A Trip Down Under-Part 2

Ok...let's see, where did I leave off...

Day 4- After a

night on the train unable to see any of the countryside (very disappointing) we arrived to Brisbane at 6:30 a.m. We made our way quickly to the hostel and we were able to switch our reservation since they weren't expecting us until tomorrow night. Surprisingly we were able to get right into our room... a nice surprise. Unfortunately, we found the hostel to be pretty undesirable. It was dirty, the doors were thin so you were able to hear even the whispers of the people in the hallway and the sheets on the beds were stained. We decided only to stay here one night since we were already locked in. We dropped our bags, found a hearty breakfast and headed off to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This was a special treat. We spent the day admiring the cuddly koalas who were lazily perched in trees munching on eucalyptus (I got to hold one and snuggle with it. It was so great!! Super soft and snuggly!), play in an open field with wallabies and kangaroos petting and feeding them, see a bird show, watch the herding and sheering of sheep and see numerous other animals inside the sanctuary. It was delightful to spend the day with the variety of animals

found in Australia. At the end of the day we gathered with others to feed the rainbow lorikeets. A wet, mushy, oatmeal-type porridge was placed into containers and the birds came flocking in with a thunderous roar. There were over a hundred birds! We held the containers and the birds climbed all over us to get to the food. At one point I had 2 or 3 birds on my head. I'll have to get that photo from Maren. The birds were so beautifully colored! After that experience we headed back in town, did some shopping ate dinner and headed to the hostel for a less than restful night sleep.

Day 5- After breakfast we headed to the information center to see about booking some excursions. We were able to book a 2-day trip to Fraser Island which had been recommended by an Australian friend of mine. The kind lady also got us a great price in a nice hotel...much better than the hostel! Two women at the information center were getting excited about some big sales happening at several stores. They kindly shared the names of the stores and locations with us and off Maren and I went to boost the Australian economy! I had been looking forward to an opportunity to buy some new clothes and this was it! I came away with several pairs of much needed shoes and some clothing. We also found a farmers market where we picked up some fresh produce to take with us on our adventure to Fraser Island, we did some shopping for opals (which are mined in Australia...there are opals being sold everywhere!!!) and after another long day on our feet we headed to the hotel and prepared for our trip the next day.

Day 6- We met up with our tour guide, Eugene, and the 5 other others in our tour group.

Eugene was a most interesting individual. A man in his early 40's (my guess) with long, curly hair and a goatee who loved music (we listened to AC/DC for most of the 3 hour drive to the island) and also composes his own music (he just released his first album...more on that later). The others in our group included a young couple who had just gotten engaged a few days earlier (cute story), a girl from Germany, a guy from England and another girl from England. It was a great group with fun dynamics. Once we arrived to Fraser Island we realized why people kept telling us to go with a tour company rather than on our own. The Island is one huge sand dune and unless you know how to maneuver a jeep in the sand you are out of luck...we saw several vehicles that had gotten bogged down in the sand. The sand was such a light color and the ocean was a beautiful blue. A beautiful sight. Immediately Eugene began pointing out the variety of bird life on the island. We also saw several dingos (wild dogs) on the beach. Most of the day we spend driving along the beach exploring the island. We stopped to meander through a creek with crystal clear water and we passed by another creek with deep red water colored by one of the native trees. It was interesting to see it spill into the ocean and turn the water in that area red. We also stopped for a bush walk. We walked barefooted on the sand through the rainforest admiring the plant life. Unfortunately, my little toe met up with a tree root leaving me fairly certain it broke my toe. Very painful, I don't recommend it. Made walking a little tough for the rest of the trip. Anyway. As we reached the top of our walk, which was a steady incline up, up, up we found ourselves at the top of sand dune which we then walked down a ways and found a beautiful lake where we stopped to rest and enjoy the view (and try to recover from the intense pain of a broken toe). All too soon it was time to head back down the path...ouch! We got back in the jeep and began the drive to the house we'd spend the night at. As we drove I noticed something out in the water...what was it? a fin? I had heard Eugene talk about the sharks that trolled the waters near the beach but wasn't sure if that's what I was seeing. When I decided that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me that there there was actually something jumping out of the water I asked Eugene if it was a shark. We got closer and he got excited. Not a shark...a dolphin! One lone dolphin swimming through the water, and jumping through the air in order to catch our attention. It was a beautiful sight as the sun was beginning to set. Eugene cooked us up a dinner of hamburgers and we asked him to play us some music. He pulled out his guitar and harmonica and gave us a concert. It was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated. He then pulled out his CD and informed us that we could take a piece of him home with us for a mere $25. Um, kind but no thanks. As the evening progressed and intoxication settled in the evening became more interesting. We began learning drinking games from around the world. We were all laughing our heads off, even those of us who were alcohol-free...perhaps especially those of us who were alcohol free! It was decided that a trip to the pub was in order via the beach so we all climbed back into the van and Eugene drove us up the beach a little ways. We got out to admire the night sky. It was majestic! It's been a long time since I've experienced a night sky with very little light pollution. Stars were falling from the sky left and right and the milky way showed herself in all her glory...a truly beautiful night. Maren and I would have preferred to just stay on the beach admiring the sky rather than heading to the pub but in an effort to be "dingo safe" we decided against the possible danger of that option. The local pub was full of young kids (i'd guess most of them between 18-21) who were in costumes they had put together using the props from their hotel rooms. They had a costume contest, played drinking games and consumed an amazing amount of fluid. Anyway, Maren and I decided it was a bit much for us so we headed out seeking a different environment. Most of our group also decided they were ready to turn in but Eugene wasn't expected to come get us for a while longer so we decided to try making our way back to the house on our own. After we began our journey we realized that none of us really knew exactly how to get home. We just knew that we had driven up the beach a ways. We walked and walked and tried to find the right road (there weren't many to choose from). After a while we doubled back and decided on a road that ended up leading up home safely. Exhausted we all fell into bed. Unfortunately, the pain of my poor toe kept me awake most of the night.

Day 7- I really wanted to see the sun rise over the ocean but I was so tired and my foot hurt so

badly I just couldn't get out of bed in time. Finally at 6:30 I decided it was pointless to stay in bed any longer so I got up, got dressed and forced myself to walk to the beach despite the pain. I walked through the cool water hoping to draw out the inflammation in my foot, enjoyed watching the birds and welcomed in the rolling waves. About 7:30 Maren joined me and at 8 we headed back to the house to find that everyone had finally rolled out of bed. It was a slow morning despite Eugene's efforts to hurry everyone along. Disappointingly, the slow morning resulted in a much condensed version of a morning bushwalk through the rainforest. What we did see, however, was beautiful. We saw the very rare shiny black cockatoo, a kookaburra, we learned about indigenous plants, saw magnificent trees and admired the handiwork of God. Then it was off to a fresh water lake. White sand, clear water...beautiful. It was only about 10 a.m. or so and still a bit cool but the water was too beautiful to pass up so I down to my swim suit and went for a dip. Cold but refreshing! I shared the lake with turtle. We stayed for about an hour or so and then it was time to have lunch and head back to Brisbane.

Day 8- Back in Brisbane we spend the morning riding the ferry up the river as we explored different parts of the city. To our surprise we turned a bend and there, on the cliff was a Mormon temple! What a beautiful sight. I knew there was a temple there but didn't expect to see it like this! When we had gone far enough we jumped off the ferry and caught a ferry headed back the other direction. We hopped off at one stop and began exploring. We found a beautiful church, ate our lunch and then headed to the botanical gardens where we spent several hours. Then we wandered through more of the city, shopping along the way, of course. Then we picked up our bags from the hotel and headed to the airport to fly to Cairns for several days at the Great Barrier Reef! YIPPEEE!!!