Courtney (Brittany's friend and Ren's girlfriend) and my sister Lina were planning to visit Brittany in Australia once Courtney finished up college. In helping them plan their itinerary, and preparing for our trip to Ghana Africa with a mission team, we decided to set up the dates in a way that we could travel the coast together as Lina was a little nervous about the prospect of driving on the wrong side of the road, and rental companies don't like to rent to drivers under 25. We decided to arrange that we would join them at the airport the morning we would be flying in from Africa, to fly to Fraser Island for a holiday together. One of the most exciting parts of the plan was that we decided not to tell Brittany that we would be there to join them :)
For about 3 months we were able to keep the secret, which was amazing because I couldn't help but tell everyone about the exciting news. As Joe and I sat at Terminal 2, Gate 39 in Sydney waiting to see Brittany's face for the moment she would recognize us, I wondered if when they checked in if the surprise would be ruined as I had purchased the flights under the same confirmation number. Sure enough, the girl at the check in desk mentioned several times that Joe and Kim had checked in as they looked for Brittany's reservation, but Courtney and Lina kept giving excuses and reasons why that wasn't so (those must be the names on the credit card, etc...) until Courtney was able to indicate to the girl not to say anything else. Brittany fortunately didn't catch on, because of course there was a mistake somewhere...her parents were on their way back from Africa to Canada!
Lina made eye contact with me first as Brittany paused at the departure screen just before turning into the Gate 39 waiting area. A flight was just leaving the same gate for Melbourne, so there were many waiting in the chairs and standing. The chairs directly behind us in front of the window were open, so Lina pointed to our area and they headed over. Brittany looked right past us as she saw where they were headed, but then she noticed our mission team shirts and then noticed it was us! She squealed and ran into my arms and wept, and then into Joe's...she couldn't believe it. It was moment I will never forget!!!
Our itinerary is covering the same areas that Brittany and I were planning to in January but we had to change our plans due to the flooding.
The flight to Hervey Bay was on a small plane (2+2 seats wide), and the cabin was certainly not as well pressurized as a larger plane, so poor Brittany suffered as she had a sinus cold so she had a lot of ear/sinus pressure pain. She was such a trooper though because she decided not to let a cold ruin this time for her :). We were picked up at the airport in 2 cars and taken to the mainland check in, grabbed a few groceries and were bussed to take the 45 minute ferry to the island.
It is fall/winter here in Australia, so it is pleasant and warm in the mid day sun, but otherwise it is rather chilly when the sun goes down. We checked into our 2 bedroom villa. Perfect for the 5 of us. Our first afternoon at Fraser Island was a little disappointing when we couldn't find any hot eats once we arrived. We had to wait for dinner at 6, so we headed for the pier ('jetty' here in Australia), watched the early sunset at about 5, enjoyed our first meal and had a rather early night. Joe and I had not been to sleep in a bed since Sunday night when we were in Accra Ghana. We lost 10 hours with the time zone change, and it was now Thursday evening. We slept well!
Everyone slept in Friday morning, so we ate a nice breakfast in the villa, and sat by the pool for a few hours midday. The day was for relaxing and we had to watch a 30 minute video to prepare for our 4x4 excursion the next day.
Saturday we were up and picking up our 4x4 Land Cruiser for our day of exploring the island...the largest sand island in the world. 75 Mile beach is the main highway. To get there we had to cross the interior that is a rainforest with some deeply rutted roads. Once we hit the beach, the speed limit was 80 km/hour. It was quite unnerving at first because we were trying to stay on the hard packed sand close to the water's edge, but avoid the salt water, carefully cross the fresh water runoff crevices that come from the inland to the ocean, and keep our eyes open for other vehicles, pedestrians/fishermen on the beach, and small planes that also land on the beach. After a while we learned it was more comfortable to follow someone else who obviously drives there many times. We drove up to Indian Head and made the climb up the steep hill for some beautiful views of the ocean and beaches below. We stopped at the Maheno ship wreck, Eli Creek, Eurong Beach Resort for a snack, and then at Lake Mackenzie (the inland silica sand lake). We had a great day, and Joe did a fabulous job driving in 4 high and 4 low and with the stick shift! It was his first time driving on the wrong side of the car with everything set up backwards! He only put the wipers on instead of the signal once :)
We were due to leave Sunday morning on the 7:30 ferry so that Brittany could catch a flight back to Sydney, but her school week schedule this week was changed and Monday classes were cancelled, and she could do her assignments online that were due, so we cancelled her flight and were able to leave on the 10:30 ferry instead. When we got to the airport to pick up our rental car, there was no one there. Being a small airport that is only open at arrival and departure times, because we weren't there to pick up our car at 10, the attendant left at 11 and we were there just before 12! Fortunately, he happened to pass by on his way home from the town office to pick up some keys that were dropped off :). The challenge now was that the full size car (like an Impala), would not hold 5 of us, 3 large suitcases and our backpacks. At first it looked like we would have to take 2 cars to Noosa where they had a van we could rent, but then he realized he had a Subaru Forester in the town lot. It is perfect...the girls are a little snug in the back seat, but all is well and our luggage stacks up well in the back :) By the time we left Hervey Bay for Noosa it was after 2, but it all worked out! We are so thankful God had Matt pass by the airport when he did!
We got to Noosa just in time to watch the sunset on the beach and then we walked on the main street where our apartment at the Sandcastles was. Stores were mostly closed, but we could window shop and we had dinner at Laguana Jacks and enjoyed some gelato for dessert :). Joe and I enjoyed the early morning sun walking the beach, Brittany and I walked it a bit later while Courtney and Lina shopped for souvenirs.
We arrived in Byron Bay at about 2pm. When we checked in at 'Friday at the Beach' at 45 Lawson Street, the hostess Sandy gave us some wonderful homemade date loaf. It was so good. It's amazing how such a gesture is so special! We then headed out for at least an hour's sunny walk one way along the beaches and boardwalks to the lighthouse. We forgot to count the stairs, but it was a real effort! Some of the stairs were extra tall and the sloped areas were pretty steep. Along the way we got to the point that is the most Easterly point of Australia. Some of us even saw a few dolphins in the water below! Many photos later, we made our way back down just on time for the final pictures as the sun set behind some low clouds. Great exercise and a great way to see more of the beautiful Australian coastline.
One night is not long enough to discover all the special parts of each of these great coastal towns, but it's all the time we have. Today we head out for South West Rocks and on the way we will be stopping in Coff's Harbour for lunch and to see 'The Big Banana' and the Surfer's museum :)
What a special time! I am so thankful that Brittany is able to do this with us!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
No comments:
Post a Comment