Backpacking Oz

… And I’m back with a brand new edition. Leaving Byron Bay and all of the great people I’d met there was no fun at all. On the day of my departure I woke up feeling slightly ill and mentally rattled from the “Anything But Clothes” theme party that had ended only a few hours before. It served as the farewell party for myself and Mike, a good friend who was leaving to become a dive instructor in Fiji. The day before had started off with the harsh realization that it was Good Friday, and there were absolutely no bottle shops open in town. It was starting to look like our party would resemble that of a sixth grade social. Everyone was bummed and trying to McGuiver some way to create a few drinks for the party when I remembered Bazo! Bazo is a legend; an older guy that cleans the dive center pool using his own questionable methods. We often spoke whenever I too happened to be awake during his ungodly work hours, and I knew that he was a big fan of the drink. One time he’d mentioned that he and his friends have a garage with several thousand bottles of their own homebrew. I knew we had to call him and everyone agreed. He told me that he couldn’t get to his homebrew today, but that I was more than welcome to pick from his personal assorted stash of room temperature beers. About an hour later I met Bazo in a sketchy little shed out behind the local RSL Club where I saw the random beers housed in several old coolers, plastic milk crates and decaying old beer boxes. I handed him the $120 I’d collected from the would-be partygoers and asked, “How much can you give me?”. Ten minutes later we returned at the shop with roughly 7 cases of beer. One hell of a deal considering that each case usually costs between $35 and $50 AUD when bought from a more established vendor. The night ended with a makeshift parade of 20 or so characters, wearing everything from trash bags and aluminum foil to dive center brochures and palm leaves, around the streets of Byron.

By this time I’d been out of the water nursing a nasty diving induced ear infection for the last week or two. On my last day I ran to the doctor for a second look and more effective prescription before hitting the road. The appointment left me 8 minutes to grab my bags and run to the bus stop. Needless to say, I had little time for proper goodbyes with the people I’d lived and worked with for the past five months. I beat the bus to the stop and set my bags down. I spent the next few minutes digging through luggage and texting the people I hadn’t seen at all that morning. Looking up from my things I saw my bus pulling off from the curb. It had stopped and apparently unloaded in record time. I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, I was able to book a seat on the next bus, leaving in 2 hours, return to my friends and co-workers for a more satisfying last memory.

The actual travel since Byron has strayed well clear of the hazy plans I set forth in my last post. I ended up traveling north to Cairns instead of heading south down to Melbourne. It was a last minute decision made so that I could meet up and travel briefly with my good ol’ buddy, Matt Kaufman. He’d be the first friend from home that I’d seen in over six months, and he brought with him the hardest week of my trip to date. Over those 4 or 5 days we missed more buses, drove ourselves into towns with no budget accommodations and drove one road only to find it washed out by a massive flood. Despite the seemingly endless hurdles, it was great to see him and road trip with a friend from home for a change. We split in Rainbow Beach when he and his girlfriend continued onto Fraser Island. I moved on north towards Airlie and Mission Beach stopping only briefly in each to break up the long haul to Cairns. Two days after arriving in Cairns I left with 3 Germans I’d contacted using “gum tree”, a ride share site similar to “Craig’s list”. We rented a Toyota RAV4, the manliest 4x4 ever created, and drove the Bloomfield Track to Cooktown. After spending a night in Port Douglas, we spent the next 3 days driving through the knee-high streams, deep trenches and hidden washouts along this dirt track. It quickly became obvious why this trail through the Daintree Rainforest is strictly prohibited to any non four wheel drive vehicles. We stopped in Cape Tribulation and Cooktown for only one night each. “Cape Trib” consists a few hostels, one shockingly over-priced convenience store and a grouping of beaches and creeks bordered by lush rainforest. Everywhere are brightly colored yellow signs which seem to scream “WARNING: Crocodiles inhabit these water” or picture a stick figure entangled within the tentacles of a massive jelly. Several rainforest walks are the suggested way to experience the local nature. Cooktown did not offer much aside from the claim that is was the northernmost point of civilized life on the east coast. The next step north would be to head through Aboriginal land towards Cape York, an off-road driving feat which many Australians aspire to achieve during their lifetime. In this case, it definitely rang true that the trip was more about the journey than the destination. Along the way we were met with countless unimaginable landscapes and ideal photo opportunities.

We returned to Cairns about five days after departing and each went our own way. Several days later I splurged a bit on a three day and two night live aboard dive boat. Over those three days I met more interesting people and had 11 dives, 2 of which were night dives. Diving on the Great Barrier Reef was a once in a lifetime chance. The coral created and underwater circus of bright colors and unfamiliar shapes that came to life in our presence. Immense clam shells with velvety neon blue insides snapped shut as I swam past. Barracuda hunted and small white-tip reef sharks drifted carelessly throughout the jagged reef. The night dives were a shocking new experience in my diving career. Unexpectedly, diving under the cover of darkness seemed add a sense of calm and isolation. Red bass hunted with the aid of the illumination from our torches and phosphorescent plankton glowed with each movement we made. Unreal!

For the last week I have been playing the waiting game in Cairns. I decided that I am ready to leave Australia despite the mass of things I have yet to do and see. I would love to travel more into the outback without commercial buses, see the Great Ocean Road of southeastern Australia and explore the west coast. However, I have decided that doing so would eat up too much money for the time being. Instead, I’m leaving in two days for Southeast Asia via Melbourne. Bangkok to be specific. I have a flight leaving there in one month, but that is more to appease customs officials upon my arrival. In all likelihood I will extend my stay there for about two or three months before hopefully moving on to Nepal. My decision to leave for Thailand right now was a bit spontaneous. I now know that they are entering the hot and rainy seasons. Recently though I have discovered that while this time of year is not ideal for tourist, it is a good way to miss the crowds. In addition, it’s apparently one of the better times to visit the more isolated mountainous regions of the northern territory and insanely beautiful beaches of southern Thailand. I’m arriving with no plans, no reservations and no idea of what I’m getting into. However, I’m extremely excited about the promise of culture shock, extremely inexpensive lifestyle and new photo opportunities. Hopefully my dreams won’t be too far from the reality I’m greeted with.

Entry #6

I’m starting to feel the need for a change and planning to leave Byron in the first weeks of April. I quit my bartending job about 2 weeks ago and I’ve posted a few “Ride Needed” flyers on the community bulletin boards which will hopefully have some luck. I’d like to continue traveling by means other than a bus at this point. I’m looking forward to change, but I know that I’ll really miss the people, culture and vibe of Byron Bay. Since last writing I’ve completed my Rescue Diver course and over 80 dives. I just finished my PADI Dive Master course a few days ago as well. It was pretty intense, but will be worth it. The course started with an endurance test; a 400 meter free swim, 800 meter snorkel and 15 minute water tread. It was at this time that I had to face the reality that I’m shit at swimming. It turns out the I never learned the techniques to swim properly… just enough to keep from drowning I guess. This was a problem. Despite all of that I was able to struggle and splash my way through the 400 meter swim in the ugliest fashion ever witnessed. It’s now a good source jokes around the dive shop. Haha! The other events weren’t much trouble. The diving here has been really good recently. We’ve had a 9ft Grey Nurse Shark hanging around for a while which is really unusual given the season. This guy was by far the biggest and scariest looking thing that I’ve seen down there! Unlike the Wobbygong and Leopard Shark, this Grey Nurse has big sharp teeth exposed and moves very slow and deliberate. Check out the photos on Facebook.

After I leave Byron I plan to travel south to see Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. My plans are still very vague, but I think I’ll continue around Oz for another month or two before moving on. I want to visit Lord Howe Island, Fiji, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Tibet before heading to Germany for Oktoberfest. The general idea is to be able to use my dive master certification to get work along the way (fingers crossed). There’s a chance I may try to stay and work in Cairns at the Great Barrier Reef if Fiji and Lord Howe plans don’t pan out.

In other news, I have a few exciting stories that I’ll try to keep brief. A few weeks ago I was standing on the corner talking to a friend about a block away from the dive center. Suddenly, my attention focused on two guys, a girl and a child who casually strolled passed me. I stood there slightly frozen after realizing that I recognized one of the group. A second later it hit me… It was Jack Johnson! They made eye contact with me and kept moving. I headed back to the shop debating whether or not it was really him. I passed another friend of mine who works at “The Big Fish”, a furniture shop next door, and told him about my possible sighting. He said, “Yeah that’s him. They just sat here and had a chat for a few minutes.” I ran upstairs, dropped off some books, grabbed my camera and headed back down the road to hopefully meet one of my favorite musicians. I walked up the main strip glancing in surf shops and restaurants as I passed. After walking the block with no luck I decided that I’d check a small music shop I knew of before calling it quits. As I entered I saw the group again and I think the other guy recognized me from the street. I realized that it was just me, the staff and their group in the store. I nervously tapped out a quick riff on one of the hand drums before deciding it was dumb to disguise my reason for being there. I said “hi“ to Jack‘s mate, the guy who appeared to recognize me. This is where my memory goes a bit blurry from my burst of adrenaline. I swear, I never thought that I’d be the star-struck type, but I now know that I’m not that cool. I was able to say “hi” and introduce myself to Jack before asking if he’d mind taking a photo. He agreed and seemed a bit quiet himself. After about a minute and a half worth of picture attempts by his friend I discovered that I’d accidentally left my camera on video mode. After switching it to the proper mode, the camera screen warned “Memory Card Full” on the next picture attempt. I thanked them anyway and said I wouldn’t ask him to sit through this anymore. He laughed and we chatted a brief bit longer before I left. Although I didn’t get a picture with Jack Johnson, I did get a one-of-a-kind short film of myself and Jack awkwardly posing for a picture. Who else can say that? I returned to the dive shop and told everyone of my news while still fizzing over it. Some were jealous and some were amused, but they all agreed that I seemed like a 13 year old girl who’d just met her favorite boy band. You really must appreciate the clumsiness of the whole situation! My only regret is not keeping better composure and maybe getting a drum head signed.

A few days after this excitement, the shop manager, Perry, ran upstairs and asked if I was down to go kayaking. I, of course, said “Yea!” without giving a second thought and followed him back downstairs. I thought that I’d be going out with Perry and a few others from the shop. I was wrong. He introduced me to a woman who was evidently in a rush. I saw her Trooper outside with the “Cape Byron Kayaking” sticker plastered to it. I understood from the brief conversation that she needed an extra employee for the day. I thought to myself, “What the hell?” and hopped in the Troopie. On the way there she explained that one employee was a no show and I was needed to be a kayak guide. I was conflicted; excited and nervous. I see these guys around the bay everyday and I’ve always wanted to go for a tour. However, I didn’t want to pay the $60 to do so. I was anxious because of my very limited experience in a kayak. I’ve been in a kayak approximately 5 times, but never in a serious guide-like capacity. Luckily, I had another more experienced guide going along with me and the 7 customers for the 3 hour trip. Everything went well and I even made $70 off of my little adventure.

The next day, dive boats were cancelled due to a cyclone well off of the coast which was causing some massive swells. I used the day to travel about an hour north to Surfer’s Paradise with a few guys from the shop, Ray and Tyson. We went to see the Quicksilver Pro Surfing Championship. This is apparently one of the biggest worldwide events in surfing according to Ray. Kelly Slater, a huge surfing icon, had been knocked out of the competition just a few days before we arrived. We made it in time to see the quarter finals as the storm continued to churn up some decent waves. Although I’m not much of a surfer it was a pretty cool event to experience in person.

Well, that about does it for any news aside from the day to day living in Byron. I’ll keep you all posted on any changes that occur in the future and any new destinations.

Justin

Hey guys. I figured it’s about time for an update since my last post was some time ago. Currently, I still live and work in Byron Bay. I finally found paid work about 1 month ago as a bartender in a chain restaurant named “Hogs Breath Café”. Imagine Australia’s mirror image of an Outback Steakhouse. Their imported beer is Budweiser and a random grouping of American license plates litter the walls. I work roughly 5 nights per week, typically between 6 and 11pm. It’s a decent job with respectable pay for any backpacker. Most importantly, I’ve now accomplished my goal of living solely off of the money I make here instead of relying on my savings account.

I’m still volunteering at the Byron Bay Dive Center as well. At this point I’ve completed my Advanced Diver certification and nearly 40 dives free of charge. Each dive is valued around $100 and customers pay approximately $600 for the certification course. I’ve been told that I could participate in the upcoming Rescue Diver course as well (the certification just below Dive Master). I started shuttling customers to and from the boat launch site, using our old school 1980’s Land Rovers, shortly after my last blog post. By the end of December I’d also started serving as a dive guide and been granted free accommodation. Guides are responsible for leading groups of up to 4 or 5 certified customers on underwater expeditions around Julian Rocks. We brief the customers before each dive, locate sea life (turtle, eel, rays, shark, octopus and hundreds of fish) and monitor each customers air supply and composure while navigating about the dive site. It was really intense at first, but truly an awesome gig. At this point, I’m the only volunteer guiding who is not certified as a Dive Master (DM). I was basically thrown headfirst into my first guide, and I must admit that I was less than confident given my limited experience with the site at that time. Usually the dives go as planned, but mishaps are inevitable. I’ll quickly share a few stories that I feel are worth mentioning. Once I was guiding two divers and unknowingly got caught in a fairly strong current. By the time we surfaced we were about 500 yards southwest of the boat and the dive site. Due to the huge swells that days we could only see the boat, and therefore the boat could only see us, when we were atop a swell. Between each swell were intervals of anxiety. We’d sink back down into a valley surrounded by moving mountains of ocean. I was able to keep relatively cool and block out the scenes from the movie Open Water which wanted so badly to cycle through my mind. Finally, after attempting to keep the customers calm with about 6 minutes of bad jokes, the skipper saw our “safety sausage” signaling device floating on the surface. Soon thereafter he’d scooped us from the sea and we were able to joke about the situation from a much more comfortable setting.

DISCLAIMER: MOM, DON’T READ THIS NEXT STORY (…although I know you will). About three weeks ago there was a shark attack on a surfer in Tweed Heads, just north of Byron. Immediately after that incident a snorkeller was attacked just to the south. The day after this second attack I was on the beach preparing to launch a boat and guide a dive. A life guard I know came over and ask me to “keep an eye opened out there”. He said that they’d spotted a 3 to 4 meter shark hanging around Watego’s, the neighboring beach which is roughly a five minutes walk from where we stood. I nervously agreed as I thought to myself “what hell does he want me to do?”. Of course none of the customers were aware of the situation. Coincidentally, this dive turned out to be a very chaotic one. My nerves were even more strained by the knowledge of a possible looming shark. By the time I met my customers 10 meters below the water’s surface, I found that one guy’s tank had fallen loose from his jacket (BCD). After sorting him out I had to deal with a girl who was unable to equalize the pressure in her ears. Following several minutes of attempts I recommended that she ascend and discontinue her dive. She then advised she was OK and wanted to proceed with the dive. As we pushed forward and swam deeper, she continued to float back towards the surface to lessen the pressure on her ears. She chose to mask the true problem from me and fake buoyancy control issues as the reason for her frequent ascents. I tried working her through the problem several times before finally swimming up to her and attempting to give her one of my spare weights. The weight would essentially pull her lower to the sea floor and solve the buoyancy problem. It was then that she finally signaled “no” and advised of the lingering ear problem. I agreed, swam back to her boyfriend near the sea floor and sent them both to the surface together. By the time I returned through the surges to the two remaining divers my tank fell loose from my BCD! At this point I’d had enough and decided it better to discontinue the entire dive after only 25 minutes. It turns out that the woman diver may have even ruptured her eardrum as a result of refusing to surface and trying to dive through the pain. It was an eventful dive to say the least, but no actual shark problems. I was later shown photos, taken by the lifeguards, of the 2.5 meter (8.5 ft) baby great white that had been spotted earlier.

About a week later, I was on the boat and nearly finished gearing up all of my customers. Three customers and myself remained on the boat with the skipper when an advisement came over the CB radio. A skipper from the competing dive shop said in a calm voice that a three meter “fish” had been spotted at The Needles (a particular site at the rocks). By the way, our dive plan was to complete a drift dive starting at The Nursery and ending at The Needles. Business continued as usual, but I knew enough to be slightly alarmed. After the boat had cleared I asked the skipper of the situation and was told that it’s most likely just a Maco or Bronze Wailer hanging about. Honestly, this brief discussion did nothing to ease my concern. We proceeded with the dive and actually had a really nice time. Again, we had no actual sightings of a dangerous shark. About a week later rumor had spread and it was said that a DM guiding with the rival company actually saw a Great White and got all of her divers out of the water. Oddly enough, the comfort lies in the knowledge that after all we are in the ocean and sharks are always a possibility. It’s a fact that must be accepted in any open water activity. In addition, most say that sharks aren’t actually out to get you like in Jaws and they usually don’t mess with divers at all.

OK MOM, YOU’RE CLEAR… In other news, I’ve recently found a few opportunities to skip town and check out the countryside on day trips. Two weeks ago I went on a road trip with a group of about 10 other volunteers to Nimbin and Prosperity Falls. Nimbin hadn’t changed since my first visit, but allowed the chance for more photography of the local culture. We then drove to the falls and hiked for about 20 minutes through the rainforest before arriving at a secluded pool being fed by the insanely tall waterfall known as Prosperity. The water sprayed over a sheer cliff roughly 8 stories above us and fell gently into the pond at our feet. The water was home to an endangered species of frog and therefore it’s asked that visitors not swim after using sunscreen. Luckily, we’d yet to use any and played around for a while before heading home. Just two days ago I went on another excursion to hike Mt. Warning with two girls from the shop. Mt. Warning is a large dormant volcano that easily stands out amongst the mountainous horizon visible from Byron. It was only a 5 hour roundtrip, but the trek was intense. We stomped through puddles and over slick rock as we made our way through the dense rainforest towards the summit. The final portion of the trail consisted of about 200ft of steep rock with a chain link hand rail used to help pull your weight up. The view from the top was amazing and vast. Four lookout points have been created; one on each side of the mountain. After taking in the scenery we sat for a quick snack and soon realized the clouds had literally engulfed us. We could no longer see any other mountains. The cloud was so thick that we could even see it passing between the three of us. Soon after we decided to head down to avoid any oncoming weather.

Lastly, I’ve just decided to make my days even longer by joining the Byron Bay Bootcamp. It’s an hour long cardio and endurance training session every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6am. It’s great to have so much more energy throughout the day although it seems to be getting in the way of my late nights on the town. I’ve also just gotten an email from one of my best friends back home, Kaufman, saying that he too may be out here in April. I’m really very excited by the possibility of seeing a familiar face in this foreign land. Overall, things are well and have been going right according to my lack of plans. I hope you all are well too.

Entry #4

It’s now December 9th and Christmas is nearing. I’m sure of it despite that fact that each of my senses tell me otherwise. Wrapping paper, decorations and holiday candies fill the stores while the temperature hangs around 90 degrees and people pack the beaches. It feels nothing like Christmas to me. Oddly, regardless of the climate here, it’s still common to see cold snowy winter scenes on Christmas cards and many TV commercials. Oh, Santa still wears the big red coat too.

I didn’t last very long in Airlie Beach after my last post. My confidence in finding crew work aboard a boat soon vanished after a series of rejections. I’d been told that it was easy. Just walk up to a boat, be genuine with the crew and start working. The reality is that most of the decision makers would prefer to spend several days at sea with a bubbly young girl instead of another guy. Can’t say that I blame them, but it put me in a tough spot. I met other new people in Airlie, including a few who had been on the Mojo surf trip with me, but still wasn’t enjoying myself as I had before the others left. I made the snap decision to pack up and head back south to Byron Bay. Even if I couldn’t find work there, I already knew that I enjoyed the town more than Airlie. Soon thereafter I was on a 17 hour bus ride to Noosa Heads, where I’d stop to break up my trip. I spoke to Basti, Fre & Evelien who would all be in Noosa as well. Surprisingly, the ride time wasn’t as unbearable as I‘d imagined. I arrived Monday morning, November 17, and spent 2 rainy nights there in a very cozy hostel with free ping pong. Wednesday afternoon I left for Byron. Basti tagged along as he was heading further south, back to Sydney. The girls also arrived in Byron a day later after us, cutting short their time in Brisbane. The four of us rented an apartment-style hostel with a full kitchen and bath. There was another room attached off of the common area which was occasionally occupied by no more than 2 people. It was so nice to be able to sit in a private living room and chill or watch a movie. Basti hung around for about 3 days before heading to Sydney for guaranteed work. The girls and I remained in the hostel for another week and a half or so. We had a few other random roommates come and go, including a young guy from Brisbane named Francis. He was a cool kid who made his living playing online poker. We spent our time surfing, cooking, drinking, playing cards and hanging out. Fre even made me Thai Chicken Curry for Thanksgiving dinner! It may not be traditional, but it was great nonetheless. Eventually, they too left for Sydney and will leave for Thailand in mid-December now that the Bangkok airport has been deemed safe again.

I’ve still been unable to find paid work despite what I thought were a few promising leads. I have however started working at the Byron Bay Dive Center in exchange for cheap accommodation and free dives. I’m currently paying only $11 per night which may soon be reduced to no charge! This is a much needed change from the $30 per night I had been paying. My job consists of gearing up customers, assembling their scuba equipment, loading boats and launching them into the sea. The work is fun, staff is cool and I’m gaining tons of practical knowledge. We dive at Julian Rocks Marine Reserve which can be seen from the main beach in Byron. On a good day the underwater visibility can be 20 - 25 meters (apprx 60 - 70 feet). It’s an indescribable feeling to dive in this environment. Last Friday I was floating on the surface, head in the water, while waiting for my dive buddy. I could see the other divers already near the sea floor about 15 meters below me. Their air bubbles float up towards me and get larger and larger with every meter they rise. Just before the bubbles reached me I could clearly see the reflection of my entire body lying flat on the surface; completely relaxed. It was an awesome sight and I wish I’d had a camera. At Julian Rocks it’s common to swim with sea turtles the size of truck tires, wobby gong sharks, puffer fish, grey nurse sharks, lion fish, grouper and tons of other stuff which I’ve yet to identify. I’ve been told that they’ll most likely let me complete my Advanced Diver course soon for free. One Italian guy, Andrea, came her two months ago with only an Open Water certification (the same as me). He’s now a Dive Master and has hardly paid anything for his training! I’m excited about the possibilities with this position and plan to remain here for a few months.

I’m still actively looking for paid work for at least a few nights a week. Although my expenses have been drastically reduced, thanks to the dive shop, my goal is to live solely off of what I can earn here. I’d like to keep my savings at least partially in tact so that I may be able to visit another country or two after I leave Oz. So far, the plan seems to be that I will meet up with a few European friends for Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany next year… fingers crossed. I’ve also considered brushing up on my meager Spanish speaking skills during my free time and possibly trying to get to Argentina for a month or so. Who knows what will happen though.

I may not write again before Christmas since things have now clamed down a bit. Regardless, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years!

“Turns out not where but who you're with that really matters”

-DMB

Just past the 1 month milestone now. Time is flying and I find it hard to grasp that I’ve been here this long already. Just a few more adventure trips to report on now as I’m now trying to find a crew job on a sailboat to the Whitsunday Islands and settle in one area.

On November 1st I arrived in Hervey Bay via a 13 hour bus ride from Byron. Basti, Ash, Rick and I checked into Palace Hostel and met up with Vera and Kersten. Vera is a German girl that Basti knew from home. Kersten has kind of tagged along since the Mojo surf camp. We had a few drinks and then crashed early in order to wake up by 5am. We packed our bags and grabbed one last shower before the 3-day 4x4 excursion on Fraser Island. We breezed through the admin stuff and safety videos before being split into our groups. We had 9 people in our group, six of which are the people I mentioned earlier. In addition there were two Norwegian girls (Tonje & Tuyet) and a third named Paula. Everyone threw in $20 and we went on a mass grocery shopping spree to cover the 3 days. After a 30 minute ferry ride we arrived on Fraser around 3pm. This was later than planned given a screw up made by the booking agent, but it’s cool because they gave us a free case of beer and 1 free hostel voucher for the mix up. I took over the off-road driving of the Land Rover shortly arriving on the island. Picture small narrow sand “roads” with tons of wash out spots. Also, the steering wheel is on the right side and stick shift left. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected though. Finally, we crossed over the inland part and arrived on the east coast beach where the narrow road opened up onto an expansive beach. The beach driving was much more smooth. We made it to a camp site just as the sun set and scrambled to make camp and start on dinner. We barbequed tons of food including KANGAROO and drank our bags of “goon”. Goon, basically cheap boxed wine, is a nice alternative because a case of cheap beer runs about $45 AUD (roughly $30 USD)!!! Shortly after dinner our card game was interrupted by a dingo circling our camp. After about 4 passes he walked straight into the middle of about 30 people and up to the cooler. It’s said that they aren’t typically aggressive, but this one didn’t seem to have too much fear either. The dingo presence made things a little sketchy when walking away from the camp site to use the makeshift toilet. (SIDE NOTE: I’ve just been attacked twice by some large beaked bird while typing this entry on the front porch of our bungalow. What the hell? Animals here are fearless!) On day 2 we traveled north up the island passing the famous shipwreck, Indian Head and the Champagne Pools. Indian Head is a high lookout point from which we could see stingray, sea turtles and a shark. The Champagne Pools are waste high pools that fill during high tide. We had to swam here after being warned to avoid the ocean due to box jellies and the fact that it is a known tiger shark breeding ground. The second night was similar to the first, but this time with 2 dingos. We spent most of the third day on Lake McKensie, a crystal clear fresh water lake with blindingly white sand. Fraser was a good time overall, but we were all glad to have a shower and get out of the slightly cramped 4x4. We returned to Palace in Hervey for one more night before taking a bus to Airlie Beach. Per usual, the after party took place in our dorm.

We arrived in Airlie on Wednesday, 10/5, after yet another lengthy bus ride. The guy seated behind me had the worst smelling feet and kicked his shoes off for the full trip! We spent two nights around town before leaving on our sailing trip. Airlie is a nice little beach town consisting of only one main road. We’ve had really cool free standing bungalow-style hostel dorms in Airlie so far. Our group is usually large enough to have our own place too. On Friday we walked to the marina and met the others who were traveling aboard the Freight Train as well. There were a total of 18 passengers and 3 crew members. We left port around 1pm and sailed for about 3 or 4 hours. This was a good time to mingle with the others and get settled into our new home for the weekend. The Freight Train is a really cool 40ft single hull sailboat. Less luxury and more sailing. We were encouraged to jump in and help sail instead of sitting back and lazily watching the crew do everything. We arrived in Turtle Bay about one hour prior to sunset. About eight of us dawned our “stinger suits” and took turns diving from the boat. The suits aren’t required, but are highly recommended to defend from any possible jelly attacks. Soon after sunset dinner was served by Rachel, the deckhand, and Ben, our dive instructor, gave a briefing on the next mornings dive. It turns out that Basti and I were the only certified divers on board and I was basically allowed to do my own thing. After some light socializing, we all carried our sleeping mats up to the deck an slept underneath the blinds/ tent for the night. I woke early by myself in order to watch the sunrise through a cloudy pinkish sky. Shortly thereafter we were snorkeling and diving the morning away. Honestly, the coral and sea life here was not incredible, but still fun. One group of divers saw a 4ft reef shark. From there we moved on to Whithaven Beach for the afternoon. Here the girls were sent into a frantic camera searching frenzy each time we spotted a large sea turtle floating about. Later we sailed another few hours and chilled as the sun set. We couldn’t have dreamed of better weather on our first two days. Saturday night we anchored down in a place called Narra Inlet and had a much more lively night. Then next morning we woke to clouds and a slight drizzle. Everyone dove in sans stinger suit, cleared our heads and then had a really nice sail back into port. Part of our sailing group clicked really well and continued to hangout for the next 2 or 3 days before parting ways.

It’s now Wednesday morning. Vera, Kersten and their friend Petra left to head north to Magnetic Island yesterday. The dutch sisters, Frederike and Evelin, that we met on the boat continued on south to Fraser Island. This is a shame! Tomorrow, Rick will head north for a fruit picking job in Cairns until his girlfriend arrives in one month. Ash will head north to Magnetic Island for a full moon party and Basti is headed back south to Noosa in order to meet with his ex-girlfriend. He claims that he’ll head back here in a few days to search for a job as well, but we will see. For the time being I’ll stay in Airlie to continue searching for boat jobs. I feel confident about the possibilities. I appreciate all of your emails and facebook comments. I hope you all had a good Halloween and will definitely miss Mom’s homemade mac & cheese over Thanksgiving (ya know, the type with a thick layer of baked cheese on top)!! Jason, congrats & good luck with the upcoming move. Some pictures have been put up now and I’ll add more when I’m able. Until next time…