Hi everyone,
quick update on Fraser Island as we wait for our bus to take us to Airlie Beach!!
Our day at Australia Zoo in Noosa was good fun - we got there at about 10 ish and started to relive our childhood days! It was such a hot day and was really good to see all the crocodiles and the pens that you often saw steve irwin jumping around! it was quite strange to see a shrine dedicated to him but nonetheless paid our respects then headed for CROC O'CLOCK!!! yep you better believe it, was good fun although aimed mostly at kids (understandably!) Jo and I got very much involved with the cheers and chants!! the rest of the day was spent feeding kangaroos, stoking koalas and debating whether or not the crocodiles were alive or dead. not much movement from any of them, and with it being such a hot day the temptation of throwing a water bottle at them was getting increasingly high! not to worry though we held back and walked quickly on to the otters for some amusement!
We think we saw Bindhi knocking around the joint but cant be sure so we say we did!! its all a bit mental there, while the animals apparently move around and things, Terri the wife of steve is on marketing war line planning to expand the size from 72 to 315acres! a bit extreme we felt as walking around 72 acres is not easy! but anyway a good day was had by all and we headed back to noosa to pack our bags ready for rainbow beach to take on FRASER ISLAND!
when we arrived and checked into another dorm (quite nice actually, with tiled bathrooms!) we headed to our briefing where we would be put in groups and briefed on the island. just to backtrack slightly, while at the bus stop at noosa we stumbled across an orphan called Lucas, 20yr old skater kid who looked a bit lost but also on his way to rainbow beach - adopting him for our time in fraser we met him in the bar and said he can join our gang! (admittedly jo and i werent much of a gang!) Unknown to us he had also made friends with a girl called beth in his dorm so she joined us and she was also excepted into the gang!
Waiting to be put into our groups, we have to say was so nerve rackiing! I (hannah) was feelking the presure and could have exploded!! you get put into groups of 11 and just pray that you get along...so let me introduce you to Team D , aka TEAM DYNAMITE!!
Beth, Hannah, Jo, Innes, Sebastian, Isabella, Ivon, Lucas, David, Ed and Kevin
we didnt meet the three guys till the evening, irish through and through they took it upon themselves to watch the rugby rather than bond with their new team!
we all met in the bar later that evening and everyone seemed to be getting along and we all started to get excited - we had been briefed, been giving maps and told to be ready at 7am for pancakes and preperation then to be on the ferry for 11.30am. It was an early start but we were so excited that we didnt even feel tired, we got ready and packed up the car - the irish guys had bought so much alcohol that it wouldnt fit into the car so we had to basically sit on it! (jo, beth and i decided to live the goon dream) and once all packed up we had a few wise words from the organiser, Merv (you beauty! as he would say) things about the dangerous dingoes, how to drive and how not to drive the 4x4 and some tips and advice! Merv was hilarious as well, a crazy Oz that wanted us to have smiles on our dials!!!

we headed to get our ferry, 8 in the back knees touching ,and three in the front riding shotgun very comfortably!
Fraser Island in general was amazing! ed was driving at first and everyone was a bit woirried about the driving as it was so bumpy and the car was sliding everywhere! but after a few minutes though we all started to relax, put some music on and start chatting!

our first stop was a creek which was so nice, the sun was out and the water was clear and was nice to have a walk around we were getting a bit hungry so piled back into the 4x4 and tried to find a picnic spot - after lunch we started to drive up to indian head - but as we didnt get there till late morning the tide was already starting to come in, our problem was if we got indian head, we might not be able to get back! making the executive decision not to chance it we decided to turn around and find a campsite!

We rocked up about 4ish to set up base, it was decided by the guys, that they would bring all the gear down from the car put the tents up and the girls would cook - an alright deal you think? WRONG, it took them about 1 minute to do all of it, even we could put the tents up, so after a bit of abuse they sat there with a beer watching us cook...this was a general theme for the whole trip!! we didnt mind as it was good fun cooking (how girly does that sound!)

after dinner we sat around our camp fire, singing songs, drinkning and before we knew it we had about 50 peopl round our campfire joining us... we were the cool fraser groupp...hence Team dynamite!!

anyway had a really good night although scared myself slightly!! basically you can run the battery to play music and have the lights on for an hr or so then turn the car on to recharge the battery - i thought that it was time to turn the car on - so i sat in the front sit, didnt quite realise that the car was still in gear turned the car on and yes you guessed it, choked it forward!! never been so scared in my life! think the big crowd of people sat in front of the car werent to pleased either - from that moment i was banned from the drivers seat!! to be fair my feet were still hanging out of the door - so if anything happened it would have been a different story!

Anyway, a bit later on it was time for Jo to get into trouble.... a random abouriginee came over with a digeradoo in one hand and accepted our request to play...so he played for all of 3 seconds and demanded an applause, it was really not that good! but he was a bit drunk so we entertained him! after a few chats, jo thought ' i can do better' took hold of the digeradoo and gave it an almighty try....follwed by a grunting noise, jo was unfortunatley not able to play, the aboruiginee dude caught on that Jo had tried to play and yelled...' no GIRLS ARE ALLLOWED TO PLAY MY DIGERADOO' oppsy! he wasnt very happy, jo and i were hysterically lauhging but apparently we were insulting his religion - details details!! quite funny really!!\

overall had an awesome night, dancing, singing and chatting ,then went to bed, an awesome first day!!

Ok so after an awesome night of camp fires, diggeredoo playing (or not in the girls case!) we peeled ourselves off the hard rocky tent floor and out of our sandy sleeping bags to start cooking some camp breakfast........what was to be scrambled egg, soon turned into cornflakes, bread, jam and peanut butter!!!! At this point may we point out that it was the girls who were up and starting the day, whilst the guys were still sweating away, dreaming of food in their tents just waiting for the goon/beer hangovers to kick in!!!!

We eventally got all the kit back and into the trucks and having filled our stomachs we were all back on our way to Indian Head (the furthest point North on Fraser)..........Hannah's time to drive!!!!!! "Oh my god.......I can't take my hand off the steering wheel to winde up the window", Hannahs driving on the beach was quite a funny experience for us all, being the first girl to attempt what seems a relatively easy task, whilst realising you are actually now responsible for 10 other newly found friends! After a few more Km's we were all safely in Hannahs capable hands! (2 off course!)

I think the time in the truck on Fraser had to be some of the funniest moments and holds fond memories of laughter, singing, spinal injury due to the legendary bumps on the tracks and was probably the place where you bond the most.......due to the constant touching of the knees!!!!

Indian Head had the most amazing view into the ocean and therefore became a picture moment for us all! A walk back down and a further drive back down the beach took us to an amazing shipwreck and the longest dirt track ever, which eventually took us to the infamous Lake Mckenzie!! Unfortunately the much wanted photos had to be timed to perfection as the rain embaced us once more! Nothing but good fun had by all, swimming and laughing yet again!

The highlight of Lake Mckenzie had to be when Sebastian couragously leapt into action having discovered a Dingo had stolen Evonnes pink bag and started legging it down the beach, food, sarong and all falling out as it went......the hero that he was disregarding all advice to stay well away from the Dingos! Returning to a cheering beach and with the pink bag, Sebastian's nick name for the rest of our time "Dingo Warrior" (all the girls felt very protected now I may add too!) Back in the truck again down the infamous spine destroying track, then along the beach to our campsite for the 2nd night..........approx 10 metres from the beach!!!! Love it!!!! We were limited with our driving time on the beach due to the tides so we loved pushing ourselves to the limit!

Having located our spots and unloaded the truck again we had the pleasures of rain and along with the guys (Dave, Kev and Ed!) laziness in not wanting to participate in creating our shelter and opting for the beers instead, we stood our ground and bribed them with the thought of having no dinner!!!! 2 minutes later we had the most amazing construction going on.....nice work! Chicken Stir Fry was also on it's way......however, not consumed for approximately another 3 hours due to cooking facilties and natural causes! By this time the goon and beers were flowing and the other groups had also joined us!

Highlights of that awesome evening have to be Team D's sing'a'long to Queens "We are the Champions" and passing air guitar!!! It was so "Rad" "Yeah" (in Lucas's words!) For the girls treking to the beach and digging a hole and letting go of all vanity just to relieve ourselves proved to be quite amusing too! We moved the party to the truck at one point for even more shelter but didn't dampen our spirits in the slightest!!!!

Day 3: and some scrambled egg with onion later we were off again in the truck (Jo driving!) to Lake Wabby for some more fun! A 40 minute walk accross an extremely large sand dune we were there swimming and relaxing (rolling Lucas down the sand dune into the lake; endless fun!) Lucas became known as "The Legend" with his want to do and achieve absolutely everything, at only 20 had the greatest outlook on life and had to be the highest of spirited at all times....Legend!

Some well deserved lunch was consumed by and we then headed down the beach once more to catch the barge back over to the mainland.....a few "Team D" photos later we were back cleaning out the trucks and having them inspected by Merv (praying we were'nt going to get charged for anything!) and reminiscing of all the "Good Times" we'd had and most definitely returning with "Smiles on our Dials" along with sand in places were seriously never thought exsisted!

Us and our newly found friends in "Team D" then spent the evening drinking, eating and listening to some live music back at the hostel, all appreciating a hot shower and wanting to experience it all again! With tired eyes we fell into our beds and bidded farewells the following morning! For us and Beth (part of the way) an 18 hour journey up the coast on the bus to Airle Beach was awaiting us!!!! Noooooooooo!

Oh and just one other funny point (well upon reflection anyway) which we will make you think just how have these girls managed to get to where they are.............whilst waiting for the bus at Rainbow Beach Hannah realises she hasn't got her handbag???? Mmmmmm? Passport, cards, money! Runs back into the hostel and manages to find it in the baggage lock up, she then returns and only for mentioning the word "Passport" triggers something in Jo's little head too....."mmmmmm passport??" S*i*!!!!!! Runs back in litterally a minute before we jump on the bus to receive the safely stored passport from the safety box!!!!! Mmmmmm a lesson learnt we feel!!!!!!

So Airle Beach and the Whitsunday's we finally go!!!!!!!