Brisbane, Hervey Bay and Rockhampton

I sit writing this in the sunshine under the awning of my ex-Olympic village unit (self contained, stackable) in the Rockhampton YHA. Here's the story from Sydney to here...

Saying farewell to Sydney, I took a cab from Wollstonecraft to the domestic airport terminal, driven by a friendly (albeit sex-mad) Turkish cabbie from the Stig school of motoring. The thirty-five minute journey took an edge-of-your-seat 15 minutes to complete as we bombed through the Sydney tunnels.

Scraping in at 0.4kg below the luggage limit, I flew Virgin Blue to Brisbane, then took the AirTrain to the city centre. My hostel - another YHA - was at the top of a hill of hostels on Upper Roma St. Clean and friendly, I spent most nights awake listening to the screeching of the coal trains navigating a tight corner nearby. Thankfully this would stop at 6am, to be replaced by the demolition team at 7am who kindly spent the day riping down the older rear YHA building that backed onto my room.

A cheerful Belgian chap completed the ambiance by filling the dorm with his er... 'unique' scent and entrancing us with his repertoire of snores (my 'favourite' being the "Silent-Gasp-Groaner", where he sounded as if he were drowning, then followed it through with a long, deep howl at the moon).

Brisbane itself was better than my Sydneyside friends had made out, though only just. Just like Sydney, Brisvegas is being constantly rebuild. The South Bank, complete with man made beach was calming, the Queen Street shopping hub was entertaining, complete with a week-long "Touch the Piano" competition to win said grand.

I finally bought a new camera (another Canon Ixus) and spent time in both Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha, the Planetarium and QUT (Queensland University of Technology), when I was caught out in the rain & had to spend an afternoon drinking coffee & snoozing in their outdoor cafe*

I met some friendly people in the YHA. I was chatting to a woman in the computer area. Something about her attitude/outlook seemed very familiar. After further chats, she turned out to be another Beeber on a sabbatical too. This further fuels my theory that you can spot a Beebie in a lineup!

Whilst in Brissy, I took a day trip to Morton Island (swimming in a lagoon, sand-boarding etc) in a battered Toyota 4x4. - Great fun! We even saw a massive turtle - alas sadly demised; washed up on the beach.

I think seven nights in Brisbane was perhaps one too many, but it's worth visiting even if just using it as a stopping point.

I took the Dog to Hervey Bay (5hrs drive up the Bruce Highway) and was picked up by the YHA's minibus. On arrival, we were given juice and caek, and were then shown around the hostel. It was wonderful, practically a hotel. I booked my accommodation there as part of a Fraser Island tour, so was given an 8-share room. Even this room was impeccably clean, fresh and welcoming - no bunks either! I almost immediately booked a few nights more. Looking back, I wish I'd stayed longer. The bar had a swimming pool, spar and board games. Outside were table tennis, tennis and basket ball courts. The staff were always friendly & scarily remembered my name!

The weather wasn't so great, but was ok on the two days (one night) on Fraser Island. Having been in a 4x4 tour on Morton Island, I, like some of the others was disappointed at finding out the Fraser Island tour was on a 4x4 coach. Thankfully the group was a very friendly one (including the two French girls who joined from my hostel and a civil engineer who was having a 5* holiday from her work back in the UK).

The rainforests were beautiful & the perched lakes warm and welcoming.

The tour company had forgotten my accommodation on the island, so when it came to sleeping, they were rather embarrassed, and so gave me my own schnazzy tent! Yay!

Thankfully, two girls on a the tour were from Tourism Queensland, so knew what to bring - sherry, beer and lots of it! - so the evening went with a bang. A retired couple (part of Australia's Grey Nomads) told us of their life on a remote station in the outback.

Fraser Island was beautiful, but Morton Island (back near Brisbane) was the star attraction for me.

Back at Hervey Bay, the days consisted of loafing, cycling and mooching, followed by beer & card games with the various German, French and British travelers. I drank enough beer to claim my free T-shirt.

I had planned to go to Airlie Beach, but after discovering the ludicrous travel time on the coach, I elected to stop off in Rockhampton for two nights.

Compared to Hervey Bay, the hostel is a bit grim, but then again, HB was exceptionally good. The whole town smells of manure**.

It's the off-season, so when I went out to dinner at 8:45pm, having just stepped off the coach, the restaurant owner told me the chef had gone home at 8:30! So, in the home of beef, I had to make do with eating in a roadside chicken shop, sharing the view of the highway with a weird looking bloke and a gaggle of emo children.

Despite the fragrant nature of Rockhampton, two things stood out for me:

1. Why is there no orange glow in the distance? :P
2. Why do the clouds have a beautiful silver lining, but no orange belly? ;D
   

I'm treating myself to a cabin at the YHA. A plaque on the wall says that it was part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic & Media Village. All I care about is that this is the first time in a long time I've been able to use a hair-drier!

* I stuck my head into their CS lecture theatre... amazing! So much technology. Mind you, I should have guessed, as most students in the cafe were huddled in groups around their own laptops. How things have changed. :)
** Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia, & where there's moo, there's poo. At night, they drive double-decker cattle lorries presumably to the abattoir, and the nervous cattle release their fear the only way they know how onto the Rockhampton highways.