Hey everyone!

Well we've done so much since our last blog so this one might be a bit of an essay! We arrived in Rainbow Beach at around 7pm on Monday and went out for dinner, which was more difficult than we first thought as Rainbow Beach was so small that it only had one cafe which was open! Tuesday morning we explored Rainbow Beach although no rainbow coloured sand was found so we're not quite sure where the name comes from. We had our Fraser Island briefing that afternoon and were put into a group of 11 people. We had a very entertaining talk from our Fraser Island guide -who was a typical Aussie dude and really funny - where we advised about the many, many dangers of Fraser including man-eating sharks and jellyfish in the sea, dingo attacks on land, getting stuck in the sand, rolling the van, driving when the tides coming in and driving down whoop-de-doos! which are unforeseen ditches of water running across the beach - we should mention here that the beach is actually the main road on the island. So after being slightly scared by all those hazards we spent an evening in the hostel taking full advantage of 'happy hour' and went to bed excited about the next couple of days.

Wednesday morning was an early start but free pancakes provided by the hostel made it a bit more bearable. We spent the morning packing up our 4 by 4 van with everything we would need on the trip and being taught how to drive the van in sand - there was a lot to remember! So at around 10am we all crammed into the van and set off on our adventure - first problem being that our van could only drive in 'tractor mode' need for driving in deep, soft sand so we had to take a detour to the garage where they fixed that one. The ferry was only a 7 minute crossing and so we were on Fraser Island in no time at all. We made it up the beach towards our first stop off which was Lake Mckezie, however there was a particulary hairy moment when we turned off the beach to drive inland as we had a near collision with another van coming from the opposite direction! They tried to get past us but got stuck in the sand and started sliding towards our van, and stopped with only about 2cms to spare! So everyone had to get out and push the vans apart whilst the other van was being pushed forward. In hindsight it was a very funny moment but at the time we all thought we would be paying a lot of money to repair the van!!

After a long and bumpy drive inland we eventually arrived at Lake Mckenzie which was well worth the ride as it was absolutely stuuning, with white sandy beaches and beautiful turquoise water (as you can see from our pics). We had a picnic lunch whilst being told by one of the locals that he had spotted a 10 ft python nearby earlier on in the day; needless to say this put Jen, and the rest of us, a little on edge!! After swimming in Lake Mckenzie we had to leave by 4pm so that we could get to our camping spot and set up camp for the night before sunset. Once the tents were up and the dinner was cooking on our gas stove, the 'goon' was craked open. We think we have a bit of explaining to do about what goon actually is - basically its an Australian nick name for a box of wine (generally around 4 litres for about 4 quid!) however we have recently discovered thats its not quite like standard wine after looking at the side of the box and finding out that the ingredients also include fish and dairy products!! So we think this may be what causes the strange events that occur when engaging in a goon drinking session! So taking all that into account, our first evening on the Island was rather fun and passed remarkably quickly - thats all we think should be divulged on this site!!

So we awoke at around 7am the next morning mainly due to the extreme heat in the tent - it was like a sauna! After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, we packed up the camp and wandered down the beach to a place called Eli Creek which was another beautiful spot and a very good hangover cure - especially as you could walk up the creek and then float down to the sea on your back. Then we drove further up the beach to a place called Indian Head which was a outcrop of rocks, where from the top you could see for miles down the beach. We sat watching the clear sea and spotted a few manta rays and sharks swimming below. We attempted to drive a bit further to see the Champagne Pools, however the sand was so deep that not even our van could handle it, so after getting stuck and pushing the van out a couple of times we had to abort that plan. That night we camped at a place called Cromwells which was just off the beach and we had a tasty stir fry for dinner. We all had to cram into the van due to a couple of downpours and we made a lovely goon punch to drink. Jen and Becki got particularly scared when they needed to go to the loo (by the way, as there were no toilet facitlies at these camping grounds we had to get used to weeing in the bushes ) as a dingo had attacked the rubbish bag which meant it couldn't be too far away! We were advised to go to the loo in groups so that there could always be someone on dingo watch (Jen's headlight finally came in handy to scan the area whilst squatting!)

On our last day we got up and had another hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and cereal, and then walked to an inland Lake called Lake Wabbi - this was a bit of a trek away and involved walking through the rainforest where we saw a massive lizard and huge spiders! We were all very pleased to get to the lake and go for a dip. There were lots of catfish in the lake and also really small fish that came and nibbled you if you sat still for too long. We decided to take the shorted route back to the van which meant trekking over massive sand dunes - it felt as though we were in the desert! Allegedly, Fraser Island has more sand than the Sahara Desert which you can believe when you've spent 3 days there being permanently covered in it, and also eating it with every meal - lovely! We then had to make it back to the ferry by 3pm that afternoon, we were a little late even though Sam drove us speedily back down the beach, so we missed the ferry we were booked on and had to get a later one.

Back on the mainland we had to unpack, wash eveything up and brush all the sand out of the van - there was rather a lot. Once this was done there vehicle had to be checked over for any damage. Trying to be humourous, the guide pretended that we had broken one of the suspension springs which panicked Becki a little due to the fact that she had made a minor error of driving through a rather deep creek at around 60 kph on the first day - but the van was in tip top condition. We then headed back to the hostel for a much needed shower after being deprived of washing for 3 days. We had dinner and met up with the rest of our group for a few end of adventure drinks. Fraser Island was an amazing adventure and definately one of the highlights of the trip, especially as we got on so well with everyone else in our group. Good times!

We're now back in Brisbane and have 3 days left in Australia before flying out to Fiji on Tuesday. We are meeting up with some of the girls in our group tomorrow as they are checking into the same hostel in Brisbane.

Hope all is well in old Blighty and that it's not snowing too much!!

Lots of love,

Becki, Jen and Sam xx xx xx