Whitsunday Islands

The ship, Boomerang, run by the Southern Cross was my first choice since it always started on Sunday and I could jump on the boat on the same day arriving at Airlie Beach. No single day was wasted. However, it was full so I chose another ship called Ileola for the hostress of the Friendly Hostel offering me a good discount. Unfortunately, two brothers of the company picked me up at the bus station and told me that I was the only guest on the boat and they were forced to cancel the sailing. They found another ship, the Hammer instead. Although I was not happy in the beginning, I enjoyed the sailing very much later. In these 3 days, I just lazily strolled on the white fine sand beach, snorkelled with my precious mju-770sw, bathing the soothing sun on the deck, and met many friends...

Before heading for the boat, I took this picture at sea shore. This was the first time I saw the sea with light blue color.	The mast of the boat: the HAMMER.
The sail.	The Boomerang.
Beautiful coral.	Shimmering...
	We anchored the Hammer at this peaceful cove with a few other companions.
The boat leant to one side for the strong wind.	Thanks for the good wind, we were outpacing the Boomerang.
	The Route.

Fraser Island

It is the largest sand island in the world and is enlist in the World Heritage. The aboriginal people believed it was transformed from a beautiful goddess. I joined a 2-day tour organised by the Fraser Island Company. A friendly and maybe a little bit talkative guide took us to visit every famous spots on the island including the rainforest, Lake Wabby, 75 Mile Beach, Indian Head, Champagne Pools, The Pinnacles, Maheno Wreck. I also knew some good friends coming from other country. There was a cute little Korean girl in our group, coming to Australia on the working holiday.

A special barge took us and the 4WD to the Fraser Island.	The 4WD bus was necessary to drive on the sand.
The 75 Mile Beach. We spotted whales here. We changed 3 4WD's in one day because they broke down easily.	Eli Creek: the longest freshwater creek on the Island. It's fun to wade the creek.

Sunshine Coast

I left Brisbane and bought the 7-day pass from Greyhound. I took a 2-hour bus to Noosa Heads and visited the beautiful national park. Then in the evening, I arrived at Hervey Bay, the stopover point to the Fraser Island. I love the Noosa Heads National Park very much. Sadly, most of the digital signals were destroyed by the merciless sea water...

This wingless bird was spotted near the gas station when the bus stopped for a brief rest.

This hostel got a "thumb-up" recommendation from "Let's Go". It was truly inexpensive, comfortable, and clean. However, the hostress was a little bit austere. Any tiny violation of her rules was not allowed.

Brisbane

I started my journey from Sydney, but all the photos taken there were lost forever.

Brisbane City Hall. It was a heavy rainy day, so I brought the water-proof mju-770sw with me. Maybe you've already known that I dropped my S3IS into the sea and lost most of photos, too. Therefore, these photos were the only set I took in the first week in Australia.	From the observatory deck, a church, which looks like a Lego brick, on the King George Square could be seen. The view on the deck was not so impressive for many skyscrapers surrounding the City Hall
The people cleverly changed the flooding area into a beautiful botanic garden.	A path between two rows of bamboos.
The Story Bridge.	The City Cat. It was the bus on the Brisbane River.
The South Bank Parklands, built on the former site of the 1988 World Expo.	The man-made lagoon which was surrounded by real sand beach. I wondered if it is possible to have this kind of lagoon in Taipei.
The city skyline from the south bank.	In the afternoon, I took the last bus to the Mount Coot-tha. I wish that I had more than 10 minutes to meander in this dreamy land.

Eagle Creek

想當一個真正的“背包客“的夢想，今天終於實現了，這是我的戰利品，8910 元可以拉著走的背包：

看起來並不大，容量也有六十四公升呢。

剪羊毛秀

為了規劃我的澳洲假期，收集了不少關於澳洲的旅遊書，昨晚翻到了世界自由行中布里斯本的部份，有提到澳洲牧場(Australian Woolshed)，還有介紹剪羊毛秀，勾起了我前年到紐西蘭玩的回憶。

xD Card

真不曉得 Fujifilm 和 Olympus 弄出這種規格是在做什麼？

自從有了 mju-770SW 之後，我就多了一片 2G 的 xD 卡，規格是 Fujifilm 的 M type。當天回家測試，就發現我的隨身硬碟雖然可以讀取它，但是常常在複製到一半的時候就當機了，當機後取出卡片，還要用相機 format 之後才能繼續使用，當下就覺得十分懊惱。後來上網查詢隨身硬碟的網站，原來要更新韌體才能讓他認得 type M 的 xD 卡。只好搬出我老舊的 Asus，升級我的隨身硬碟。但是雖然更新了硬碟，插入 xD 卡後還是發生無法初始化的訊息，不過在 reset 之後，這個問題也隨之消失，從此我就可以幸福快樂的使用這台新相機了。