From: Bexxoliver@hotmail.com
Sent: 19 August 2004
Subject: Email 9, Australia 4th Update
Hi all,
Not long left in Australia now, we have just under 3 week left and are half way through our travels!
We have been making the most of Australia and done some more exciting activities. Here is a run down of our last couple of weeks since the last email:-
Airlie Beach
We spent a few days here, Airlie Beach is the most accessible point to the Whitsunday Islands and today (3rd August) we went on a day tour to the islands. Our tour was with ocean rafting, a high speed and exciting ride around the islands. The highlight of the day was a 2hr stop for lunch on Whitehaven Beach, the most beautiful beach we have ever seen! The beach had white, soft silica sand, the sand was so fine we polished our jewelry and even exfoliated with it!
Agnes Water & Town of 1770
1770 is an up and coming town and new to tourism. The roads were only laid a few years ago. We stayed here to get away from the other bustling tourist towns!
Day 1, 1770 -
While Kathryn relaxed on the local golden beaches Andrew went on a day trip aboard the Spirit of 1770 to Lady Musgrave Island. Andrews cruise took 1.2hrs to the island, which is located on the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef. Andrew was part of a small group aboard an oversized boat considering the group size. Andrew snorkeled off the island around the untouched reef compared to the busy cruises further north that has ruined the reefs!
After lunch Andrew decided to check out the deeper waters around the island for his 11th scuba dive in an area called the Aquarium (circular reef you dive inside). Today Andrew saw lots of interesting marine life including; 3 turtles, whales and dolphins!
Day 2 1770 -
Today we both went out on a full day tour which consisted of ocean kayaking followed by a sunset tour. During our kayak around the coastline of 1770 we passed a dolphin chasing fish and learnt some history of the area. Our sunset tour was also interesting as we spotted 2 pretty faced wallaby's courting in the hills before drinking wine, watching the sunset and taking photos of a human silhouette that spelled 1770.
Hervey Bay
We spent a few days here. We had a whale of a time as today (11th August) we went aboard the Tasman Venture for half a day whale watching. However our first part of the journey was interrupted by a pod of bottlenose dolphins that decided to follow our boat. We soon lost sight of the dolphins when several pods of whales came into view! Then the highlight of the day, a couple of humpback whales moved close to our boat. These whales then popped their heads out of the water to look at us inquisitively more times than we can remember! At this point they were only a couple of meters away from our boat and providing a spectacular show!
See - http://www.tasmanventure.com.au
Rainbow Beach
We walked a 6hr return along the different colored sandy beach to a wreck called The Cherry Venture washed ashore in 1973 by a cyclone. The next day we started a 2-day 4x4 safari of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world! We spent the first day driving over the bumpy sandy tracks and stopped at Lake McKenzie for lunch. We then went to Central Station followed by a walk through some rainforest! The second day was spent as we drove along 75 mile beach and stopped at the various interest points along
the way. Our first stop, a walk over sand dunes where we were followed by one of Fraser Islands dingo's. The dingo showed its wild side when it tried biting a Spanish girls leg! Our next point of interest was the wreck of the Maheno, washed ashore by bad weather in 1935. Next we went to Indian Head where we could spot whales and 360 degrees views of the north part of the island. We then stopped at Eli Creek for lunch before our return journey to Rainbow Beach.
See - http://www.fraserexperience.com
Noosa: -
We are now in a pleasant town called Noosa Heads. Today we got up early for an hours drive to Coloundra airport. We walked into a building to change into our jumpsuits. You have probably guessed it now, another skydive for Andrew, this time he jumped higher and free falling for longer as he jumped from 14,000ft, free falling for 65secs! Andrews’s excuse for a second attempt was to accompany Kathryn so she could join the mile high club! Kathryn's now completed a 12,000ft jump, freefalling for 45secs at 220kmph. We both had really experienced tandem buddy's as they have completed over 10,000 jumps each. We both survived the awesome landing on the beach, in beautiful
weather with videos, photos and certificates to prove it!
See - http://www.scskydivers.com
We will try and email you all before we leave Australia in a few weeks time!
Miss you all!
Loads love
Andrew & Kathryn
xx |
