Hervey Bay
“In the beginning the Universe was created… This made a lot of people angry and was widely regarded as a bad move.”
— Douglas Adams
Yeah, Baby Yeah!! Hervey Bay was to be my departure point for Fraser Island. I was amused by the Australian pronunciation of “Hervey,” and even a few British girls had a chuckle over it. Utter chaos broke out when the hostel I arrived at was full. Darn, I had to get a hotel for the night. This really sucked. I’d been paying about $15–18 Canadian for hostel and camping stays, and now I was paying sixty bucks — but with no snoring, smelly hostel pals. Hmmmm… I could get used to this.
While exploring Hervey Bay, I came across Vic Hislop’s Great White Shark attraction. Pretty funny stuff — although after seeing it, I abandoned my swimming plans for the day. Hervey Bay is also famous for whale watching, particularly during the annual humpback whale migration, and I happened to be there at the right time. I saw quite a few whales while I was in the area.
I also did some diving here, and I remember the instructor telling us, “If you see a white pointer — a great white shark — you must all form a circle around me, and I will lead you back to the boat.” Ya right! Let’s form this nice circle of meat so the centre piece of meat can make it back to the boat alive!
From Hervey Bay, it was time to head for Fraser Island — one of the places I’d been looking forward to most on the entire Australian adventure.
