I have just got back from Fraser Island which was brilliant and unlike anything I have done before as it was all self guided in our own 4 by 4 van.

Fraser island is a huge sand dune island that has rainforest growing out of the sand dunes so its pretty uniqiue. When I got to Rainbow beach all the people that were going on a trip had a meeting to explain what rules we should follow, how to drive on the island and what to do when camping. There were twenty two people going and we had two cars with 11 people in each car. After signing all the disclaimers saying we would pay if we wrecked their cars we all went off to the supermarket to buy our food for our group. Not very easy to do when you have got to think about what 11 people will eat over 3 days. The next morning we all got up early to load everything onto the vans. We were supplied with tents and cooking utensils and this as well as our bags and our food went on top of the car so it took a while to load up and secure in place. 3 people sat in front of the cars and 8 people sat along rows in the back army truck style. We headed out to the garage the cars were from for our final briefing and then we were off.

The ferry ride over was a very short oneand then we drove along the bumpiest track I have ever been on to get along the island. We were worried things were going to fall off the roof but luckily everthing was secured well. We drove along the beach and then headed inland to one of the island lakes which was beatiful and great for swimming in. As it was all freshwater you didnt come out after a swim with salt all over you which was really nice. You were not allowed to swim in the sea beacuse of the currents and the amount of sharks and jellyfish there are about. Before we left they showed us a picture of a couple swimming in the sea taken by a helicopter and you could see a huge shark right next to them in the water. That was enough to put me off even if the water did look really good. Getting down the lake took us down a very dodgy downhill track with big holes in it everywhere. Good fun but nobody really fancied going back up it. We looked at the map and decided we could go another way to avoid that road. We headed off but after a while realized that the right turn shown on the map wasnt there so we were headed in the wrong direction down the island. This meant we had to do a mad dash down the beach before the tide came in as we werent allowed to drive in salt water and if there was any saltwater damage to the car when we got back we would all be charged a lot. We made it to the campsite and set up camp, cooking dinner in the dark on little gas stoves which was interesting.

the next day we went to another lake in the morning, then drove up the beach to look at a shipwreck on the beach. I had my go at driving for this bit and although I was really nervoous about it I loved it and will definately do more off road driving in the future given the chance. The shipwreck had been blown ashore in a cyclone about 60 years before and was very impresssive even if half of it was buried under the sand. We drove back up to a creek on the beach and played cricket and then made our way to our second camping place for the night. We were camping on the beach for the second night just behind the sand dunes which meant no toilets. We had to go off in pairs and dig a hole if we needed to loo and we even had to bury our washing up water for fear the scraps in it would attract dingos and other animals. it was brilliant behind that close to the beach all night though. The next morning the rangers turned up asking whether we had any trouble with the dingoes and there was footprints all around out camp but dissapointingly we hadnt seen any so they had obviously been roaming around our camp whilst we had been asleep.

The next day we went to the deepest lake on the island which is gradually being consumed by sandblows. This meant that there was sand dunes leading right down the lake and if you walked right up to the top it felt like you were in the middle of the desert as oppossed to an island. We then waited for the tide to go out again and headed back up the beach to the ferry. We had to go along the same bumpy road we had on the first day but it didnt seem nearly so bad after 3 days bumping round the island we had obviously go used to it. Once we were back on the mainland the moment of truth came and we all waited around nervously whilst they checked our cars out for damage that we might have to pay for. Luckily all was fine and we didnt get charged anything. It was really good to get in a proper bed again last night but tonight I will be sleeping on a bus as I am doing an overnight journey to airlie beach.