At 7:20AM I receive a phone call from the bus station that was sent to pick up my parents that they were being picked up soon and should be in Sippy Downs in about an hour and a half. I go back to sleep for a bit waking up with enough time for a shower. The minute I hop out of the shower I receive a phone call from the front desk notifying me that my parents have arrived and are at the front desk waiting. I throw on a dress and begin sprinting to meet them. I can’t even beginning to explain how good it was to see them and have them here with me in Australia. We headed back to my apartment where my dad looked around my apartment then headed for the bed. My mom on the other hand slept most of the flight and was ready to go explore. We walked around the Uni where she got to see her first kangaroo. As we walked through the campus, we ran into my tutor/ lecturer (kind of like a professor) and chatted. We got coffee and a couple local snacks from the brasserie for my mom to try. When we made our way back to my apartment, we found my dad was still sleeping. My dad finally woke up and they took showers and we made our way out to see a little more.
The second day in Australia, we wanted to see a little more of the area and the popular places plus my parents were looking forward to seeing a beach. After sleep in past noon we caught the bus at the Uni and headed to Mooloolaba. After checking in at the hotel, we crossed the street to the beach where we just hung out for a bit and took in the scenery. After about an hour or two of picture taking and hanging out on the rocks we headed up to the esplanade for a couple drinks and a snack. Since they didn’t have bud light anywhere in Australia my dad had to find a new beer of choice at least for the week. While at the restaurant, which overlooked the water, he tried Hahn light, an Australian beer- which stuck. After enjoying some appetizers (called entrees here) we proceeded to walk up and down the esplanade checking out all the various shops and restaurants that lined the street. I had heard there was a pier down the road where we could check out the sailboats and big boats that docked in the area. The walk turned out being further down the road that we thought and before we reached it we were too chilly and headed back to the hotel to grab our coats. While at the hotel we took a bit of time just to relax (I think my parents were still a little tired from traveling).After this we went back out onto the esplanade and just walked around a bit more. This is where my mom discovered that all the stores in Australia close so early so we again proceeded to enjoy another meal on the esplanade except we looked at almost every menu before deciding on a place where my dad could get an Australian burger, which wasn’t as good as he had expected (the burgers here are a little different than the ones in the United States).By the time dinner was over we headed back to our hotel to call it a night because we had to get up early the next morning for a day full of traveling.
We left our hotel at 8AM in order to catch the bus to Sunshine Plaza. The night before I had discovered that I had left or lost my converter plug so while we were at Sunshine Plaza I had a matter of minutes to go purchase another one for the trip. After a 20 minute stop at Sunshine Plaza we caught another bus to Nambour Train Station where we took the train to us to Hervey Bay where we caught yet another bus to the dock where we finally caught a boat to Fraser Island. I had heard rumors about Fraser Island but it was nothing I had expected. During the 45 minute boat ride, we saw numerous sharks in the water and we even saw a sea turtle.When we arrived to the island and walked into our resort I was so surprised. It was similar to the photos that were online but nothing like I expected. It reminded me of dirty dancing only on the beach instead of in the mountains. It was very sustainable and ‘go green.’ In order to get to our room we followed a path through the woods and you wouldn’t believe the view we had, haha it was of a creek swamp type thing. My mom described all the rooms as very Asian- like with doors instead of curtains to keep out the light. She kept repeated over and over again throughout our trip she would never have thought to do something like this… in the beginning I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or bad. After checking into our room and getting comfortable, we took a stroll into the market center which had all of four three shops, one of which was closed. We wandered briefly through the convenience store where you could find everything from frozen food and beer to picture frames and Fraser Island trinkets. After exiting the store we enter the last remaining shop, the 4wd hire shop (this was where I had been hoping to go before we even got to Fraser Island). Fraser Island is such a remote place the only way you can travel is by 4wd on Sand Paths, and not smooth sand paths but rough ones where you are in constant fear of getting stuck if you take your foot off the gas. The whole point of the trip was to see what the island had to offer, but instead of paying a ton of money to wander around the island through a tour we decided to be a little more adventurous and rent our own vehicle. After a 30 minutes safety/ instructional video and filling out a couple papers we were all set for the next day’s adventure. We were also just in luck because after we came into the shop there were two other groups of people that came in and we were able to get one of the last vehicles that were available the day we wanted to travel.
Meanwhile, Fraser Island is home to dingoes (which in the past year have become more dangerous due to people feeding them and there have been many instances in which people were attacked. They told us at the resort that they were protected by a fence but sometimes they are able to sneak through, rare, but it happens. Many signs and flyers throughout the resort, told people if approached by a dingo to stand tall and back away and if needed fight back.) There were also snakes and lizards both of which we were told to stay away from. They said some of the snakes were very deadly. In particular one they called the 50 minutes snake because you only had 50 minutes to find help. Needless to say all of this talk about wild animals that could hurt me and possibly kill me definitely kept me alert and on my toes throughout the trip on the island, even during the day I constantly watched the ground for critters.
That night for dinner we didn’t have many options, so we stuck within close range and ate at the resort’s restaurant. Due to an early morning that day and an early morning to come we resided to our room for the evening.
The next morning I was so excited for the day to come, after seeing so many pictures of all the beautiful things on Fraser Island I couldn’t wait to see it in person. As I sat in the driver’s seat, I was so nervous about driving not knowing what to expect. Within the first couple minutes my heart was racing so afraid I was going to cause the vehicle to flip or get us stuck and ruin the whole day. It took a little bit of time to get use to the roads and the driving conditions but I finally got the hang of it. After traveling for a good hour through the hills of the island we finally approached the 70 mile beach. It was so amazing being able to ride on the beach at 60- 70 km/hr. As we were driving we noticed quite a few cars parked and standing by the water. We were curious what was going on so we stopped to check it out. In the water we could see a whale swimming up out of the water and flapping its fins. It was almost like it was putting on a show for us. After watching for a bit we got back in the car and followed the map to our first destination. We approached the big shipwreck of the Maheno. I think that was my dad’s favorite part of the trip. The next destination on the map was the colored sands, while stopped to admire the sand mountains, we also got to see a plane land and take off. At one point in the trip we had to stop off and add fuel to the vehicle. The gas station where we happened to stop we were lucky enough to see a python in the backyard. The man that owned the shop and lived behind it said that he saw on average one snake a day in his yard. After talking to him for a few minutes we found out that he had lived on the island for the past five years, three of which he had never left the island. Throughout our journey up and down the beach we got lost a couple times. My mom had seen this little creek that people could float down in a brochure and really wanted to experience it. We tried to find it on our way back but due to the lack of signs we almost got stuck multiple times and eventually gave up and continued on to Lake McKenzie and the rainforest. My poor dad was miserable as we left the smooth beach and back onto the rough paths of hills. Plus we got lost a couple times in trying to find more attractions to stop by along the way. It finally got to a point where we tired of riding in the car and just wanted to reach our destination. Lake McKenzie was beautiful and of course I wanted to jump in. My mom and dad refused saying it was too cold. After hanging out for a bit by the water we returned one more to our little vehicle and made the journey home.
As we got back to the resort my mom noted many times that it was such a cool experience getting to ride in the vehicle through the paths and on the beach. She said that it was never something they would have thought to do but they are so glad that we did it. It was an incredible experience. While back at the resort we booked our hotel for the following night in Noosa before walking to a different place for dinner. We had a more casual dinner this night due to the fact we were all so tired and still in our clothes from the day. After a relaxing, enjoyable dinner (where my parents met an older couple who had traveled to the island from their sailboat), my mom and I headed to the heated pool and hot tub just to relax.
September 15 was pretty much a day full of traveling. We left Fraser Island early that morning. The boat took us to the pier where we caught the bus to the train station. From the train station we caught a bus to the Sheraton Hotel in Noosa Heads. Coincidentally, we stayed at the same hotel where my friend Beck works. By the time we arrived to the hotel it was 4pm and it was no longer beach/ pool weather so we explored the hotel, which was beautiful, even our room was amazing. The room was giant and the beds were so clean and comfortable. We were on the ground level and the sliding glass doors led out to the river. Since we couldn’t go swimming we sat in the stairs by the pool and enjoyed a couple of drinks. That evening we walked through the streets just as the stores were closing so we were only able to make it into a couple. Noosa Heads is a small place so we were able to easily walk the length of the main street and check out what all the restaurants had to offer. That night we had dinner at Montezuma’s, the same place where I went for my birthday. My mom enjoyed the food, where my dad thought it was just alright.
The next day we woke up at all different times planning on meeting at a certain time for breakfast, which was a buffet and turned out to be amazing food with everything you could have imagined. The rest of the day entailed lying by pool and just relaxing. We hadn’t had an opportunity to just sit around and do nothing the whole time my parents had been here and it was so nice. We relaxing there all day until it got too cold. At this point we made our way once more through the town and checked out a couple more of the shops while my dad went back to the room to get ready. My mom and I walked into a couple shops where I found a really pretty dress and got a pair of the popular Australian flip flops, havianas. When we returned to the room my dad was watching this show about popular rib places throughout the United States. Needless to say it made him hungry and hungry for ribs and we ended up finding a restaurant in Noosa that served ribs, which he ended up loving and eating every last bit.
September 17 was another day spent doing nothing besides basking in the sun. While I loved playing in to pool and getting a little color, I was getting antsy just sitting by the pool so I would wander back and forth from the internet and the pool. The evening was once more spent walking around the shops. We walked by a bathing suit shop that had a giant for sale sign outside and we decided to head inside and see what they had to offer. I of course found a really pretty bathing suit that was a steal in terms of Australian prices. While in the shop another woman was there shopping with her toddler daughter. The mother was too busy focusing on clothes and not paying enough attention to her daughter. While the woman was checking out her daughter proceeds to run out of the open door and heading for the street. I immediately chase after her while yelling for her mom; I caught her just before she got to the road. After an eventful shopping trip we found a store that my mom liked and found a shirt to buy. Not ready to head back to the hotel room we walked down to Surf Club for a drink, the Surf Club overlooked the water and was so pretty. Before we had time to order a drink my mom decided she wanted to go back to the store and buy the same shirt in another color because it would match a pair of her pants perfectly.Since it was getting late we walked back to the hotel room and got cleaned up for drinks and dinner that night. My mom wanted to show my dad the Surf Club so we made our way back there for a couple drinks and an appetizer. While looking over the menu my dad decided he wanted some bread so he orders the break roll. Little did he know that it would turn out to be pretty much a hamburger roll. Since he enjoyed the place we had gone to the previous night so much he wanted to return there once more for dinner. Our couple nights in Noosa were lovely just being able to relax. This place was definitely my parent’s favorite.
