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We woke up with anticipation for the adventure to come: heading out to camp on Fraser Island! We started the day with a frantic search for our car keys, but since we were in such a time crunch before heading out to the island, we needed to give most of our luggage to the hostel for storage until we returned from Fraser in three days. We were thinking that we'd need to get a locksmith as the keys may have fallen into the trunk after locking up the car. Regardless, we weren't going to let this get in the way of an awesome trip ahead! Steve and I caught up on the orientation that we'd missed the day before with an informational video about driving the 4x4 vehicles on the sand as well as the dangers of wild dingos out on the island. We met up with the rest of our group (about 35 people) to check over the food crates, pack the coolers, and load the camping gear. Our caravan included 4 vehicles, ours being the lead vehicle with 11 passengers and a trailer. Steve and I were really excited about being in the tour guide's vehicle because Geoff is very passionate about Fraser Island (as well as dingos and orchids) and he loves sharing his knowledge…so we got learn a lot as we rode right next to him in the front seat. The other passengers in our vehicle were from Germany and Finland with one Cali girl named Amanda, who we quickly became friends with.
Once we got to the ferry docking site, we experienced our first stall in the deep, loose sand. Our vehicle and trailer became so bogged down that we needed everyone to exit the vehicle, dig out the wheels, push from behind, and eventually we also needed a towing rope to pull us out. Once on the ferry, it was a quick ride over to the largest sand island in the world. What makes this island so special is that it is also home to the only sand rainforest in the world. Cruising along the beach, windows open, wind in our hair, and watching the waves crash along the shore…really doesn't get too much better than that. We also got to play DJ up in front, so we had a great soundtrack to this drive as well. We came across what would be our camping site for the next two nights, an area just on the other side of the sand dune separating the ocean from our home base. We unloaded the vehicles, chose our tent partners (Amanda was our tent-mate) and set up tents, including the main group tent, before heading on our first day trip out to Lake Mckenzie.
This "road" was more of a sand trail through the rainforest requiring very difficult maneuvering (inland roads were extremely narrow with deep sand and steep embankments). We found ourselves stopping once in a while to help the other vehicles make it through some difficult areas, but arriving at Lake Mckenzie was absolutely worth it. I don't think we've ever seen water so clear. It was as if we were bathing in a swimming pool with pure sand floors, but I guess that's what we can expect from a lake that's totally made up of rain water as there are no inlets or outlets. This is just 1 of 100 such lakes on Fraser Island. The surrounding eucalyptus and tea trees seep their oils into the water, making the swim not only refreshing but rejuvenating to our skin as well. Of course, on this beautifully sunny day, the American girls had to show the Europeans how to have fun, so Amanda and I had our bags of goon to enjoy while sitting along the beach, catching rays, and chatting as if we'd been friends for years. We actually found that we have a lot in common, so it was cool to meet someone who made the decision to change her life for the better - and she's living proof that happiness is possible for anyone who makes it a priority. She is a free spirit with ambitions to live her dream of becoming a travel writer - her blog, bikinibackpacker.com, is an awesome start to her experiences and I'm excited to keep up on her travels. Steve and I played some frisbee in the water and we also got to know Geoff, who is also originally from the U.S., a little bit better.
After a couple hours at the lake, we went to check out Central Junction walkway through the rainforest, home of many unique plants, including the largest fern in the world. The creek running through this rainforest had such clear water that it almost was hard to tell that there really was water there at all. Once back at camp, we were directed to make supper with our vehicle group. This was much more difficult than one would expect when most of our teammates didn't know how to cook or speak English very well. We finally managed to cook something edible and when Steve and I volunteered to wash the dishes out in the ocean, we came across our first dingo sighting. He was off in the distance on the beach, but definitely was more curious than scared of us. We kept our eye on him as we finished up our duty and then headed back to camp to share the news. A couple other dingos traipsed through camp, checking us out and probably expecting some scraps, but we ended the night with group games before our first night in the tent on Fraser Island.
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