Hi everyone!!!

Fraser Island - absolutey magnificent place - one of the most beautiful places you can ever see on earth i think!!!

It was on early start on the Friday, had to check out and watch a safety video at 6.30 then we were put into our groups for the weekend! before we got to the island we had to collect our camping gear which they provide you with everything and then had to do our group shopping of food for the weekend.

I think we were pretty lucky with the group actually, there were three swedish girl who are lovely and we got on really well with! Tried to learn some swedish but think ive forgotten it all already. A couple called Jim and Ash from london and ireland who are very nice. An American Guy called Nick, very funny new yorker! two german girls that didnt really bring much fun to the group and then jade and myself!

Fraser island is the largest sand island in the world so as you can imagine it required some tough 4wd driving. Once we arrived on the Island we drove straight to lake mackenzie. It is a bumpy ride inland on the island, so much fun though and its covered in a large rainforest so very beautiful to drive through even though your jumping out your seat every second. Lake mackenzie is a frewshwater lake, as you can see from the pics its just amazing. pure white sand with perfectly clear blue water hwich you can swim in with no salt water getting in your eyes! definately one of those postcard pics that you think could never be that amazing but really is. After spending a few hours there we had to make tracks to look for somewhere to camp on the beach. unfortunately at around 4.30 it started to pour it down with rain. we waited a little for it to calm then managed to find a spot under some trees for shelter. Luckily the rain stopped for long enough to put our tents up but was soon back again when we started cooking. all and experience though, it was very funny. we managed to make a slight shelter for ourselves between the tents. We made a BBQ that eve, very eventful with 10 ppl trying to help in the rain!!! We were camping near a few other groups so we had some drinks with them later and had a walk on the beach! Think that night we did have a few too many drinks but we needed it as it was smelly and hot sleeping in those tents, not pleasant but thats camping hey!!

The next morning we had a slight challenge, our battery would start and they dont provide you with jump leads. We managed to fing a guy with a rope to pull us out of the camp but even luckier we managed to pull over some guys who did have jump leads who came to our rescue, we were very lucky as we managed to get out to drive on the beach just before the tide came in but it soon chased us on the beach so was a challenge driving on the beach when your not suppose to. We drove up the east coast of the isalnd on the beach, first stop was eli creek, where we stopped for a swim. its great as the water cuurent is so strong it pulls you back to the sea. After a little break we went passed the moheno wreck - quite strange that its not been washed away but nice to see. dont really know much about it as there was no information there but will read up on it. Continued driving up to Indian Heads, a wonderful viewing point, can see so much of the island. Just behind it are the champagne pools. they are the only rocks on the island which have made their own rock pool so we went for a nice little dip, lots of gorgeous fish to swim with! This is the best part i got to drive back from chapagne pools to where we wanted to camp. We could camp anywhere along the beach so as the sun was out and was going to be a dry evening we chose an open area overlooking the sea. We made dinner watching the sun go down over the sea which was beautiful. had more of a quiet eve, looking at the stars and going for a walk on the beach. the moon rose later bout 9ish which was gorgeous, bright orange in the sky and was amazing to watch, competely lit up the sky! i ended up sleeping outside as the tent was so hot but it was beautiful as i got to also watch the sunrise, wonderful start to the day.

WE had an early start to make sure we could fit in as much as possible on our last day. first stop was lake Wabby, another freshwater lake but it was dark green. Its surrounded by hills with large sandshore on one side and rainforest on the other, gorgeous to swim in! spent a little while there before going for a nice long drive around the bottom of the island and enjoying the bumpy rollercoaster ride. we decided to go back to lake mackenzie as we loved it so much and was on the way back to the barge. Absolutely amazing island, and had a wonderful time. Great laughs the entire time!

I stayed in hervey bay for another day as had to wait for the oz bus to pick us up again. its a long journey up to Airlie beach so we spent the night at Kroombit which is a cattle station. some of us went for a horse ride which was great fun, my horse was called Amy. We were only allowed to walk with the horse not trot as there were too many beginners but still had fun. We had to collect the goats into their stalls which was hilourous shouting abbababa at them to make them all go together. After we had a go at catching a goat and pretending to brand it which seemed pretty cruel but i had a go anyway, i was the tipper of the goat and nick had to chase it. they provided us with a nice dinner then leant to crack a whip - Ati ill have to show you how good i am with your whip, hehe!!!! did a bit of dancing and had a go on the mechanical bull, which i was rubbish at, fell straight off but i blame it on the glove they told us to wear as it was too big for me and just slipped straight off so i couldnt hold on.

The next day was just a long bus journey to Airlie beach, didnt arrive till 7pm. Went for a few drinks last night and then today im just realxing but cant sunbathe as its pouring with rain at the moment so not very fun. Going Sailing around the whitsunday islands tomorrow so I will tell you all about that next week.

Lots of love to all.

Anaick xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx