G'day mate! Experience Australia Day 1

Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort - Sand Tobagganing and Feeding Dolphins

G'day mate!

This is a new update on Skylar's travels, and this time round, it is Down Under Australia, Brisbane's Moreton Island and Gold Coast!

One of my dream destinations has always been Australia, and i was really glad that i finally had the opportunity to travel there, and also found an ideal travelling mate who has a burning desire to go Australia as well. We started discussing when is the best time to go there, and which part of Australia. Ideally we had wanted to go in Nov when it is Spring Down Under, but due to work committments, we brought forward the trip to May, when it is Autumn. We also decided to go to Gold Coast as a start, before exploring other parts of Australia in future trips.

We booked a tour package with Chan Brothers at the Natas Travel Fair in late Feb. It was a 7D6N trip which costs us about $2K each. We will be flying by Qantas, and going to stay at two places, Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton island, and Surfer's paradise at Gold Coast.

Our flight was at 9:35 pm on 13 May '08. I was feeling rather excited, and slightly apprehensive about taking an overnight flight as it would mean that im not likely to get a good sleep! The flight would take about 7 hours, and would reach Brisbane airport at about Brisbane time 6:30 am. As it was probably not holiday season, most of the passengers were non-Singaporeans and probably many Australians (tho. i can't be sure bout that). I looked through the movie catalogue and decided to watch "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street". It was not really a good choice as the TV screen was already quite dark, and it was difficult to see clearly some of the really dark scenes. And i thought the movie wasnt as good as what critics have reviewed? Heh probably it was just me who cant appreciate such movie genre.

As i had expected, i didn't really have a good sleep, but just took a few winks that proved to be sufficient to last me for the rest of the day. Woke up at 5 am to watch "10 things i hate about you" (one good thing about the movies on demand is that they have both the latest movies, as well as classic/encore movies. predominantly, the encore movies featured Heather Ledger like Brokeback Mountain, A Knight's tale, Casanova etc.).

The plane touched down at Brisbane airport at about 6:40 am, Brisbane time. We met with our tour leader from the local travel agent, Experience Tour Australia (ETA) at the entrance. We have only 8 members on our tour, so no tour leader from Singapore's Chan Brothers flew with us, and instead we would be brought around by the Australia tour leader. The tour leader was called Nick (and thereafter we nicknamed him Nick Fury for fun, hehe), and he drove us to Holt Street Wharf to take a boat to Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton island. We had a quick stop at Eagle Street Pier for some light breakfast before we went on to Holt Street Wharf. One thing interesting was the weather in Brisbane. It was slightly cold in the morning at about 15 degree celsius, yet it was very sunny and i couldnt keep my eyes open hehe.

Here are some photos taken at Eagle Street pier:











Thereafter we were off to Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort on Moreton island via boat. The journey took about 1 hour 15 mins, and it was about 11:15 am by the time our boat reached the shores of Moreton island. Moreton Island is a large sand island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay, on the coast of south-east Queensland, Australia. The island is about 98% National Park, and is a popular destination for Sand Tobogganing, Four Wheel driving and whale watching. It has also a wide variety of flora and fauna, and has many beautiful sceneries to offer to visitors.

Some pictures around the resort. The place was really beautiful, particularly the beach:













Beautiful, isn't it?

We went on for a 4WD (4 Wheel Drive) Desert safari tour and then Sand Tobogganing on the sand hills. The bus took us south-east of the resort on a very bumpy ride to the Tangalooma Desert, which is an enormous "sand blow" of about 42 hectares. The sand track was originally built by the Army during WWII to lead to Fort Rous on the eastern ocean beach (that faces the Pacific Ocean).

The sand dunes:







The bus that took us on the desert tour to the sand dunes:



The real fun begins when we started sand tobogganing!
Basically, we have to climb to the top of the sand dune (in the first picture), and then ride on a thin, waxed board at high speed all the way down the dune! The sand dune was at least 150-foot high, which is about 6-7 floors high? Pretty nerve-wrecking if you think about sliding down such a high cliff and only on a thin, wooden board! But it was really fun! I must admit the trek up the sand dune was very tiring tho, esp. since the sand was so soft that there's some difficulty in pulling your legs up to take the next step.

Before we went up on the sand dune:





On the way up the sand dune:



Thereafter, one way down the 150-foot high sand dune *Whee~~~~





It was a thrilling ride in the sense that i was really afraid i would somehow tumble on my way down the dune without my board! But i guess i worry too much. Cos the force of gravity is so great, and the sand was so smooth that it was simply just one way down admist the sand blown onto your face!

Our wind/sand-blown faces after the ride:





We were happy yet exhausted after the desert safari tour and sand tobagganing. We had about 2 hours left before going to feed wild dolphins at 6pm. It was pretty relaxing to stroll along the beach, and enjoy the wonderful scenery. We also stopped by the souvenir cum groccery 7-11 style shop. I bought some wonderful postcards that featured the beautiful sceneries of Moreton island and Tangalooma wild dolphin resort.

The sky was already dark by 6pm. As it was our first time in a country with a rather different climate from Singapore, we were qt surprised.











We waited at the jetty where the dolphins would swim in from the ocean.
Many visitors also gathered there, as the dolphins started to swim in a few at a time. They're actually family of 2 generations, and the younger dolphins were simply adorable!

The resort staff came over with the fishes that would be fed to the dolphins and started organising the visitors into groups. We had to first wash our hands with the antiseptic solution that was prepared for us, and take 1 fish each from the bucket. We were told that we should not touch/hit the dolphins while feeding them so as to minimise harm to these wild creatures.

It was very chilly and windy. We waited VERY patiently for our turn. I couldnt stop shivering as we waited on the sand with the winds blowing at us from the sea. However, i was really thrilled by the experience of feeding the dolphins. We were supposed to gently hold the fish and put our hand into the water. The dolphin would take the fish on its own. We were allowed to feed the dolphin 3 times. I was so tempted to touch and stroke the dolphin, and had to keep reminding myself that i should protect such delicate animals from harm.



We had a quick bath after that, and went for our dinner.
As we had a long day and didn't sleep much on the flight, we eventually went to sleep at about 9pm.