Fraser Island, 2 Days

Just got back from a 2 day "wilderness safari" bus tour of Fraser Island - I had a great time checking out all of the cool wilderness things! We did a lot of rain forest, sand, beach, and rock driving. We did A LOT of hiking as well. Learned mostly about all of the unique things on the island that...well makes it so unique! For example, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, yet it allows vegetation and all of the ancient rain forest foliage to not only grow but to thrive in, around, and up to your eyeballs in ...that's right...SAND!

Pile Valley - I'm just glad that we didn't "run" into any deadly snakes (in Australia alone there are 12 different snakes that are venomous enough to kill a human - 9 of which do inhabit Fraser Island). The air around us was so sweet and fresh you could have bottled it up and sold it! Was definitely a good experience in comparison to the big smelly city :)

Maheno Shipwreck - 1905 to 1935 R.I.P. She was as a luxury cruse ship initially, and then commissioned as a hospital ship in WWI. After the war she was bought and in the process of being towed to Japan when a unusual cyclone struck breaking the tow line. That would be when she found her final resting place, ashore Fraser Island in 1935.

Cloud appreciation is very BIG here on the island - this is my fine discovery of a whale cloud...pretty talented huh? On my first day even :)

The Pinnacles - compressed coloured sand cliffs. This leads to the coloured sand dunes known as Rainbow Gorge (below).

Indian Head - said to have gotten it's name from European explorer Captian James Cook in 1770, who thought that the Aborigines standing up on top looked like Indians, while sailing by in his ship. Also, the trees on top of the rock looked a lot like Indian feathers sticking out. A 75 mile beach follows, very nice. We hiked up to the top for a better view!

Hello Mr. Turtle! Washed up on shore just to say HI :)

This is Bingo the Dingo! It is estimated that there are up to 200 dingoes on Fraser Island. They look like domestic dogs but are actually more closely related to the Asian wolf. It is known that here they are the most genetically pure dingoes in all of Australia.

Rainbow Gorge - a place where there are massive sand dunes with about 72 different coloured sands in or around the area. Aboriginals used to mix these sands with water and paint their faces for spiritual ceremonies. These are just 8 or 9 that we found today.

This guy is pretty cool - Lace Monitor Lizard. He was hanging out by the girls bathroom before we left the island...hmmm, definitely a ladies man :)

Noosaville, QLD

G' day from Noosaville, Sunshine Coast (although the clouds seem to roll in pretty darn quickly here for being the "Sunshine" Coast)! As of today, I'm still trying to get the knots & tangles out of my hair from my sky dive adventure...believe me when I say that it wasn't an easy task:(

But that's where my complaints end. Remember when I said I wanted to live in Byron Bay? Well BB is now slightly overshadowed by the charming little town of Noosa. The hostel I stayed at was located right on the beautiful Noosa River. There is a lot of fishing, boating, kayaking, BBQ-ing, and shopping going on in this town...along with everyone walking along the river and walking their kids, dogs, etc. Very nice place to live, or in my case just visit - for now at least :)



The weirdest looking tree I think I've ever seen, known to be native to eastern Australia - the Pandaerias tree. If it doesn't look weird to you, then you need to take a closer look!


Some not so weird trees, although they are next to the Pandaerias...

This is what the locals look like after a couple of drinks!

FYI - I've just sent out 25 postcards, everyone should a card in about 10 working days...if you don't get one then that means that I DON'T have your home address. Moreover, the next part of this passive agressive statement is that if you want me to send one to you and didn't get a postcard in 10 working days, then that means I don't have your home address. Therefore, you should email it to me asap :) Thanks!

LOL (Lots of Love) xo R

Oh and this is a funny Bush Turkey, poor guy almost got run over when crossing the street today! A local told me that these birds are somewhat of a nuisance out here, and they do NOT taste as good as the other traditionally um roasted turkeys we eat. I think he's pretty cute!

Migaloo- the Albino Whale!

Check out this video of Migaloo...sooo cool :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KkqzKQ9oD0

So I've always wanted to go Sky Diving...

Today my wish came true!!! But more importantly I lived through this experience to tell you all about it. In one word it was
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Many other words also come to my mind that I can't really spell out for you...I was thinking them though :) Just sooo crazy! Wow, where do I begin? I wasn't nervous on the bus ride this morning to Redcliffee, Sutton Beach (30 minutes north of Brisbane city where I'm staying now), or getting geared up for the jump, or even when we were going up in the tiny little plane...BUT it hit me like a invisible brick wall when my tandem instructor Phil opened up the sliding door of the plane and made me sit on the edge with my feet hanging outside the plane 14,000 feet up!!! We were the first to jump, but if you ask me I think Phil pushed me out...there is no way I would have jumped on my own! It was the biggest RUSH, but it's a bit of a blur after this point. I do know that we free fell for 60 seconds, at some point he pulled the parachute? Then we just kind of floated down to the beach and had a nice soft landing on the sand...can't ask for more than that! Total time was like 6minutes from the plane to the sand - it was such an awesome 360 view of everything. Whew! I'm very blessed to be down under doing all of these great things for this amount of time but this sky dive has been the biggest highlight thus far! Again, I understand the irony of coming to Australia to go skydiving when I could have easily done this at home. Can't really explain it and I don't want to!

Unfortunately, I can't download the video to my blog but I have it all on a lovely DVD so I can show it to everyone who wants to see it when and only when I get back in September :(

Check out their website http://www.skydiveredcliffe.com.au/

What's the best way to go whale/dolphin watching?

SEA KAYAKING!!! Forget boat tours. My new hostel roomie Claudia and myself decided to hit up the kayaks after the sunrise experience today and let me tell you I'm glad we did! On top of having one of the most gorgeous days (in a long while, according to our tour guide) We saw a ton of whales that were migrating North up the coast. Believe it or not they were not very far off - so we got a good nice look and on top of that these whales didn't seem to be in much of a rush either. Our tour guide said it was because they like to come into the bay to take a little rest before heading off again. On our way back to dry land we just so happen to hang out with a school of dolphins...not too shabby :) I will be updating the pictures from our kayaking trip in a couple of days.

Oh and we also went horseback riding in Byron Bay...this is a different girl roomate now (let me tell you that I've met sooo many cool backpackers that it's kind of hard to keep up with the email load!). Her name is Kirsty - she's good people :) My horse's name is Sally, she was a bit moody on the ride but I'm sure it was because I had bad breath or something. Kirsty's white horse's name was Sir Rocco.

First Sunrise, Byron Bay, Australia

I would like to share with you all the first 'waiting for the pot of water to boil' sunrise I've experienced thus far in Australia. Now there are a couple of things that make this a special event. Number one : I got up (with my lovely new Irish girl friends) at 4:30AM to walk about 7 kilometers (they measure everything in km here) fumbling in the sand, climbing up rocks, up a several steep hills in complete blackness following only the distant flickering light of a lighthouse. Whew, yep and that was only the beginning of my morning! But the experience in itself was reward enough I tell you. Number two : This is no ordinary lighthouse. This is the most Eastern point in all of Australia which receives the first sunlight...today was an insanely amazingly beautiful day to view the sunrise!!! See for yourself. Number three : I had to call my friend Jen just before the sun came up because, you see, she is getting married today (yesterday the 19th with the 17 hours time change and all) and I missed her wedding so that I could be all the way around the world to capture this on film to show all of you LOL Congratulations Jen!!! :) xoxo

Byron Bay, NSW

CLICK ON PICTURES TO MAKE THEM BIGGER

I arrived in Byron Bay yesterday and let me tell you it is waaay totally cool...I love it!!! It's a little town, and it brings out my inner hippie-surfer kinda even San Fran feel to it! There are lots of VW Vans driving down the street, rainbows, and peace signs...you get my drift? Did I mention it's beautiful...our hostel is a hop skip and a jump away from the powder sand beach :)



I took a bike into town and spent too much money on really sweet gifts for everyone (well not everyone...) hands down the cutest gifts and stores ever! Lady Bugs are making a comeback at the Institute of Cute! much to my delight- I love em' always have. And this store has sooo much more than black and red spots http://www.janedavenport.com Then I hit up some really cool hippie bead shops and purse stops to do some more shopping - I loved all of it! And I love Byron Bay, think I might move here one day :)

Surf Camp Day 2

As promised - this is me "surfing" LOL enjoy! Different surf instructor today, this is Trevor trying helplessly to get me to stand up and he was successful...more so than yesterday :)

Surf Camp Day 1

This is Surf Camp - aka Spot X www.spotxsurf.com - aka Arrawarra Beach. This morning I had my first surf lesson (isn't it ironic that I have to come all the way around the world to learn surfing in Australia, when in fact I was born and raised in Southern California and live in Huntington Beach - Surf City USA!!!!) I have to say it wasn't a huge success, but it wasn't a complete failure either! I got up for a good 4 nano seconds or so a different times :) Also getting up at 6am isn't my first idea of having a good time, but all in all it was a lot of fun, and I think I just might try again tomorrow... I've included a picture of Carl- our handsome surf instructor, and Barney- our vicious guard dog who will lick you to death (if you let him:) xoxo

Well I'm Movin' on up...to the East Coast!

So I'm takin' a little a little "holiday" from the family already :) I'm movin' up the East Coast a bit - from Sydney to Surf Camp to Byron Bay to Surfers Paradise to Brisbane back to Sydney. I'm with a tour bus company called http://www.ozexperience.com/ Very excited to start traveling, it seems like I've been in Sydney forever!




This is a little pie house called Fredo Pies- they are Famous for their Crocodile Pies...and YES I had to try a sample bite of Croc! Tasted just like chicken LOL, sooo I ended up getting a chicken mushroom and potato pie instead :) It was yummy and it tasted just like crocodile!




Our tour bus stopped long enough for us to take some video footage of kangaroos yesterday at Heritage Center Park. I didn't know this but they are nocturnal animals so the time this was taken was at dusk. Also, female Kangaroo's can carry up to 3 baby joeys at a time in their pouches at 3 different gestational periods...I found this to be a pretty amazing fact!

My New Bank Card came in today!!! YAY!!!

This is Clare and Craig from http://www.worktravelcompany.com/index.html These two fantastic people (along with Jason Webber and my Family) has made my travels worth every "Blood, Sweat, and Fears" that has happen thus far! Thank you again and again :) Much Love and peace xoxo

Some Kind of Fluffy Wonderful-ness!?!

Back on the "Cupcake Diet" and I'm lovin it!!! However, I herby promise, after this entry, not to write about cupcake(s) again...EVER AGAIN!!! Promise.

Joke: Why do Seagulls fly over the SEAS?

Answer: Because if they flew over the BAYS then they would be called BAGELS :0)

Cheesy, yes I am aware...but definitely fiction! These two little love-bird "sea"gulls were flying/hanging out with me & the kids at Balmoral Bay Beach - we had lovely nice day all around.

First three pictures above were taken at Watsons Bay - where we were staying for a couple of days. The famous Fish House Doyles Restaurant www.doyles.com.au had the most amazing Silver Dory Fish & Chips - and I'm not even much of a fish person! In the next pic you can see the city in the far distance, but at this point in my trip the city cannot be far enough away! I prefer the beach, thanks :) Oh and some sail boat pics at Watsons Bay too!