May 2006

Now I am in Rainbow Beach at a Dingo hostel, hehe.. Just came back from Fraser island. Wow, that was fun!!

I wish I could show you all pictures now, but I have them only on my camera... And by the way, I'm fine, but there's no reception here, so my phone is pretty much dead.. I didn't realize until it was too late to tell anyone about it. Today we're heading for Airlie beach to go on a sailing trip on the Withsundays, so I might not have reception there either. So don't worry if you can't get a hold of me, I'm alright. I travel with nice people. Em is still with me, and we've met up with two Norwegian guys, three Danish guys, four Irish and two English. All very nice. We all went to Fraser toghether and had a blast!

We left the hostel in four Jeeps carrying about 11 people each on Friday morning.

This is what we drove

First we went along the beach ( which is the closest thing you come to a road) and then in to the middle of the island to swim in Lake MacKenzie. Unbelievably beautiful!
Then we continued north and camped on the beach. No toilets or any fancy things, and we were on the worlds largest sand island, I guess I don't have to tell you that it was a lot of sand everywhere... Absolutely everywhere.. I have eaten and drunk sand for three days..

Saturday we went to Lake Wabby, which is a half hour walk on a sandblow. The water is green and not one bit transparant. You can't see anything! Well, we saw some huge fishes swimming close to the surface along the shore line... So I didn't stay in the water for a long time... I probably wouldn't have gone in at all if it wasn't for the fact that Em pushed me in..

Me on my way back from the lake

Then we drove up to Indian Head, a little hill where you can see sharks swimming around below you, if you're lucky.. Hehe..
We weren't..
So we went back a bit to the Maheno ship wreck and set up camp there. Still no fancy pancy camp site, just us and the sand.. But by now we were pretty much used to it, so.. And we brought enough goon (cheapest white wine that you can get, only 9 dollars/45 kroner for 4 litres) to keep us drunk the whole three days, so it wasn't really a problem anyways, hehe.
I have become a true camper. Can't remember if I changed clothes at all during those three days, but at least we swam in the lakes, so we weren't that dirty..

Maheno chip wreck

Dingo

The beach... Does anyone envy me just a little...? Hehe..

Look in front of you for meeting cars, people, animals and creeks. Look behind you for overtaking cars.
Look above you for landing aircrafts! This beach is also a landing strip...

The final day was just spent chilling out on the beach near Eli creek. Very good trip, recommendable!

So now I', sitting here in Rainbow beach waiting for my bus to take me to Airlie beach. The boat to the Whitsundays leave Wednesday morning. I think I'm back on Friday, but I don't really remember. After that it's job hunting time..

Forgot to write about the koala sanctuary... Em, Heidi and I went there when we were in Brisbane. The main goal was to hug a koala, since we couldn't do that in Sydney...
So off we went to find a bus. It was about twelve o'clock, as usual we were off a bit late.. Can't be bothered to get out of ben too early you know, hehe.
Anyway. We couldn't find our bus stop so we went to an information center.. Nice.. The lady sent us to the wrong stop and that really pissed me off! Why can't people listen??!!! *@#^$%!!!
The park was really nice though, I was worth the long bus ride. Anyway, Heidi does so many strange things that listening to her all the way is entertainment enough!

We ended up not hugging any koalas, we just petted them, but Heidi got to hold a tiny crocodile, so she was satisfied at least, hehe. The best part was feeding the kangaroos. You get a bag of pellets and go up to them, sit down or whatever and they'll eat off your hand! Amazing! I love roos!

Nice koala

Little chicken, sit still while I hug you!

Roo eating off my hand

The rest was just ok, nothing really interesting. We saw dingoes, but now I have seen them live in the wild on Fraser Island and that was much nicer. They look very different from those in the park, smaller and darker. I think I got some good pictures. I'll get them on cd later on.

Operahouse

Harbour Bridge

I found my car!!

Bondi Beach

Devilish..

Hugging a sheep at Taronga Zoo

Operahouse by night

Smirnoff ice on a can!! Unbelieveble..

Farm girl

Ice heart..

Hanging Rock

Bonfire

Tewantin caravan park (we did not go to Noosa on our way to Rainbow beach, but to Tewantin, wow what a great place! Not...)

We left Tamworth last Saturday evening and arrived in Brisbane Sunday morning. Nice way to save some money, didn't have to pay for a hostel that night.

Brisbane is nice, but in a way it's just another city. We stayed at a place called the Palace and in the basement was a bar called the Downunder bar. That place was packed every night. It's unbelieveble how some places are crowded with people all the time and others are completly empty no matter how good thay are! Strange..
I met up with Heidi and it was really good to see her again. I haven't met any other Norwegians. But a lot of Germans, Irish, English, Dutch and Danish!

17 of May was spent half the day in Brisbane and the other half in Byron Bay. So unfortunately I missed the parade..

So now I'm in Byron Bay. It's a surf town full of backpackers and the atmosphere really reflects that. We're staying at a place called the Arts Factory. Palm trees everywhere and a pool with a hot tub in it! Nice...

Last night went out to a bar to celebrate the Norwegian Independece Day. They had a didgeridoo contest (it's that long, wooden instrument that aboriginals play that sounds really strange) and everyone was dancing on the tables.
Today we tried to go to the beach, which is really beautiful, but the weather is a bit strange here, one moment it's nice and sunny, the next it's pooring down!! Crazy! That's why I left Norway!
Tomorrow I might go to a massage class to learn how to rub a body the right way.. Hehe..

I'll probably head back to Brisbane on Saturday.. And then keep going north. Em (an English girl I travel with) and I would like to go to Fraser Island on a kind of a JeepSafari and then most likely do a boat trip on the Withsundays. Maybe get a job on a boat for a few weeks, we'll see.

I'll keep posting stuff here to keep you up to date, but I don't know how often I'll be near a computer.. More pictures will come it's just a hassel to find a computer that I can upload them..

Well, I'm just back from 11 days of cowgirl school on a farm called Leconfield. It's close to Tamworth which is about 7 hours north of Sydney. It's been good fun, but crazy cold in the nights! This is not what I came to Australia for...And there was no internet connection up there or mobile phone coverage.. Oh my.. Strange to feel so cut off from the rest of the world. But now I'm back at the civilization and it feels good although I feel really dirty. Can't wait to find a room and take a warm shower..

We have just been offered a job picking cotton, but I don't know whaat I'd do, it's really cold here, and I'd really like to go a bit north.. Hmm... I got another job offer making beds at a hotel on the Whitsundays... What to do, what to do...

The cowboy school was fun though. I have done so many funny things I never thought I'd do. I have been hand milking a cow..

Sheered a sheep (that is to shave their wool off), I have shoed a horse! And earmarked a calf.. I can't remember everything at the moment, but I have sent in my pictures, so later I'll see if I can put some on this page..

first time I've lassoed a cotton seed bag..

My mail is fine, it was just some problems in Sydney, so you can keep sending me mails, I'll answer as soon as I can find the time! And I really enjoy reading news from home!!

Gotto go.. Write more again later.

C