Seventy-Five Mile Beach

Appropriately named, this beach stretches along the eastern coast of Fraser Island. Believe it or not, the beach is actually a registered highway in Australia, and by far the quickest way around the island. It's not an entirely reliable highway though - two hours on either side of high tide parts of the beach are completely impassable, and you have to just hunker down where you are.

Most of the camp sites on the island are along 75-mile Beach, just behind the dunes. I use the term "camp sites" loosely - other than regeneration zones, you just pick where you want to camp, and rough it. No water, no electricity, and certainly no toilets - hopefully you have everything you need in the back of your truck.

The sites are perfect - beautiful views, and a great breeze. All that water, however, is just a tease - you can't swim in it. In fact, it's a bad idea to even put your toes in. Why? Well, pick your reason: there are the rip tides that will sweep you right out to sea, the jelly fish that can cause a nasty bite (or, if you're up near the top of the island in the more tropical waters, can kill you), or the sharks. Seventy-five mile beach is some of the best fishing on the east coast of Australia, but the men aren't the only ones taking advantage of that. The waters are notoriously shark-filled, so much that it's officially against the law to swim in them.

Mark collected a lovely bunch of coconuts.

The road stretching before us.

Happy New Year!

This is what I woke up to to greet 2011. It goes without saying that it was amazing - it certainly beat desperately searching for water with a pounding head.

Mark and I braved a dodgy weather forecast and set out for Fraser Island for the weekend. Fraser is about three hours north of Brisbane, and stretches just over 75 miles to the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. The whole island is a national park and a world heritage sight. There are no paved roads, and the only electricity comes from solar panels at the ranger stations.

The whole place was amazing! Fraser is the largest sand island in the world. However, over its 70,000 year lifespan, trees have grown and died, leaving nutrients for future generations. Now, the island is incredibly fertile. Driving around over the course of the day you passed through beaches, massive sand blows (think Saudi Arabia), swamps (watch out for the salt-water crocs!), brush, eucalypt forests (Koalas!), and rainforest.

We camped right on the beach, and spent the two sunny days we had exploring some of the natural treasures on the island. Everything was slow going, bouncing through rivers, mud wallows and swamps in four-wheel drive, but we did get to see a lot. On the third day we woke up to blue skies, which unfortunately promptly turned to downpours, so our trip was cut a bit short (shucks, we'll just have to go back!).

To avoid having the longest post ever, here are some shorter posts about all the amazing sights I saw this weekend.

Last Sunset of 2010

Happy New Year!

Sunny Days. Well, Day.

The SUN was back today! It's amazing what a difference that makes. A city like London can hold its own in the rain. Brisbane can't. The city averages about 250 sunny days per year, the reason Queensland is Australia's Sunshine State. From restaurants, to malls, and even public transport (via ferries) Brisbane is designed for outdoor living.

The city is so much more alive when it's sunny. Today I walked along the river walk to read and write in a park about five minutes from our house. There were rock climbers, people walking on a tightrope, and kids scootering around. There were friends meeting for picnics, girls sunbathing, and photographers framing their shots. It was the perfect afternoon for sitting by the river - eighty degrees and sunny with a beautiful breeze. Believe me, I love being in Australia in any weather, but this afternoon was a perfect taste of the essence of Aussie weather.

Sunset over Australian Pines

Emerging from the River Walk

Summer Vacation

Santa has come and gone, but the rain is still here in Queensland. The rainiest December in 150 years, someone said. Despite the damp, my first tropical Christmas was a massive success.

Mark and I ended up having two Christmases. On Christmas Eve we went to a friend of family's house for an Aussie/Asian Christmas meal. That meant seafood, and lots of it - mussels, oysters, prawns (shrimp), tuna, crab, and more. Let me say, I think the Australians have it right. I'll be the first one bringing the Seafood Christmas to New England. Yum!

We spent Christmas at Mark's Dad's house. With the air-conditioning blasting, we were able to have a more traditional Christmas dinner of ham, turkey, and chicken. That's right - although I couldn't find a turkey in sight for Thanksgiving, they came out everywhere for Christmas. Christmas pudding and pavlova, an Australian meringue-type cake, rounded out a delicious meal.

To bring a touch of home to the holiday, I made Christmas cookies for both gatherings. Unfortunately fudge, peanut butter balls, and marshmallow wreaths that taste so scrumptious at home didn't fare too well down under. The fudge literally melted on the counter. The wreaths were so sticky that it was a bicep workout to pry them off the serving platter. Needless to say, I understand why the Australians have had to tweek the traditional Christmas menu.

In the spirit of good journalism, I decided to brave the crowds and jump into the Aussie tradition of Boxing Day Sales. Similar to our Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving,Boxing Day is supposed to boast the best bargains of the year. Even though it was raining, when I got to the shopping center of the city it was packed - a sea of people moving in the rain. Combine the crowds with massive, bright signs celebrating 50% off EVERYTHING, and the scene soon became overwhelming. Mark and I popped into one or two stores, but didn't see any sales that made dealing with the crowds worthwhile. After a bit, we found a cafe where we could get a cappuccino, sit back, and observe.

Believe it or not, four days later the Christmas holiday still isn't over here. Saturday and Sunday were Christmas and Boxing Day; however, because they fell on the weekend the Australians still want their public holidays (read: days off work). So Monday and Tuesday of this week have become holidays, with banks, stores, and most businesses closed. It's back to normal for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week, and then the holidays begin again for the New Year.

Pavlova

A Slightly Different Christmas

Merry Christmas! That's one thing the Aussies have right. There is no one saying "Happy Christmas" here, an England-ism that threw me for a loop in London last year. Even though the Aussies usually revert to English terms, they know that the only proper wish is for a Merry Christmas. Truth be told though, you're more likely to here someone wish you a Merry Chrissie, and ask if you've got all the pressies under the tree. The Australians love their abbreviations, and even Christmas isn't spared.

Of course, the biggest difference is that there is no white Christmas in Australia. In fact, most years Christmas is stinking hot, falling right in the middle of the summer, when the temperature regularly hits 100 degrees and above. The children are on summer vacation from the beginning of December, and Australians traditionally take time off work for a few weeks beginning the week before Christmas. Of course, this means that lots of Aussie families take vacations ("holidays") in December and January, and celebrate Christmas away from home.

Because it's so hot, Christmas dinner in Australia is usually an afternoon barbecue near the pool or the beach. Grilled prawns (shrimp), cold dishes, and plenty of beer are on the menu, although some English traditions like Christmas puddings do sneak in.

Christmas here is hilarious to someone used to a cold holiday. It's as if Australians take the traditional celebrations and Christmas images, and tweek them until they fit into the steamy Christmas season. Shops still decorate their windows with scenes of snowmen and fir trees, but the children that are captivated by those decorations lick ice cream cones and scramble for a spot in the shade.

One thing that shocked me is that no one here buys real Christmas trees. I come from a family where picking the perfect Christmas is a full-day operation demanding diplomatic skills that would make Hillary Clinton proud. The fact that families whip out the same fake Christmas tree year after year was mind-boggling. Sure, I understand that fir trees aren't native to hot and dry Australia, but surely someone could have started a Christmas Tree farm! Spotting the perfect tree, loading it onto the car, and coming home to the fresh pine smell are my favorite Christmas traditions.

Luckily, even if he doesn't understand it, Mark accepts my Christmas tree obsession, and found the one place in Brisbane that sells real Christmas trees. Although it felt a bit like a drug deal (think a back room of a framing shop in a residential neighborhood), my Christmas tree is absolutely perfect.

So Merry Christmas to all my friends and family at home! I miss you all, but I've brought little touches of American Christmas to Brisbane - a real tree, some great Christmas carols, and cookies - in your honor. And don't get too jealous of me spending Christmas basking in the tropical sunshine; this year Santa has brought Queensland more rain and a cyclone warning. Maybe it will feel a bit like home...

Summer Storms

When I bought a waterproof camera for Australia, this is not what I had in mind.  From Sydney to Brisbane, the east coast has been battered by storms bringing hail, heaps of lightening, and even tornadoes through the area today.  Australians are used to summer storms, but even the natives admitted that today's weather was extreme.  

Unfortunately cameras can't catch some things, and the deluge of rain and lightening like fireworks this afternoon had to be seen first hand.  As I got ready to go grocery shopping, the sun was shining over my deck, although there were a few more clouds than there had been earlier.  When I opened the front door, which faces the opposite direction, it was like a different day - low, dark clouds, and a wall of water heading toward me.  By the time I walked to the car, the sun had been gobbled up, and the sky was lit only by lightening striking in all directions.  

I've got to hand it to the Aussies though - they can carry on through a storm!  Although the windshield wipers were working double time, and the headlights were on, traffic kept moving without any problems.  I guess Bostonians learn to drive in the snow, and Queenslanders learn to drive in the rivers that flow where their streets used to be. 

A Sunday Drive

Although it's officially the Australian summer, all we've seen for the past week is rain.   By Sunday afternoon I was going stir-crazy, so to get out of the house, I decided to have a driving lesson.  My "lessons" thus far have consisted of about ten minutes of driving the manual before Mark got too car sick to continue.  Yesterday, though, it finally clicked, and I was able to drive around the industrial park like a pro.

After driving for a while, I pulled in to a cemetery to turn around.  As soon as I pulled in, I saw these two having their Sunday dinner.  My first wild Kangaroo sighting!  They looked right at us, but then just carried on, grooming each other and grazing.  We even got to see them hop around a bit.  Australia may not have squirrels, but it's much more fun to dodge Kangaroos during driving lessons anyway.

The icing on my rainy-day cake was that later that evening I drove (on public roads, with traffic) all the way to Mark's Dad's house, keeping on the right (ie, wrong) side of the road, making wide right turns, and working the clutch like a pro!