Fraser Island - Aug/Sept 2008

Hi Everybody....

Sorry for the long break in updating my fotos and news from Oz. I (as always) have excuses for this lack of communication.

For a start I am currently in a town called Bundaberg where I have been working for the last 2 months towards getting my VISA extended. The requirements for the extension are 3 months "rural" work which includes fruit picking or packing and I have been employed in various packing sheds (tomatoes, snow peas and avocados) and picking tomatoes. The work is really mindless...which is probably why they need backpackers to come and do it...and the pay is not great either. Anyway Bundaberg has nothing on offer which is worth putting on a BLOG!

The second excuse is that my room in the backpackers was broken into and my backpack containing my camera, mp3-player, knife, hackysack, etc. was stolen...thus no fotos!!! Till NOW!!!!!

So, this weekend to break the long, boring slog of rural work I met Frauke and our friends Johan "Beer", Sarah and Paul from Brisbane for a long weekend on Fraser Island.

Did you know? Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.....

The only way to get onto Fraser Island is by ferry and a 4x4 vehicle is imperative. Fortunately Beer has a 4x4 as well as all the equipment necessary for a great weekend away, including kayaks, fishing rods, BBQs, tents, etc. Friday we landed on Fraser Island at about midday and were fortunate enough to see a Dingo (Australian wild dog) almost immediately...unfortunately I have no picture since we were promised loads of these creatures. We drove up the eastern beach for about 30 kms to where we set up our camp close to the wreck of the "Moheno".

First things first...CATCH DINNER!!!! We were fishing for "Tailor" in the surf. Due to my inexperience I was only able to catch 2 fish all weekend {which I am of course thrilled about :-)} but the pros were pulling in a total of 30+ fish each day. Learning how to bleed "Tailor" resulted in me being covered with blood....as you can see from the fotos. In any case these fish were converted into an exceptionally delicious dinner on 2 occasions!!!!

On Saturday we travelled across the Island to Kingfisher Bay where Sarah and Beer will be getting married next year. A trip of about 30 kms took us about 2,5 hours since the roads are deeply rutted and very sandy, which explains why you can only travel in 4x4 vehicles. After a drink at the bar at Kingfisher Bay Resort we proceded to Central Station for lunch. Central Station was a logging station in the 70's.... can you believe previous generations cut down trees on this world heritage site. After lunch we moved on to Lake McKenzie, one of the many fresh water lakes dotted around the island. The water is crystal clear and cold. If you open your eyes underwater it feels as if you have goggles on because you can still see everything as clearly as on land...incredible!!!! Unfortunately we couldn't spend much time at the lake since it was starting to get late and we still had a long drive ahead of us.

Sunday we drove north along the east coast passed the "Moheno", the Pinnacles, Red Canyon and Champagne Pools to Indian Head (the only volcanic headland on the island) and Waddy Point. On this drive I managed to get us bogged in the soft sand...fortunately Beer was able to extract us again without too much difficulty. It does however make you aware how dangerous it can be if you are driving around with little or no experience!!!

Monday was spent relaxing on the beach in front of the camp until it was time to pack up and head for home!!!!

Now I am back in Bundaberg, looking forward to another 3 weeks of fruit-something-or-other and then moving on as soon as possible. I have decided to head back down to Brisbane for a while to save some more money and then slowly work my way down to Melbourne. But as has been the case with me so often, these plans may change in an instant!!!

Keep watching this site to know where I will be!!!!!!

I hope you are all well

Peter :-)

P.S. Fotos from between Sydney and Brisbane will be uploaded SOON!!!

Camping on the beach- Home sweet home for 3 nights

Setting up the kitchen and living room

My first "Tailor"....

The hunter with the blood to prove it...

Kingfisher Bay Resort (wedding planning)

4x4 tracks on Fraser Island

Lake McKenzie

Guess who in Lake McKenzie?

Sunrise over the Pacific Ocean

The wreck "Moheno" and Beer's trusty 4x4 ..... unfortunately we didn't get to use the kayaks.

"The Pinnacles"

(l-r) yours truly, Frauke, Beer, Sarah

Frauke, Sarah and Beer on Indian Head

Pelicans on Waddy Beach

Champagne Pools

The crew at Champagne Pools

Frauke, Sarah and Beer (hiding)

View to Indian Head from Champagne Pools

Entrance to Red Canyon















Sunset on the way back to Bundaberg

Royal National Park

Hi there.....

Just a really quick update before we leave Sydney today and lose this opportunity to upload fotos and send emails and make phone calls indefinitely!!!

After the Blue mountains Frauke and I spent another great afternoon in Sydney at the fish market and another flea market at "The Rocks". After all this exursion we were desperately in need of sundowners in the revolving restaurant on the 47th floor at Australia Square. Beautiful views from the birds-eye perspective.....definitely reccommend doing this!!!

Sunday we went to Captain Cook's landing point in Botany Bay in 1770 and went to look for Humpback whales (which we unfortunately still have not found).

Monday we went for a walk at the Royal National Park... which is the second oldest park in the world. We took a really nice walk along the coast until the rain forced us back. Again we were disappointed not to find any whales.

Enjoy the pictures....

:-)

Sulphur crested cockatoo at Botany Bay

Australian "punk"pigeons at Royal National Park

Blue Mountains

Happy Start of Winter/ Summer wherever you may be!!!

About 1,5 hours drive west of Sydney you get into the Blue Mountains. These mountains rise to about 1100m and offer a lot to do in terms of outdoor activities. Frauke and I had originally planned to do a short walk since we had a lot to do and see. Due to the beauty of the walk we were on (and a misread map) our circuit ended uptaking about 4 hours. I would recommend this walk (Valley of the Waters <-> Wentworth Falls) to everybody visiting the Blue Mountains, it was incredibly beautiful!

After lunch we moved on to the "Three Sisters" a rock formation consisting of three free standing pinnacles. The view is also very nice and fortunately the place wasn't too crowded, althiugh it does seem to cater for loads of people.

From the "Three Sisters" we drove to the "Grand Canyon" of the Blue Mountains. Again we were met with awesome views over a sprawling valley.

A little balls-up on my part at this point was locking the car keys inside the car.

A few frustrating calls later I spontaneously became a member of the NRMA (Australian automobile association)... always look on the bright side of life... I now know that my car has really strong windows, as I couldn't break into the car using a wheel spanner. I also know how easy it is to break into a car if you have the right equipment (i.e. screwdriver and a strong wire). Finally I am now paying member of the NRMA so should anything go wrong with my "trusty" car (wink! wink!) I will be able to phone a friend.

I hope you are all well!!

Hiking in Blue Mountain National Park...

...over the clouds

Empress Falls

Me at Sylvia Falls

Coloured eucalyptus bark...

...and matching tree!

Frauke at the bottom of Wentworth Falls

Climbing back out of the Valley of Waters

The entire Wentworth Falls (~300m)

Wentworth Falls

Top of the Wentworth Falls

Three Sister @ Katoomba

Grand Canyon of the Blue Mountains
Grand Canyon of the Blue Mountains

Around Port Stephens - May 2008

Hello all..... far and wide

A quick update from me, since I haven't been doing so in a while there are a lot of pictures and events to tell you about.

What have I been up to? HMMMMMM

After sailing up the east coast I bussed down to Brisbane where I spent a couple of days with a friend who I had met in Hawaii. From Brisbane I continued back to 1-Mile Beach since I had left my car at the backpackers. Knowing that my sister (Frauke) would be arriving shortly I decided not to head back up north as originally planned, but rather to find some employment as well as relaxing at this epic place!

Relaxing at 1-Mile Beach includes a lot of surfing, walking, reading, squid fishing, a visit to the largest wandering sand dunes in the world and sandboarding.....

Sand dunes at Birubi

Sandboarding.... great fun going down, not so easy getting back up!!!

.....relaxing at Melaleuca Backpackers included cooking a "potjiekos" - traditional South African stew- for the crew at the backpackers - YUMM, YUMM!!

"Potjiekos" at Melaleuca Backpackers with some of the crew (Pete and Mick)

"Froggy" the frogmouth owl

"Josie" the eastern grey kangaroo suckling on my backpack

But of course having so much fun costs money, so whilst waiting for Frauke to arrive I decided to do some construction work. The work was building jetties on the Williams River an hour inland in a really beautiful rural area. The work included dropping 1-ton moorings into the river securing pipes to the moorings, filling them with concrete and the bolting the platform to the pipes. Although a lot of the time was spent just sitting in the sun waiting for the concrete truck to arrive!

Installing jetties on the Williams River near Clarence Town

Old wooden bridge spanning the Williams River

On the way to work (1)
On the way to work (2)
On the way to work (3)