Went inland the next day, to Kroombit, a working Cattle Station that doubles as a tourist thing. Attentive readers may have noticed that I'm much, much more at home at farms, cattle station and in the Outback than at the beach and at a backpacker bar. And this time was no different. As soon as I got off the bus, it felt a little like coming home and people noticed! I don't know what it is, but I am more comfortable on a cattle station. Our time there was basically filled with outback-style games: whip-cracking (succeeded in 2 tries), riding the mechanical bull (28 seconds and two busted balls) and drinking in the evening. The next morning was spent mustering the goats on horseback. Oh yes, Eric on a horse. Had a lot of problems getting Frank (the horse) going in the beginning, but after a while I got the hang of it. After the muster I tried my hand at clay-pigeon shooting. Five discs, five total misses.
The goat rodeo was the second highlight of the morning. Basically, two people had to stand in a circle. A goat was released into the circular arena. One person had to grab it by the horns and drag it into the circle, where person 2 tipped it over, allowing person 1 to 'brand' it (not actual branding of course, just holding a cold iron against its rump for a few seconds). Our time: 25 seconds. Not too bad. As a parting gift we played spin-the-bottle, outback-style. Everybody holds hands, a bottle is spun and the people the bottle points to hold what I believe is called a cattle prod. the name doesn't matter. It's basically a two-pronged fork with which you can give cattle an electric shock. And you know what happens when people holding hands have a current ran through them. Bzzzz! Because I was so comfortable at Kroombit (people from the northbound Oz-bus asked me how long I had been working there... it must have been The Hat!), my OzExperience roadname is now Outback Henk. I like it!
Fraser Island was the next stop - the world's biggest pile of sand. But it's a pile of sand with vegetation and some of the world's most beautiful freshwater lakes. They were the highlight of the three-day trip. The lakes all have white sand, green surroundings and the bluest water I have ever seen (and likely will ever see). Swimming in them is gorgeous and they water's drinkable (nothing lives in these lakes). Absolutely beautiful, but I do wish that I had made this a two or even one-day trip. I would've liked to spend more time on the Whitsundays.
So now I have arrived in Brisvegas, baby! My time on the OzExperience bus is over. The stories I have heard (drinking games at 10 am) are very much untrue. I have found it to be basically a Greyhound for backpackers. Sure, there are some small things that you would never find on regular long-distance coaches like slightly adolescent games and egging other drivers' cars (nothing like a little minor vandalism in the morning), but overall I found it a very... comfortable experience. Gives me confidence for the KiwiExperience.
By the way, I have uploaded a new video to YouTube. Eric on a mechanical bull.
