The Start of Summer

It’s been a quite a while - but, with the prospect of a month of travelling looming ever closer and a day of sitting on the sofa being ill and feeling sorry for myself, I thought it was time to post an update. The last time I posted was around half an hour before I left for a 10-day trip up to Queensland. I’ve since been to Queensland, come back, hung around Melbourne for a little while and sat here.


We flew up to Brisbane on the Monday night and spent two nights and one full day there. We never really intended on staying any longer in Brisbane as Papa Med isn’t crazy about cities and, besides, I think we all needed a break - Ingrid had finished uni (all but one exam) and I was more than ready to get out of work and out of Melbourne. So we saw the sights of Brisbane by taking a day to stroll around the city at a leisurely pace, frequently stopping for a beer (it seems me and Mr. M think alike here); so all worked out well. Brisbane happens to have around 1.5 million inhabitants, but, like many Australian cities, the suburbs sprawl for so long that they bear the brunt of this burden, leaving the city fairly compact. The first thing that struck me wasn’t the city itself, but the difference in the weather; it was so warm. I don’t know why I was surprised because Brisbane is almost sub-tropical and I’d been stuck in limbo in Melbourne for over 3 months. This was to prove the case over the entirety of the trip - we only saw rain twice, albeit briefly and it rarely dipped below 25c. I was forced into shorts - poor Aussies!


strolling in the park in brisbane

The following day we headed up north along the Sunshine Coast. We decided to rent a car. I covered the driving and Papa M covered the bill. This arrangement was to work out well as I need all the practice I can get before me and Ingrid head out on our own travels. Anyway, my experience didn’t let me down and, after a somewhat shaky start, we were well on our way. We decided not to pre-book anything and make our mind up along the way; allowing us a lot of freedom. This proved to work-out well. Before long we were heading up the Sunshine Coast and I’d fulfilled one of my boyhood dreams - I caught my first sighting of the Pacific. We stopped for the night at a hotel-type-resort-thingy in Marcoola that I’d seen on the internet the night before. It seemed exactly what we wanted - somewhere quiet and secluded. We initially picked the Sunshine Coast, towards the north because it’s renowned for being the quieter of the tourist areas around Brisbane in southern Queensland (the other being the Gold Coast, lying to the south). However, this place was too secluded. After I’d woken up to view the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean; and took a walk along the miles of empty beach, we moved on further north.

Marcoola

The next place we stopped was at Coolum Beach. We struck it lucky and managed to find an apartment we were all happy with straight away. Coolum was a definite improvement on Marcoola. It’s a fairly sleepy seaside town where tourism had penetrated to some degree; but not yet to a point where it became unbearable and offensive. The beach stretched on for miles and the weather was fantastic and above 27c everyday. We mostly lazed by the pool, on the balcony and at the beach all day, everyday. However, after receiving a text from a family friend Ingrid and I drove north to the town of Noosa. Noosa, is different from the other towns along the Sunshine Coast. It manages to combine beach with woodland giving a very quaint sort of feeling (an Australian type of quaint). However, how I imagine Noosa to have been as a small town with beautiful sights, has been taken over by tourism. Because of its idyllic location it has begun to attract a richer type of toursit and because of the high-brow nature its scenes have been left largely unspoilt. But, the branded designer shops are abundant for a small outpost such as Noosa and the stares of the rich at vagrants such as me are ever present. Oh well, if I had their money, I’d stay there too. I knew Alice was in Australia, and had flew into Brisbane but I wasn’t hoping for much and figured she’d moved on. It just so happened that she was making her way back down the coast and luckily, we were afforded the chance to meet. I’ll be the first to admit that Alice and I don’t really know each other at all. The last time we spent any real time together was when we were kids. But, when you’re so far away from home you have to look-out for one another and it’s always reassuring to see a friendly face from home - with the same accent! It proved to be one of the highlights of the trip and it was a shame we only gently brushed paths but I’m sure we’ll see each other again for a longer, more purposeful visit.

We grew tired of Coolum and the traveller’s bug in us became restless. The next day we headed further north leaving the Sunshine Coast to travel to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island (if you don’t follow then get a map). We ended up more than doubling our mileage for the entire trip in one day. However, Ingrid got her wish to see more of the country away from the coast as we travelled along the Bruce Highway up to Gympie. We diverted back to the coast through the Cooloola National Park to Rainbow Beach, crossing through what seemed like endless forests and straight roads up to Maryborough. I gunned the hell out of the rent-a-car, until we passed through the wilderness into civilisation again. When we reached our destination we employed the same tactic as before - show up, park up, walk up and find somewhere to soothe our travel-weary arses.

the view from the balcony; alice

Our main incentive in travelling to Hervey Bay was the promise of seeing more of the country, finding something similar to what we had experienced in Coolum and to see Fraser Island. What we found at Hervey Bay was a sleepy town but big enough to accommodate our needs. With Fraser Island to the east sheltering the bay from the winds that blow off the Pacific we found ourselves on a pristine, uncrowned beach protected from the waves that bring surfers to stretches of coast we’d found further south. We couldn’t believe how lucky we’d been to stumble along the coast, progressively finding better places to stay. With everyone happily content, a wave of calm passed over me and I began to sleep a little easier knowing that Ingrid, and especially Papa Med and Mona - who’d come such a long way - were getting what they wanted out of their trip.

hervey bay classic sunset; representing ifk - for the swedes

After a couple of days relaxing on the balcony and the beach, we embarked on a full-day tour of Fraser Island. Fraser is the largest sand island in the world that juts out from the coast of eastern Australia into the Pacific. There are two ways you can see Fraser: you either rent out a 4-wheel drive and tackle the sandy inland roads and miles and miles of beach to yourself - or, like us, book a tour. I’m the first to shout-out all the negatives of day-tours: stuck with an international crowd of camera-clicky, snap happy tourists - always thinking I’m so much better, original and easily above them. However, with time-constraints it proved to be the best option. Although there was a lot more of the island to see than we covered, and we still managed to see the rainforest, fresh-water creeks, an inland lake and drive along the beach; all with an informative guide. The only thing that peeved me was how - when referring to the history of the island - they didn’t mention that the Australian government kicked-off all the Aboriginals in 1905 and removed them to a purpose-built settlement just north of Cairns. How are they meant to even attempt to repair the damage of past generations if they won’t confront the past itself!? Eh, enough.

rainforest; the clearest water i've ever seen; the boat back to the mainland

After another day of relaxing for me and Mona and a bout of what we suspect to be food-poisoning for the Medby’s, it was time for me and Ingrid to go home to Melbourne. We had to take the car back to Brisbane and tackled the mileage we’d gradually clocked-up over the entire trip. It was fairly simple, burning down the highway in 4 and a half hours. The only downside - we had to set-off at 8am. Our flight wasn’t until 10pm so we killed the day in Brisbane; sluggishly and lethargically wandering the streets and not seeing any sights. We were tired, in transit and just wanted to go home. The flight was fine, except for having to fly through a lightning storm that was threatening to encircle Brisbane when we were on the ground; keeping us longer than we could’ve bared. I was just happy to get through it, especially in the knowledge that it was similar conditions that had kept us on the tarmac for two hours after landing at Brisbane only ten days before.

We came back to Melbourne to a preview of what can only get worse. The temperature has been a solid 30c to 36c through the day and rarely dropping below 25c at night - and it’s going to get hotter. It reached 47c last year and it promises to be as hot this year, but for longer. Because of this, my lazy nature and lack of employment I’ve spent the majority of my time watching such shows as Michael Palin’s ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, ‘Pole to Pole’ and ‘Full Circle’ (acquired from the library and completed in three days - impressed? You should be!). I’ve also found time to see friends at work and most of the time looked forward to seeing Papa Med and Mona again. I’m glad to say they enjoyed the rest of their trip relaxing and swimming on the Great Barrier Reef. Coming back to Melbourne with no other agenda than to relax we took it easy drinking and eating; managing to fit in some sights by seeing the zoo and going to the viewing platform of Melbourne’s ‘Eureka Tower.’ I’m both really sad to see them go and to see family leave. I had such a great time hanging with them here and in Queensland, and it’s especially sad not knowing when we’ll meet again. They took really good care of both of us and I’m glad to be leaving for more travels to help take my mind off this. Ingrid has now officially finished her first year of university and we’re leaving Melbourne for a month, when we’ll be returning with Mama Medby, Brother Medby & girlfriend…and of course THE GRIMSHAWS WOO! We’re heading out for Adelaide on Wednesday and then flying onto Perth on Saturday. I’ve waited for this for so long. What holds for the rest? Who knows let’s keep it ambiguous and unplanned for as long as possible - the best way!

the view of the cbd from the eureka tower