Day 8 Of The East Coast
Location: Great Sandy National Park
It rained throughout the whole night and we were both dreading the thought of waking up to a flooded campsite. Thankfully our luck changed and we awoke to pure sunshine … sweeeeet.
Once we had breakfast and hung all our wet gear out to dry, we made the long trek (not) to the beach for some
sunbathing.
As we had the whole beach to ourselves we decided to fit in a
morning workout. I was a machine but Marcus shat after 30 yards.
Later on when we were sat having lunch
Marcus spotted two whales out to sea. It was incredible and as Marcus
was taking photos (top photo^) also a lovely lady in the next campsite lent me her binoculars.
It was such a special sight watching the two whales breaching, we both felt
incredibly lucky to of seen wild whales.
The day was going perfectly and it was only going to get
better as we drove to the huge sand dunes.
They were so steep you bust a bollock walking up them let alone
carrying the bodyboard! Once we got to the top I decided to make Marcus ride down first… minus falling off the board at the end he survived so it was my turn.
Obviously weight plays a large part and I very quickly picked up a lot of speed, miraculously I somehow managed to stay on and survived.
$50 later in petrol (I’m not kidding) we then drove to the
Red Canyon. Unlike the Red Canyon in Utah that I had visited this Red Canyon was a sand cliff coloured red thousands of years ago by iron-rich materials.
These sandcliffs are an example of soil development followed by dune degradation from water and wind during the Quaternary era (I knew my Geography degree would come in useful!)well no, I googled this.
After our walk through the Red Canyon we then returned to camp. It had been such a hot day that we were both in need of a shower so we drove to Freshwater. Just look at that view, beats driving down the M1, both of us drove with a ridiculous smile down this surreal beach.
Here we had the coldest outdoor shower ever. I felt fresh afterwards (freshwater haa) but it was a painful experience that I never wish to repeat. We were also both pleased to see a proper toilet.
As we got back into the car it suddenly dawned on us that we had no water, unfortunately the water at Freshwater was untreated (not so Freshwater haa) which meant a drive to Rainbow beach town to fill the bottles up.
Instead of taking the 16km off road track we decided to try our luck at the Leisha track which was significantly shorter and easier on Marcus's testicles and the Jeeps suspension.
This time we only had a short forest track very deep sand though), the Jeep's 4 wheels and Marcus's driving shone on and we made it to Rainbow beach.
It was yet again an incredible beach drive, one side we had the ocean, the other enormous sand cliffs and the sun setting infront. After years of erosion the different colours of sand exposed were spectacular.
We were however slightly concerned with the tide coming in as we were having to drive into the sea around fallen logs and rocks.
Timed wrong, and we end up in the sea, simple as that. A local fisherman told us that we had around an hour before the other end of the beach is closed off by the tide. It was a half an hour drive. So do we go for it hoping that we can get through at the other end by which time its way too late to turn back resulting in being swept out to sea? Or do we turn back? After seeing multiple pictures in local shops of 4 wheel drives out at sea who have being caught out by this notorious beach and tide, we decided to go for it. Thank the lord we wern't added to the wall of shame. Just made it, had to drive through about 2 feet of sea on soft, sinking sand.
The sun began to set as we continued our beach drive and the views we had were indescribable.
Once we had refilled our water bottles and refuelled and took another route home.
Once we reached the other beach we were camping on there was some extremely deep sand to the right of us. We had to stay close to the sea where the sand was fairly hard to avoid getting bogged. Out of nowhere a big ass wave swept underneath the jeep. Neither of us are entirely sure how it happened ... but Marcus lost power steering, the engine cut out and then the speedo stopped working. Looking back ... this was the first of many car incidents. Marcus got it going again thankfully, being stranded their would have been no holiday.
Once we had found our camp in the pitch black it was time for dinner (Chicken & Broccoli). It was then an early night after what had been an amazing day.
Location: Great Sandy National Park
It rained throughout the whole night and we were both dreading the thought of waking up to a flooded campsite. Thankfully our luck changed and we awoke to pure sunshine … sweeeeet.
Once we had breakfast and hung all our wet gear out to dry, we made the long trek (not) to the beach for some
sunbathing.As we had the whole beach to ourselves we decided to fit in a
morning workout. I was a machine but Marcus shat after 30 yards.
Afterwards it was straight into the sea for a swim and body boarding which was
a perfect cool down.
Later on when we were sat having lunch
Marcus spotted two whales out to sea. It was incredible and as Marcus
was taking photos (top photo^) also a lovely lady in the next campsite lent me her binoculars.
It was such a special sight watching the two whales breaching, we both felt
incredibly lucky to of seen wild whales.The day was going perfectly and it was only going to get
better as we drove to the huge sand dunes.
They were so steep you bust a bollock walking up them let alone
carrying the bodyboard! Once we got to the top I decided to make Marcus ride down first… minus falling off the board at the end he survived so it was my turn.
Obviously weight plays a large part and I very quickly picked up a lot of speed, miraculously I somehow managed to stay on and survived.
Boys will be boys and after body boarding down the sand
dunes Marcus was keen for some doughnuts..and not the sugary type.
$50 later in petrol (I’m not kidding) we then drove to the
Red Canyon. Unlike the Red Canyon in Utah that I had visited this Red Canyon was a sand cliff coloured red thousands of years ago by iron-rich materials. These sandcliffs are an example of soil development followed by dune degradation from water and wind during the Quaternary era (I knew my Geography degree would come in useful!)well no, I googled this.
After our walk through the Red Canyon we then returned to camp. It had been such a hot day that we were both in need of a shower so we drove to Freshwater. Just look at that view, beats driving down the M1, both of us drove with a ridiculous smile down this surreal beach.
Here we had the coldest outdoor shower ever. I felt fresh afterwards (freshwater haa) but it was a painful experience that I never wish to repeat. We were also both pleased to see a proper toilet.As we got back into the car it suddenly dawned on us that we had no water, unfortunately the water at Freshwater was untreated (not so Freshwater haa) which meant a drive to Rainbow beach town to fill the bottles up.
Instead of taking the 16km off road track we decided to try our luck at the Leisha track which was significantly shorter and easier on Marcus's testicles and the Jeeps suspension.This time we only had a short forest track very deep sand though), the Jeep's 4 wheels and Marcus's driving shone on and we made it to Rainbow beach.
It was yet again an incredible beach drive, one side we had the ocean, the other enormous sand cliffs and the sun setting infront. After years of erosion the different colours of sand exposed were spectacular. We were however slightly concerned with the tide coming in as we were having to drive into the sea around fallen logs and rocks.
Timed wrong, and we end up in the sea, simple as that. A local fisherman told us that we had around an hour before the other end of the beach is closed off by the tide. It was a half an hour drive. So do we go for it hoping that we can get through at the other end by which time its way too late to turn back resulting in being swept out to sea? Or do we turn back? After seeing multiple pictures in local shops of 4 wheel drives out at sea who have being caught out by this notorious beach and tide, we decided to go for it. Thank the lord we wern't added to the wall of shame. Just made it, had to drive through about 2 feet of sea on soft, sinking sand. The sun began to set as we continued our beach drive and the views we had were indescribable.
Once we had refilled our water bottles and refuelled and took another route home.Once we reached the other beach we were camping on there was some extremely deep sand to the right of us. We had to stay close to the sea where the sand was fairly hard to avoid getting bogged. Out of nowhere a big ass wave swept underneath the jeep. Neither of us are entirely sure how it happened ... but Marcus lost power steering, the engine cut out and then the speedo stopped working. Looking back ... this was the first of many car incidents. Marcus got it going again thankfully, being stranded their would have been no holiday.
Once we had found our camp in the pitch black it was time for dinner (Chicken & Broccoli). It was then an early night after what had been an amazing day.
Marcus's Sand Dune - Video
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