First day in Oz and Fraser Island - My life turned into a movie

Getting on a plane to Australia is like being at the university in Germany. I was surrounded by millions of young and insecure Germans who travel for the first time in their life. They are nervous, their backpacks are fresh from the store shelf, they are always in company of fellow travellers and fumbling around with their documents. I had heaps of fun observing them. However, I arrived in Brisbane and caught a train to the city centre and the arranged spot where I would meet my host. I would meet my host in a few hours, so I checked out the meeting point in front of the library. Next to the library there is a museum with an exhibition for free about aboriginal art. I went there and it was pretty interesting, they had some nice and very sarcastic movies. After that I checked out the city centre and then returned to have a nap in the sun because I hadn't slept all night long because I had been in the airplane.

At 5 p.m. I met my host Aaron, he picked me up from the library and we drove to his home that is like half an hour away from Brisbane in a military base because he joined the army as a chef. So Amberley is a bunch of container houses, only reserved for the military. So it can happen that you meet young, sweaty men walking around with heavy backpacks and headphones in their ears because they are making a walking training. This area is surrounded by fences but some kangaroos, rabbits and weird birds are living in there. So it comes that I met a kangaroo on my very first day! It was a big male kangaroo, they call it Gingo. Gingo is particularly aggressive and likes boxing, so we didn't come to close. Not closer than 2 metres at least. Gingo was sitting around all the time and eating grass like a horse. He would do that for hours. That's how being a kangaroo works. When we were coming too close, he hissed at us like a bothered cat.

We went to bed early so that we would be able to get started soon in the next morning. The next morning we spent 2 hours on a hippie market in Brisbane with buskers, vegetables and drinks. We bought food for our island trip and enjoyed a live band. After that we really left for the island. On our way north we picked up a French hitchhiker on his way to Cairns and gave him a lift to Gympie. At 5 we took the barge to Fraser Island. Before entering we had to deflate the tires so the car would be able to drive on the sand. The ride on the barge took around 15 mins. Fraser Island is famous for its beautiful, crystal clear lakes and the amazingly white sand. So we hit the island. It is a 40 min drive along the beach to the very first camping village where we would stop for the night. And I tell you, it's f***ing amazing to drive along the beach. But it really made me sad to see all those dead turtles along the beach, we saw 3 of them. The high tide had brought them on the sand and they hadn't managed to get back into the water and dried out in the sun. We arrived in Dilli Village and set up our tent there, then we cooked our dinner and played some chess games.

In the next morning we intended to take an inland road to reach the Lake MacKenzie, a beautiful large lake with sand dunes but the sand on the road was so soft and deep that we got stuck. We tried to go further for around half an hour. I pushed the car from the back and Aaron drove. So the car was driving slowly while I was running behind and pushing it. But at some point we couldn't go further and the car got really stuck, neither forward nor backward. So we had to dig free the tires and repeat the procedure until we managed to return. The plan had been to go to Lake MacKenzie and then launch the kayaks on the west side of the island to go whale watching but instead we were forced to stay on the east side of the island where we could drive along the beach because that was possible for the car since it hasn't a 4 wheel drive. So we made our way up north along the east coast to another lake that was 40 min of walking inland. It is called the Wabby Lake and it is really beautiful, very clear and full of big fish. It is surrounded by high sand dunes as white as snow. We went swimming and sunbaking. On our way back some Germans had caught a fish from the lake and were trying to kill it but they didn't manage. They had cut its stomach, into its head, into its tail, everywhere but it was still alive and I felt so sorry for that tortured fish, it was bleeding everywhere. The easiest trick is cutting off the head, I was told by Aaron. Then we continued further to the north of the island because there is a point where whales often swim past. Aaron let me drive the car for a while and it is sooo cool to drive along the beach. On the way we found a camping side where we set up our tent directly next to the ocean and then we drove further to the whale watching point. It is dangerous to launch the kayaks on the east coast because of the strong currents and the great sharks so we just would watch the whales from a high cliff. We parked the car, played some Australian Football and then hiked to the watching point and the f***ing whales didn't show up! Instead we saw some big turtles playing around in the water and a very big stingray. We also went for a swim but not too deep because of the sharks. Then we returned to our tent, cooked and retreated into the tent, we had taken off the cover so that we would be able to see the stars and the stars were so amazing! While we were playing a chess game, a dingo was sneaking around our tent. Dingoes are like wild dogs and they always check out the tents for food but we stored it in the car. They happen to attack people so we kept safe in the tent. It was just a bit scary. Aaron also explained me how to kill a dingo. You grab their forelegs and them apart so their heart would stop beating. At some point I had to pee so Aaron accompanied me into the bush and looked out for dingoes. But none came.

In the next morning we woke up before sunrise, packed up the tent and left because we had to pass a certain spot where it would be impossible to pass until 1 p.m. due to the tide and we didn't want to waste the whole day waiting until we would be able to pass. While driving we saw a turtle and as we did with all the turtles we saw we checked if she still was alive. She was. Well, she might also be male but I decided she's female. She was about to die so we played the heroes and pushed her back into the water. She weighed around a 100 kilos. But when we started pushing her, she came back to life and helped us, she pushed herself with her turtle arms and legs. So any time she would move her arms, we gave her push. It was a really long process. When the water started touching her, she got really excited and pushed a lot more. Aaron said her eyes lit up when she started feeling the water. Then she slipped away and kind of greeted us when her head popped up at the surface to take a breath. Then the sunrise started and we kept driving, I couldn't take my eyes off the sun, it was really beautiful. At 5 p.m. we took the very first barge, got back to the mainland, inflated the tires, went for a swim at rainbow beach and then we launched our kayaks in Tin Can Bay which is famous for the dolphins. Again we were unlucky because not any dolphin showed up but it was still a nice kayaking tour. Australia is beautiful but also a bit scary because any time there are crocodiles, sharks, spiders and snakes around.

Then we had relaxed ride back home and fell into our beds.