fraser island...

trying to backtrack, i forgot one of my favorite places in all of australia. fraser island. when carrie and i met in brisbane before heading down the east coast we managed a three day tour of fraser island. when i describe fraser i tell people it is exactly what you picture paradise to be. there are endless beaches with turquoise waters, fresh water lakes that are as clear as pools with white sand, rainforests with sand dunes amongst them, and other beautiful lookouts. fraser was probably one of the best tours that carrie and i have done since we've been here we were fortunate enough to see dolphins, manta rays, sea turtles, and even witnessed a dingo hunting a swamp wallaby on the beach.

byron bay...

after coolangatta we took a bus down to byron bay to visit some old friends from glen helen. our experiences in byron were really amazing as slim and faye took us to a lot of places outside of the small downtown area, so we really got to be a part of the local scene, instead of the usual places all the backpackers swarm. slim played a few gigs that we got to go see and i can say that we were really fortunate to have them agree to hauling us around.

another noteworthy event was that carrie mastered eating with chopsticks!

after glen helen...coolangatta

after working at glen helen for our six weeks, we immediately left for adelaide and new adventures. but after being together for almost 3 months carrie and i decided to split ways for a brief duration. i stayed in adelaide and went to kangaroo island, while carrie took the train to sydney and later flew to cairns to visit the reef and some old friends. after a few weeks we met once again on the east coast boarder in a city called brisbane. our time in brisbane wasn't really that great to be honest as accommodations weren't the best, and even the crappiest hostels were packed tighter than a pair of pre-subway jared speedos. so without much convincing we both decided to leave brisbane and head down the east coast to visit some small beach towns. our first stop was in coolangatta.

working in the outback...

for the next six weeks carrie and i both committed to working at glen helen resort. glen helen resort is 133km west of alice springs (a tiny city in the center of australia), which means that literally you are in the middle of the desert. people usually try not to drive at night because it is so isolated and if you crashed your car the probability of you getting discovered that day was very slim. a few things that we quickly learned at the resort were: the term "resort" used in the outback, is kinda of like calling a hotdog gourmet. although, the name might earn it a few respective points, it's still made of lips and asses. coincidentally, glen helen resort was about as luxurious as eating a few mashed lips and asses. keeping things bug free was also something that wasn't mandatory at our resort. australian flies and ants are like no other in the world. the flies should be considered the friendliest in the world, as you wave them away, they not only come back but will bring several of their friends to either try to drink out of your eye, or ride on your back (being the yardie, i got to know these guys very well). outback ants are also special. we learned that these ants after 24 hours of more of rainfall will sprout wings. i guess God didn't feel as if the flies were charming enough. regardless of our opinions we had committed to six weeks of working, living, eating and breathing glen helen. carrie would be a waitress and i would be the yardie. carrie's responsibilities did not just involve waitressing, as she would also take reservations, iron table clothes, seat the guests, serve the guests, clear tables, wash dishes, and reset the tables each night she worked. my responsibilities basically involved any matters that dealt with human or animal fecal matter, yard work, rubbish, plus a few other things like driving a backwards ute (truck).

living in the middle of nowhere (without access to internet, tv or cell phones) our days were filled with the same basic activities each day. they usually consisited of staying out of +100 degree weather, going swimming (in the pool i had to clean), going to glen helen gorge, or going to the mount sonder lookout. although we typically did do the same things each day we did also get to go on a helicopter ride over the gorges and rivers, and were lucky enough to enjoy, as the aussies would say a "big night" out in alice.

although, our bosses colin and shelagh (pronounced she-log by carrie and i) were money hungry idiots, with no concept of staff or customer appreciation. the overall experience was one that neither carrie or i would trade, the people we met and the money we were allowed to save only spending $75 a week on our accommodations (which was a tin box with a/c, but we did have our own bathroom) and food, and the occasional drink. it was a good means to an end of having to scrape by, finally having some money to travel and not worry about finding work in the immediate weeks to come.