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Nim in Oz
Well been a while since ive had a chance to update as i've been on the largest sand island in the world, Fraser island!! and it is all really just sand! you really cant believe it til you see it. We left byron bay relatively early on Tuesday morning and arrived and the ferry to get to faser island at about 3 pm. The crossing was only 30 mins over really shallow water. interesting fact... The water between the main land and the island becomes so shallow at points during the year that it is possible to wade across this is how they believe that the aboringinal managed to reach the island and inhabit it much before its discovery by Captain Cook.
After the short ferry crossing we were collected by our tour guide, Patrick (Paddy) who drove us away in a huge 4x4 coach. the reason for such a heavy duty coach is there are no roads on the island just tracks which have been created but these are obviously all sand and a normal car would not be able to cope with the bumps and dips. The ride to our first stop was quite a bumpy one!! First stop was one of natures miracles the rainforest, the only rainforst of its kind as it has grown in the sand!! We walked through the rainforest, which had a similar atmosphere to walking through the heart of a wood. The trees were covered in bamaboo like vines which didn't look real and the creek which followed the path was silent, very strange. All the water sources on the island are silent as there are no rocks which mean unless a tree falls into the water there is nothing so cause the water to make a sound. The forest was silent apart from the sound of the odd bird! Australian birds tend to be extremely noisy! After this trek we retird back to our hostel on surf side which was right by the sea. You'd like we'd be happy about this but we were later informed that we weren't able to swim in in the sea as there were sharks, and aprently most shark attacks occur in waist deep water! i did brave a paddle in the sea but i wasn't about to go deeper than my ankles!!! After an early night and i much needed sleep we were back on the coach and off on a full day tour to Indian Head ( as named by captain cook who saw this high point with many indians on it, all native americans and aboringinals were known as Indians back in his day!)
Wednesday was an extremely action backed day, a whistle stop tour of fraser island highlights. First stop was Eli Creek yet another example of the weird silent water ( not a girgle to be heard! so odd!) It was a beasutfil area with palm trees and ferns. The water was also full of fish and eels. We did stop one eel which was huge and did not entice me into the water!!
Back on the coach a few of us were given the opportunity to take a trip over the island on a light aircraft. A xhance i though that could not be missed. The 14 of us left in two planes of 7 in each plane one of the passages got to be co-pilot!! The plane took of and left like a roller coaster. We flew over the island and suddenly it all became apprent the size of the island and the fact that the whole thing was made of sand!!!!! We flew over huge sand blows and beautiful lakes, one of which looke dlike a butterfly and was named after this, like wise the bomerang lakes. The trees looked like a combination of broccali and moss. Just like a model of a forest. I was blown away by the whole experience. The landing was the smoothest one i'd ever experience as the sand is so soft. Another interesting point to mention about fraser isalnds road system and that is the great sandy highway. This is in effect the motorway on the island and this is just on the beach. Very crazy to see cars zooming along the beach and planes landing in this same area, but it is organised chaos!!
Back on the bus we stopped off at a shipwreck which had once been a grand liner ship, but erosion had set in over the last decade. it was not so long ago that people could stay and dine in the ship but that was not the case anymore. The ship use to be a ferry but a bad storm has caused the ship to go off cause and crash into the island. the ship was broken and unable to sail again. The piolet sold parts of the ship in order to get himself home and then left the remains of the boat which are slowly sinking into the sands.
Chmpagne pools were the nxt stop and these were unique and special as it is the only sea water which can be swam in as they are sheltered by rocks and sharks are unable to swim in these areas.
The next stop on our trip was the high rock formation known as indian head,from here you could see for miles along the coast line, it use to be a place of rituals for the aboringinal people and it is not hard to see why they chose this spot.
Final stop on the day was the coloured sands, here we saw almost pyramid like objects which were all different shades, hense the name coloured sands.
That evening at the bar an 'anything goes' themed night had been organised. Most dressed them selves in bedsheets as togos but we were more orginal with our bin bag outfits!! You would be so suprised what you can do with a binbag and some imagination!!!
The following day we walked accoss one of the huge sand blows which i had seen from the air, it was about a km. After this hard trek we reached a beautful emerald green. lake wabby!we swam across in the freezing cold water, but once use to the water it was really enjoyable. When i say cold i mean difficult to breathe cold!!Also the lake had a neautral ph level.
In the afternoon we were taken to another lake which was bigger than Wabby and was perfectly clear. the sand in the water was exfoiliating and the water was acidic like conditioner, we had a very pampered afternoon. the water was also a lot warmer. The lake was very protected and we weren't allowed in with any chemicals on our bodies as it could cause huge problems for the wildlife and plantlife in the water, as water does not flow in or out, it is all self contained.
We left fraser island at about 4pm on thursday and started a horrfic over night coach journey to Airlie Beach where i have just arrived. Over night coach journeys are not fun!!
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