Everyone went their own way the next day. Alex and Jim stayed at Hervey Bay to plan the rest of their trip and Johnny and Dave left early to drive down to Brisbane and then travel on to New Zealand. I have arranged to meet up with everyone again though. I moved on to Rainbow Beach.

Rainbow Beach is tiny compared to everywhere else I have been, or probably will go on this trip. Its population is only 1,000, which increase to 5,000 at high season. As with Airlie Beach, Rainbow is mainly used as a gateway but this time to Fraser Island.

I had a night to get used to my surroundings before I left for yet another change of scenery. I’m going to Fraser Island on a 2 day tour. This seems to be one of the activities that every backpacker who visits Oz does, but I have been told by 2 very reliable sources (my brother Matt and his girlfriend Charlotte) that it is a definite “must do”!

The tour group was only 14 people and we were driven around in a huge 4x4 bus. I was tempted to ask if I could have a go driving it but when we got to the island I decided against it. I would have caused serious damage to someone or something had I gotten behind the wheel I just know it!

Fraser Island is one of nature's more unique features being the world’s largest sand island. But despite the fact it is basically one big sand dune a significant rainforest has managed to flourish.

The first thing we did on the island was go swimming in one of the hundreds of creeks that flow from the island and out to sea. These creeks, and all the lakes on Fraser Island, are freshwater as they have been formed totally by rain. The one that we visited was Fraser’s largest and due to the flow of water out to sea we were able to let the water carry us the full length of the creek. It was a very relaxing experience on such a hot day.

After drying off our next stop was the wreck of a ship that had been blown off course and run aground on Fraser Island in the late 19th century. It was so cool to be able to have a look around such a huge wrecked ship, however despite my protests I wasn’t allowed to climb it. I know there loads of very good reasons for the restrictions but it was very tempting nonetheless.

After the wreck we were taking, in the Goliath of a bus, to Indian Head. This is the highest point of the island and provided some stunning panoramic views of our surroundings. We were told that occasionally this vantage point allowed people to look out to sea and be able to watch whales, rays and even sharks swimming off the shore. Unfortunately the storms that had hit the island the previous few nights had stirred up the sea bed to such an extent that visibility was near zero.

We spent out night on Fraser Island staying in a small group of cabins called Dilli Village. And after such a hectic day of being driven around the island we all had a relaxing evening after we went swimming in the village’s lagoon.

Our second day on Fraser Island started, after breakfast, with a walk through the rainforest. It has to be said that it wasn’t the worst start to a day that I have ever had. The remainder of our final day on the island was the highlight for most people, including myself. We spent the afternoon relaxing by and swimming in Lake McKenzie. This place is the closet thing I have ever seen to the universal idea of paradise and it has gone straight to the top of my “Stuff I Wanna See Again!” list.

Fraser Island was definitely a place that I won’t forget in a hurry. It’s like nowhere I have ever seen before and I loved it. Definitely a good way to spend 2 days!

As I had the following day free and wasn’t going anywhere I decided to have a couple lemonades with one of the girls I went on the Fraser trip with, Rina, as well as the people staying in my room. It wasn’t until about 11:30 the next day that I realized that I should actually have checked out in the morning and moved on to Noosa. Guess I’m not as good at this whole organization thing as I thought I was.

Anyway I managed to check myself into the hostel for an extra night and spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach, soaking up the sun and admiring all the different coloured sands (where Rainbow Beach gets its name).

Tomorrow I move on to Noosa, eventually!