World's biggest sand castle

Day 91

"A siren from the deep came to me
Sang my name my longing
Still I write my songs about that dream of mine
Worth everything I may ever be"

...thats what they call Fraser Island. Place itself is sort of a freak of nature, in a way that it shouldn't actually exist. Island is 125km long and 30km wide and its almost entirely pure silica sand(98.5% to be exact). There shouldn't be rainforest growing from pure sand but in Fraser Island there is. Its hard to understand what sand island is like until you spend a day there driving around these rollercoaster roads with 4WD getting stuck every hour or so. I had beautiful weather entire 3 days and fantastic company since by mere chance, Becky, Frankie and Kyla(Canadian girl I met in Agnes Waters) had all booked same tour. In this tour I also met Andrea from States who I traveled to Brisbane with after tour.

Anyway, on with the trip. First day we visited 2 Lakes, first lake I just can't remember...but it wasn't that spectacular anyway. Second lake was one of the most photographed lake in entire island, Lake Mackenzie. It was nice, but since I come from Finland, land of 1000 lakes, it just didnt have that big effect on me.
We also walked on the rainforest a bit where I saw an Ent!!

2nd day was Ocean Highway day. We drove along the 75 mile beach road entire day all the way north to Champagne Pools, only stopping on Eli Greek on the way for little swim and beach activities. Finally we climbed up to Indian Head, one of the only rock formations in entire island, to watch some marine life. First some pic of Ocean highway.

Then Eli Greek.
Then Champagne Pools.
...and finally Indian Head rock where we climbed to watch whales.
3rd day we visited 2 more lakes. First lake, Lake Wabby, was just breathtaking. I wont say a word about it anymore, I just let pictures speak for themselfs.
Last lake we visited was Lake Birrabee, nothing too spectacular, pretty similar to Lake Mackenzie. My battery ran out from camera at Lake Wabby so no pictures from there :)

Overall, nice trip. Wasn't even close to Whitsundays, allthough I understand what the fuss about Fraser Island is, scenery there is quite unique and astonishing compared to any other place in Australia. With Frankie and Becky it was fun, but otherwise I wasn't THAT impressed. Rainforest was lot more beautiful at Cape Tribulation and beaches here couldn't rival Whitehaven or even Cape Tribulation. I guess Fraser Island would seem much better if you do east coast from south to north so this would your first stop after Brisbane.

Lastly pic of us three with incredible tans(except poor Becky...) :)

Waves!!!

Day 86

"For my dreams I hold my life
For wishes I behold my nights
A truth at the end of time
Losing faith makes a crime"

Gimme waves dammit!! I never realised that surfing was actually so cool. I'm now considering stopping at Surfer's Paradise on the way down south just to catch some waves :) ...or maybe not, from everything I hear Gold Coast seems so crappy place that I will just skip it.

Fate works in mysterious ways. Because of my ear infection about 2 weeks ago my east coast tour got 4 day delay, and because of that, Becky and Frankie from Treehouse managed to catch me on Airlie Beach so now 3 of us are basically traveling east coast together which makes this themepark ride quite a lot more nicer.

Past 4 days I spent in small surf town called Agnes Waters. It wasnt until yesterday(wednesday) though that 3 of us managed to drag ourselfs to surf lessons and completed the basic training, so cool. It was actually lot easier than I tought it was, managed to stand up on the board several times. I kinda felt that hardest part was to keep the board steady while paddling on it. Can't wait for Byron Bay now and do some more surfing there :)

Where are we now? Just arrived at Hervey Bay and tomorrow we are heading to Fraser Island for 3 days and 3 nights. For those who don't know...Fraser Island is the world's biggest sand island, one of the most praised tourist destinations in entire Australia. Some even rate it better than Whitsundays, allthough I doubt anything on can beat Whitsundays.

PS. Sorry, no pictures. This computer has usb port but its interface wont allow me to access file system.

PPS. Kauhajoki is number 1 news item here as well, but I wont discuss about it here.

From beaches to farm

Day 82

"So much to live for
So much to die for
If only my heart had a home"

Weird, when I left Finland July 2nd I honestly thought idea of going back home would enter my mind every now and then. I was prepared for that and knew what I needed to brush off such silly ideas. Well, it took me 79 days before that I would have those thoughts in my mind for the first time...and they didn't stay there for long :)

I think the reason was the Whitsundays. I felt so good and complete after it. I have done lot of self-searching on this trip, much more than what I have written in this blog, and issues are becoming so much clearer all the time. I know now what I will do when I get back home. I am starting to see what is Me and what are the things that define Me...and let me say that I am partially surprised myself :) Its weird how things seem so much clearer when taking distance from everything. That being said...no, I am not coming home just yet, no home-sickness yet, but I know now what adventures wait for me back home in Finland next year...and I am really looking forward to them as well.

Now that we got "shrinktalk" away, on with the journey. What's going on since Whitsundays? After Whitsundays my original plan was to go down south to Rockhampton and from there to Great Keppel Island for few days. Well, I scrapped that plan since I felt I needed break from beaches and from the main tourist route so instead of beach, I headed to cattle farm 125km inland from Rockhampton. I had been spending so many days now on the coast so I wanted to do something different before last stretch in Australia. Yea, it was very different experience.

I stayed at Myella farm for 3 days and 2 nights. In that time I learned to ride motorbike, ride horses, use a whip properly and improved my Didgeridoo skills. I also managed to take some nice pics of various wildlife in that area. First we have some kangaroos.

Here we have 3 Treefrogs(yes, they are alive and breathing animals, not statues)

That last pic is the famous Redback Spider, member of the Black Widow spider family(Black Widow's are the ones where female eats male after sex). It IS one of the most deadly spiders in entire Australia. This spider wasn't there on display or anything, people in farm actually found it one day about 200m from farm making a web inside barrel, so it was 100% wild.


Right now I am in small town called Agnes Waters, about 2h south from Rockhampton and still 500km north from Brisbane. This town is actually the starting point of the Great Barrier Reef, it starts here so I figured I might as well see the Reef one last time tomorrow. I am going on this "Advanced Snorkel" cruise at the outer reef, supposedly tougher waters than normal reef and only recommended for good swimmers...lets hope I am one. Town is also famous for its surfing, since this is northernmost place in east coast where there are good enough waves for surfing. Surfing lessons are also very cheap here, 20 dollars for 2h so I might take one.

Thats all for now...hope someone still reads this thing :P

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Day 79

"Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true"

There are some precious moments when you realize that This is It. This is one of those moments you will cherish for the rest of your life. It is the moment you go back to thinking, "life was good then". I just had 3 full days of that exact feeling sailing Whitsundays, it was everything I hoped for and then some. Weather was perfect, ship was perfect, scenery was perfect and as it turned out...I had great company from other passengers on this trip.

So we started our journey at 19:30 Saturday 13th September. On our first evening we just sailed to our overnight anchorage on the passage between Hook Island and Whitsunday Island. Now, as I was walking along the deck that evening, all the sudden I heard finnish...I turned around and there were 2 finnish girls, Sanna and Susanne(or Susse). I dont know if it was my incredible charm or what but our chemistries just matched like clockwork. All 3 of us had a such a great time entire trip. Here is pic of us(from left: Susse, Sanna and myself)

So next morning we got up and started sailing towards world famous Whitehaven beach, which is considered as one of the best beaches in entire world...it was! It was just an awesome jawdropper.


It also spoiled every single beach before it and after it. After you have seen it, all beaches just dont spark any feeling anymore. It is THAT gorgeous. After looking at it from lookout we went down and had swim and beach activities. Thats also when Susse managed to take this epic photo of me :)

After our beach activities it was back to ship where we had our first rope swings with the Tarzan rope, this thing was so cool and addictive.

So after lunch we headed back to north on the coast of Whitsunday Island and towards Hook Island. We arrived at our second night anchorage at a small bay north side of Hook Island where we had some more rope swings and swimming.

2nd day of this trip was Dive-day. It ment lot of diving and snorkeling. Our first stop was this bay were we anchored the night. I have to say...I was snorkeling at Great Barrier Reef about month ago, but Whitsundays beats The Reef hands down. Coral was just amazing down there and the fish...tons of different fish in such small area. I even managed to find Zebra Shark among them.

After snorkeling we headed out to our second dive spot, Langford Island. This was gorgeous little sandy island which apparently is only accessible when tide is right. Coral here was just as amazing as it was on the first location.

After Langford Island we headed towards south and to South Molle island for our 3rd night. On the way there we witnessed quite a pretty sunset.

Our 3rd day was bushwalk-day. We climbed on top of the hill in South Molle island to see all the beauty of the Whitsundays. It was nothing short of breathtaking.


After walk we just relaxed at the resort which was located at the island before setting sail back to Airlie Beach.


Lastly pic of our ship, Solway Lass.

Hoist The Colors!

Day 74

"Hoist the coloooors!!"

Yea yea, I haven't written a new entry for 5 days now. There are 2 major reasons for this.

First of all there is nothing really to write. Past week has been most boring week on this trip so far. Airlie Beach is so small and boring place that there is really nothing to do here except hang around in the Lagoon during day and drink like pirate during night. And since I don't really have money or interest to party with these drunken teenagers, days can be quite boring. This place is clearly just a gateway to Whitsundays, nothing more. Good news is that yesterday doctor cleared me to dive again :)

Second reason was that I wanted to finish the book I was reading since I want to mention it here as well. It was 8th book I finished during this trip so I have done quite a lot of reading compared to what I do at home. Book was The Terror by Dan Simmons and it was one of the most remarkable things I have read in years. It's a complete assault to your senses and emotions, I have never felt so depressed reading a book but same time marveled how well Simmons was able to put reader directly into the minds of his characters. Book left me exhausted and head spinning. I was both glad and sad for finishing it since I doubt I will reading anything that good during this trip, but in same time I was glad it was over since I was getting so depressed for the characters in the book which were so real.

Ok, on with the show...

Day's theme music (open in another window, play and continue reading)

Today is the day. Today I'm heading to Whitsunday paradise islands for 3 day/3 night sailing trip. Biggest attraction in these islands is without a doubt the world famous Whitehaven beach, which not only ranks as the most beautiful beach of Australia, many also say its easily the most beautiful beach in entire world.

I spent many many hours trying to decide vessel and eventually ended up choosing big 100-year old tallship Solway Lass. Not only did it look gorgeous, I also met 3 different people before arriving to Airlie Beach who praised it to heavens. I always wanted to do this sailing on a very old fashioned sailing boat and the fact that ship has this pirate theme going on was just a bonus. YARRRR!!

Now I can only hope that weather stays as good as it has been here for past 2 days(sunny, 29 degrees). This is my dream come true. Hoist the colors and bring me that horizon!

Change In Plans

Day 69

"Where have all the feelings gone?
Why has all the laughter ceased?"

(I just had to write entry today :P)

It's Monday now and I think yesterday was first day I felt like I might actually survive this infection. Today I think I feel 70%, so almost there.

Because of this infection I had to change plans a bit. Originally I was planning to go to Airlie Beach on Sunday and sailing to Whitsundays on Tuesday. Now I'm leaving to Airlie on Tuesday and heading to Whitsundays on Saturday, thus giving my ear enough time to heal.

I'm not taking any chances with this Whitsunday trip. After all, it IS the one thing I have been looking forward the most on this entire trip. Not even Uluru, Tonga or New Zealand are above Whitsundays on that list. Ask any aussie what they want to do most in Australia and 90% will answer "Sailing Whitsundays". Read any foreign travel publish about top 3 things to do in Australia and answer is always: Dive at Great Barrier Reef, See Uluru and Sail Whitsundays. I have seen dreams about that sailing ever since August 2007 when I started to plan this trip, only week more now...

Also because of this delay, rest of my trip towards Sydney starts to get more or less rushed feeling. I already spent more days than I had planned in Mission Beach Treehouse and now this delay...I might have to cut down something on the way, it might be Great Keppel Island near Rockhampton.

So now I am still in Magnetic Island, unable to swim in these pretty little beaches around island. Funny thing is that this island reminds me of Mediterranean islands when I am at the beach, scenery there is very similar.


Of course when I go back to inland, the wildlife reminds me that I am in Australia :)




So tonight is my last night on Magnetic Island, slightly annoying that I wasnt able to swim here at all and I will always remember this island from this ear infection. Overall, nice place with not too much tourism and decent people.

All Good Things...

Day 66

"The flowers of wonder and the hidden treasures,
In the meadow of life, my acre of Heaven."

Even though I am now in Magnetic Island suffering from worst possible ear infection, I'll do timejump and go back to Mission Beach and The Treehouse. I realised that I hadn't uploaded any pictures of Mission Beach yet, so here are few for those who are not using Facebook(hint: there are lot more pics in my Facebook profile).

First a pic of the actual Mission Beach

View from hill nearby, Dunk Island in backround.
So my intial plan was to come to Mission Beach for 3 days and visit Dunk Island. Well, I ended up staying in Mission Beach for 7 days and was not able to move my arse from Treehouse and into Dunk Island until 5th day. I had read from internet sources that there was nice Jet Ski tour in Dunk Island which lasted 1.5h and took you around the paradise island. According to sources, price was only 110 dollars. When I got to this pretty little island I found out the tour costed 230 dollars!! Ok...so much for that tour, so I just rented Jet Ski for 20 minutes. When I was given my Jet Ski the guy told me: "just be careful, these things can go 65 km/h"...I managed to hit 85 km/h :D Anyway, here some pics of Dunk Island, it was pretty but not much to do there, especially since water wasn't clear enough for snorkeling, visibility was really bad.


So finally last tuesday evening was my last night at Treehouse. Damn I will miss the place and peeps in there. At least I went out in style and we organised big fiesta for me. Here are some pics of fiesta and Treehouse in general.

The barbecue incredients readied.

The posse enjoying the food.

The Treehouse gang from left: Frankie, Seli, Uli, Tero, Mandi, Max, Becky and Harry(owner)

And then some general pics from Treehouse to try to give you and idea what
it was like there. First general lounge area.
View from pool.
Resident pets, Boycat and Grizzly having a "fight" :) Well, truth was that Grizzly wanted to be friends with the cat all the time, but cat didnt. So in the end Boycat just bullied Grizzly around :)
Max chilling at this most relaxing couch. I actually fell asleep there one night for 4 hours.


What made Treehouse so great? Well, they had all the small details right. First of all place was very clean, despite the fact that it was in middle of rainforest. Staff had personality and they were fun. Pets...its amazing what difference having 2 pets around can do to a person, they really can lift your spirit when needed. People...everyone who stayed there were in the end very similar, everyone was looking for same kind of peace, quiet and relaxation what this place had to offer. Because everyone was so similar we also got along so well with everyone.

So on wednesday it was emotional goodbyes and I went towards Townsville where I was planning to stay one night since I needed to sort out some issues with my bank there. During trip there my right ear started to ache a bit. I didnt pay too much attention to it, but towards evening it just got worse and worse. When I headed to Magnetic Island on thursday it just got horribly painful. Try to imagine a needle stuck in your ear and someone twisting and turning it there, that was how it felt.

I had no choice but to see doctor. He looked at my ear and first words were: "Oh my God...", very encouraging indeed. Apparently I had very severe ear infection which now requires 10 days with antibiotics, no alcohol and worst of all, no swimming for week. Just great, just bloody f*cking great! I just arrive to Magnetic Island which boasts to have one of the best snorkeling beaches in entire east coast and I can't swim! This just plain sucks...I only wish now that this pain goes away cause I can't even enjoy sceneries around here with this pain.

Oh well...it can't rain all the time.

- Tero