Alright well where do we start? First of all, the weather has gotten better....hope this doesnt jinx things but we have both been getting roasted the past few days...and for some reason we've decided to do on long treks in unshaded areas...clever we know...we are surviving anyways. Okay so lots to catch up on so lets start with where we left off in Surfers.
All we did in Surfers was hit the Amusement Park, Dreamworld along with it's counterpart Waterworld. We spent a full day at each and had a pretty good time. The lineups at Dreamworld were a little long and the rides were few and somewhat disappointing...it was no Disneyland...we kinda wanna go back there(to Disneyland that is)..but it still gave us a bit of a thrill. The best ride we found was called The Claw and it was like a swinging pendelum mixed with a giant tire swing at the bottom that has seats all around it facing outward and it swings you back and forth way up in the air while spinning around...it was pretty crazy. The park also had a Hellevator type ride only it was about 3 times the height..RIDICULOUS! oh and they also had a cool Tiger World area with Bengals and Siberian...neat to watch. Waterworld proved a little more entertaining...shorter lineups, better weather, and some crazy water slides including a hydro-magnetic roller coaster which was just insane and a couple that pretty much dropped you down funnels...all in all it was a great day and we both got a little bit burnt but felt great after climing a ridiculou amount of stairs all day.
After Surfers we were off to Brisbane. We got in late at night so just stayed in and tehn it rained all day on our first day there so we wandered down to queen street mall and shopped a bit and uploaded our pics(see last post). The next day we met up with Chels' relatives. they picked us up at 10 and we were just expecting lunch but they showed us around a bit, took us to their place where we visited with them and their daughter and son in law and then we went to a little village for meat pies..mmmm...obviously jeff's new favorite. They took us to a cute little museum that actually had some interesting stuff about the settlement of the town and a really cheezy but good video. Then we just went back to their place and then it was off to Sizzler for dinner...it was a lot of food, the first time jeff has eaten there...not sure if he will go back...but it seemed to be a favoritew ith the relatives so it worked. Oh and the place was packed! we got there before 6 and it was already lined up out the door and then when we left it was still lined up...must be the all you can eat feature. oh well....it was great to get a visit in and we may stay with Linda and Keith for a few days on the way down...we will see how time is going. The next day was Valentines day and we were planning on taking the 7pm bus to Noosa so we figured we would take the train to the Australia Zoo(the Steve Irwin zoo) so we got up nice and early and as we called greyhound on our way to the train station we found out there was no 7pm only a 5pm so we werent able to get to the zoo that day :( Instead we took the ferry around the river in Brisbane and wandered around Southbank which was actually a neat little area filled with different restaurants and a man made beach...it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable day in the end.
We got into Noosa late once again and got to our room only to find we had the same roomates as we had in Surfers- too funny but it seems to happen when you're all travelling the same route. The hostel was at the top of a big hill which wasnt too fun climbing up with all our bags but it was a neat little heritage type building. We took it easy that night as we had booked our bus to the zoo for the next day. So once again we wqere up bright and early the next morning and off to the zoo we went. The bus picked us up just down the hill from our hostel and they showed us a Steve Irwin video on the way which was nice. We travelled in style to the zoo in a double decker zoo decorated tour bus- pretty sweet. The zoo weas even better then expected. Though they didnt have as many animals as most zoos but the enclosures were big and beautiful and all the animals seemed happy and active which was a change from most zoos we've seen. We saw more koalas and caught one making his call which was really deep and sounded like a camel which was surprising and we even got to take a turn holding one- dont be jealous(we'll get those pics up soon). Lots of Kangaroos once again and of course lots of Crocs...we went to the Crocoseum(5000+ person stadium where they hold the croc show) and saw the morning croc show which was really cool- they also did a segment on snakes and birds but the croc part was the best..on a whole it was very entertaining though. The elephants were also a sight to be seen- they usually have 3 but one was off filming a movie down south so we only got to see 2 but we got there just in time for bath time which was amazing to see how gentle these huge animals can be with people. It was also good to see hwo active they keep them with different tasks to keep their minds in motion. We saw a beautiful tiger but it was a hot day so he was pretty chilled out and we were supposed to see cheetahs but we couldnt find them. Oh and we saw 2 small clawed asian otters which were just adorable...they were extremely playful and chased eachother around their pool area acting all nimbly bimbly. We took some time to walk through the Steve Irwin memorial which was quite moving to see- there were pictures/letters/etc sent in from people all over ther world and just countless khaki shirts signed by fans/friends...it was quite emotional to see but amazing to see how much he is still a part of the zoo and you know he always will be. We ended our day around 4 and have to say it was a great day with hot weather and just an all around great place to visit. Oh and it was interesting to hear that the zoo is currently 72 acres but in the next few years they aim to expand it to 500 acres!!! and even crazier they hope one day it will be 1000 acres! HUGE! We attempted to have a couple of drinks that night but found nobody to be too social so we had a few to ourselves and called it a night. The next day we went to get some groceries and headed to the beach for a bit but of course by the time we got there the sun began to disappear so we just stayed an hour and then wandered around the town. We had a delightful call from Jen (and Kiri) which was really great- loved hearing from you guys :). That night we ended up having drinks in a room with a bunch of Swedes and Brits but that got cut short as there was really no off premise drinks allowed as the hostel had a bar as well but by that time we were set to go so we wandered up to this club called the Reef...DISAPPOINTING! the music was crap and it was pretty quiet but we hung out for a while and then our random adventure began...some guy came up to Chels and asked if she drove manual...confused she told him know but pointed towards Jeff and said he did...so long story short these guys were locals and they had had too much to drink at this club but wanted to go to another club but didnt want to leave their vehicle so Jeff had only had 2 at this point so he was deemed their DD for the trip. So a few girls from the hostel and the 2 of us piled into this huge 8 person van with these aussie guys while they gave directions to jeff and he got his first taste at driving on the wrong side of the road- and he did a really good job too! Just before we got to the next club (called Villa Noosa) the aussies realized jeff was wearing shorts and that wasnt going to fly where we were going so we stoppped at one of their houses to pick up a pair of pants...not just any pants tho...whitish tiny jeanss....so being the good sport that he is jeff pulled these suckers over his shorts and managed to get in...somehow....it was really funny...but he definetly had a hard time dancing trying to drink with one hand and hold his pants up with the other...but he managed...anyways, this club was better, music and crowd were all better..so we partied the night there and then made our way back to the hostel by cab. A great night all around though. We checked out the next morning and headed to teh beach for a few hours before our bus left at 1pm. Good thing we beached in the am as the rain just started to teem down as we waited for the bus..we were sheltered though so it was alright. Our bus was a little late, which isnt unusual, but we were on our way just after 1pm.
We arrived in Hervey Bay around 5 and went right to our hostel- definetly a neat little place. It was kind of set up with separate lodges, very relaxing with a duck pond out back and streams running through it, as well as a nice pool and deck and tennis courts/basketball courts. Good deal! We played some cards and checkers our first night and then hit the hay as we were exhausted. The next day we got up eaerly to do laundry and then we played tennis for a while..it was SO hot out so itw as tough but a lot of fun and nice to get some exercise. We spent the afternoon by the pool and then got our stuff organized as we were off to Fraser Island the next day.
Our bus picked up at 8am for Fraser Island and right away we met 2 German guys who were staying at our hostel who were doing the same tour. They turned out to be really nice guys and we spent a lot of time with them over the next few days. The ferry ride was about a half hour and we were greeted by 2 guides, Wayne and Jennifer, and split into 2 buses(one with 33 and the other with 7) as teh big bus had broken down. We were in the big bus with Wayne and itw as awesome. We won't go into every detail of what we saw but we can definetly say we now know why everybody raves about Fraser. Our first day was REALLY crappy weather and it amde us happy we booked a guided/accomodated tour but the second 2 days were absolutely stunning...hot and sunny without a cloud in teh sky, just perfect. Unfrotunatley we didnt get to see Indian head or the Champagne pools because even at low tide the tide was too high and the swell was just huge so it was too dangerous even for our big bus. We met some great people on the tour and our favorite spots were Lake Mackenzie(on the sunny day...on the cloudy day we really didn;t appreciate it), Lake Wabby and Lake Beerigin(or something like that)...we'll get pics up soon so you can all be jealous. So we lucked out with great weather, great people and an excellent guide..Wayne had SO much knowledge and made the trip a lot of fun as well...if you havent been to Fraser Island the tracks reminded us of Indiana Jones ride at disneyland only 10 times as unpredictable.(insert Indiana Jones theme now)..and it;s a registered road!!! We stayed 1 more night in Hervey Bay and lucked out with another sunny day which was spent biking around the town...they have a 14km bike path around teh waterfrton which we explored..it kinda reminded us of White Rock except MUCH longer...it was fun though. That night the bus picked us up at 6 and we were on our way to Jef's new favorite place, BUNDABERG!
We stayed in a hostel called the Cellblock and it is actually an old jail(closed 7 years ago) so the rooms still have jail doors and barred windows..its just a theme to it but it was kinda cool...we got in late again so there were lots of bugs and it gave us a bad impression of the place but for about 30 bucks each a night we got our own room with A/C and our own TV and fridge so that was pretty good...we were just there for one night though so it really didnt matter. Anyways, the whole point of our trip to Bundy was of course, the RUM DISTILLERY! For 25 bucks we did a tour of the distillery and learned how the rum is made and fermented and stored and we got 2 drinks out of it too. They had 300 million litres of rum on site - what a party eh? Our tour guide Katrina was great and at the end of the tour she whisked us to the bar where we got some much needed refreshments...it was bloody hot again. They had all the regualr bundaberg drinks but they also had a royal liqueur only available at the distillery...it has a chocolate/coffee taste to it but it is nothing like anything you've ever tasted...HEAVEN. New favorite bevvy, too bad we can't get it anywhere (we did buy a bottle for our travels though :) ). The best drink was probably a Pinik Polar bear which was the liqueur, cream, grenadine and lemonade...mmmmm...kinda tasted like a float...so refreshing and delicious...and yes we did buy all the ingredients so we can make them at our hostel tonight....yessssssssss. We made the silly decision of walking back to our hostel in the scorching heat...whoops...but we made it after we stopped at a subway to enjoy the A/C. Didnt really do anything else in Bundy...would have liked to see the turtles hatching but without a car and time we just couldnt do it...we'll see on the way down. Our bus left at 10pm that night and we were on it until this morning when we arrived in Aerlie Beach at 9am. We couldnt check in until 12 so we layed by the pool until about 2, met some Irish folk and talked to them there and then got our room set up and set out to buy some groceries...once again we decided to walk there, stupid mistake...we really should figure out how far things are before we set ou but we made it anyways. And now we're here. We were gonna upload our pics again but these computers don't do it so we'll try again some other time. We are here for 2 nights and then we head off on our Whitsunday Sailing trip- we;ll be on a tall ship that has a really great rep around here, called teh Solway Lass. The weather seems to have taken a turn for the better, knock on wood, and we;ve seen nothing but sun the past week. We hope to upload our pics before we set sail.
So as you see we are both alive and well, hope all of you are as well. We miss you guys and love hearing from you so keep us posted on what you're up to when you can. Cheers!
~chels~ & Jeff
