Back to Nature in Down Under
By emptying the beach sand out of my trouser pockets and after a good shower I finally got back to civilization after we cheered goodbye to our mobile phones and electricity since 2 days on the lonely sand island Moreton Island directly in front of Brisbane's estuary waters. There were nine of us, the four Dutch women Anne, Paulien, Marjolein and Saskia and we five German fellows. Three Irishmen and other Germans also went on the adventure trip through dusty deserts and beaches.
!{The vast sandy deserts of Moreton Island}(https://strapi.puck567.startdedicated.de/uploads/nature2_8ed1bc8a5f.png "The vast sandy deserts of Moreton Island")
Moreton Island is one of the most beautiful paradises in Australia, next to Fraser Island, which we are planning to visit soon, one of the largest Australian islands with a charm all of its own. Moreton is the second largest sand island in the world, made up of layers of sand formed by brine, sandstone and red earth over a period of more than 1000 years.
After a half-hour drive from Roma Street Station in rustic, bumpy, clattering Australian Toyota jeeps, we took the two-hour ferry to Morreton. The day was sunny and cloud-free, so that we let the sun burn our skins on the sun deck to enjoy the remainders of the beach climates, which were perceived as somewhat inflationary at the end. On the way there were tons of jellyfishes, the world's three most dangerous species which are native to Queensland and can paralyze people with their poisons. Besides the jellyfishes we also saw tons of dangerous spiders around 20cm in size at our campsite where we slept.
Arriving in Moreton revealed a beach beauty of insane proportions: steep sandy cliffs, surrounded by tourists with jeeps and SUVs on the outside, untouched and wild on the inside in the tropical forest. We took a coastal jeep track and turned inland, one of the wildest off-road tracks of my life. At up to eighty kilometers per hour, we drove through semi-developed, one-lane sandy roads, where even four-wheel drive cars often get stuck for several hours and even a car overturned during our trip, which delayed our trip by an hour and allowed us an extended Crystal Lake chillout . One of our off-road vehicles went on the fritz at the end of the first day, so we had to push it several times and start the expedition, which had now become an "adventure tour".
In the forest itself there were unusual tree species such as gum trees, which are in the song of Australian songwriter John Williamson and possess strange survival tactics. During bushfires, the first tree to grow in the area is a shoot from the remnant of the Australian gumtree, helping to spread it.
The first action was a sandboarding ride at the largest sand dune of the world. Instead of snowboards, we used wooden boards with a rough top and waxed bottom, which took us to speeds of over 70mph. So we lay down on the board or in pairs on top of each other. Bernd and I pulled off the biggest stunt of the day when he hit the sand on a "Twin Ride" and we flipped sideways spectacularly. :)
At 12 o'clock we continued tirelessly to the campsite and directed to the "Hidden Beach path" by the Blue Lagoon, just 10 minutes away: a crystal-clear lake in a jungle landscape, in which we relaxed like paradise from our regular island trips, either with snorkeling equipment or floating on the sea, fully without waves.
At noon Adam and Mraz, our tour guides, gave us a speed run for the freshest vegetables and cool Coles Lemonade, beach burgers with fresh vegetables and Aussi meat. As we almost did throughout the two days, we sunbathed and beachwalked across the island's gaping Northern Point to the sunny West Coast and the Champagne pools. The shells (most amazing shellfishes) are now expanding my newly created collection: Purple shells and tiger shells in the most dazzling colors fascinated me, even if I was never a shell collector. They are always nice gifts for those who stayed home. After two hours of sunbathing on Honeymoon Beach, we headed back to the campsite towards the evening campfire.
In the evening there was a surprising Barbie again - a barbecue with marshmallows, campsite fire and guitar songs by Adam, who was still reluctant at first and who had fled from the English business world ("It's just a rat race, Everybody wants to be another self"). Strumming to himself, he finally (after the fire half burned out) showed us his songwriting sophistication and good taste by playing campfire songs by Marvin Gaye and the Beautiful Girls, some of my favorite musicians, which, by the way, Kai unlovingly described as "Jack Johnson cuts". And further: "Everything on the Campfire sounds like Jack Johnson". Campfire songs describe a different way of life, so in the end it's a piece of wisdom.
A few of us then soon fell asleep on the beach hanging in the sleeping bags after a few glasses of wine, while most of us stayed until the morning and were astonished by the beautiful sunrise on the eastern Golden Beach at our campsite. The stars were beautiful this evening, the Milky Way and the zodiac sign Libra as well as countless stars that had never been looked at in detail illuminated the civilized, unlit night sky. Too often there is no time for these considerations, nature will never be found so untouched again, and certainly nowhere else in Europe.
The Sausages in the morning were, part of the Australian custom and a hell of agony, were finally disposed, which challenged the tour operators, but which was no miracle considering the lack of English and Australian people and the unmistakable mockery of the other nations present. The Vegemite ("Give it a try") and peanut butter sandwiches, along with semi-warm instant coffee, made us be awoke nonetheless.
The next day was all about Lookouts and - of course - Beachlife. The Lighthousewalk leads towards the Northern Point and is the island's only crag made up of jagged stone cliffs. Hermits built up the lighthouse 150 years ago and escaped prisoners lived here in the wasteland. From the lighthouse you have a good view to the turbulent sea desert, dolphins and manatees have not been seen - yet. The ledges of the rock are made of pure red sandstone, the sight is very similar to the Rocky Mountains. After half an hour cliff sit-in, we volunteers declared ready for the climbing tour, but then relaxed for the remaining of half an hour - at the sight of the most professional surfers, from whom we copied the upcoming tricks for the next week's Surfer's Paradise Tour - while sunbathing on the beach. Shortly before departure, dolphins and whales gave us a greeting, jumping between the surfers.
After a swim in at the lagoon and dinner, we went on the wild tour of return through the backlands to the west coast, where we saw thousands of fish around as well as shipwrecks, sometimes a meter long, as far as the snorkeling equipment allowed . By luck you catched some good or bad snorkels. The shipwrecks were built as a ship graveyard off the west coast in order to break the strong waves. The current almost swept us off there, it's so strong it pushes through the shipwrecks. The ship tour back went towards a heavenly red sunset, which encouraged us to have fun by talking and taking some nice final pictures.
Finally it was one of the most beautiful and exciting weekends recently in one of the few remaining paradises. Pictures of it will follow very soon, the cut-off from nature made it impossible to publish the pictures immediately. But I'm still waiting for the other people's albums, since my camera, like two others on this trip, has already died. So we'll see soon, greetings to home and to the rest of the world..