Kicking Back...

YOU ever seen people that come back from holidays in need of a holiday?

You know the type: they've spent their entire holidays travelling to some exotic destination, researched all the major sites then spent the whole time trekking from sight to sight without relaxing properly, which always seemed to me to be the whole point in going on holidays in the first place.

In honour of this - and some fabulous weather - I am proud to announce that I spent my first couple of days staying at Base Magnetic Island doing pretty much nothing.

Actually, that's only semi-true. I arrived on the Saturday and simply had to get out to watch the Queensland vs Auckland rugby semi-final. The guys on the desk were kind enough to point me to a sports bar about 20 minutes walk away, where the good guys (the Reds) won to set up a fantastic few days.

The next two days were spent basically reading and sleeping. Base Magnetic Island is located right on the beach, so I had the choice of sitting in a hammock and swaying myself to sleep; or grabbing a chair right outside my room and going through the books I'd bought at the Airlie Beach Book Exchange.

Night times were a little more exciting, with a V8 supercar on site Sunday to help promote the Townsville 400 the following weekend. Monday was time for Bar Wars, where teams did everything from a scavenger hunt to tossing water balloons to musical chairs with a difference...

Tuesday I decided to actually get off my bottom and grab a bicycle for the day. There's plenty to see on the rest of the island, including any number of bays and an old World War II fort built to help protect the Townsville shipping industry.

Unfortunately Magnetic Island is a wee bit hilly, meaning that the first part of my trip up to Horseshoe Bay was largely spent pushing the bike up a 14% incline and swearing and cursing that I hadn't hired a scooter instead. About the only things that kept me going were the stunning views around every corner and the knowledge that while 14% is hard to ride up, it's also a lot of fun to ride back down.

One sore bottom and a memory card full of photos later it was time to relax as Will gave us bingo with some bango - a funny way to finish a great stay on Maggie.

A great place for a proper holiday!

Islands To Island...

ONE of my brothers has a saying: "I know boats".

Naturally this comes into conversation at completely random times when he deems it necessary. Whether he actually knows boats, or is just Facebook friends with a boat is unknown, but after four days sailing and one ferry ride, I reckon I know a little bit about boats now!

After all the fun and excitement of sailing the Whitsundays, it was time to reacquaint ourselves with solid ground and see if we could walk without the ground swaying from side to side. It was a sad goodbye at the docks as some people had early buses to catch to destinations north and south.

For me it was time to check in with "Shazza", my trusty steed for this trip. Given she'd been sitting quietly while I was away I decided to take her for a spin out to Shute Harbour, something I can definitely recommend for any photographers out there! Tree-covered islands sitting peacefully in crystal-blue waters as boats blissfully sail past... Heaven!

This was pushing on for mid-afternoon though, so it was back to Base Airlie Beach for a snooze before heading to the Down Under Bar to meet the remaining crew for some food, drinks and dancing. After that it gets a little hazy...

WAKING up with a hangover is never pleasant, especially when you're due to drive 300km that day. After several cups of tea and swearing never to drink again it was time to head north to Townsville, drop the car off and jump on board yet another boat.

The drive up to Townsville passed through some unusual terrain. Given Airlie Beach is pretty much a tropical paradise I'd expected more of the same heading north: rainforests lining the way. What's there instead is a lot of brown plains, the kind you get travelling inland rather than along the tropical coast. Along the way I stopped in at Bowen (and the Big Mango just before the town itself!) and Ayr (birthplace of golfer Karrie Webb), both picturesque towns that had a very chilled vibe on this particular Saturday.

Nothing could detain me for long though, as for only the second time since leaving as a toddler, I was heading into Townsville! Actually, just passing through really, although I did manage to get lost and getting to know South Townsville (my tip: don't do this). Eventually I found my way to the Sunferries terminal to head over to Base Magnetic Island.

On another boat.

My Whitsunday Sailing Adventure...

HIGH winds that never stopped; choppy seas that led to more than a couple of mouthfuls of slightly salty sea-water; occasional rain periods and the ceremonial regurgitation of food off the edge. Sound like fun to you?

Try wiping the smile from my face though!

My trip through the Whitsundays began with a run out to Cannonvale to pick up essential supplies like contact lens solution, sunscreen, and a couple of boxes of goon. Had I half a brain I probably would have picked up some sea-sickness tablets, what with all that wind about and my being so susceptible to motion sickness that I nearly threw up watching The Bourne Ultimatum at the Sony Centre in Berlin one time. But yay, goon!

We met the crew of the Emperors Wings down at the marina, climbed on board and were treated to a lettuce, cheese and ham wrap just to kick things off. After going through the safety with our captain Stu we were introduced to dive masters Pete and Steve and hostess Harriet before setting sail for the Whitsunday Islands.

Even at this early point we could tell we were in for some rough seas. Standing on the front of the boat was always interesting, if only to see which unlucky sod would get drenched by the next wave we crashed through! Most of us got through ok though before arriving at our first dive stop on Hayman Island. A number of punters took the chance to make their very first scuba dives while the rest of us took advantage of the smooth bay to do a spot of snorkelling. Either way, all of us came out comparing what we'd just seen - corals that ranged from miniature "trees" to giant boulders; clownfish that scooted in and around sea anemones; and being completely surrounded by schools of fish, all quite happy to pop in and say g'day to the mysterious wet-suited things floating around their habitats.

Of course the hot tub on the boat made things even better again!

Day 2 saw us pop over to Whitehaven beach on Whitsunday Island. This beach is regularly voted one of the best in the world, with its 98% silica sand. Most of the group went out and explored a bit while some of us took the chance to enjoy a nice sun-bake...

A few funny photos later and it was back on board for the journey out to our next dive stop. Most people went snorkelling this time, with the hot tub again proving a hit once we'd finished. That night we parked up at Hook Island in preparation for our big day sailing.

And what a day that was too! It took us a few hours through choppy seas to get to the outer reef, where you could see the water breaking over the outer edge of the reef. The diving here was spectacular; the snorkelling much harder work - especially if you float like a brick! A few mouthfuls of water convinced me that the hot tub would be more appropriate...

After a couple of hours it was time to head back to shore for one last night on board. By now most of us had figured out the best way to avoid sea-sickness was to lie down somewhere. This works best though if you can fall asleep for most of it instead of nodding off for 20 minutes. After sitting up the back of the boat for a couple of hours I felt brave enough to grab a party pie, only to find that it didn't want to be digested and had in fact encouraged the banana cake I'd had earlier to join it in a mad dash for freedom!!!

Half an hour later we pulled up into a sheltered bay for dinner, drinks, Mega-Uno (don't ask) and pictionairy - a great way to end a great few days.

Still can't wipe the smile from my face!

Finally There!!!

We resume our story at a rest stop some 170km south of Mackay, Queensland. Our hero has managed to set off his car alarm and try sleeping in about 30 different positions before the sun comes up and awakens him for the last time...

WITH just over 300km to go until Airlie Beach, I decided to try and push straight through in the hope there was already a spare bed waiting for me. This was naturally foiled by my stomach wondering just where the hell breakfast was, and with that threatening to bring other parts of my body on strike, it was into another little service station for what was actually a half-decent bacon and egg roll.

This part of the Bruce Highway is dominated by sugar cane: all around were signs warning of cane trucks and train crossings. Eventually though I got through Sarina, Mackay and Proserpine without any problems before taking the turn-off to Airlie Beach itself, only to discover that a) the main road was closed and we had to detour; and b) I was stuck behind a large campervan whose driver had apparently forgotten the accelerator was the pedal on the right...

The scenery made up for Captain Slow though. Tree-covered hills rise over the town itself as you drive in while the blue waters of the Coral Sea tease you on the left. Even better than the view though was the available bed at Base Airlie Beach, complete with bath! One relaxing soak later and it was off to Whitsunday Sailing Adventures to check in for my cruise the next day.

The rest of the day was pretty chilled. I'm staying in Airlie Beach again after the cruise, so after a quick mission out to the docks to see where I leave from it was back to Base for a snooze before heading to their very own Down Under Bar for a $10 meal and pint deal, a few beers - and most importantly of all a few cracks at the pinball machine.

Next stop: Great Barrier Reef!!!

Up To Airlie...

WORD of warning for those driving through Queensland. Before you go any further into this blog, I want you to go to Google Maps. Now find directions from Brisbane to Airlie Beach. (Alternatively, if you're feeling a bit slack then click here). Now have a look at the direction the road goes either side of Rockhampton (about the middle of the map). This is pretty much north-west, which by coincidence is the exact direction the sun sets in, making driving at the exact time I was somewhat of a dangerous task...

But I digress. It's a little over 1100km from Brisbane to Airlie Beach and takes you past some of Queensland's major attractions, including the Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Hervey Bay and Fraser Island. The Bruce Highway also takes you past some historic old towns that are well worth a look, including Childers, my first sight-seeing stop.

Childers itself is an attractive, old-style country town located on the Bruce Highway south-west of Bundaberg. Walking down the highway you get a glimpse of what Australian towns must have been like over 50 years ago (at least until you see the multi-national takeaway store); my destination was one such building.

Back in 2000 a deranged man set fire to the old Palace Backpackers Hostel, killing 15 people. Today it is rebuilt, with an art gallery and memorial open to the public. The memorial itself is extremely well done, with a large painting showing the victims in poses from photographs provided by the families, while on the back wall are small collages containing photos of all 15 victims. To see those photos, of people enjoying their Australian experience - including cuddling a koala at Lone Pine, something we encourage down in Brisbane - then realising these people would never make it home to share their experiences with friends and family was somewhat jolting. The lady at the desk was very informative about what exactly happened, and if you are travelling through Childers I highly recommend stopping in.

THE rest of the journey was a little less memorable. Driving through country Australia you realise a couple of things: 1) service station food is terrible; and 2) some people should not be allowed out on the road. Overtaking lanes are few and far between, so just north of Gympie I took the chance to fly past a truck that had been holding me up. Problem was a woman in a 4wd decided to jump into the right-hand lane for no reason and hold me up, which meant the truck zoomed back past me on my left before it went back to one lane each way. Seriously.

At Rockhampton I'd planned on stopping at the Tropic of Capricorn, but as the sun was shining directly in my face pretty much the last 50kms into town, I missed it completely. Oops.

After Rockhampton I kept driving north towards a very small town called Marlborough for possibly the worst chicken and chips at the local service station, before pulling into a rest area 66km up the road for some much-needed sleep.

To be continued...

Life Is A Highway...

... AND for the next three weeks I'll be riding it all night long!

This trip is a little different to just about every other one I've done in the last seven years though. Those trips have been around Europe, Asia, South Africa and the USA; this time around though it's my home state of Queensland.

In many ways it's a bit of a homecoming for me. My first road trip was at the grand old age of one month old, as we headed south from Townsville to Mum's family in Brisbane. Since leaving Townsville at age 2 I've been back a total of once, with most family trips being down south to visit Dad's family in Victoria.

What a trip it is too! Two days of leisurely tootling up the Bruce Highway to Airlie Beach before four days on a cruise around the Whitsundays before four nights relaxing just off the coast of Townsville on Magnetic Island. After that it's up to Cairns and Cooktown for a couple of nights each, before taking a week to get back to Brisbane - quite possibly looking at going through Atherton, Charters Towers and Emerald to change things up.

Three weeks off, the iPod at the ready, Great Barrier Reef and some beautiful tropical winter weather: what more can you ask for?

Time to hit the highway...