Byron Bay

Man, it is cold here today. Not as cold as last night though which was just evil cold. OK, OK, not like a 'real' winter as experienced in countries that actually know what cold is but a proper Aussie winter- there are rumours filtering up the coast of snow down south(!) And the problem here is that there is no heating to speak of and none of us have proper winter clothes. I am sleeping in a dorm and it is cold but the teepee has a fire in it and is very cold indeed, so I am told, it seemed nice and snug to me in there when I went for a visit.

I spent yesterday afternoon on the beach with a couple of girls from the hostel and it was a beautiful warm day. But by the evening it was much colder. Didn't stop us following the great unwashed of Byron down to the local Seventh Day Adventist Church for some free grub last night though. It was like a minature Glastonbury down there- hippies of all shapes and sizes sporting all clothes from board short to ponchos- as we sat on the lawn in the dark and shivered over a plate of great free food (donations welcome, and indeed paid).

Had a free beers in the hostel last night over a couple of games of Shithead- the perennial Backpackers' favourite card game. We were playing with what appeared to be the remains of about four packs of cards so it took quite some time to get through each game. Then the others went out and I curled up in front of the fire with the new Harry Potter book which I had been given that morning.

Today I have just been reading, chatting to folk and buying some warm clothes to wear in bed tonight. Where oh where has the sun gone???

But here to warm the cockles of your hearts are some more photos. I will tell you what they are this time for a change as this mouse pointer thing doesn't seem to be working for everyone. These go from Hervey Bay to Fraser, Surfers Paradies and that is all.

This is the beach in Hervey Bay. The little balls of sand are created by these very small crabs which run around the beach in swarms and twist themselves into the sand when you get close.



This is a whale flipper from my whale watching trip- I did warn you that I didn't get any good whale photos.

This will give you an idea of how close the whales were. This is a humpback whale. Honest.



This is part of the rainforest on Fraser Island.

This is a view of one of the sand blows from the little plane ride I took. Sand blows are different from sand dunes because they move. Or something like that.



This is part of 75 Mile Beach on Fraser Island and the main highway on the island.

This is the shadow of the plane we were in.



And this is the actual plane, complete with two Irish passengers who got lost later on a short walk to the amusement of everyone else.

This is from day two on Fraser. You can tell this because it isn't raining.



This is Eli Creek on of the many freshwater creeks on this large sand island.

It was too cold to swim comfortably in Lake McKenzie but it was great for a paddle.



We were told that Lake McKenzie has some of the purest water in the World in it. And looking at the clear blue water that is easy to believe.

And this is a genuine Fraser Island Dingo and not a toy at all. Fraser Island is the only place left where pure breed Asian Wolves can still be found and I saw one in the dark the night before but was too slow to get a photo of the little tike.



The ferry coming from the island back to the mainland at dusk.

This is Brisbane Central Business District. There can't be that many cities in the world where you can stand in a little bit of rainforest and see tower blocks.



Brisbane doesn't have a beach, being inland and all, but they have made this great free 'beach' swimming pool on the south bank of the river across from the CBD.

This is the effect that a bottle of soju will have on two ex-Mokpo ESL teachers.



Oh the glitz and lights, it must be Surfers Paradise.

Not the most beautifully natural beach in Oz.

And that is your lot for now. I am due to leave Byron tomorrow but I might stay for another night and then head down to Coffs. So close to the end of this leg of the trip now, scary stuff!