Fraser Island

This was a strange concept! About 30 people meet in an office early in the morning, we then organise ourselves into groups of 8, watch a video about how to drive four wheel vehicles in sand, then we are given an itinerary and you're off! The first thing is straight to the supermarket for three days supplies because there's nothing but very basic stuff on the island. Fraser Island is the worlds biggest sand island - in fact (guess who has been reading the guide book) there's more sand on this island than the entire Sahara desert. Beautiful white sand too! There are no 'real' roads on the island, so only 4WD vehicles are allowed. The first picture is the ferry on the way to the island.

This little beauty is Lake McKenzie - the water is fresh and so clear you can drink it - what is unusual is that because the entire island is sand, it has this beautiful beach area.

This is us driving along the beach - only the over 21's could drive, so Elvis and I just made it!!!

This is a wreck of a passenger liner, Maheno that was converted into a hospital ship in WW2. When it had finished 'serving', its days were done and on the way to the knackers yard it broke free during a cyclone and ended up on the beach.

The four girls walking along, 'nattering' and using up more than their quota of air! We were on our way to Eli Creek. The water is crystal clear and again drinkable. If you walk all the way up the creek (remembering to take your paddle of course), you can hop on an inflatable and the creek will 'float' you all the way back to the sea - very relaxing as demonstrated in the next picture.

Beautiful beaches - miles and miles of white sand.


The next shot is from a lookout point called Indian Head - it's nearly the most Northern point of the island and during the migration season whales can often be spotted from the top of the headland.

This is Elvis at the wheel driving down the beach - it's a superb feeling, the vehicle almost feels like it is floating. Maximum speed on the beach is 80 kms (that's about 60 mph)


This is all the members of our group, we had a great bunch and had a great time. For our own records they are: Me, Marta (from Italy), Susana (from Madrid - Spain), Elvis (from Blighty), Verena (from Germany), Ben (from Sweden) and Natalie and Dave from Ireland.

This was our camping spot on the last night - just far enough back from the beach to miss the waves! We slept in three big tents and sleeping bags - the sand had to be moulded into the shape of your body - else your back was in agony in the morning!

This is the enormous sand dune (up to 220 metres tall) on the approach to Lake Wabby - if you click on this picture and zoom in you'll see how big it is - those tiny specks on the far side of the dune (just below the tree line) are people walking down towards the lake

This is the same lake from the lookout point. Our group had a swimming race across the lake - I came second! Ben from Sweden won - but he is only nineteen!

The lake is surrounded on three sides by eucalypt forest and the massive sand dune on the other.

Fraser Island has lots of these little predators. The infamous Dingo. They may look small and scrawny but we were well warned about them. Anyone with small children have to be very care full - when you're not looking they'll snatch a child or baby. This one was hanging around our camp trying to get into our cooler box.

Whitsunday Islands - Diving

These pictures were taken using the camera on the ship, the camera is named 'Frank the Tank' because it's a professional underwater camera and it's about the size of 4 cereal boxes! It takes amazing pictures though.


This first picture is Elvis and I snorkelling at one of the stops. The reefs here are still part of the Great Barrier Reef and probably the best snorkelling / diving sites in the world.

This is me (Keith) scuba diving through the reefs, the views are amazing and the 3-D view from underwater makes you feel like you're flying.
























I'm quite deep at this point - probably close to my limit of 12 metres - any deeper than that and you have to start thinking about nitrogen in the bloodstream (the bends I think it's called) - and we don't want any of that business!











This is about 5 metres down - heading for the reefs and some amazing shots (see the last pictures)



















Who said white folk can't jump? These pics were taken by the cook - she's very good with messing with your perspective - see the next picture also.










































This is Lewis and I trying to figure out a 'rope trick' - we didn't solve it by the way - and before 'some of you ask' no it wasn't an excuse to get tied up!






















A spot of kayaking around a gorgeous bay - we saw some 'baby' reef sharks hiding by the shore, they have to hide from their parent or they get eaten by them - we used to do the same thing when we were kids!

This is the full ships compliment (minus the crew)

This was just after tea - you can tell we've just been fed by the big smiles!

And these amazing shots were taken by the dive instructor while we were around the corals - could you imagine getting this close to these wonderful creatures?

This is a squid - there are heaps of these in the water and they swim very close to you.

I don't know if this is a manta ray or an eagle ray - you see these swimming around all the time, they often swim past you when kayaking.

I think these are named 'Clown Fish' the dive instructor calls them 'Nemo' fish

I actually dove right down to this hawks bill turtle and held onto it's shell.

Whitsunday Islands Cruise

The Whitsunday Islands - as named by - guess who? Yes our old sea dog, Captain Cook.

This is our sailing ship 'Summertime' - said to be one of the best boats to sail the Whitsundays on. We were very lucky to get a place onboard as someone had cancelled. It has a hot tub, sea kayaks and full scuba diving facilities (more of the diving in the next blog - amazing stuff!!) This was our home for three days and two nights.

Captain Cook said the the Whitsundays 'epitomised paradise' and it is hard to disagree. Most of the islands remain uninhabitated and the entire area is a World Heritage Area and is still part of the massive Great Barrier Reef.

This is Whitehaven beach - whenever you sea an advert for Australia, this is where it is shot. The sand is made almost entirely from silica and is 'powdery' white. The water is an amazing colour.













No hotels, restaurants, villas, huts, condo's - NOTHING!! Just a lush forest leading down to an unbelievable beach






















If you are caught littering on the beach you will be attacked by this guy. Also known as 'The Man in Black' he will use 'Ninja' type stealth to creep up on you and punish you for your misdemeanours.

A few pictures from around the islands as we cruised around. The scenery was changing all the time - sometimes blue sky then it would darken and get very dramatic - great to just sit back, relax and watch it all happen.

This is one of the very small islands that has great snorkeling and coral reefs - also a great spot to see giant turtles and the occasional reef shark.

This is Elvis, Susana and Christiana having a little chat on the deck.




This is after the three day cruise, everyone meets up at one of the bars and we have a few farewell drinks together. This picture is Lewis and Elvis having a dance - Lewis remembered Elvis saying that she loved this song on the boat so he carried her onto (and off) the dancefloor

These were the last few remaining at the bar at about 11pm. Hari at the back, Kristian the dive instructor (with the blonde hair), Me on the left, Chris next to me, then Lewis. Suzanne and Hannah at the front - strangely, everyone is from England on this picture except Kristian from Oz.

Nature Blog - New Zealand

I thought I would put some pictures of the various birds and animals we saw while we were in New Zealand, unfortunately, I've sent some pictures home before 'blogging' them so this is just a small selection

I don't know the names of all of them - but here goes!
Pic 1 Chicken!!
Pic 2 A black swan - this one was getting a little angry because I was getting too close to the cygnets
Pic 3 A duck with the ducklings all following along
Pic 4 a type of sea gull
Pic 5 I don't think this is a real animal - I mean what does it look like? Anyone who was at our wedding will remember Paul Beaney and Paul Sandersfield doing a dance dressed as a Cow - I'm sure this is them two up to their old tricks
Pic 6 Don't know what kind of bull/cow - I just loved its hair style!
Pic 7 & 8 is our favourite - the Pukeko, native to NZ - beautiful colours
Pic 9 is a Grey Shag
Pic 10 is an Oyster Catcher
Pic 11 is a blue heron I think
Pic 12 a seal warming in the sun
Pic 13 A NZ Pigeon - much bigger than the English one
Pic 14 Could be an Australasian Eagle - but not sure
Pic 15 Not sure - a sea gull of sorts!
Pic 16 is a Chaffinch
Pic 17 & 18 is a mountain parrot (I think)
Pic 19 Spot the real Pukeko!
Pic 20 a lamb caught in the sunset
Pic 21 A male paradise duck with his ducklings - as usual the male of the species gets all the hard work to do
Pic 22 is a native of England - the Goldfinch, also found here in NZ
Pic 23 Black swans with the cygnets
Pic 24 and 25 is the 'White Eye'
Pic 26 The Yellow Hammer
Pic 27 is the New Zealand Falcon on the prowl
Pic 28 is a 'Tui' - native to NZ - notice the two white things on its throat - I think it uses these to make its unique song - it sounds like it's singing and doing the harmonies at the same time!
Pic 29 is a nesting grey shag - we call them cormorants.