Last night after a two hour flight back from Brisbane, and a taxi cab ride back to my apartment, the excitement to start up another semester began to sink in. Of course, I'm bummed I can't do more traveling like I have been the past few weeks, but who knows, maybe some weekend trips will be in order.
Although, this trip wasn't as long as the last trek across the continent, the sights and sounds were no less fantastic. Brisbane (pronounced Briz-bun) is a great little city, nestled about midway up the east coast of Australia and full of exotic rain forest looking trees everywhere. The highlight of a trip to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world and situated about 2 hours north of Brissie, was a drive along 75-mile beach to a place called Indian point. From there, we were at the eastern most tip of Australia and could watch hump-back whales gracefully slide along the coast, followed by a few dolphins, and some seawater turtle sightings. Fraser Island has no roads, only the open beach, yet these open beaches are recognized as roads, with sign posts for speed limits, and patrolmen to enforce the law. A four wheel drive vehicle is a must on the island because once you turn off the beach the pathways are quite bumpy.
From Fraser, we traveled through the little town of Bundaberg (the namesake of a tasty ginger beer I love in Australia), and arrived at Agnes Water and the Town of 1770. Yes, the town's name is a year in history. Here, I (and I never thought I'd say this) rode around on a motorbike throughout the town to catch views of the sun setting over the eastern sea. A local who runs a tourist business called "Scooteroo" actually leads visitors around on motorbikes so they can see the town, ride a motorcycle (a smallish version), and catch the sun setting over the ocean horizon. I'll briefly mention that my first attempt to ride the bike ended tragically with both myself and the bike tangled in a wire fence about 20 yards from where I stared riding. There's no more helpless feeling than not fully having control of a motorbike and realizing that, yes, you in fact will be crashing into a fence for everyone to witness. After a quick bike swap, and a dusting off of my pride, I rode off into the sunset with my masculinity recharging by the moment. I know my dad would hate to hear me say this, but man are they a blast to ride.
The next day at 1770, we took off for a trip to Lady Musgrave Island, which is included in the Great Barrier Reef by just a hair. A few clicks south and we'd have been out of the official Great Barrier Reef. Lady Musgrave is a lagoon about 2 hours east of the town obviously only reachable by boat. The sea was extremely choppy that morning causing major rocking of our boat. Lots of patrons got sick. When you look out to the horizon and the boat railing goes about three feet below it, then shoots about three feet above it for two hours, that's not a pleasant ride. The waves would splash us with sea water consistently with each wake, so I arrived to Lady Musgrave a bit disoriented and quite wet. The coral reef, however, made it all worth it. Snorkeling with the colorful fish and brilliant colors of the coral was unlike anything I've ever experienced. No words can really capture the feeling and the experience so I won't even try, but I hope that I can do it again before I leave this country.
Today, classes started back up. The second time around is so much easier! I know where I am, how to get to where I need to be, and what to expect. Plus, my class schedule (pronounced shed-ual in 'Stralian) is much more even keeled and spaced out than last semester. It's back to work I guess, but I'm so thankful for the time off. The break gave me the opportunity to see parts of Australia other than Melbourne, and get a feel for how big and diverse this country/continent really is.
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