“It’s just another beach… oh, maybe not”

Primarily a travel day. A bus, plane, and 3hr scenic drive through the remote east coast. At the airport, Amy joked it’s as if Canadians and Aussies are in a secret politeness contest. We’ve had several interactions that often go something like:
- *bump into someone* Oh, sorry!
- Don’t worry, mate. I was in your way. Sorry about that.
- Oh, no problem. Sorry again.
- Cheers, have a great day!

Driving was uneventful, thankfully, though Amy did get the pleasure of the same experience my dad received when teaching me how to drive. Until I got my bearings for the lane lines, my cautious tendency was to have the half the passenger side on the left shoulder. Good thing her window wasn’t open or she’d still be flossing branches out of her teeth. Much to Amy’s exasperation, the rental car was decked out with lane assist and cruise control, which came in handy. “Can you just drive instead of letting the robot steer!?”

It was a bit of a race to our final destination, a hostel where we’ll stay the night prior to our early morning ferry to our island camping adventure. There was a 4pm drop-dead check-in time to accommodate a briefing on the island camp rules, safety tips, and how to drive the 4x4s.

The hostel is a hostel.. but it was only $15 more for us to have a private room with a queen bed, bathroom, and balcony. I thought this was a no brainer but must not have communicated it to Amy. The whole drive here, Amy kept hinting that it’s no big deal if we miss the check-in time - we can just book a night elsewhere. I thought this was wildly uncharacteristic, until I realized she trying to weasel out of what she thought would be sleeping next to 7 drunk 21-year-olds in bunk beds. She was pleasantly surprised when we arrived.

Rainbow Beach - after checking in, safety briefing (don’t feed the dingos, don’t flip the vehicles), and signing several liability forms, we explored this cute, tiny town. Exhausted after a day of traveling, we almost turned around. “What’s seeing another beach worth?”. Glad we didn’t as we stumbled upon one of the more remarkable landscapes we’ve experienced.

Carlo Sandblow - stumbled on this magnificent piece of coastline. Over many years, the wind has blown so much sand up the hill, it’s completely covered up 33 acres, almost half-pipe shaped. Enjoyed quite a remarkable sunset here to cap the night off.

14 days in and no rain, no snakes. This will be the critical time to continue that streak for a few more days while we’re sleeping in a tent. Fingers crossed.Read more