Thursday, March 14, 2013
Magnetic Island
Ok when last I posted, we were heading out of Airlie Beach. We stopped at the Big Mango at the information place in Bowen (known for its mango production...and where the movie Australia was filmed, although I have yet to see it) and a wonderfully knowledgeable lady told us what to do in Bowen, as well as gave us a MUST SEE tip just north of Mission Beach called Paronella Park, where I'm writing from now....but i digress. Bowen is a cute small town with a lot of murals (picture below). We spent the night at a free rest-stop with toilets and a nice covered eating area, but there were three other cars/vans parked there (including a car that two of the three inhabitants slept on TOP of the picnic tables in sleeping bags, and inquired as to how much our campa van cost....did I mention they were middle age? Around 50y.o) AND there was a guy on his BIKE that set up his tent and slept and he must have been 45....he was tight, I have to admit. We passed him not once, but twice the next day, after we had stopped in Ayr for a cheap lunch ($8 steak) and a cheap beer purchase ($30 for a case of fosters. FOSTERS!!!!! I thought they only exported that crap LOL).
When we arrived at the ferry terminal in Townsville to get to Magnetic Island (which we had booked before leaving Airlie), we were greeted with the news that we COULDN'T bring our vehicle, since the deal we had purchased was for just our bodies on the ferry. It would have cost an extra $125 return to bring the van, so we sucked up the $14 for the two nights of parking, repacked our overnight bags, had a few beers, and caught our ferry. Now, I still don't know how Magnetic Island got its name, but let me tell you that it is breathtaking. If the nomads hostel is still looking for extra staff next month, I will GLADLY give them a month of my time in exchange for a free room, free brekky and dinner, and cheap drinks at their bar. Speaking of: our team came in third place in the trivia night on Thursday ($30 bar tab between 4 people) and FIRST in the bar games comp on Friday night (which just ended up being a free shot for the seven of us, but at least we won!!).
We were a little worse for wear on Friday morning, when we had to get up early for our Bushtucker breakfast with a crocodile, snake, and koala (pics below), but after a quick nap in the hammocks we were ready to explore the island....until the rain came. Our hostel was directly on the beach, however, so there were no complaints from these two. I can't wait to go back and see more :)
The one thing I forgot to mention was that at the end of our Airlie Beach trek, my neck started to hurt. A lot. I think it started when I jumped into the (man-made) lagoon at Airlie...I think my head snapped back too quickly. It got so bad at Magnetic Island that I had to get a massage when we got to Townsville on Saturday. It definitely helped, but didn't fix it straight out, since I had to continuously sleep in a van :/ we found a free place to sleep Saturday night, and the we met up with 2 couples that we had met on our Margaret River tour, and had a session with them and stayed in one of their guest rooms (luckily they live three blocks from one another, and they were both SO GRACIOUS). We left early on Monday morning, had brekky (with a bit of Internet) at Macca's, and were in Mission Beach by 2pm, after stopping in Tully for lunch and a photo at the famous Golden Gumboot (pic to follow). We slept in the van at mission beach, did laundry the next day, and went to go swimming in one of the stinger nets, but it was low tide and really crappy. I DID, however, see two crabs on the beach, trying to hide themselves in the sand, hoping the tide would carry them away. Ryan tried to take a pic of one but I think he was too fast. Also, the night before, I caught an earwig crawling on my hand, and he may or may not have bitten me. GROSS!!!!! >:(
Just before leaving mission beach, we discovered that we were close to an attraction suggested by the lady at the information place in Bowen: Paronella Park. We have now been here for three days LOL. We got a deal because we were in a Jucy van, and our admission included a campground site for the evening, and then we paid for two nights in a cabin, complete with fridge, a/c, a double bed and TV!!!!! Very reasonably priced at $80, and I would rather give the park my money than some hostel that kids mess up anyway.
Paronella Park is absolutely breathtaking. José Paronella came from Spain to be a cane-cutter and ended up buying a piece of rainforest and building a Spanish-style castle and gardens over his however-many acres. He told his fiancée that he would go back to fetch her once he was established, but after eleven years she had married someone else, so José married his sister and they continued work on the park, which was open to the public and had a ballroom and cinema. It was on the Bruce Highway, before the highway moved to the other side of the mountain. It has a huge waterfall that hydro powers the entire park, using the same system José set up in the 1930s. Did I mention this guy had no architectural knowledge and was trained as a BAKER???! Read about the park here: http://www.paronellapark.com.au it was voted number one on the RACV's list of 150 things to do/see in Queensland.
During the night tour we saw fireflies (that are actually beetles), mushrooms that glow in the dark (retain light) and turtles and eels. Pictures to follow. I'm tired now and this is a very long entry so until next time!!! Xoxoxo
When we arrived at the ferry terminal in Townsville to get to Magnetic Island (which we had booked before leaving Airlie), we were greeted with the news that we COULDN'T bring our vehicle, since the deal we had purchased was for just our bodies on the ferry. It would have cost an extra $125 return to bring the van, so we sucked up the $14 for the two nights of parking, repacked our overnight bags, had a few beers, and caught our ferry. Now, I still don't know how Magnetic Island got its name, but let me tell you that it is breathtaking. If the nomads hostel is still looking for extra staff next month, I will GLADLY give them a month of my time in exchange for a free room, free brekky and dinner, and cheap drinks at their bar. Speaking of: our team came in third place in the trivia night on Thursday ($30 bar tab between 4 people) and FIRST in the bar games comp on Friday night (which just ended up being a free shot for the seven of us, but at least we won!!).
We were a little worse for wear on Friday morning, when we had to get up early for our Bushtucker breakfast with a crocodile, snake, and koala (pics below), but after a quick nap in the hammocks we were ready to explore the island....until the rain came. Our hostel was directly on the beach, however, so there were no complaints from these two. I can't wait to go back and see more :)
The one thing I forgot to mention was that at the end of our Airlie Beach trek, my neck started to hurt. A lot. I think it started when I jumped into the (man-made) lagoon at Airlie...I think my head snapped back too quickly. It got so bad at Magnetic Island that I had to get a massage when we got to Townsville on Saturday. It definitely helped, but didn't fix it straight out, since I had to continuously sleep in a van :/ we found a free place to sleep Saturday night, and the we met up with 2 couples that we had met on our Margaret River tour, and had a session with them and stayed in one of their guest rooms (luckily they live three blocks from one another, and they were both SO GRACIOUS). We left early on Monday morning, had brekky (with a bit of Internet) at Macca's, and were in Mission Beach by 2pm, after stopping in Tully for lunch and a photo at the famous Golden Gumboot (pic to follow). We slept in the van at mission beach, did laundry the next day, and went to go swimming in one of the stinger nets, but it was low tide and really crappy. I DID, however, see two crabs on the beach, trying to hide themselves in the sand, hoping the tide would carry them away. Ryan tried to take a pic of one but I think he was too fast. Also, the night before, I caught an earwig crawling on my hand, and he may or may not have bitten me. GROSS!!!!! >:(
Just before leaving mission beach, we discovered that we were close to an attraction suggested by the lady at the information place in Bowen: Paronella Park. We have now been here for three days LOL. We got a deal because we were in a Jucy van, and our admission included a campground site for the evening, and then we paid for two nights in a cabin, complete with fridge, a/c, a double bed and TV!!!!! Very reasonably priced at $80, and I would rather give the park my money than some hostel that kids mess up anyway.
Paronella Park is absolutely breathtaking. José Paronella came from Spain to be a cane-cutter and ended up buying a piece of rainforest and building a Spanish-style castle and gardens over his however-many acres. He told his fiancée that he would go back to fetch her once he was established, but after eleven years she had married someone else, so José married his sister and they continued work on the park, which was open to the public and had a ballroom and cinema. It was on the Bruce Highway, before the highway moved to the other side of the mountain. It has a huge waterfall that hydro powers the entire park, using the same system José set up in the 1930s. Did I mention this guy had no architectural knowledge and was trained as a BAKER???! Read about the park here: http://www.paronellapark.com.au it was voted number one on the RACV's list of 150 things to do/see in Queensland.
During the night tour we saw fireflies (that are actually beetles), mushrooms that glow in the dark (retain light) and turtles and eels. Pictures to follow. I'm tired now and this is a very long entry so until next time!!! Xoxoxo
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Floods and turtles and coral... oh my!
ok guys we are about to leave airlie beach, but i have yet to update this blog.....there's a week or so that you need to get caught up on!!
After we left Noosa we went up to Bundaberg and stayed two nights because of the weather. RAIN! we found a free parking spot near the beach, but got a verbal warning on our second morning. that night we went to the Mon Repos turtle rookery and were seated at a turtles nest so we got a front row seat while 92 hatchlings burst through the sand and i even got to help them towards the ocean with my headlamp (along with others). turtles take their lighting cues from the horizon, so Bundaberg and surrounding areas kill their lights at night so they dont get confused. luckily the rain held off so it was a perfect setting.....we were really lucky!!!!
We drove up to 1770 and Agnes Water, but the weather was bad (RAIN) so we didn't stay, we just headed up to Emu Park and stayed in the car park of an INCREDIBLE hostel for only $10 per night, so we stayed two nights and watched movies and did laundry the second day, since everything south of us was flooding (greyhound buses werent running north of brisbane, that's how bad it was). it was a perfect chill-out day, and i would highly recommend the emu park beach resort...the rooms looked really nice and it was clean and sparsely populated ;)
We got to Airlie Beach after a looooong time on the road (5 hours of driving by Ryan, what a champ!) and had a private double room waiting for us, complete with a queen-sized bed and ensuite and a/c for ryan since it is WAAAAY humid up north ;)
we were really upset to find that there is no surf north of 1770, since it gets cut off by the reef. being avid bodyboarding fans, we'll need to find something else to occupy our time at the beach :/
thursday at 4pm we got onto our catamaran 'On Ice' and there was one couple that couldnt make it due to the weather, so it was just us, a british couple, a girl from estonia, and a family of three from vermont, whose son lives on the gold coast, plus two crew. it was FANTASTIC!!!!! the food was amazing, they kept us well-fed, the snorkling was great (although a little murky because of the wet season and all the rain), but the weather held off and it mostly only rained at night. in fact, i fell asleep on the mesh netting at the front of the boat and had neglected to put sunscreen on my legs, so i wound up with a nasty, two-level burn on my legs. painful. i shall not be doing that again!!!!!!
we got some photos with our underwater camera, so i'll be posting those later when we get an actual computer with a drive so i can load the cd ;)
one thing: i am paranoid of jelly fish. i have got it in my head that they are all killers (not true) and i got really really scared while swimming, even though i was wearing a protective suit. they were EVERYWHERE!!!!! but the sea scooter was pretty neat, and even though i dont have any balance i tried the Stand Up Paddleboard twice, and promptly fell and just paddled on my knees.
Whitehaven beach was very nice, with very white sand that is the same consistency as refined sugar. i gave myself a spa treatment and then my skin was very smooth :)
we returned to airlie beach on saturday and have been here ever since, paying for two extra nights in the room (WORTH IT!!), and then staying in the van last night.
i have to apologize for the rushed nature of my writing in this post......it's my own fault that i havent written for so long and have left it til the last minute and ryan wants to get going. we should be in townsville the day after tomorrow, and are staying at magnetic island for two nights. we love snorkling now and will most likely be doing that as much as possbile up north :)
love you all! photos to follow xoxox
After we left Noosa we went up to Bundaberg and stayed two nights because of the weather. RAIN! we found a free parking spot near the beach, but got a verbal warning on our second morning. that night we went to the Mon Repos turtle rookery and were seated at a turtles nest so we got a front row seat while 92 hatchlings burst through the sand and i even got to help them towards the ocean with my headlamp (along with others). turtles take their lighting cues from the horizon, so Bundaberg and surrounding areas kill their lights at night so they dont get confused. luckily the rain held off so it was a perfect setting.....we were really lucky!!!!
We drove up to 1770 and Agnes Water, but the weather was bad (RAIN) so we didn't stay, we just headed up to Emu Park and stayed in the car park of an INCREDIBLE hostel for only $10 per night, so we stayed two nights and watched movies and did laundry the second day, since everything south of us was flooding (greyhound buses werent running north of brisbane, that's how bad it was). it was a perfect chill-out day, and i would highly recommend the emu park beach resort...the rooms looked really nice and it was clean and sparsely populated ;)
We got to Airlie Beach after a looooong time on the road (5 hours of driving by Ryan, what a champ!) and had a private double room waiting for us, complete with a queen-sized bed and ensuite and a/c for ryan since it is WAAAAY humid up north ;)
we were really upset to find that there is no surf north of 1770, since it gets cut off by the reef. being avid bodyboarding fans, we'll need to find something else to occupy our time at the beach :/
thursday at 4pm we got onto our catamaran 'On Ice' and there was one couple that couldnt make it due to the weather, so it was just us, a british couple, a girl from estonia, and a family of three from vermont, whose son lives on the gold coast, plus two crew. it was FANTASTIC!!!!! the food was amazing, they kept us well-fed, the snorkling was great (although a little murky because of the wet season and all the rain), but the weather held off and it mostly only rained at night. in fact, i fell asleep on the mesh netting at the front of the boat and had neglected to put sunscreen on my legs, so i wound up with a nasty, two-level burn on my legs. painful. i shall not be doing that again!!!!!!
we got some photos with our underwater camera, so i'll be posting those later when we get an actual computer with a drive so i can load the cd ;)
one thing: i am paranoid of jelly fish. i have got it in my head that they are all killers (not true) and i got really really scared while swimming, even though i was wearing a protective suit. they were EVERYWHERE!!!!! but the sea scooter was pretty neat, and even though i dont have any balance i tried the Stand Up Paddleboard twice, and promptly fell and just paddled on my knees.
Whitehaven beach was very nice, with very white sand that is the same consistency as refined sugar. i gave myself a spa treatment and then my skin was very smooth :)
we returned to airlie beach on saturday and have been here ever since, paying for two extra nights in the room (WORTH IT!!), and then staying in the van last night.
i have to apologize for the rushed nature of my writing in this post......it's my own fault that i havent written for so long and have left it til the last minute and ryan wants to get going. we should be in townsville the day after tomorrow, and are staying at magnetic island for two nights. we love snorkling now and will most likely be doing that as much as possbile up north :)
love you all! photos to follow xoxox
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Off to the Whitsundays!!
Hi guys
Just a brief note to let you know we are dry and safe in Airlie Beach. The flooding you may have heard about is in Gympie (an hour south of bundaberg?) and areas of Brisbane. The cyclone that you may have heard about touched down in northern WA.
Here are some photos. I will update you on the last week when I return on Saturday. Pray for as little rain as possible!!!!
Xoxoxo
Just a brief note to let you know we are dry and safe in Airlie Beach. The flooding you may have heard about is in Gympie (an hour south of bundaberg?) and areas of Brisbane. The cyclone that you may have heard about touched down in northern WA.
Here are some photos. I will update you on the last week when I return on Saturday. Pray for as little rain as possible!!!!
Xoxoxo
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