Fraser Island

Mon 3rd Nov

My bus leaves at 10.30am and two hours later I arrive in Rainbow Beach.. it has been stormy and very wet/windy since the previous night and on arrival it is grey, doom and gloomy (am I back in UK?!). Sean and Beth (English couple from my Whitsunday trip) are also here and on the same Fraser Island trip (3D2N), I briefly catch up with them before the briefing.. we are unfortunately put into different groups but with the same lead driver (8 groups are split into 2 so that 4 vehicles will be travelling tag along together.

Deadly spiders.. deadly snakes.. dingos.. welcome to Fraser Island..!

Wombat and Harps give the group a briefing regarding the trip, after this we watch three videos giving details about driving and camping on the island. After a long long afternoon (reminiscant of an INSET) we are done until the meet up in the morning and the start of our exciting trip!

My group is made up of 4 German travellers Ander, Jana, Ilona and Feride, 2 French girls Camille and Emilie, and 1 Finnish girl Hanna. We all head to the local supermarket to buy some extra supplies for the trip and some alcohol. In the evening I spend time catching up properly with Sean and Beth, we eat together and have a few drinks. Both Sean and Beth are professional chefs, so cook some tasty food.. and I am in store for more tasty food cooked by them later in the week.

Tues 4th Nov

Up at 6.45am, packed and then ready to check out. I leave my main bag in the storage room at the hostel. We have been promised pancakes but initially there is no sign of activity in the kitchen, the pancakes eventually appear but with 64 travellers looking to be fed there is a big queue.. I end up having a bite out of someone else's and eat some fruit instead. Everyone then heads to DINGO's (the next door hostel and also linked with Fraser on Rainbow, we will all be staying in the same camp on Fraser Island). 

First we pack our 4WDs with our bags, then fill our eski with our alcohol. Half of the group collects the food for the trip whilst the rest of the group check the vehicle for scratches/marks etc. Next we are given a final briefing as a group followed by a briefing for all the drivers. We board our vehicle, buckle up and wait to head off. I am the first driver in my group. We head off on the main roads to the beach ferry.. with one section of soft sand to get through onto the beach. 

Fraser Island

Not long after arriving on Fraser Island and driving down the beach one of the other 4WDs in our group starts spraying out black smoke and breaks down! We all stop and have an early lunch .. 11am.. and wait for a replacement vehicle to arrive. This changes round the itinerary for our for trip and so we head to Lake Wabby first (we will now be ending our 3 day trip at Lake Mckenzie).

After a short drive, we then have a 30-45min walk ahead of us to Lake Wabby. Me and Feride lead off at the front. As we turn a final corner on the path we find a stunning view in front of us, sand dunes surround us, a short walk and the Lake appears down below us at the bottom of one of the dunes. Soon the rest of the group arrive behind us. 

We spend a few hours here, swimming.. having our feet nibbled by the small fish inhabiting the lake and relaxing on the sand. The weather has turned for the best since the previous day's grey and drizzly weather. 

The walk back seems a lot quicker, it also proves to be good time to find out more about my new companions. Hanna is 18 and yet to finish her studies, she is a singer (very talented as a I will later find out) and accompanies herself on the piano,  she performs at weddings and various functions which has helped her fund her 6 week trip to Oz. Ilona is looking to begin her university studing linked to social care and currently works as a teacher assistant in primary school. 

When we get back to our vehicles we journey to the camp making a stop at the 'Stranded Maheno'. The final part of the drive to the camp is through thick sand (.. much more difficult to drive through) Ilona has some difficulties driving through this section.. When we eventually make it to the camp we name our group 'stuck in the sand' and this begins a running joke for the rest of the trip. At the camp we are shown around and soon begin cooking together as a group our first dinner of the trip.. chicken stir fry. In the evening we drink plenty.. it has been a great first day and night. 

Weds 5th Nov

After scrambled eggs for breakfast we set off on day 2 of our adventure on Fraser Island. Our first stop is the Indian Headlands. A short trek up to the cliff and we have views down to the beach on either side of us and out to the sea where down below us there are plenty of large jellyfish infesting the waters. Later we see many jellyfish washed up on the beach. A different times of the year it is possible to see sharks and whales from here.

Our next stop is a short drive to the Champagne Pools, the only place on the Island where it is safe to swim/be in the sea water.. the sea surrounding the island as mentioned is often filled with sharks.. The Champagne Pools are protected from the sea by a rock formation, when the tide crashes over the rocks this creates a bubble effect like champagne. We stay here for a couple of hours and are lucky to have plenty of sunshine.

I drive back to the camp site through the thick soft sand.. and have it back without getting stuck in the sand! After lunch we head down the beach to Eli Creek (Hangover Creek..) the stream here is fresh clean water which you can fill your bottles up with and drink. The current naturally moves you down the stream.. altho it is a little too shallow so we have to use our arms to drag us down. We play vollyball in the stream (piggy in the middle) and then put a net up between two of the 4WDs on the sand to play a game.. the light ball and the wind results in some odd shots. After this we play (..make an attempt to play) an interesting game of football in the thick soft bumpy sand.

Back at the camp we cook steak and fried potatoe slices for dinner, and have less to dirnk having used the majority up the previous night. We walk down to the beach to see the night sky, but due to the large 'close to' full moon we do not quite see the number of stars we were hoping for.

Champagne Pools

Thurs 6th Nov

Another early start.. a quick cereal and coffee for breaky and then we are all packed up and set to leave the camp and head off on our last day of driving in which we will visit Lake McKenzie before returning to Rainbow Beach. As there have been 4 groups and 4 vehicles including the lead driver, today we spend the first half of the day in the lead driver's vehicle. No concerns getting to the Lake for us.. the journey is through the longest section made up of difficult thick soft sand to drive through.

Lake McKenzie is a truely beautiful and breath taking place... fresh water.. clear blue water.. white white sand.. I could stay here for a lot longer than one day! We use the sand to condition our hair... smothering our wet hair with it.. letting it dry and then washing it out.. it seems to do the trick!

We swap back into a vehicle for the return drive through the sand and to our spot for a quick lunch break. After lunch I'm back in the driving seat for our short journey to the ferry and then on the mainland back to the hostels. What a fantastic trip this has been, with a great group, we have all bonded and had a lot of fun together.

In the evening our group 'Stuck in the sand' head out for a final meal together .. an unfortunately disappointing fish and chips.. but then we head back to the hostel and enjoy some beers, play some pool/table tennis. There is a live band playing tonight (guitarist and drummer duo), Hanna is a talented singer and we are soon asking for her to sing with them.. after a short break Hanna is up and singing along with them. Suddenly more people in the hostel are up and around the music area enjoying the music!! A fun night, and a great way to end what has been a great trip and most definetly the highlight of my time travelling down the East Coast.