We left Brisbane on Saturday (18th April) morning and caught the Greyhound to Noosa. We arrived at the transit centre and were lucky enough there was a shuttle bus from there to our hostel as we would not have coped in the heat with our bags up the big hill where the hostel was situated. We went and bought some food to last us the time that we were going to be there for. That evening we went to the bar, that is apparently the only one in Noosa, for happy hour and had the funniest entertainer. The oldest man we have ever seen showed us his dancing moves, his signature dance was to 'Eye of the Tiger' and was amazing, the locals that come to the bar loved it as well as all the backpackers that were there. We then met up with the Dutch girl, Lukke that we met in Surfers and we danced the night away. On Sunday we walked around the town and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling with some books and the sun!! We did the same kind of thing on Monday, we didn't want to stress ourselves out too much as our canoe trip was coming up.
On Tuesday we got up relatively early and caught the shuttle bus to the Noosa National Park, as we thought we should do something here. So we picked up a map and decided to do a lovely coastal walk and then we came back through the rainforest. We were lucky enough to see our first wild Koala. (someone had pointed him out, we wouldn't have noticed him otherwise!!)
On the 22nd we got ourselves packed up and onto the bus to Gagaju, this is where our canoe trip was going to start. We got there and put our stuff into our cabins and then went for a little walk around the site. We didn't get very far because it had flooded the week before due to all the rain, so we came back to the camp site and ended up watching the film Constantine. Later that evening whilst waiting for our orientation we attempted to sit by the campfire but the weather had other ideas and instead it started to rain. By this time the organiser of the trip was ready to tell us the do's and don'ts of the canoe trip. He rattled of three days worth of routes, maps and canoeing 101 in the space of 15 minutes and expected us to remember it all. I don't think any of us were confident about self guided part of this trip. As Seems had canoed before she decided that seeing as there were 4 boys in the group and 4 canoes, one guy should go in each canoe to steer at the back. So whilst eating dinner we got chatting to some people in our group and told the others of our plan, and then picked a strong guy for our canoe.
We woke up the next morning, having slept in hammocks which were so comfy, got ourselves ready and set off for our day trip. We canoed 3.5 kilometres against the tide which made our weak little arms hurt as the water had lots of rapids in it. We parked up our boats and had a 2km walk to the beach. Once we got there everyone had a little snooze and some lunch before playing in the sea, reading books, or even going for a run. The beach was so pretty and really secluded, we were the only ones on it which was nice. We had to leave at 3pm to make sure we got back to the campsite before it got dark. On our way back we were singing old school songs and decided to put all four canoes together so we could watch the sunset which meant only the left and right canoe had to paddle - unlucky for us, we were on the left. Later that evening we had dinner, and added to our camp experience by toasting marshmallows in the fire and sleeping in tents.
We rudely got awoken at 5am the next day by the birds which sounded like monkeys, we packed our canoes with tents and food for our overnight trip and headed 7kms the other way from the day before. After a while we stopped at a rope swing where you could jump off into a creek which was fun. We then carried on and found our campsite for the night, pitched our tents and then a few of us decided we wanted to see the 6ft kangaroos in the nearby national park, so 4 of us got in one canoe, with basically just the boys - one in the fornt and one in the back paddling. We didn't get very far though because the water got very choppy, so we got out, had a little walk around and then headed back by the time it got dark. We cooked dinner and then had a stargazing session, as out in the sticks you can see loads!
The next morning we got up early and had to leave at 7am to paddle back to the Gagaju campsite. Once we got there and unloaded the canoes, we went back to the Koala Hostel, showered and chilled for the rest of the day.
On the 26th we left Noosa and headed to Hervey Bay. We had a chill out day, walked along the beach and had an early night. The next day we got ready for our Fraser Island trip, we were put into our groups, went food shopping and packed. On the morning of the 28th we were given all of our camping equipment and were shown how to pack up the 4x4s. At 9.30am we left the hostel and started our three day sand adventure. We got off the ferry as Fraser Island and our group decided to do a different route to the suggested itinerary we were given and headed for the most popular lake in Australia - Lake McKenzie. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon chilling out there and then headed to Lake Birabeen, which was nice because we were the only people there. We then headed to a campsite but becuase we hadn't followed the correct route and it was getting late we didn't camp where we should of with the other two cars from our tour group. We set up camp, cooked a bbq dinner and then had a shock as the car rolled down the hill it was parked on and collided into a wooden post, knocking it out the ground. Lucky for us the rangers were having a drink with us, so saw the whole thing and thankfully didn't fine us.
The next morning, we packed up the car and headed for Lake Wabby which is famous for it's Sand Dunes. We set up camp along the beach and went to Maheno which is where the Wreck from the 1700s-ish is. Then Sheens had her first drive on the sand to Eli Creek where we paddled for a bit. We went back to the campsite and met another Koala car so hung out with them all evening. Luckily one of them had a guitar so he entertained us which was nice seeing as our car radio didn't work and none of us had taken our ipod speakers. 11 ipods and not one set of speakers, how silly.
The next morning we headed back to Lake McKenzie as the sun was sweltering, spent a few hours there before heading back to the ferry to take us to the mainland. We then had to unpack the car, wash up eveything ang get it all checked before we could get our deposits back. That evening we had dinner with the rest of our group and then went to sleep which was nice seeing as we had a bed again.
We spent up until today (3rd of May) chilling in Hervey Bay before coming to Bundaberg where we will go on a tour of the Rum Distillery before taking an overnight bus to Arlie Beach to do a tour of the Whitsundays.
Photos to come soon.