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We've had an awesome time on Fraser Island! Here's our blog, letting you know all that we've done...
We had an overnight journey from Airlie Beach to Hervey Bay, though unfortunately our bus broke down in Bundaberg and we were delayed for an hour. We thought we had beat the rain but we were sadly mistaken! After a glorious morning, it rained all afternoon. Hervey Bay seems like quite a cool place, with a perennial holiday vibe, full of wide streets and constructed on a grid. We hired a 4WD Land Rover for Fraser which I had a go at driving... I don't think Joe has ever been so scared in his life! We decided to leave the driving down to Jo after this.
Yesterday morning we were up at 5:45 and on the car ferry by 6:45. Jo had no priblems reversing on, but when it came to driving off we couldn't get the car in gear! We were beginning to panic a little and feel embarassed, but we managed it in the end... we were the last car off! We drove down the jetty and proceeded to get lost in Kingfisher Bay Resort. When we got it right, we were only a few hundred metres or so into the inland track when we got stuck! Luckily there was noone behind us this time,as it took us ages to figure out what had gone wrong. We kept trying to accelerate up the hill but as we couldn't get it into gear we were gradually rolling back towards a big drop! We eventually managed to get it into the soft sand mode and off Jo and Joe went up a set of hills. I was out of the car at this point and had to run up after them. After this difficult starrt, it was pretty much plain sailing for us, Joanna definitely turning into something of a driver extraordinaire!
On the first day we went to Lake Birrabeen and Lake Boomanjin, which like all of Fraser's lakes, are perched on top of an impermeable layer of decaying twigs and leaves. We had Birrabeen to ourselves, a magnificent spot with crystal clear water. The weather had even perked up today too! We decided to do a section of the Fraser Great Walk going about 2 kilometres to Jack-knife Sandblow. It was definitely worth it, walking through pristeen rainforest and then climbing up a huge dune to some island-wide views. We looked really small in the photos! We left our footprints and wrote our names in the sand before walking back to Boomanjin. The afternoon was spent at Lake Wabby. There was a 2 kilometre walk down to the lake, with a great stop on the way looking out over the lake and the huge Hammerstone Sandblow slowly engulfing it. We had a dip in the lake with some giant catfish and then made camp at about 4pm. We realised we hadn't got any fresh water for dinner, and had to cook our pasta in saltwater! Even when it had been drained and the tomato sauce mixed in it was very salty! As we cooked, a downpour started, meaning we had to cook out of the back of the car. The rain continued for the rest of the night, with us waking occasionally to the odd dingo howl.
Today, we made sure we got to Eli Creek early, beating the crowds. This is an awesome little spot, with crystal clear water running down into the sea. We followed the boardwalk upstream which finished with some steps down into the water. It was freezing! But it was so nice and fresh, it didn't feel like a chore getting in it (well not to some of us anyway!). We floated along downstream taking lots of photos, looking at the fish and having the odd gulp. Next was the Maheno Wreck, where a ship had come aground during a cyclone in 1935. It made for a pretty picturesque spot, and there were lots of people milling around with their cameras. We stopped a bit further up at a weird sandstone formation called The Pinnacles, and then joined the inland track through eucalyptus and rainforest to Lake Allom. Our reason for coming here was to see the turtles, and there were tonnes of them bobbing up near the viewing platform. After a long drive back across the island we ended up at Central Station, and a lovely little picnic spot, for lunch. Whilst there we spied a goanna, a large moniter lizard wandering past us! The afternoon was spent at Lake Mackenzie, on the last day that it was open to the public for four months. Despite the crowds it really is majestic, with perfect white sands, incredibly clear, still and fresh water, and good views all around it. We were quite happy to spend the rest of our time on Fraser here, swimming and sunbathing! By the early evening, and after a mammoth hunt for petrol, we were back at our hostel in Hervey Bay.
Tomorrow we catch a greyhound to Noosa and the Sunshine Coast, ready for some r and r.
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