Hello to everyone at home,

Ive heard from just about everybody at home that you've had a couple of nice days of weather....weehey!

So our little Shelia has done us proud at got us to Cairns!

We left Sid's & April's in Brisbane and our first stop was Noosa. We spent two nights there ad we be stopping there again on our way back down to Syndey. It was lovely, the camp site was next to the beach so Jay was happy to sit there and fish and he managed to bag himself a few bream. Whilst in Noosa we also went for a coastal walk along the beach/national forest but it was time to move on so our next stop was Rainbow beach which we both didnt like much...it was mozzie central!
In the morning we quickly packed everything up and hit the road again, the next stop was Lake Monduran which is advertised as the place to catch Barramundi. Due to all the flooding all the fisherman couldnt catch anything but Jay did manage to catch a catfish and a small barra.
After a couple of days at the lake and no big barra caught we headed to Hervey Bay. Once again, Jay did more fishing. We stayed at Heryvey bay for a couple of nights whilst we was waiting to go to Fraser.

Monday morning came and we went to pick up "Bruce" at 6:30 in the morning. After an hours breifing of all the dangers on the island we were able to set off for the barge. The weather was miserable so we were abit gutted, after 30 mins on the barge we arrived at the island, as soon as we reversed off, we realised why you needed a 4x4. There was ridiculus pot holes, bumps and puddles. There was no way our Shelia would have made it.
We headed to Central station first which was once home to all the loggers but it was banned on the island. A few things still stand there like the school and one of the houses.
By 10:30 we was able to drive on the beach (2hrs after high tide) as the weather was still pants, we decided to head up to the north of the island. Obviously driving on sand takes time & slowing down for the creeks and also having to check the depthh of them. Half way up the 75 mile beach, we had to head inland to get around the rocks on the beach, after only a few hours of being on the island, we managed to get bogged! Fortunately for us, a young Auzie came to our rescue & towed us out. We then continued our journey to Indian Head, which is the best vantage point on the island, sharks, mantarays & dolphins can be spotted but they were being shy the day we climbed to the top as we didnt get to see any although Jay decided to walk past the afety area and sit on the edge of the cliff!
The next stop was Champagne falls, they ae called Champagne falls because the waves crash the rocks leaving lots of bubbles. This is also the only safe salt water swimming on the island as your not allowed to swim on the East side as there are too many sharks but on the West coast, Crocs are ofthen spotted too.
After we had a dip we headed down the beach, Jay wanted to do a spot of fishing whilst i cooked snags and burgers on the beach. Jay managed to bag a few fish whilst my cooking managed to lure out a dingo. The whole island is covered in signs "DANGER DINGO" so when one appeared, i naturally crapped my pants. I started to pack everything away but Jay convinced me to carry on cooking in the boot.
The dingo kept creeping forward and i would panic more. I put Jay on dingo watch whilst i tried to finish off the snags and burgers. When the dingo was only a few metres away, i jumped in the car all closed the door but Jay braved it and continued on with the lunch! Eventually Jay got in and we sat eating our lunch which the dingo sat next to the car. After eating, Jay jumped out the van to try and scare it off but managed to drop all the onions on the floor so he tried to pick them up asap whilst the dingo sat watching him and i had to then be on the dingo watch.
After having that experience, we decided to stay in a campground rather than on the beach. The campgrounds have dingo fences. The dingos on Fraser are the purest strain in Oz, in the past, tourists have feed them and some have lost their natural fear of humans and thats why attacks happened. All food or scraps must be kept in a locker or in the car, all rubbish must be carried until you find a bin and there proabably only 4 bins on the whole island. On the second day, Jay wanted to go to the west coast to do some fishing, After driving over 2 hours on the worst roads we was stopped, a tree had fallen in the middle of the road. SO we had no choice but to go all the way back. As the roads are only big enough for one vehicle, we had to reverse about 20 metres for a space big enough to turn around. We went to Eli creek which is the largest fresh water stream on the east coast, we took our rubber rings and floated down although the water was freezing! As it was getting dusk, we had to head back to the camp site.
On the 3rd day we headed to one of the islands perched lakes, Lake McKenzie which is amazing. We had a long swim and soaked up some rays. Jay then wanted try his luck at fishing again, we headed to the Kingfisher resort and Jay caught a few stripped sea pike. We then headed back to camp and spent the night drinking beer with some students from Canada. We drank too much on a empty stomarch and the next day we both felt rough. On our last day on the island we decided to go back to Lake McKenzie again as it so spectacular. Being on the island was difficult, no drinking water, very basic facilities at the camp sites & the very few roads on the island can be a rough ride however we had an amazing time . The island is very beautiful and it will definately be a highlight of the trip.
Since Fraser, we've done alot of driving and made it to Cairns. Tomorrow we are going on a snorkelling trip to the Great Barrier reef which im sure will also be excellent.

We'll put the pics up soon!

Love to everyone at home

R & J
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