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After some standard me stress and issues getting my bus, I then arrived to be told that this bus didn't actually go to where I was going-thankfully the two girls i'd travelle around NZ with were staying nearby so I just popped over there for a much needed pizza and glass of wine before the other bus came later that night. Saying bye to them properly was very odd indeed however knowing the next time i'd see them would be in the uk!!
The first of many nightbuses later and I arrived in Woolgoolga at 6am and swiftly on to Spot-x surf camp from there. More pissing rain and I dumped my bags and headed straight onto the water. An awesome few days that started with me just wanting to paddle around turned into something i've now decided is my calling in life(my ability however doesn't match my enthusiam) although I figured Dad, that its much cheaper than riding and doesnt require my constant supervision like those furry four legged things do. (may even mean we can persuade mum to live by the sea after all?!)
From there I was meeting back up with Holly in Byron bay at a crazy cool hostel The Arts factory. For once the sun was shining and the hostel was on a little lake complete with animals of all varieties(some a little more unwanted than others, especially the resident cockroaches in our room!)
We ended up spending pretty much the whole week with two lovely girls Saskia and Fiona, we met in NZ in Byron, spending nearly a week there after only planning a few days, it sucks you in and doesn't let you leave! A week of very funny nights and lazy days on the beach followed, strangely mixed with meeting lots of people I knew from home from weird situations in Byron, the world is simply too small!
Enough about beautiful Byron. From there I was stopping over in Briabane for a fleeting visit to see the lovely Lewis, the boy we travelled around NZ with as he's at uni there. Lovely to see his aussie life and catch up but it was as short as it was sweet as I had places to be namely Rainbow beach...
Rainbow beach is one of the two places people generally access Fraser island. There is very little there bar a couple of hostels and a few shops with a beautiful quiet beach. This doesn't tend to be an issue as Fraser more than makes up for it.
Staying at "Dingos"(appropriately named Iater discovered) we were put into groups for your 3 day Fraser trip, little do you know at that point these people basically become your second family!
People were warning us about the weather, the dingo's and the trip in general, they clearly were somewhere else?! Another 7am start-might actually be able to wake up when i'm home, actually what am I talking about- and all our food and drink was loaded into our cars. We were then met by probably the most quintessentially ozzie bloke who basically told us we'll crash the cars, get eaten by dingos and get washed away by the appropriately dubbed 'liquid sunshine', the dramatic tone was a little unecessary(says she) it was useful information though.
It hadn't actually dawned on me that i'd be driving a sizeable land cruiser up and down sand junes on a sand island with 7 strangers in the car, I took this moment to tell everyone how i'd written by car off a week after passing my test, not sure why at that moment they all jumped at the chance to drive?
We had two amazing guides Prowdy and Geoff who literally knew everything there was to know about fraser or K-gari island as it was also known. I later learnt from Geoff there was a significant amount of history and aboriginal culture that surrounded the island, it was fascinating.
After a hilarious and rainy ferry over we turned up on this mindblowing island and all in our first day saw the amazing Lake Mackenzie with white sand and sparkling blue water that cleans your jewellery! A tea tree lake(yes heath like neem but better), Eliy creek, a small desert(not even a Kath exaggeration) and so much more before heading back all intact even after my driving to what was going to be our camp for the night, we pitched up(Dad you'll be pleased to know years of IOW camping enabled me to put our tent up in no time!) and the lovely Tyler cooked up an incredible steak followed swiftly by evening of goon.
I won't bore you(too late?!) with the small details, but we really saw some very special places that 3 days. After heading back to Rainbow for a much needed shower, Team Jeo were reunited and we treated ourselves to an epic chinese and saw a local guy who apparently was australia's best musician having a jam in the hostel next door, told you Rainbow was crazy!
It was the hardest thing to leave my new family but thank you Christie, Perry, Tyler, Callum, Tom, Vicki and Suzanne for the best 3 days in Oz even my whole time away, you made it unforgettable for all the right reasons!!
- comments
Weezy Woo Man you can story tell. Significant lack of punctuation here though I feel, or maybe I am just not used to your ramblings at the moment. Sounds incred. We are in drought here but it hasn't stopped raining for 2 weeks....don't ask.
Sally Hello Katie Glad to read this latest instalment, and understand you're now home safe and sound! Well done - you really achieved something there! The surfing sounds great, it's just a shame it's not warmer water round UK!!! Something I always wanted to try... Bet you'll want to go again now, so start saving!! Hope to read the final chapter sometime soon, or speak to you in person to hear all about it.