Fistzroy Island

OUr adventures to Fitzroy Island began bright and early at roughly 6:00am because we needed to catch the 7:01 bus to be downtown by 7:45 to make it to the boat terminal by 8:00 and depart at 8:30.  So once we successfully get out of the door at 6:45 we wait half and hour at the bus stop, because these buses run on island time and you can never count on them to be within 5 minutes of their promised time.  We then call the bus company who informs me that they are running on a Sunday schedule because today is a holiday, therefore the bus to pick us up is coming at 7:39.  Then a bus comes by and informs us that the bus to take us to downtown is having "problems" and he is not sure when he'll be here.  Finally the bus arrives, at 7:50.  They have to unload the bus onto another bus because of it's problems and then we're off, on a positive note, he was so grumpy about them not giving him a working ticket machine, he said no one had to pay.  We arrive downtown, miraculously, at 8:13.  As soon as we got off the bus we began a mad dash to the boat terminal to pick up our tickets and run to the boat.  After the annoyance of waiting around and the adrenaline of running to catch a boat we successfully find three seats up top on the ferry.  And the real fun began.
We started the day with a hike through the forest, it was hard to believe you even a bit close to the ocean with all the vines and dense vegetation.  We saw lots of these odd large birds, about the size of brush turkeys with tiny heads and large orange feet, that make so much noise digging around in the forest it's amazing they haven't all been eaten. 
We then made our way along the beach and picked up some half day snorkel mask rentals.  We found a nice private spot far down the beach and taught my housemate Chue how to snorkel, which is even more amazing considering that she has yet to be formally taught how to swim.  We saw several fish, a giant sea urchin, and loads of often coral.  There was so much coral that in most areas the beach was completely covered in large pieces of deal, broken coral and no sand was visible.  After a few hours of lounging and snorkeling we had lunch on the beach and decided to head off on a hike.
The fact that the hike was only 2.8 km was very misleading.  although it was not very long there were portion of the hike where I was seriously debating crawling rather than trying to walk up the steep slope.   Eventually we came to a lighthouse and climbed ladders all the way to the top to have an amazing view of the ocean around the island. 
After a very sweaty walk back to the beach we found a super nice secluded spot under some large shady trees and just enjoyed the view for several more hours.  We found lots of sea glass and some really cool snail shells that were whole.  We also saw a goanna on beach.  It's a very large lizard that eats eggs that it finds and apparently hisses at you when it is sick of having its photo taken.  It was extremely relaxing and enjoyable and we were all a bit sad to leave such a beautiful place.
On the way back we spotted several whales in a small cove, it was all very exciting and the boat was completely silent for a good ten minutes just watching the whale spouts.
When we got back to the city we went to a place that was recommended for us by one of our tour guides, an irish pub called PJ O'Brien's.  The have a deal where you can get a full meal plus a drink (beer, wine, spirits or soda) for just 12$.  My ribs were super good, and the meat literally fell off the bone.  We did a quick tour through the night markets and found some cheap deals on souvenirs.
We took a very crowded bus home and walked back from the uni to our lovely little house, then realized that we had been out of the house for more than twelve hours! I was a wonderful day.  The great adventures made the stress of the morning seem very amusing.  It definitely got me ready to get out and see more of Australia while I'm here, and to make sure I get someone to cover the center of my back with sunscreen so I don't end up with a very odd tan line...again...

 Snorkel!!!

The beach at Fitzroy Island.