22 November - 6 December 1998

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Sunday 22 November 1998

Well, it was a pretty standard machine really, but bigger than I'm used to driving. This was a very basic model Toyota Landcruiser, but not many Ks on the clock and Britz (the rental agency) were willing to let us take it anywhere. Strange as it may seem this was pretty hard to find as most firms would not let you take their 4WD vehicles to Fraser Island, onto beaches, or off road. This begs the question, what the hell do they think you were hiring one for!?

We could tell the Palace was going to be a bit wild when first entering the bar at 5pm. Lured initially by the for $5 BBQ, but also the cheap beer it was hard not to be put off by the smell of chunder lingering from the previous night. Those in the know though, realise this means a wild night ahead (like, bars with this smell are rarely quiet, are they?)! Had some beers with our BBQ then wondered round town for a while visiting Gilhooly's, Her Majesty's (where we arranged to meet Yvette, but was actually closed), O'Mally's (yet another Irish bar where we did meet Yvette in the end), the Treasury Casino and The Victory (very cool place, with a pretty decedent band playing to boot).

The pubs came thick and fast on our whistle stop tour, but in we had to draw the drinking to a close (for now) after being refused entry to the Adrenaline Bar & PJ's. What? They thought we looked too much like backpackers or something! Still, Yvette was undeterred and took us on a midnight driving tour of her fair city - up to the lookout, past the XXXX brewery, through The Valley (Brisbane's red light zone) and past her place.

After all this it was back to the hostel and the dodgy chunder bar where things were getting a bit lively, well, until 2am when they closed and we got thrown out anyhow.

Monday 23 November 1998

Being a bit sluggish from the previous night we took quiet a while to get organised. The information desk in the Palace was very useful and booked us up some accommodation on Fraser Island, was also handy to find that the government place to get permits to drive there was just across the road. Picked that up and took in some of the sights of Brisbane while on the way to collect the car from it's overnight parking location.

	Brisbane Town Hall, in George Square. A very pleasant place and was even pretty quiet in the Monday morning rush hour (rush? what rush?) at around 9am when this shot was taken.
	Some of the bronze (I think ) figures found in George Square, Brisbane. I don't quiet know the significance of these (the mix of human and animals) but that doesn't matter - very decorative anyhow.
	A small church is another of the older buildings dwarfed by the modern office blocks that surround George Square in central Brisbane.

Everything sorted we headed off to Rainbow beach. After asking advice at another very friendly information desk we decided not to drive on the beach here (save that for Fraser) so had time to take in a relaxing lunch at Archie's Cafe. After lunch took a short (600m) walk through the bush to check out the Carlo Sandblow.

This huge swath of sand appears to be slowly eating the coastal bush. Stepping out of the shade onto it was like suddenly being thrust into the middle of a desert. On the end near the beach this was very windy, which is maybe why this is apparently a top place for gliding from.

	Rainbow Beach and Tin Can bay, as seen from the Carlo Sandblow. Looking North we can also see Fraser Island in the distance.
	Looking out to sea from the bottom of the Carlo Sandblow (well... you could go further down towards the beach, but you'd need mountaineering equipment!). We see Wide Bay from here, the point in distance being Double Island Point, just south of which the wreck of the Cherry Venture lies.

Next stop was the ferry crossing to Fraser Island from Inskip Point. Had an excellent time driving up the beach and then on some inland roads to visit Lake Boomanjin.

	Driving along Seventy Five mile beach, Fraser Island. Lonely Planet describes this as, '...a lawless eight lane highway...', which isn't far from the truth as you can drive just about wherever you like, at whatever speed you fancy - just look out for those streams running down to the sea. The middle section of this beach, near Eurong is also used as an airstrip!
	Lake Boomanjin is the worlds largest perched lake. Some spiel from the information sheet: Perched lakes get their name by being perched above the water table. This is possible as they have a 'hard pan' of organic debris, sand and peat which forms a depression between dunes in which water collects.

The lake was pretty shallow - we waded out a 100 metres or so and still only had water up to the thighs. Apparently this is because these lakes (the perched ones) rely on tropical storms that come through every few years to be filled, and such a storm has not passed by for a while.

	Me looking rugged (well, that's how one very charitable person described this look) sat on the bull bar of the 4WD. Shame about all those Britz stickers (and the sun being in my eyes).
	Me again, taking a walk on Seventy Five Mile Beach, Fraser Island. Shame is, you can't swim here due to strong currents and sharks (apparently).

Back on the coastal beach we drove a little further to the Eurong Beach Resort. Comfortable triple room was a bargain, right next to the beach and not far from the Resort bars and pools (two of each). Had some nice seafood here for dinner followed by a few drinks in the very quiet bar.

The whole place shut down at 11pm (huh!), and I mean totally shut down - they turned off the generator which powered the whole place! Was great to be able to sit on the beach in the middle of the night though, and check out the celestial view. Miles from the lights of any big city this was an outstanding sight on this very clear night.

Tuesday 24 November 1998

We decided to drive north along the beach before heading inland to check out lake Garawongera which was very pleasant with clear, shallow waters and a few reed beds (but not half as nice as what was to come).

	Lake Garawongera (who thinks of these names?), another of Fraser Island's excellent inland lakes. Very clear water and soft white sand on the shores... ah... Oh, but that blot on the landscape is Iain (sorry mate).
	Here's an example of the sort of track you'll find on Fraser Island. Like they say, you won't get far in a conventional vehicle here (there is actually nothing stopping you trying to drive on the island in one), just miles of tracks in this soft white sand mean a 4WD is the only way to go.

More inland driving brought us back to Happy Valley where we took a short break and I had a much required Weiss bar (frozen fruit bar - yum), it being very hot by now.

We then took to the beach once more, driving past the wreck of the Maheno, The Pinnacles (coloured sand formation) and more of Cathedral beach.

	The wreck of the Maheno. This passenger ship was grounded in a cyclone in 1935 while being taken to Japan to be scrapped. Quiet ironic really.
	The Pinnacles are one of the larger examples of coloured sand dunes that this part of Fraser Island (Cathedral Beach) is famous for.

It's a pity the map we had, which was quiet detailed omitted one important piece of info - you can only drive up to Indian Head (where we wanted to see the basalt rock formations) two hours either side of low tide, which was another few hours away - doh!

Drove back to Lake Wabby (another beautiful inland lake), but decided the 45 minute walk down was a bit too long. Very lazy really, as we could see people lazing in the lake and by it's shore and this looked to be a great place to relax. Still, time was not on our side so we decided to move on to the apparently more popular Lake McKenzie.

Lake Wabby is slowly being engulfed by a huge sandblow. To give an idea of scale, this was taken from above (a 45 minute walk away), and those specks down there in the sand are people sunbathing, just a couple of them anyhow.

So glad we did this too, as Lake McKenzie was absolutely perfect -surrounded by totally white sane and with crystal clear waters, you can see why so many people rave about the place. There were quiet a few tour groups here too, the most people we'd seen in one place since on Fraser Island.

No photo can really do justice to the sight that greets you when first emerging from the bush, onto the soft white sand by Lake McKenzie. There's no wonder this is also known as the Window Lake (due to the water's amazing clarity).

After baking in the sun and swimming at Lake McKenzie we continued to drive west and on to the Kingfisher Bay Resort. Very nice place, but not exactly within the average backpacker's budget (no - this is most defiantly not a backpacker's resort). Had a quick jog round the resort and out to the jetty followed by a dip in one of the excellent pools, before dining in The Sand Bar. This was supposedly one of the more lively bars here, but was actually very empty - I think we were the only people there except a single tour group and a few staff on their night off. I stayed for a few more drinks and played pool with the staff as Iain and Adrian piked early.

Wednesday 25 November 1998

How driving times go on Fraser - it took 40 minutes to drive the main (if you can call it that) 18km west - east track back to 75 mile beach, then only another half an hour or so to do the 35k (ish) blast down the beach to Hook Point. In total we travelled 271kms on Fraser and used a full tank (90 litres) of diesel - not the most efficient driving terrain, but defiantly great fun.

	Another example of a 'road' on Fraser Island. This one is the main thoroughfare travelling through thick rainforest between Kingfisher Bay and Eurong.
	Walk just a short distance off the road in Fraser Island you'll see how thick the rainforest is here.

The stupid part of all this was that heading north we passed the turnoff to Hervy Bay (were the Kingfisher Bay Ferry would have taken us) around 1pm - all that extra trouble for a saving of half an hour or so.

Couldn't decided where to stay as we headed north to Rockhampton, but decided on Yeppoon as it would be close enough to take a trip to Great Keppel island in the morning if we chose.

Erm... strange lot up here. Rear window stickers spotted in Rockhampton.

There was no sightseeing today but killed many Ks. Stayed in the basic, but very friendly Barrier Reef Backpackers hostel. Also had an excellent meal at Ayutthaya Thai as recommended by the hostel owners, which was also very friendly.

Went back to the hostel and partook in a few (erm... half a case) of beers and played some pool with the other hostel guests until around 1:30.

Thursday 26 November 1998

Around 100km inland, at end of 35km dirt road, 2km walk and 240 steps the patient traveller is rewarded by the amazingly beautiful sight of Rainbow Falls, which cascade down to the gorge floor through lush rainforest. This looks like a pretty good place to have a swim, but didn't really have time, which was a shame and is a reoccurring problem on this trip.

	Above the main Rainbow Falls, there are several smaller cascades, and a number of swimming holes - just like this one.
	Rainbow falls nestles is a gorge on the Blackdown Tableland, surrounded by tropical plant and wildlife it's a beautiful natural setting.
	Walk further down into the gorge here at Rainbow Falls and the scene just gets better and better.

We were told by a local there were other walks which were better even than this, particularly the Stony Creek trail. These must really be something. There was also a wonderful view over the plane below from just off road, the official lookout (Horseshoe Lookout) was unfortunately closed, undergoing work, but just about anywhere on the plateau would do I'm sure.

Pull off the road on the way up to the Blackdown Tableland and take in this awesome view over the plane, some 600m below.

Made good time on drive down the Fitzroy Developmental Road (an inland road of single and twin lane mix with a couple of flooded crossings) to Airlie beach, but still arrived a bit later for most places and booked into Magnums (Whitsunday Village Resort). This place has a mad reputation and is very basic - but is cheap and does the job.

Had dinner at Beaches but (shocking as it in Airlie) went to bed early (around midnight) as a boat trip the next day was a must and this had to be sorted out early.

Friday 27 November 1998

Sit back and relax as we cruise with Reef Express through the Whitsundays.

After a couple of relaxing hours and some lunch at Whitehaven we left for Mantaray Bay at the north end of Hook Island. Pretty cool place to visit with some good snorkelling (well - not that I'd know as this as the first time for me, but I was quiet impressed) and friendly fish. Actually, I got a bit of a shock when one of the Maori Wrasse first brushed past me. I soon got used to the fish, especially when the cruise hostess threw a load of bread at me as I was in the water preparing to board the boat and was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of 'em (Blue Fusiliers?), a great experience.

	Me on Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island. With perfect silica sand and azure blue waters this is quiet rightly one of the most famous Queensland beaches.
	Shute Harbour, the gateway to the Whitsundays is apparently the busiest port on Australia's East coast (by number of vessels or something like that).

We returned to the shore after this impressive trip around 4:30 and headed straight for the bar, 'just for a quick one' to quench the thirst we'd built up on this oh, so stressful (not!) day. Hmmm... nice plan, but poorly executed and turned into a 13 hour session, taking in drinks at Magnums, some nice food in the imaginatively named Airlie Thai, then more drinks in Magnums before strolling between the main two cubs here (Tricks and Stingers) several times.

After eventually settling at Stingers which seamed to be more popular, ended up leaving at 5:30am - damn, missed the sunrise which is apparently quiet nice here!

Saturday 28 November 1998

Stayed at the excellent Scotty's Beachhouse and had a great meal from the attached bistro. Absolutely dead from the previous night I had to go to bed early, but this proved a bad move, and got up again for an hour or so around 2am, unable to sleep. Still, not too bad a place to do this as sitting by the pool and chatting to some of the other residents was good.

Sunday 29 November 1998

Scotty's Beachhouse in Mission Beach. Very cool and laid back joint, definitely worth a visit for those on the backpacker's trail.

Took the easy route up the coast with only a slight detour to Josephene Falls. This is an excellent place with some nice falls, but the main attractions are the swimming holes, and the natural slide that falls into one - great fun and a good spot to take a cooling break from the hot and humid weather. Spotted a snake like thing (it had some tiny legs, but who know around here?) in the water, but kept it to myself as Iain and Adrian are easily freaked out by such sightings.

	The main swimming hole at Josephine Falls. On a hot and humid day this is well worth a dip in, and we see a natural slide down the smooth rocks to the left - great fun.
	I have several shots of myself coming down this natural slide, but stuck with this one for aesthetic reasons (well - you try and look good while bouncing down a waterfall!).
	Further up from the main pool at Josephine Falls is a smaller one, that the main torrent spills into. Swimming here is not recommended (and is illegal) as it would be easy to get caught in the current generated as all this water passes through a narrow channel and over jagged rocks down to lower pool.

Arriving in Cairns, we checked into the Up Top Down Under hostel on Spence Street (as recommended at the last place). Very nice with good facilities and a decent size pool, which we made immediate use of.

Took the courtesy bus (which run regularly throughout the day and night) into town and wondered around trying to orientate ourselves. Not too hard - Cairns city centre isn't exactly huge, with most things within a few minutes walk of the Esplanade (sea front - but no beach here, which is basically a mud flat!).

Had drinks at Rattle and Hum, and then ate in a close by seafood restaurant (Kini's). Iain and Adrian had an outrageous meal of local delicacies (bugs - big shrimp like things, and crocodile) followed by one and a half lobsters between them, while I stuck with a very nice reef and beef dish.

Although small, the nightlife in Cairns is pretty good (well, for a visitor of a few nights anyhow). Went to the slightly disappointing foam party at Beaches (should have known better really), then visited the Woolshed where we used our free meal vouchers to negotiate entry (apparently most hostels here supply vouchers for free food at the Woolshed). Finding this place actually played decent music (shock! first time this trip) made the most of it and danced around like maniacs. Very much like the bar at Backpackers Palace in Brisbane, but busier, very busy in fact with people dancing all over the bench tables. Didn't partake in this, sticking to the designated dance floor until leaving 3am, with the place still jumping.

Monday 30 November 1998

Doesn't take a genius to work out why (OK - for those who can't, seems her room mate and mine wanted to be alone), and I think I can safely say that this was far better anyhow, as she was a jolly nice lass, supplied some nice cold drinks (lifesaver!) and was very apologetic about the whole situation. Can't think why - like, she thinks I'd prefer some paddy bloke snoring away next to me!

Feeling a bit fragile, took it easy and paid a visit to Palm Cove just half an hour or so north. Really nice place, and very quiet - maybe because we're slightly out of season and the weather was a bit overcast. This was probably for the best though as there was only a tiny bit of the water protected by the stinger net that we would all have had to squeeze into to cool down.

Back in Cairns for dinner, having braved the 'rush' hour drive back (erm... well, it was 5pm, but I can't say I noticed any real change in the traffic) we met up with Richard, Tony and friend in The Underdog for drinks. Wasn't a late night though as first day of my dive course beckoned in the morning.

Tuesday 1 December 1998

Once at the Divers Den site, the morning was an easy introduction session, with quiet a bit of paperwork (and the dive medical) to get out of the way. The afternoon being spent getting our hands on the equipment and doing exercises in the pool. The whole day wasn't exactly taxing, but you don't want to have to think too hard on a holiday such as this, do you?

Went out for dinner to the Firkin Pub (was it the Fox and Firkin?) where I had a huge Mexican dish as everyone else looked on, as they were planning to eat somewhere a bit more posh later on. Stayed here for a while then moved on for drinks at the Woolshed, but I went home early again (well - you have to remember that early on this holiday is midnight) as I was pretty tired and had to contend with the pool again the next morning.

Wednesday 2 December 1998

After the course went down to the town centre to get some postcards (to send home to everyone and wish them a merry Xmas - how weird?), and is just as well this is all I was after as everything seems to close at 5pm on the dot here.

Went to the Reef Teach talk conducted by some mad Irish guy. Shame I don't remember his name, as he was a very good entertainer, as well as being a marine biologist and dive instructor. Some will find his style a bit over the top - it's very much in the Billy Connelly vein. However, if you've got to put on a bit of a show to educate people about the Great Barrier Reef (the creatures out there, how we can protect it and what can be done to save it's environment) then this was the guy to do it.

After the show, I did think about staying home but did the dumb thing and ended up drinking in The Woolshed until 2am.... hmm.....

Thursday 3 December 1998

As we got to Norman Reef (a section named Playground) and took the first open water dive all was cured. The instructors were complaining that the visibility was about as bad as it gets (although I'm sure it was better than the 3m Alex estimated), apparently due to the high winds and tidal currents that we were experiencing (ah... that also explains the bad boat ride out here). This didn't really matter though, as just doing the exercises on the sea bed was pretty cool for one who's not done this sort of thing before.

After lunch did a spot of snorkelling, then transferred to the Ocean Quest which was to be home for the next two nights. Did the second dive of the day and saw more of the reef this time (first meeting with a giant clam and few huge fish). Lazed on the sundeck for a short time before dinner - very nice!

Reef Quest leaving Ocean Quest on her way back to Cairns, with the class of divers who started the course just a couple of days ago - on Saturday this will be me. Reef Quest is the fast transfer vessel (max speed is 24 knots) used to ferry people to and from the outer reef.

After dinner the class took their final dive exam, modesty prevents me from telling who was the only student to get 100% and win a beer (particularly satisfying seeing the Scottish dive instructor dig deep for this). Yeah, right - it was me of course! Was my only one of the night though as diving, not drinking was my mission out here.

Friday 4 December 1998

The 10:45 dive was our last before qualifying, so that was it - certified and allowed to roam free on the from now on. This last dive was filmed by the resident underwater cameraman, who had us doing all sorts of strange stuff on the bottom, like wearing sunnies and Santa hats, and I also chewed his plastic jaws model to show we've no fear of sharks! After all this underwater fun we did the traditional group and individual jumps off the first deck, face pulling, etc... all for the camera you understand.

Had a nice relaxing afternoon of sitting on the sundeck, baking and eating the nice salad buffet lunch while the boat moved to yet another location (Ralph's Rocks). Had a pretty short (half hour) first dive with just my buddy and I at 3:30. We had planned to follow a few other newly qualified people, but seemed to loose them quiet easily, and also managed to get quiet disorientated. Good job all you have to do to get your bearings is surface, find the boat and then float back down again - at least we only had to do this once.

My diving group's first dive without the instructor (as certified divers) was at Ralph's Rocks, Norman Reef. Here's the very artistic map of the area, as drawn by the crew (I don't know which one, as these maps magically appeared each morning as we ate breakfast). The dive master gives an informative and pretty light hearted talk about the area before each dive, pointing possible places of interest, etc.

Sunset on the Great Barrier Reef. As I took this I was asking some of the guys on the boat what that large island in the distance is. How stupid was this? It's Australia, of course!

The final dive of the day came after dinner at 7:30. This is really cool! We followed Alex around the reef in a huge convoy. I think not being able to see anything much (only where you shine your torch) adds to the sensation of weightlessness and flight. The sight of all the other diver's torch beams cutting through the blackness is reminiscent of some space flight movie or something - all very cool.

	A newly certified diver (me!) getting ready for the night dive (around 7:30pm).
	No, don't even think about taking up scuba diving if you're in any way worried about looking stupid in all the gear!

Saturday 5 December 1998

Sunrise on the Great Barrier Reef (5:36am). As the sun rose out to sea, there was still a full moon visible behind me over Australia, very nice.

Had another dive in the Ralph's Rocks area at 6:30, taking an underwater camera we'd hired for the day. Although most of the shots were pretty dodgy, a few turned out OK:

	Give the OK signal and let's take a photo! Rob under the waves on the Great Barrier Reef.
	Some of the aquatic life we saw on this dive - this turtle didn't seem to be even slightly bothered by our presence.
	Scuba diving is great fun... there's plenty of time for fooling around as this shot demonstrates.
	You've probably seen far better pictures of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef before, but I like this one, 'cos I took it!

Another hearty breakfast, and not much more of a break (only 1:20 surface time) and it was time to dive once more. We were now on an area known as Troppo (still Norman reef) where the final two dives of the day would take place.

This was an excellent location, by far the best dive site yet with a huge coral wall from a couple of metres under the surface to over 30 meters deep. At a depth of around 10 meters we could really get that sensation of flight, being able to see the whole depth of the wall from surface to sea bed. We also met Wally, the huge and friendly Maori Wrasse and came across some large shoals of Parrot Fish flying through the water. The whole experience was utterly amazing.

Made good use of this setting to take a couple of pretty long dives, as by now my buddy's air supply was beginning to last a lot longer. We managed to stay down almost 45 minutes each dive, even so, I still had 40% of my air supply left after each one for some reason.

It was with a bit of a deflated feeling I climbed the steps out of the sea for the last time. This is very much like the feeling I get when reaching the bottom of the last ski run of a holiday. Damn! Still... at least there's lots of sun here and a great deck on which to lounge around. This I did for a few hours, listening to music, chatting with the buddies and writing a few postcards until Reef Quest returned to ferry us back to Cairns.

	A few of the group we did our training with decided to stay on board Ocean Quest for another night (and to take the advanced divers course). This was taken from Reef Quest as we left them and started the trip to shore.
	Ocean Quest - the vessel that has been home for the last two nights. This is actually a converted fishing trawler, not that'd you guess when on board. Whoever did the conversion must have had some mighty powerful air freshener!
	Almost back on dry land - the view of Cairns marina as we near the end of the trip.

That evening we hung out at the Cock and Bull (apparently a well known dive joint) and joined up with a couple of other dive groups who had recently completed courses at Diver's Den. Also had a great laugh at one group of Japanese guys who were apparently due to take their final exams the next morning. Rather them than me... especially after the round after round of strange mixes they were on. Of course, we were having some fun and games too - taking in a few schooners though the snorkel (specially modified with a funnel at the top), and followed them with a few more.

Sunday 6 December 1998

Not much else to say today... cab to airport... flight home to Sydney... rest and recuperate for the coming week.