"Hold nice and close the ones who get to your soul"

Let's just be honest... Every traveler or backpacker will have ups and downs during their journey. Hopefully the ups are really great and the downs not too life threatening ;) Not to sound cliche but I believe in the end it's good to have both so you appreciate the experience that much more.

Before leaving the States we did quite a bit of planning. A lot of it was pretty set in stone with reservations made and trains booked but we did know that no matter how much research we had done things were subject to change and it wasn't all in our control. "Adventure starts when everything goes wrong" is a quote that comes to mind from the movie 180 degrees south.

Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island with lush rainforest and many freshwater lakes. Our original plan was to do a Great Walk on the island, spanning over 11 days, hiking from destination to destination and camping along the way. The destinations range from beautiful crystal clear Lake Mckenzie to The Maheno which is a shipwreck along the beach and many beautiful things in between. We booked the camping permits months in advance and it had become one of the things we were most looking forward to!

A few weeks before our planned Great Walk we were in a little town called Eden when Jeff got a call from Queensland Parks and Rec telling him the Great Walk had been closed due to fire restrictions so we wouldn't be able to walk through most areas let alone camp and they wanted us to either amend our reservations or cancel them. Feeling pretty bummed about the situation we reluctantly decided to walk along the beaches instead. The woman Jeff had spoken to told him she would send an email detailing where we would be able to walk and what was still open. We found that the email was no more than a basic summary of pretty much exactly what she already told him (which was very vague and not that helpful). Jeff had been instructed to respond to the email with questions or plans and it would get taken care of. After sending the email he got an automated response that she would be out of the office for at least several days. In the meantime, if we were to shorten the walk we also had to change an existing reservation at a caravan park that was for the day after the walk was to end in Hervey Bay and the fine print said that any cancellations within 30 days would result in no refund. It was exactly 30 days until that reservation so we needed to change it then if we were going to be able to. Luckily Jeff, being the suave smooth talker he is, was able to get the caravan park to be flexible and they would change the date for us. Provided those dates were available and the request was made in a timely manner.

Now since the walk was closed it meant we had to rearrange everything. We needed to look into different ferry services that would take us to a different part of the island. This would allow us to hike on a minor 4x4 road for ten kilometers which we even considered hitch hiking on. We would camp at Central Station and then have to continue hiking on a road (instead of a trail) for another 10 k or so until we reached the eastern side of the island where we would hike on the beach (instead of a trail) and camp where available along the way. Im sure everyone knows how annoying it can be to hike in sand, especially with heavy packs on. It seemed like very "dodgy" way to travel on the island but we were determined to see it.

Jeff made several calls to Parks and Rec to get more information on what was available to hike and camp before any changes were to be made. Each call was ended with no resolution either because they could not provide the info or because they could not locate our current reservation. This made us very frustrated and we decided not to bother with it anymore for the time being.
During our stay in the blue mountains Jeff received a phone call from a Fraser island rep who attempted to help us but still with nothing resolved. I guess our booking was made in the "old system" and they have since updated the system. After many more calls to and from Charlie it seemed to be sorted out until Jeff got a confirmation email with still the incorrect changes. Very frustrating! We decided to just go to Fraser island, continue with our changes even without the booking amended and let them sort it out. At this point it was obvious we couldn't get anything done and wasted too much money on pointless phone calls.

Since our original plan to do the Great Walk was compromised we decided to shorten our F.I. trip from 11 to 5 days. Jeff contacted parks and rec, again, and requested a refund for the remaining 6 days and was told it should not be a problem due to the circumstances and obvious lack of assistance.

So we were on our way to Hervey Bay on the same day the U.S. Presidential Election was going on, feeling a bit frustrated with the booking ordeal and not really sure what to expect when we got there. When we arrived in Hervey Bay, Jeff found that there wasn't a barge in Hervey Bay and the cheapest way to get to the one we needed to go to was to pay some outrageous amount to take a Limo because there was no public transportation. He was told that they operate this way to get tourists to spend more money since most accomodation is in Hervey Bay but the ferries depart from Rivers head. They want you to buy package deals including ferries, accomodation and/or shuttles altogether. It definitely wasn't an expense we budgeted for and while we could have forked over the money, it was kind of the tipping point for us, not to mention the black rain clouds hovering over the island in the distance. We would have ended up paying quite a bit to do something not even remotely close to our original plan and it didn't seem like it would be nearly as enjoyable as we had wanted. So we decided we would spend a week in Hervey Bay and see what it had to offer.

Back at home while President Obama had been re-elected my family was also informed of the unfortunate news that my Grandpa had become very ill and most likely wouldn't make it through the night. My mom broke the news to me over the phone and while I wasn't extremely close to my grandfather it is never easy to have a family member pass and I really just wanted to be home to be there for my mother. It definitely hurts to hear someone you love and care about hurting and not be able to at least hug them. My mom is such a strong woman and she inspires me daily. Grandpa Kanaley passed over the night at the age of 80. I can safely say that my love for the Phoenix Suns started at a young age, inspired by him, and I have many fond memories of visits in hot Arizona.

Over the next few days we enjoyed our "cabin" in the caravan park and walked around the boardwalk in Hervey Bay. Our original reservation had been for two separate nights with the 5 days on Fraser in between so when we decided to stay in H.B. the whole time I asked Curly at the front desk if we could move the second night's reservation to be consecutive. He said the cabin we had already stayed in was taken for that night but he upgraded us to a nicer one at no extra cost! We even had our own toilet and shower instead of having to use the communal ones in the amenities block!

During those nights we flipped through a Queensland Caravan Park directory we had picked up and contemplated going somewhere else random so we wouldn't spend an entire week in H.B. We liked the looks of Noosa but unfortunately our train pass didn't include a stop or connection there so we eventually decided on a small coastal town called Yeppoon. We still had 2 more nights before we would head there and to save some money we downgraded to a campsite and set up Dumbledore under a lovely purple flowering tree across from the amenities.

In the middle of the night I woke up to Jeff tapping me in the arm and then pointing to the top of the tent where I heard the soft pattering sound of rain on the ceiling. We frantically grabbed the tarps, pegs and hammer and quickly fixated our makeshift rainfly before the complete downpour started. For the rest of our stay in H.B. it never did stop raining. We spent the whole next day playing Skipbo in the camp kitchen, drinking wine, watching movies on the iPad and listening to a depressing domestic dispute unfold all around us as this couple fought loudly wherever they went. It broke my heart to hear/watch the mother treat her toddler so poorly, constantly telling her to "shut the F up" among other rude and unacceptable demands. I wanted to steal that little girl and give her to someone who would make her feel loved. By the end of that day we were feeling pretty discouraged having been rained out, forced to listen to/watch this domestic issue and finding that some people go by the "finders-keepers" mentality when browsing through the communal refrigerator and our newly purchased soda had been stolen. It may have only been soda but it was still frustrating as we aren't made of money and don't buy ourselves "treats" very often. We did, however, enjoy watching Cain Toads hop around in the rain and giant bats hang upside down above us in the trees. I tried to cheer us up by playing the song "Cool Water" by Roy Rogers, Sons of the Pioneers over and over out loud which you can't help but laugh at.

Another nights sleep in the pouring rain. The tarps keep the rain from completely soaking us but the sides of the tent have small leaks where the pockets are sewn on and with that much rain it's impossible to keep out. Small drips become a huge puddle fast so we used towels and clothes to soak the water up as it came in to prevent our sleeping bags and valuables from getting wet. Thank goodness for tarps! There was so much rain that the road had pretty much become a big stream and we were at least glad we had decided to cancel Fraser Island. At least at the caravan park we could seek shelter in the kitchen if needed whereas on Fraser we wouldn't have had a choice.

The next morning we started packing up under the roof in the kitchen and laying out some of our wet items to dry. A woman named Elenore from Cambridge, U.K. walked by and asked if there was anything she could do to help. We told her that we were fine and were just packing up and she insisted that we drink some of her freshly brewed "real coffee" (must have seen us drinking the freeze dried instant stuff earlier). She brought over cups of steaming coffee as we packed and her husband, Philip, asked us questions about Idaho. Upon telling them of our plans to head to Yeppoon and walk to the bus stop (not very far away) to catch a bus into the central part of town so we could connect to wifi and wait for our coach out of town they also insisted that they give us a ride into town instead. They said it was the least they could do and really wanted to make sure we got to Centro dry. We would have been fine and surely we would have survived but we accepted their offer and caught a dry ride to McDonalds where we would connect for a bit. There are some bad people in this world but traveling has also restored some of my faith in humanity. There are a lot of great people in this world as well and to repay what they have done we can only pay it forward to someone else who may need a ride somewhere, a cup of coffee or just someone to uplift their spirit in some way.

After connecting for a bit we were on our way to Yeppoon! We were going to camp at a caravan park that night not too far away from the bus station and I'll be honest I was a bit concerned seeing the black clouds filling up the sky around us and was sure we were in for another rainy night. Our bus driver was kind enough to drop us right in front of the park and we set up Dumbledore right in between two caravans of people who live there. Luckily, there wasn't a drop of rain that night but PLENTY of wind. I'll take wind over rain any day though.

The next day we were able to stay in one of the trailers at the park so we felt more comfortable leaving our bags while we explored since they would be locked up. After a morning of text by text updates from my dad on the 49ers game (through Siri of course and full of comical interpretations) we reflected on the last week and how we really don't like feeling so discouraged and wanted to find a way to lift our spirits and get out of the "down" side of traveling. I talked to Nancy on the phone and instantly felt better (she is so kind) and we decided we would head back to Wollongong for a few days to be around the people we know we love and explore New South Wales. We enjoyed a walk along the coast, watching the sun set and surfers hit the big waves and were glad to be moving onto a new leg of our journey. We can't be feeling discouraged for our final month and a half of travel, can we? There is a bit of rivalry between Queenslanders and the people who live in NSW and I have to say that even though I have enjoyed many moments in Queensland, I've been excited to leave each time ;)

Nancy also told me that when she asked her daughter, Carolyn, where Yeppoon was she responded "Next to your knife and fork, I guess" and I thought it was pretty funny.

So we are on our way back south, already feeling refreshed, stopping in Brisbane for a night and then off to spend a weekend with the lovely Nancy, Hedley, Carolyn, Jen and LuLu.

Stranded on a spooky deserted island on Halloween

Planton Island - "An island which offers a pleasant experience with that lost on a deserted island feel."

Way back during our planning at home Jeff came across Scamper (basically a water taxi service) which would take you to different destinations around the Whitsunday Island area. Look up "Whitsunday Islands" and you're sure to see photos of bright blue water with white sandy beaches and a tropical smoothie blended beach/ocean. Most of those photos are of Whitehaven Beach which is a popular destination for tourists. Scamper has short descriptions of the islands it will take you to. Planton Island was in the more affordable group ($65 per person RT and only $10 per night to stay there) and allowed the lowest number of occupants at a time (6) which we liked because it would be less crowded. So we booked to arrive there on Halloween and head back to the mainland on November 3rd.

In order to get there we had to first go to Airlie Beach, a small coastal town full of backpackers. We made a reservation for a camp spot for 2 nights before Planton at a hostel and were set to go!

On 10/28 we left Wollongong for Sydney where we ran into Matt (Jess' husband) on the way and spent a few hours wandering around after we got there. We went to Paddy's market and browsed around for potential purchases for later in the trip if funds would allow and shared a delicious lunch upstairs. We then spent an hour or so in Belmore Park. We called our parents and talked about the upcoming trek.

The first train ride was 13 hours from Sydney overnight to Brisbane. We had seats at the end of the car right next to the toilets and where people would congregate before each stop so they could run out and smoke as much of their cigarettes as possible in 3 minutes. We saw one woman arguing with an attendant over why she couldn't be served alcohol after only taking 3 Valium and all the while the man sitting across the isle from Jeff just stared for at least 50% of the ride at us, occasionally mumbling something incoherent.

We arrived in Brisbane about 5:00 am and had 4 hours to kill at the train station before our next train to Proserpine. We looked for power outlets, drank coffee then sat in a corner on the floor (possibly having been peed on recently) while connecting to wifi. It was raining when we arrived in Brisbane and wouldn't be stopping anytime soon!

Our 23 hour train ride to Proserpine was pretty boring as it was just grey and drizzly outside so there wasn't much to look at out the window. We watched Forrest Gump on the iPad before making dinner - ritz crackers and a can of chicken (tomato and onion flavored). Very satisfying to us however our neighbor must not have thought so since he offered us a mystery sandwich (still not sure what the heck was in it) when we were done. We told him we were fine and thanked him but he insisted since he would be throwing them away if they didn't get eaten. I'm always really surprised at the generosity from strangers while we are out and about.

We fell asleep pretty early since we were due to arrive in Proserpine at 4:15 am and didn't want to be exhausted. It seemed like the longest overnight train ride ever! I must have woken up every hour to check the time that night. At one point I woke up and we were at a station and it seemed like the car was empty. Figuring it was just a 10 min stop and people were out smoking I went back to sleep. I woke up an hour later and we were still at the same stop and there were police officers outside. We were stopped at Mackay for about 3 hours because apparently a man assaulted a woman in a different car. Not sure what happened but hopefully she was alright!

We arrived in Proserpine later than expected but there was a bus waiting for us to take us to Airlie Beach. When we got to the hostel we had booked a campsite at they said it was too early for check-in but allowed us to store our bags for a few hours while walking around. Upon exploring we found that the "campsite" was just a mere patch of dirt a bulldozer was driving around on digging holes in... When we asked if the campsite had moved to a different area the girl seemed pretty clueless and said she would ask her manager. The manager was trying to find out when the construction would be done so we could camp there but we instead went to a different hostel next door with a much safer (and more quiet) area.

Those 2 nights in Airlie Beach we got rained on quite a bit but stayed dry with our double-tarp-makeshift-rainfly. The days were extremely hot and the sun intense with 50%+ humidity. We decided to walk 6km to Cannonvale to get some groceries and a lightweight hammer (frustrating trying to get tent pegs into hard ground without one). Luckily there is a nice boardwalk along the ocean so there is a nice view along the way! Airlie Beach has a Lagoon (giant public pool by the ocean) you can swim in for free so that was the first place we went after a long walk in the heat! Hurricane Sandy had hit in the days prior so we watched the news for a while. It's very tragic and I wish I could do something to help.

Halloween arrived and we were up at 6:00 am packing up our tent and belongings so we could head over to the Harbor and scamper our way to Planton Island! We arrived 15 minutes earlier than we were told but enjoyed the chilly breeze and beautiful view. A huge group of younger boys (boy scouts perhaps?) showed up and it ended up being another 2 hours before we finally were out on water. We were the first of everyone to get dropped off and before we knew it the boat was pulling away as we stood there on the island with not a single other person on it.

After walking around for a few minutes we started setting up Dumbledore in the little jungle area where most people camp, trying to ignore the GIANT spider webs connecting trees and whatever else could be crawling in there. We then spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the sun, occasionally jumping into the warm ocean and reading. There are also a lot of giant flies (March Flies) that bite on the island which caused us to do the "Aussie salute" pretty often. We started a death tally as we one by one smushed them (which ended up being more of a massacre by the end with the final count being 26). Since we didn't have costumes for Halloween we dressed as each other in our swimmers and took some photos. Jeff looks better in my bikini than I do! We ate rice with spam and red capsicum for dinner and watched the sunset while listening to Ben Howard. It was pretty perfect.

Nighttime came along and as we were getting in the tent we noticed HUGE bats flying from tree to tree. The bats were so huge you could hear them before you saw them and they would screech and fight with each other in the treetops above us. Jeff had to keep reminding me that they aren't vampire bats as I was too scared to leave the tent. I had watched Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom too many times apparently.

You know when you're camping and you wake up in the middle of the night having to relieve yourself but try to hold it because it's maybe raining or cold or you don't know if a bear is lurking around the corner? Maybe it's just me, but I was terrified that if I left the tent the heaps of bats were sure to dive bomb me and attack. After hours of laying there, wide eyed and sleepless I couldn't take it anymore and braved the darkness with my miners lamp strapped on my forehead. I'm glad we were alone on the island so nobody could see me burst from the tent, run through the dark mumbling profanities and find a place to go all the while probably covering my head with my arms in case of attack.

Day 2 on our private island was Jeff's birthday! We watched the sunrise and little fins pop up throughout the ocean around us. There were also these fish that would shoot out of the water and skip across the top really fast that was pretty fun to watch. For breakfast we had cupcakes we had brought for the occasion but they had gotten very melty in the heat and humidity there so we had to eat them with spoons. As the day went on without much of a breeze we realized we probably shouldn't spend another full day sitting under the direct sun (we used almost a whole tube of sunscreen in one day) so we grabbed a tarp, stick and some tent pegs and made our own shade on the beach! We were pretty proud of our work and spent the entire day laying under it, reading and even napping. In the evening we moved our tent to the beach hoping for a better night sleep and a bit of a breeze to keep us cool.

The next morning with a little bit more sleep we woke up at 5:00 am to a very windy beach. We were actually pretty happy about it because it gets so hot during the day you can't really do much besides cook yourself. As beautiful as the island was we both agreed 2 days would have been perfect and spending another full day in the sun and restless night on the beach wasn't the most appealing. Oh well, what's one more day? By 10:00 it was so hot and the wind didn't exactly have the cooling effect we had hoped (more like the feeling one might have if several people stood there blasting them with a few hot hair dryers). We attempted to make shade again but the wind was too strong-- after several failed attempts we accepted our demise. I randomly asked Jeff if he had considered calling Scamper the night before to see if we could get picked up a day early and he said he had. We then kind of had this silence while looking at each other thinking the same thing at the same time. It was about 10:30 which was when the boat would be out and about picking people up. I made the call and Sandy said she would try and get in contact with the boat and call us back if they could get us. Not wanting to pack up and end up having to stay but also not wanting to have to rush if we got the call we kind of paced around for the next 30 minutes feeling very anxious. Finally the phone rings and she's telling us they will be there in 5 MINUTES (just as we see the boat turn the corner to come for us). I'm running down the beach towards Jeff yelling "WE HAVE 5 MINUTES!!!" then we were frantically throwing everything into our bags, completely unorganized and in a spastic manner while mumbling profanities and somehow managed to get it all on the boat without having to make them wait! Next thing we knew we were enjoying the wind and mist coming off the front of the boat knowing we would get to enjoy cold showers soon.

Back in Airlie we were smelly, hot, dirty and desperate to find the cheapest private room we could for at least the first night back. After checking around we found that Magnums had rooms for $56 or a special $48 if you book 2 nights. SOLD! Off we went to our room with an amazing giant ceiling fan, refrigerator and cold showers around the corner.

Our next couple of days were spent sleeping in, connecting to Internet in between swim sessions at the lagoon and eating 30 cent ice cream cones. One night someone told us the bar downstairs was having a special for FREE drinks. What?!? So we went down to check it out and sure enough they came by every so often with free stuff. From shots of bailey's Irish cream to full pitchers of beer we were set! We met a couple from Canada and chatted with them for a bit and at some point a bloke accidentally bumped our table, spilling the smallest amount of beer, and then offered to buy us more (which of course we declined) before inviting us to join him and his group of rugby teammates at their table. All of them LOVED Jeff and kept calling him Jack Johnson all night while occasionally throwing up a fist bump, high five or other random gesture. They sort of reminded me of the boys of the G.N.C. from Greenstreet Hooligans and got us to dance around the club for hours late into the night. They all had little toy soldiers in their pockets and whenever their team captain, named Mouse, would hold his up and yell in a really loud and epic manner "SOLDIERRR!" they would all reenact what their soldier was doing, some of them laying on the ground in the middle of the dance floor. At one point one of them had dropped a soldier and Jeff pointed it out on the ground. Next thing you know an extremely thankful player was handing us two free drinks. I don't want to know what the consequence is if you are caught without your soldier by the captain but this guy was very appreciative and said we saved him. It was quite the experience. We definitely didn't expect that after a day of being lazy we would end up drinking in a bar I'd compare to the Bistro (boise bar) with a team of big rugby players, dancing the night away. If you have seen the movie Greenstreet Hooligans, I swear one of them looked EXACTLY like Bruva.

The next morning we had to check out by 11 and move on to camping again at the hostel we had stayed at prior to Planton Island. We found a great shaded spot in the back corner next to a group blasting Bob Marley. Jeff was pretty happy about it. Later in the day we were walking back to camp when a guy sitting outside his camper said hello and didn't have an accent! After finding out he was Canadian and chatting for a little bit he invited us to sit down and hang out for a while. We ended up sticking around for the rest of the evening, grabbing a pitcher at The Shed and having some great conversation. Mike and his Australian girlfriend, Lana, are doing a tour around Australia in their custom campervan just stopping and working for short periods of time in different places. They had been in Airlie Beach for 6 weeks and would eventually make their way down the coast finding more work as they went and stopping at a few music festivals in the process. What a life! Lana was at work most of that evening but we had a long conversation about what animal we would choose to take to battle with us if we could choose any. Jeff's initial choice was a Lion, Mike's was a Polar Bear and I said Moose. We eventually settled on either an Ape, Bigfoot or a Rhino (opposable thumbs are a bonus). We agreed that traveling for long periods of time with your partner is a great test for a relationship as you are literally spending 24 hours a day every day together while going through different stressful things you may not be used to like fighting over who has more of the armrest on the trains or who gets to hold the map in the new city. Jeff and I, as well as Mike and Lana, feel confident in our relationships and rather enjoy experiencing traveling the world together. Mike and Lana have a pretty great set up out of their van with a full covered porch, kitchen area, couches that fold into a bed and lights that wind around the porch for a nice comforting glow. We definitely admired their home in comparison to our little tent, affectionately named Dumbledore, but talked about how it all works once you get your "system" down in getting it all set up and livable.

At one point another resident stopped by to chat for a bit. He has a network of tents that make up his "home" called Tent City. He said when he first came to Airlie he only had one tent, no tarp or rainfly and not much else. After several nights of rain and finding a job that would pay him enough to buy a tarp he realized the importance of them. He went off on a rather hilarious yet very great rant about tarps and how great they are and everything you can do with them. He now has multiple tents with pathways under tarps lit up with lights to connect them, making tent city. *Hey dad- maybe tarps would be the cheaper way to get the roof replaced!*

The next day we hit up the Lagoon pretty early in the morning, then went back to camp where Lana and Mike were getting ready to head to a beach area we hadn't been to so we tagged along. Boathaven Beach had a giant area surrounded by a net that keeps out box jellyfish and other sea creatures that would keep you from staying in the water long. We enjoyed, maybe for the first time, a long and comfortable swim in the warm ocean without fear of getting stung, snatched or nibbled on.

We finished the afternoon by grabbing 30 cent ice cream cones and some beer before heading back to camp for some lounging. We played Beersbee (a game involving a frisbee, pegs with cups on them and beer) for a couple of hours before listening to music on their porch, munching on cheese and talking about different places in Australia. In Queensland there are heaps of these bright green ants, Green Tree Ants, that are about the same size as carpenter ants and get all over everything. Mike told us that at one point in his life he had been told that they taste like lime and he had tried it. All of us thought he was full of it and laughed at him but after persistently insisting that we try it, one-by-one we all picked up a green ant and LICKED it. I was the last to try and I can confirm that they indeed do taste very strongly of lime juice. Upon further investigation later on I found that people actually eat them as a source of protein and vitamin C, will also boil mass amounts of them and drink the water to cure colds and you can pour them on your chest and let them bite you all over to cure a fever... Eventually, realizing none of us had eaten dinner (and we weren't about to eat ants), we all made a trek into town to look for some late night snacks. We ended up at Clancy's Pie shop and had the best meat pie I'd ever tasted in my life. It was Steak, tomato and onion and I could have eaten 15 more!

I called my beautiful and much missed mother to wish her a happy birthday and we exchanged contact info with our new friends the next morning. We said our goodbyes and happy travels as they got ready for work. They'll be touring Canada (getting jobs at ski resorts and snowboarding) in the next year and want to try and make it to Sasquatch Festival with us over memorial day weekend! The rest of our last afternoon in Airlie we took one last dip in the Lagoon, ate one more cheap ice cream cone and watched the sunset on the ocean while talking about how great this trip has been and our plans for the future.

During times of intense homesickness, Airlie Beach had comforted us, recharged us and we truly enjoyed (and will never forget) our stay there.