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It has been quite a while since I have updated, as we have been sleeping in trailer parks throughout Australia and have not seen too many computers.
We started out in Brisbane and immediately set out to get another campervan. I can't tell you exactly why, but we ended up getting a Hyundai and sleeping in the tent. The car/tent combo created a few unforseen problems, most of which were answered by some guy named "Crazy Clark." It was from his "discount and variety" stores that we bought such things as folding chairs and expired cookies from Singapore.
From Brisbane, we went to Byron Bay which is basically a nicer version of Ocean Beach in San Diego. The sand was squeaky and the water crystal clear. We even walked around a farmers market and bought some organic eggplant and capciacin (peppers to you and I.) The first few days in the tent were very educational. I learned much about life such as a box of wine can be used as a card table and I get a sore back when I sleep with no pad (a lesson I should have learned from the bike ride.) The beer in this country is quite expensive (think $12-13 for a six pack) so we have been drinking casks of wine (box wine to you and I.) One of the first things I noticed about Australia is all of the crazy birds everywhere. For instance, there are "brush turkeys" that wander most of the campgrounds and try to tear tents and supplies open looking for food. I would have thought it quite appropriate to get back at the turkeys by cooking them on the BBQs at the campsites, but I think a turkey would win if I attacked it. A much smaller and more colorful pigeon-like bird tried to rally his friends and attack Erin and I near the lighthouse because I shook his branch.
After Byron Bay, we headed north through the "Sunshine Coast" and saw many of its beautiful beaches. Unfortunately, we were in the area during their biggest storm in over ten years, and bravely roughed it in the tent. We heard all about the record breaking storm on the radio news along with the fact that the Australian dollar is its strongest ever compared to the American dollar. Just before the storm, we made it to the Australia zoo, home of the late Steve Irwin. The crocadile show was not as good as I thought it would be, but we did get to hang out with kangaroos and wallabies.
After the storm, we made it to the Whitsunday Islands and tried to get out to the Hook Island Resort to camp. We were scheduled to ferry over on the lightning fast, state of the art, 80-foot catamaran Voyager, but showed up in the morning to see no crew present. (Apparently they had tried to call us the previous night to tell us thr ship was broken down, but we have no phone.) Instead, we left from a different harbor, a few hours later, on a boat called the "Scamper." The captain told us that this thing was an "aluminium ice-breaker," but when I saw the puny little boat with a fold-down ramp on the front, I thought we were going to storm the beaches of Normandy. Anyway, we eventually made it to Hook Island where we saw scary spiders, a four-foot monitor lizzard, and giant bats.
Because I insisted on sailing about the Whitsundays, we got on the high-performance "Camira" sailing catamaran the next day. The trip included an open bar, so we drank all the XXXX Gold and Victoria Bitter beer we could before stepping off. In the afternoon, we stopped at Whitehaven Beach, which is consistently rated the best beach in the world by some survey. It was not a reach to see why: it is miles long and the whitest, squeakiest sand and clearest water imaginable. Apperently the sand is 98% silica which means nothing to me. I asked Erin the chemist what this means and she explained that we were standing on a giant chromatography column. Man, did I feel stupid. It was here that a few Aussie dudes taught me how to play cricket. It was not until I had bowled and batted several times that I realized what we would consider a foul ball, could actually be a decent hit (provided someone did not get the ball to the wicket too soon.) I guess it was by instinct that I could not bring myself to stop trying to hit dingers.
After the Whitsundays, we made it to Cairns where we are now. The two dive snorkelling trip on the Great Barrier Reef went something like this:
Erin: "Tom, take some Dramamine so you won't get sick"
Tom: "No, I probably won't get sick"
(Two hours later Tom has to run out of the dive briefing to go outside and stare at the horizon for a while. Tom takes Dramamine)
Erin: Did you hear where the guide told us to go along the reef?
Tom: Yeah, it's easy, you just kind of go that way. (points along the reef)
(Erin and Tom get lost underwater)
To be fair, the visibility was quite poor. Also, most of the coral was quite dead. Come to think about it, the entire dive at the world's most popular dive spot was as mediocre as La Jolla shores. The most fun I had all day was sitting on the back of the boat on the way back, braving 2 meter swells and ocean spray with my rain jacket.
After two weeks in this country I finally saw a snake! It was on a bush-walking path and I nearly stepped on it. I was sure I was going to get bitten by a taipan or brown snake, but this turned out to simply be a 2-3 meter carpet python. (This is what an Aussie guy told us when he walked up and gently moved the snake aside with his hiking pole.)
Tonight is the last night in the tent before flying to Sydney for a few days. I hope it doesn't rain.
Tom
Pouring box wine by our car/tent combo
The box doubles as a card table
View at Byron Bay
The brush turkey says "Im in ur bag eatin ur foodz"
Some waterfall
Japanese tourist feeding birds that tried to kill me
Big Waterfall (Can you see the dipshit backpackers sitting at the top?)
Magnificent view of fog at the "Best of all Lookout"
Sign at a caravan park reminding us not to defacate on the floor
Spooning with a kangaroo at the Australia Zoo
Can you tell which tent is ours?
Camping next to a crocodile-infested river
View of the Whitsundays
Erin at Hook Island
Scary spider at Hook Island
View from Hook Island
An opossum joins us for dinner (top left)
Not quite a dinger
The carpet python I almost stepped on
Welcome to Trinity Beach, watch out for crocodiles, stingers and sharks
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