Whitsunday Islands, Fraser Island and my Alternative Christmas
Hope everyone has had a good Christmas and Santa has been good to you all. It may sound rather sad, but it’s Boxing Day and I have decided that I need to stay out of the sun a bit, avoid beer and other corrupting influences for at least a couple of hours. If you can’t already tell, Christmas in Byron Bay is fantastic and certainly something that will be hard to forget, but more of that later.
First was sailing in the Whitsunday Islands. The Whitsundays are a
group of around 90 or so mainly deserted tropical islands that provide some of the best sailing and diving anywhere in Australia.
So, having booked into a 3 day-2 night cruise on a boat called Ragamuffin 2 (thanks for the suggestion, girls), we all booked in to meet the 12 others on the tour and to meet the skipper and the host. From the minute we all met, it was clear that the trip would be amusing, fun filled few days with everyone determined that we were going to have a good time.
The advantage of this type of smaller boat is that everyone gets a real opportunity to get to know everyone on board, and it was the real mix of people that made it so special. From Canadians, a couple from Colorado, couple of Dutch, a “maturer” Swedish couple (nicknamed Ken and Barbie, I’ll allow your imagination to kick in for that one), a couple of Brits and a mad Irish man, it was a really good group, and everyone seemed to get on amazingly well.
What did we do? Well, we ate the most amazing food (even for us vegetarians), swam, snorkelled, swam some more, read, walked in tropical rainforests and did a lot of sun baking, all the time admiring the amazing views. Highlight of the three day trip was in no doubt the half day on Whitehaven Beach, a most stunning group of bays, with the most incredible glowing white sand. As the group had arrived early we had the advantage of an almost deserted beach to ourselves. It was fantastic to see the group from the boat, everyone was grinning from ear to ear, not believing the surroundings that they were in.
Next was onto Fraser Island for a 3 day-2 night camping and 4 wheel drive Safari on the biggest Sand Island in the world. Again, this type of trip very much relies on the group you are allocated, and for the most part the group was great (although there were rather too many English people in my opinion).
The trip started with a group shopping trip (enough food and booze for 11 people for 3 days!!). I have spoken to people who have claimed that this part can make or break a trip, as the whole shopping experience can get highly stressful. Fortunately however, our group all had similar ideas so there were no real disagreements. So after a safety briefing (Fraser has more accidents than anywhere else in Australia), we were released onto the Island along with 10 or so other tours.
I had never driven a 4 wheel drive vehicle before, but it was one of the most fun experiences that I have had, wrestling a Land Cruiser around terrain that you doubt could be driven on is a real buzz and driving along the beach which is both considered a motorway and a run way is a real surreal experience (the sun gets rock hard in the baking sand).
It’s also hard to describe a day on Fraser as they just seem to be a real mixture of driving, swimming in awesome lakes, rolling down huge sand dunes and setting up camp for the evening festivities. One of the famous factors on Fraser Island are the wild Dingoes that roam the beaches, and take a lot of effort to keep away from tents and food, to the horror of one group who lost bread, cheese and a pair of Teva’s.
After the hectic last few weeks I had a relaxing few days in a town called Noosa Heads, a fantastic sea-side town loved by surfers and those with a few dollars to spend, the hotels and some of the shops around the main street are something else. It was also here that I sorted out accommodation for Byron Bay, I would not be sleeping on the beach, what a relief, but the hostel is by far the most expensive I’ve stayed in so far (A$30 a night).
Byron Bay is a beautiful setting, cool massive beaches, with some of the best surfing in Australia, surrounded by awesome mountains. The town also has a huge alternative feel to it, with hippies, jugglers, fireweavers all intermingling with the tourists and locals. It’s a really friendly place. Also for the size of town it has an amazing array of good bars, clubs, cafes and pubs. After a brief trip to Nimbin for Christmas supplies, we were all set for a great Christmas Day.
My Christmas as well as everyone else’s has been the most surreal that I have lived through but, as everyone has agreed, it has been one of the coolest. From boogie boarding first thing in the morning (along with a pod of Dolphins who came along to play), to lying on the beach with half of Byron Bay, to watching fireweavers and listening to awesome Didgeridoo players as the sun set (ahh, only in Australia), to falling asleep on the beach in front of a huge fire to the sound of Bongo’s and guitars, the whole day was amazing.
It’s days like those that you also get to meet some great new friends (an ex-semi professional surfer from LA, a large contingent of Canadians, a couple of South Africans, English, Irish, Spanish, Danish, Dutch and Swedish). I don’t think I want to have another cold Christmas Day again…….
I’m seeing in the New Year in Byron Bay, as it’s such an amazing place.
Apparently New Years is even madder than Christmas, so I just hope that my body can cope. After that I will be needing another holiday to recover!!