Hervey Bay: Humbacks and Europeans.

Still here...this is taking ages cos the guy I'm sitting next to keeps interrupting my train of thought and the heavy metal music is doing my head in!!

So I get the bus out of Byron at 8am and I'm not sad to see the place go. It's great if you've got loads of money and bags of style to keep up with all the young and beautiful but it's not really Australia. It could be anywhere in the world and that's not why I'm traveling.

Arrive in Hervey Bay about 5.30 and am immediately entertained by the lads who pick up the backpackers and they're antics. Talk about showing off to the new girl on the block!!! They did everything but push me over in the playground! "Of course I'll come out for drinks with you lot!" I have no intention of doing this but am scared not to seem like a party animal and a 31 year old! Oh god, I'm in another hedonistic excuse for the real Australia. Where is the real Australia...? Has anyone seen it lately? Is this it? Is there really more culture in a single serving of Muller yoghurt? Or am I just doing the wrong things in the wrong places?

Still swallowing crushed glass, I decide to call home again and get an early bed. But there's no one home, anywhere... and there's a lot to choose from in my family. So my brain starts working overtime and I'm thinking something awful's happened and it nearly drives me nuts until I decide to ring my brother's partner who works from home and she let's me know it's all ok. Thank god for that. Go to bed in a really noisy dorm feeling a little bit pants.

Thurs 20th Oct

Today is a new day and things always look better in the morning. The sun is shining and this is the first day I wake up without feeling like I've swallowed a gooseberry bush! The antibiotics from the doctor are taking effect and so they should as they cost me A$75!! That's about 35 quid to you lot.

I'm whale watching today! Horrraghhhhhh!!!! This is something I read about ages ago and you know when you set your heart on something...well this was one of those. Probably can't afford it but hey...I'm siting smack bang on the migration trail of the Humpbacks going down to the Antarctic so it'd be rude not to have a wee peak!

Waiting at the bus stop and I meet my mate for the day...his name's Ricky and he's from Korea. He formally introduces himself to me and we exchange the usual "Where are you going, where have you been, how long you in OZ for and how long are you staying here?" These are the only conversations you usually have and I'm pretty much on autopilot with them now. But it's clear that Ricky is going to stick by my side for the rest of the day and I don't mind as the poor sod is driving around OZ on his own and is obviously starved for company.

Once on the boat we settle down at the front for the best view of the fantastic creatures and as we're chatting I notice I'm being edged into the corner by poor Ricky. You know when someone's just invading that invisible bit of space around you and you unconsciously shift away...well before I know it I'm backed up against the side of the boat and wandering how I got there. And he's a really sweet guy but there's only so much the language barrier will allow and I'm wishing I'd not befriended him. He's clearly unaware I'm probably a decade older than him and thinks his lucks in...or am I reading this wrong? I can't tell. I wish he'd just bugger off to be honest.

So then the whales come out to play. Now when I booked this I thought I'd be quite happy if I saw one jump out of the water but would settle for  a few tales in the air. Well I got way more than I bargained for!!

Got to leave it there folks as I want to got to the beach!! Sorry...more suspense!! Back asap...x

Right...whales...yep was AAAAAAAAAAAmazing! Sorry Rupe...this is going to make you a little green around the gills! We came across 7 pods in all...that's loads. As we neared our first lot we all thundered to the front of the boat with cameras shoved in the air but it's ridiculous. You simply can not get a decent pic with a digital camera cos of the slight delay. But these creatures were fantastic. Not a great deal of action to start with but soon they started diving down and bringing that huge tale up behind them. Only problem is it takes a while for them to resurface.

As we carried on the captain said he'd heard from another boat there were whales breaching...that's jumping out of the water to the uninitiated. (I'm so down with the lingo now!) We arrived to find a young calf just jumping straight out of the sea next to it's mother. Incredible I thought...if that's a baby how big are the parents!! I thought it was an adult!

Another pod was doing more of the same but this was with adults and can you believe I just missed it with my camera when 2 came out of the water at the same time. I decided to just look and enjoy as the photo obsession was sending me round the bend. Further out to sea we found a fully mature adult with it's fin held straight in the air just slapping the water like a baby in a paddling pool! This thing was standing at least 10 feet above the water's surface if not more. Was incredible and I was doing my usual ooooooing and ahhhhhing (along with everyone else thank god, or that could have been embarrassing.)

Was a truly memorable experience and although feeling a little poor I'm glad I'd decided to do it. So now Ricky wants to cook me a Korean lunch and I really don't have the heart to say no. He's obviously so lonely poor git.

Back at the hostel he makes packet noodles...so not that much of an authentic Korean dish then eh!? We chat over lunch and good god this feels like a date...I feel like a cradle snatcher! I gently slip into the conversation that I'm 31 and he nearly falls off his bench but seems no less friendly. He's a 21 yr old student. He keeps saying I must try more of these noodles for myself and makes sure I understand where I can get them etc. Second thoughts he says he'll just give me a load. No No I say but thanks for the offer. Next thing I know he's nipped off and come back with an armload of noodle packets....gives them to me and wishes me a pleasant journey with a bow. I now feel like a total git and yet again think I must work on my character assessments.

This was a long day...next up we have the initial meeting for the Fraser Island tour. This is a real must if you're under the age of 40 and traveling up/down the East coast of OZ. The island lies just beyond Hervey Bay and is completely made of sand from which grows a fantastic rainforest and holds some gorgeous inland lakes. It's a national park with strict rules for camping etc...but what you can do is take a 4wheel drive over there and let rip for 3 days...Y eeeeeehaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!

So we had to meet our groups for the vehicles the day before and do our food shopping and watch silly (but obviously well adhered to Mum) safety videos about Dingos, getting stuck in the sand and rolling your jeep. And I'm sitting there thinking "Please don't put me in the group with the thin and pretty girls"...the prospect of hanging out for 3 days in a bikini is bad enough without having to compare myself to that lot! So where do I end up...of course.

But they are absolutely lovely and although 2 sets of girls who are already friends they make me feel part of the gang immediately. There's 8 of us in all including 2 german guys and a Japanese fella and the lads don't seem to speak much English so the ladies are just jabbering away constantly and I'm trying to involve these lads but it's like getting blood out of a stone. We go shopping for food for the trip and already there's leadership issues with the older german guy who I'm suspecting is not so keen on taking advice from girls. But he's nice enough. Time will tell with that one...

We have to be up at 5 to load the vans so everyone goes off to pack their bags and get an early night which is what I intended to do...honest. Went to the phone and got through to Dad which was great but rather upsetting so I sat at a pic nic bench outside my dorm to gather my thoughts and try not to blub. Next thing I know an Italian has turned up and asked if he can sit there and I say "No problem I'm just off" and he says "No your not...have a beer" and produces a large case of lager and some French mates with a guitar. Next thing I know I've had quite a few and these guys are really funny and getting funnier by the minute! I fix them up with some English girls that are passing by and they all go off to the club next door. I go to bed feeling much better and happy I've done the lads a favor in return for drinking some (hmmmmm) of their booze.