Summer in Australia and I have finally completed my trek to the last (permanently inhabited) continent on earth! In no way am I done traveling, but this is a momentous occasion for me. Being this is true you would think I would be able to hast out this blog no problem, but with a busy month of touring and traveling, followed my some rest and relaxation, I couldn’t bring myself to get any writing done while I was there. I have no excuse as to why it took me so long once I’ve been back in the states, but with a new apartment so close to the beach, any free afternoon was spent cruising around on my beach cruiser or laying on the sand, oh yeah and I guess I did some job hunting in between beach days.
Australia was a trip that has been much awaited. I originally started my college career wanting to study abroad somewhere in Australia but in the final hours decided to go to Europe instead. That has all worked out beautifully because less than a year later, my parents received the news that they would soon be moving there for my dad’s job. Sweet! Many people ask me if it is tough having my parents live so far away but thanks to skype and international calling plans it honestly hasn’t been much different than having my parents up in the Bay Area. (My mom just gets woken up much earlier in the morning when I need things J ). A long seven months after they packed up and left, I was on a plane to see them and see a new corner of the world. I took the train from San Diego late afternoon on July 5th and made it to LAX airport. First highlight of the trip is they have the part one of the final Harry Potter movie on the plane so already I am happy! I made it though the movie, and then tried to sleep for the rest of the flight. I landed in Sydney and made it over to the domestic terminal, here is where the waiting started. I was hungry so I headed to the food court and tried a kabob. Given I lived off these in Europe I thought it would be a safe choice but it definitely didn’t hold a candle to what I was used to. My jet lag wasn’t helping me eat much anyway so it wasn’t much of a loss.
A three and a half hour layover soon turned into six as heavy winds left only one runway in use. Being a laid back person I’m usually willing to sit back and wait but my energy was running low and I was very anxious to get to see my family. An email informing myself I had over drafted my account didn’t help with my mood either, but I somehow managed to keep (most) of the tears back as I waited in the airport. Finally we were on the plane and I sat anxiously for two hours as we soared to the small city of Rockhampton, in an even smaller plane. Finally we were there and my mom, my brother Eric, his girlfriend and my god friend Jill greeted me. It was great to be there! My mom quickly rushed me to Mackys. Or what McDonalds is known as down under. No offense to everyone who raves about the fresh Mackys burgers, but I’m a fan of my good ole pre made American McDonalds. But that’s just me.
Finally Home! Because there are no direct flights from Sydney to Gladstone, where my parents actually live, we had a little over an hourdrive home. The house is cute and Jill and I had a cute green room to share. My mom has done a great job making a second home in the AU. Once there we had a few hours until an overnight train up to the Whitsunday Islands where we would spend some days under the sun and in the water with the whole family. I took a nap on the couch outside, and woke up to my dad coming home from work. I took a shower and we headed to the train station. If you know me well, you know that me on a lack of sleep in not pretty. When the station manager comes on the intercom announcing that the train is delayed at least a half hour, I am done for the 48(?) hour long day that I was living. Having my mommy and daddy around I quickly reverted to my 5 year old days and completely broke down, at that point I wanted nothing more than to get into my train seat, lean it back as far as possible and pass out. Finally on the train I was dead asleep and woke up eight hours north and actually full of energy.
My mom greeted me with some breakfast and a flat black coffee with milk (regular coffee and milk for the Americans reading), love that woman, even at the mature age of 22 she will always take care of me. We took a shuttle from the train to our hotel. Thank heavens for off season because we ended up at the most beautiful resort for a decent price! The Pinnacle Resort in Arlie Beach, QLD was absolutely amazing. We were in a three bedroom suite with our own hot tub, right next to a beautiful infinity pool, all overlooking the harbor. I spent most of that day laying out on the patio and playing games of cribbage with my dad and brother. If you are not familiar with cribbage, it is a counting game played with cards and a board of pegs. Playing this is a tradition with my family on vacations, or anytime we are all together (which is pretty rare). That night we made a family dinner and ate out on the patio.
Jill and my room had a window overlooking the harbor with a great view of sunrise. Because of the drastic time change I was still waking up bright and early and we got to view all of the beautiful colors from the comfort of our beds. That morning we headed to the marina and boarded a boat run by a company called Cruise
Whitsundays, that boat took us out to a station anchored over a section of reef and we spent the day snorkeling, eating and enjoying the sun. Eric, my dad, and I also got to do an intro scuba dive. We got to go much closer to the reef doing this and my dad even got to pet a fish. I would of loved to go deeper and for longer but as a first time scuba diver it was a great way to get introduced to the underwater world and the equipment. Overall the water station was a good day, but a little too touristy by my taste. The two groups of grade school kids didn’t help make the experience any more authentic either.
That night we headed into the Arlie Beach town. This consisted of a two or three block stretch of shops and restaurants. My mom’s friend in Gladstone had told her about a restaurant called the Hogs Breath so we headed there. There was a little bit of a wait but we made ourselves busy at the bar sampling some cocktails with entertaining names. Dinner was a true aussie meal of meat and more meat, and some wine. My dad and I split one of the towers they offer with three plates stacked up on a rack. We had the turf tower, and my mom and Eric split the surf tower. Bless her heart, Jill, the vegetarian, had a salad.
The next morning we headed back to marina and boarded a catamaran called the Camira. This was a beautiful purple catamaran that, if I remember correctly, is one of the fastest catamarans of its size. For the first few hours on the boat I hung out on the trampoline like part of the catamaran and spent my time milling over weather I wanted to spend the rest of my life drinking wine on a boat or beer on a boat. Alas, I am now back in California doing neither but it was a nice thought. Before lunch we pulled up to Whitehaven beach, a beach famous for its white powdery sand. Here we played some soccer with our new friend Chris from Amsterdam, sipped some ginger beer (a non-alcoholic ginger drink that is very popular in au), and even polished our jewelry with the super fine sand. When lunch was ready we headed back to the boat for a barbeque and more drinks. At the end of the day we headed back to Pinnacle with our new friend Chris. Chris was supposed to head north that evening but since we had an extra spot on our jet ski tour the next day we invited him to stick around and he ended up crashing with us that night.
Our last full day in the Whitsundays started with a 4WD drive to hideaway beach where we headed out on a Jet Ski Eco Safari. This was advertised as an eco tour rather than a thrill seeking ride, but when you put me on a jet ski there really isn’t much hope for me not hitting the gas. After exploring one of the rivers off the ocean, and falling in (rumored croc infested waters, no big) we headed to the open water and soon hit a sand bar. Whoops! The jet ski my mom and the guide were on was completely beached and it took half the tour group to get the heavy machine off the bar. Once that little hiccup was taken care of, we headed to where some of the bigger waves were and I was no stranger to the whizzing sound the propeller made as the jet ski hit the air. Chris and Jill who were on the back of my jet ski at this point held on tight but they told me they had a great time. I definitely rode into the beach at the end of the tour with a smile on my face.
Our last day in Arlie Beach was spent checked out of the hotel wandering the small town. Jill and I did some shopping, we had lunch playing a rousing game of guess who animal edition and a game of scrabble. More killing time as I wrote some post cards and we bummed off the Mackys wi-fi as we waited for the shuttle that would take our luggage and us to the train station. Here I also indulged in a Mackys mate’s meal, a boxed meal for two that I was excited about for the name and nothing more. But because of my excitement at the time it is worth mentioning and remembering.
That night we rode the night train (also delayed, no tears this time, only delirious laughs) back to Gladstone. Thankfully we had a sleeper car this time and were able to sprawl out on beds. This being my new favorite way to travel in that you get somewhere new and get to sleep comfortably.
This will conclude the part 1 of my Australia story. I hope you enjoyed it and there will be at least two more to come! I promise I won’t make you wait another two months though!
