Home.

 Me and my stuff, including the bike in a box.

 My buddy Mike and my son Danny, who picked me up at the airport.

 Belated Christmas gifts from Australia for the family.

And coming home to Toronto in January means cold and snow. 

Sunday, January 8th

The flight from Vancouver to Toronto was another four hours and thankfully I did get some sleep on it. All my luggage showed up and I loaded it on a cart and pushed it through the exit doors where I met my friend Mike who came to meet me and help with the luggage. We called my son, Danny, who was in a holding pattern in the parking lot and he drove around to pick me up.

So, that is it. All done. All of the planning, organizing, teaching and traveling in another country, and here I am back in the land of snow and cold.

It was a hell of a ride. There were no negatives to the whole experience. Now to work with another group of kids and visit family and friends until the next adventure.

Homeward Bound

 The buyers of my car.

 It's amazing how attached you get to a good car.

The salesman Liam, taking my car away.

Saturday, January 7^th

I was up early this morning as I had lots to do and a couple of potential problems. The first stop was to the motel restaurant for the complimentary breakfast, before driving to the airport. Brisbane seems like an easy city to drive around, less crowded and more relaxed than Melbourne, and it didn't take too long to get to the airport.

The first thing I had to do was drop off my bicycle and the big red suitcase. I found parking on the third floor of the lot and then went in search of a cart. I wheeled the two pieces down to the main floor of the airport and then took the lift to the fourth floor to the departure level. When I got there the Air Canada terminal was not open yet (although the website said I could drop off luggage by 8). I had to wait a half hour for them to open. Then the lady weighed the bag and told me I was over weight by 2 kilos and she wanted to to unload some things. As I started to think about that she suddenly said 'Oh, you are priority class, it's okay.' That was a relief. She checked the bike box and it was also 25 kilos (as I had stuffed it with my bike and tennis shoes, my tennis racket, ten books that were gifts or I had bought with the parent given gift card, my helmet, and a few other bits), but no problem. She directed me to take it to the over size drop off. That was easy.

Next I had to take the car to the dealership. It took about 20 minutes to drive there and thankfully Liam was available and not with anyone else. He took the keys and told me that the money should be deposited into my account by early in the week. I took a photo of him driving my car into the service area.

Then I had the receptionist call me a cab and that took me back to the airport. When I got there I had to take my carry on luggage to the same attendant to have it weighed and tagged. All done and I had an hour to spare before boarding.

When I went through customs, I was asked to step aside and have my passport checked again and then I was told to sit to the side. I sat and waited for a short time before a customs guard came up with my passport and told me that I had overstayed my visa by a week! Oops, I thought that it was good for a year and since I had spent most of January in New Zealand I thought I was good. I guess that it actually has a start date, and more importantly, an end date. I'll have to check that when I get home. Anyway I asked what do I do about that. He looked pissed off but he just sent me on my way after saying I wouldn't be coming back on that visa (guess not it expired!).

Oops!

The flight left on time. The priority seating was more generous in size and quite comfortable. I settled in for a long flight. On the Vancouver leg I couldn't sleep. I watched a Rolling Stone documentary about when they played in Cuba in 2016 and the remake of the Magnificent 7. The food was pretty good and the extra room in priority was appreciated.

I left Brisbane at noon and arrived in Vancouver 13 hours later, at 8 am the same day. In other words I arrived four hours before I left... the wonders of the international date line. I guess time travel really does exist.

The Glass Mountains and Mount Ngungun

The hiking trail.

The summit.

 The pinnacle of Mount Coonawrin.

Mount Beerwah.

Mount Ngungun and the summit I hiked to.

Friday January 6^th

I got up and said goodbye to Valerie. I missed Phil as he left for work early, 18000 and counting...

After Val left for work I finished packing up the car, locked up her place and left. I decided to drive to the 'hinterland' and take the Glass Mountain tourist drive. This was yet another beautiful ride through the Australian countryside. I arrived at the Mount Ngungun parking lot and decided to take the hike that Valerie recommended. It was not long, only 2 km but it was uphill the whole way. As I walked up through the lush vegetation it started to drizzle. When I got to top I found I was on the summit of yet another mountain. It was raining pretty hard by now but, it actually felt really nice and I could see that the clouds were going to drift over. So I admired the view in the clouds and waited for it to clear so I could get some good photos. Then I walked back down to the car. On the way back I stopped at the Glass Mountains lookout where you could see the whole range. That's where I took the photo of Mount Ngungun in the distance.

Then I drove to Brisbane and the Honda dealership to check the status of the car sale. I had e-mailed Liam my passport photo but had not heard back from him about the title search he was supposed to do so, I wanted to check that there was no problem that was going to hold me up tomorrow. He assured me that all was well.

So I continued on to find the Comfort Inn I had booked for my last night in Australia. I checked in and then went out to find some dinner. When I returned I spent the rest of the night organizing my bags so that I would have what I needed on the plane and so that my warm clothing would be available for the flight. Then I went to bed for the last time in Australia.

Gurri

Views along 75 Mile Beach.

The pounding surf beneath Indian Head.

The Pinnacles.

The wreckage of the SS Maheno.

Eli Creek and ...

some Aussie Aussie guy cooling off with a beer.

Thursday Janary 5^th

Gurri is the aboriginal name for Fraser Island and means paradise.

We were up by 6:30 for the included breakfast before boarding the bus for the drive further along 75 Mile Beach to its northern end and one of three volcanic outcrops that provided the anchor for the drifting sand that eventually created the island. This outcrop is called Indian Head. We took a short half hour hike to the crest of the hill and were rewarded with spectacular views of the beaches to the north and south of it. From the top we could see Eagle rays swimming in the water below. Keith said that it was a good vantage point to see sharks and whales too at the right season.

This was the northern most point we were going to. Now we turned around and visited a couple of things on the way back. We stopped at the wreckage of the SS Maheno, a luxury liner from the olden days that was commissioned for military use during both wars and then auctioned off to a Japanese company who had it towed. But unfortunately during a storm the line had to be cut and it drifted onto the sandy island of Fraser. They tried to tow it off again but it was permanently mired here. Most of the decks of the ship are buried in the sand and only the superstructure is visible above.

Then we stopped at the Pinnacles which are sandstone structures that are eroding in much the same way as the Badlands. The muti-coloured sand is a result of mineral deposits. In fact before Fraser Island became a World Heritage Site the sand was mined here for the ores in it and the island was intensively logged.

Our last stop was at Eli Creek for another 'swim'. There were lots of other tourists here and most had brought flotation tubes or air mattresses with them to float down the creek. There was a boardwalk that lead a couple of hundred metres into the forest where you could put them into the water and float down to the beach again. The water was again crystal clear and pure. However, the water was only about knee to waist deep and instead of swimming I waded down the creek to cool off.

After that we began our drive back down 75 Mile Beach to the car ferry and then back to Inskip Peninsula and the drive back to Noosa Heads where I picked up my car and drove back to the Sunshine Coast.

I spent the last of the evening talking to Val and Phil about the trip and then headed off to bed.

Fraser Island

Rainbow Beach.

The ferry at Inskip Peninsula.

Lake Birrabeen and the white silica sands.

The invisible waters of the Wanggoolba Creek.

A strangler vine suffocating a tree.

Wednesday January 4^th
When I went to Queensland back in June, one of the places I wanted to get to was Fraser Island. I had heard that this was a four wheel drive adventure place full of beaches, beautiful blue fresh water lakes, white silica sand beaches and rainforests. However, I didn't really have enough time and it was still at least twelve hours of driving south of Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands. So, I decided I would leave it until my last holidays as I drove up to Brisbane to fly home.

I booked a two day trip on a four wheel drive bus with a group of forty people. I drove an hour and a half north to Noosa Heads to meet the bus. The bus originated in the Gold Coast, three hours south. I parked my car there and boarded the bus for the drive through Great Sandy National Park to Rainbow Beach. They claim there are over twenty different colours of sand here as a result of the minerals deposited in the rock and sand of the area. We off loaded and sent an hour having lunch, looking at the beach from the cliff above and exploring the town. Then we boarded again and drove to the Inskip Peninsula to catch the car ferry to Fraser Island. This is a large sand bar where people fish and the ferry just drops its front gate onto the sand and the utes and truck drive on. The trip across was uneventful, although our guide Keith told us that on New Year's Eve day, a rented 4 wheel drive ute rolled off the back of the ferry, floated for 30 seconds and then sank with all the belongings and valuables of the backpackers who had rented it. Luckily no one was on it at the time. Watch the video here:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2017/01/car-rolls-off-ferry-en-route-to-fraser-island.html

Fraser Island is about 120 kilometres in length and is approximately 24 kilometres in width. It was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 square kilometres and is the largest island on the East Coast of Australia. It is famous for being the only place in the world where rainforests grow on sand dunes.

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants.

The island is also home to about 150 dingos. We were warned by Keith and signs all over the park not to approach or run away from them as the might be aggressive. There was a sign in our hotel advising not to go jogging as this might trigger an attack.

Our guide, Keith, drove the bus up the 75 Mile Beach, which is the main thorough fare on the island and up a sand road behind the dunes to Lake Birrabeen, one of the over forty fresh water lakes, for a swim. Most of these lakes are called 'perched' lakes because they are perched on top of the sand and don't drain through the sand. The bottom consists of compacted sand and plant matter that has become hard enough and impervious to the water.

It is dangerous to swim in the ocean here as the surf is rough, the rip currents strong and there are many species of sharks around the island. And another guide told Keith that four people had been stung by the potentially lethal irukandji jellyfish and airlifted to hospital last week. The jellyfish are small, clear and invisible but pack a deadly dose of venom that can stop your heart. The lakes have some of the cleanest fresh water in the world. The lake was surrounded by pure white silica sand that was so white it hurt the eyes. We had a nice refreshing swim and relaxed there for a couple of hours.

Then we drove further up the beach before cutting inland through the coastal vegetation and into the rainforest. We went for an hour long walk along the Wanggoolba Creek and through the forest. The water in the creek was so clear that you could see the sand on the bottom and couldn't see the water at all unless you saw the ripples. I love the sound and smell of the forests.

Then we continued on the beach again to our accommodation for the night, the Eurong Beach Resort. We were housed in four share rooms. The main building had a restaurant that served us a large buffet dinner. Then we went down to the beach bar and had a beer before retiring in preparation for an early start.

What do I do With My Car?

My wheels, with the bike inside and the dent in the door from the Uber driver.

 Some interesting signs on the highways.

What the hell does that mean?

Mundy and Graham.

Tuesday January 3^rd

I have been avoiding, worrying and wondering what I was going to do with my Honda CRV. Maybe the easiest thing would have been to sell it in Melbourne and rent a vehicle to drive to Brisbane. Maybe that would have been cost effective, but the fact is I love this car and wanted to drive it. Plus, it had the space in it to carry my boxed bicycle and my luggage. So that is what I did. However, upon arriving in Queensland and talking to Valerie, Phil, Hossam and Trisha, I discovered selling it here would be potentially problematic. Apparently, selling it here in Queensland with Victoria plates would require a change of registration and a certificate of road worthiness. I know the car would need some repairs to pass that and that would require a mechanic, expense and time. Selling the car privately with the existing plates (that are still good for six months) would also be a potential problem, as if that person didn't report themselves as the new owners they could amass tickets and offences that would go against me. I told Hossam and Trisha that maybe I should just take the plates off it and abandon it at the airport when I dropped off my bike. Trish talked to her dad and he told her to tell me not to do that as I would be fined and future admission into Australia would be a problem. He offered to help me out and pick it up from the airport and take the car to a wrecker.

Considering all of this, I decided to call a Honda dealership near the airport in Brisbane and talked to someone there. I told them my situation and the fact that there is still lots of life left in the car and that someone could make use of it. They told me they don't usually take cars of that age or with that much mileage but they do have a used car division and they might be prepared to give me something for it, and they would take care of all the license plate and ownership issues. So, I drove the hour to Brisbane to talk to them and let them see the vehicle. The salesman, Liam, offered me $750 for it. Considering all of my options, I could live with this, especially because he said I could keep the car the next four days and drop it off on Saturday after I took my stuff to the airport.

I'm not unhappy with the price either, as I only paid $5000 dollars for it. There is no other way I could have had a vehicle for less money. I put 40000 kilometres on it and over the year only had to replace the tires, the rear brakes, a radiator and the battery. It never broke down on me, other than when that one tire fell apart on my drive from Tasmania to Adelaide. I loved that vehicle and it owed me nothing. I hoped that someone else (hopefully some backpackers) could get some pleasure out of it too. So, I signed the vehicle over to them and drove back to the Sunshine Coast.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the town of Coloundra before spending the evening talking to Val and Phil and Phil's brother Graham and his wife Mundy, who were on their way home to Cairns after visiting family for Christmas in Sydney.

Grantham and Hossam

The beautiful, large home.

Hossam and Aliya.

Interesting signpost in Toowoomba.

Aliya, Trisha and Hossam in the Picnic Point Restaurant.

The view.

Monday, January 2^nd

Today I had arranged to visit another of my friends from my world tour trip. When I went through Egypt right after the revolution I traveled with an Intrepid tour. The guide was Hossam and there were only three people in the group, two English sisters who kept to themselves and me. So I got to know Hossam quite well over the two weeks. He was a great guide and quite positive about the changes that he hoped the revolution would make in Egypt. He thought at the time that the country was turning a corner in a positive more democratic direction. However, it didn't turn out that way and the tourist industry dried up and he was out of work. I had located him on Linkedin and kept in contact with him and when I came to Australia I found he was married and living west of Brisbane. So I contacted him and said I would visit him at the end of my year as I headed home through Brisbane.

I drove the scenic back route through the rural area to get to the town of Grantham. This is a very small remote village. I found Hossam's house up on high ground. It was obviously a very new house. Hossam introduced me to his wife Trisha and their 10 month old girl Aliya.

We talked for a while about how Sam (his new Australian name) came to meet Trisha (on one of his tours a couple of years after I was there) and his journey from Egypt to Australia. He talked about the latent racism that is here and his struggles to find work in the tourist industry, despite the fact that he had won an award as 2^nd best travel guide in the world as voted by Intrepid tourists, because he didn't have a degree in tourism.

Then they drove me further west to Toowoomba. This is the largest inland city in Australia, other than Canberra the capital, which is pretty amazing when you consider the country is over 4000 kilometres across and Toowoomba is only 180 kilometres from the coast. There is a stat that says 90% of Canadians live within a hundred kilometres of the American border. I think it is also probably true that 90% of Australians live within a hundred kilometres of the coast.

This is the town where Trisha went to school and university (and explained to me how he wound up here). They told me about the flood of January 9, 2011 when torrents of rain water run off overwhelmed a dam in Toowoomba and rushed down the valley to the sea wiping out a large part of Grantham killing about a dozen people, including the wife and three kids of a man who was out helping to save other people. There are videos on YouTube of cars and houses being washed away.

We drove up to the Picnic Point Restaurant which sits on top of a hill that commands a view all the way to the ocean (on a clear day). They treated me to a great meal as we continued to talk and swap stories and remembrances.

Then we drove back to their house. They drove me around and explained how the families that were washed out were not allowed to rebuild and given land on higher ground to avoid a similar disaster in the future. We talked about their life in Grantham. Trisha works locally and her parents live a half hour away. Sam has secured a job as a refugee settlement counselor because although he didn't have the qualifications, they wanted him because he was the only applicant who could speak Arabic, and the people he would be working with are from Darfur. He has a three year contract. So they decided to settle in Grantham where they could buy a lot of land for $80000 and built a great house on it. As they said they can afford a larger place and a better living style than living in a large city.

I had a great visit and but had to drive back before it got too dark. When I left it started raining and soon became pretty torrential. I took the more direct route straight back to Brisbane and then up to the Sunshine Coast to Coloundra. The rain stopped when I got to Brisbane and then the driving was easier.

When I got back I called Sam to say I had arrived safely and he called the next morning and told me they had received 72mm of rain overnight (more than the previous month total) and that the dry, dead grass we trod on in his backyard was now green and alive! 

New Year's Day and Golden Beach

Golden Beach.

Moffat Beach.

Love the patterns in the rock.

Shelley Beach.

Sunday January 1^st

Okay, now it is 2017 and the end is coming quickly. I wonder what this year will bring... Where will I be this time next year on my four over five leave year?

I spent today exploring some of the many beaches in the area including the one beside the party house from last night. When I went there there were still lots of people at the party who had slept over and were in various stages of hangovers.

The beaches are beautiful and the water is much warmer than it was in Victoria or New South Wales, but I was still shy of the area of Queensland inhabited by saltwater crocodiles and deadly jellyfish.

I swam for a bit and hung out on the beaches enjoying the hot weather, thinking about the cold weather that is waiting for me back home, reflecting on the year and people watching.

In the evening we enjoyed a bbq and talked about travel and skydiving.

John Hind called me from England as the New Year wrung in there. It was great to catch up with him and Dottie and I got a chance to talk to her sister too. He still plans on joining me on my travels next year.