Sorry I’ve been away for a few days! The wi-fi at our last stop wasn’t the best, which made blogging difficult. But no worries; let me catch you up.
Friday morning we went back to Sydney’s airport to catch a plane to Hervey Bay. Virgin Australia boarded the front half of the plane through the jetway to the front door, and sent those of us seated in the back half out on the tarmac and up a staircase to board through the back door. It probably took about the half as long to board as it would have taken in the U.S.
Flying from Sydney to Hervey Bay, in terms of distance, is about like flying from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. Keep in mind Australia is about the same size as the continental U.S. Hervey Bay’s airport, like the city itself, is tiny; two or three gates. And despite the spelling, Hervey Bay is pronounced “Harvey.” No, I don’t know why. Nobody in Hervey Bay seemed to know, either.
Soon after landing, we were on a ferry for the 50 minute ride over to Fraser Island. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site,and the world’s largest sand island. It’s about 75 miles long and no more than ten miles wide. Our home there would be the Kingfisher Bay Resort, an eco-lodge very popular among Australians,judging from the number of people there. I spent the last few hours before the sunset walking the grounds looking for birds. And I found some, too!
The next day, Saturday, was Australia Day, which Aussies love and celebrate very much the way Americans love and celebrate the 4th of July. January 26, 1788 was the date the first British ship filled with colonists arrived in Sydney Harbor. There is controversy here, now, because the Aboriginal people here call that anniversary “Invasion Day,” and there’s some talk about moving the national holiday.
We spent the day on a tour of the island. The first few stops were on the East side—the Pacific Ocean side—of the island. The wide, flat beach , and the 75-mile length of the island is open to cars. There were dozens of cars. trucks and tour buses, but they were mostly bunched at a handful of spots. One was our first stop, Eli Creek. It’s a freshwater creek that runs ankle to thigh deep for it’s last few hundred yards to the beach,and hundreds of people were there floating in the cool water. We walked along with them.
Our next stop was a shipwreck.
The Maheno was a WWI hospital ship sold for scrap to Japan in 1935. It was being towed to Japan when a cyclone hit, breaking the tow line. It washed up right where you see it. It’s pretty much rusted away in the 83 years it’s been sitting there. Eventually, it will all be gone. Eventually.
After lunch, we had a walk through the rain forest, and then a swim in Lake McKenzie. It’s a large, freshwater lake with beautiful soft white sand.
The Aboriginal people who lived here call the island K’gari. It means paradise. I believe it. My only disappointment was not seeing an azure kingfisher. But I did manage to get some nice shots of some other birds, which may be on a calendar next year!
We left Fraser Island this morning, picked up a rental car in Hervey Bay, and drove the 3 1/2 hours down to Brisbane. Brisbane is the largest city in the state of Queensland. What little we’ve seen of it is very nice. Roslyn found a sushi restaurant nearby thanks to Yelp, and it was both inexpensive and delicious. Back at the hotel, Roslyn found out the hard way that our shower wasn’t working properly. We’re now in a new room with a free upgrade thanks to the very nice staff here.
The Australian Open tennis tournament is ended tonight in Melbourne,and that’s where we’re going tomorrow.