Olga, Scuttles and Charred Feet- Moreton Island

It wasn't until I got home this weekend that I fully comprehended the amusement of this past weekend which was spent on a three day, 4x4 tour of Moreton Island. I really don't even know where to begin because we did so much that everything just blended together. Therefore, instead of attempting to write this in a logical manner, I'll explain the highlights in no specific order:

1. Joe and Olga. An old, Italian couple who also did the tour. I have no idea what they were thinking when they signed up for it because they strike me as the type who would rather spend their weekend in a bed and breakfast, not camping on an island. After our first adventure of climbing up the world's largest sand dune, I thought that they might die. However, their surivival was a good thing because Joe blessed us with only speaking in Italian grunts the rest of the weekend (I honestly didn't hear him say one word the entire time) and with the opportunity to take the best picture of my life (see below):
2. Scuttles. I cannot stand crabs (FYI, all crabs are called "scuttles" in my book). If they want to pinch me or not, I want nothing to do with them. Therefore, when we arrived on the isolated of all isolated beaches and were told to go look at the scuttles, I knew I was in for it. There weren't just a few scuttles. Or a few hundred. There were thousands. Actually, take infinity to the infinite power, and that's how many scuttles there were. I wanted to vomit. And the worst part is that everyone was basking in the scuttles, rolling around in them as if it was some spa treatment. However, scuttle beach turned into one of my favorite areas because there were "rivers" formed from the tides that were as warm as bath water and would let the current carry you until you got held up in sand. Then I would just roll.

3. Ship Wrecks. To help tourism and marine life, several ships were sunk around the island. We were able to snorkel around them, which was quite fun until Shawn saw a shark (I have never seen anyone book it so fast out of the water before). On the last day we were scheduled to snorkel some more, but a wicked storm blew in that was awesome to watch. Included in this storm watching was us diving into the ocean only to come flailing back to the safety of the 4x4 when lightning struck and dolphins and loggerhead turtles swimming right in front of the area that we were watching. Below is a picture of some of the ship wrecks, with an attempt of a Happy Thanksgiving greeting to you Americans.

4. Pain and annoyances. Yes, these are highlights because I find great pleasure in complaining about anything and everything. One, it was super hot. As in I thought I was going to suffocate at night in the tent. Two, which goes along with one, the sand scorched our feet. Granted, it doesn't help that my flip flops have holes in their soles because I am too cheap to buy new ones. To escalate the problem, I poured boiling water onto the top of my foot (do not ask), which fortunately only temporarily made my foot purple. Three, flies were on the rampage. Toward the end of the weekend, I resigned to the fact that they would constantly be on me, no matter how much I thrashed around.

5. Sand Boarding. Oh. My. Word. I can't even explain how much fun I had doing this (even though I was terrified). I absolutely love sledding...and warm weather... so the combination was epic. Yes, I believe epic is an overused word, but I cannot describe this any other way. To see where I am coming from, it would be in your best interest to watch the following videos:

First time down. Yes, screaming does help.

Tandeming with Stephanie. Best part: the crash at the end.

I could go on and on about every single thing that we did, but that means this post would be a novel long and no one would want to read it (let's be honest, there is a negative correlation b/w the length of a blog entry and the amount of people who read it). Some last words is that one of my favourite areas was Blue Lake that was near our campsite. It was a gorgeous, fresh water lake that we swam in numerous times throughout the day. I also enjoyed the champaign pools, which was an area surrounded my large rocks that we stood in to get trampled by waves. Fun, I know.

Sadly, I have one more tripped planned, and then its exams and heading back to the states. But it's the mother of all trips.. the Outback... one week... in the summer... we might die.