Return to Lady Elliot Island

It must be almost exactly 6 years and one month since I was on LEI for my 13th Birthday. We spent 3 days there on that occasion and if I remember correctly, my sister and I were pooed on by nesting seabirds 9 times between us. But this time I came prepared; my hat (purchased at Woodford Festival and much loved by all who meet it) would act as a perfect shield from the launched missiles. All was going well until I nipped to the toilet cabin, thinking I would be outside for the briefest of moments and surely I could manage wuthout the hat for that long? But oh, no. The very second I stepped out from under my porch I was splatted. They suggest you look up before you walk anywhere, the only problem with this being that you stand a fairly good chance of getting a direct hit in the face. (In fact the hat wasn't all that helpful against attacks; I got hit on the shoulder too.)

It's beautiful though - over the coral cay the water is so turquoise and peaceful - lapping against the white coral shores and further out dropping off into deeper darker waters. The bottom temperature of the water was 28 degrees and the water was so clear, which made the dive pretty spectacular; just like being in the middle of Finding Nemo. I even saw a Dory :)
Also to be found were leopard sharks, white and black tipped reef sharks, manta rays, a HUGE Moray eel and of course plenty of turtles coming up to be scratched and play.

The Glass-Bottomed Boat wasn't so much glass-bottomed as metal-bottomed with a couple of glass panels. Nevertheless, the view was impecable - clear waters for 15m with sharks lounging on the bottom, schools of giant fish drifting by, giant schools of little fish drifting by - there is so much down there that you never even think about. I spent some time observing a Manta Ray who was enjoying a clean from some little blue fish. There's a reason why it's said that Lady Elliot Island has some of the best snorkelling in the world.

The aeroplane which transports you to the island is brilliant. It's diddy - like a toy plane, and has a little propeller fuelled by a little engine on each side. It's a wonder they can get it to stay up in the air! The runway on LEI is the diameter of the island and you can walk it in about 5-10 minutes. This is good for getting around the island (you can walk around the entire circumference in about 40 mins) but as you're landing, it's always a bit of an uncertainty as to whether you'll actually stop before you fall off the edge of the island into the sea...

And now I'm back from both Lady Elliot and from Hervey Bay, sad though it is. It really was beginning to feel comfortable - if not homely. Not to mention I made two friends during my time there that I'll never forget. So for now I'm back to the planning game - preparing for the really independent part of my trip. On the 4th February I'll be flying to New Zealand to spend a month on the Kiwi Experience Zephyr tour which I'm looking forward to immesely. From there I'll be flying our to Adelaide then to Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and back up to the Sunshine Coast. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

The Cleaning Manager...

Is apparently my job title. I have a feeling the actual manager was trying to make me feel less lowly. Which as he discovered, probably wasn't necessary.

So, I have my job down to a tee now, and it seems that being so anally retentive comes in useful when it comes to cleaning. Obviously, I've found my calling in life...
One of the perks in this line of work, that is cleaning a backpacker hostel, is being allowed to raid the fridge when guests leave. Often this is a fruitless experience as backpackers are more often than not strapped for cash and therefore do not purchase a huge amount of exciting produce. There are however exceptions... So far I have acquired, encouraged by the owner, half a watermelon and 4 bottles of wine! I have to say I haven't actually started on the wine, I'm contemplating saving it and throwing a Friendly backpacker party :)
Another of the nice things about working here is the people that I've met. Not only are the owner and manager of the hostel absolutely lovely and interesting people, the guests - though many of them are only passing through on their way to Fraser Island all have their stories to tell and recommendations for places to visit, and most are more than welcome to adopt a lone traveller in their plans for the evening. I've even started getting to know some of the persons about town - the family who run the cafe/restaurant '2nd Kitchen' (which in itself is highly recommendable if you're ever in Hervey Bay) and the man behind the checkout at the local supermarket have all been so interested in where I've come from and what I'm doing. The atmosphere round here is just so friendly!

Whoever said that Hervey Bay is sadly necessary as a gateway to Fraser, was doing it a great injustice. I admit that 2 weeks is probably too much time to spend here on holiday, but there is certainly a few days worth of interest. Walking along the miles and miles of beach for one thing provides plenty to look at. I've seen some truly peculiar creatures including what I assume to be baby 'Spanish Dancers' which are orange wormy things with ruffles which 'dance' through the water evading hermit crabs and other predators with amazing agility. There are miles of rockpools to explore further up the coast and some very disturbing Soldier Crabs, which when I first came across them, reminded me of the scarab beetles in the Mummy films, at which I had to get away from them as quickly as possible and then observe them from a distance. They burrow under the sand and leave tiny holes surrounded sand ball bearings. They also make excellent surfers.

Of course, there is Fraser Island to explore, which as yet I haven't done, but have heard that it is incredible from absolutely every single person who has stayed here! Personally, I'm trying to get up to Lady Elliot Island for a couple of days before I leave, and hopefully the green turtles will still be there for diving with.

Much love,
xxxxx

In the land of backpackers

Well, after a long and hot coach journey at more like 5 1/2 hours than 4 (and the air conditioning wasn't working) and a slightly dubious start to the evening (a man who looked like he might have been trying to pick me up turned out to be trying to pick me up - I responded with something along the lines of "Erm, no, thank you. Sorry" British to the very end...

Thankfully a mini van with The Friendly Hostel plastered across it came to my rescue. He didn't actually see my unfortunate encounter which probably explains why he looked so nervous when I practically jumped into his arms upon meeting him.
Having been shown to my room and told to repot for duty at 9.45 the next morning, I thought I'd have a wander into town to find some food. On my way I witnessed something unexpected. The sun sets fairly early so it was around dusk when I was leaving the hostel. Now, you know how all the natural science presenters rave about starlings when they do the big swarmy thing? I saw one of those. Actually I didn't but I thought it was one of those. In fact they weren't starlings, they were big bats. But they were swarming in the hundreds and thousands. According to the hostel's information booklet, these bats are actually called flying foxes and there are three different varieties in Hervey Bay. It was absolutely incredible to behold, and I certainly hadn't expected it! It was a pretty spectacular experience to start off my time here...

The sea runs at bath temperature here - and not a luke-warm 'I'm only staying in for three minutes' kind of bath either. It's like a hot tub. With waves. You could probably boil an egg in it if you were patient enough...
I made a friend in the sea today; I'd just set out with my snorkel and mask to observe some aquatic life when I noticed I was being followed. I have to say he looked pretty dapper in his yellow and navy get-up... Yes, he was a fish. And no, I have never found any guy to be attractive wearing bright yellow with navy stripes...
It wsn't a fleeting friendship. This little fish was swimming around with me for a good half hour while I drifted over the corals, or things which looked a bit like they might be coral - the visibility wasn't very good. Sadly, I lost him as soon as I got out to go for a drink. I won't blame him for that though.

Tomorrow...

I will be setting off on a 4 hour coach journey to Hervey Bay. If you look on a map, you'll see that Maroochydore and Hervey Bay are practically next door to each other, and yet a 4 hour journey? That's like driving to Scotland from my house.

So, Hervey Bay. The Gateway to Fraser Island.

I'm going to work in a backpacker hostel for 2 weeks, which hopefully will mean meeting lots of exciting backpackers, and also getting discounted trips to Fraser :) but it's not excedingly popular for its own attractions.

The moment I had arranged this, I received an email from the Heron Island Research Station, who have a space for a volunteer from the 11th to the 18th January and would I still be interested? - Why, yes! Thank you for letting me know so soon!

Heron Island is one of the Great Barrier Reef islands slightly north of the Tropic of Capricorn, and somewhere I would really love to go and spend some time. Hopefully they'll book me in for later in the year...

But for now, the sun is out again and it looks like I'll be spending a relaxing couple of weeks a bit further up the coast, before returning to Brisbane airport to fly over to New Zealand to spend a not so relaxing but brilliant month.

Hope you are all well,

Em x