this is a sand island...there are no rocks, mate!

first off, i must pat myself on the back for learning to drive a stickshift in australia...thank you very much for all those doubters out there. and on the other side of the road! i can't wait to practice stickshifting when i get back to america :) i still have to master hills and traffic jams though. second of all, i also tried surfing for the first time ever and managed to stand up and ride out some small waves!

in any case, jenn and i took a day-tour to Fraser Island, australia's largest sand island. it was a great tour, especially the beach highways and crystal-clear Lake Mackenzie. but best of all, we got to share the day with a ditzy family, one of whom we dubbed George of the Jungle. a crack-up bunch these people were. at one point, George was throwing some pinecones onto the roof of the bathroom and stated that he wanted to do the same with some rocks if he could find some. our very patient tour guide promptly answered, "this is a sand island...there are no rocks, mate!" and that was just one of many hilarities on this trip, including the photo below where George volunteered to enter the dingo cage, similar to the bear chest when you go camping in america.














we then continued north, despite the above ditzy family trying to scare us with news of
monsoon/cylcone-like weather further north, stopping in Rockhampton (known for its beef and how so since we got 2 sirloin steaks for $5AUD) and Mackay (after watching a platypus in Eungella) before we made it to Airlie Beach (the take-off point for the Whitsunday Islands). well, jenn and i decided to splurge on some real vacation time by booking 3 nights at a hotel on Hamilton Island and a day-trip to snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. it's been totally worth it now that the humidity has set in which has made for some hot nights in our campervan. and what do you know, we've enjoyed sunny skies pretty much everyday!

finally, in continuing with the idea of free campervan parking...

7. Rockhampton carpark by the Esplanade - just be careful of the mysterious crapping trees
8. Mackay Town Beach - but can be quite buggy.

p.s. these may not be satisfying photos so i'll promise to post more when i get jenn's photos.