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Well what can we say! Being on the biggest sand island in the world has definatly been a highlight in this trip and an awsome experience.
At 7:00am we had to go to the Bar at Beaches, Harvey Bay, to meet our group for the 3 day 2 night safari on Fraser Island. We were in group A with Emily from Bath and Kat from Surrey, Richard and Steven from Scotland, Jose from France (or frenchie as we called him as we didnt know how to say his name), Ell from Italy and Ann from Quebec, Canada who was the main driver on the trip. We had a new member on the 2nd day as Franzi didnt like her group and we had met her in our room the night before we left so we let her join. She was German.
Vicky and I were in charge of the food shopping so everyone put in $20 and we set off for the supermarket with the other shoppers from the other groups. There were 4 groups on total. We only had 20 minutes to get a huge shop for 3 days so we had to be quick. We were both running round the supermarket like headless chicken and I'm sure it looked really funny to everyone else in there. I was yelling 'Vicky we need butter' and she was yelling 'Yeah got it'! After a very stressful shop we had far too much food but oh well. We went over budget by $10 and we thought that wasnt bad as some went over my a lot more than that. We got back to the 4x4 place and loaded up the van. Ann for behind the wheel and we set off for the ferry port.
We arrived on Fraser Island at about 11:00am and had an itinerary to follow and had to be at the Base Camp by 5:00pm to ensure that we didnt get stuck with the tide coming in.
The first stop was Lake Wabby: A massive lake behind a huge sand-dune. The water was so clear and it was quiet warm aswell. Vicky went for a dip with Franzi and Emily whilst I took a few photos. There was a cute little turtle lurking around which was cool to see! After that we had a bit of lunch which consisted of sandwiches from the back of the truck and then as we were driving along the beach we came across a shipwreck. It was so surreal to see a rusty ship on the beach. It had been there for years and used to be a cruise liner and it was so eary!
We got back to Base Camp in time and for dinner we had a BBQ. The food was really nice and this camping lark isnt as hard as you think! The facilities at Base Camp were really good. Showers that you had to pay $2 for 4 minutes, a BBQ and lots of hobs. There were already a few groups there that had gotton there the day before us. We set up our tents which were a lot more difficult than our little 4 man tent that we have but after we had got everything sorted we had some dinner. Larry the owner told us some info about the camp, do's and dont's and about the wild dingos that we were likely to see. After a few glasses of goon and plently of laughing and screaming because of the massive bugs flying everywhere we went to bed. Vicky and I were sharing a tent with Emily and Kat.
2nd day: We set off at 10:30 after having breakfast and showers. The showers were $2 for 4 minutes and whilst I was in the shower i realised that actually 4 mins is quite alot of time so I risked it and got out the shampoo just hoping that I had enough time left. Rubbed it in and the water stopped. Vicky had to go and get me another $2 so i could wash it off!
We spent the day at 2 places. Indian Head and the Champagne Pools. Indian Head is a massive rock that you climb to the top of and then you can look out over the sea and see lots of sea creatures. We spotted a whale in the distance which was absolutly amazing. We saw the tale splashing down in the water.. fantastic. We also saw a turtle, a man-ray, some dolphins and a little shark. We then had lunch at the truck and had to walk to the next destination as the 4x4 wouldnt have been covered by the insurance if we drove there as the sand was really deep and you were likely to get stuck. We walked along the beach for about 45 mins and then walked down to the pools. They are like natural lagoons and they were really pretty. We all went for a dip and it was lovely. We again had to be back at the tent by 5:00 because of the tide so we took our time and then headed back to Base Camp.
It was our last night and we needed to cook everything that wasnt going to lat until the morning so we did some pasta and sauce with chicken and finished off some of the pasta salad. It was quite yummy mixing and matching. There were 2 resident dingos at the camp which doesnt mean they are tame atall. They are wild dogs a bit like wolves and they are scavangers and you have to leave your tent open because if they want to go in and its closed they will rip it down. We watched the dingo walk down to where our tent was and i remembered that I had a pack of biscuits that were unopened and Vicky had some chocolate. A little bit later we went back to the tent to check it out and oh yes the dingo had gone in and opened my packet and nibbled the top biscuit. Vicky chocs were fine but we gathered we should take them out as he would come back for more. As we didnt go down to the beach the previous night we walked down to look at the stars and Oh my word, The sight was amazing. So many stars lite up the sky and it was quite amazing to see. We stayed down there for a while trying to see a shooting star but we didnt see anything. Another relativly early night as we have to be up at 5:00 am so leave for 6:00 so we miss high tide.
Day3: We managed to pack away the tents and pack up the 4x4 in time to leave. We were a little late by 15 mins but we were sure it wouldnt make that much of a difference. It was strange driving on the beach when the water was so close to the car. At times it was dodgy as we had to drive through quite deep water but it was all ok in the end. We were on our way to 1 of 3 stops but on our way to the 1st we seriously got stuck. We couldnt move the 4x4 atall and it was a single lane track and infront of us came 2 4x4's driven my ozzys who knew what they were doing. They got us unstuck and told us to take some air out of the tyres and then just go really fast over the sand in 1st gear. Ann was driving and she was amazing. Got the skills from her dad apparently as he drives in the snow back in Canada. The drive was very scary as she was having to go fast so we didnt get stuck and at times it was awfully bumpy and a lap strap really wasnt doing much to hold you down. I realised that I get motion sickness as I wasnt feeling great. We didnt stop at the first stop as it was similar to the 3rd and the 2nd was just a walk that none of us was fussed about. We went straight to Lake Mackenzie and it was beautiful. The bluest water and the whitest sands ever. It was nice to chill out for a while. We had to be on the boat back to the main land at 2:15 so we made our way to the docks at about 1:30pm to ensure we didnt have any further problems with the car, boarded the boat and travelled back to Harvey Bay.
We had to drive back to the 4x4 place and unload the van. We were a bit worried as we had lost the spade when we tried to dig ourselves out we left it behind, a cooler box lid and some cutlery but luckily they didnt notice as we would have had to pay for those things. The guys from the 4x4 place drove our group back to Beaches Hostel in Harvey Bay and we got checked into a 16 bed dorm as we had a free night and guess that it is free as it was a rubbish room. 16 people and you had to walk to the other end of the hostel to get to the bathroom! Oh well, tomorow we were moving to a better room. In the evening I watched Harry Potter with Kat, Emily and Franzi whilst Vicky phoned her dad. We were all pretty tried after an exhausting time in Frasier Island and all went to bed pretty early.
Vicky and I had to stay for 1 extra night in Hervey Bay as we couldnt get onto the Oz bus. Theres not much to write about Hervey Bay. It had a nice beach but not alot else really. We left to go to Rainbow Beach. Again we had to stay there for 2 nights due to the Oz bus being full.
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