Fraser Island Day One 

I saw some pics of a friend at Fraser Island over Christmas and decided then and there I would visit and ASAP!

After some googling I decided on a two day, one night tour at the island and ensured it was visiting Lake McKenzie, the location of the pic I originally saw.

The tour (Sunrover Tours) started out from Brisbane at 6.45am (not a morning person but it wasn’t terrible) and we hit the road straight away in our older Land Cruisers.

A truly authentic experience, there’s no aircon, there’s bugs and the tour guide was a real Aussie bloke. Charlie was his name and he chose me (okay, I nominated myself) as the front seat driver with him.

A few stops later we arrived at Rainbow Beach and the fun started! We couldn’t even make it through the entrance to the point where you catch the barge to Fraser Island, we got stuck immediately. Thankfully some lovely young guys pitched in and pulled us out. Good fun!

Fast forward a ten min ride on the barge and we arrived on the island. We screamed down (80kms is the legal and policed limit) the beach along the shoreline to Dilli camp where we were spending the evening.

We ditched our stuff, had some fresh ham salad buns and fruit for lunch and were back on the road again.

We stopped at Central Station which used to be the main location for logging many years ago. Got a bit of a history lesson before a little rain-forest walk. I loved the strangling tree – a tree that wraps around another tree and steals its nutrients until it eventually dies. I really disliked seeing where the Fraser Island Funnel Web spiders lived as I got the heeby jeebys.

Next up, the highlight of my trip, Lake McKenzie. Unfortunately for us, the sun wasn’t out, however the lake was still sparkling, clear and inviting. Tours can only have 1.5 hours at the lake and we made the most of it. The water is 25 degrees and we were straight in there. I swam across to a secluded point and walked around the corner – I wish I could have taken a picture – the serenity! A vast, deserted and picturesque space. The water is crystal clear, the sand glowing white and you got the feeling of being really alone – I loved it.

The trip back to camp took longer than I remembered, as it turned out I had been asleep half the trip out there! Couldn’t keep my eyes open. The roads are stunning. Fraser is the largest sand island in the world, so low and behold, the roads are all sand! Incredibly, a rain-forest thrives in that environment. The trees created a beautiful canopy above us as we cruised through. There’s bumps and it’s fun – I enjoyed the city kid’s reactions.

At camp, we had a BBQ dinner – burgers and sausages – beaut. There are two other Sunrover tours here making the campsite busy and fun. Huge variety of people on the tour, lots of different nationalities. The guides are knowledgeable, likable and funny. I enjoyed watching them bond over a beer at the end of the day.

We retired to bed in our tents and slept soundly all night… That’s a total lie – I woke up with a full bladder at midnight and didn’t want to make a dash to the bathroom as it was raining hard, which sounded great in the tent but wasn’t great for my needing to run to the bathroom!



Windmill at Bargara 

I chose the most unique breakfast menu item, the smashed pumpkin with poached eggs, mushrooms, macadamia crunch and feta.  

It wasn’t quite what I expected (I’d half thought it would come on bread like an avo smash), but it was delicious. 

The feta and eggs are a great break to the strong and sweet flavours of the pumpkin and macadamia crunch. 

The macadamia crunch is very sweet, I’d go for a juice instead of an almond chai latte which was my choice. 

Benny and Jo both had the breakfast stack and were impressed. 

I want to go back and try the gelato! 

Windmill at Bargara Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Wynnum Wanders

My fave way to start a morning? 

A walk somewhere beautiful and inspiring. For me, this generally means somewhere close to the water, nature, pretty lights or exploring somewhere new. 

There’s not much I like more than walking by the water, wind in my hair, sun on my skin and beats in my ears. I get inspired, my head clears and I beat those pesky calories! Win, win. 

Today I walked around Lota, Wynnum and Manly on the Brisbane coastline. For two hours. I got blisters, irresponsible sunburn and a sore hip (how old am I?!) but I was happy as can be.

I lived here for 6 years and never even knew these ‘beaches’ existed until I came back from Canada. Crazy. I like it so much that if it was closer to Brisbane CBD I would consider living there. 

Here are some pics from my walk  

             

What a week!

I arrived in Brisbane on Sunday and started work on Monday. It’s been an absolute whirlwind but I like life like that.

After watching the rugby in Wellington until 1am Sunday morning, having to be up 3 hours later for check in, a late taxi that had me worried I’d miss my flight, then upon arrival at the airport finding out the check in system was down and they were checking us in manually which would take 3-4times as long as usual, I was so damn happy to be in my tiny seat on the plane so I could get some rest!

When I arrived my best mate Benny told me to grab the train and meet him in the city for brunch. We hadn’t seen each other for 18 months and I couldn’t have been more excited. I was heading up to the train station talking to Ben on the phone arranging where to meet when I realised he was actually behind me on the escalator! I actually screamed, not often someone can get that reaction out of me!

Sunday was crazy, we had brunch in Hamilton, chocolate in Bulimba then my friends left the wrong key out for me so I couldn’t get in with my luggage. Luckily Ben could take me along for a lovely lunch with his Aunt & Uncle before dropping me off to see Lisa. Lisa and I visited Daran then she dropped me at the Eat Street night markets where I finally met Celia and Gemma and they took me back home so I could unpack. I was exhausted but looking forward to starting my new job the next day.

This week has been crazy.

First off, I hate public transport. The buses don’t come, I can never work out where I am or where I’m going and there’s no app! Get on it Translink. So I’ve had a few near misses this week, luckily I’ve been saved each time. I cannot wait to get a car!!

Secondly, my clothes didn’t arrive from Melbourne last week. What the?! Cue a rush around in NZ to buy a weeks worth of clothes and shoes as I was travelling with a carry on!
I was not a happy chappy with that company but they got it sorted and they arrived on Tues evening.

I am loving my new role. The Team is great and everyone is so happy to be there. I have a big office and the building itself is fantastic.

I managed to fit in dinner with Ara but otherwise I have been getting home after a 90 minute commute and crashing as I’m exhausted after a massive week. Next week will be different however, I am seeing people every night – wish me luck with the public transport!

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