Greetings One and All,
It's hard to extrapolate Dingo Dave from remainder of the trip, as he and the island experience were enmeshed as one, but I'll try. Fraser island truly is remarkable. It's a sand island, about 20 km by 80 km. Surprisingly, it's covered in rain forest and sub tropical forrest. All of the lakes and streams are perfect fresh rain water on white sand, so the water is very clear in most bodies of water. Imagine a white sand bottom swimming pool - that's several of the lakes. Imagine huge sand dunes plunging in lake water. Really amazing. One of the thrills for me was riding shotgun in the bus with Dingo Dave, as I had a much better view of the surround terrain. I'd relish in the jolted movements of the bus and we crawled up bumpy sand roads and hills, and feel the rush of racing along the sand at the beach for miles and miles. This trip sure brought out the little boy in me, that's for certain. One of the highlights was organizing sand dune races which ended with a full speed plunge into the waters of Lake Wobee. Trecking through rain forest was also pretty amazing, as was swimming in crystal clear waters of lake McKenzie, and then laying on her white sand beach. A must do for visitors to Australia.
The Sunday night of our return to Hervey Bay, I enjoyed dinner with some new friends on the boat - Ekaterina and her mother Doris from Germany, and Christoph and Christina, a sweet couple also from the Germany. We happened upon a really delicious Italian eatery, and enjoyed the evening, namely to jokes and stories of Dingo Dave. The next morning I caught a lift back to Noosa with Ekaterina and Doris. Surfed a little, hung out with the Foleys some more, and relaxed. The next day, Tuesday, I caught a shuttle down to Brisbane, and flew up to Townsville, to visit my friends from San Jose, Lelena and Daniel.
My last couple of days have been eventful. I visited Billabong wild animal sanctuary just 20 minutes down the road from here. I finally got to hold a koala, as well as a wombat named Willemina, a black headed python and baby crocodile. Then there was the crocodile feeding, which was one of craziest things I have ever witnessed. Salt water crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet long, though the ones at Billabong were only a paltry 16! To see these beasts lunge their bodies out of water to grab at meat was unreal. One of the females came darting out of the pool, right for the handlers, jaws snapping at full speed. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the handlers whacked her repeatedly on the head with large wooden rods. After a few good whacks she retreated into the pool. Apparently that's the only way to show dominance over a croc - whack it heavily on the head with something heavy! Also saw wallabies, cassoweries, emus, dozens of other tropical snakes and reptiles. And of course, the kangaroos. Go my Facebook albums for all of the pictures.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing more scuba diving, and this time I rented a camera using my own memory card. I took a 2 1/2 hour boat ride - each way - to the dive site of the shipwreck Yongala. It's a rare site, located several hundreds of kilometers between and away from any of the natural reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. It's 103 meters (over 300 feet long), and is now home to hundreds of corals, plant and animal species. Visibility was not that great, and in truth diving the wreck you wouldn't know it was a ship at first, looks more like a sea mount. But the fish were plentiful, and this time I caught 'em all on camera. A bull shark came swimming by, which really excited most on the trip. Me, now the seasoned bull shark diver, did notice it to be slightly larger than most, but otherwise didn't bat an eye! :-) A basic rule of diving is that the deeper you go, the less amount of time you can be underwater. Generally dives deeper than 20 meters only last 30-40 minutes max! So, we did two dives of the Yongala, but only for about 35 minutes each, which really isn't all the much time. I really love my underwater time, which is why I think I'll pursue slightly shallower reef dives from here on out.
Whelp, that's about it. Tonight I fly up to Cairns to take in city, local rainforest and diving adventures. I'll update more when I can.
Well, since re-reading my last entry, things have certainly been looking up. Much has happened since my last entry, so here goes.
After finally departing Avatars Abode, I was able to stay another night up in Noosa with the Foleys. Many thanks to Tony and Charmaine for your hospitality. Did a little surfing and a little relaxing. On Thursday the 12th I took a bus heading up to Hervey Bay, to visit the world famous Fraser Island. I stayed a night in Hervery Bay, and after a mix up the next morning with the tour company, who missed picking me up from my hostel because they though I was elsewhere, I caught a lift down to the docks and was aboard the ferry without further incident. Once on Fraser Island, we were greeted by a seemingly mild mannered tour guide named Dave. He gave us our itineraries and directed us to the 4-wheel drive bus that we would be touring the island in for the next 3 days. Dave was something else, to say the least - definitely not mild mannered. He wore a headset with a microphone to talk to all 26 of us with. And talk he did - The. Whole. Three. Days! He let us know a little something about everything, from nature and science, to Aboriginal history and creation myths, the ancient origins of the sands of Fraser Islands, to his views on human infestation of Earth and the need to have a cull. I have never been in such captive audience as I had with this guy. Dave, who by night one I had named Dingo Dave, would utter something blatantly offensive and then in the same breath, impress you and make you laugh. He has been leading tours of the Island for 18 years, I don't imagine he'll ever leave. Here's to yah Dingo Dave!
It's hard to extrapolate Dingo Dave from remainder of the trip, as he and the island experience were enmeshed as one, but I'll try. Fraser island truly is remarkable. It's a sand island, about 20 km by 80 km. Surprisingly, it's covered in rain forest and sub tropical forrest. All of the lakes and streams are perfect fresh rain water on white sand, so the water is very clear in most bodies of water. Imagine a white sand bottom swimming pool - that's several of the lakes. Imagine huge sand dunes plunging in lake water. Really amazing. One of the thrills for me was riding shotgun in the bus with Dingo Dave, as I had a much better view of the surround terrain. I'd relish in the jolted movements of the bus and we crawled up bumpy sand roads and hills, and feel the rush of racing along the sand at the beach for miles and miles. This trip sure brought out the little boy in me, that's for certain. One of the highlights was organizing sand dune races which ended with a full speed plunge into the waters of Lake Wobee. Trecking through rain forest was also pretty amazing, as was swimming in crystal clear waters of lake McKenzie, and then laying on her white sand beach. A must do for visitors to Australia. The Sunday night of our return to Hervey Bay, I enjoyed dinner with some new friends on the boat - Ekaterina and her mother Doris from Germany, and Christoph and Christina, a sweet couple also from the Germany. We happened upon a really delicious Italian eatery, and enjoyed the evening, namely to jokes and stories of Dingo Dave. The next morning I caught a lift back to Noosa with Ekaterina and Doris. Surfed a little, hung out with the Foleys some more, and relaxed. The next day, Tuesday, I caught a shuttle down to Brisbane, and flew up to Townsville, to visit my friends from San Jose, Lelena and Daniel.Lalena and Daniel recently moved to Townsville after Daniel accepted a position at James Cook university in oceanography. Lalena was one of many instructors at my yoga studio in San Jose, so I jumped at the chance to visit when I discovered that they would be moving here. Townsville is a small city on the coast. It's hot and humid up here, for sure. Lalena and Daniel live in a great house with their super Jack Russel Terrier named Jemez! Jemez and I bonded instantly. Lalena taught me how to get him to sing along to a finger snappin tune, and it's been all song every since. I've spent time relaxing, watching movies, playing beach volleyball, having a day and night out here and there with my hosts, and generally having a nice time.
My last couple of days have been eventful. I visited Billabong wild animal sanctuary just 20 minutes down the road from here. I finally got to hold a koala, as well as a wombat named Willemina, a black headed python and baby crocodile. Then there was the crocodile feeding, which was one of craziest things I have ever witnessed. Salt water crocodiles can grow up to 23 feet long, though the ones at Billabong were only a paltry 16! To see these beasts lunge their bodies out of water to grab at meat was unreal. One of the females came darting out of the pool, right for the handlers, jaws snapping at full speed. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the handlers whacked her repeatedly on the head with large wooden rods. After a few good whacks she retreated into the pool. Apparently that's the only way to show dominance over a croc - whack it heavily on the head with something heavy! Also saw wallabies, cassoweries, emus, dozens of other tropical snakes and reptiles. And of course, the kangaroos. Go my Facebook albums for all of the pictures. Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing more scuba diving, and this time I rented a camera using my own memory card. I took a 2 1/2 hour boat ride - each way - to the dive site of the shipwreck Yongala. It's a rare site, located several hundreds of kilometers between and away from any of the natural reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. It's 103 meters (over 300 feet long), and is now home to hundreds of corals, plant and animal species. Visibility was not that great, and in truth diving the wreck you wouldn't know it was a ship at first, looks more like a sea mount. But the fish were plentiful, and this time I caught 'em all on camera. A bull shark came swimming by, which really excited most on the trip. Me, now the seasoned bull shark diver, did notice it to be slightly larger than most, but otherwise didn't bat an eye! :-) A basic rule of diving is that the deeper you go, the less amount of time you can be underwater. Generally dives deeper than 20 meters only last 30-40 minutes max! So, we did two dives of the Yongala, but only for about 35 minutes each, which really isn't all the much time. I really love my underwater time, which is why I think I'll pursue slightly shallower reef dives from here on out.Whelp, that's about it. Tonight I fly up to Cairns to take in city, local rainforest and diving adventures. I'll update more when I can.All the best.
J
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