miss ryan: 10.2005

making our way out... slippin and slidin in the hot hot sand.

the other side of the view.

the view.

this is the view from the other side... and it got better and better as we explored. the sand was extremely hot though in some places as we made our way around.

Carlo's Sand Blow

this is the view from a Rainbow Beach's main attraction... their giant mountain of blowing sand, otherwise known as Carlos' Sand Blow. this sand dune was unlike anything i've ever seen. The view up here was mad. You could see all of the little town and ALL the surrounding areas. crazy place.

view from the campsite.

another campsite by the water...

the rainbows.

and this is Rainbow Beach. Named after the rainbow colourful sand in the banks surround a portion of the beach.

the sunsets at Rainbow Beach are part of the town's allure. unfortunately we were driving into town when the sun began its descent. sad... this was what we got the chance to see, not so bad though. We pulled over to the side of the road on the way in because the sun had become a rich red colour.

Town of 1770

.......it was a very cute little town.... alexi and i decided to treat ourselves for dinner at the little wonderful Thai restaurant in the town next to 1770, Agnes Water. The restaurant, Yok Attack, was tiny tiny and was run by a aussie guy who married a Thai woman and she was the best cook ever... most delicious spicy seafood soup i think i've ever had and excellent Pad Thai noodles.....

Made it to the Town of 1770. This was our campsite... not too shabby.

...alexi wasn't as impressed...

I was quite partial to the sand. It's made of pure, white silicon sand that never gets hot from the sun... it squeeks when you walk on it too... it's great stuff really....

The beach itself was fantasic.

Whitehaven Beach - real paradise

BUT, that cruise did allow for us to visit the most beautiful beach I think I've ever seen, Whitehaven Beach. This was taken at the lookout. Most amazing.

We took a cruise through the Whitsunday Islands from Airlie Beach.The whole Whitsunday thing was a bit of a disappointment and appeared to be much of a tourist trap kinda place. And, I suppose my opinion is slightly skewed by the fact OUR COOLER and OUR FOOD was STOLEN. Cost us a small fortune really... but i thought the whole island scene was gonna be better.

at Airlie Beach, the "gateway to the Whitsunday Islands," I was viciously attacked by hungry Rainbow Lorikeets.

Beautiful Mission Beach. I thought it was going to be filled with vacationing tourists... but there was hardly a soul. it was glorious. unfortunately Alexi and I was stung by sea lice while swimming at this wonderful beach. That's right little bugs that float in the water waiting to bite and leave you with a little itchy, stingy mark.

the beach at Etty Bay.

it was a nice visit overall.

see that giant bone on its head? well, that head and that bone came right next to my face. it really only wanted some fruit. i don't think it wanted to hurt anyone although alexi saw things in a bit of a different, panicked light. for example, he threw the pawpaw skin into the back of the van in an attempt to protect us all. (he was acting on good instincts. these birds have been known to attack and severely injure humans with their giant bone and raptor claws on their big feet). this Cassowary however, like many, has seen many humans encroaching on its natural habitat and subsequently is semi-domesticated..... so you see locating and picking the pawpaw bits off of the bed and seat in the back of the van was very amusing.

This is our campsite at Etty Bay. That giant weird looking bird was our Cassowary visitor that morning. He came in very close looking to steal our pawpaw (papaya) and yogurt breakfast.

sunset at Etty Bay.

extremely lame post-dive group photo. saw so much on just two dives... i even got to play with a big Maori Wrasse. a friendly huge fish. huge sea turtles, bull ray, eagle ray, terribly exciting stuff.

had to take a 4x4 through the beach to board the boat. shortly after we headed out to the wreck.

and then we went diving on the S.S. Yongala, a ship wreck 20 kms off the coast of Ayr's Alva Beach. it sunk in 1911 and has since become an underwater zoo of sorts, home to most beautiful coral and wonderful sorts of marine life.

and there was sliding down flat rocks.

turned out to be a natural theme park.

Josephine Falls.

the caravan park we stayed at had seven pools of the river's water. each pool was a different temperture. big bathtubs of hot water. one of them was as hot as the river itself, close to 78 degrees.