Apr 2008

Today is a public holiday in Australia and most stores are closed. In the morning there is a parade through Brisbane with all the armed forces represented and veterans marching along with family members. The Australians seem to honour their armed forces highly and treat Anzac day as their chance to reinforce that view. People line the streets and sporadic applauds rings out. The parade ends around midday.

There's not much time left after doing a few basic things like washing my clothes (it's the butler's day off) etc. My flight to Melbourne is at 5:30pm.

I arrive at my hostel in Melbourne around 7pm and have a wonder around the streets a little. I will be leaving early in the morning for another excursion.

Today I'm going to get a little 'Kulchur' in. The museum visit didn't take long and it included a visit up the clock tower of the town hall. Once the tallest building in Brisbane it is dwarfed by skyscrapers.

The 'botanical gardens' are 'parks' as we know them in England. Really nice parks at that. It can't take much persuasion to go and play Rounders or football with a group of friends in the park when the weather is so good, and there are plenty of people doing it.

Food, TV, bed - that's all for the rest of today.

Travelled back to Brisbane via Greyhound bus today. An early start and lots and lots of hours.

l sat next to a guy named Michael. He told me of his travels to many countries and adventures. In comparison to what he had done, I am on a weekend break. I would guess he was in his mid fifties, but this didn't stop him working just long enough to earn enough money to travel for a few months. If it's an addiction I think he may have it.

I have a short stroll around Brisbane and crash out at the hostel.

It's the second and last day at Fraser island. Those who may have spotted a 'shark fin' in the background of a photo yesterday may be disappointed to learn that it was actually the head of a person who was swimming at the time. No, it hasn't been severed by a shark either. However, later in the day on Tuesday I did have an encounter with a wild animal.

All is well in the camp. Everyone slept okay and we're all ready to go again. There is a towel at the bottom of the door of the room where the the girls are sleeping. One of the girls' is so paranoid of spiders coming into the dormitory that she has put the towel there to stop them. I really wish I had a plastic spider to put under the towel !

We have a similar day to yesterday, sun, sea, beach, walk, etc. It's all good. We're asked if we would like to pay $70 to fly over the island. An eight-seater light aircraft takes off from the beach and takes us for a 15 minute flight over the island. The flight is over in a flash and we land back on the beach.

Amongst the stories Ranger Bob tells us about is one about the Dingo's. This is the largest predator in the island and they kill and eat anything smaller than them. Although they look as cuddly as a labrador, they behave like wolves. We're told about the exploits of Scarface, an Alpha male, who has to resist the challenge of other Dingo's in the pack. Every year three or four will challenge for the position of top dog. The fights are usually very short and violent with the winner tearing out the throat of the challenger. It's a life or death struggle in the true sense. We all hope to see a dingo during our drive but it doesn't happen.

Early in the evening about 5:30pm we return to our base. A dingo was spotted on the edge of the forest but then disappears. Later on, we are back at our accommodation and about to have an evening meal. A dingo comes up to our area probably having smelled the food. We later discovered he is the Alpha male. He lies down with his head on his two front paws on the grass just 10 metres or so away from our eating area. He doesn't seem too worried about the number of people taking his photograph. I thought I might have a really good photo if I walked around to his front and got a little closer. As I knelt down to take my photo he decided to stand up and walk towards me. He stood less than a metre away from me. We were face to face. I wasn't about to blind him with a camera flash unless it upset him, and I felt a little nervous. After a few seconds he turned and walked away. I got the poorest photo of him and I was the nearest to him. I don't think I was in danger but it didn't feel that way. Here's a picture of him,but not the encounter itself:

Russia, England, Germany, France, Singapore, Ireland, Israel, USA, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand. What do these places have in common ? The answer is that these are the places that people on my bus trip to Fraser Island are from. And amazingly, everyone get's on with everyone else really well. We will be on the island for two days.

One of the first things I learn is that this island has a beach that is 75 miles long. I assumed this was a small place. A boat takes us from Hervey bay to the island in about half an hour. Today we are taken to two of the lakes and given time to relax and swim. The most famous of the lakes is Lake Mackenzie. The water is very clean and clear.

We are then taken to a beach and again given time to relax and swim. The water is an amazing turquoise colour and very clean. Here's a picture of me about to dive in.

Okay, I'm not about to dive in just at this moment, but you can see the water behind me and the fine sand. Fraser island had an Aboriginal name meaning 'paradise.' It's certianly pretty and much more.

Our guide (or Ranger as they call themselves) is a guy named Bob. He's originally from New Zealand but has settled in Australia with his Australian wife. He has many stories to tell us and some of them take a while to tell, as he does tend to carry on a bit, but you can't fault his enthusiasm. He's also our driver. Our vehicle is a cross between a big truck and a coach. Some of the tracks we drive along are very bumpy and sometimes steep too. As passengers we find ourselves being thrown up out of our seats from time to time. Another option on these to trips is to self-drive, i.e. to join a group of say ten others and have the freedom to drive anywhere around Fraser island in a 4x4 jeep type vehicle, where you wish to, within limits. You can camp out in the open and cook your own food. While on the trip I'm on, takes you to a dormitory to sleep, we have warm showers and nice warm food to eat in the evening. Both types of trip have their pros and cons.

In the evening we meet up at the main resort hut of Kingfisher bay to have our evening meal, drinks at the bar, play pool and socialise. I wish I was back home, it's really tough out here.