Entries about beaches

The day before it was time to write our Sydney blog entry, I came across this description of the great city from Bill Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country (a must-read for anyone heading to Australia, or if you’ve recently returned!):

“An air of cheerful industriousness infuses the scene. These are people who get to live in a safe and fair-minded society, in a climate that makes you strong and handsome, in one of the world's great cities –and they get to come to work on a boat from a children’s storybook, across a sublime plane of water, and each morning glance up from their Heralds or Telegraphs to see that famous Opera House and inspiring bridge and the laughing face of Luna Park. No wonder they look so damned happy.”

After I read this quote, I wondered if there was any point to writing this entry at all? Bryson has already said it so perfectly.

But alas, we had a fabu time in Sydney and Manly (where our great friend and Hostess with the Mostest lives). We didn’t do much of the regularly touristy stuff – no museums, no tours of the Opera House – but it was a relief. Instead we got to live and breathe like locals and soak up all the damned happiness that Sydney had to offer. There was plenty of it.

The cool thing about staying in Manly with Sarah was that we got to take a break from hostel/hotel living. Including the obvious pleasures, like not having to worry if we could catch an infection in the shower and being treated to two pillows each in bed, we also got treated to many home-cooked meals, got merry with many of Sarah and Wayne’s lovely mates, indulged in lovely and huge brunches, and by the end of the two weekends, had a laundromat, coffee shop, and running route to call our own. We felt like true locals, and even had the happy dispositions to prove it! Here's Manly beach, one block from Sarah's apartment, where we took our daily run and swim:

Manly is just north of Sydney, so you take a ferry in and out of the city. It’s also right on the beach. There are also tons of outdoor pubs (our favorite was the Manly Wharf Hotel aka “Wharfy” which Lonely Planet describes as “a place that will make you want to move to Australia”), restaurants, and coastal walks. Does it get any better than this?:

Another highlight of our Sydney stay was visiting Coogee Beach, Nikki’s stomping grounds from her “study” abroad days 10 years ago. We actually visited twice, once via city bus and once via the great Coastal Walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach. Nik got to reminisce on the old days over some beers at the Coogee Bay Hotel, a Sweet Chili Chicken sandwich, and a stop by her old apartment. It was also a beautiful walk, with everyone out and about enjoying the day:

Just as we thought the royal treatment couldn’t get any more royal, Sarah and Wayne treated us to a few lovely joyrides up the Northern Coast in Lucy, Sarah’s VW Beetle Convertible. I was tempted to wear a headscarf like Princess Grace, but opted for my Red Sox cap instead. Yep, life is good:

Also, we saw this gigantic Gowana Lizard:

We had planned to attend a rugby match (call it “Footie” if you want to be really cool) but it was pouring that night. Change of plans – see the game on a big screen TV (indoors) at a club that served beer at a discount and held a Meat Raffle. Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like: a raffle of meat. Let it be known that Nikki purchased 5 tickets…for a total of 50 possible winning numbers..but sadly did not win any sirloin! Choice A: Go to Footie in pouring rain to get “real experience. Choice B: watch game close up on big TV, drink cheap beer, play Pokies (Australian slots) and Keno, possibly win free meat. Is there really any choice here at all?

Nik and I packed as much in to our last day in Sydney as humanly possible. We took the boat over from Manly, and toured the Botanical Gardens, which seemed to go on and on forever along the harbor. There were many beautiful trees, flowers and tropical birds, but the real highlight was the bats (they also went on and on forever):

We were glad we didn't get locked in with these creatures

We made our way up Macquarie St. to Hyde Park, where we had a coffee and enjoyed an intense game of Big Chess:

Then up Oxford St., through the neighborhoods of Darlinghurst and Paddington – very stylish, very gay, lots of cool shops and pubs:

After a few drinks, we were happy to have this reminder at each crosswalk:

Though we’ve gotten used to driving on the left, we still don’t know which way to look when stepping of the sidewalk. I have taken to looking each way 7 or 8 times and then just making a mad dash for it and hoping for the best. This is not entirely different from how I cross the street at home, but still…

We made a stop at Sushi Train:

You will notice the sushi comes around on a conveyor belt. I thought this was just about the most amazing thing since sliced bread. You just pick off whatever you want, and when you’re finished, they count how many plates you’ve stacked up (this part is rather embarrassing) and then charge you accordingly. Amazing!

We ended our amazing time in Sydney with a beautiful twilight drink in front of the Opera House. Our New Yorker selves simply could not get over the fact that although it was 6 PM, and everyone was out of work (we couldn’t believe that either) and it was a gorgeous night, the bar was pleasantly full but not at all crowded. You could actually enjoy it.

We ferried home to Manly to enjoy a delicious last feast with our awesome hosts. Check out the size of Wayne’s pie (average-sized for Australia)!

Thank you, Sarah and Wayne! We'll be back!

Up next: Adventures in Bangkok. 'nuf said. xoxo Nikki and Marin

After camping on amazing Fraser Island for 3 days, we were ready for some creature comforts – you know, fancy stuff like hot showers and a bed. We got to Noosa after a 2 hr. drive South along the coast. It is rather difficult to arrive to a new destination in the dark (especially when the internal light in your Astra does not work- perhaps this was damage we had done as a result of driving through the flood waters in North Queensland). Marin, ever the industrious McGyver, has taken to handling this challenge by squatting outside the car and holding the miniscule Lonely Planet map in the headlights. But, she never quite got the hag of doing this in the pouring rain.

After literally driving around in circles (there are 114 roundabouts in Noosa!!) through the various neighborhoods - Noosa Heads, Sunshine Beach, Noosaville- consulting the map in the headlights several times, asking 3 different people for directions and having 2 arguments, we finally landed at our Flashpacker accommodation.

For those of you who are not familiar with the ins and outs of the youth hostel circuit, Flashpacker accommodation is one step up from backpacker accommodation. It usually means you pay about $10 more, and for this tax, you’re guaranteed luxuries like clean sheets. If you are lucky, you might have a pool or a TV in your room. Our Noosa Digs did not disappoint: king sized bed, perfect private shower, flat screen tv, private little terrace off the room, pool, bbq). Perfect for a post-camping crash.

After a good night’s rest, we spent a wonderful day frolicking on the gorgeous beaches of Noosa. We went to the Main Beach, which was filled with surfers and sunbathers. Nikki sunbathed away (shocking!) while Marin rode the waves on a boogie board she loaned from the hostel. By Australian standards, Noosa is very posh – the place to “see and be seen” according to our guide book. We were amazed that even by these standards, we enjoyed a gorgeous day on a pristine beach – no payment to enter, park or do anything else. Free luxury. Gotta love Australia.

After Main Beach we found a great beach bar and enjoyed some oysters and beers. It was nice to just sit and chill for a bit and catch our breath after all of the driving we had done.

We wandered over to Noosa Heads, one of the many Australian National Parks and took a lovely sunset stroll through the Eucalypt-covered coastline. On our walk we spotted some more surfers- they are everywhere in Noosa- and a Koala! The wildlife spotting made Marin really happy! We found a gorgeous spot to sit and take it all in. Take a look:

After one more sleep, and some delicious steaks BBQ’d in the pouring rain, we hit the road and headed toward Byron Bay. We broke up the 4-hour drive with a stop at Steve Irwin’s famous Australia Zoo.

For those of you who are not loyal Steve Irwin fans, you may not be aware that the Crocodile Hunter tragically died in an accident involving a Sting Ray a few years back. Sadly, he left behind his wife and children. The Australia Zoo has become his legacy. The Zoo itself is quite commercial (picture Disney with lots of crocs) and some of the animals were definitely depressed (Nikki has some strong feelings of dislike toward caged animals) but we did learn some amazing things about Koalas and crocodiles. Did you know that a Koala is not actually a bear? And it has two thumbs. It turns out that the Koalas are endangered and protected in the zoo- this was a bit reassuring to us. And we even got to touch a Koala – it is so super soft. his is when Nikki decided that the Koala is her favorite of the Marsupials. Marin, however, is still loyal to the Kangas!

We also went to a live Croc show where this crazy dude below put his life at risk for us, much to our enjoyment. Crocs use their tails to jump 6 feet in the air!

And there were also these cool gigantic prehistoric tortoises:

We arrived in Byron (in the dark of course, crossing back and forth through town, over railroad tracks and in search of a road on our map that did not exist in real life) to a lovely Bed & Breakfast. We were greeted at the door by Marty, our warm and wonderful host -- a theatrical Kiwi who’s travelled and lived all over the world. Some details about Marty to help you picture him: makes sweeping hand gestures when talking about the weather, walks around town and in the house with a bird on his shoulder, raises tree frogs on the porch, drinks soy milk, wears yoga pants and was so excited to tell us that our soap was some kind of organic almond mixture, not those “dreadful little bars”. This is all very normal for Byron – it’s the bourgeois hippie capital of OZ, not unlike Park Slope, except on the ocean. Nikki was psyched to return there after her visit 10 years ago to a 4-day jazz festival, when she came to “listen to music.”

Though we did not recreate Woodstock, we did have a wonderful time in Byron. Great bars, restaurants and live music to keep us jolly at night. Beautiful beaches for walks and swims, farmer’s markets, and dolphin and surfer sightings during the day. We went on one two mile run that turned into an 8 mile walk after we got lost, but we got a great tour of the Byron Cape – the easternmost point on the coast – as a result.

What a great place to end our road trip! xoxo Marin & Nik

After an 8 hour drive from Mackay to Hervey Bay, we were knackered once again. We loaded up on camping food and supplies (boxed wine…check! Easy Mac…check!) retired early to our king-sized bed (huge treat) and prayed for sun. Early the next morning, we headed to Aussie Trax, the company that we rented us our 4x4 vehicle and camping gear for our weekend on Fraser Island. As we are all class all the time, we opted to rent our own vehicle instead of embarking on a group tour. We wanted our boxed wine all to ourselves, thank you very much. Therefore, we wound up with what we lovingly referred to for the rest of the trip as the Barbie Jeep. It was a 2 door white Suzuki that barely fit us, our camping gear, our food for the weekend, and our bags…and it was amazing! Barbie Jeep because the rest of the 4x4s out there were huge Land Rovers with engine snorkels and monster-truck suspension.

Fraser Island is an amazing place. It is the largest sand island in the world. And somehow, lush rainforest and beautifully clear mineral lakes exist atop the sand dunes. The only way to navigate the island is in a 4-wheel drive vehicle because the driving is done on the beach and on inland sandy/very muddy/bumpy tracks.

It is a requirement for all those heading to Fraser to watch a 30-minute video, consisting of driving and dingo safety on the island. In addition to the numerous warnings about insurance being null and void if intoxicated (“and you still may be over the limit the next morning!” it kept reminding us), we were quite amused by the scene in which two women encounter a dingo (a wild dog), cross their arms over their chest, and back away slowly while maintaining purposeful eye contact with the creature. We did not know then how handy this tip would be for us later on. We also learned that driving on the beach is prohibited at certain times due to high and low tide times. The tides pretty much rule life on Fraser:

After this, we packed up the Barbie Jeep and headed to the ferry at River Heads. Upon boarding, we proceeded to the top deck to bask in the beautiful sunshine for which we had longed for the past week. Here is Nikki soaking up the rays:

After enjoying the 45-minute ride, we disembarked in the Barbie Jeep with Marin at the wheel. What ensued for the next hour or so was a small test of the strength of our marriage. We seem to have had a few of these on this trip… It was necessary to drive from West coast of the island to the East (where the beautiful beaches exist) via a rough inland track. The conversation throughout sounded a bit like this:

Nikki: “Marin, please slow down a bit.”
Marin: “Sweetie, I am going 10 km/hour.”

As the same conversation repeated itself many times over, Nikki stopped saying please and Marin stopped saying Sweetie. These polite terms were instead replaced by “Why don’t you listen to me?” and “Don’t you tell ME how to drive!” But, we made it. ☺

It was so strange to follow a one-lane rugged sand road through the rainforest and emerge on the other side of the island onto beach and yes, believe it or not, a beach resort (the only one on Fraser – it felt like some sort of weird colony from Lost). We stopped at the general store there to pick up some additional supplies, namely a $25 dollar (yes that’s right folks) 6-pack of VB (Victoria Bitter). Can’t camp without cold beer, after all.

Nikki took the wheel and the beach driving was a whole lot smoother than the inland road. As you can see, she started to relax a bit:

Driving on the beach for miles and miles and miles was very cool:

The only thing to watch out for on the beach is what they call “washouts.” This is a place where freshwater flows down from the rainforest and the lakes over the beach and runs into the ocean saltwater. They create creeks in the sand and if you hit a deep one too quickly, it is bad news bears for you and your vehicle. While Nikki enjoyed crossing the washouts at the approximate speed of an injured tortoise, Marin’s style was a bit more…adventurous. To Marin, it was only a good crossing if you went fast enough to completely cover the windshield with splash.

We headed to Lake Wabby, one of the island’s most amazing freshwater lakes. It is the deepest one on the island (12 meters) and is very clean and filled with curious catfish. The lake is accessed by parking your jeep on the beach and hiking inland about 2.5 KM through rainforest. Along the way, we spotted some huge, scary spiders:

Arriving at the lake was awesome, as the trail leads out of the rainforest onto a ginormous sand dune. We thought perhaps we had missed the lake or it had dried up until we followed the steep slope of the dune down to a gorgeous lake where people were swimming in the amazing oasis. Lake Wabby is surrounded by Eucalypt forest and 3 sides and the sand dune on the 4th. Also, the shoreline is shrinking by 3 meters per year as the dune encroaches on the lake. We jumped in immediately, before it was gone! Check it out:

We hiked back out to the beach and drove further North to find our campsite for the evening before the tide came in. One of the coolest things about Fraser is that you can just set up camp along the beach pretty much wherever you like with no one else around. This is exactly what we did! Home sweet home on Night #1:

We each began our designated camping jobs, Marin setting up the tent and Nikki preparing the evening’s food supplies. We drank boxed wine out of tin cups and ate the best generic tortilla chips and salsa ever at our beach-front camp site, as we watched the day beautifully melt into night. This was one of our favorite parts of the trip so far hands down! The view from our doorstep, and Happy Nikki taking it all in:

Our dinner that night: the worst Easy Mac you can imagine (hard noodles and cold broth with some salsa added for an extra kick). But it still tasted great because we were so happy! We think it was some time around 8pm when we hit the hay because what else is there to do in the dark when you are camping?

We rose early with the sun the next day and battled the many horseflies of Fraser as we packed up camp. As we drove up the beach further on day 2, we stopped to see some of the best highlights of Fraser Island.

Eli Creek is the largest Freshwater creek on the island and you can actually swim in it. You hop in towards the top of the creek and then float on out to the ocean, just like a fish. So fun. We took this opportunity to take the day’s “shower.” Take a look at Eli, and this classic jeep scene along the beach:

Further up on the beach, The Maheno Shipwreck is the remnants of an actual vessel that was cast ashore Fraser Island in 1935. It is awesome to see the waves splash over it and erode it:

Although the ocean is beautiful on Fraser, you cannot swim in it because of the sharks, jellyfish, and extremely strong tides. However, there is one location at a place called the Champagne Pools at the Northern end of the island, where rock formations create natural shallow salt water pools out of ocean water and it is safe to swim. These pools are absolutely gorgeous, with different areas that are shallow and then suddenly deep. We enjoyed some salt water swimming and beers in the sunshine here:

Indian Head juts out at the Northern tip of Fraser. It is a great place to hike up for amazing views of the island’s dunes and rainforests. Occasionally dolphins and turtles can be spotted in the waters below. Check out the view of the dunes behind the beaches, and look how happy we are:

After our long day of exploring we found another both private and perfect beach campsite. Our home on Night #2:

Marin had mentioned earlier in the day that she was disappointed that we had only seen 1 dingo so far. As we drove up and down the beach, she had her camera poised and ready on her lap for the perfect dingo shot. Marin cannot get enough of the Aussie wildlife ☺!

Well she got her wish as we were enjoying our tortilla chips and tin cup wine that evening. We had just remarked how absolutely delicious the tortillas were when out of nowhere, in the dark, a dingo appeared about 1 meter behind us. He had snuck up behind us on the dune and taken us completely by surprise. And just like the silly women in the dingo safety video we crossed our hands over our chests and backed away (after Marin shrieked like a little girl). The bold dingo snatched up our bag of chips in his mouth and proudly trotted away to share with his buddies up the beach.

We should mention here that both the dingo safety video and the numerous signs posted all over the island strongly warn against this as the dingoes can get very aggressive. The signs instruct you to hit a dingo hard with a blunt object if they attack you. And if you are camping with children under the age of 14 on Fraser, you must sleep inside these weird human cage things.

It turns out the dingo really can eat your baby. And your chips!

Marin completely forgot all of this and found the dingo rather cute (despite his theft) and called out, “Here boy, here boy.” She then made that lip smacking, kissing noise that you make when you want an animal to come closer. And come closer he did! He returned to take a few licks of our salsa – apparently not his thing, as he left it behind.

Day 3 events on Fraser: Marin eating a most delicious bacon, meat and cheese pie at the local bakery, a hellish drive back through the inland tracks of the island and a stop at Lake McKenzie (there are over 100 lakes on Fraser, all freshwater). Nikki frolicked in the clear water while Marin napped off her pie:

After this we caught the Ferry back to Hervey Bay, bid farewell to the Barbie Jeep, jumped back in our little Astra, and headed down the coast to Noosa.

Up next, the beach towns we fell in love with, Noosa and Byron Bay, and our visit to Steve Irwin’s legacy, the famous Australia Zoo. Woohoo!!! Xoxo Marin and Nikki