Yeah, I am a SURFER!!!!!

Damn it, I stood on that board!!! Couldn't get enough!
Okay there is much room for improvement but I rocked my first waves!!
The surf was beautiful, I can see why people spent days and weeks on their boards.
Pretty exhausting though, you always have to fight the current.
Reminded me of my first (=last) wind surfing lesson. I did rather poorly then.
But today I did great. For my own ambitions.

And I loved the instructors, they have such a cool life down here, they are full of positive
energy. No, no 22 year old lady killer sunny boys, let's say 27 ;)

Funny enough I ran into them down town afterwards and we had a nice little lunch
and chat in the sunshine. Life's great.

I arrived in Byron Bay at 6pm.
Back in New South Wales, Brisbane was the last stop in sunny Queensland.
But Byron Bay doesn't lack anything.


In fact, if you exclude Brisbane, it is the nicest township I have been to on this trip.
Actually not really for the town itself. It's another village - but a beautiful one .
But what really strikes me is the surrounding.
It's sunny, it's laid back, it has great beaches, bushland, mountains and rain forest.

Today was indeed the first real lazy day on that trip. I needed to rest anyway.

First thing I did in the morning was moving out of that terrible hostel.
I shared the room with 9 (!!!!!) girls and we had exactly 1 bathroom.
Is there anything I need to explain?
I escaped the disaster and moved into another place where I could use a bike for free.

Off I went, with a little map in my fabulous red backpack.
I left the bike at some entrance to a national park and walked in.
All bushland,burning sun.
I ended up at a wonderful white beach, I guess 5km long, if not more.
Far far away I saw the shapes of other people, maybe ten altogether.
Heaven, all for myself.
I just enjoyed lying there, watching the waves, jump in now and then...

And I got ridiculously brown.
I get crazy laughing when I look at the areas which are still "white".

I LOVE AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a brilliant spot!

I had decided to make an 8 hr stop over in Brisbane, just in case.
I knew I'd miss 8hrs in Byron Bay and I wondered if I'd regret it.

NO WAY!!!!!!

I have to admit that at first I was actually bored by the city.
I am obsessed with Sydney. It spoiled me.
I thought something like "Just another little village"
But that misconception only lasted until I got on that sight seeing bus.

Brisbane is like a smaller, much cheaper version of Sydney.
Minus the beaches (a beautiful huge riverside pool instead).
Plus a great outdoor restaurants atmosphere.
And within few minutes or hours of so many cool East Coast locations.

Afterwards someone told me it was the most laid back City in Ozz.
This absolutely matches my impression.
How I love that life style.

I think Brisbane is brilliant.. The second best city of those I have seen in Australia.
I wasn't too impressed by Adelaide and Canberra, I need the buzz.

I left the city at 2pm knowing that I just found my second best option.
Brisbane is a place to be.

Sometimes you know things go wrong at the moment you start them.
I took the overnight bus from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay. It was sheduled 12hrs , was supposed to arrive in Hervey Bay at 6.40am and I had booked a Fraser Island Tour , the guys were supposed to pick me up at the bus station at 7.20am.
I guess it's too easy to guess what happened.
I actually had a pretty good sleep - given that I had to fit my whole body on those 2 tiny seats
(lucky enough I had no one sitting next to me).
I slept some 7hrs without interruption and woke up at 5am. I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and checked the landscape. And the roadsigns. And I compared them to the bus shedule. And figured we were running late. The driver confirmed that we were 1hr behind the shedule and we would't be able to make it up..Cause he HAD to take his break by law blabla. Some silly accident.
I kind of paniced, for missing that trip would not only waste a whole lot of money but more importantly, a whole priceless day ,too.
Thank god the place where we took that break had a payphone (my mobile was useless cause no reception in the middle of nowhere and not charged for ages)
. So I rang and rang and rang and finally someone answered the phone, too obvious I woke that guy up. Poor him. But lucky me, he said Ihe'd let the pick up people know.
So I only had to pray that we'd keep the pace.

Well, we did.
Despite that decent nap and all the nerve wrecking stuff in the morning I hardly managed keeping my eyes open. I guess this trip is starting to burn me out.
I wonder if it is physical or psychological exhaustion, certainly an ominous mix.

I got on that ferry to the Island and checked the company. Not too promising on the first glance.
Neither was that huge bus, some 35 people entered the 4WD and I felt like a pensioner on a Kaffeefahrt (that is a silly German thing, compare it to Tupper Parties if you want).

Anyway, I was on the largest sand-only island of the world and I wanted to explore it.
Share it! Fraser Island
I wish I had a driver's license, it would have been so much better with a self drive 4WD tour, take your time and go to the highlights when the crowds are storming the lunch bufet.
It's such a beautiful place to be but I felt like a bloody tourist.
I saw dunes, a 75mile beach, rainforest, an amazing ship wreck....
The absolute highlight of the tour was the Basin Lake we visited right at the end.
Cant wait to see the pictures (and share them with you!)

I was dropped off at the bus station at 6.30pm....my bus to Brisbane went 1.20am...
Long long time and I wanted nothing more than a bed.
I wondered if I could sleep on the bench, putting my stuff into the locker...
But I am a girl and I am supposed to be careful at nights and all.
I sat there for ages and saw all the other backpackers leave before me - into the opposite direction.
Thank God, an American couple arrived and waited for the bus too. We ended up playing cards (I introduced them to the ever so exciting Mau Mau) but after everyone had won once I put myself into my sleeping bag and slept. 2 odd hrs and then on in the bus. Brisbane ahead.
Second night in the bus...and no shower, only the lake at Frasers.

Well, it seems like some clever people have seen it coming (just had a look at my guestbook ;))!
WAHHHEEYYYYYY
I did the SKYDIVE - jumping out of an airplane, parachuting !!
8000 feet (would someone please convert that into a decent measure!!)
4000 feet free falling
and 4000feet with the parachute watching the beautiful Whitsunday Islands from above.

Brilliant, Werrific, Wonderful,Adrenaline, WANT MORE!!

There was not the slightest sign of fear, I swear it. I was excited from the second I got into the car that picked me up. The folks were lovely, the instructor who jumped with me does it four or five times a day. How I envy him.
I went up in a very small plane, the other guy that jumped was first. When I saw him literally get sucked out of the plane, I was so thrilled I couldn't help but scream.
And then I jumped too . I cannot remember how I felt, but I still feel like floating,after hours.
Free falling, wow. Don't need the bungee anymore, it cannot beat those 25 seconds!
And then the parachute opened and I could direct it myself for a while, it took about 5mins to get back to the ground.

After the landing, they somehow had the video done already.
I had spent a hideous amount of money on that jump yet, so I didn't really fancy spending another 99$ on it. But those clever people showed it to me and i couldn't help but get it.
It is the reminder of a once in a life time experience.
The instructor was such a nice bloke, like a grandpa, and he somehow pittied me for causing my bankruptcy. So I got the blockbuster on a DVD too, for free.
It is the reminder of a once in a life time experience.
I could even chose between some songs for the video, so I went for
U2's Beautiful day, Boomfunk MCs' Freestyler and a Chemical Brothers track.
It was well worth it and I'd do it again. And again and again and....

GOOD TIMES!

Will take the bus to Hervey bay tonite, at least I save another night's worth of accomodation.
Did sleep 4,5hrs tonite. Airlie Beach IS a party town with an absolutely crazy crowd.
I wonder when I will collapse. But I don't feel tired at all.

After 11 hrs bus tour, but only 4 hrs of sleep (kind of, whatever you call it when you close your eyes in a bus) I arrived in that sweet little party town. That's what they say, I will check it out tonite.
It's a village, again, I guess no more than 2000 inhabitants. If one includes backpackers I figure it's some 4000. Brilliant sunshine, the city looked good and I could see my
pre-booked backpackers' hostel on the way to the bus stop.
Only one funny thing about "Airlie Beach". It has no Beach. Just an artificial lagoon, like Cairns.
Not that that is too bad, it's a real big pool, surrounded by green and palms, with a harbour view. But in Germany someone would take that village to court for having a misleading name,
thus drawing tourists in who wouldn't appear if they knew about the missing feature.

As I don't have money and time to do the most popular thing here, sailing the Withsunday Islands I just explored the little place today, got some organisation stuff done. Changed my scedule again, skipped Noosa for Fraser Island, 2 more night tours in the bus, 2 nights less I have to pay accomodation for.
AND I spend a ridiculous amont of money on my activity tomorrow. BUT I HAD TO!!!!
I will not tell you what it is yet. But it is another big deal. At least as big as the diving.
A once-in-a-lifetime-thing.
Can't wait.

I got stuck in Cairns, I admit it. There is too much to do.
I thought I'd spend some 3 days but now it's 5 and if I had unlimited time (and budget) I could easily spent 10 more days without doing the same thing or tour twice.
Still didn't go for the skydive...

Anyway, this was definitely the last day in Cairs (btw 120.000 inhabitants) , I HAVE to move on. In not even 2 hrs, which is midnight here I'll catch the bus to AIRLIE beach.
Thus, I don't miss out on anything because at nights I (mostly) sleep anyway and I hope I can do that in that bus,too.
And what's more it safes me the bucks for the accomodation. Sounds great, let's see if it works out.

Today I went on a Tableland tour, that area is in the South-East of Cairns.

I have to mention that I got only 4 hrs of sleep last night so I was a little tired.
I did not plan that but what can you actually plan on such a tour?!
Went to that cheap and cheerful backpackers place to pick up dinner.
Sat down next to that girl who was on her own too, but after some minutes a whole bunch of people turned up.
They were a big group of Irish working holiday makers and they were really decent people. I didn't realise how fast the time went. That's probably because when I looked at my watch at 1am. most of them were not drunk yet.
No "Whiskey in the Jar" attitude, good thing, good night.

Anyway. it's called tablelands cause it's all mountains but with flat tops instead of tips, if that makes any sense to you.

It's all green again, although there is only about 1/3 of all the original lush rain forest left. They used to cut timber until the late 1970s. Thank God some clever person thought about sustainability these days and stopped the disaster.

At first we went on a boat rip cross a vulcano valley lake. I could see water turles from the boat and an ugly rain forest turkey.
After that we saw 3 amazing waterfalls in the deep rainforest, what a shame they are exposed to tourism now. (I'd rather have discovered them on my own while fighting my way through the deep jungle)! Somehow I was not too happy because I don't really enjoy that rushing from one sight to another. I should get a driver's license finally.
But thats another long way to go....for many reasons.

I better leave for the bus now.
To be continued

btw I put new pictures online

Continuation

Before lunch we visited a cute little organic diary farm, tasted some cheese and - guess what - QUARK, that's what they actually called it. Weird to learn about German Quark in Australia.
Enjoyed it, but I never got such Quark in Berlin :)
Lunch was in a kind of childrens recreation camp, Godness I envied the kids. Such a great surrounding, right next to a waterfall and they did treeclimbing, rockclimbing, Platypus watching etc...I would have joined them happily.
Platypus watching afterward has not been successful, unfortunately, but I didnt really expect it anyway.
The last and greatest station was an old spanish castle in the middle of the rainforest.
Paronella Park
It was built by a Spanish guy who had his dream of a castle in the jungle fullfilled after ages of hard work. And hafter not having contacted his financee in Spain for 11 years, and after having been pretty surprised that she had been married meanwhile and after having married her younger sister finally. That was from the 1920s to 1940s, when Australia was much less explored than today. What a great story.
I want to marry into a rainforest castle, too!!It just has to be big enough that I don't mind the bloke sharing the place ;)

In the evening, well at midnight rather I took the bus to Airlie Beach. For some reason someone sheduled the moring stop at 5:30am (1,5hrs!!) so there was not much sleep tonite either.
Let's see how it goes now. I am sharing my room with 7(!!!) people, don't think I will close an eye..

My Godness, what a fantastic day!

I can't believe, I just realised one more lifetime dream...
I WENT SCUBA DIVING!!!!
Yes, with oxygen tank and stuff! I booked an outer Great Barrier Reef trip for snorkeling.
I knew they offered introductory dives, but since I do not have any diving experience at all - well, apart from holding my breath and go for it - I did not really believe I was eligible.
What a great pleasure to be wrong!
I always wanted to dive and what better place could there be?
Australia, Great Barrier Reef, 25 degrees water temperature....Heaven.
Was a little afraid if I could manage that mouth-only breathing and whether I might panic..
Nothing at all.
I got a small training and then the others in my 4 people group decided to NOT go for a dive, so I had the guide all for my self, whilst all other groups consisted of at least 4 people.
WAHEYY!
Snorkeling had been fun, but this killed me.
At first I was a little cautious but after a minute I let the guide's hand go and DIVED!!
I saw colorful corals and fish, blue star fish (The guide even gave it to me to hold it.), a sting ray (!!!), some giant fish and 100s of things I do not know the names of.
I bought an underwater pic of me with the gear, just to make sure it was not just a 30minute dream.
(And to prove it to you guys!!) And took some pics with a one-way underwater cam, let's see how that goes.
I DID IT!!! I am still floating.
When I went on snorkeling I even saw a reef shark!

I still feel like in a ridiculously exaggerated Happiness-Matrix.

Well, first I have to get out of that bloody dorm room, I am with 3 British blokes.
Beer plus testestosterone alert!!!
That woman at the reception did not mention that. I suppose she actually did it on purpose.GRRRRR

Saw real crocodiles on a river tour
I learnt :
1) They can survive 2 years without any food at all - now, isnt that news???!
2) In 87% of all crocodile incidents where people were killed ALCOHOL was involved.
(And I reckon it's not the CROC who's been drinking!!)
So, they are there, they are dangerous, but keep in mind people love to make up things.


Walked the rain forest
All lush and green, so beautiful.
I learnt :
You can actually eat green back ants! They taste sour, like lemon.
Well..you needn't actually EAT them. It will do if you LICK their backs.
It's some green vitamine stuff, don't ask me.
YESSS I DID lick that little ants back, it was so funny. And off it went. No pain.
So, if I was lost in the rainforest, I knew one thing at least that I could eat.
I wonder if it would be useful to know the things that could actually eat ME, aswell...

Swam in a rain forest river, Mossman Gorge

Walked at Cape Tribulation Beach

Ate tropical ice cream at an ice cream factory
I learnt :
There are tropical fruit that actually taste like chocolate puddin and some like coffee..
(Slowly, I figure I could really survive in that place :) )

Walked a swing bridge - one of my lifetime dreams!!!

Got to know another cool french guy
And what's more : two cool British girls - someone to challenge my prejudice (FINALLY!!!!!!!!)

I love my new traveler's guide! It's a "Let's Go!" for anyone interested.

I found that little info that I could get a free lift to Port Douglas from one of the local Hostels under the condition to spend 2 nights there. Sure.
Called them, got a free pick up, saved 45 $, happy.
The Port O'Call Hostel was brilliant. I got myself a bike, although the sky looked pretty awkward.
As soon as I sat on there, the most pouring tropical rain started and I got soaking wet. What a pleasure, it was all warm :) AND for those who are constantly commenting on my unique red backpack: without it all my wallet, camera and stuff would have gone wet and this terrific experience would not have been possible at all. What abour YOUR backpacks????
Port Douglas has a splendid long beach, too, the "4 Mile beach".
Unfortunately it was not the weather for a swim, not for great pictures either, but this place must be beautiful in the sunshine, cause Elton John has a house there, Kylie Minogue hangs around and stuff. And it's the first place where a Sheraton Hotel was built. It has the largest swimming pool in the southern hemisphere (haven't seen it though).
However, I did some shopping cause I live on a budget and sat down to look at my itinerary.
Which was a damn good thing cause I have so overestimated my time.
Still, I am constantly changing my plans, every 4 hours or so, but at least I got a somewhat realistic view on the whole trip.
It's easy. I just need MMMMUUUCCHHH more time. I will have to return.
No way around it.