03.04.10
Posted in travel, vacation at 7:41 pm by heidihoho7
Our last full day in Australia was spent just enjoying the day. Starting with breakfast at Queen St. Mall, then off for a walk through the botanic gardens that follows the Brisbane River. Along the walk we happened upon a water dragon just hanging out on the sidewalk.
We continued our walk over to the south bank to see the South Parklands, which included pretty walkways, a fun waterpark for kids, and even a saltwater swimming area.
We passed a Nepalese Pagoda and just took in the sights as we continued our walk back towards our hotel.
We ended the night with a final stroll over to Queen St. Mall for a light dinner and cider (Bulmer’s on tap!).
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03.03.10
Posted in travel, vacation at 7:09 pm by heidihoho7
Play Weezer here and turn on a fan to get in the mood…
A quick note – my camera card apparently has died from this day’s photos, but luckily Jess took video so i did a few screen shots so at least we have some pics to go along with the text!
We start out the day very much like the day before with a brisk walk over to the transit center for a 7 AM pickup (at this point though we’re waking up each day around 5:30 or 6 so it actually wasn’t bad). A Toyota 4WD pulls up and we all start piling in. It has a front seat for the driver and (we find out) 2 passengers, though it looked as though just 1 person would fit. And the back has 2 rows of seats along the sides that fit about 8 normal sized people. We just so happened to have a monster English dude which made it a bit tight all day long. On the first leg of the trip Jess and I got to share the front (I think mostly because Nev might think we’re “partners” due to a comment jess had made the previous day and i’m pretty sure he thought she was hot and when you are stuffed into the front of a 4wd there’s a lot of changing gears going on hahhaha).
Our destination was Moreton Island, which involved a hour plus ferry ride (which included trying some meat pies, not bad actually!). While on the ferry we were told that the other american couple had problems – they were a bit older and the woman had knee issues so one of us had to move to the back. I thought i’d be smooshed with this lady and left Jessica to enjoy the front. Nev of course requested Jess sit in the middle 
Moreton is a relatively small island (compared to the much larger and more tourist infested Fraser), and is sand based so 4WD is mandatory. There are no real roads, just ruts and beaches to drive on (view while driving below). It really was spectacular and I sincerely would have loved my Jeep. i thought it was pretty awesome that the ferry pulls right on up to the beach and drops its ramp – you drive off onto the beach and off you go – cruising along Moreton Bay with waves crashing outside your window and dodging the occasional rogue wave that comes a bit too close.
We take a turn and now are into the hilly sections and work our way up a bit through trees and deep ruts until we end at the “Desert”. We all grab some boards (literally 1′x4′ pieces of particle board) and made our way up to a sand dune. We then learn the basics of sand tobogganing and each of us takes our turn once we wax up the boards. “keep the elbows up!” and we did, so no sand in the mouth! We lucked out in some ways, with all the rain the sand was still a bit wet which meant we didn’t go quite as far or quickly down the dune but it also meant much easier hiking back up and less sand in every crevice. The younger couples tried doubling where the woman sits on the man’s butt and leans forward. The asian couple tried it first and i think she was a bit scared and slowed them down with her hands and feet, but the german couple got it right and they got some good speed and she thrust her arms in the air screaming the whole way down “Whoooo hooooo!”
We all hop back in, now sand is everywhere and we all just accept it – no shoes and we all land on each other as we jostle around. I got quite friendly with the american man as he could never do his seat belt so I’d help him (i preferred wearing mine as the jostling was lessened with it) and then end up landing on him since there were no handle bars.
We make our way over to the eastern side of the island, miles of beaches where the waves are really coming in due to the storms. Not so great for swimming, but awesome to just take in the view. The water was fairly clear (and oh so blue!) but too rough to see any animals. We all take a quick dip in a calmer area and have lunch right there on the beach. The weather was holding out for us with some beautiful blue sky – we were soaking it all in (and i have some burns to prove it haha).
Off to the lighthouse on the northern side of the island, with another spectacular view of the island from a bit higher perspective. A dolphin was sighted, but I didn’t see it. Jess and I decided to try to do a quick geocache right at the lighthouse. Unfortunately i had deleted a few caches from the GPS and Touch (with the info on each cache) so all we had to go on was a printout i’d made. Needless to say we didn’t find it – tho i KNOW we were in the right area dang it! My Flat Stanley travelbug would have to wait a bit longer.
We continue on to the Blue Lagoon, a freshwater lake on the northern part of the island that supposedly has medicinal properties. The tea and eucalyptus trees along the shoreline drop the leaves and branches into the water, slowly drifting to the bottom providing a liner and barrier helping to retain the water. As the pieces break down the oils in the leaves and branches eventually get absorbed into the water. We were told that if we swam in the blue waters our skin and hair would feel super soft so we decided to brave the slightly chilly water and go for a swim. (My hair was quite soft that night!)
With the ferry’s set departure time of 3:30 we started working our way back to the ferry landing back on the western side of the island. Partway through the drive Nev remembers something an aborigine worker had mentioned to him on landing – that the flooding had taken out a few tracks. One of which we were currently on, so we turn around and head back another way – more beach driving and why we give extra time for the return 
We arrive with a few minutes to hang out before getting on the ferry. Right where to the side of the ferry landing resides the wrecks of Tangalooma. The wrecks include at least 10 ships sunk intentionally to create a reef and breaker for better snorkeling and giving boats a place to anchor during rougher water. This is also where the dolphins come in the evening for a nightly snack from the tourists. They claim they aren’t dependent and it did give us a chance to see them….
I also notice that there is 1 more cache we can try to find – up a sand hill that (supposedly) gives a great view of the bay with the wrecks and ferry below. I convince Jess to come bushwhacking with me and we go. 15 minutes later i’ve worked my way up the huge hill, Jess opted to hang out about half way, and still no cache to be found. The ferry is preparing for departure so i give up and work my way down… the stanley’s will have to make it their mission to come back australia instead of starting there.. oh well, we tried!
The ferry ride and drive back brought us back to reality. We’d lost first gear right before we got on the ferry and as we were driving back we lost 3rd as well. Made for an interesting drive let me tell ya! Specially as we hit massive traffic and have to do stop and go with 2nd gear…. we made it but we also let out a sigh of relief as we pulled into the transit center (partially due to arrival and partially due to being able to stretch our sand covered feet!)
Our night ended with a cider and beer and retiring early – a long day meant lots of sleep for us that night
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03.02.10
Posted in travel, vacation at 12:21 pm by heidihoho7
A fun yet wet day at Tamborine National Park
So it seems that all this rain has started to add up, in many areas around Brisbane they are hitting century highs. Some areas are flooding and as we were on our way to Mt. Tamborine (a slight change of plan from Springbrook NP, our original destination, – no glow worms boo hoo) we got to see this first hand. On our way up the mountain we came up to a flooded road that looked way too strong and high for us to pass (pic above). We do a 10 point turn about (we were in a bus) take an alternate route and hear even more reports of more roads flooding (from the way we came up) so another alternate route on the way home as well.
Our guide Nev, from Bushwhacker EcoTours, jokingly tells us about leeches, snakes, and deadly spiders (among other things). We know those things are out and about but weren’t really thinking we’d be dealing with any of them. We made a total of 4 stops throughout the day and on our first one Nev mentions as we get going that we should be watching the person in front of us for leeches. We realize now that maybe he isn’t joking about that part. He wasn’t. Yes that is a leech above, a little one thankfully.
We had our first leech sighting not long after while hiking through the rain forest. Not long after that I had my first one, then Jess. We all became a bit paranoid, so while watching our step, trying to look up past our umbrellas to see the awesome view of trees, ferns and streams, we all would also be checking our legs, ankles, toes for anything moving. I had a bit of a laugh as there was a family along for the tour and there were 2 teenage girls (one in white flats, the other in ankle boots – not the hiking type) and dressed for a day at the mall not exactly a day in the rain forest. The girls, tho not overly excited about being out with the family on vacation, dealt with the leeches better than i had expected with no major freakouts (that i saw). Also on the trip was a young bloke (we were guessing maybe 20ish from england) that did not deal with the leeches well at all, he seemed all cool and hip until the first mention of a leech. He then almost jumped on top of the bus seat, but later got back his man card for a moment when he smooshed one with his flip flop. (Oh, did i mention he squealed like a girl at any mention while on the hikes and immediately did a self check) – ok we all did self checks but seriously it was awesome comparing the two groups.
We hiked to some beautiful waterfalls (Curtis Falls shown first below, then Cameron Falls, then a huge worm) and just enjoyed the misty view of the rain forest. I’m not sure if we were offiically in the cloud forest or not but it surely seemed like it when at a few times we could barely see 25′ in front you, which made driving even more fun.
Our last stop of the day was to the “SkyWalk” – a canopy walk with a cantilever lookout. Again fun views of the forest from a slightly higher perspective. (but we weren’t entirely sure it was worth the pricetag – course it was included in the tour so we didn’t think twice about it)
Overall a good day in the beautiful rain forest. We were a little bummed about not being able to go to Springbrook, but we’ll be off to Moreton Island tomorrow and we’re crossing our fingers that the record setting rain starts to abate!
To finish the night off right we decided to go for a walk and find some yummy dinner. A couple of our guidebooks had suggested a steakhouse not too far away so we decided to give it a try and see if we’d be let in (flip flops are our fanciest shoes these days). Lucky for us Cha Cha Char in an informal steak house and we were let in. Located right on the brisbane river, it has a wonderful view of the Story Bridge, and has even better food and drink. I have a new favorite cider – 3 oaks. Of course made in South Australia and probably not available at home, but boy was it yummy! We started our dinners with cornmeal rolls with a nut sauce and a gravy that was in a little cow jug. (we realized later we paid for each roll) Jess’s T-Bone and my Eye Fillet were superb (yes i ate beef!!) and the double cream mash dish came looking like 2 skinned potates. Although pricey, this was one of our best meals down under and we both decided… every now and then it’s worth it for some good cow. We finished the night with a quick stroll through part of the botanic gardens to get a glimpse of the cliffs across the river. Not wanting to push our luck any further, we made our way home thru the busy city streets.
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