Hervey Bay - 22nd July

Arrived at the bus station and booked in to a hostel.Walked along the Esplanade where the shops and restaurants are quite spaced out.Had lunch and then walked to the shopping centre to buy some essentials.A long walk and a not very inspiring shopping centre at the end, however, all was not lost as we signed into the local RSL club and had a few games of Keno (more complicated form of Bingo or Lotto really!)Sat there with the wrinklies and guessed that this could well be us in our retirement as anyone who knows us know that we like a drink and a flutter!In the evening we walked to the local pub for dinner. (For this bit you probably had to be there, but we'll say it anyway….) The local weirdo's turned up - the black-toothed, greasy haired mum, the twitchy tattooed dad and the 'I think I'm so sexy but I'm too off my head to know what I'm doing' daughter.Unfortunately they sat at the table next to us and the mum kept turning round to talk to Suzanne, who had no real idea what she was going on about, other than being asked to look after her daughter.She then stole her daughter's mobile phone and left!The 'dad' then also moved across to talk to Suzanne and managed to mumble that although the mixed up girl dancing like someone on speed was not his daughter, she thinks she is!This he found highly amusing.In between this we were chatting to a depressed, bitter New Zealander who wasn't having any luck with the 'chicks' and had just been stood up that night. We don't think that we are cut out for the care in the community scheme they obviously operate here. The band was good though!

23rd July

Very early start for a trip out to Fraser Island, which is the largest sand dune in the world, measuring 123 km's in length and 22 km's at it's widest point.After a ferry ride we met up with our guide 'Shane'.Boarded the specially designed 4x4 bus for a very bouncy ride through the narrow tracks with the trees millimetre's away from the window.Stopped off at Lake McKenzie, which is a large bowl of rain water on top of the dune.Its ph level is 4.5, which is the same acidity level as your skin, so a very good natural beauty product.It was too cold for us two wimps to go in, but we managed a paddle.Walked along lake and saw a huge Goannas (lizard) by the tree and we were on the lookout for the usual snakes, spiders and now added to the list of dangerous things to look out for are Dingo's, who wouldn't think twice about attacking you.Shane sent us off for a 30 minute walk along the creek and, once we got back, he delighted in telling us a story of a woman who recently got bitten by a Funnel Web spider in the track and that she nearly died - nice! Although they are generally nocturnal, there are hundreds of them in the bush.We then drove on to the run-down hotel resort for lunch and then back on the bus again to drive along 75 mile beach.Shane is very knowledgeable and was able to give us lots of information about the flora and fauna of the island.We saw dolphins swimming through the crest of a wave and a solitary dingo on the beach.We then went to see the rusting carcass of a ship wreck which was once a luxury liner called Maheno and on to an area called the coloured sands, so called because there are 72 different colours caused by the leaching of oxides that coat each grain of sand.We then went on to Eli Creek for a paddle and our last stop was at Stonetool Sandblow, which is an active and massive mobile blow of sand, which covered a whole forest.Then headed off on a bumpy ride back and watched the beautiful sunset from the ferry.We chanced it again in the pub and luckily no weirdo's to be found.

24th July

Took a boat out to go whale watching, as each year during August and September the whales (who have migrated to give birth to their calves off the coast of Cairns) are on their way south again to the colder waters of Antarctica.They come into the bay at Hervey to rest and also to play with their young.Although we are a little early for the season, we did spot four Whales who were flapping the water with their huge tails and then breaching right out of the water a few times.It was fantastic to watch their little displays right in front of our noses.These are the humpback whales that are covered in barnacles from head to toe, or nose to tail!They are quite majestic creatures and considering their size, quite graceful too. In the evening we went to see a theatre production located in the local community hall with local actors playing out three episodes of Fawlty Towers.Although the accent's slipped a bit occasionally, the acting itself was well done and quite entertaining.