Posts Tagged With: Fraser Island

Day 26: Next Stop Brisbane

Posted on January 11, 2012 by annhoran

Today I leave Fraser Island and head to Brisbane for one night.  We travel by bus from Hervey Bay to Brisbane, so this will be my opportunity to see a small section of the East Coast.  I am looking forward to the bus ride.

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I met a cute guy on the bus.  His name is Brandon and he is 11 years old.  Like me, he was travelling solo and we soon became friends.  I suspect we had the oldest bus and the gruffest driver in Australia.   All was well for the first 200 kilometres or so.  Problems started when the air conditioning unit started to blow out hot air.  We suffered in sauna like conditions for up to half an hour.  Then the engine overheated, the driver got stressed and finally the bus broke down.

I told Brandon not to worry.  Worst case, I would call a taxi and he could come to Brisbane with me.  He phoned his Mum and she said that was fine and “not to forget to say thank you”.  I was rather surprised by her relaxed attitude.

We eventually made it to Brisbane and dropped our travelling companions to the airport, hopefully on time for their flights.  We were all good friends by this stage and wished one another fond farewells.

Ann x

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Bird Watching on Fraser Island

Posted on January 10, 2012 by annhoran

This morning I got up at 6.00am to go bird watching.

At this point, members of my family are gasping and in various states of shock. Is this really my mother / daughter / sister / auntie, bird watching? She would never have the patience for that! It just goes to show how relaxed I am feeling and how intent on enjoying every aspect of this holiday.

Nick, the Ranger and I wandered through the wetlands behind the hotel and then down on the beach with our binoculars, on the lookout for birdlife. We saw some interesting species (apologies to any real bird fanciers reading this, I don’t quite recall which particular species). We also saw Dingo footprints on the beach – fresh footprints. As it happened, I was the only holiday maker keen enough to get up at that hour to go bird watching. I enjoyed myself and the grounds of the resort where we wandered are just “out of this world”.

Having had a mostly lazy morning, I decided to join the 3.00pm ranger guided “Mangrove Walk”. This was another beautiful and enjoyable walk, which involved us covering ourselves with Mangrove mud and walking the length of the beach until it dried off. My skin will never be the same again 🙂

Ann x

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Fraser Island (a World Heritage Site)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by annhoran

Greetings from Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island.  I now know that Fraser Island is a giant sand dune, 150km long and between 15 and 22 kilometres wide.  In the middle of the island, there are fresh water lakes and creeks and the whole island is held together by a network of trees, plants and grass.  Since 1992, this Island is a designated World Heritage Site.  My colleague, Liann, was right – it is a beautiful place.

I gleaned all of this information on this morning’s 4 wheel drive bus tour.  “Sit back, buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride”, ordered our driver.  He wasn’t kidding.  The “roads” are all made of sand and they are bumpy.  When you get to the far side of the Island, to 75 Mile Beach you are on the highway, which is also the beach and yes, it is 75 miles long.

There were 40 of us on the island tour and they were a very friendly group, helped by having a good bus driver, Paul.  Paul worked in retail up until 4 months ago and he is now a driver and tour guide in this lovely resort.  So my idea of the day is for Stephen.  How about getting a HGV licence and becoming a tour guide?  It’s a great job.

Ann x

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Its Raining in Alice Springs

Posted on January 8, 2012 by annhoran

My bus driver told me that he lived in Alice Springs for 10 years and for 7 of those years, there was no rain.  I am here for 5 days and it’s raining cats and dogs. We’ve just had the most dramatic thunder storm.  Now I am excited because we will cross the River Todd on the way to the airport this morning and it might have flowing water for the first time in 18 months. Outside my window, everything looks so fresh. Its funny how your perception of rain changes away from home.

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My fantasy of flying being just like hopping on a bus, came true today.  I was supposed to fly from Alice Springs to Brisbane and take the coach to Hervey Bay.  Instead, when I checked in at Alice Springs Airport, I was handed two boarding passes and my luggage was automatically checked through to Hervey Bay.  Hopefully the airport is close to the ferry port and my luggage makes it all the way.  I am due to catch the ferry this evening to Liann’s favourite place, Fraser Island.

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There was a bit of confusion over my travel arrangements today.   All’s well that ends well. I arrived on Fraser Island 3 hours ahead of schedule.  It is beautiful but more on that tomorrow.

Ann x

Categories: Travel, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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