Squeaky Beach

Few folks know this about me, but I lived in Australia for a while about ten years ago. I had the occasion twice to visit Wilson's Promontory National Park (Wilson's Prom, as the locals say). What a cool place. The first time I went down there we left Traralgon, Vic wirh a full moon at about 11:30 driving through the night in August, 1993. I recall Billy Joel's 'River of Dreams' on the radio. There were five of us guys: Steve, Tareak, Terry, Stohton (I don't recall his primary name), and I. We slept uncomfortably in Terry's hotrod over a bluff. The moon was full, and when the sun came up we woke up to something like this:

Australia is a beautiful place. Before hitting the beach we went for a hike in the rainforest. It was like other hikes I had in the states, but you had to watch out for the razor bushes (plants with leaves so sharp {full of schlerenchyma} they will slice your hands all the way to the arteries). It was all down hill. At one point we scared up one of these guys:

A Black Cockatoo, or one of his relatives. We finally tired of running through the forest and came to "Squeaky Beach". The beach has the most beautiful sand that actually squeakes when you walk across it. I body-surfed for the first time in my life in these waters on this beach. I had a great time.

Wilson's Prom is the Southernmost place in Australia. It is a peninsula that juts out of Southeast Victoria. We stopped and got chips at a small place (I can't remember) in southern Victoria on our way back to Traralgon. What a great couple of days.

The second time I went there wasn't as innocent. I went with Tareak's brother, Omar, Steve, and myself. Stohton had gone on his way and Terry had overdosed on heroine and died. It wasn't near as fun.