23rd - Sand

Driving from Surfers Paradise was hell; as they were readying for the Nikon GPRace in the streets it was difficult finding that one road that would lead me out and north. It took me a couple of attempts, but finally I was on my way to Brisbane.

Arriving Ditte took me out and showed me around in the city. Brisbane is not a city for tourists, so it didn’t really matter that we only spent the one half day to walk around. The next two days, Wednesday and Thursday, would be spent on Fraser Island, the two of us and Ditte’s boyfriend, Klaus. We left early (early as before 0400) to make it to River Head to get the ferry to the Island.

Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island. That means that all roads are sand. And due to the dry weather lately the sand was very dry and soft. So, as our guide and driver said, the ride would be a little rough. I have never been happier for a seatbelt.

Only 4x4s are allowed to the island due to these conditions. But there are no rules to how much experience is needed to drive on the island. In this case a lot of experience was needed to drive in these conditions, something several people realized when we were there. Our guide at one point called them “these inexperienced drivers”, with a short but very noticeable pause before “inexperienced”, saying that it was the nicest he could call them, but thought something else completely.

Oh, well… I will let the photos tell the story. They will be posted in the next couple of posts (and in not so large versions as I usually do) due to blogger's limits when it comes to photos.

19th - Getting high

Sorry about not updating yesterday; combining heat and less than half a liter of water a day is the sure way to get the body to open up all the valves… So yesterday in Lismore I ended up in my room being a man about my dehydration; a little whiny, watched some TV, tucked under the cover and wished that somebody would come and give a cuddle to lighten the mood. So that was fun! (Wow, sarcasm! That’s original…!).

I’m still feeling a little queasy, so this will be done fairly quickly.

Driving from Lismore to Surfers Paradise I went by Byron Bay and Byron Cape. Byron Cape is the most easterly point in Australia. Byron Bay is a small town, but the activity was intense – chaos is probably the best description. Probably because of the good weather.

Arriving in Surfers Paradise I ended up in total chaos, as the city is being setup for Nikon SuperGP which will be done in the streets. The streets are closed, rerouted and changed. Making a turn to drive 50 meters to get to the hotel resulted in a drive of 12 km to get around and back to the hotel. At least I can now say that I have been driving on a race track.

Checked in a room on 11th floor; would have felt more impressive if there weren’t 21 floors in the building and I can’t see much more than other hotels in the area from my balcony. Took a walk on the beach where it was possible to see a group of orcas jumping around in the sea.