we bought real bagels which were amazing! Again we were on karina time and almost missed the bus but we made it! (Karina here- for my credit I am always way early to flights so don't worry mom!)
Sad to leave Brissy! Next stop: Surfer's Paradise...aka Sin City!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Noosa!
We got to noosa on Thursday afternoon. It's a small town right on the ocean. Very classy too. I would compare it to Carmel or La Jolla I think! There are only like 3 main streets with shops and nice restaurants. There is a river going thru the town so a lot of houses are waterfront and have large yachts in front of them. There is also a national park and a lot of beaches for surfing! With this comes a lot of attractive, tanned people wandering around, not too shabby!
We stayed at the yha which was really nice and in the rainforest. The staff was pretty terrible tho. Alexa almost fought several of them. Anyway we couldn't be bothered with that because our friend franzcheska was there too! We met her last month on our trip from Perth to exmouth. She is from Switzerland and has the best dance moves. She is now living in Noosa to go to English school. So we were able to meet her for drinks and meet some of her classmates and dance up a storm! On the walk home there was an opossum in the street that kept trying to get hit by a car. Luckily we didn't let that happen and eventually scared it to the other side of the road!! Alexa has an amusing video of this somewhere.
The next day we went to the Australia zoo! Home of Steve Irwin's legacy and they don't let you forget it! Steve Irwin stuff everywhere!!! We met up with a Dutch friend there who we met in cairns. Highlights of the zoo include holding a cute soft and smelly koala, seeing a tiger playing like a house cat with his trainer, rhinos, big crocs and my favorite wombats! The zoo was large but really spread out and hard to navigate. I don't know if I would recommend it compared to any other zoo... But oh well it was a fun day! That night we met Fran again for drinks.
Now let's back up a little. In exmouth we taught our group of travelers how to play kings. They loved it, especially Fran who had us write down the rules for her so she would remember. Now picture the pride we felt when we walked in and found her at the bar playing kings with her group of friends. She taught them so well :) talk about a life affirming moment!
More dancing that night followed by a trip to 7/11 for some late night snacks! Not too different from home sometimes...
The next day we walked thought the national park which was down the street from our hostel. We went on a path along the coast that was just beautiful- we were on cliffs with great views in every direction! And finally we had sunshine!! That is one thing that had really been missing in our trip so far and we finally found it! Luckily it stayed with us the rest of the coast (but more on that later) so we saw a lot of people surfing and even saw a koala in the wild! After a little beach time it only seemed logical for Alexa and Fran to go pierce their ears :) Alexa had been wanting to for a while on this trip and Fran decided she did too so we went! Lucky for them they each had a personal nurse/hand-holder to get them through! It was fun to watch anyway... Didn't seem fun to get!
That night we took it easy, walked around to a few shops and got dessert. We had any early bus the next morning so we were sad to say bye to Fran and head off to Brisbane!
We stayed at the yha which was really nice and in the rainforest. The staff was pretty terrible tho. Alexa almost fought several of them. Anyway we couldn't be bothered with that because our friend franzcheska was there too! We met her last month on our trip from Perth to exmouth. She is from Switzerland and has the best dance moves. She is now living in Noosa to go to English school. So we were able to meet her for drinks and meet some of her classmates and dance up a storm! On the walk home there was an opossum in the street that kept trying to get hit by a car. Luckily we didn't let that happen and eventually scared it to the other side of the road!! Alexa has an amusing video of this somewhere.
The next day we went to the Australia zoo! Home of Steve Irwin's legacy and they don't let you forget it! Steve Irwin stuff everywhere!!! We met up with a Dutch friend there who we met in cairns. Highlights of the zoo include holding a cute soft and smelly koala, seeing a tiger playing like a house cat with his trainer, rhinos, big crocs and my favorite wombats! The zoo was large but really spread out and hard to navigate. I don't know if I would recommend it compared to any other zoo... But oh well it was a fun day! That night we met Fran again for drinks.
Now let's back up a little. In exmouth we taught our group of travelers how to play kings. They loved it, especially Fran who had us write down the rules for her so she would remember. Now picture the pride we felt when we walked in and found her at the bar playing kings with her group of friends. She taught them so well :) talk about a life affirming moment!
More dancing that night followed by a trip to 7/11 for some late night snacks! Not too different from home sometimes...
The next day we walked thought the national park which was down the street from our hostel. We went on a path along the coast that was just beautiful- we were on cliffs with great views in every direction! And finally we had sunshine!! That is one thing that had really been missing in our trip so far and we finally found it! Luckily it stayed with us the rest of the coast (but more on that later) so we saw a lot of people surfing and even saw a koala in the wild! After a little beach time it only seemed logical for Alexa and Fran to go pierce their ears :) Alexa had been wanting to for a while on this trip and Fran decided she did too so we went! Lucky for them they each had a personal nurse/hand-holder to get them through! It was fun to watch anyway... Didn't seem fun to get!
That night we took it easy, walked around to a few shops and got dessert. We had any early bus the next morning so we were sad to say bye to Fran and head off to Brisbane!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Fraser Island!!
Ahh we are so behind on our blogging...we've been having too much fun!
We just completed our 3day/2night camping trip on Fraser Island, the most protected World Heritage listed place on earth. Speaking of World Heritage places...I had no idea such places existed until coming here. I still have to google it but apparently there is a committee called UNESCO (not sure what it stands for) that protects certain areas of cultural and biological significance and determines guidelines for who can visit, how much electricity can be used, where you can camp, rules for protecting the animals...all sorts of things. I'm sure there are places back home that are protected by UNESCO but I guess I never noticed.
Anyways, google it. Fraser Island is ranked number one on earth according to UNESCO for importance and need for protection. The waters surrounding Frasier provide an excellent steady food source and so ocean animals (turtles, whales, sharks) come here from all over the world when its time to mate because its the only place they know they are guaranteed food. So if you see a sea turtle anywhere you know its been to frasier! If this ecosystem was lost everything in the ocean would get messed up then everything on land would get messed up and life would end. Don't worry we didn't litter! Here are some facts but I highly suggest googling more information...this is the coolest place ever!
~ 7,200 species of insects are found on the island...600 are poisonous
~ 28 species of snakes on Fraser, 27 are poisonous, including the top 7 deadliest snakes in the world (most have no antivenin cure!)
~ Deadliest spider on earth is the Fraser funnel web spider which is found only on Fraser. It has the deadliest neurotoxin known to man and there is no antidote! 138 people have been killed by spider bites in the past 7 years. Kills you in 25 minutes. We were taught about this once we were on the island, made us very nervous for our lives, literally! Thank god it's not aggressive and stays in its burrow.
~ The only pure dingoes (wolves) on earth are found here. All the others in Oz have mated with dogs so they're not purebred anymore. They grow to be twice as big as an adult German Shepard! The adults stay inland and the pups have to stay by the ocean or else the adults will eat the them. Last year a 22yo man was decapitated bc he fed the dingos and then ran from them...bad idea! Don't feed the dingos!!
~ Its the biggest sand island on earth...more sand than the Sahara!
~ The lakes are filled with tea tree oil...free spa treatments!
~ They have exploding trees that will explode every now and then when lightning strikes and burn down everything around them so everything starts fresh again
~ Only rainforest where everything grows from the sand! No dirt and grass and whatever else plants usually grow from
~ Home to the oilyest and oldest trees in the world
~ Speaking of trees...something we forgot from our trip to the Daintree Rainforest: you know the glow in the dark trees they have in the movie Avatar? They're inspired by trees in the Daintree that glow because of the bacteria living on them. So cool!!
~ ok back to Fraser...its home to the biggest bird in the world, I forget what its called but its some type of sea eagle and it has a 15 ft wingspan!
~ It's home to 30 of the oldest plants on earth...the BBC filmed their Walking with Dinosaurs documentary here because it's the only place on earth that has remained unchanged since the dinosaur days. Looks like something out of Jurassic Park! Only 12% of the trees can be seen above ground the rest of the tree is a complex rooting system underground!
Ok enough facts. We thought you guys might be sick of hearing our writing so here's a special cameo from our new friend Minty! She loves fashion and sandwiches and is great! She's Brittish...check out all the fun words and phrases we've been learning :-)
<<"So the last fews days have been awesome. After it pissed down with rain in the morning, we caught the ferry over to Fraser (biggest sand island in the world). Our ring leader was a guy named Ian, an ex army man with tattoos who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. He had such a passion for the island and we soon found out how amazing and special it was.
The island has a huge amount of history behind it that I personally had no idea about...that term 'never judge a book by its cover' springs to mind as I thought it was just pretty beaches. First day in our four 4 by 4s, we drove down 75 mile beach, the view was unbelievably surreal and we were driving along the sand with the ocean only meters away.
Our first stop - the Mehano shipwreck. It was used in the first world war, carrying 90 percent of Australians ad New Zealanders to war. The ship was built to compete with the titanic and succeeded in being the most luxurious ship and fastest ship in the world for 30 years. Many years later, the Japs bought the ship and while tagging it to Japan the rope snapped in a storm and she came to be stuck on Fraser, perfectly preserved. It was during this time in 1929 that the Great Depression hit and due to the exquisite living conditions in Australia, the now beached ship became home to people from around the island and country. The community became so large that teachers were put on board and they had their own post code.
What we saw of the ship was just one tenth, the rest being submerged beneath the sand. An idea as to how big it was - it used three times the amount of steel than the titanic!
We went to some sand dunes that were just huge. Imagine rolling hills but made of sand. We just managed to climb to the top, after what felt like walking up a vertical wall of sand. The view was something else, all these different colours of sand. We actually rolled down it, although I have to say Alexa was a bit behind the rest of us (but we can keep that on the DL). Sand was everywhere, I still think I'm leaking it from my ears, but it was the most amazing thing!
We also went to Lake Wabby, you come out of the forest into what feels like a desert and coming over the top of the hill you look down to see a beautiful freshwater lake, it was a view you imagine on postcards!">>
Thanks Minty!!
Needless to say, our experience was incredible. We grocery shopped in small groups before we left for the island and prepared to rough it in tents for three days. Our orientation included a bunch of facts on the poisonous animals on the island, what to do if you encounter a snake or dingo, and how much rain was in the forecast for the next few days...great way to start our vacation.
We hopped a ferry over to Fraser and the sun came out! We broke ourselves into 4 groups of six and tagged along with the British crew. Karina and i couldnt drive because it was a manual so we entrusted our lives with an ex army-man to drive us safely through the dunes. We off roaded through crazy rainforest and jungle (which I finally learned are the same thing!) and spent the day driving around to different lakes. We drove along the beach...unreal! Not only is the beach a highway (with a speed limit and everything!) but its also a landing strip for planes! There are 181 freshwater lakes on the island. They're all surrounded by tea trees and the tea tree oil keeps the insects away. Pretty wild, people pay lots of money for products with tea tree oil and here it was just flowing freely around us! So we scrubbed our hair, bodies, teeth and even our jewelry and had a nice afternoon at the "spa."
We also went to another lake where we had to trek through a rainforest and then a desert and at the bottom of a huge hill was a gorgeous lake...desert meets rainforest meets lake...so cool! We rolled down the hill into the lake, great fun!
Later that night we made it to our campsite. Palace (the tour company) is the only company with a permit to leave their camping gear set up so we arrived to find our tents pitched and cooking gear ready to go. Unfortunately, no toilets or showers. Yup, we had to dig holes to pee! Luckily we were right on the ocean so we could have a "poo with a view" if you will. Oh, there were dingos so we had to go in pairs with flashlights and sticks...let's just say Karina and I got real close this weekend!
After cooking dinner, we spent the night drinking wine (and by wine I mean goon...were not that classy) and dancing and singing on the beach. Karina made a nice little playlist on Ian's iPod and got to be dj for the night- the crowd loved it! So fun!
The next morning we were awakened by the soothing sounds of Ian banging pots and pans yelling "good morning possums!!!! Time to get up!!! Bang bang bang!!!" talk about an obnoxious alarm. Our backs were pretty sore from sleeping on the ground but at least we didn't die by spider bite! We saw 8 sets of dingo prints around the campsite and a bunch of snake tracks...crazy!
We spent the day driving along the beach to various spots, including the shipwreck Minty mentioned, climbing really high rocks that look out over the ocean, a beach with sand that squeaks when you walk on it, and floating down a place called Eli Creek. Eli Creek has some of the finest sand in the world so you can drink from the mouth of the river (the part where no one swims!). The goon was flowing and we just floated along and hung out in the water for the afternoon! We had ourselves a nice Lady Gaga singalong in the car. Saw our first dingo!! They're not afraid of humans, pretty scary. He was real close to us while we were swimming and walked alongside the car when we drove away. Then We went to a huge sand dune...like a Sahara Desert style dune...and rolled down the hill. So amaZing! Scariest thing ever! We were so dizzy the world was spinning for a while after we stopped! But it was incredible and so freeing :-) (again Alexa was just "a bit" behind the group). There's a video of this somewhere too! (Alexa -- I was just enjoying the moment!!)
Unfortunately thanks to the hill we spent the rest of the day covered in sand but oh well, definitely worth it!
We cooked again and had ourselves another party on the beach. Karina had a bit of a dramatic meltdown with mother nature. It went something like this: we were sitting cooking dinner and all of a sudden I felt something was missing. I looked around realized my other half was gone!! I went back to the tent and found karina lying on her suitcase lamenting about sand in her eyes and how she thought she would never see again. (eye pain is serious people!!) Since I'm such a good Boyfriend, I put drops in her eyes and since she was temporarily blind, went off to cook her her very own vegetarian dinner. Half hour later, the rest our crew and I were eating and all of a sudden we hear yelling and swearing and looked up to see karina running up from the tents tripping and falling over all the tent poles. (lesson learned: dont run in a campsite-it's hard to see rope going across the path in the pitch dark!!) Apparently in the half hour since I left her, kar managed to have an eye crisis, battle a frog that hopped into our tent before blindly stumbling back to dinner and tripping on the poles holding up the other tents. Thankfully nothing tipped over! A few bruises were made but nothing goon and a good dance party couldn't fix! A little while later, one of the big manly guys who was staying in our tent came running out yelling about a spider in the tent and that he refused to sleep there, suggesting that we should take care of the spider for him. What a baby! Obviously we weren't about to battle a poisonous spider so he and another manly guy armed themselves with sticks and shoes and set off to find the intruder. Even though there was no sign of any spiders, he wouldn't sleep in the tent and left us girls to brave the spider alone. Men! And we're supposed to be the girly ones!
Then we had ourselves another nice dance party that included a great rendition of Hey Soul Sister. It was great!
Fortunately we survived the night without any more nature encounters (although we did see a dingo run through camp in the morning!) and were sad to pack up the next day. Our final stop was Lake Mackenzie which is a lake with sand composition comparable to Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays...96% silicone or something like that. Actually I don't think it's silicone but that's what it sounds like every time they told us...I'll have to look it up. We swam and frolicked in the lake and had ourselves a great afternoon, and then it began to rain. But the rain held off for most of the trip so we can't complain too much!
The cars all managed to survive the trip as well, save for a mirror that was lost to the jungle. We'll blame the dingos. We left Fraser later that afternoon and had the world's best shower back at the hostel. Well actually the shower was terrible but after showering in sand for the past three days it was heavenly! We headed to the pub to celebrate our surviving the island and said goodbye to our friends. We had a great time and I think I'll actually consider going camping again when we get back home!!
We just completed our 3day/2night camping trip on Fraser Island, the most protected World Heritage listed place on earth. Speaking of World Heritage places...I had no idea such places existed until coming here. I still have to google it but apparently there is a committee called UNESCO (not sure what it stands for) that protects certain areas of cultural and biological significance and determines guidelines for who can visit, how much electricity can be used, where you can camp, rules for protecting the animals...all sorts of things. I'm sure there are places back home that are protected by UNESCO but I guess I never noticed.
Anyways, google it. Fraser Island is ranked number one on earth according to UNESCO for importance and need for protection. The waters surrounding Frasier provide an excellent steady food source and so ocean animals (turtles, whales, sharks) come here from all over the world when its time to mate because its the only place they know they are guaranteed food. So if you see a sea turtle anywhere you know its been to frasier! If this ecosystem was lost everything in the ocean would get messed up then everything on land would get messed up and life would end. Don't worry we didn't litter! Here are some facts but I highly suggest googling more information...this is the coolest place ever!
~ 7,200 species of insects are found on the island...600 are poisonous
~ 28 species of snakes on Fraser, 27 are poisonous, including the top 7 deadliest snakes in the world (most have no antivenin cure!)
~ Deadliest spider on earth is the Fraser funnel web spider which is found only on Fraser. It has the deadliest neurotoxin known to man and there is no antidote! 138 people have been killed by spider bites in the past 7 years. Kills you in 25 minutes. We were taught about this once we were on the island, made us very nervous for our lives, literally! Thank god it's not aggressive and stays in its burrow.
~ The only pure dingoes (wolves) on earth are found here. All the others in Oz have mated with dogs so they're not purebred anymore. They grow to be twice as big as an adult German Shepard! The adults stay inland and the pups have to stay by the ocean or else the adults will eat the them. Last year a 22yo man was decapitated bc he fed the dingos and then ran from them...bad idea! Don't feed the dingos!!
~ Its the biggest sand island on earth...more sand than the Sahara!
~ The lakes are filled with tea tree oil...free spa treatments!
~ They have exploding trees that will explode every now and then when lightning strikes and burn down everything around them so everything starts fresh again
~ Only rainforest where everything grows from the sand! No dirt and grass and whatever else plants usually grow from
~ Home to the oilyest and oldest trees in the world
~ Speaking of trees...something we forgot from our trip to the Daintree Rainforest: you know the glow in the dark trees they have in the movie Avatar? They're inspired by trees in the Daintree that glow because of the bacteria living on them. So cool!!
~ ok back to Fraser...its home to the biggest bird in the world, I forget what its called but its some type of sea eagle and it has a 15 ft wingspan!
~ It's home to 30 of the oldest plants on earth...the BBC filmed their Walking with Dinosaurs documentary here because it's the only place on earth that has remained unchanged since the dinosaur days. Looks like something out of Jurassic Park! Only 12% of the trees can be seen above ground the rest of the tree is a complex rooting system underground!
Ok enough facts. We thought you guys might be sick of hearing our writing so here's a special cameo from our new friend Minty! She loves fashion and sandwiches and is great! She's Brittish...check out all the fun words and phrases we've been learning :-)
<<"So the last fews days have been awesome. After it pissed down with rain in the morning, we caught the ferry over to Fraser (biggest sand island in the world). Our ring leader was a guy named Ian, an ex army man with tattoos who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish. He had such a passion for the island and we soon found out how amazing and special it was.
The island has a huge amount of history behind it that I personally had no idea about...that term 'never judge a book by its cover' springs to mind as I thought it was just pretty beaches. First day in our four 4 by 4s, we drove down 75 mile beach, the view was unbelievably surreal and we were driving along the sand with the ocean only meters away.
Our first stop - the Mehano shipwreck. It was used in the first world war, carrying 90 percent of Australians ad New Zealanders to war. The ship was built to compete with the titanic and succeeded in being the most luxurious ship and fastest ship in the world for 30 years. Many years later, the Japs bought the ship and while tagging it to Japan the rope snapped in a storm and she came to be stuck on Fraser, perfectly preserved. It was during this time in 1929 that the Great Depression hit and due to the exquisite living conditions in Australia, the now beached ship became home to people from around the island and country. The community became so large that teachers were put on board and they had their own post code.
What we saw of the ship was just one tenth, the rest being submerged beneath the sand. An idea as to how big it was - it used three times the amount of steel than the titanic!
We went to some sand dunes that were just huge. Imagine rolling hills but made of sand. We just managed to climb to the top, after what felt like walking up a vertical wall of sand. The view was something else, all these different colours of sand. We actually rolled down it, although I have to say Alexa was a bit behind the rest of us (but we can keep that on the DL). Sand was everywhere, I still think I'm leaking it from my ears, but it was the most amazing thing!
We also went to Lake Wabby, you come out of the forest into what feels like a desert and coming over the top of the hill you look down to see a beautiful freshwater lake, it was a view you imagine on postcards!">>
Thanks Minty!!
Needless to say, our experience was incredible. We grocery shopped in small groups before we left for the island and prepared to rough it in tents for three days. Our orientation included a bunch of facts on the poisonous animals on the island, what to do if you encounter a snake or dingo, and how much rain was in the forecast for the next few days...great way to start our vacation.
We hopped a ferry over to Fraser and the sun came out! We broke ourselves into 4 groups of six and tagged along with the British crew. Karina and i couldnt drive because it was a manual so we entrusted our lives with an ex army-man to drive us safely through the dunes. We off roaded through crazy rainforest and jungle (which I finally learned are the same thing!) and spent the day driving around to different lakes. We drove along the beach...unreal! Not only is the beach a highway (with a speed limit and everything!) but its also a landing strip for planes! There are 181 freshwater lakes on the island. They're all surrounded by tea trees and the tea tree oil keeps the insects away. Pretty wild, people pay lots of money for products with tea tree oil and here it was just flowing freely around us! So we scrubbed our hair, bodies, teeth and even our jewelry and had a nice afternoon at the "spa."
We also went to another lake where we had to trek through a rainforest and then a desert and at the bottom of a huge hill was a gorgeous lake...desert meets rainforest meets lake...so cool! We rolled down the hill into the lake, great fun!
Later that night we made it to our campsite. Palace (the tour company) is the only company with a permit to leave their camping gear set up so we arrived to find our tents pitched and cooking gear ready to go. Unfortunately, no toilets or showers. Yup, we had to dig holes to pee! Luckily we were right on the ocean so we could have a "poo with a view" if you will. Oh, there were dingos so we had to go in pairs with flashlights and sticks...let's just say Karina and I got real close this weekend!
After cooking dinner, we spent the night drinking wine (and by wine I mean goon...were not that classy) and dancing and singing on the beach. Karina made a nice little playlist on Ian's iPod and got to be dj for the night- the crowd loved it! So fun!
The next morning we were awakened by the soothing sounds of Ian banging pots and pans yelling "good morning possums!!!! Time to get up!!! Bang bang bang!!!" talk about an obnoxious alarm. Our backs were pretty sore from sleeping on the ground but at least we didn't die by spider bite! We saw 8 sets of dingo prints around the campsite and a bunch of snake tracks...crazy!
We spent the day driving along the beach to various spots, including the shipwreck Minty mentioned, climbing really high rocks that look out over the ocean, a beach with sand that squeaks when you walk on it, and floating down a place called Eli Creek. Eli Creek has some of the finest sand in the world so you can drink from the mouth of the river (the part where no one swims!). The goon was flowing and we just floated along and hung out in the water for the afternoon! We had ourselves a nice Lady Gaga singalong in the car. Saw our first dingo!! They're not afraid of humans, pretty scary. He was real close to us while we were swimming and walked alongside the car when we drove away. Then We went to a huge sand dune...like a Sahara Desert style dune...and rolled down the hill. So amaZing! Scariest thing ever! We were so dizzy the world was spinning for a while after we stopped! But it was incredible and so freeing :-) (again Alexa was just "a bit" behind the group). There's a video of this somewhere too! (Alexa -- I was just enjoying the moment!!)
Unfortunately thanks to the hill we spent the rest of the day covered in sand but oh well, definitely worth it!
We cooked again and had ourselves another party on the beach. Karina had a bit of a dramatic meltdown with mother nature. It went something like this: we were sitting cooking dinner and all of a sudden I felt something was missing. I looked around realized my other half was gone!! I went back to the tent and found karina lying on her suitcase lamenting about sand in her eyes and how she thought she would never see again. (eye pain is serious people!!) Since I'm such a good Boyfriend, I put drops in her eyes and since she was temporarily blind, went off to cook her her very own vegetarian dinner. Half hour later, the rest our crew and I were eating and all of a sudden we hear yelling and swearing and looked up to see karina running up from the tents tripping and falling over all the tent poles. (lesson learned: dont run in a campsite-it's hard to see rope going across the path in the pitch dark!!) Apparently in the half hour since I left her, kar managed to have an eye crisis, battle a frog that hopped into our tent before blindly stumbling back to dinner and tripping on the poles holding up the other tents. Thankfully nothing tipped over! A few bruises were made but nothing goon and a good dance party couldn't fix! A little while later, one of the big manly guys who was staying in our tent came running out yelling about a spider in the tent and that he refused to sleep there, suggesting that we should take care of the spider for him. What a baby! Obviously we weren't about to battle a poisonous spider so he and another manly guy armed themselves with sticks and shoes and set off to find the intruder. Even though there was no sign of any spiders, he wouldn't sleep in the tent and left us girls to brave the spider alone. Men! And we're supposed to be the girly ones!
Then we had ourselves another nice dance party that included a great rendition of Hey Soul Sister. It was great!
Fortunately we survived the night without any more nature encounters (although we did see a dingo run through camp in the morning!) and were sad to pack up the next day. Our final stop was Lake Mackenzie which is a lake with sand composition comparable to Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays...96% silicone or something like that. Actually I don't think it's silicone but that's what it sounds like every time they told us...I'll have to look it up. We swam and frolicked in the lake and had ourselves a great afternoon, and then it began to rain. But the rain held off for most of the trip so we can't complain too much!
The cars all managed to survive the trip as well, save for a mirror that was lost to the jungle. We'll blame the dingos. We left Fraser later that afternoon and had the world's best shower back at the hostel. Well actually the shower was terrible but after showering in sand for the past three days it was heavenly! We headed to the pub to celebrate our surviving the island and said goodbye to our friends. We had a great time and I think I'll actually consider going camping again when we get back home!!
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