We we're up before the rest of the house and feeling a lot fresher than we did yesterday morning. Thankfully the group that arrived yesterday didn't stay up and party so we got a good nights sleep. We checked out of our house by 6am and placed our large back packs in the hostel lockers, then paid our park fees of $90pp and $10pp for the fuel charge. Once everyone had paid up we all sat back down in the common room where we met our guide named Tony. He apologised in advance for the very boring safety video we had to watch on 'off road driving' and 'dingos!' The people in the video weren't actors, they were actual park rangers, their acting was terrible and made everyone giggle throught the film, especially the Abo who was the worst! 

After watching the video we had to pay another fee, our vehicle bond of $60pp (incase we smash it up) and hired a sleeping bag each for $9pp. We already knew how cold it can get when camping from our experience in the Outback! We weren't going to make the same mistake again this time. 

Tony asked us to get into our groups and find a car around the side of the hostel. Everyone rushed round with their food bags and started to put them in the back of the cars. Chris got around there first and chose a car for five as that's how many there were in our group. Once everyone was sitting and ready to go we noticed two more people walking up and down looking into the cars. They had been too slow and were going to have to be split up into two separate cars. All the other cars had an extra person in theirs so we had to let one of them into ours, which made it very cosey in the front but we didn't mind, I felt a bit sorry for her. We found out later that the other person was her friend, she had been travelling on her own for a few months and he had come out to see her but only for the two days! You could tell she was unhappy about being split up. 

We had four drivers in our car so they would be rotating throughout the tour. Chris was first at the wheel, just as we were pulling out of the hostel car park, Tony came over to check we were ok. Chris noticed that the battery light on the dashboard was flashing. He told Tony but he said it was ok, that the car had just had a new battery and alternator fitted the other day. There wasn't much we could do about it and if the guide says its ok then it's ok, right? 

Chris drove for twenty five minutes along the roads to the barge. The other drivers in our car were blonde Emma, brunette Emma and the extra person who we can't remember the name of, so she was known as the Isreali girl becasue that's where she was from. They were all feeling a little bit nervous about driving because none of them had driven on soft sand before and apparently it's a lot different to normal roads. I think Chris had the advantage of getting to know the car while on the normal roads. 

We went to play our iPod but then realised there wasn't anything to plug it into, luckily we brought along our iPod speaker so we had music in the car. When we reached the barge we were all asked to get out and walk while Chris reversed on. There was a member of staff holding out her arms as I got closer to the ferry, I thought she was posing for a photo so I took one of her, only to realise she was actually directing people and cars where to go lol. 

A few people sat upstairs but it was chilly so me and Chris sat inside. We bought a hot chocolate each to warm up. I went downstairs to use the bathroom and on my way noticed a massive fat ginger cat eating from a bowl! The boat was a very unlikely place for a cat but it seemed quite content. When I came back up I told Chris and we fussed the cat for a while. She kept walking back and forward to her bowl of food. No wonder she was so fat, she didn't stop eating! Chris asked the staff about her and they said she's like a little princess, she only drinks bottled water and eats fresh fish, not cat food. She reminded us both of Molly back at home.  

The boat took thirty minutes to get to Fraser Island. The island was huge and was all sand and forest. There is also a couple of towns where people live. Apparently it's the only sand island to have a rain forest growing on it. The beaches on the island are so long, they stretch for miles! They're beautiful but not used as holiday beaches, they're used as highways! The sea is teaming with sharks so it's not safe to swim around the island.

Chris drove to Lake Birra Been, which took thirty minutes. It was fun driving through the sand and through the forest to the lake. It was over big bumps and dips. We walked to the lake and both jumped in for a swim. It was ok there, slightly cold as well. Brunette Emma drove to Central Station, me and Chris had lunch in the 4x4 as it was pissing down! When it stopped we walked out to sit with the others. We all went for a rain forest walk. As we left it started to bloody rain again! We didn't have our waterproofs! We walked for abut 5mins then turned round and went back to sit under the shelter! The rain forest was cool but we didn't want to get soaked. It was weird as all the lakes were fresh water, the rain forest grows on sand and the whole island is obviously surrounded by the sea. It was a lovely place. Blonde Emma drove to Lake Wabby after through the forest. Me and Chris walked to the lake with Roy. When we got there we got into the water, it was cold! There were really big sand dunes leading down to the lake. Chris, Mo, Shawn and his mate climbed to the top of the dune then raced down to the water and dived in. It was good fun but Chris kept thinking he was going to fall over. He basically did on the first go, just before the waters edge. They did it five times! The girls tried it but only a small run up. Chris got a nice picture of us girls in the lake. When we walked back I noticed a sign saying, No jumping, diving! As it can cause serious spinal injuries and death! Good job it didn't. We walked back and it was slightly cold but at least it didn't piss down. We put the heaters on full to warm us up and try to dry our clothes. Blonde Emma drove to Eurong Beach Resort where we sat down for a coffee to warm up. We didn't get one as it was £4.50 for a small! Just before we left they made a mistake and made an extra hot choccy! Chris got to have it for free so shared it with me. Roy was gutted as he wanted it! The Israeli girl drove back to camp and just as we started to go through the soft sand she got stuck and stalled it. The car wouldn't restart and we had to be tow started. Her stupid friend jumped in to drive it into the camp and turned the bloody engine off when he was told to leave it on - Dick! Don't even know why he jumped in to drive! He wasn't even in our car! Anyway we got into our tents, me and Chris had our own tent and the girls were next to us. We started to cook dinner about 5:30pm. Blonde Emma cooked, I did the rolls and salad. Dinner was really nice, we all had a cup of tea to warm up! We spent the rest of the night drinking and talking. Everyone seemed to go to bed by 9pm! So it was us 5 left up being loud! It was funny watching the dingos run around the camp looking for food, we were told to go to the toilet in twos or threes and always carry a stick to hit the dingos with! Our toilet was the bushes and a shovel called Shane! We finally went to bed at 11:30pm, we had to close the camp up and make sure everything was packed away. We couldn't keep anything in our tents, food or make up as the dingos will get it! The ground mats weren't very good so it wasn't comfortable but we finally got off to sleep, we had a tent to ourselves which was nice.

Charlotte & Chris