Posts tagged ‘beaches’

September 2nd, 2010

There’s Something Special About Fraser Island

It’s been a few weeks since I talked about the epic road trip I was about to take, and I have since then traveled, returned and recovered from the excitement. Furthermore, I’ve had time to actually reflect on all the amazing experiences I had up and down the Australian east coast, and one incredible place I visited that stands out was Fraser Island.

Not wanting to try and self-drive and plan to visit a unique place such as Fraser on our own, Heather and I went with a tour from Cool Dingo. Well, honestly, it was a famil offer that I took because they are a company that is well advertised to backpackers, so I wanted to be able to give a first-hand review to those asking for advice. All-in-all, it was a pretty good tour: we were fed ’til we burst, had nice accommodation and were taken to all the island hot spots. I couldn’t complain.

Yes, we saw dingos, sharks, whales, turtles, dolphins and crazy bugs. Yes, we basked in the sun on Lake McKenzie, swam in Champagne Pools and climbed ginormous sand dunes. Yes, we saw a lot… but what was my favorite part of the tour?

philosophical dingo

Let’s just say that it wouldn’t have been quite the same had we all not had the pleasure of having Dave, The Philosophical Dingo, as our tour guide.

Dave is a complete character — the rare type of person that can actually live on Fraser as a local and work as a Fraser tour guide for 20 years. You can’t buy that kind of knowledge and experience, and you definitely can’t get to that level of kooky without being special. He could ramble on about anything and everything Fraser, from how the sand dunes were created to how it got its name. If you wanted to know the types of toxic plants and animals on the island, and how exactly their toxins react in your body, he is the man. In fact, he even reads pharmacology books in his spare time!

I think at first we were all a little shocked by his unique sense of humor, but by the end we all had mad respect for the guy. He does it all because that is who he is, and not because he is putting on a show. A guy from our group lost his wedding ring at Lake McKenzie. What did Dave do? He went out there at night in the pitch black to sift through sand until it was too cold to move to see if he could help. What a champ!

When we were at one stop-off, he asked if my camera had super-fast photo taking abilities. Why? Only so that I could photograph him jumping from one post to the next. After the shoot, he saw the photos on my camera, laughed, and then never mentioned them again.

He doesn’t use the Internet — ever. Dave actually told me that if we wanted to get in touch with him, we would have to contact the company to send him a message. Hilarious! Still, Dave made sure to give us loads of information for us to put on our sites and spread the word of The Philosophical Dingo. So, without further adieu, here is the glorious art of the one true Fraser Island guide; for his poetry and philosophy, stay tuned for the next post!

Dingos & Cigarettes: Two things that can kill your children

Deelicious!
a dingo ate my baby

February 18th, 2010

An Australian Montage

Australia is a pretty random place. It has some of the harshest and most extreme environments – even a landscape in part that looks like Mars – and yet so many people call it home.

The wildlife ranges from cute and cuddly to vicious and deadly (watch out for those drop bears!). Australia has beaches, mountains, deserts and rainforests; hot weather and really hot weather; big cities, small cities and really, really out of touch towns.

I’ve only seen part of it.

If you could go anywhere in Australia, where would you go (outside of New South Wales)? I need a goal and a good travel plan to look forward to in the not-so-distant future.

January 12th, 2010

Help a Travel Addict Out

Can you all help a girl out? I feel like I’m always applying for random stuff and just never getting it – but this time is different! I want to win the Best Backpacking Job in Australia, so I submitted a video explaining why I’d be so great (in my opinion).

What do I get? Well how about 3 months of travel up the coast of Australia, that’s what! Yep, that’s campervan rental, petrol, surfing lessons, scuba, abseiling, skydiving, hostels and more.

What do I have to do? Blog about it, make videos, social network and the likes along the way. Uhm… perfect, yeah?!

What do you have to do? View my video! Each view acts as a vote, and even though now I stand alone in this competition, I want to get way ahead!

So, here it is, my masterpiece:

Like it? How about posting it on your blog, facebook, twitter or stumbling it? Thanks, travel community. You all rock!

March 14th, 2009

Touching the Untouchable

If I made a list of the far-flung places I have now traveled to, it would probably contain the following:

1) Guatemala
2) Ukraine
3) Kyrgyzstan
4) Kazakhstan

I didn’t think I could add my current country to this list, but after many shocked glances and responses about how remote it is, I decided that Australia now makes itself known as number 5.

Yes, people, I am in the land of kangaroos, koalas (not koala bears), and crocodiles. I’m walking on a land of deserts, beaches, and bush… A place where people eat vegemite for breakfast, call busboys “glassies”, and say “thongs” instead of flip-flops. I am in Sydney, Australia and absolutely loving it!

opera house

(Look, I’m working on my tan!)

Australia has been a curiosity of mine for more than half my life, and I’ve actively played with the idea of moving/living there for at least the past 10 years. Actually, when originally planning on traveling the world, I always thought I’d save Australia for the end because I could work/live there.

When I was in high school, I thought becoming a photographer would be a cool job. I would travel to Australia and take pictures to sell to National Geographic.

I also thought that taking a year off before university and spending it in Australia was a good plan. I talked about the idea a lot, but the idea of a “gap year” wasn’t too common in my neck of the woods, so I didn’t have the proper support or inspiration to make stepping out of the norm happen.

When returning from study abroad, I held the forms for applying for a working holiday visa to Australia in my hands. I calculated the amount of money I had to save up in order to head abroad, took up two jobs, and started counting down. Unfortunately, it was again just not meant to be. I ended up having knee surgery, not working for a while, and getting caught up in a life back home.

Imagine my disbelief that I am finally making it a reality: I’m touching the untouchable!

I’ve been here for a little less than 2 weeks now, but I’ve been super busy. I hostel-hopped for about the first week until I finally found a place within walking distance of central Sydney. Soon after I found a job, which starts this Monday!

As for touristy things, I’ve gone up in the Sydney Tower for a bird’s eye view of just how massive Sydney is.

sydney tower

sydney tower view

I took a gander at the famous Sydney Aquarium for a view of what lies out in the deep blue. Fantastic.

aquarium 1

aquarium 2

Besides this, I’ve been introduced to various good restaurants, cafes, and bars. I’ve even gone bowling! So far, Australia is treating me quite well. What fun lies ahead. :)