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It was an early start for us, up at 6am for a quick shower (our last one until we got back from the trip) and quickly packed our stuff. We met at 7.30am where we introduced to our pink jeep for the trip. Ours was called 'Basin'??? We were shown how to operate and drive the jeep on land and then how to put it into 4 wheel drive for on sand. We then chucked our bags in the back, jumped in and headed to the supermarket for some food. I drove there and it was really weird. The tyres had no grip on the road and it felt as though the jeep was sliding all over the road!
Our shopping cost us less then ten quid each for the three days - bargain! Then it was off to the bottle shop for our alcohol - loads of beer and loads of goon (boxes of wine). We weren't quite sure how it would all fit in the jeep but we managed! It was then a short drive to the barge departure point. The barge took about 45 minutes to get to Fraser Island and then it was time for us to jump in the jeep and start our 4x4 self drive holiday.
One of the boys took over the driving as the roads were only wide enough for one jeep and the sand on the road was so deep and bumpy - I was a little bit nervous! It was great fun driving through the sandy tracks with the woods surrounding us but hard work trying to hold on in the back of the jeep! The tracks were about an hour long - so much fun.
We drove to a place called 'Eurong' where we sat in the sun and munched on a pie. We filled up our water tanks and emptied our personal water tanks!! The weeather was glorious. Not a cloud in the sky! Beautiful.
We then drove along the beach front which was amazing. It was a smooth journey and it was really strange driving along and having other jeeps pass you by on the other side just like a road!
We stopped at a sign for 'Lake Wabby' and jumped out. We had to walk through the woods for about 45 minutes. It was a tough walk and you could imagine Emma and I panicking about snakes, dingoes and spiders! Thankfully we only saw one spider - it was huge though. We turned the last corner to see 'Lake Wabby' - WOW! It was totally breathtaking. We had managed to get to the lake first before any other tourists and so we had the lake to ourselves for the first half an hour!
To one side of the lake there was a rainforest and to the other, massive sand dunes. We all struggled up the sand dune for some photos and then ran down the dunes and dived into the lake - amazing! The boys had brought a ball with them so we mucked around in the lake for ages - so much fun! I can't possibly describe how much I loved this place. The weather was gorgeous and so was the scenery!
It was then time for the long walk back to the jeep. No of us wanted to leave but we had a tight schedule as we wanted to see as much as possible. We then drove all the way up the east coast of the island to find our camping spot for the night.
We set up camp in a little grassy area at the eadge of the beach and got our BBQ started. There were 2 other pink jeeps doing the same tour as us so they came and camped beside us for the night. After the BBQ we all played drinking games - what a great night. We saw a couple of dingoes around our campsite but thankfully the boys stepped in and scared them away. We couldn't believe how easy it was to scare them away - we were all so worried about the dingoes as they were a major part of the safety talk. The girlies had to be careful though - if we went to the toilet at night we had to take someone with us to stand up in front of us so that the dingoes realised there was an adult there. (Dingoes think that a girl crouching is a child and will be more likely to attack!!!!) How scary. So not only did we have to take a shovel and dig our own toilet hole in the ground, but we had to take a mate with us to be on dingo watch!!!
The next day we were up at 6am and we decided to give our team a name. Since we were so efficient, got on like a house on fire and stuck to our timetable, we decided to call ourselves, 'Team Awesome'. Perfect!
It was so lovely waking up to the sun rising and the sound of the sea - bliss! We packed up our tents and set off up the island to a place called 'Indian Heads'. We climbed up 'Indian Heads' and the view was amazing. You could see the beach stretching for miles! Supposedly you can sometimes see sharks in the sea below. We looked for ages but there was no luck!
We then walked along the beach to the 'Champagne pools'. There were lots of rock pools at the edge of the sea and the waves from the sea would hit the edge of the rocks and splash all over the rock pools and spray you just like opening a bottle of champagne. We all got a little too excited and stupidly sat right at the edge of the rocks! It was great getting sprayed by the sea for the first couple of times but then a massive wave came and we all went flying over the rocks. One guy ripped most of his skin off his back and sliced open his foot on the rocks. Luckily, I only had a few little cuts on my hands, just like the rest of my group. We realised how stupid we had been and how dangerous it was to sit there so we all moved closer to the beach!
Next we drove to the 'Mahino Shipwreck'. We found out that it was built in Scotland and sent over for New Zealand and Tasmania to use. It was a luxury cruise liner and was also used as a hospital in WW1 for wounded soldiers. When sailing to Japan there was a bad cyclone and the ship landed on Fraser Island in 1930. It was really amazing to see it up close!
Then we drove to the pinnacles and along to Lake McKenzie. I drove and it was wicked - so much fun bumping around and sliding in the sand. Lake McKenzie was gorgeous. Pure white sand and crystal clear water. My photos don't do it justice! We sunbathed for a while and then had some lunch by the lake.
Unfortunately it was then time to leave the island and head back to Hervey Bay on the barge. Everyone was gutted. We all got on so well as a team and laughed and joked constantly - it was such an amazing trip. If anyone ever wants to visit Fraser Island then I strongly reccommend doing the '4x4 self drive tour' with Fraser Roving. You get to see all the sights, camp, meet new people, experience waking up on the beach and learn how to drive a 4x4 on the sand! GO TEAM AWESOME!!!!!!
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