The Whitsunday Islands consist of 74 islands, of which, only 7 have resorts where people can stay at. It is important, as with many other places in Australia, to preserve Whitsundays' natural beauty. Me, and the group of four other lovely people I am traveling with, took a guided tour on a sail boat, named Habibi; and set off for a sailing adventure on November 4, 2011. From the moment we arrived at the dock in Airlie beach, we knew it would be a fun filled weekend, full of beautiful sites and cherished moments, that would make great memories.
Me and Sandra right after we hopped on the ship!
Starting to head off to the islands from the dock :)
The beautiful sunset on our first night at sea.
We spend two days and two nights sailing around the islands. We met many people, most of which were European, and made some friends that we still keep in contact with. Overall, there have been a lot of German and French tourists, and I would say they make up the majority of people we meet during our travels. We met two lovely French gals on this trip, and traveled with them to Cairns and up to Darwin, in the Northern Territory. It was great to meet such nice people from a different part of the world. That is one of the beautiful things of backpacking, you meet people from all parts of the world, and have a place to stay if you ever visit those places!
The lower cabin where we slept...watch out for the bed bugs though!!
The sunrise on the first morning - - It was 5:20 am...sleepy sleepy!
Sunrise #2...
Sunrise #3.
On the first full day, we woke up to see the sunrise over the ocean. It was a clear morning, and one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in Australia thus far! We then ate breaky, and took a little ride on a dingy, to the beach on the main island called, Whitsunday. The sand there is the purest sand in the world, and is 98% silica. It can be used to polish jewelry, and the U.S. used to to make the Hubble Telescope! It was a lovely morning, that was followed by an afternoon of snorkeling.
We took a short hike up to get a great view of the ocean and surrounding islands...here I am enjoying every minute of it.
Sandra, Me, and Malin posing for a photo while enjoying the gorgeous water.
Titanic!
We snorkeled a total of three times; two times at two different locations on the first day, and one time on the second day. Whitsundays is located near the mid-region of the Great Barrier Reef, and the snorkeling there was the best I have ever seen. The coral was extremely colorful, and we saw all kinds of fish, and even turtles!!
All ready to go snorkeling!
This is a group photo of all of the people who took this trip with us. We all got along really well, and it was great to meet such wonderful people!
Heading back to the dock at Airlie beach.
Habibi, meaning 'Darling'. This was the ship that we sailed on. It was old, but charming!
Whitsundays was a blast. We had a fun and relaxing weekend, and I was lucky enough to experience things that I had never experienced before. It was a trip that I will remember for the rest of my life, and that I am lucky to have had the opportunity to take!
Since we have been traveling in a 'Wicked' camper van, we have gotten to stop a lot along the way. Me and four others have been traveling up the east coast of Australia, for those who are up to date thus far... and having our own van has had it ups and downs. However, it has also allowed us to truly explore all Australia has to offer! We have gotten to witness spectacular sunsets, wonderful sight, and experience some amazing gifts of natural Australia. Here are just a few examples of the beauty we have experienced driving along...
Ladies and Gents... This is our Wicked camper van. Luxurious, I know!!
Pelican...Opening wide for some food!
Feeding some wild dolphins :)
My horses name was, Big Red, and we got along swimmingly!
Friends.
Getting ready to say farewell :(
Stoney Creek... Malin taking photos as well.
The huge rocks made nice chairs to lay in and catch some rays!
Swimmingggg.
The VERY bumpy, but pretty road we took to get to and from Stoney Creek.
Sunset in Rockhampton.
This is what we woke up to one night, when Anders parked in the middle of bum-f**k nowhere!!
Before heading to Whitsundays, we arrived in Airlie beach. It was a nice town, full of backpackers eager to set sail for the lovely Whitsundays Islands that I will blog about next. :)
The view of the docks, with all the boats that sail to Whitsundays.
Sandra hangin' by the lagoon. As we drove further north, we were not able to go in the ocean, because the jelly fish are so bad this time of year!!
Just having some fun :)
We parked too close, so we had to give the car a little push to avoid hitting the car parked behind us.
Jagger Bombs!! Noting like a good drink to end the day :)
Fraser Island was THE BEST experience of my life, to date. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I am a clean/organizational freak! Well, saying that Fraser Island was the best experience of my life is really saying something, since we had to dig a hole in the sand to go to the bathroom, and didn't shower for three whole days! The natural beauty and the entire experience was priceless, and having absolutely no bathroom was the least of my concerns. There was too much to see and too many experiences to soak up, to be worried about little things like that!
Beach view.
Having some fun on the beach!
Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island. It is important to the people of Australia to keep the island as pristine as possible, and not disturb its natural state. There is one resort area on the island, and the rest is just nature. Me and my group of friends spent 2 nights and 3 days on this gorgeous island, and I'll explain what we did day by day, to give the best description of this magical get-away.
-Day 1-
We arrived in Rainbow Beach around 7am to take off for Fraser. We packed up our 4WD with our food, camping gear, and luggage, then headed off to the ferry, which took us to the island. A 4WD car is necessary, because there are no actual roads on Fraser, only sand, sand, and more sand.
The line of cars from our tour group, waiting for the ferry.
The crew, on the ferry :)
This is what transported us from the mainland to Fraser.
Our lovely car!
Once we got to the island, we drove the long drive to our campsite, and set up camp. Fraser is 72 kilometers, so it is much bigger than expected. To drive through and around it, takes quite some time! We ate lunch, and then headed to the most beautiful lake I have ever set my eyes on, Lake McKenzie. This lake was the clearest, cleanest, and most beautiful lake I have ever had the pleasure of swimming in. It was great to cool off and take a swim...none of us wanted to get out, even for dinner!
CAMP!
Lake McKenzie
Sandra being her happy self :)
Yippeeee :) Sooo happy and about to go swimming!
Me and lovely Sandra, enjoying the sun.
Finally, we went back for dinner...and sure enough, the dingos came around! Fraser Island is the only place where dingos are free and wild in Australia. All the others on the mainland are in captivity. Dingos look much like a dog, but cannot bark. They howl like wolves, and are considered dangerous, because they are wild and hunt their food. If the dingos came up to us, we just kicked sand at it and yelled at it to go away, but not before taking a nice photo of it, of course! :)
Curious Dingo, wanting us to throw him some food!
Sniffing around.
It was a great first day on the island, and we all had fun and enjoyed some goon after dinner and went to bed.
- Day 2 -
We woke up early, at breakfast, and headed over to "hang-over creek". Some of the other groups got rather silly the previous night, and drank way too much goon. A nice float in a clean stream was a perfect solution! We then went and at lunch, and went onto the champaign pools to have another nice swim. The champaign pools were the only part of the ocean that we were allowed to swim in, due to the rough currents and frequent shark sightings in the ocean surrounding Fraser. They are called the "Champaign Pools" because when the water comes over the rocks, it bubbles like champaign. It was quite nice!
Nice view on the walk to the Champaign Pools... Indian Head in the background.
Overview of the Champaign Pools.
Sandra, Me, and Malin playing in the pools...# 1...
#2...
And # 3!
After that, we hiked up to Indian head, which is a great lookout point on the Island. It is called "Indian Head" because when James Cook first discovered the island, he saw people on top of this small mountain, and thought they were indians. They were, in fact, not indians, but rather aborigines. However, the name has stuck to this day.
Sandra and I at the top of Indian Head.
Jumping for joy!
Taking in the beauty :)
To conclude our second day on Fraser, we drove to a famous ship wreck. Sandra was driving the 4WD for the first time, and as we were driving along the beach, she almost ran over a dingo. Everyone was yelling, I was screaming, and she finally slowed down, and it got away. It would have been a tragedy, but everything turned out alright. Now, onto the ship... The ship was being transported to Japan, to use the parts to make weapons for war. However, it was being dragged behind another boat, and the chain snapped due to a storm. The ship drifted, and finally crashed onto the Fraser shore. It is a magnificent sight to see, and the ship was massive! Lots of furniture and parts were put up for auction, and many Aussies have them in their homes as decoration.
Sandra getting ready to drive for the first time.
The Dingo we almost hit.
The ship.
Me and Sandra doing the Titanic pose :)
Inside the ship... it was forbidden to go inside and take photos, but I did it anyways, shhhhh!
After seeing the ship wreck, we went back to camp, made dinner, and had a little sing along once everything was cleaned and put away. It was an early night, as everyone was tired from the long day of fantastic sights and adventures!
- Day 3 -
Our final day was a relatively relaxed one. We got up, made breakfast, packed up camp, and got in our 4WD and headed to Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby was a gorgeous lake, that, in about 50 years time, may not exist any longer. It is a natural lake, but a sand dune is moving inward towards it, which will cause it to eventually not exist. It is a neat lake, because you must hike about 2.5km to get there, and have to walk across a desert like terrain. It was beautiful, and so refreshing!!
The desert treck!
At the top of the sand dune...the boys are rolling down it!
SPLASH! Into the cool water :)
After the lake, we went back and waited for the ferry to take us to the main land. We had an amazing trip, and I can't even explain in words what a wonderful experience Fraser Island was!!
Everyone from our car...standing at the top of the ferry for a final photo!
Now, I know this blog was rather long, but the following is a link to a video blog of Fraser that Tom put together. Tom was an english lad in our car, and his video blog is great...please watch it, as I am a staring character! Enjoy :)
