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| The pool on Daydream Island was our first stop on our tour around the Whitsundays!! |
| Glenn's Journal 02-20-03 & 02-21-03 Queensland We awoke around 8:00 am and had to decide on whether to call the ocean rafting company to see if they had any cancellations. We quickly agreed to skip it and plan the day around checking out the town of Airlie Beach including the swimming lagoon. After a more casual morning we finally made our way into town around 10:45 am. We spent the first few hours window shopping including buying some swim goggles (so we could see under the water as we have many more weeks on the beach, including Fiji and Bali.) We also bought some new bathers for me and some colorful "fun" shirts for me as well. We then spent the next few hours at the swimming lagoon in Airlie Beach. The lagoon is a fantastic place to relax and swim. It offers a beautiful view of the harbor and is well maintained. The place was packed with people that either chose to relax or didn't get on a tour for the day. We left the lagoon around 3:00 pm and spent the next hour at an internet cafe. Erin wanted to check e-mails and I usually like to do that with her. We returned to the caravan park where we spent another hour at the pool their before retiring to the cabin for the evening. I cooked dinner tonight, spaghetti, and we relaxed while watching our favorite Thursday night tv show called "Joe Millionaire". The show is about a guy that gets to date 20 women to find "the one". The trick is that "Joe" is not really worth a million dollars but is really a crane operator that makes $19k a year. I can't wait to hear how the chosen lady takes the news. I went to sleep shortly after the show while Erin remained up to watch other shows until she tired. 02-21-03 Queensland Today is a major drive day. We were up and packed and on the road by 9:00 am. Our original goal was to reach Gladstone and then finish the drive to Noosa on Saturday. The total drive is over 1100 kilometers and most people would split it in to two days. We stopped for lunch around 1:00 pm and we were only an hour away from Rockhampton and Gladstone was only another 110 kilometers from there so we agreed that we would continue past Gladstone if possible. We reached Gladstone around 3:30 pm so we decided to continue and would try to make it all the way to Noosa today. We agreed to stop in Maryborough for dinner but did not relaize that the main highway did not go directly through town. (Not like the US where we have major highways around all major cities but in Australia the major motorway goes directly through most towns requiring you to slow down to 80 or 60 kph.) I also give credit to all of the roadwork that is happening across Australia but I have a few issues. The first being that they have a tendency to slow traffic down to 40 kph for a few kilometers while working in less than 10% of that area. The other issue I have is that they leave the signs to slowdown even after they have gone home and on weekends when they are not even working. What a waste and frustrating!!! Anyway, back to our day. After missing dinner in Maryborough we agreed to stop in Gympie. We saw the signs but did not find the turn off for the restaurant that we had chosen. As we drove by it we just decided that we were not meant to stop for dinner yet. We arrived into Noosa around 8:00 pm and our first stop was for dinner. We found the McDonald's where we had chicken nuggets and fries for a quick dinner. We made our way to a friends house around 8:30 pm where we unloaded the car and settled in for the night. It was a very long drive day!!! We are staying at Nerida Dearden's house. Well, you ask who is Nerida Dearden? Nerida introduced my parents together way back when. I won't say when but you can imagine!!! I met Nerida during my last visit to Australia but then she lived in Canberra and worked for the government. Jo, the women we are staying with in Brisbane, is her daughter. That is how we know Jo and Shane. It is great to have friends in Australia!!! Tomorrow we will go to the Eumundi market and do some grocery shopping. |
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| Erin and I are having a little fun on Whitehaven Beach!!! |