G’day from Australia! (Part II)
Updated January 2nd, 2001
Our second day started very early, as most of the group had requested a pre-dawn wake-up call to catch the sunrise. So, at 4:45 a.m., John politely came around and banged on our tents with a spatula.
We breakfasted on corn flakes, greasy bacon, flat pancakes and mangled eggs, and then we set out. Our first stop? The toilet! And then, on to Eli Creek, a crystal clear stream whose temperature rarely rises above 11°C (about 55°F).
Again, I decided against a swim, but the rest of the group braved a dip. From there, we made quick stops at the Maheno Shipwreck, an old ship that ran aground many years ago and is slowly eroding away on the beach; then the colored sands; and then we headed to the Champagne Pools, rocky outcrops of coral that are close enough to the water to be filled during high tide.
On the way to the pools, Henry earned the respect of the group and John with his superb driving abilities through the thick, soft, boggy sand. Where many others had gotten stuck and had to back out and retry several times, he made it through successfully on the first attempt, amid cheers from the entire group.
After lunch we walked up Indian Head, one of the two volcanic peaks on the island. It is just out into the water, and so offers an excellent vantage point for spotting turtles, dolphins, stingrays and even, possibly, sharks. We sat up there for some time, in hopes of seeing something deadly, but ultimately we had to settle for one lone sea turtle.
The third day was, again, an early one. John started banging on his pot at about 6 a.m. – his version of an alarm clock.
Our first stop, after the toilet of course, was Lake Wabby. Since we hadn’t showered in three days (we were bush camping so there were no showers), I was in need of a dip and decided to brave the water this time. Much to my chagrin, this turned out to be the coldest swim to date, and the sun promptly ducked behind a cloud just as I dove in. I warmed up quickly, though, on the walk back to the truck, we traversed a massive sandblow. We were thoroughly impressed by its vastness, and by the smoothness and beige color of the sand.
After breaking down camp and packing up, we went for another swim in the deep aquamarine-colored waters of Lake Birrabean. Looking at the lake was like looking at the sky on a perfectly clear day. The milky white beach enhanced the color of the water even more. Of course, I didn’t swim – but I did have a nice nap on the beach. From there, we drove back to the ferry and then had a quiet ride back to the hostel.
After the intense three days on Fraser, we then spent a few relaxing days on the beach in Noosa. From Noosa, we stopped in Byron Bay for a day, long enough to watch the dolphins bounce in and out of the surf while sunning ourselves on one of the more remote beaches in the area. We then hopped on another night bus (yes, we’re gluttons for punishment) to Newcastle for a tour of the Hunter Valley wineries.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that Newcastle is quite charming; there’s a quaintness to the buildings that we hadn’t found in any other Australian city. We got up the next morning, ready for our vineyard tour, when Henry discovered that his wallet was not where he thought he’d left it.
We searched through everything but came up with nothing. To make matters worse, our bizarre roomie came in moments later whispering about his missing wallet. Of course, we immediately thought that he’d taken Henry’s. We talked to the guy at the front desk, who promptly called the police. As luck would have it, just as the police arrived, Henry found the wallet buried in the bottom of his backpack! Lucky that we’d found it, but unlucky that we had missed the tour pick-up. We quickly regrouped and decided to rent a car and tour the vineyards by ourselves.
We ended up with a wonderful day, in spite of the rough start. We sampled wines from the Tyrell, McGuigan, Lindeman’s, and Pepper Tree vineyards and even had an excellent tour while at the Tyrell winery. We did have another potential problem when leaving, though: Henry had locked the keys in the car! Fortunately, the hatchback was unlocked, and we could move the seat enough to unlock the door.
From Newcastle we breezed through Sydney’s Central Station and hopped on a train for the Blue Mountains, a lovely spot about 100 km west of Sydney. We spent a day exploring the area and hiking through the valley. Back in Sydney two days later, we had a shockingly humorous introduction to our visit. Most of the budget places are in King’s Cross, the "red-light district," where seedy nightclubs lined the main drag. There are so many backpackers walking around, though, that it’s hard to take any of it seriously.
We stayed at the Backpacker Connection, which is really an old apartment building that has been converted into a budget accommodation. After roaming around over the next couple of days, we discovered that the better backpacker places are another block over, on Victoria Street.
Our five days in Sydney were mixed with sightseeing and preparing for Southeast Asia. We walked to the Harbour Bridge and around the Opera House; went out to Macquarie’s Point to get a view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House; took a ferry to Watson’s Bay, where we walked to the South Head of Sydney harbour and then had some delicious fish and chips at Doyle’s; spent an afternoon watching the sunseekers at Manly beach; and finished it all with a Christmas-themed laser light show at Darling Harbour. We had a wonderful time exploring all that Sydney has to offer; it’s definitely a beautiful city, and it served as an excellent culmination of our weeks in Australia.
Coming soon: 12 eventful days on the island of Bali. Stay tuned!