I'm out of here #11: Australia - Rainbow Beach - Sand Dunes & Slow Life

Yesterday I started my trip back south, I'll be soon in Brisbane since my flight to Bali will leave from there. However, the lovely City of Brisbane doesen't have a beach nearby, so I decided to stop in between, in Rainbow Beach.

Rainbow Beach is a quiet Little village located strategically just in front of Fraser Island, so most backpackers stop here to make their daytrips, and come back for one night or two before heading again on a bus.
This place here is very small, which doesen't mean it isn't worth staying here: in fact, it has a great relaxed atmosphere, and it makes you appreciate the simple things in life again. Getting a coffee and just having a walk down the beach felt completely different somehow, the beach is nearly empty and time seems to stand still.

A lot of houses overlook the ocean here - jealous!

My neighbour Fritz :)

Besides the usual walk on the beach, there are a couple things more to discover in Rainbow Beach: yesterday evening, after the heat became a Little bit more enjoyable, I was taken by my landlord to the Carlo Sand Blow, which is located just a few steps away from town.
This huge dune is 120 km high, and overlooks the Ocean on one side and the rainforest on the other. You'll have a great view over the whole coastline here, which makes it an amazing spots for  photographs, sunset watching or, as the younger crowd does, just cruising down the dunes with a bodyboard.

You'll reach the Carlo Sand Blow after a short bushwalk at the very beginning of the Great Cooloola Walk, a 5 days hike that will bring you down to Noosa, while you'll experience views over the coast and Fraser Island. As I could read at the entrance, this hike seems to be something for pros, so I wouldn't exactly start Walking around five days in the heat without knowing the essential survival tips and without having the right Equipment ;).

More Useful Tips

What to do: Besides your Fraser Island daytrip (book here) and great walks, Rainbow beach offers other activities for water Lovers, as for example Dolphin View Kajaking. Tin Can Bay is also on a 30 minutes drive away, you'll have the possibility to feed the dolphins there. I'd recccommend a stay up to five days if you wanna include Fraser, otherwise I think that three days are the perfect length for a Relaxing gateaway.

Where to Stay: I booked myself  Jill's and Justin's beach shack, and it couldn't be a better idea! The Studio is lovely decorated, has an extra king size bed, and an own Little Patio outside. The landlords are very welcoming and have plenty of tips of what to do in the area. They seem to Support the local businesses here in Rainbow Beach, which in my opinion is absolutely great. You'll feel at home istantly and you'll hard want to going to leave this colorful Little gem. Plus: breakfast is included!You can book your stay here.

Food & Co.: If you'll live in a self contained Apartment you'll might be cooking on your own.  However, I'd like to encourage you to try the Restaurant Arcobaleno on the beach: it's a nice italian Restaurant with italian People cooking in the back, and you'll feel the difference when you'll eat the dishes. :)

So have fun here, lay back, enjoy the breeze, and don't rush yourself...

I'm out of here #10: Australia - Fraser Island

I have mixed feelings when it comes to arranged day trips. I've seen various of them and I didn't experience always supersweet stuff. Depending on where you're travelling at, you'll see how differently organized this trips can be.

As I told you in my latest post, Fraser Island was one of the three spots I wanted to see for sure during my trip here in Australia, despite the town of Nimbin and the Whitsundays. These last two played hard to get with me because of the weather conditions, but I'll catch them some day for sure ;)

Fraser Island can be visited from different places on the Sunshine Coast, Noosa or Rainbow Beach are two of them. Since I've been to Noosa already, I decided to do my day trip from Hervey Bay, a quiet town on the Pacific Ocean, which offers one of the best Piers on the water I've seen so far.

I booked my tour with Fraser Free. This company offers a one or two day tour on Fraser, depending on what you want to see. My time here in Hervey Bay got pretty limited so I opted for the day trip.

Early days

Your day will start pretty early, so make sure you didn't hit the bars town last night, otherwise it's not going to be a happy day for you. The tour operators usually pick you up around 7:30 in the morning in your hotel/hostel, so all you need to do is be ready by that time. After a short ride to the harbour, you will switch almost immediately to the ferry that takes you on Fraser Island in about one hour.

PS: If you didn't follow the bar rule above, this might be your hour to rest out your hangover...

The 75 Mile Beach

Bumpy Roads and Deep Forest

Fraser Island is a 123 km long stretch of sand and forest and on the World Heritage's listing with Australia's Uluru, Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef. We were greeted by our guide Bryan, who had a pleasantly great sense of humour while he was telling us the stories about the forest we were about to visit, and what to expect from our day. Be aware that you might should eat a good breakfast in the morning in order to handle the bumpy, sandy roads you'll about to hit the whole day. It could get unpleasant if you have some issues with your stomach, so some bread should be on you're menue while you're still on the ferry.

The rides between the places can be pretty fun, like being on a mini rollercoaster. The huge van is well equipped with seatbelts, so your safety is not on a risk. We stopped at one of the loads of rainforests, enjoying trees and nature that only grows on Fraser Island. There are plenty of creeks flowing across the island, which preserves the green despite the heat.

The 75 Mile Beach and the Maheno Shipwreck

After enjoying the shades of the forest, your ride will continue on the world famous 75 mile beach, between the wide sandy beach and the Pacific ocean, you can lay back and relax by looking at this amazing view. The four wheeled 4WD Bus will take you to one of the most visited attractions on a Fraser Tour: The Maheno Wreck. This shipwreck was build in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for the Trans-Tasman crossing. However, things changed and it was used later as a floating hospital during World War I, to be sold afterwards to a ship-breaker in Japan. The ship was caught in a cyclone while it being towed to Osaka, and became beached on Fraser in 1935.

72 shades of sand

Dingoes and Eli's Creek

Dingoes are one of the different animals you'll might face if you're lucky. Dingoes might look like cute dogs to you, but if you really should face one, the rule is to avoid eye contact and move away SLOWLY - otherwise they will chase you because they think you wanna play. Dingoes were brought to Fraser by Asian sailors, as a source of meat for their travels. Some of them managed to escape, so that's how they ended in this beautiful part of Queensland.

You'll get the chance to step off at Eli's Creek for a refreshment break, which I highly reccomend especially if you have children: they can play safely in the fresh and clear waters without being in danger. The creek flows directly in the Pacific and pours four millions litres of water an hour. If you're not a big water rat, you'll enjoy a walk over the bridges for sure.

Lake McKenzie

After our lunch break in one of the first built resorts on Fraser Island, we spent a great 2 hours break on our last stop, which was Lake McKenzie. It was very strange for me to swim in non salty water for the first time in ages! It might be weird also because you have white sand under your feet and the waters are like on a postcard of a tropical paradise. It's also a nice spot for snorkeling, since the water is very calm out here, or for great photographs - even if it's hard to get any picture without having a big crowd on the background ;)

Useful Tips:

Where to Stay in Hervey Bay: I opted for the Aussie Woolshed Backpackers, which is a family owned place. It's located in central Hervey Bay, steps away from the beach, and the gardens look like you'll in the middle of the outback. I'm enjoying the shades of the trees and the hammocks while writing, which is very nice if you could use some relaxing time on your own.

Fraser Island Tours: Fraserfree offers a various range of tours. Mine was the Fraser Island Explorer, which can be upgraded to the Fraser Island Premium Tour: this might be a good one if you don't wanna mind about carrying around extra water from home or similar things, everything is a little bit more comfortable. Prices starting from AUD 170 (1 Day Tour)

Getting to Hervey Bay: Greyhound Australia brings you easily everywhere on the Sunshine Coast. If you plan different stops, this might be a good option because the distances are no more than 3-4 hours between the most popular towns. Otherwise Hervey Bay has an airport, which can be reached directly from Sydney.