Fraser Island

Hello, hello everyone I'm back from Fraser Island and I had the time of my life!!! I'm not sure how in-tuned you are with what is happening in this part of the world so I will give you a briefing. Weather-wise terrible things are happening: Australia has been suffering their worst drought in 10 years and the year I come they get record breaking rain! I kid you not, we have serious flooding and cyclones down here, its not good at all as lots of buses and tours have been cancelled as the roads are closed. Luckily nothing has affected me too bad yet. I was due to go to Fraser Island on Sunday and on the way down I was told all the tours were being cancelled because there was a cyclone in the area. I just found out yesterday that this weather cost Fraser Island $300,000! Anyway, when I got to my hostel they said the weather was going to clear up and I could still go on the trip. I didnt really have a choice as they wouldnt give me my money back. So at the briefing on the day of there were 4 other people and me and we all agreed to go together.

We reached the island about noon after grocery shopping and packing up the vehicle. We drove a 4WD and I never had before so it was real cool, I never realized how much power you have. Anyway, it was pouring rain, never ending and we headed into the woods to visit some lake. I drove first, there was only one other girl who could drive as Nico (german) was under 21 and not allowed to drive and Joanne and Esther (americans) didnt know how to drive Manual. So the driving was split between Victoria (Brit) and myself. The roads were terrible. Uphill we had mud, moguls, roots, wash-outs, puddles so big we made Nico get out of the car and wade through them to judge how deep they were. We were terrified. None of us had ever experienced anything like that before. Our windshield sucked and our windows fogged up so bad (broken de-fogger) that Esther sat beside me and continuously wiped the window for me. My right foot was soaked because rain was coming in somewhere and the windshiled leaked rain onto my passengers. We had two in the front with me and two in the back. it was so scary driving in the woods but we made it through and I was the preferred driver (Victoria scared the shit out of us with her speed). We never made it to the lake the first day because of the road conditions and the fact that we got lost at one point. The roads are one lane and two-way! Luckily we were the only ones on the island (self-guided tour) that day, only one other vehicle was with us on the ferry.

We were thrilled when we finally reached the beach but we didnt have much time to drive on it as we had to find our campsite before the tide came up. We were limited everyday to the tide. We had until 3pm the first day to drive on the beach before it was unsafe. But let me tell you how cool it is to be driving on the beach with ocean waves washing up 3m to your right! we found our campsite no problem, it was actually just an area on the beach and we picked a spot on the other side of the dune beside the ocean. literally 15 steps from our tent to the ocean. There wasa never anyone camped near us. we set up tent in the pouring rain, we were drenched right through but it was really warm. I had a blast. We weren't allowed to start a fire so we cooked some dinner and ate in the van, drinking. It was dark by 4 so when we finished dinner by 5:30 we were shocked as it felt like 9. Needless to say we were in bed by 9! We drank to stay warm and to give us something to do and we had to dig holes to pee in and we had to take a "dingo-spotter" buddy with us. That person held the torch and kept a look out for dingos while the other person peed. It was hilarious.

The second day we woke up to rain and took down camp (we were up at 6am). We didn't sleep at all the night before because I shared my tent with the americans and they were terrified of dingos. whatever. Also, the ground was really uncomfortable to sleep on and the wind and rain was so loud with the ocean crashing just over the dune. We wanted to reach Lake Wabby though, as we missed it the first day. We were there by 9 and it poured rain on us on the 30 min walk to the lake. Was it ever worth it. The lake is fantastic. Look at the pic attached, its a sand-dune right on the lake. We were the only ones there. The sand dune is actually quite steep and I felt like I was in the movie "DUNE." We rolled down the sand dune and straight into the water, which was cool but not too cold. It was still raining on us. the water was sand and light green and then a foot later it was dark green and lots of sand but DEEP water instantly. Its the deepest lake on Fraser Island. There were giant black fish swimming with us, no fear. We ran down the hill and jumped in the water, we yelled "ECHO" and listened to it bounce off the forest wall. No one was there, it was amazing and serene and quiet. I bet no one has ever been there like we were. It was the highlight of the trip. We took crazy pictures on the sand dunes and ran around yelling and played games, it was so much fun. We left around 11am.


We hit the beach the rest of the day and we let Nico drive. Joanne wanted to learn how to drive manual so I said I would teach her. She was doing really well until she crashed us into Eli Creek. As you drive the beach you must be near the water but not in it and when you approach wash-outs you must slow down as you don't know how deep they are. Joanne saw the shipwreck in the distance and didn't pay attention to what was in front of us until I saw it and started freaking out. We went right over the edge and dropped PLOP into the creek. We were screaming but she managed to get us out of the water and we came out and just looked at the drop, it was amazing. We got back in the vehicle and I drove us to the shipwreck up ahead. About two mins later a bus guide came up to us and told us to check our vehicle out (Nico already did and we were fine, lucky) and said he made his tour group stop and watch us because he saw us coming. Thanks buddy, thats awesome. I dont know why they dont put up signs. Poor Joanne, I dont think she will ever drive a manual again. Like she said, "100 km of beach and the two kilometres she gets has Eli Creek! we laughed and laughed about it, funny after it happens and a great story. We drove all the way up to Indian Head where we climbed the cliff to look down to look for sharks or dolphins. Indian Head is a breeding ground for Tiger Sharks (which is why you're not allowed to swim ANYWHERE in the ocean on Fraser Island. We didnt see any. We wanted to go to the Chapagne Pools around the corner but were stopped short but the largest puddle we had ever come across. It was up to Nico's knees. after much debating we decided "to just do it," got in, strapped ourselves and turned our cameras to 'video' and gunned the engine. We let Nico navigate this one as he had a lot of beach driving experience and he was the only one not afraid to drive through it. He never once lost his nerve on the trip, what would we have done without him? ANyway, we went through the puddle, lost visibility as the water engulfed us and screamed through the whole thing. When we made it safely to the other side we cheered and proceeded to the pools. It was great. However, I refused to go through it again on the way back (my nerves can only take so much) and so voted to stand on the other side and video from the outside. It was hilarious. My friend has the videos and she will post them in the next month (she's going to school in Sydney) for us to see. You will laugh and think we are stupid and crazy. We were. We only had until 3:30 that day with the tides and it was coming up fast so we found an area to camp in and watched the sunset while we ate giant bowls of pasta and mince with veggies. It was delicious. As soon as its dark you cant do anything but sit around playing drinking games with goon. We did do some star-gazing as its amazing how many are out there. We saw mars, jupiter and the southern cross. There was a lightening storm in the distance so Joanne, Esther and I decided to sleep in the van. Wayyy better than the tent, let me tell you. I think I actually got sleep that night.

It rained on the last day but not too much. We went to Lake MacKenzie and by this point there were so many people. The lake is light blue, blue and dark blue as you go deeper and quite cold. We still rain screaming into the waters and swam for an hour in the rain. It was great. It had white sand. The trip was amazing, every part of it was sooo cool. I'm leaving out so much but only because you guys have read so much already. We did see dingos and at one point a huge hawk flew in front of a car with a giant snake in its grasp, I actually have ap icture of that. Oh yeah, and the incident when Nico was driving and Vicki was up front with him. Joanne, Esther and I were talking in the back when a grasshopper the size of my hand appeared out of nowhere. Screams of "stop the car, stop the car" filled the vehicle. Of course Nico is going 80km/hour and cant just stop and the grasshopper meanwhile is hopping throughout the car scaring the shit out of us. He stopped and we ran out of the vehicle as fast as we could while he caught it and shooed it out. I'm sure my hair will turn grey after the past three days.

IT was so nice last night to actually shower and get the sand out of my body. I had to do laundry as everything was wet, stinky and covered in sand. We had such an awesome time. Lucky we only had 5 in our van, most have 10 and we have no idea how they do it, we were strapped for space as it was. Also, amazingly we got our $1000 deposit back. We put a dent in the hood, lost a mudflap, scratched the back and the guy at the shop just cleared us no problemo. He did get the dent out of the hood though, not sure how it got there. If you know anyone going to Australia, tell them Fraser Island is a MUST. They best time ever, honestly I am thrilled with every aspect of that experience.