Friday 27th
Had class until noon today. Everyone seemed to think I had class until 5 pm. Ppl were freaking out about it because we were to go camping and did not want to leave too late. Mat drove his truck and was accompanied by Shonleigh, Yates, and Pom (English bloke who's name is really Daniel, but everyone calls him Pommey because that is the slang for English people here. lol). Us Canaidians went with Jack in his truck. ( Jack is newly single as of this week. He lives here in the village and is attending Uni as well. He broke up with his gf and is having a hard time with it because he is living with her here in the village!!! Poor guy)
The four of us decided to leave early as we had to pass through Gypmie, yes Gympie, where Jack grew up. We needed to pick up a tent and an eskie (cooloer). It took about an hour to arrive to Jacks home. We did a quick grocery shop and then headed towards his farm house where we discovered there was construction on the bridge. We would have had to go all the way to the other side of town, but Jack decided we should 4 by 4 it through his neighbors cattle pasture! It was soo much fun and it made me remember home a little bit. ( The cows are basically the same here. Not skinny like the ones in Thailand, or was that Mexico... hmm)
After leaving Jacks place, we went onward towards Double Island! It was getting dark quick. We had a text saying the other were already there and that they had taken the other route. We were shocked that they beat us there since we left quite a bit earlier.
Amanda was sitting in the passenger side and all of the sudden a huge bird-owl-bat hit her window. We all screamed and started laughing. WTF was that!!! It was huge and grey-black. It forced the mirror to close into the window completely. Everyone was well awake after that! haha
We then entered a small trail that was about 45min in duration. It was 4 by 4 vehicles only and two way traffic. It was dark and there was only one lane. I felt like an ant who is at the bottom of a moss patch. The trees were so dense it felt like a jungle. Looking up, you could barley make out the sky. The trees were tropical and vine covered! It was wicked cool.
We finally reached the beach. The stars were amazing. The sky was full. It was hard to look ahead when I just wanted to look up the whole time. Driving on the beach like this was different. It was 4 by 4ing for sure. There were other things we had to take into account. All road rules apply. It was dark. We didnt have any cell or mobile reception. We didnt know where the other were camped out. We couldnt camp anywhere without a permit and it was too late now to get one. We had a time limit as the tide was coming in and we would not have been able to drive during high tide. To make matters even worse, we were almost on empty. We spent two hours driving back and forth looking for this campsite. We finally found one but it wasnt the right one. We stopped at the showers to use a pay phone. There was a lady here and we asked her some questions. She offered us to stay with her tonight at her camp site and even said that we could sleep in her tent. She just had to use the shower. I changed my clothes and the girls went into the washrooms with her to use the biffy. When I came into the bathroom, Amanda was soo freaked out she was whispering to me and telling me to go GO GO!! We all left the washroom while Karly ( I think her name is) was showering. We were outside and Amanda was telling me how Karly was saying things like, I hope my guy friend isnt too much for you guys to handle. He can come on a bit too strong sometimes. I guess she was being just weird in general. We didnt really have a choice as were to go and sleep. We went back into the bathroom. ( I had to pee! )
We then followed Karly and her friend back to the beach and to their campsite. We then attempted to set up the tent. Pulling out all the peices, we discovered that Jack had not packed the right supplies. What he had brought was a tent like outhouse with poles, and the tent. No tent poles!!! AHHH!! We were able to some how set our tent up by tying rope from a tree and holding up the top of the tent. karly was helping us alot. She was saying weird things like " I help you now and you can help me later. I will let you know what that is later!" It was freaking us right out. ( maybe we would not have been so freaked out had we not told psycho murder stories the whole ride up on the windy 4 by 4 trail!! ) If that wasnt freaky enough, he friend who was about 45-50 yrs old was non stop talking. He seemed to be quite upset that us Canadians didnt know about American literature, or a specific Cidy Loper song, or the acient ways of some tribe and their knowledge of stars and space ships. He was also going on about how the sunshine coast is the serial killer capital of the world!! He would also talk about how he would get more women if he kept his mouth shut and just used his hands!!! This is all in about 20 min!! Meanwhile, we have our makeshift tent set up and Karly is trying to get us to drink. While she was helping us set up the tent, she was telling us how she had major back surgery and her legs were sore all the time and walking, sitting and all daily things were difficult. She then proceeded to show us her colostomy bag and fistula patch. We were all kind of- extremely freaked out, so we denied the offer to drink by there fire and had a quick snack and retired to the tent! The only light we had was my tinkerbell key chain light, and my solar powered LCD keychain light. The lights that everyone made fun of me for even bringing camping!! ( here they call flashlights torches!)
Thank god we had these lights. It was our only source. In the tent, the four of us were cramped rigth together. There was a pole in Jacks face. ( not too sure why there was a pole there, but it was... haha) We were all freaked out and kept thinking that the guy was going to come over with an axe or something. Rachel was the most scared. Jack got too hot in the tent and went inside the truck to sleep. The rest of us eventually fell asleep. It was about 1030pm. At midnight, we all woke up to Rachel screaming about something with her head out the tent. The neighbors car sped off. At this point, Rachel could not take it anymore and joined Jack on the truck. I slept soo peacfully after this.
We then woke up early and packed up in about 15min. Their car was still gone, but their tent was still there. I still have no idea what had happened to them. We never saw them again!
Feb 28th
We drove to the other side of the island. It didnt take too long, but we did find reception. We contacted Jess, who had gotten texts from Shonleigh who was freaking out that we hadnt shown up. Eventually, (two hours) Mat, Shonleigh, and Dan in his own truck showed up. We went for a swim to the sandy island. We could see dolphins close by. Straight across from us quite aways was Fraser Island. It was a hot hot day. Shonleigh did not join us in the water as she is scared to go into the ocean. Weird I am aware!
We stayed for a couple of hours. Mat was nice enough to bring Jack some deisel. We now went to the campsite that we so badly wanted to see last night!
Our camp site was a good 30min drive on the beach. We then set up our tent. Poles and everything!!! We had found them on the ground that morning!! UGH!!
We went swimming and had a blast. The ranger came by and informed us that this was a national park and that we needed a permit. I was under the impression that we had already had one. However, we didnt. So we then went for a drive to go get one. We went to thr road that the other party had come in on. HIGHWAY!! ahahah I still am happy we were on the windy one! The beach is soo long that if you were to drive the whole length of it, it would take a good hour and forty five min to complete. We obtained our permit and returned.
When we returned, Rachel and Amanda were teaching these Aussies sociables. We all joined in and had a blast. There were even truth and dare cards. One dare being that Yates had to run down to the beach wearing a bikini, that I was more then happy to lend! I do have good photographic evidence! While I was sitting on the ground, I had noticed something move fromt he side of me. SNAKE!! I jumped up immediatly and yelled snake. It was a small black snake. It slithered from behind me to the side and away on its merry little way. He didnt care about us at all, even if we had all jumped up and were screaming. Yes this does include the guys!! Apparently, black snakes are very poisonous. Now all I have left to see is a croc and platypus! I have seen the spiders, kangaroos, koalas, and now a snake!
We played inthe ocean alot. It soo nice! Later, Shon, Mat, Pom and I went to go to the ferry to pick up Brock and Jess who had to work on sat and so they came late. We returned to our campsite and it was late. We started to drink and play other games. Us Canadian girls decided it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping! Some of the others joined in. It was soo refreshing! Not only was it refreshing once, but we did it twice!! After the first time, Amanda thought I was on crack when I was talking about the sparkles or light flashes in the water. In the ocean, there is a bacteria or chemical or something that makes flashes of light when it is splashed around. She certainly believed me the second time and everyone thought it was so cool. When getting out of the water, we discovered someone had taken our clothes! Instead of standing around naked looking for them with the torches around like the others, I snuck behind and grabbed my towel!! ahha It didnt take me long to find my clothes after that. Sneaky Mat!
I ended up sleeping on the beach. I didnt make it back to our tent at all. This may have been a good thing. Sounds like there was about 4 or 5 already in there. I was on a blanket on the sand by the fire under the stars. Dan stayed with me because I was freaked out about a snake. haha There is a picture of us passed out. ahah Im soo happy I slept under those beautiful stars!
Sunday March 1st
Woke up very early, extremely tired and thirsty. Downed gallons of water and we all packed up and made our way to the point. On the way, we stopped at Red Canyon. The earth is so red here, its beautiful. That is how I knew we were over Australia on aour way here. It was all red. Climbing up sand is no easy task. What a work out. I am becoming pretty fit down here. We never stop to rest. Its always go go go!
Jack ended up leaving early. This is a good thing since he was almost out of fuel again. We hopped into Dans truck. Arrived at the point and had alot of fun. The water is actually warm but refreshing. Tastes gross like you wouldnt believe, but worth it. Is not even stinging my eyes like it used to. I must be getting used to it. We had chicken fights in the water, and played in the waves. We climbed up the rocks too. These ones are more jagged than Flin Flon rocks. The rocks in the water were very sharp and Jess, Rachel and I all were cut. Nothing too serious though. There are two funny videos. I will try to post them on FB soon. I will also post my own pics that I have fixed up from the other girls cameras. That way you can see them from my FB page. We played pass and then went on our way home.
We did not take the windy road this time. We took the way with the highway, and the ferry across. Very short ferry ride. It was one of the hottest days I have ever had in my life. I love it! Nobody was in a mood to do anything for the rest of the day. It was a very fun weekend. Ended by looking out my window and seeing kangaroos!
Had class until noon today. Everyone seemed to think I had class until 5 pm. Ppl were freaking out about it because we were to go camping and did not want to leave too late. Mat drove his truck and was accompanied by Shonleigh, Yates, and Pom (English bloke who's name is really Daniel, but everyone calls him Pommey because that is the slang for English people here. lol). Us Canaidians went with Jack in his truck. ( Jack is newly single as of this week. He lives here in the village and is attending Uni as well. He broke up with his gf and is having a hard time with it because he is living with her here in the village!!! Poor guy)
The four of us decided to leave early as we had to pass through Gypmie, yes Gympie, where Jack grew up. We needed to pick up a tent and an eskie (cooloer). It took about an hour to arrive to Jacks home. We did a quick grocery shop and then headed towards his farm house where we discovered there was construction on the bridge. We would have had to go all the way to the other side of town, but Jack decided we should 4 by 4 it through his neighbors cattle pasture! It was soo much fun and it made me remember home a little bit. ( The cows are basically the same here. Not skinny like the ones in Thailand, or was that Mexico... hmm)
After leaving Jacks place, we went onward towards Double Island! It was getting dark quick. We had a text saying the other were already there and that they had taken the other route. We were shocked that they beat us there since we left quite a bit earlier.
Amanda was sitting in the passenger side and all of the sudden a huge bird-owl-bat hit her window. We all screamed and started laughing. WTF was that!!! It was huge and grey-black. It forced the mirror to close into the window completely. Everyone was well awake after that! haha
We then entered a small trail that was about 45min in duration. It was 4 by 4 vehicles only and two way traffic. It was dark and there was only one lane. I felt like an ant who is at the bottom of a moss patch. The trees were so dense it felt like a jungle. Looking up, you could barley make out the sky. The trees were tropical and vine covered! It was wicked cool.
We finally reached the beach. The stars were amazing. The sky was full. It was hard to look ahead when I just wanted to look up the whole time. Driving on the beach like this was different. It was 4 by 4ing for sure. There were other things we had to take into account. All road rules apply. It was dark. We didnt have any cell or mobile reception. We didnt know where the other were camped out. We couldnt camp anywhere without a permit and it was too late now to get one. We had a time limit as the tide was coming in and we would not have been able to drive during high tide. To make matters even worse, we were almost on empty. We spent two hours driving back and forth looking for this campsite. We finally found one but it wasnt the right one. We stopped at the showers to use a pay phone. There was a lady here and we asked her some questions. She offered us to stay with her tonight at her camp site and even said that we could sleep in her tent. She just had to use the shower. I changed my clothes and the girls went into the washrooms with her to use the biffy. When I came into the bathroom, Amanda was soo freaked out she was whispering to me and telling me to go GO GO!! We all left the washroom while Karly ( I think her name is) was showering. We were outside and Amanda was telling me how Karly was saying things like, I hope my guy friend isnt too much for you guys to handle. He can come on a bit too strong sometimes. I guess she was being just weird in general. We didnt really have a choice as were to go and sleep. We went back into the bathroom. ( I had to pee! )
We then followed Karly and her friend back to the beach and to their campsite. We then attempted to set up the tent. Pulling out all the peices, we discovered that Jack had not packed the right supplies. What he had brought was a tent like outhouse with poles, and the tent. No tent poles!!! AHHH!! We were able to some how set our tent up by tying rope from a tree and holding up the top of the tent. karly was helping us alot. She was saying weird things like " I help you now and you can help me later. I will let you know what that is later!" It was freaking us right out. ( maybe we would not have been so freaked out had we not told psycho murder stories the whole ride up on the windy 4 by 4 trail!! ) If that wasnt freaky enough, he friend who was about 45-50 yrs old was non stop talking. He seemed to be quite upset that us Canadians didnt know about American literature, or a specific Cidy Loper song, or the acient ways of some tribe and their knowledge of stars and space ships. He was also going on about how the sunshine coast is the serial killer capital of the world!! He would also talk about how he would get more women if he kept his mouth shut and just used his hands!!! This is all in about 20 min!! Meanwhile, we have our makeshift tent set up and Karly is trying to get us to drink. While she was helping us set up the tent, she was telling us how she had major back surgery and her legs were sore all the time and walking, sitting and all daily things were difficult. She then proceeded to show us her colostomy bag and fistula patch. We were all kind of- extremely freaked out, so we denied the offer to drink by there fire and had a quick snack and retired to the tent! The only light we had was my tinkerbell key chain light, and my solar powered LCD keychain light. The lights that everyone made fun of me for even bringing camping!! ( here they call flashlights torches!)
Thank god we had these lights. It was our only source. In the tent, the four of us were cramped rigth together. There was a pole in Jacks face. ( not too sure why there was a pole there, but it was... haha) We were all freaked out and kept thinking that the guy was going to come over with an axe or something. Rachel was the most scared. Jack got too hot in the tent and went inside the truck to sleep. The rest of us eventually fell asleep. It was about 1030pm. At midnight, we all woke up to Rachel screaming about something with her head out the tent. The neighbors car sped off. At this point, Rachel could not take it anymore and joined Jack on the truck. I slept soo peacfully after this.
We then woke up early and packed up in about 15min. Their car was still gone, but their tent was still there. I still have no idea what had happened to them. We never saw them again!
Feb 28th
We drove to the other side of the island. It didnt take too long, but we did find reception. We contacted Jess, who had gotten texts from Shonleigh who was freaking out that we hadnt shown up. Eventually, (two hours) Mat, Shonleigh, and Dan in his own truck showed up. We went for a swim to the sandy island. We could see dolphins close by. Straight across from us quite aways was Fraser Island. It was a hot hot day. Shonleigh did not join us in the water as she is scared to go into the ocean. Weird I am aware!
We stayed for a couple of hours. Mat was nice enough to bring Jack some deisel. We now went to the campsite that we so badly wanted to see last night!
Our camp site was a good 30min drive on the beach. We then set up our tent. Poles and everything!!! We had found them on the ground that morning!! UGH!!
We went swimming and had a blast. The ranger came by and informed us that this was a national park and that we needed a permit. I was under the impression that we had already had one. However, we didnt. So we then went for a drive to go get one. We went to thr road that the other party had come in on. HIGHWAY!! ahahah I still am happy we were on the windy one! The beach is soo long that if you were to drive the whole length of it, it would take a good hour and forty five min to complete. We obtained our permit and returned.
When we returned, Rachel and Amanda were teaching these Aussies sociables. We all joined in and had a blast. There were even truth and dare cards. One dare being that Yates had to run down to the beach wearing a bikini, that I was more then happy to lend! I do have good photographic evidence! While I was sitting on the ground, I had noticed something move fromt he side of me. SNAKE!! I jumped up immediatly and yelled snake. It was a small black snake. It slithered from behind me to the side and away on its merry little way. He didnt care about us at all, even if we had all jumped up and were screaming. Yes this does include the guys!! Apparently, black snakes are very poisonous. Now all I have left to see is a croc and platypus! I have seen the spiders, kangaroos, koalas, and now a snake!
We played inthe ocean alot. It soo nice! Later, Shon, Mat, Pom and I went to go to the ferry to pick up Brock and Jess who had to work on sat and so they came late. We returned to our campsite and it was late. We started to drink and play other games. Us Canadian girls decided it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping! Some of the others joined in. It was soo refreshing! Not only was it refreshing once, but we did it twice!! After the first time, Amanda thought I was on crack when I was talking about the sparkles or light flashes in the water. In the ocean, there is a bacteria or chemical or something that makes flashes of light when it is splashed around. She certainly believed me the second time and everyone thought it was so cool. When getting out of the water, we discovered someone had taken our clothes! Instead of standing around naked looking for them with the torches around like the others, I snuck behind and grabbed my towel!! ahha It didnt take me long to find my clothes after that. Sneaky Mat!
I ended up sleeping on the beach. I didnt make it back to our tent at all. This may have been a good thing. Sounds like there was about 4 or 5 already in there. I was on a blanket on the sand by the fire under the stars. Dan stayed with me because I was freaked out about a snake. haha There is a picture of us passed out. ahah Im soo happy I slept under those beautiful stars!
Sunday March 1st
Woke up very early, extremely tired and thirsty. Downed gallons of water and we all packed up and made our way to the point. On the way, we stopped at Red Canyon. The earth is so red here, its beautiful. That is how I knew we were over Australia on aour way here. It was all red. Climbing up sand is no easy task. What a work out. I am becoming pretty fit down here. We never stop to rest. Its always go go go!
Jack ended up leaving early. This is a good thing since he was almost out of fuel again. We hopped into Dans truck. Arrived at the point and had alot of fun. The water is actually warm but refreshing. Tastes gross like you wouldnt believe, but worth it. Is not even stinging my eyes like it used to. I must be getting used to it. We had chicken fights in the water, and played in the waves. We climbed up the rocks too. These ones are more jagged than Flin Flon rocks. The rocks in the water were very sharp and Jess, Rachel and I all were cut. Nothing too serious though. There are two funny videos. I will try to post them on FB soon. I will also post my own pics that I have fixed up from the other girls cameras. That way you can see them from my FB page. We played pass and then went on our way home.
We did not take the windy road this time. We took the way with the highway, and the ferry across. Very short ferry ride. It was one of the hottest days I have ever had in my life. I love it! Nobody was in a mood to do anything for the rest of the day. It was a very fun weekend. Ended by looking out my window and seeing kangaroos!
when I think back to when I was your age,I had a very boring life. I'll have to do something about that. Mim
ReplyDeleteThe creepy part freaked me out a bit and Kev too. I wasn't going to mention it but I had to. Don't go missing or something. Please don't find yourself alone. I'm not worried just saying. Love you Mimxoxoxo
ReplyDelete