This part of the Australian coast does seem to attract lots of people that call themselves backpackers. The main difference is that they actually drag large dolly trollies and wear the kind of clothing that would be deeply impractical if you were a real traveller. A big chunck of them seem to be overpriviledged kids spending their parents money on an extended holiday that they call ‘travel’. They go to the beach every day and drink all night. They are not really interested in what is unique and beautiful about Australia. The backpackers hostel we stayed at in Noosa was just like an 18-30s club (or 18-21s more like). Bah humbug. Having the opportunity to travel is taken for granted as if it’s a right. It isn’t. We feel guilty for contributing to the greenhouse effect but at least we’re trying to learn about the places we visit. Most of the kids on the beach might as well be in Spain.
Oh dear. I think you have all just witnessed another Viv rant, get used to it my friends…..
Everything you’ve just read was written yesterday. I got into too much of a rant and couldn’t finish the post. John and a few beers soon had me sorted out.
Today I am over the moon. My sister, Jane, just sent me a picture of her with the biggest bump I could ever imagine. My niece or nephew will be here soon. It’s so exciting. I now feel I can cointinue to fill you in on what we’ve been up to since John’s last post.
We’ve been to Gagaju bush camp. It’s a bit like a hippy commune in the Australian everglades. It was a brilliant escape from commercial Australia for a few days and I really can’t say enough good things about it. Most of the other people pretty much lived there and we were welcomed in as if we were just friends coming to stay over. There were some funny characters around and people from many nationalities. A british guy that lives there goes out shark fishing. He once brought a bull shark home big enough to feed 18 people. That’s pretty good as they are the reason that you can’t swim in the sea around here. A young woman was killed by a couple of them around christmas. On our second day an old scottish bloke turned up there for 2 months holiday. He was pretty drunk and liked to sing a song of his own composition about camomile lotion. Then repeat, then repeat a little less clearly, then repeatedly deteriorate. Ha ha!
The only trouble with camping in the everglades is mosquitos. I was suffering from over exposure to mozzy coils a little by the time we’d finished. We saw a good tiger snake/Cane toad fight too. There were also Owls that made scary heavy breating noises right outside the tent and laughing Kookaburras sounding like evil goblins. Certainly a unique camping experience. No flying foxes though, i’d really like to see some of those!
We’ve also been on a 3 day trip to Frazer Island. It’s the biggest sand island in the world and apart from one or two rocks is made entirely of very fine yellow sand. It was a nice enough place but we were extremely lucky, our tour guide was a retired ecologist who used to work on the island. He did one trip a fortnight just as a hobby. We learned so much about the habitats and ecosystems on the island and in Australia in general. A lot of the things he was telling us I had learned at University but had never seen in the real world. It was fantastic to see it all and brought back the fascination I’d had for the subject at Uni. My mind is now whirring away with possible new careers. John has also been thinking and we’re both feeling really inspired and optimistic. We’re certainly more focussed now and will be looking to repeat that kind of experience.
Anyway, Australia. Well, I don’t know. It’s naturally wonderful but a frustrating place to be when you get into the towns. Couldn’t live here. However, John and I had a fun evening on a very dark beach last night with Jonas the hilarious dutch guy we met. Being on the beach in the dark when you’re drunk isn’t really the best idea, we woke up to the treat of a brand new sand outer body layer. Saves money on exfoliating lotion.
Before I go I should mention that there are new photos being loaded all the time.
Love to you all
Viv/Sev xx