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Oceania » Australia » Queensland
Land of the Dingos - Tuesday, June 20, 2000
I got an overnight bus from Airlie Beach down to Hervey bay (about a 12 hour journey). On the way I woke up just as we were going through a small town in the early morning - there had been a fire and a TV crew was setting up just outside - I thought at the time it was just some little local news story.Getting to a hostel in Hervey bay is pretty easy - they all have mini buses that meet all the coaches as they come in - very handy.
I spent the afternoon just relaxing after the long trip then went to the local chippy for some food. They had a TV on while I was waiting - it was the news about the fire and it was a hostel that had burned and lots of people were missing. It was a bit of a shock for a lot of the people at my hostel - some have them could have been there only days before. I sent a text message to my mum to say I was fine but apparently my dad had found out about it and had been worried - he went home in his lunch hour to call me to check I was OK - lucky I had my mobile with me I suppose.
The next day I was off to Fraser Island on a 3 day trip. I guess I should start this by saying that I'm not too keen on dogs. Maybe the dingo on the leaflet for booking the trip should have tipped me off to there being an excess of dingos on Fraser Island but oh well...
A bus picked us up and then onto a ferry for the crossing. Its a good chance to meet other people on the trip.
Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and the main road is the beach. A lot of people go on self drive camping trips but I went on a budget trip with King Fisher Bay Resort who have some budget accomodation.
We went straight into our trip going to a really clear blue lake and on a walk in the rainforest. There was a creek that looked really strange at first until I realised it was because the water was so clear and what I was really seeing was the sand at the bottom.
We then went back to check into our rooms. It was organised into small lodges for 16 people each - 4 to a room with a nice living area too. The best bit of all...towels! After you've been travelling round for a while it seems like a great luxury to have a towel that doesn't permanently smell damp. The beds also had cozy duvets.
There was food and entertainment on in a buidling in the resort. We were also able to go up to the main resort if we wanted - they didn't try to keep us lowly budget travellers away.
The next day we spent travelling up and down the main beach seeing lots of sights like a shipwreck. We also caught our first glimpse of the dingos (luckily from in the bus). The guide was great about me not being keen on dogs. It's also great to have an informative guide on trips like this - I think you can learn so much mroe about the places you visit.
The final day was a bit shorter and me and one of the other girls I'd been sharing a room with decided to treat ourselves to a massage at the resort's spa - apparently me sitting at a computer all day isn't doing my back any good! We also got to spend some time relaxing by the pool before heading back for the ferry.
I was coming to the end of my trip to Australia - just Brisbane to go. This time the bus trip wasn't quite so long - only 6 hrs!
The bus was delayed a bit getting into Brisbane and the receptionist at the hostel (I can't remember which one) was a bit moany about it - saying that I should have called (from on a bus?? - I wasn't telling him I had my mobile phone with me) and I was lucky that I had a bed, which I had booked in advance. To me, if I've booked a bed I've booked a bed. If they want to charge me for one night if I don't show then fair enough but I want to know that I have a bed waiting when i've booked one.
I got chatting with a girl who was going to the airport to meet her boyfriend on the day I was flying out so we decided to get the bus together to the airport. It's a good job because my alarm didn't go off so she was able to wake me up (and help me carry by bags to the bus station :) ). Again the receptionist was pretty rude as she asked about checking times of planes. All in all people in the hostels in Australia had been really helpful and friendly, even booking taxis for me but at this place they must hav ebeen really fed up.
Luckily, I made it to my flight in time and I was off to Hong Kong.
- Created:
- Monday, October 25, 2004 at 6:55 PM
- Last Modified:
- Monday, October 25, 2004 at 7:00 PM