OK this is the 3rd...yes that's right 3rd time I have written this entry now, as twice it has taken me so long that the computers have crashed!! I am really not having much luck at all in this country with computers/cameras! Apologies for the missing pictures btw I have no idea at all where they are...floating around somewhere in cyber space I presume! I may have given up on all that...unless people have any new ideas.

So back to Fraser Island...this is going to sound weird but it's an important place spiritually for the Aborigines and weirdly I think we all felt that we were not supposed to be there to some extent. It was completely strange, very inhospitable and at the same time stunningly beautiful, and one of the best experiences I have ever had.

Ok so we went to Hervey bay which luckily for them is the gateway to Fraser, as there is literally nothing else there. Shock horror we stayed in a really nice hostel...it was clean which is such a rareity nowadays!!!! We had no roomates either which was also very welcome. While I was doing my washing (lol) I met some random Irish guys (well one was canadian) who would later turn out to be lifesavers...well kind of!

Next day we were up at 6.30am (heaven help me I am getting pretty good at early mornings now!) and met the rest of our group...11 in ours, 8 in Group A. Some random Dutch man traded into our group....I basically hated him for most of the trip! Everyone else was really nice (until they got fed up of two 22 yr olds organising/bossing everyone around...someone even said me and sarah were anal??? Excuse me lol) Anyway we loaded up our toyota troop carrier complete with tents, food, alcohol and 11 people (!) and zoomed off to the ferry. Well as I was lead driver it was more of a nervous shuffle but I'm pleased to say we made it onto the ferry which anyone who has seen me trying to reverse my KA will know is a miracle!!!! I was scared out of my mind, but by the end of the trip that vehicle was the love of my life....sort of.

On Fraser in convey with the other group leading I would like to point out we immediately got lost and ended up driving an extra 2 1/2 hrs out of our way on the most difficult rds on the island! When we told the hire company this when we got back they just laughed and said yeah people are always getting that sign confused...thanks for the warning! We shouldn't have been surprised though as the safety breifing and how to drive the car was literally don't let the car wash away/ get stuck in sand/ go into saltwater/ don't get eaten by dingoes/ don't get hit by lightening/ don't swim in the sea or you'll get washed away by the rip current or eaten by a shark/ don't get stuck by the tides and don't drive too fast or you'll turn the car over....I was more then a little nervous at the thought of being in charge of the car!!!

We managed to see a couple of really beautiful places on our mad dash back to base camp along the beach, especially a lake in the middle of a huge sand dune and the maheno ship wreck, it was worth the trauma. We were in bed by 9, well the english were anyway, the irish were obviously up til the early hours drinking goon :-)

Next day up at 5.45am to organise the camp. We went to Indian Head which is the most easterly point of Australia and famous for seeing wildlife in the water. The aborigines stood on this cliff as Captain Cooks boat sailed past. We saw manta rays swimmng around, and a few turtles and also quite far out either a pod of dolphins fins or possibly sharks!!! It was magical.

Then we left the car on the beach and trekked through seriously hot and deep sand to the champagne pools. which are basically big rock pools. Someone saw a massive jellyfish which naturally had me scurrying out of the water at record speed! Also as the tide was ocming in the waves were quite visious against the rocks and I saw a couple of people get hurt.

On the way back we had quite a weird experience....I had promised to do a goonbong if Oisin spotted a shark at indian head. Whilst walking back we found a reef shark washed up just dead on the beach, with a big chunk out of its head! Very weird, it was only small about a m and a half I think. The boys obviously thought it was fab. We also found a puffa fish washed up byt the car...we tried to rescue it and carry it back into the sea on a spade but sadly it was on a suicide mission and got beached again. We left it with a sea eagle circling above....(duh duh duhhhhh)

The car was luckily still there when we returned, although realising that the tide had lapped at the wheels did make me feel slightly concerned that they had my credit card details!

For some unknown reason the Irish managed to convince us to drink with them that night...as I was lead driver again the next day I though I'd better start early and then have a few hrs to sleep it off. We played drinking games, an I managed a goonbong! A very proud moment. we went to the beach in a massive thunder storm....I have never seen anything like it. At one point l;ightening struck right over us and literally it was like day again, the whole ocean and beach was lit up.

Weather was a bit s*** the next day, the ocean was black from the storm. One woman died in Brisbane after being hit by lightening! Saw a few more lakes and had a swim and attempted to sunbathe. Then we raced to the ferry. To be honest I had mixed emotions about leaving. It was amazing but organising so many people left me really drained. One cocktail and I was out for the count. Only criticism...where were all the dingoes???? W heard stories about baby eating etc etc and didn't see a single one....I was gutted, although at 4 am one morning when I had to go to the loo I was praying that I wasn't going to be eaten, so maybe it was a good thing :-)