EC Australia 2013

 

 

 

Three Day camping trip to Moreton Island

(short story broken into three posts)

 

On  May 1, 2013 our study tour was on its way to the 3rd largest sand island in the world. Our study tour woke up to a bright and early continental breakfast (the only breakfast we usually get), which consists of toast, cereal and juice. Soon we got all of our day bags packed for our three day trip to Moreton Island. Then we met our tour guides for the trip Nathan, who has been a guide for two and a half years, who also drove the big bus. And we met Kayli who drove the truck where five of the girls and I had personally met at the YHA in Brisbane.

 

Shortly after driving through traffic we barely arrive to the docks in time for our Ferry to Moreton Island. Eventually we made our way out to the ocean blue and journeyed to Moreton Island. Once we landed we truly found out what a sand island is made out of... lots and lots of sand! Some of us could have done without all the sand in various areas on our bodies but we dealt with it and had a blast. This sand island was created because of Cape Moreton, which is a collection of huge boulders that collects and deposits the sand drifting from various rivers from New South Wales. If Cape Moreton had not been an instrumental part of making the sand islands, then none of us might have never seen the Great Barrier Reef. This is because Cape Moreton blocks the sand from reaching the reefs up north. Thank goodness we have Cape Moreton right?

 

After we set up camp on the Western side of the island, we took a day trip out to one of the many areas where ships had been destroyed near the island. So we decided to take out our snorkel gear and take a closer look at these shipwrecks. Out in the water we saw many different kinds of fish and we even met a few friendly sharks along the way. Unfortunately for some girls of our group they were frightened by them and screamed everytime we saw one. But it was good amusement for the rest of the group to laugh at the antics going on in the water. We explored the shipwrecks but did not find any sunken treasure because these ships had been whale fishing boats. All in all we had a great time looking at all the marine life in the bay.

 

Afternoon rolled on by and we ate our lunch and moved onto our next activity for the day! Sandboarding (kids don't try this at home, we dont care how you got that huge pile of sand). We had to climb up this mountain of sand which stood roughly 200 ft high. From there we waxed our boards and shot off the top riding down the hill at 50 mph. After a few solo trips, some of us brave members of the group wanted a challenge. So a few of us went to the other side of the mountain to try standing up on the boards, and a few of us wanted to stack as many people as we could on a few boards and take us all down the mountain. Unfortunately for us we did not make it very far and we broke apart. One of our members rolled the rest of the way down, another was buried under the sand (me), and the rest just stopped in their tracks. Despite me becoming a true sandman, we all had a bunch of fun at the giant sand dunes.

 

Night rolled on by and a few of us decided they needed to be dunked in the water to get all the sand off before we returned to camp. Later as we drove back to camp we saw a small group of dolphins. The girls ran out of the trucks to try to play with the dolphins, which came close to them but was scared of the huge group of women coming towards it. Cant say I can blame the dolphin for swimming away, I know I wouldnt want to be mobbed by a group of women. Soon the sun set and we spent our first night by the campfire, which did not last long because of the exhaustion from that days activities. Nathan, Kayli, Sherri and I were the last ones standing at the campfire. It was a beautiful night that we wanted to enjoy. This is when I first spotted the secret romance between the two guides, they were holding hands while gazing at the stars.

 

END of DAY 1

 

P.S. After the last day of the trip was when the girls finally asked Kayli if she and Nathan were together, and she said they are together now. The girls all swooned from the cute romance of the tour guide couple.

 

If you want to hear more about the trip at Moreton Island please take a look at my other posts.