On Saturday February 13th my friends and I awoke at 5 am to catch the 5:30 bus to Bond University. We boarded the Coach bus and were enroute to the Brisbane Ferry stop! After an hour and a half ride we arrived in Brisbane and boarded the ferry. *Note 1: Upon booking the trip we were told the ferry was 40 minutes, wrong, it was an hour and a half.*
When we dock on the shore (quite literally the boat parked itself on the sand) we were welcomed with massive rain clouds and the opening of the sky. Typical we have been in and out of Gold Coast's wet season making certain encounters and trips very unfortunate. So we get off the boat and are shuffled into a 4WD truck to take us to our living accommodations, lol. We get to the camp site and all i see are tents set up and a "kitchen area."
*Thoughts currently running through my mind at this time: help*
Standing underneath the tent with the 40 other visitors we are all trying to dodge the rain. This was definitely not the Valentine's weekend any of us had in mind! As the skies are pouring down on us the instructors of the tour tell us that we are going snorkeling at the Ship Wreck back near where we came in, great! We all change into our bath suits and run to the truck, already soaked. Upon getting to the water I am shivering (I mean no surprise I am cold in 80 degree weather but this is differentt). The water is warmer once you are inside of it so we decide to ditch the kayaking and just go snorkeling. We bribed the instructor for a wet suit to help keep us warm. The one I was given could have fit another one of me inside but hey anything is better than nothing! We went out to to the ship wreck and saw a bunch of fish but nothing too too special certainly cool though. After about an hour in the water we were sent back to the camp grounds where lunch was served.
Lunch consisted of Ham and Salad Rolls and fruits that were out. Not exactly my cup of tea, this is why I always pack my own stuff! After lunch the sky decided to work in our favor and we headed to a hike called Mount Tempest. We were driven in the 4WD truck to get to the hike. The "roads" are all sand and are paths that are enclosed within two rock walls and not smooth paths either. Talk about a near death experience when going 50 mph in a narrow, up and down, path. Going to the hike I was in the back of the car staring at a girl who kept claiming she was not going to be good (great) but we made it safe and sound. It was worth the climb as we were brought to a stunning lookout of the island from up above. After coming back down and calling Shot Gun in the car we made our way back to the camp ground where we had free time before dinner. This consisted of us going to the beach to sit and relax and just enjoy the sunset with some corn chips.
Dinner that night consisted of burgers, sausages, salad and with a side of a million mosquitos. After dinner I was wrapped up so tightly in my clothes to make sure not a single inch of my skin was exposed. It is safe to say mosquitos do not care about insect repellent because I am pretty certain I had more bites than a deer has ticks. A happy camper, I think not. I huddled around the fire for a while to ward off the bugs but it didn't seem to help! At that point we decided to wrap it up for the night while other people were wasted (definitely not the scene I could deal with). Going to bed was me Christina and Marisol in a tent nestled and douched in bug spray. I lasted a good 2 hours where I was awoken by my body over heating and itchy beyond belief. After tossing and turning me and marissa decided we needed to move to the beach.
Well, this might have been the greatest experience of my life. Marissa and I walked to the beach (while holding our nose past the bathroom) and set up our sleeping bags. Talk about sleeping under the stars, omg. Was unsure if I was on the set of a movie or in real life. I have never in my life, not even in the US Virgin Islands seen stars this big and so close. It was a another peaceful 3 hours of sleep on the beach and than it was time for breakfast at 6 am. I broke lent for the first time here but in desperate measures I needed food (forgive me Jesus).
This day we had a jammed packed day. In the beginning we were trucked out to the Westerly part of the island to one of their beaches and champagne pools. We than made it to the Blue Lagoon, a lagoon where the water is drinkable and swimmable at the same time (definitely was not down to drink that). However after that were brough back to camp for some lunch which consisted of wraps and salads and fruit and than it was time to Sand Board. We drove to a place called the Desert. And Let me tell you that was exactly what it was. Hills of sand I thought I was Mary walking through Jerusalem. Sweating and thinking I could go down at any point I decided to watch instead of engaging in the activity. My friends went sand boarding, much like sledding, down the hills. After girls enduring burns we made it to the beach to relax and wait for the ferry to take us back to brisbane.
After all our modes of transportation we had finally made it home to Peppers and I have never been so happy. Who knew 1 night and 2 days could feel so incredibly long.
Was I happy I went, yes. Did I have fun, yes. Would I go back, I don't think so! Unless it was nicer conditions but I am not one to camp! But I can cross "camping in australia" off my bucket list and many people are not able to do that so I am blessed.
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