We arrived late afternoon in Rainbow Beach ready for our camping adventure on Fraser island, the worlds largest sand island, ina 4x4 and some tents. neither of us being camping badgers to say the least, the trip was viewed with a certian degree of scepticism but we were assured it was a "must do". We set off early the next morning with our group comprising of english, swedish, belgians and everyones favourite people...a yank. the two english blokes who were over 21 drove as we were too young, at first we were disappointed but 4x4 driving on a sand island is actually a big challenge and when the belgian nearly crashed into a tree later we were actually secretly pleased to be in the back! on day one we got glorious weather and went swimming in lake mckenzie which is the most ridiculously clear fresh water lake and later cooked up a barbecue at the camp site. All fun and frolics so far. A few hours (and boxes of goon) later, we departed to our beds having had a very fun evening with our new friends (particularly joe from watford!) and then the problems started. it was ridiculously cold, joe had inexplicably forgotten his sleeping bag when for the first time in 6 months he needed it, and the tent strangely stunk. so we awoke the next day as suitably uncomfotable campers and lo and behold...the weather was rubbish. we drove up the main beach on the island (ironic as it is basically all beach) and saw humback whales breaching out of the water and then went to a lookout known as indian head where we asaw a v small shark. feeling a bit worse for wear we found a sheltered campsite and commenced the nights activities of staying dry and praying for a bed. however our atheistic tendencies during the rest of our lives came back to haunt us and joe was so cold he had to sleep in the sandy 4x4...pure pleasure. the next morning we were looking forward to a bed in a hostel...a sentence we thought we would never say in these blogs. we arrived back in rainbow beach and thought it would be plain sailing...until our 4x4 broke down leaving us all to pay $40 for the repairs. a suitable end for an...interesting trip. safe to say it was worht doing but you wouldnt want to do it everyday of the week. we slept soundly in our beds that night, unaware we were in the midst of a series of sleeps that would go...tent, 4x4, bed, overnight bus, boat, boat, overnight bus. oh to be on sawdays kitchen floor. x