From Fraser Island, we continued onward to a wee city called Rockhampton. More than anything, we were passing the night there in transit; so, that meant we had the chance to just relax, talk, do laundry, and get a good night’s sleep! But, the more daring (or dare I say geologically curious) of the group members took an evening tour of the Capricorn Caves, winding through the labyrinth and remarking at the power of their echoes. And as we readied for departure the following morning, we happened upon a great mob of kangaroos in our campsite! Needless to say, we hopped out of the bus and ran to join the ranks of the ‘roos in order to marvel and take far too many photos. While the bad boy male kangaroo freaked me out a bit (he was nearly 6 ft in length), the ladies were adorable. More adorable, however, were the babies in their pouches! The little joeys’ heads poked out of the pouches as the mothers hopped along to breakfast. Oh my, they’re beautiful creatures.

Whitsunday Islands

After our time of relaxation, cave navigation, and kangaroo stalking, we ventured onward to the tropical paradise of the Whitsunday Islands. Since the Whitsundays are comprised of 74 islands, boat travel in the area provides a spectacular vision of beach and lush green hillsides jutting out of the rich blue ocean. People have only constructed hotels and homes on several of the islands, leaving room for a most glorious picture of natural beauty. Since I’m a bona fide nerd, I’ll point out that we had crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in our bus the afternoon of our arrival (some of us more excitedly than others), thus entering into the world of “the tropics.” But I didn’t really think “the tropics” in Australia would look this good. Picture the Cayman Islands. Now get an image of Fiji. And the Bahamas? Very good… Now one last request: picture the Whitsundays. Are the pictures should the same? They should be!

Yes, life on the islands is just plain delicious. We  had several days on Long Island, taking our time to appreciate the Whitsundays in an array of ways. Six intrepid voyagers set out to partake in a 2 day live-aboard sailing adventure, while the rest of us made sure to use our time kayaking, jet-skiing, tanning, and taste-testing the many tropical cocktails available at the beach-side pool bar. After boat troubles stifled our plans of visiting the world renowned Whitehaven Beach on the first day, we made up for any disappointment by exploring nearby Daydream Island, lounging by the water, eating burgers and ice cream, and chilling out with books and pina coladas beneath the palms. Not bad. Not bad at all…

As for the evenings on Long Island, the meals at Magic Megs’ restaurant were fabulous as usual, and the resort-hosted activities were terrific fun. One night we joined (and WON) the resort’s trivia competition, another found us jamming to karaoke as our Tour Leader Leigh rocked out on the mic for at least 4 songs, and the third was filled with the songs of a musician who prides himself in playing both the guitar and the digeridoo with finesse. We got to know other young tour groups as they came through, swapping stories and advice about future destinations, and trying not to make them too jealous of our sweet moves during our impromptu dance parties. And while Meagan and the Contiki driver Youngy hopped around doing impressions of kangaroos and rare birds, the rest of us had a fabulous time taking pictures of poor Keiley who just happened to be small enough for another tour leader to toss her in the pool clothed. How sad that all this ever had to come to an end! Alas, it was onward the next morning to our final destination…