Friday April 21
Alright, so here's what we did on our Easter break...
We Thursday afternoon on a bus up North to Hervey Bay, where we spent the night and then got on a ferry to Fraser Island.
We started off with beautiful weather. Our ferry ran over a turtle on the way, but no worries because it was already dead. It had no head!
Fraser Island is the World's largest sand island. It is all protected land, and the only way to get around is with 4WD vehicles on the bumpy sand roads.
On day1 we visited a few beautiful freshwater beaches and had them all to ourselves. Our tour group of about 30 is over there.
We then walked barefoot through an amazing forest! Besides the rest of the group, not a soul was around.
We took our sweet time taking in the huge trees and strange wildlife
We didn't stray off the sand path too much for fear of creepy crawlies.
ME CHELSEA. CHELSEA KING OF JUNGLE. CHELSEA SWING ON VINE AND TALK TO ANIMAL
The nature walk was probably our favourite part of the Fraser Island weekend, though its a tough choice.
One of the many unique wonders of Fraser Island, the Guana plant, can be seen growing on the trunks of many trees.
Green is one of the best colours around, don't you agree?
Fraser Island is also home to the purest breed of Dingoes. Hold on to your babies as you leave the gated area.
Another of the many freshwater beaches on Fraser. Great place to play some frisbee!
Chelsea's intense fear of spiders has transformed into a sick fascination with them. She was known to the rest of the group as "spider girl". That was, of course, after she was known as "hangover girl".
We spent the nights at a hostile on the Island. The Dingo bar was the place to be, with great food and fun. They even played Bohemian Rhapsody (at our request)
Although the were some great ocean beaches, we weren't allowed to swim because of sharks. Good a reason as any.
The main 'highway" of the island. This beach stretches 100 km from one end of the island to the other.
Beautiful coloured sands. The orange colour is due to the iron content (or something... ask Chelsea later)
The only bad part was that our tour kept making us change spots! We would have been glad to hang out here for the day...
There are sharks in these waters! BEWARE!!
We later spotted a shark off of Indian Head. The people swimming 30 feet away didnt seem to care, though.
Another walk on the second day was great, too. Spider girl loved this, a St Andrew's Cross
Sand dunes next to Lake Wabbi, another nice place to swim and hang out.
Looking down at Lake Wabbi before our trek across the sand dunes.
The sand is so fine! It doesn't taste too great though... yeah... there was a bit of a mixup between yeast and sand on pizza night... crunchy unrisen pizza! MMMM
These little holes are all over the place... they are likely homes for deadly funnel web spiders
Here's the gang we spent most of our Fraser Island time with. We now have some Canadian friends we can stay with at Surfer's Paradise! YEAH!!! =)
And the sun sets as we return to mainland... We then board a bus heading North to Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays
The beautiful Whitsunday Islands, on the Great Barrier Reef. Our sailboat took this route.
We spent the first night in this Hayman Island cove. Right off the beach is some of the best snorkling in the Whitsundays. We saw tons of amazing fish and coral. We even got to hang out with Elvis.
Elvis (check out those lips) is a friendly 1.5 m giant wrasse, which are known as the Labradors of the sea. Elvis came right up to us and we got to pet her! According to the skipper, wrasses have the texture of lobster but the taste of some of the best crab.
We had crazy winds and got to experience some hardcore sailing! We even went through a bit of a squall on the second day! YARRRRRRRR
We could see the mast bending in the winds! YEAH!!
We had to hang on tight as we raced along. I swear at times the boat was nearly sideways!
Looking down onto Whitehaven Beach. The sand is 98% silica, so fine that you can use it to polish your jewelry without scratching it.
Our week was over before we knew it, though we both could have stayed on the boat forever. Whitsundays were great, we will return one day (if we can afford it)
