Rainbow Beach

We arrived at Rainbow Beach at 9:30am after a long, over-night bus. However, with having slept a majority of the trip, (you know me, I was out in 5-minutes and slept for all but 30-minutes of the drive) I felt quite rested and eager to get to the beach. Check-in wasn’t until 11am, which meant I had some time to kill.

A mural on the wall at one of our food breaks on the Greyhound.

I sat along with many others in the lounge, and attempted to catch up on my journal. Two girls I had met on the bus came and sat down and we chatted a bit. They weren’t going on a trip to Fraser Island until Tuesday, and thus were available to hang out in the afternoon, while everyone else had to attend an informational meeting for their tour. So, after checking in we planned to meet up and finally head to the beach.

The beach, which was just a 2-minute walk, offered the comfort of stinger free waters and on duty lifesavers, so when we saw everyone else boogie boarding, we didn’t hesitate to join in. I had never boogie boarded, but after watching some of the locals, I entered the water and tried it out. An easy sport to pick up, I quickly felt in love with it, and couldn’t be separated from my board.

Mentally preparing to attempt my first go at Boogie Boarding

Returning from the beach, I relaxed a bit before we met up again to go on a hike to the Carlo Sand Blow lookout. Named by Captain Cook, its unique moonscape sand mass covers over 15 hectares and overlooks the towering colored sands. The 360-degree views are spectacular. All this buildup however to tell you, we didn’t make it to the vantage point.

Sunset from the trees

I think there were a number of reasons why we missed on the amazing views of the Carlo Sand Blow lookout including: 1. We didn’t leave early enough before sunset, 2. we didn’t exactly know where the trailhead was, and 3.  one of us got scared (which wasn’t actually me.) I had timed our “hike” into the woods, and with only 30 minutes left of sunlight, and us 30 minutes into deep woods, we decided to turn around. It was unfortunate, but we preferred to be safe, rather than sorry. With us without jumpers, a torch, proper hiking shoes (we foolishly were wearing flip flops), a cell phone, or any knowledge of our whereabouts, we headed back to the hostel. Perhaps next time I will be better prepared… However, along our hike we did see the sunset through the trees and it was amazing how the sun lit up the woods.

Reflection of the setting sun on the trees

Colorful and Amazing...as the sunsets are here in Oz!

With it being Halloween I expected something to be happening at the hostel, however nothing special was on schedule, except the showing of Halloween. What a different way to celebrate Halloween. I loved spending it in the sun at the beach, but yet kind of missed the twix and butterfingers, sadly.