Ozzie Ozzie .. beaches and dingos

Bas Geertsema

Hi there mate!

I left the reader behind last time in Byron Bay. Supposedly the most famous, most relaxing and most beautiful beach and surfing place in the east coast. Within a small local community that uses alternative medication and herbs as a way of life and effectively kept out McDonalds it is a place surely different than the usual commercial beachtowns you’ll find. Surfing and chilling on the beach in the daytime, having a party in the nighttime. That is in short the biorhythm down there. Because I stayed in this huge filthy 16-bed dormitory, I decided not to stay a night longer there. So I checked out. Which was a bad mistake because no accomodation could be found in the entire town for the next night. So after one night I was forced to go to Brisbane. Which is a big city just across the border in the provence of Queensland.

The funny thing about Queensland is that when you enter it, you actually go into a different timezone, even you are travelling straight from south to north. So upon arrival I had to set back my clock by an hour. Brisbane does not have a lot to offer for the backpacker or tourist traveling through. But is a nice city to work and live in. A lot of backpackers end up here doing work to make some money. The hostels here are filled by people staying there for weeks, or even months. Not for me, though, so after a good saturdaynight party and some sightseeing (the parks there are amazing, as in Sydney) I decided to travel up north to Noosa. To actually take my first little steps on a surfboard. And against all expectations I actually managed to stand on the board on my very first wave ride. And proud of it. Actually, it was a lot more fun than I expected! (It seemed quite boring: paddling, watching for wave, stand on board, fall, paddling, etc).

The next day I went hiking in the local natural park where there are supposedly many Koala’s. Three hours and many miles later I still hadn’t spot anything being near a Koala. So that is one I still have on my wishlist :)

What is not on my wishlist anymore however, is the dingo. For those who do not know the dingo, it is a typical australian wolf. But maybe looks more like a dog. And though there are not too many of them, I have spotted a few on Fraser Island..

Let me tell you a bit more about Frasers Island, because it is quite unique in the world. Imagine Australia as one big island in the pacific. Like any island the currents in the water will move aroumd sediments (sand, minerals) and in some places where for some reason the current is less, the sediments get the change to settle down. Imagine the sands of the eastcoast of Australia being transported by the ocean to a single spot. For millions of years. You’ll get a lot of sand, right?! Well, that turns out to be Fraser Island. A huge quantity of sand deposited onto a volcanic bedrock (100km length, 15km width). It is now a natural park and you can only get around on four wheel drives, since everything .. everything is sandy there. Expect sand to be everywhere, in your shoes, bags, cars, tent, shirt, underwear, shorts, wallet, etc. Although the island has a large beach on one side, you are unable to swim there because of the jellyfish (ned: kwallen) and the sharks swimming around. But that is not a real problem since there are incredibly beautiful and incredibly clear freshwater high altitude lakes. In these lakes you will find fresh rainwater, filtered thoroughly by the sands. Swimming there is like swimming in your local swimmingpool, or bath tube. I can say it is one of the best places in nature I have been to so far. I spend three days on Fraser Island, with a guided tour. And it is during these three days we have spotted a few of the dingo’s (wild dogs) that live there.

I have just returned when I am typing this. Tomorrow I will probably go to Rockhampton, a couple of hours up north.

I am a bit less on the internet here, because it is more expensive, but I will try to regularly keep you updated. Because this computer is heavily restricted I am not able to upload any new pictures, but I will as soon as I have the chance!

Cheers!

Bas

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