WTF TSUNAMI??

Soooo we rolled into Hervey Bay after a really uncomfortable 13 hour bus ride from Airlie Beach to a phone call from my sister saying "There's a tsunami warning in effect for the east coast". So I naturally shit myself and when i got to the hostel I asked about it. They said they didn't know what to expect but just to stay away from the beach. Okie dokie, done eand done. As far as I know, nothing happened so meh.
Anyways I don't have much to say about Hervey Bay because we havn't really done anything yet. Just hung out at the hostel mostly. Swam in the pool, played some tennis with our newfound German friend. Anyways, we have a group of people set to go on a self-guided Fraser Island tour which is kinda exciting. There are five of us so yeah it won't be too crowded nor too expensive. Fraser Island, I hope, will be really cool. It's the largest sand island in the world and it looks like it has some really beautiful lakes and stuff so I'm pretty stoked. BIG HOCKEY GAME TOMORROW!!!! WAHOOOO. I'm soe xcited to watch it!!! Anyways When I have more to write about i guess I'll do it then because this blog sucks.
LOVE

Whitsunday Islandsss and Airlie Beach

Sooooo from Mission Beach, where Sarah went skydiving (and where I was painfully bored), we hopped a bus to Airlie Beach which is a cute, albeit uber touristy beach town. Wew didn't stay long here, but we caught a ferry over to Long Island, an island in the gorgeous Whitsunday islands to stay there. We stayed for two nights. It is GORGEOUS there and is probably my favourite place so far on this trip. The beaches are gorgeous white sand, the water is blue and crystal clear, and the islands rise up like lush forest covered moutnains all over the place uot of the ocean. It really is a beautiful place. The beaches are lined with palm trees and banyan trees. I really never watned to leave. The place we stayed at was a big resort with a hostel in the back (out of sight from the tourists who paid ilke $500/night to stay there). So we stayed back there but we had access to all the awesome resort amenenities! Sweet! Sarah's friend Alyson works and lives ont he island so the first night we stayed with her. The island is untouched aside from the resort, as are the other islands in the Whitsundays so it really is a gorgeous sight to behold. There are bush turkeys that are everywhere, as well as heaps of wallabies, cockatiels, lorakeets and all kinds of wacky animals. Seriously just beautiful is the only way to describe it. We didn't do much while we were there. I had a bit of a headcold so it was more like R&R time, especially since it rained the entire second day! We played some scrabble, trivial pursuit, and trivia with other people on the resort. We also met some nice people from Whitehorse!!!

Anyways this is long enough.

It's off to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, the world's biggest sand island tonight.

PEAS <3

I HATE LEECHES

WELLLLLL the last couple of days have been mindblowingly busy and filled with waterfall swimming, mountain bking, rainforest walking, platypus spotting and all kinds of fun stuff. We booked a tour with "On the Wallaby" Adventure tours where they took us up to a rainforest mountain town called Yungaburra. From there, we went and visited the most incredible strangler fig tree. It was really impressive and had these long, strong, beautiful roots. That day we swam in a waterfall that was SO COLD but so beautiful. There was a catfish called Wanda that kept biting everybody's ankles. That night, after a lot of bushwalking and swimming and learning, I was tuckered out. The hostel we stayed at was BEAUTIFUL. It had the cutest little dogs running around (big dogs) and some really quirky people.
So that night I didn't sleep very well as we were sleeping in the rainforest and there are HEAPS of mozzies in the rainforest. I woke up with a swollen half face, dunno why. So that day I was pretty busted and it was a pity because that was the more active day of our tour. We went mountainb iking through the rainforest which was absolutely spectacular. It poured rain that day but biking through the rainforest in the rain actually had some great charm to it. Our guide taught me a lot about Aboriginal culture here in Australia which was wonderful, as well as a lot about the general environment and our surroundings. BUT, as I found out, in Australia there are these sticky litle creatures called Terrestrial Leeches. Thats right. Leeches that live on the ground. There was the most beautiful bit of rainforest that we wandered through and I ended up picking up a leech or two on my feet. GROSSSSSS. Anyways yeah. The last two days have been pretty good. Tomorrow, we're headed down to Mission Beach where we'll stay foor one night basically only so that Sarah can do her skydive which she has been waiting for. Anyways, I'm out.

PEACE AND LOVE,
Steph

GREAT BARRIER GOD!

I had a life-changing experience today. I snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef. It was one of the best experiences of my life! I saw all kinda of amazing things like giant clams, lots of beautiful fish, amazing corals and most awe-inspiring, SEA TURTLES. They were so beautiful and watching them just made everything else around stop. The best part was that as I was stalking one of them, it came up for a breath right in front of me. It was incredible. I think sea turtles are my new favourite animals.
I also take back everything bad I said about Cairns. I was just looking at it from the wrong perspective. Coming back into the city from the ocean was so beautiful. The mountains were draped with clouds and even though it was cloudy, it was still so colourful. The mountains here are beautiful. Nothing like the Rockies but just different. They are covered in thick, lush rainforest. From that angle, Cairns is really one of the most beautiful cities I've been to. I wish I could have taken a photo that did it justice, or even upload one of the ones I took. But alas, cannot. Anyways, gotta go;.
STEPH

A La Cairns

Soooooo Cairns eh?
Sarah and I finally arrived after a long night and a short flight. THe flight was perfect an I wasn't nervous! :) Haha. Anyways Cairns is a small town with big city amenities. It's got nice mall and lots of palm trees! But it's suuuueper humid. I constantly feel like I'm swimming and I'm not in any water. Our hostel room is STIFLING hot but it's okay I guess. We havn't met our roomate yet but I spied a maple leaf patch stitched onto his backpack haha.

I don't have much time to write this so I guesss it's gotta be snappy. Today we went to check out the city and the esplanade. Like I said, it's a nice town. I feel that they rep the Aboriginal culture a lot more here, and I've also noticed a lot more Aboriginal people which is great. I notice small patches of ABoriginal art here and there worked into the decor of the mall and of shops and of the general city.

The biggest pitfall of Cairns is the "beach". It's ridiculous!!! A Complete joke! It's called "the Lagoon" and all it is is a kiddy pool (like that of Coronoation Park in Oakville) with sand at the bottom. It's chlorinated and happens to be right ON the beach, but it's not the beach. Also, the real beach that is on is dirty and gross. It's filthy!!! Lol.

Anyways that about it. I've booked my Great Barrier Reef tour for tomorrow!!! I'm really excitd. I'm goign to three different reef locations and it's gonna be a blast so long as the weather holds up. Anyhow, thats it for now.

BYEZ!