G’day mates! (A lady taught Bea to say this!)

And back to warmer weather…we flew to Hervey Bay for our first stop in the state of Queensland.  A quick night’s sleep at a beautiful hotel called Oceans and then a quick ferry ride over to Fraser Island.  We had a relaxing swim (in a cold pool) this morning and Teddy has still snuck in some morning naps while in the campervan as well as the stroller.  After a quick room switch (our only travel issues thus far), we had a relaxing afternoon of 3+ hour naps and Cory fixed supper in our villa.  Our issue with our initial room is that required many steps or a long, steep hill to get to it.  Neither were great options with a stroller!

We were up early the next morning to catch our boat for the humpback whale watching trip.  I had always wanted to do this but wasn’t quite prepared when I first saw these magnificent creatures.  It was breathtaking!  We rode for about an hour before we stopped at our first ‘pod’ of whales; most pods include a momma and calf.  This pod didn’t disappoint as the calf practiced his breeching as he swam along side his momma.  We saw a few more pods who breeched, blew (meaning they shot air out of their spout), gave a pectoral slap with their fin and plenty of tail slapping.  Our last pod of the day was the pinnacle as these whales came to people watch!  As they came toward our boat (very trusting of us), we realized it was 2 mommas, 2 calves and an escort they called him as they didn’t know if it was another female or a male.  These whales were quite interested in us and did a bunch of ‘spy hopping’ where they popped their head out of the water to see us.  As well as swimming back and forth underneath our boat!  We hurried from one side to the next to get close up pictures… and I mean close up!  They were so close you could see the spots on their head.  They are the most amazing creatures I have ever seen!  After such an amazing morning, we all took naps before an evening swim and dinner.

We had another full day with our ‘Beauty Spot 4WD Tour‘ led by guide Peter Meyer.  Thank goodness neither of our kids get motion sickness as we sat on the next to back row (kids in car seats) as we enjoyed what felt like an all day roller coaster ride.  You have to drive a 4WD on the island because there are very few sealed (as they call them) roads and the rest is all sand.  After a fun ride with Teddy kicking his legs and giggling, we stopped in one of the many rain water lakes called Lake McKenzie.  Next was Wanggaoolba, or Invisible Creek where we did a 30 minute hike which included 120+ stairs at the end….all of which Bea climbed herself!  We saw a couple of yellow spotted monitor lizards, yellow/leafy looking spider and another big spider Bea found that morning.  Soon after she saw the big spider, Bea said “Will you hold me please, Daddy?”  😉  It was a fun day of remembering a similar tour I took with my sister Nan and cousin Rebecca 11.5 years ago on this island.  After lunch, we drove on the beach where we saw 2 dingo pups and their mom who had stolen some food from someone’s camp!  By the way, our bus was a 48 seater with 4WD so the back of the bus was bumpy!  Cory and Bea took a scenic plane ride over the island and Bea was glued to the window the whole time!  They took off and landed on the beach.  Our last swimming spot of the day was at Eli Creek where it’s like a lazy river.  I thought the kids would love this….wrong!  It was quite cold water and they both virtually cried the whole time; so we carried them. ha  On our way home, we got a flat tire so unfortunately we had to wake Teddy while it was changed.  Thankfully though the guide was quick and we were back on the sandy road in no time.  We decided after such a full day that another dinner in was a good idea.

The next morning we said good bye to Fraser Island and took the ferry back over to Hervey Bay to rent a car.  We headed south to Tewantin/Noosa Heads area for the evening.  It is a beautiful little beach town where we sat outside for supper and enjoyed an ice cream after dinner.  Tonight we stayed in another villa at a holiday park.  These holiday parks are so perfect for a family on their travels.

Next is Brisbane….

Love,
Cory, Millie, Bea & Teddy
Teddy sleeping on Fraser Island in stroller

Humpback Whale: first four pictures are of a full breech including the splash then a close up a momma and calf. You can see her eye we’re so close!

4WD Tour: hiking through the rainforest, Lake McKenzie, Cory and Bea’s float plane ride