australia - week two

as expected, the second week was (somewhat) more relaxing, but great as well..

it began with a night and a morning at a cattle ranch.. i'm not a fan of the cowboy lifestyle, but all i needed was a little bit of "encouragement" and a soon after i was learning to crack a whip (i was successful a few times.. but i also hit myself several times and got a blister in my hand) and even riding the mechanical bull (and doing a surprisingly good time, considering the circumstances..)

next day, we headed to hervey bay, where there's nothing to do, but it's one of the starting points to the 3 day / 2 night fraser island self guided 4wd tour..

fraser island is the largest sand island in the world, it has a 75 mile beach, blue oceans, white sand, crystal clear lakes, a shipwreck on the beach and abundant wildlife..

we were a group of 8 in our car: me, 2 canadian dudes, one british girl and 4 other swedish girls, plus other 3 cars with 9 people each.. each car has 3 tents, gas stove and coolers for foods and drinks.. we all followed an itinerary given to us, and that's it!

there's some amazing places in the island, like the maheno shipwreck, a ship bought by japanese that ended up stuck in the sand because of a cyclone, and that ironically was used as a training target for the australian army to fight the japanese during ww2..

indian head is the northernmost point we could reach on our tour, as driving is not safe past it.. it's a rock formation and we went to the top of it, and had a panoramic view of the 75 mile beach and the northern side of the island as well..

at night, we all set up our tents around the same area, and got together after "dinner" (most cars had canned spaghetti or sandwiches, while we had an amazing chili!).. later on, dingos came around looking for food, but they were only 2 and we were around 35, so they left empty handed..

main attraction in fraser island is the lake mackenzie, and it's a well deserved title.. crystal clear water, squeaky white sand, no animals trying to eat you (!).. beautiful place.. we stayed there all morning, before heading back to hervey bay..

bad thing about fraser island? 3 days and 2 nights with no shower, under a scorching sun, with sand in places you didn't know you had before, dozens of bug bites (around 20 in my back, 10 in my FACE, and several everywhere else), and the 2 worst nights of sleep ever (hot, noisy, bugs.. we had to drink ourselves to sleep!).. but worth it!

after that, i took a bus to brisbane for a relaxing, rainy night before my flights to melbourne and finally singapore, for a nice cultural shock and the beginning of the second leg: southeast asia!

yes, i did it.


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our pink land cruiser "wabby" getting stuck in the sand

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a failed attempt of recreating the famous titanic scene (very gay version)

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view from indian head

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nice dinner with "the family"

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lake mackenzie

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a goanna looking for food

-- pt --

conforme o esperado, a segunda semana foi (mais ou menos) mais relax, mas tao boa quanto..

comecamos com uma noite e uma manha numa fazenda de gado.. eu nao sou fa da vida de cowboy, mas eu so' precisei de um "empurraozinho" e logo eu estava aprendendo a usar o chicote (fiz certo algumas vezes, mas eu me atingi varias vezes e fiz uma bolha na mao) e ate' tentei o touro mecanico (e fiz ate' um tempo bom, considerando as circunstancias..)

no dia seguinte, fomos para hervey bay, onde nao tem nada pra se fazer, mas e' o ponto de partida para a tour de 3 dias / 2 noites em fraser island..

fraser island e' a maior ilha de areia do mundo, tem uma praia de 75 milhas, mar de aguas azuis, areia branca, lagos de aguas cristalinas, a carcaca de um navio na praia a vida selvagem abundante..


nos eramos um grupo de 8 no nosso carro: eu, 2 caras canadenses, uma inglesa e 4 suecas, mais 3 carros com 9 pessoas em cada.. cada carro tinha 3 barracas, fogaozinho a gas e caixas termicas pra comidas e bebidas.. nos seguimos um itinerario que nos deram, e e' isso!

a ilha tem varios lugares incriveis, como a carcaca do maheno, um navio comprado pelos japoneses que acabou encalhado na areia por causa de um ciclone, e que ironicamente foi usado como um alvo-teste para o exercito australiano durante a segunda guerra, justamente contra os japoneses..

a indian head (cabeca de indio) e' o ponto maximo que a gente podia chegar ao norte, porque nao e' seguro dirigir depois disso.. e' uma formacao rochosa e a gente vai ate' o topo dela, pra uma vista panoramica da praia de 75 milhas e do resto da ilha do lado norte tambem..

de noite, nos todos armamos as barracas na mesma area, e nos juntamos depois da "janta" (a maioria dos grupos comeu espaguete enlatado ou sanduiches, enquanto nos cozinhamos um chili maravilhoso!).. mais tarde, dingos se aproximaram, procurando comida, mas como eles eram so' 2 e nos eramos mais de 35, eles foram embora sem nada..

a principal atracao na ilha e' o lago mackenzie, e ele merece o titulo.. aguas cristalinas, areia branquinha e nenhum animal tentando te comer (!).. lugar maravilhoso.. ficamos la a manha toda, e depois voltamos pra hervey bay..

a parte ruim de fraser island? 3 dias e 2 noites sem banho, sobre um sol de rachar, com areia em lugares eu nem sabia que tinha, dezenas de picadas de insetos (umas 20 nas costas, 10 no ROSTO e varias pelo corpo todo), e as 2 noites mais mal dormidas da minha vida (calor, barulho, insetos.. a gente tinha que beber pra conseguir dormir!)... mas valeu a pena!

depois disso, peguei um onibus pra brisbane pra relaxar a ultima noite, antes dos meus voos pra melbourne e finalmente singapura, pra um choque cultural e o comeco da parte 2 da viagem: o sudeste da asia!

(foto 1)
pois e'...

(foto 2)
nossa land cruiser pink "wabby", atolada na areia

(foto 3)
tentativa frustrada de representar a cena de titanic (numa versao bem gay)

(foto 4)
vista de indian head

(foto 5)
jantar com a "familia"

(foto 6)
lago mackenzie

(foto 7)
uma goanna (que nao e' uma iguana) procurando comida