Christmas Downunder

My trip to Australia was sooo much fun! We went to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. Because it's all sand we had to rent a 4WD, unfortunately we decided to rent a tiny Suzuki that didn't have enough clearance and ended up getting stuck a few times. My recent 4WD course did not prepare me for sand! We quickly figured out that we couldn't slow down for anything else we'd lose momentum and wouldn't get through the soft sand....not that that's much help for going up hills - we lost momentum even when flooring it. We made it across the island and got stuck trying to access the beach...a tow truck dude happened to be right there and pulled us out. He asked if we owned the truck and then told us to drive it like we stole it! We hiked to Lake Wallby for a swim that night and then set up camp on the beach. We woke up the next morning to a pack of dingos walking right by our tent...about 7 or 8 of them - totally the highlight of my entire trip! They paid no attention to us, but have been known to be aggressive to humans...but we had no food in the tent. That day we hiked back to the same lake cause we had to wait for the tide to go down before driving on the beach again. The drove like hell to Lake Mackenzie in the middle of the island, for a super-quick dip and to fill our water bottles (supposed to be some of the cleanest water in the world). Then back in the 4WD to head to the ferry. That night we drove to Bundaberg to watch loggerhead turtles come in to lay eggs. My group got to watch 2 lay eggs and a few more come to shore. Then up to Rockhampton for diving. It's been 10yrs since Rebecca has been diving and 2 for me, so we did a refresher course and the next day we went out on the boat to Outer Rock (the very southern part of the reef) and did 2 dives. We saw heaps of fish, nudibranchs, corals, and even a couple sting rays. After that we headed inland to Carnarvon NP. We had to ring them to make sure the trails were open cause they had just had a bush fire there. Lots of the park was burnt and black and a few trees were still smoldering. There isn't any place to get fuel in the gorge so we ended up staying in a town in a motel the first night so we could get fuel the next morning. SOOO many kangaroos! We ran over an echidna, but there was just enough clearance that we only broke a couple of quills. Then pulled over and grabbed the head torches and went running after it! Lots of kangaroos and wallabies in the park too and we saw yet another echidna. We hiked into the gorge and went to Moss Gardens and the Amphitheathre. I ended up with heat rash on my legs that day, even though we did lots of creek crossings and I would wet my shirt and hat and wring them out on my legs. At dusk, I got a few glimpses of some platypus, but they are quite shy so I didn't get a good look. I tried again in the morning but I think it was too light out (shoulda got up earlier than 5:30). Then we hiked to a bluff lookout in the shade of the morning. Leaving Canarvon, we headed back towards Beck's parents. It started pouring down that day and there was lots of surface water! So we decided to get a cabin for the night! Then onto Warwick, where we did Beck's Christmas shopping and stopped by her grandparents, where most of her family was there. Then on to Beck's parents house out in the country. It was lovely, surrounded by pasture land with a creek and 3 dogs. Christmas Eve dinner we spent at Beck's grandparents with her mom's side of the family. Christmas Day dinner was at her Aunt and Uncles with her dad's side. The next few days were mostly spent hanging around there. Her brother's took us 4WD in the hills by the creek, we went spot-lighting one night (but didn't see a single mammal...although we did see 3-4 Tawny frogmouths!), to the falls where we fed the parrots, to the creek with her cousin and niece (and dogs, of course!). On Sunday, Beck went to play games with her cousins and I decided to stay back and read and nap and had the house to myself...or so I thought...until this huge Huntsmans spider went cruzing across the floor. Later we found him on the wall, then he came out from under a chair with string and dog hair trailing off a leg, then he spent a couple days in the dining room....he was everywhere! The eat other spiders so they like having him in the house! By the end I was starting to get used to seeing him. The last few days we went to a couple more NP. On our way to Lamington NP, we stopped at O'Reilly's winery and we both got a bottle of the Picnic White. Then up the mountain to the rainforest and the NP. We did a tree top walk on suspension bridges. I was dissapointed that we didn't see many birds but it was raining and there were lots of people. Then we did another hike to a waterfall. The whole time I kept stopping and looking at my legs, watching for terrestrial leeches. I was soo vigilant! Then we drove to the coast for a walk on the beach and dinner by the ocean before making the long drive back to her parents. Jumping in the shower that night there was a spot on my hip bone that was bleeding away and sure enough I found a leech in my knickers! It must of detached awhile before as there was blood in my undies and shorts! Damn thing! I guess I wasn't vigilant enough and since I had sprayed my legs with repellent it just crawled further up! Yuck! The next morning we headed to Girraween NP, known for huge granite hills and wildflowers. This is where Beck grew up as her dad was a Ranger there. We stopped at Heritage winery on the way and I bought a bottle of Verdleho/Chardonnay blend. Most of the family meet us at the park and we bbq'd and walked a bit. We were going to do more walks after they left but it started raining and then started pouring. Luckily we had the large tent and were able to cook under the fly. That night on the way back from the loo, I almost ran into a young kangaroo! I was less than a foot away from the poor, soaking wet, little guy! He was soo sad! The following morning it was still misting and showering so we didn't hike up the granite hill but went to the underground creek instead, where the rocks and come down over the creek. Afterwards, we headed back to Warwick (after another couple of winery stops) to her brothers and had a big afternoon tea with all the family before heading to Brisbane to spend the night at Beck's Aunt and Uncle's so I could make it to the airport in the morning. I was very sad to leave! But it was a trip of a lifetime! :)