The morning of our departure began with a bang. Literally, as we were woken by the sounds of a fight outside our rooms. Gerard (a Canadian) and an unknown man were duking it out, grappling with each other as we all watched from the sidelines, unsure of whether to intervene. The scrap finally ended when the unknown guy grabbed onto Gerard’s balls, making it very painful for the Canadian. Others intervened and the two were broken up. We later found out that this unknown guy was actually mentally unstable and that he had attacked another roommate of his before Gerard got involved. And thus my time at Asylum came to an end.
Guillaume, Jean-Michel, and I began our departure
plans. Having suffered from a perforated
ear drum, Guillaume took himself off to the doctors while Jean-Michel and I
secured a rental car for the ride down, a white Ford Station wagon. The trip would take us fifteen days to
complete, landing us in Brisbane on July 31st.
Guillaume returned with a diagnosis that he needed to see an
ear specialist, so we decided to stop somewhere along our journey to see
one. With a final farewell to everyone
we met in Cairn’s we began our drive!
It was 3pm by the time we left, so we settled on staying at
Mission Beach for the night. We picked
up a chicken for dinner and made our way to the hostel, Jackaroos. It was located outside of Mission Beach and
we had to drive down a gravel road in the dark to find it. We were pleasantly surprised when we got
there. Jackaroo’s was a hostel tucked
away in the rainforest, surrounded by the sounds of nature and quite a nice
start to our trip. Our night unfolded
with a great meal, some competitive foosball and some good conversations with other
backpackers.
An early rise gave me a chance to begin my morning exercises
once more and to relax before we were to leave.
Gemma (one of the girls we had met the night before) was due to leave
the next day and our paths were likely to cross so we swapped contact
info. And then we checked out the
beach! Mission Beach spanned a fair
distance and the two Quebecois and I relaxed on the sand and played some
Frisbee. There were also plenty of
wallabies around town and we enjoyed the sight of them hopping around.
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| Cassowary!! |
We hit the road later in the afternoon, hoping to make it to
Cardwell. This would just be an
overnight stop as it was halfway between Mission Beach and Townsville, and we
would be staying in a motel room as the hostels were full up. We had just finished a rainforest walk along
the way when we spotted it. The elusive
Cassowary! This is a rare bird located
in North Queensland which (if approached) can be incredibly dangerous. It has a retractable claw (much like a
velociraptor) that has been known to cause severe damage to soft tissue.
So we slowed down and took lots of pictures. The cassowary also had a youngling with
it....BONUS!!
We celebrated that night in our motel room with a hearty
meal composed of Kangaroo steak, and some potatoes and carrots. Not to mention a few cups of goon!
I should note that I switched up my drinking habits. I had decided that beer, and rum and coke was
bleeding my wallet dry. So I would try
the goon diet with the Quebecois. Goon
is just the word for cheap, boxed wine.
I had a taste for dry white, so we managed to find a box of 4 litres to
share for $11. Not too shabby!
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| Wallaman!! |
And then we were off to Townsville! Jean-Michel knew of a waterfall along the way
that was supposed to be amazing, so we decided on a stop there. It was a half-hour detour that took us up a
windy cliff-road in rain that showed no signs of slowing down. We parked and made our way over to the
lookout only to be met by a barrage of fog clouding the famed falls from our
view. We could hear the roar of the
water and looked to the signpost. It
read ‘Wallaman Falls: Australia’s largest single-drop waterfall, 268
metres’. We knew we had to see the falls
so all three of us made our way down a muddy path toward the base of the falls. It was worth the trek. Wallaman Falls greeted us with a roar, its
waters cascading down the rock face toward their end in the massive pool
below. Two hundred and sixty eight
metres of rock and water stared down at us, the sound was deafening and the
sight was awe inspiring. You could feel
the power of such a force and the thought of its might struck me.
Size does matter.
We left Wallaman with a renewed energy, excited for a night
in Townsville. And what a night we
had! It began with pasta and goon, but
quickly escalated to trip to the bar Mad Cow where we proceeded to get Mad
Drunk.
Guillaume took a trip to the doctors the next day, leaving
Jean-Michel and myself to explore the city.
We took a walk along the waterfront, marveling at the sparkling blue
waters and the sun-kissed girls who were out in full force on this sunny
day. We also took a trip up Castle Hill,
a large mound that overlooked the city and ocean offering superb views of the
surrounding area.
We had made plans with Guillaume to have burgers and fries
for dinner, but we hadn’t any word from him by 5pm, so we made our way to the
hospital. It wasn’t until 7pm that we
left with Guillaume! He had spent the
entire day waiting to be seen, only to need to go back two days from now! Needless to say, the burgers and fries were
a welcome sight.
The next day we boarded the ferry across to Magnetic Island,
also affectionately known as Maggy.
We booked into Base Backpackers and took the island bus to
the north. We stopped along the way at
the Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary where we took part in a wildlife tour. We got to handle echidnas, lizards,
crocodiles, snakes, and finally, a koala!
We later took a walk past Horseshoe Bay and onto Balding
bay, only to realize it was a nudist beach!
We weren’t too pleased with the gender of its inhabitants, so we doubled
back and went to Radical Bay where we relaxed by sleeping on the beach.
We made it back to Horseshoe Bay to experience the sunset
along with some fish and chips. It was a
great way to cap our day.
Back at Base, we met our roommates, only to discover that
they were some of the girls we had met at Jackaroos! We chilled down at the beach, enjoying the
goon and their company.
An early morning start the next day brought us back to
Townsville. We carted Guillaume back to
the hospital and began to plan our next adventure. We knew we would be driving into Airlie Beach
later in the day and that the famous Whitsunday cruises were held out of
there. Jean-Michel and I walked to the
nearest information centre and asked the help of the guide there. She ran through all the boats that were
available. There were two main kinds:
the sailboats and the party boats. The
most popular party boat, the Clipper, existed of a two night cruise on a boat
that featured a dance floor, a water slide and lots of drinking. This was enticing. However, we felt that we would benefit more from
a sailing boat experience so we called up the company of the boat that was
available, the Boomerang.
I was told that there were only six seats remaining and that
it was wise to book as soon as we could.
However, we had no idea when Guillaume would be out of the
hospital. After explaining our conundrum
to the lady on the phone, she agreed to hold our spots for a short time. It was an hour later when we received word
from Guillaume. He was set to go! I called the agency back and booked us on the
Boomerang for the next day!
And the next day was the cruise! A group of 27 of us board the Boomerang,
crewed by three steady hands. Their
names were Liam, Josh and Haley and they would take us around the Whitsunday
Islands on a two-night cruise. We were
joined by Gemma and quickly made friends with a few others, including three
girls called Fenna, Sarah and Jasmine.
The day was filled with introductions and sailing
lessons. The crew had us sitting on the
edge as the skipper Liam guided the boat through the crashing waves which swept
over our legs and the deck. Darkness
descended a few hours later with the advent of a meal the crew cooked up. And food is always accompanied by drink, so
we started up the festivities by playing many games of Ring of Fire.
The night soon grew cold, which we took as a sign that it
was time for bed.
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| Whitehaven!! |
We sailed the next day to Whitehaven beach. As we made our way over the hills and through
the trees, we saw the Irish guys we had partied with at Airlie Beach. They had decided to go on the Clipper and
they looked tired! Turns out party boats
turn you into zombies!
It was quite windy and thus cold when we arrived but I was
excited by the white sand and beautiful waters so I stripped down to my bathers
and ran into the water. Cold and
refreshing! I was soon joined by the
others and we roamed around the beach.
The wind was quite strong and sent the 99% quartz sand scouring across
our bodies. We spotted several sting
rays in the water and were lucky to also see a small lemon shark.
We returned to the Boomerang and had a chance to snorkel
around some reefs and see the local fish and coral.
The day had tired me out so I spend a few hours relaxing in
my bed before joining the rest of the passengers for some fun on our last
night.
The rising sun signalled a new morning and after some more
snorkelling we returned to Airlie Beach.
We bid farewell to the lot and moved out. We agreed to meet Gemma and the other girls
in the town of Agnes Water the next day.
We left quickly after that as we had a long day of driving ahead of
us.
We passed Rochester and drove on towards a place called Emu
Park where we would spend the night.
And then it was off to Agnes Water, otherwise known as the
town of 1770. This was the year that
Captain Cook discovered the area. We met
up with the girls and enjoyed some nice fish and chips while enjoying a walk
along the beach. It was a great day to
relax and chill after being on the go for so long.
We dropped them back at their hostel a few hours later and
continued on to Hervey Bay (pronounced Harvey Bay) where we checked in at the
YHA. The next day we would be embarking
on our two day tour of Fraser Island with Cool Dingo Tours. Fraser is the largest sand island in the
world and would feature some amazing natural sights.
We caught an early morning ferry and met up with our tour
group. The Cool Dingo tour is sold as an
18-31 year old experience, but it seemed that we had caught the 27-36 year old
group! Most tours on Fraser Island take
place in 4WD Jeeps but our tour would take place on a 4WD bus! This didn’t bother us too much, as we would
still get to see everything on the island.
Our first stop was McKenzie Lake where we shared lunch with the rest of
the group. Our group had some great people
whom we enjoyed conversing with.
We later ventured on two rainforest walks before returning
to the hostel for dinner and drinks.
We woke to a hot breakfast and traveled to 75 Mile beach,
where the 4WD was finally used. The bus
rolled onto the beach and made its way across the sand. We stoped along the way to check out a
shipwreck, Eli Creek, and a place called Indian Head, which offered superb
views of the ocean.
We continued on to some pools in which we enjoyed a swim by
the ocean. Unfortunately, I ventured
onto some barnacles and was pushed down by a wayward wave, cutting my foot in
the process. Another wave swept over me,
this time taking my glasses clean off my face.
This was the second pair I had lost in Australia!
I would now have to depend on my prescription sunglasses and
my contacts until I ordered a new pair.
We returned to the hostel and enjoyed some dinner before
catching the ferry back to the mainland.
Our trip was almost at an end as we were only a few days
away from reaching Brisbane. Our next
stop was Noosa where the National Park waited for us. We checked in at the Nomads hostel there and
decided on some Dominoes Pizza for dinner.
The night continued with some cups of goon, a wet t-shirt contest (that
featured more guys than girls) and a late night visit to Pizza Hut!
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| Noosa NP!! |
The next day we embarked on a journey along the coastal
track of Noosa National Park, taking in its wondrous views and sandy
beaches. The high cliffs gave us a great
vantage point to see the disappearing backs of whales in the ocean, and the
cliffs of Hell’s Gate were spectacular in their dangerous form.
It was fitting to end the night in this ocean town with a
seafood basket.
Our final day was now upon us. We would be driving into Brisbane to return
the car and to embark on the next leg of our journey. Guillaume, Jean-Michel, and I had jived so
well on this trip. I guess it also
helped that we had similar tastes in music!
 |
| Wild Horse Mountain Lookout! |
We stopped at the Wild Horse Mountain scenic lookout along
the way. We had to walk up a steep hill
to get there but it was most certainly worth it. We were treated to a 360 degree view of the
mountainous area, breathtaking in its beauty.
We
packed back in the car and drove on towards the city. Brisbane soon came into our sights and we
made our way past Story Bridge and into my next home-to-be, Bunk Backpackers.
Check out Australia Adventure: Phase I!
Australia Adventure: Phase II!
Australia Adventure: Phase III!
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 1
Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 2
Australia Adventure: To the Top End!
Australia Adventure: Darwin and Kakadu National Park
Australia Adventure: Down the Track and to the Rock!
Australia Adventure: Onwards to Adelaide!
Australia Adventure: Once Upon a Time in Adelaide
