HAIFISCH!!!

Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island

(image stolen from campervan mate and resident photographer, Antoine)

Hello to one and all! I am pleased to announce that Jessica and I have made it out alive of not one but TWO dalliances with shark-infested water. The first incident happened while we were exploring Fraser Island -- a huge sand island north of Brisbane on the Sunshine Coast of Austrlia -- in which the most popular ways to see the island is to hire a huge 4x4, fill it with people and camping supplies, and set off to swim in pristine lakes while avoiding the baby-eating-dingoes that run the island. Although Fraser is a very popular attraction for travelers, it often felt like we were the only inhabitants and had been sent there on some bizarre mission as 11 of us crammed onto the two benches in the back of our 4x4 and drove on impossibly bumpy sand roads trying not to flip or bog our vehicle. We swam in the cleanest, clearest lake I have ever seen -- you may be thinking, Laura, praytell, why are you swimming in a lake when you are on an island in the South Pacific? I answer you this -- paradise isn't so safe in the Summer months! Fraser Island is surrounded by sharks and jellyfish of various size and killing-ability so we obeyed the advice we were given and (mostly) stayed out of the ocean. We camped on Fraser Island and didn't even hate it so much as we were with a bunch of strapping young lads who were willing to do most of the hard work and we have also come to the realization that our gourmet cooking can transfer not only to life in a campervan, but also to a two-burner camp stove. The island holds particular significance for the Aborigines in Australia as it has been inhabited by their people for thousands of years. We were serendaded by an Aboriginal man with a didgeridoo who ran the campsite we were staying at one night who warned us explicitly not to whistle or spit into the fire as that entices the bad ghosts who have been known to drag around and beat up any dissenting whistlers. Thankfully no one in our group was willing to test out the theory and we left Fraser Island without any major damage to our vehicle or ourselves due to sharks, sand, dingoes, or ghosts!

After Fraser Island, our next major activity was avoiding Cyclone Hamish who was threatening to wipe out the rest of our plans for Australia'a East Coast. Instead of driving directly into its path in our sturdy campervan, we headed inland to the Outback, which is exactly as you may imagine: Kangaroos hopping around, locals in ten-gallon hats, and flat flat flat land with no powerlines, lights, or general sign of life for hours. It was an unexpected yet pleasant detour from our plans to see a part of Oz that we would not have otherwise had the chance to experience.

Our much anticipated sailing trip on the Whitsundays was thankfully unaffected by the Cyclone and was simply incredible. The Whitsundays is a series of nearly 100 hundred islands, most of which are national parks, that have great beaches for lounging and coral-filled shores for diving. Our sailing trip actually wasn't so much about the Whitsundays though...it was more about the Great Barrier Reef which for us was the better of the two options anyways. On our first full day of sailing we arrived just before sunset at what looked like a muddy jetty sticking out of the middle of the ocean aka the Great Barrier Reef at lowtide...the skipper threw us some snorkels and fins and we were left to our own devices to explore the reef for the next day and a half (we did come back onto the boat for meals and sleeping). I can't do it justice but the labyrinth of all the different colors, textures, and sizes of the coral that has been growing for thousands of years seemed like an eccentric's ancient palace submerged in water comlplete with hidden passageways, towers, and sumptuous decoration. A comment Jess made about the Reef was that it really is just like it looks in Finding Nemo so refer to that movie if my description is lackluster for you. We saw said Clownfish nestling in anemone, schools of hundreds of fish that found us in the middle of their migration pattern, and dundundun a shark! We were within a few meters of a proper shark. I saw it lurking near the drop off of the Reef and frantically pulled at Jess' fin to inform her of our swimming mate and may have put more fear into her than the shark did although she admits she is glad that I got her attention as quickly as possible. Although a Great White may have made a better story, it was a wee Reef Shark and thus we parted ways with our lives, limbs, and liberty intact.

After our excellent time on the Whitsundays it was back on the road to make it to Cairns in order to drop off the campervan on time -- the last 36 hours were pretty rough on our van. We almost removed an overhang in a supermarket car park, doused nearly everything in vinegar on, had a bloody massacre of mossies, oh yes and we were heading into the tropics, which lead us all to go temporarily insane with heat exhaustion but thankfully not Dengue Fever! The light at the end of the tunnel was VERY bright for Jess and I upon arriving in Cairns on Saturday as we were whisked away to our hillside retreat by our friend Sue. While at the Marlborough Sounds way back in New Zealand, we met Sue while enjoying the post-hike hot tub and after a most lively conversation considering our exhaustion, she invited us to stay with her and her husband at their home in Cairns. We warned her that we actually do take people up on their offers and lo and behold here we are, spending our last ten days in Australia in a real home with a real family which has been such a treat. We have had a perfect combination of relaxing poolside while sorting out our plans for the admittedly more challenging leg of our trip in Southeast Asia (Jessica hasn't gotten to conjugating the past-perfect verb tense in Laotian yet --egads!) and also being shown around Cairns by our personal tour guide. Cairns is a really beautiful spot -- it is a lush, tropical jungle that runs directly into the ocean and then ta-da the Great Barrier Reef! It's a special spot and we are so fortunate to be ending our Australian adventure here with such excellent company. Speaking of which, last night we celebrated a most unique St. Patrick's Day for the girls accustomed to the Philly/Boston college scene -- rest assured, it is still drunken, debaucherous, and populated by people with painted faces and funny hats. What made this celebration extra special for us was that we were able to meet up with all of our campervan mates before some of them were off to their next destination -- we had so much fun with them and had not realized how much we missed them all until we had the time to step away from the whirlwind of the past three weeks to realize how great the roadtrip was and what special people with whom we did it.

As this is the first time we have had a longish period of time with a computer, we have a lot of photos which may appear to be a bit out of order and unrelated, but we hope you enjoy them regardless!





--The Great Barrier Reef from our sailboat! Have faith that it looks better underwater.

-- Sailing on a "river" constructed by the Coral to allow flowing water and diversified sealife into the Coral in order to ensure a complete eco-system, that's some smart Coral!

-- Cleaning out the campervan on the last day...please note the abandoned emergency blanket in the foreground (how full circle is that representation of our time spent in NZ and Oz?)

-- Fraser Island at sunset

-- Icebergs are really cool (ha). This is way back at Mount Cook in New Zealand with Mr Caimi.

-- The three of us went bungy jumping in the "adventure capital of the world" Queenstown, but waited to talk about it until Mr. Caimi gave my parents the photos over dinner a few weeks ago (all for the dramatic effect) ps -- I almost chickened out

-- Realllly small campervan kitchen, always one knife or pot of boiling water away from a disaster

-- All of our campervan friends on the sailboat! From leftish: Antoine (French) Sebastian (German) Olivier (French) Laurene (French) Daniel (German) and the two of us. It maybe would have been easier for me to have labeled all the people that didn't have huge grins on their face as French -- too cool to smile.

-- All the girls trying to do our best to get cleaned up in the campervan for a night out in Airlie Beach

-- In shark infested waters on Fraser Island!!!

-- A cute and sedate Koala

-- I didn't get kicked in the face!

-- Photographic evidence that we are alive and well, or at least were 5 weeks ago, heh

-- Defending my liberty aka boxing lessons on Waitangi Day in NZ with Mr. Caimi

-- Trying to hold back the advancing glacier with our mind power to save the group of small children and nuns standing behind us, or maybe just trying to throw rocks at the nearby iceberg to see the ice fall off...I don't remember which of those days this photo was taken.