When we last left off, we had just completed the Great Ocean Road. We spent a couple of more days in Melbourne with Karen and Marr, and then started heading north along the east coast. Next stop...Sydney! We got into Sydney at about midnight and had called ahead and booked some beds in a hostel highly recommended by the Lonely Planet travel guide. When we got to the hostel we got the idea that we were not in the best part of town. We're not sure what made us think that, but it could have been the prostitutes, the adult shops or the dodgy characters loitering around. Our thoughts were confirmed the next morning, but more on that in a minute... So we checked into the hostel and went up to our rooms (guys to one dorm room and gals to another). When Karen and Marr opened the door they were greeted pleasantly by a woman in the room with a "SHUT UP!". The girls were trying to be as quiet as possible and slip into their beds, but the room was about 8feet by 10 feet and had 6 beds. Combined with the heat, the girls did not enjoy the night, but vowed to each other that they would not complain to the guys. They concluded that this must be the way it is on the road and they needed to get used to it. Ironically, when they met up with the guys in the morning, it was complain, complain, complain, but it was coming from the guys. While the girls were trying to get settled into the small, hot, rude room, the guys had their own troubles. Bill went into the room first and only lasted 30 seconds before he ran out of air. The room was a decent size, but it had 10 beds and 7 of them were occupied. The guys agreed that the room smelled worse than any locker room or dirty laundry that they had ever smelt (Australians use the word smelt). On top of the smell, the room was about 95 degrees, completely stagnant, and did not have a fan. After sizing up the room for a while, we decided that one of the beds was considerably worse than the other two. The reason for this is that there was a guy with a cough that would not quit next to one of the beds. This guy was coughing more than anyone we had ever heard (like 10-12 CPM). We decided to all get out a coin and start flipping. The odd man out would have to sleep next to TB-Boy. Amazingly, it took 4 flips before Rob was victorious and took his prize bed.
The next morning our "Bad Area" assessment was confirmed when we walked around the block and saw used needles everywhere. The needles had been used by druggies and left on the ground for someone in flip flops or Tevas to kick and become infected. We were very careful to watch our step.
One of the highlights of Sydney was the huge botanical garden in the middle of the city. It had all kinds of life in it including several tress full of bats. These bats were about the size of a house cat and just hung upside down. It was quite a site. Karen was grossed out and said something like "eeew...eeeew...eeeew". From this park was a great view of the harbor bridge and the opera house. We wanted to climb the bridge, but quickly realised (Australian spelling) that it was ridiculous. The climb was about $60 and included putting on a bunch of gear including "One Gray Suit", a harness, a walkie talkie... well you get the idea. They took this thing pretty seriously. We went into the office and it was hilarious. They actually had a section of the walkway built and people were practicing walking on it before they hit the "real thing". We watched for a while and could not believe our eyes. The icing on the cake was the wall of fame where there were autographed pictures of celebs climbing the bridge. The wall included some Japanese newscasters, Nicole Kidman, playboy bunnies and many more. The most classic thing was that one of the pictures was signed, "Thanks Bridge Climb!!!". Not sure why but we all got a big kick out of that one.
Seeing the Sydney Opera House was great. What an amazing structure! They claim that the Eifel Tower and the Opera House share the title of "most recognizable building in the world". While we were checking it out, Rob and Chris went to the box office and bought us all tickets to see a play in the Opera House that night. It was really good fun (Australian term). The play was quite funny and we all had a great time.
Our next stop was a small beach town called Byron Bay. This town is known for its good beaches, good partying and good surfing. We definitely beached, partied, and surfed. Chris and Rob stumbled home on more than one occassion in the wee hours of the morning. Karen tried her hand at surfing for the first time and proved to be a real natural. She now considers Byron Bay to be the "Place she became addicted to surfing". The town was really great and it was hard to leave. In fact, when we decided to leave after 3 days in Byron Bay, Marr told us that she was going to split off from us and stay in Byron Bay. Nathan stayed too. Karen did not want to leave either, but decided that there were many more places to see up the coast.
We drove up the coast towards Brisbain. On the road we read about a little town called Noosa and decided to stop for a night or two. It was an amazing place. The town was like Vail or Aspen, but on the beach. It had a surf break that is considered "The best long board nose riding wave in the world". We think it may have been self proclaimed, but it was the best we have ever surfed or seen. It just so happened that they were having a major long board championship there the next day. Rob and Bill paddled out and realized what the competition for waves was like. It was almost impossible to get a wave because every wave had someone on it. They did catch several waves including Bill's "Career Best" wave. All in all it was fantastic, but frustrating. Only later did we find out that all of the other surfers were in from all over the world to compete in the contest. Rob and Bill felt a little better about their inability to get waves. It was here at Noosa that Karen got her first ever unassisted wave (meaning she had no help getting into it). That is a major moment in any surfer's life. It is safe to say that we will not forget Noosa any time soon. She is so hooked, that she is even dreaming about surfing at night.
After passing through Brisbane we stopped for lunch in Surfer's Paradise. Nothing too exciting - pretty much a tourist trap. Next stop...Harvey Bay. Harvey Bay is the launching point for visiting Fraser Island just off the coast. Frasier Island is the world's largest sand dune and many backpackers do a three day Fraser Island tour. We decided to go for it, and were joined by six other backpackers. The tour comany basically gave us a 4x4 and all the camping gear and told us to be back in three days - probably something that wouldn't take place in the US. With all of the camping, cooking for ourselves and traveling alongside 6 other people we didn't know (including one very, very strange, tatooed individual from Germany), Frasier Island was probably the closest we got to a "Survivor" experience. The camping proved to be difficult because of the massive horse flies and the heat, but it was fun to camp on the beach. We were also graced by the presence of a professional cricket player from the UK and his girlfriend on our trip - Ian and Caroline. They were a blast to hang out with and by the end of the trip we are all a little closer to learning the crazy rules of cricket.
Our next stop was unanimously our favorite. We spent 3 days and 3 nights on an old pirate looking ship called the Solway Lass (see pictures) sailing around the Whitsunday islands. The Solway Lass was built in 1902 and has served in two world wars and most recently spent some time in the Sydney Harbour as a floating restaurant. We had a fantastic time, the weather really cooperated with us and the food was fantastic. We were joined by 22 other passengers and a crew of 5, and even got to assist the crew with some of the sailing responsibilities. The highlight of the trip was getting to see one of the most spectacular sunsets (see pictures) one evening.
We are in Cairnes now and we have returned our metallic burnt orange rental car - so sad. Rob and Chris are out to sea in the Great Barrier Reef right now in the middle of their SCUBA certification course and Bill and Karen have been doing day trips around the area. Yesterday Bill and Karen went on a snorkeling/diving day trip and had a great time. We were all enjoying Australia so much that we all extended our airline tickets by a couple of days to be able to see a little more. We are all flying out on the 21st and it will be hard to leave. Marr did not extend her ticket and ended up meeting up with us for one last night before she flew home on the 15th.
Well, this is a wordy one and for that we apologize, but a lot has happened in the past month and we have not been all that good about updating the travel journal regularly.
South East Asia....Here we come!!!!
-The Crew+Karen
