We arrived in Hervey Bay on October 16, 2014 for a three night stay. The drive from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay was 12h including stops. Basically, we drove all day. And by "we" I mean Vlad. I drove for about 20 minutes. Driving on the left at 100km/h was not my thing so for the safety of other people on the road & Vlad's sanity I decided to remain a copilot / GPS operator. Our road trip was still pretty fun. We saw the beautiful Queensland scenery, wild fires by the road (it gets dry there so that's a frequent occurrence) and even some camels. 

Initially we planned to visit Fraser Island from Hervey Bay but after doing some research we decided to skip it. Instead we opted for a relaxing two days in this small town. We enjoyed few cafes, walked on the beach and planned our approaching visit to New Zealand. One evening, when sipping beer at a local bar, we spotted a guy wearing a Calgary Flames jersey. He really stood out wearing a bright red long sleeve winter sport attire in a tropical town. Needless to say Vlad went up to chat with him and it turned out he was an Aussie bloke who recently visited Calgary, went to his first hockey game, and bought the jersey as a souvenir. 

Despite what you may think, spotting this guy was not the highlight of our stay in Hervey Bay. It was seeing kangaroos in the wild. We found them in a large field across the street from a residential area full of houses. They were not at all scared of humans. We spent about an hour observing them and taking photos. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. 

Roadtrip

  This was our longest drive so far.   

At the start of our road trip GPS predicted 9h 29min of driving. With stops, it took us about 12 hours.  Wild fire by the road was super freaky to see. Too bad we couldn't stop to take better photos.  On the left you can see an area destroyed by some wild fires.  Pardon my feet but this is the only good photo of a kangaroo warning sign that I have.  You have to watch out for koalas too (and I was, really hard too). Unfortunately we did not see any in the wild.  Australian roads. You can see the single-lane highway get wider before the turn. That's the passing lane.  Almost at our destination. 

Hervey Bay

Our Airbnb apratment was very sunny and clean.  Here's Vlad enjoying not driving. 

Walking on the beach.  Cool whale sculpture in the town.  One side was metal and the other was wood. 

We enjoyed walking down the beach in the evening.   One of Vlad's photos. Shots from the floor are his signature style.  

What do kangaroos do?

These animals are super interesting creatures. Here's a peek of what their favorite activities are. 

They chill in the grass.  They hide behind flowers.   They scratch their bums.  They feed their babies and themselves.  They argue and fight. They relax after a long day at work. 

They stare at people with their pretty eyes (Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline).  They pretend to be too cool to stare at people (except for the little one, he still has to learn). They hop away. They assume various positions (look at the one on the left haha).  They wonder why tourist want to take their photos.  They look pretty during sunset. 

And they get cencorsed for indecent exposure. Shame on you kangaroo! Put some undies on!