Surfin' Surfari!

We finally got a visitor from our homeland this week - my Dad has flown in for two weeks of touring the land Down Under. Our roommate generously lent us his car so we could meet Dad at the airport, and I spent the hours before he arrived holding back emotional floodgates. I have never spent more than 6 weeks away from my family, and I still live in the town where I grew up. It's been 9 months now since I left home and while I adore the adventures, the separation from family and friends is painful at times. Despite my best efforts, I appeared puffy and red.

Though Chris and I arrived in Brisbane 9 months ago when we first landed in Australia, we are presently visiting the city for the first time. South Bank is where we launch ourselves with ample opportunity to stretch our legs on the promenade adjacent the muddy Brisbane River. The neighborhood is charming with its floral vines winding their way up beautiful metal arches that frame manicured parkland for the enjoyment of busy city-dwelling locals and tourists alike. We stroll past the Nepalese Pagoda, a relic from the 1988 World Fair, and through a lush rainforest boardwalk. Like many cities in Australia, there is a lagoon for swimming along the waterfront (river), celebrated by fountains and water features and surrounded by palms. There is even sand lining the pool bottom so you can pretend you are at the beach. A lifeguard is even on duty lest you try to drown in the challenging 3ft depths.

Back in Byron we show Dad our favorite spots: surfing at Watego's and the Pass, hiking to the lighthouse, beers at the Beachy, the Thursday morning farmers market, more beer and live music at the Rails - which has steel barrels out in winter for warm fires - and of course dinner and drinks at the Northern where Chris and I both worked. Small town that it is, we run into friends everywhere and I'm sure Dad was immediately overwhelmed by names and accents.

Our road trip gets off to a rocky start because we're simultaneously moving out of our house, storing half our luggage at a friend's, and saying goodbye to Byron, while adapting to life in a cramped but stylish 7 meter campervan. Being an obsessive planner oddly does not help in this situation because I'm wired with stress until I can map out our stops on a calendar where we can all see - and stick to - The Plan. I had already researched all possible pit stops between Byron and Cairns with activities in each location. The first three days already strayed from The Plan and I began to accept that road trips on the massive scale of Australia cannot have a solid path for only two weeks of travel. Then it starts to rain. No problem, our surfari continues on unmarred.

First stop: Noosa. I had thought having a campervan meant we wouldn't have to pay for accommodation, but apparently this is not true. Instead you pay $30 a night for a slab of concrete to park next to. We stay at the Noosa River Holiday Park in Noosaville, which has its own beach, a nice outdoor grilling area and adorable ducks. Occasional pelican. The next morning is gray and drizzly, but we strap on our wet suits and head for Sunshine Beach. The ocean is raging a bit, but we're all pumped to surf so we paddle out anyway. After 20 minutes of straight paddling, we are still stuck in the breakers and have drifted several yards down the beach. I did catch one wave, but was so tired I didn't have the energy to ride it out. Exhausted, we talk to the life guard and he tells us to try Tea Tree, a nice little right-hander point break. We drive back into town and head for the beach. The water is calm with a small but precise 1-2 foot swell. Dad is having a blast on his 9-ft longboard, and already chatting with the local surfers. After a chilly day in the water, we are eager for a hot shower and pizza. Back in town we stumble upon Zachary's, and enjoy delicious, inventive thin crust pizzas and stubbies of Boags beer - that's right it's happy hour!

In the morning we're off to Fraser Island for a day trip with Fraser Adventure Tours. Many of the other tours cancelled for the day due to the weather. Hailing from Seattle, we are prepared to experience the world's largest sand island come rain or dingo. The tide is low in both the morning and afternoon, so we are lucky today because we can drive on the beach the whole day, avoiding the highways. After taking the cable ferry from Noosa (just what it sounds: a large metal platform you drive onto - "the ferry" - that follows two underwater cables, much like a train follows tracks), we drive onto Rainbow Beach, which boasts over 72 different colors in its soaring nature-painted cliffs. Driving up the beach for an hour we pass the friendly waves of Aussies camping for the weekend in palatial tent compounds that somehow fold back into their truck beds when they return home. These people know how to camp. Australia's slowest ferry then takes us from the mainland beach to the shark-infested shores of Fraser Island. No swimming here, due also to a fierce undertow that we're told is certain to get you if the sharks don't find you first. We spy several dingos (who are in their mating season and extra aggressive this time of year), osprey, and eagles.

There's morning coffee on the beach next to a freshwater stream stained brown from the tea tree leaves on the shore, the water has magic healing powers for your skin, we're told. Lake McKenzie is waiting for us at the top of a glorious sand hill through the forest, which our bus/garbage van navigates with ease. Since it was too cold to swim last time, Chris leaps in with great excitement. Dad and I are soon jealous and join him for a dip. We then get a delicious BBQ lunch in a dingo-fenced enclosure. Three fat Kookaburra are perched in the tree above waiting for us to finish. After lunch we take a stroll through the rainforest alongside a crystalline creek. Beautiful white bark trees and prehistoric King Ferns line the trail. I have fallen behind with all my picture taking and I hear 10 Japanese girls expressing great excitement "ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!" and clapping. At this point I'm fairly certain it's because my darling husband is climbing a strangler fig vine. Yup, it's true. Back onto the garbage truck and off we go on our long, beautiful journey to Noosa. There's an awful lot of time in the car on this trip, but there's so much to look at, and fantastic stories about the history, floras and fauna of the island that you don't even mind.

The next day is a driving day. Our goal: Town of 1770 for a last surf in Australia. It's the last town in Queensland where surfing is safe. Further north is the land of crocs and stingers (jelly fish!).

The Graceful Ukulele

I awoke one morning with a new and crazy ambition. All night long I had been sitting on the beach strumming a ukulele, singing in my dreams. I was so happy; the warm breeze in my hair, white sand beneath my toes...oh yeah, and I was good! So began my journey to master the Hawaiian Ukulele.

Now, this did seem impulsive...especially since we're backpacking and on a strict budget. We gave it three days and 30 uke songs before caving and visiting the Byron music store. We tried several varieties and settled on a small concert uke. It sounds great when played solo, which is just what we have planned for that little instrument. In fact, it will soon be accompanying us on a road trip with my dad where I'm envisioning camp fires and cold beer with a friendly ukulele and the ocean for backup.

A petite sand crab!

I've always wanted to learn the guitar but, much to my mother's dismay, I never acquired the patience or dedication to practice and learn to play songs other than Nirvana's Plateau (actually, I suppose it's the Meat Puppets, I just preferred Cobain).
Chris and I dove into YouTube, finding loads of "how to" videos and started playing. After attempting Johnny Cash proved too challenging for a first song, Chris moved on to Brown Eyed Girl. I settled on the Moldy Peaches, Anyone Else But You. Two gloriously easy chords and five minutes later I was a uke player! Long way to go before I allow myself the title of "master" but I'm on my way. The hardest part is singing and playing the ukulele at the same time. In case anyone else is interested, we found two amazing websites that are extrememly helpful: Uke Hunt (good for selecting an instrument and has a nice beginner's guide you can download as a PDF), and Ukulele Underground (great instructional videos, love Aldrine!). It turns out, I've forgotten how to play Plateau, sorry Mom!

There's a great video of Chris playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow on our favorite Beach, The Wreck. I have to spend some time editing it because he's worried about looking bad :D  Hope to upload later today so you can all see where we spend all our time.