Don't know why they call it a beach since it's more of a marina. The starting point for sailing tours of the Whitsundays.
Alies on Airlie Beach's "beach."
A lizard smiles for the camera.
Sailboats at the marina.
| From: Jeff Nyveen To: my friends and family Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:14:12 -0400 Subject: Update I It's been a while. A lot to catch up on. Last week, I went to Fraser Island for three days. Had a great time. We camped, drank, hiked, and drank. We packed our 4x4 with 8 people, camping gear, and food, and cruised the enormous flat beaches up and down the east coast of the sandy island. We drove inland through the forest and stopped at freshwater lakes to frolic. We saw enormous sand dunes, wild dingos, ants half an inch long, spiders the size of golf balls, huge green and brown flies that bite, and a beautiful sunrise. Sand got all over everything. My camera took a beating, but I have pictures of it all. I managed to survive my three days on the island without getting bitten by an insect or a dingo, but I did so much walking that my new sandals have given me sores all over my feet. Couple that with what seems to be a mild case of hostel-induced athlete's foot and you have a pair of disgusting backpacker feet. Mine actually look better than most of the other people I'm travelling with. I came back from Fraser Island with a hangover, a head cold, a hairy face, and a pint of sand up my ass. I had the most refreshing shower of my life and then plopped into bed at 7pm. The next evening I ran into Alies, a Dutch girl I had met on Fraser Island. It was interesting to talk to someone from my homeland (I'm 1/4 Dutch) and find someone who could help decipher my last name. She even taught me a little Dutch. I now know how to say "horny" and "vagina" with a perfect Dutch accent. I also met a girl named Emily. She's an Australian travelling with Oz Experience (very unusual), and we got along so well that she offered me a place to stay when I get to Melbourne. How sweet. The next morning, just before leaving Hervey Bay, I took a dip in the pool and met a guy who graduated from USC in May 99, one year after me. His name is Ali, and it turns out one of his best friends is Brandon, my freshman year roommate. Crazy stuff. On the bus, Lindsay gave the bus driver his Tragically Hip CD. That REM-sounding, easy listening crap is driving me up the wall. Lindsay has been playing it non-stop as long as I've been travelling with him. A few hours later, we rolled into Dingo. I don't know why they call it Dingo since it's really just a cattle ranch. It's kind of like Nundle, only with cows instead of sheep: a 35,000 acre farm with a barn, some animals, a kitchen, and a shed for backpackers. Everyone else seemed to have a decent time, but I thought it was pretty lame out there. The food was crap, the DJ sucked. And they made us all play stupid games. They even made us line dance to country music. I'm from Houston, Texas. Line dancing is something I've grown up with, something country music lovers enjoy doing, and something you can see on TNN 24 hours a day. I've even tried it a few times. And I don't like it. But they *made* us all line dance. How lame. The next day, we left for Bangara, another small town. I wasn't expecting much, but the hostel we stayed in, called Kelly's Beach Resort, was fantastic. The rooms are huge and air conditioned. There's a loft, a TV, VCR, bathroom, shiny white tile floors, and all of it super clean. And the grounds are beautiful. A pool, tennis courts, and a pond with lilipads and romantic wooden bridges. Seems that the hostels are getting nicer and cheaper as we go north. I unpacked my bags, sat down to watch the Australian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" and learned that San Marino was the world's first republic. That night, we played a drinking game that Graham first introduced to us in Byron Bay. The game has been slowly evolving over the course of the trip, but here are the basic rules: ---------- Lay the cards out in a circle on a table. Participants hold their drinks and surround the table. Each person picks up a card one at a time. Ace - drink 1 finger's width of your drink 2 - "2 fingers" 3 - "3 fingers" 4 - "distribute 4 fingers" to anybody you want 5 - "have you ever..." (make something up, anyone who has done it must drink) OR "questions" (ask a question to anyone, they must continue by asking another question to someone else, first person to answer a question or laugh or hesitate before asking another question must drink) 6 - "truth or dare" (you may ask anybody you want) 7 - "toilet card" (you can't go without one) 8 - "blank" (until someone assigns a rule to it with an 8 or a 10) 9 - "blank" (until someone assigns a rule to it with an 9 or a 10) 10 - "rule-maker" (make a rule for 8 or 9 or make a general rule) J - "ear card" (hold onto it, when you hold your ear, last person to hold their ear drinks) Q - "bitch card" (you must drink every time anyone else drinks, until someone else picks a Queen and becomes the bitch) K - "nose card" (hold onto it, when you hold your nose, last person to hold their nose drinks) The round continues until all cards are picked up, then it starts over again. Repeat until someone vomits or passes out. ---------- The next morning, we left for Airlie Beach. We watched Crocodile Dundee on the bus. Emily, a very loud but funny girl from England, let me have a bite of her Vegemite sandwich. The stuff tastes like rusty diarrhea. Airlie Beach is pretty cool. Lots of tiny shops along a main street, with a rocky shoreline across the street and rolling green mountains all around. Not sure why they call it Airlie Beach since there really isn't a beach to speak of. It's more of a launching point for sailing trips to the surrounding Whitsunday Islands. The day I got here, a local farmer dug up a phone line with his backhoe, knocking out all the phones and credit card machines in north Queensland. He was not a popular fellow. Over a McDonalds #2 Value Meal, Alies taught me some more Dutch: What's your sign, baby? -Wat is jou horoscope, schatge? Where are you from? -Wahr kom je vand-aan? Do you have a boyfriend? -Heb je een vriend? Would you like to get some coffee? -Wil je nog koffie? Can I get you drunk so I can have sex with you? -Als ik je drouken voer kan ik dan sex met je hebben? Drink, bitch! -Zuipen, kreng! Can I walk you home? -Zal ik je naar huis brengen? Do you have a roommate? -Heb je een kamergenoot? Are you on the pill? -Slik je de pil? What's your favorite position? -Wat is je favoriete standje? Shall we skip the foreplay? -Zullen we het voorspel overslaan? I have a present for you. -Ik heb een cadeautje voor je. It's not for kids. -Het is niet voor kindren. Thank you, baby. Was it good for you? -Dank je, schatge. Vond je het ook fijn? I'll call you tomorrow, baby. -Ik zal je morgen bellen, schatge. Right now, I'm sitting on a bench atop a very rocky beach. The water is calm, swishing over the rocks with tiny waves. Hundreds of sailboats are docked at the pier on one side of the beach, and green mountains rise up from the other side. The sun is just starting to set, casting a golden gleam through the mountains and over the sailboats. Tomorrow morning, I embark on a three day sailing trip through the Whitsunday Islands. The weather has been atrocious up north, but it is slowly clearing up. I should have beautiful weather for the rest of my trip up the coast. No Regrets. Jeff |
Luke is the life of any party.
(click for a larger version)
Lindsay licks the leg of a lesbian.
Luke and Kenny at the bar.
? (Canadian) and Helena (Swedish).
Me and Alies.
Alies taught me some Dutch.
(click for a larger version)
| From: Jeff Nyveen To: my friends and family Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 01:33:48 -0400 Subject: Update II Just sailed through the Whitsundays on an 85-foot maxi-yacht called the Matador. Apparently it's a pretty famous boat, built for $22 million to race for America's Cup. The 20 guests frequently helped the crew of 4 raise and lower the sails, wash dishes, and pump toilets. The first day was beautiful. Sunny with a soft breeze, perfect for sailing. Also perfect for melanoma. Everyone on the boat had sunburn. Apparently, nearby Townsville has the highest UV readings in the world. We stopped at one of the islands and I went scuba diving for the first time. Quite an amazing experience. That mouthpiece has to be one of the greatest human inventions. They made us put pantyhose on our arms and legs to protect us from jellyfish. I put my flippers on and waded into the water, and a little green fish started pecking the scabs off my ankles. Yuck. I out the rest of the gear on and away we went. We dove down about 8 meters (the water gets cold very quickly), and my ears started giving me problems. But I put up with it so I could swim with rainbow-colored fishies and feel living coral with my bare hands. I brought a waterproof camera with me and took a few pics. As we were leaving, one of the crew dropped a fishing line from the back of the boat. A few minutes later, we caught a "bonito" (a cross between a tuna and a mackerel), named it Fred, slit its throat, gutted it, cut its head off, grilled it, and had it for lunch. We stopped at Whitehaven Beach, probably the most beautiful I have ever seen. Pure white sand like talcum powder, crystal clear blue water. A photograph won't do it justice. We then stopped at South Molle Island for a walk through the hot, wet bush. Saw lots of bats and heard lots of strange noises. Walked up to Balancing Rock, a huge boulder suspended by smaller rocks at the top of a hill. Took a whizz on Balancing Rock. Then I stopped at a pay phone to call Pauline and wish her a Happy Valentine's Day. The next two days it was cloudy and rainy, so we just relaxed and got to know each other on the boat. We had a toga party the last night. Wearing a sheet without undies felt kinda sexy. The trip as a whole was very relaxing, almost like a vacation from my vacation. Most of the guys I'm travelling with went on a different boat, so it was nice to have some time away from all that. From what I hear, Neil has sacked 2 more girls since my last e-mail, including one who wouldn't kiss anyone during our drinking game because she said had a boyfriend. The man is a machine. I've been considering leaving my little group permanently. Tim, a friend, writes: The trouble with being in a big group or hanging out with "other backpackers" is that you get sucked in to the whole "groupthink" thing. The politics and relationships among your fellow travellers become more absorbing than the culture and terrain of the country you are visiting. The country becomes a kind of bit player out the window.I think he makes a lot of good points. Now I'm back in Airlie Beach. It's still raining, and I'm going through all of my paperwork, trying to lay out the rest of my trip. My original plan was to tour the east coast and then travel down the center of the continent to visit Darwin, Ayers Rock, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Tasmania, and then back to Sydney. Then I was going to spend a few weeks in New Zealand before returning home sometime in April. But a few people have recommended that I see Western Australia, some saying that it was their favorite part of the country. I know I'd like to see as much as I can while I'm down here, but I'm just worried that extending my vacation to include the West Coast will push my tour of New Zealand into late fall or maybe even early winter (May or June), when it wouldn't be as nice. And I'm not even sure what kind of route I should take. Any advice? I finally found a decent map of Australia. It only cost me $10 of connect time to find it. It's posted as a link from the web page at: http://pages.infinit.net/nyveen/Jeff_in_Oz/ (old link) No Regrets. Jeff |
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