22 November - 6 December 1998

November 1998 Pics Text

	23 November 1998 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.
	23 November 1998 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.
	23 November 1998 A small church is another of the older buildings dwarfed by the modern office blocks that surround George Square in central Brisbane.
	23 November 1998 Rainbow Beach and Tin Can bay, as seen from the Carlo Sandblow. Looking North we can also see Fraser Island in the distance.
	23 November 1998 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.
	23 November 1998 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!
	23 November 1998 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.
	23 November 1998 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).
	23 November 1998 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).
	24 November 1998 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).
	24 November 1998 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.
	24 November 1998 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.
	24 November 1998 The Pinnacles are one of the larger examples of coloured sand dunes that this part of Fraser Island (Cathedral Beach) is famous for.
	24 November 1998 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.
	24 November 1998 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).
	25 November 1998 Another example of a 'road' on Fraser Island. This one is the main thoroughfare travelling through thick rainforest between Kingfisher Bay and Eurong.
	25 November 1998 Walk just a short distance off the road in Fraser Island you'll see how thick the rainforest is here.
	25 November 1998 Erm... strange lot up here. Rear window stickers spotted in Rockhampton.
	26 November 1998 Above the main Rainbow Falls, there are several smaller cascades, and a number of swimming holes - just like this one.
	26 November 1998 Rainbow falls nestles is a gorge on the Blackdown Tableland, surrounded by tropical plant and wildlife it's a beautiful natural setting.
	26 November 1998 Walk further down into the gorge here at Rainbow Falls and the scene just gets better and better.
	26 November 1998 Pull off the road on the way up to the Blackdown Tableland and take in this awesome view over the plane, some 600m below.
	27 November 1998 Sit back and relax as we cruise with Reef Express through the Whitsundays.
	27 November 1998 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.
	27 November 1998 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).
	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.
	29 November 1998 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.
	29 November 1998 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!).
	29 November 1998 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.

December 1998 Pics Text

	4 December 1998 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.
	4 December 1998 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.
	4 December 1998 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!
	4 December 1998 A newly certified diver (me!) getting ready for the night dive (around 7:30pm).
	4 December 1998 No, don't even think about taking up scuba diving if you're in any way worried about looking stupid in all the gear!
	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.
	5 December 1998 Give the OK signal and let's take a photo! Rob under the waves on the Great Barrier Reef.
	5 December 1998 Some of the aquatic life we saw on this dive - this turtle didn't seem to be even slightly bothered by our presence.
	5 December 1998 Scuba diving is great fun... there's plenty of time for fooling around as this shot demonstrates.
	5 December 1998 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!
	5 December 1998 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.
	5 December 1998 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!
	5 December 1998 Almost back on dry land - the view of Cairns marina as we near the end of the trip.

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