Fraser Island blog.... get ready guys this is going to be a long one!

Sunday the 13th, we had to be in the bar at 6.30am in our hostel in Hervey Bay for our briefing.  There was 18 of us altogether and we were split into 2 groups of 9.  Our group amazingly was the first ever group of 9 girls... they seemed a bit unsure if it was ok letting 9 girls loose with a safari jeep but i'm glad they did because oh god did we have a laugh! In our group was us 4 (me, gem, fran and kathryn) and then Suzanne, Maria and Leanne from Newcastle and Rosie + Becky from Bristol- we were Team A.  Team B was made up of a few girls and the rest boys.  First off we had to make up a shopping list of food and alcohol for the next 3 days.  We bought 4 boxes of goon and some vodka for gem, and then enough cheap food to feed the 5000! And then we were off, Kathryn drove the jeep first.  We had been taught how to drive four wheel drives and given a suggested itinary! we raced the other group to the ferry at Riverheads (and beat them by a mile since most of them in that group were boys and couldn't read the map haha).  Once onto fraser island we made our way to Lake Wabby.  It took ages to get there as the "roads" were sand tracks, everyone in the back was thrown about as though we were on a rollercoaster it was alot of fun!  On our way to the lake we somehow managed to get the jeep stuck in some really soft sand and the wheels basically sunk.  Team B had to get out there jeep and dig the sand away from the wheels and then 17 of us had to push whilst suzanne revved the engine like mad. it was SO funny, we all got covered in sand but the main thing was we freed the jeep.  It was a 45 minute walk through the rainforest to get to Lake Wabby but when we got there it was worth it, it was a gorgeous day so we all went swimming.  We then headed towards "Base Camp".  Here we had to pitch our tents (and i should add here that me gem fran and kat managed to get our tent up faster than the boys!!!)  We then had a BBQ for tea, i was nominated chief since there were about 30 burgers to cook. An american asked me if i was in the catering business since i seemed to know what i was doing - this made me laugh! (very sad)

Then came the drinking games... Team A and Team B joined for this and the boys new a lot of crazy games to play. the first being "the grand old duke of york". You basically sing the song and whenever you sing "up" you have to stand up, and whenever you sing "down" you have to sit down. If you got it wrong.... you had to down your drink. I was actually terrible at this game and at quarter to 8 i was completely hammered haha.  We then played a boatrace, Team A v Team B.  Thats were you stand in 2 lines and you have to down your drink one after the other and when you finish you put your cup on your head.  Fair to say there was not a single sober person anywhere that night!

Next day we were all up at 7am with lovely hangovers.  We loaded the jeep up with all our things for the day and set off up the beach for Indian Head.  Here we climbed up the cliff to the top and you could see for miles.  Indian Head is a good look out for wildlife in the sea and whilst we were there we saw tiger sharks in the sea below and HUGE stingrays (they were bigger than the sharks some of them). It was an awesome sight. We then went over to Champagne Pools. This has definately been a highlight of Australia for both me and Gem.  The pools were basically rock pools full of sea water that you could swim in and as the tide hit against the rocks, the white surf comes into the rock pools and makes the water all bubbly like champagne.... it was actually amazing.  There were also lots of exotic fish swimming in there with us.  After chilling here for a while we set off to Eli Creek.  This is my personal favourite memory of Australia so far (pretty sure gem will agree on this one) Eli Creek is basically a really shallow river that runs through a rainforest to the beach, the water is so clear you can see everything. We walked through the forest to the start of the creek and then got in, we then floated all the way along the creek looking at the sky and the trees above until we got to the beach! it was surreal.  We then all ran back and did it again, the 9 of us decided to make a train and we all held onto each others feet and floated down the creek.... just as a tropical rainstorm started. (the rain here is really hot) When we got to the beach we all danced on the sand in our bikinis singing "We're singing in the rain", alot of fun!

On the way back to base camp we decided it would be fun to let the under 21's have a go of driving the jeep (basically me, gem rosie and becky) You have to be 21 to drive 4 wheel drives over here. I went first, then gem, then the other 2. We spent ages driving up and down the beach wasting petrol, it was fun though.  On Becky's turn she somehow managed to get the jeep completely stuck in the sand.  As Team B and the boys weren't around, us girls in our bikinis had to push it out ourselves! and we did it!!! All the jeeps on fraser island knew us, we waved out the window to every jeep coming our way and screamed out the windows (i bet you're all thinking "oh goddddd")

That night we cooked a massive spaghetti bolognese whilst singing aload of songs! (it was like being back at brownie camp)  After dinner the drinking games started again.... this time a game in the form of "zimmie zimmaaai" that was insane and all of us played it. i won't explain the rules its too complicated but me and gem are still singing the bloody rhyme! And that game got us all hammered by about half 7.  Me and Gem also thought we'd be cool this night and make a tower out of beer cans, that got knocked over 4 times!!!  At 10pm the rangers turned the lights out at camp so we all took the party down to the beach were we continued singing and making too much noise.  All of a sudden we got caught in another massive tropical rainstorm but since it was night time it wasn't so warm! We all ran off the beach in the pitch black back to camp, by the time we got back we were completely soaked. All 18 of us looked like we'd been stood in a shower fully clothed!!!

Next day we woke up to find it was still raining (and i mean RAIN) Everything was soaking, no-one had dry clothes or bikinis! we'd stupidly hung our wet towels in the jeep to try and let them dry but unfortunately it just made the jeep smell like cheesy feet (not pleasant)  We packed all our tents away in the rain (again not pleasant) We then made our way to Lake Boomaniji. The ride there was seriously bumpy and we were all thrown about everywhere.  Team B caught us up so we raced them to Lake McKenzie! Again seriously bumpy roads so it was even worse considering we were in a race!!!  Lake McKenzie was beautiful with the whitest sand I've ever seen. It was a shame the weather wasn't so great but it had at least stopped raining by this point.  All the girls buried all the boys in the sand in a big line and we wouldn't let them get up until we'd made them sand boobs etc, it was SO funny (well for the girls anyway!)  We then convoyed back to Woolonga Creek to get the ferry back to the main land.  One of the other jeeps had broken down on the track (there tyre had exploded) so there was a line of about 8 jeeps stuck on the track so we all sat on top of the jeeps and watched the world go by.  Getting back to the main land we sung literally all the way back to the hostel to stupid songs like the spice girls that we all knew the words too! It was awesome, we all had tea in the bar (after a good long shower) and then as us 4, the 2 canadian girls and Jorg the german were getting the overnight bus at half 8, we said our emotional goodbyes and left to get the bus! It was actually really sad to leave, all 18 of us got on really well and we've all swapped emails so we should be able to stay in touch!

We've just got off the bus in Airlie Beach, it took 14 hours to get here and we're all pretty knackered! going sailing tomorrow for 3 days across the great barrier reef, gem will update when we get back!

Hope you are all enjoying the photos

x x x