Whitsunday Trip: Bringing it home

Friday was the last day of our trip, cue tears...many many tears. We woke up extra early and spent a whopping 12 hours on the road straight back to Brisbane. And to be completely honest, I'm pretty sure I slept 68% of the time. 

Early into the drive, and by early I mean 3-4 hours in, we paid a visit to the Exotic Fruit Garden again. You know, the tourist stop, that despite the name, had no signs of any actual fruits...  it did have some delicious homemade ice cream that we gave a try. I still have sweet dreams of the banana cinnamon. 

Mmmmmm.

The rest of the drive was spent driving through the bush with nothing much to look at, barely any radio stations, and only one new trivia question. I think the only thing that kept Jo entertained was pretending the people that we'd be following for long stretches were our amigos. They'd dodge caravans and huge logging trucks together, slowed down to let all the Ford Falcons pass, and occasionally stop at the same petrol station. 

When we were greeted with a town we noticed some of their local gems, like the small bridges with rather intricate architecture and crocodiles mounted over hotel entryways. They were only small distractions from my sulking about leaving the Whitsundays. Just 24 hours earlier I was snorkeling and swimming next to all sorts of stunning reefs with their tropical fishes and white sandy beaches...

And now it was all over, only to be relived in photographs and this blog. Our last stop before we got back home was at a 24 hour restaurant that used hideous rainbow gradients as backgrounds for its signs and menus. There I figured the best way to end this very Aussie adventure would be with an Aussie burger with the works. Click here if you wish to be enlightened with this monster of all burgers. If you're lucky enough to get you're mouth around it it is super tasty!

And so ended my epic Whitsunday trip. I hope you all enjoyed reliving my adventures with me! Stay turned these next couple weeks where I'll be heading back to America just before Easter. I plan on staying in San Francisco for a couple of days before heading home to Wisconsin. If you guys have any suggestions of must sees lemme know!

Tah!

(sorry for taking so long to post this, I had internet issues for a few days. Although I did make a snazzy new header with the spare time! Hope it makes up for my absence! Let me know what you think!)

Whitsunday Trip: Ocean Rafting Adventure

We dedicated another day to snorkeling among the reefs, this trip was just a tad different. Unlike the Fantasea cruise we took earlier that week to the Great Barrier Reef, this one didn't cater so much to just everyone and their grand-mummy. It drew more of an adventurous and physically fit crowd. We were joined on our raft by many attractive, young couples and groups from all over the globe. 

This tour put the cherry on top of the whole trip, our guides were humorous and friendly in that authentic and not cheesy way and it was the best way to really see the Whitsunday islands beauty and wildlife.  The trip consisted of two snorkeling stops and a visit to the famous Whitehaven beach. 

Our first snorkel was memorable due to the resident sea turtle that loves to flaunt itself to all the rafting visitors. The water we were in was less clear and had more debris, so not many photos were worth taking. It did still have some gorgeous views and had corals what were massive! Buuuuut our second snorkel stop was much more exciting...

In the second snorkel we were greeted by a fish nearly the size of me! Our tour guides were feeding the big, mellow guy and swarms of gorgeous [smaller] fish joined in. Jo got to pet the big blue lug, I was content with just letting him model for me... 

As we were swimming around in awe, admiring all the colorful coral in the clearer water we noticed we were swimming past jellyfish every so often. You know how when you hear someone you know has lice and your scalp suddenly feels itchy? Well as soon as we started spotting a couple we both started getting paranoid that we had this strange tingle on our neck or whatever exposed skin area we had. I know, we are fools considering they were tiny, but it was hard not to knowing how lethal those suckers could potentially be!

After we escaped that "near death experience" we hoped back on the raft where we hit a bout of white-cap waves and had bumpy ride up to Whitehaven beach. I have a video that I won't embarrass Jo with since he ended up spilling his can of coke he had just opened. 

I honestly have to say that Whitehaven beach is the the most gorgeous place I have ever visited. Between the perfect white silica sand, clean clear blue water and amazing views of swirling ocean waters I knew this had to be paradise. As we were approaching the island we were greeted by a few sting rays who shied away as we got off the raft and made our way to the beach. 

Just as we hit the sand our guide told us of a huge army of these solider crabs that was about a hundred yards away. The only catch was that we'd need to practically sprint in order to catch a glimpse of them before they burrow themselves into the sand, as you can see in the video I posted below. Our first time we didn't have much luck. We caught a glimpse but they were much faster than when we returned from our rainforest walk to the view of all views. They were much slower upon our return for whatever reason that I particularly don't mind. It could also be due to the fact that there were literally thousands of them!

We wrapped up Whitehaven with a picnic on the beach where we were entertained with our guide tossing up leftover chicken to the island's predator birds. There was one point where the eagle dropped the chicken and the seagulls viciously went after it and carried it very close to us. I thought I had it recording on my camera but due it it being a gorgeous sunny day I couldn't see crap on the screen...so I missed out when the eagle came and swiped up his piece of chicken just a few yards from where Jo and I sat!

Not much happend after that besides a dip in the gorgeous water. Shortly after we board the raft for a final time and headed back to the mainland. But not before we dropped off the young, energetic Korean group that would literally cheer loudly for just about everything. The half hour back to the mainland seemed way to quiet even with a few intentional  jolty twists and turns by our captain as our grand finale.  

Here are a couple mobs of the solider crabs that inhabit Whitehaven Beach. On a side note I did actually step on one where it remained completely still as if it was dead, then Jo touched it and it scurried off. I was immensely relieved! Side note #2, those little puddles all over the place are created by stingrays when the tide is high and they feed on these little guys! Neat, eh?

 Enjoy!

Whitsunday Trip: Back on the Road

Once we woke up and checked out of our 3 start hotel in Rockhampton we noticed immediately that the sky did not look at all promising. And sure enough once we started driving we hit several severe rain storms. But before we started our journey again I had my very first meal at The Coffee Club. Now these restaurants are littered alllllll over Brisbane but considering a meal for two costs enough to feed some African tribal town for a week I've never bothered going. I will admit, my poached eggs on turkish bread with avocado and cheese was delicious but I think it will remain a luxury on my poor uni student budget.

We continued on with even less selection in music stations and less variation in scenery. Occasionally we came across a few lonely cattle ranches where the cows just seemed to be wandering in these endless acres of pastures. Eventually we stumbled upon a gem of the otherwise dinky, drab petrols stations tourist stops. This one was called the Exotic Fruit Garden and despite it having no sign of any fruit or garden, it did have this lovely lily-pad invested lagoon that we happily enjoyed a pot of tea at.

After that refreshing stop we drove non-stop to Airlie Beach! And at 4 pm we finally arrived and checked into our resort which definitely earned all four of its stars. The rest of the night was pretty un-eventful. We wandered around and saw what main street Airlie had to offer, had some always delicious Indian curry and wrapped the night off with New Zealand Natural ice cream. And yes, I am aware that I have some freakish anime eye going on in that ice cream photo. Don't be hating.