We're all going on a - SUMMER HOLIDAY!

Or rather, to be correct, we're have all been on a - SUMMER HOLIDAY! ^______^!

Fwee! Yes, our family made it up to Moreton Island and back again with only the minimum of sandfly/mozzie bites, squishedness in the car, and sunburn!

We had a long trip up north, with six of us stuck in our Land Rover Discovery for about thirty hours (there and back again) all up. (gah... butt still so sore from sitting down so long!)

When we got to Scarabrough - after many slushie stops *cough* er - petrol stops, and we took a two hour ferry ride over to the Island. We saw heaps of cool marine life on the trips (over and back) including a meter and half long leopard shark, two sea turtles, TONS of jelly fish - some brown and a big as a tire, and some blue smaller ones that floated altogether, and a dolphin and something that looked like a massive grey shark, but it was too far under to tell properly.

We landed on Bulware Beach right next to the stranded shipwrecks as the sun fell softly behind the horizon in a haze of pinky-yellow blushing clouds that dusted an aqua-purple sky. Yes, the Island was everything you would expect from a tropical paradise and more...

Too bad the more was more then we bargained for!!!

Let me explain - see Moreton Island is a sand island - that's why it had the highest dunes in the world (apparently). But when there is no rain and a massive bunch of schoolies running around on a sand island you get soft sand. Doesn't sound so bad yet eh?

I'll give you one word - BOGGED!

The tracks were deep and they were soft and they narrow and they were, quite frankly, dangerous. We had little to non mobile reception on the Island and when we were shooting through the sand, rocketing up and down and sliding from side to side - well, as you might be able to guess, it really was NOT cool. On our first day on the Island we met a gentleman bogged up his axles on one track - luckily we came when most of the hard work was already over, so we helped pull him out. But the track had been soft for so long, Dad was concerned that we'd get bogged also - even though we had decided to go back.

So my sisters, my mother and I decided to help out, and let him drive to hard sand whilst we walk to meet him. Unfortunately, we didn't realise how long the soft sand went for and we ended up walking 1 km though the burning hot sand and sun at mid-day with no water! Soo definitely not cool!!! We also had to repeat the same trick another two times - but both the second times where better as we brought water and they weren't as far. Although I should still not like to repeat the last trek either as I didn't put any shoes on and burnt/shredded my feet to bits as I sprinted over the boiling track - dashing from shade spot to shade spot trying desperately not to step on all the sticks that littered the track.


Basically, we were stuck. We even got bogged on the couple of hundred meter track that lead to our cabin! We only went up to the front axles, and got out quickly, but Dad was sick and tired of driving over the dangerous tracks, where we could never be sure if there wasn't another car barreling down the same track for dear life - if we had of met any of those - we would have been toast. Sometime we were driving through a shear rock wall, with only just enough room for our vehicle, and to make things worse, there were a lot of blind corners. You wouldn't have a hope in heck to get out of a serious accident.


On the other hand - we spent hours on snorkeling amongst the shipwrecks on Bulware Beach - there were three of them, and they formed a small inlet with on the left and one on the right and one out in the water, across the back. Multitudes of fish sheltered in the seaweed that graced the rusty frames - we saw flat head, whiting, mackerel, brim, Moses' fish (a close relative of brim), little shoals of silver fish, toad fish (of course) and these gorgeous yellow and black stripped things - the bumble-bee fish as we nick-named them. We also saw this massive starfish it was bigger than my hand!

We visited one of the light houses - it was up on the sand-stone cliffs at North point - the northern most part of the Island (duh) and Champagne Pool - where there was good snorkeling again, but it was called so 'coz the big waves from the ocean hit the rock and by the time they washed down the other side they were these beautifully soft foamy trickles - they looked like champagne gurgling down a cliff-face - hence the name.

I sat down with Dad at one point and painted my very first picture - subject: the shipwrecks. Gah - sooo hard, water and rust - not good to try for the first time, but I was happy with the way it turned out. I'll be putting up on deviantART - for those who are interested.

We saw lots of local flora - and a little bit of fauna - namely a friendly kookaburra that sat on our balcony and partook of our breakfast bacon - we fed him by hand! The other fauna we more felt than saw was the sandflies - but I'm guessing that I'm getting too old for them to really bother me - I had my share of bits, but not as many and I used to get - they ate my sisters more which was a blessin'!

Anyway, as you may see, the Island was both splendidly beautiful and terrifyingly dangerous. It was a family decision and we left on the Friday, after arriving on Sunday. We then visited the Gold Coast, stayed at Palm Beach which was lovely (the beach) and then on the Sunday we packed up again, and moved to Ballina - where we got a lovely waterfront cabin at the Shaws Bay Holiday Park.
We spent the rest of our holiday on the beach or at the local river/lagoon thing - the water there was crystal clear and the was monstrous fish in the river! Again, awesome snorkeling. Oh! And there were tons and tons of hermit crabs - some bigger than my palm!

The joy of my heart was one of the best second-hand book shops I've ever been in - I brought so many books - around about eight or nine for twenty dollars - so cool!

I think that's the basic run down - certainly, we have a tale to tell about the adventures we had on the Island, but the rest of our holiday was much more relaxed - much more what you'd expect it to be as well! But we did have fun, and it was nice just to get away and have some time with my family.

Now that I'm back there's a lot I have to do - mostly practise for an item I'm singing with four other girls - including my sister, that we haven't practised for yet, and we're doing it this Sunday! Freak out!!! This is for the Christmas carol program I'm in. Of course, my sister and I are also in the choir for that program, I mentioned it before - but I'm not worried about the choir stuff - just the item as my sis and I are second-sops, and we're supposed to be doing parts and long story short, we haven't had much experience in singing harmonies a third below before. Ok - like none, but anyways, it'll work out, even if we just end up with a really strong melody!

I'm back at my full-time job plus working at my casual job, and I still need to finish my Christmas shopping, but once the festive season is over, things should quiet right down - thank goodness! I've have more than my share of business, excitement and adventure for the next few months thank you very much!!! *whew*

One more piece of news and hopefully the last - I know this blog post is incredibly long, but it is two weeks worth of happenings, is that I got the grades I wanted at uni - SWEEET - and although I know it's not the done thing (I wouldn't want to seen stuck up, or boastful) I am so happy that I'm going to tell you that I got a CR, a DI and HD(O.O!!!!!) for my grades. SOOOO excited!!! ^________________^!!!!!!!!

Ok - I really am finished now,

TTFN, Tinka. :3