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Tom C-B's Travels 2006
WEDNESDAY
Today we set off for Brisbane, for one night and one night only, as we had to be in Hervey Bay on Thursday for our Fraser Island trip. A long drive meant that we pulled into our hostel just as night was setting in, and we went down to the hostel bar to watch Queensland take on New South Wales in the second test of the 'State of Origin' rugby league game.
It was a fiery encounter, with Queensland looking to set up a decider after losing the first test by only one point. That they did, in emphatic style, crushing New South Wales 36-4, ensuring that the test series would be taken down to the wire. After all the excitement of the rugby game, we were ready for bed, helped along by the early start we had in the morning.
THURSDAY
Today we were en-route to Hervey Bay, the town serving as the gateway to the famous Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. It was a very long day on the bus, and we arrived in Hervey Bay at 6ish in the evening, checking into our hostel just in time to get a quick lowdown of the schedule for the next day; where to meet, what time to meet, a suggested packing list etc. After the quick briefing, we had dinner and prepared our 'day packs' for our three day, two night camping adventure. We went to sleep in an excited state, all set for whatever might be thrown our way...!
FRIDAY
Another bloody early morning is what was thrown our way, with the full briefing starting at 6:30am, meaning that we had to be up at least an hour beforehand to have brekkie, shower, and checkout!!
(will be back tomorrow to keep the updates coming) I'm back! Urm... where was I? Oh yeah, so after the early start, the briefing took place and we were put in groups of 8 and taken throught the safety procedures and told what to look out for on the island. Dingoes were the main focus of the talk, as Fraser Island is home to what is believed to be the purest strain of Dingoes left in Australia. They are not really vicious, but will scavenge on scraps and have been known to be able to open eskies (cool boxes), so good care was taken with those as they contained the precious alcohol!
Unfortunately for me, you had to be 21 to drive the 4x4 so I was not going to be able to have a go at driving, but I was hoping that maybe the group would let me have a quick go when we got onto the island...!
After doing the group shopping and alcohol buying we drove to the ferry port and floated slowly over to the island, where we headed straight for Lake Mackenzie, the best spot on the island! Walking out of the forest to this lake was like walking into paradise - picture perfect scenery, tranquil crystal-cleat water and dazzling sunshine. We immediately got down to some serious sunbathing and lay there for the rest of the afternoon, going for intermittent swims in the freshwater lake when we needed to cool off. We left at about 4pm and made our way to the Eastern Beach, otherwise known as the Seventy-Five Mile Beach, for obvious reasons! We pitched our tents behind some dunes for shelter, and started preparing the massive BBQ we had bought meat for. The barbecue was a huge success and everyone was well fed by the time it was over.
The rest of the evening was consumed by toasting marshmallows on gas stoves (camp fires were not allowed), drinking rather a lot of 'goon' (boxed wine), and getting to know our group and others who had pitched up nearby. Despite encountering a few dingoes before bed, the alcohol ensured that we all drifted off to sleep swiftly, dreaming of paradise islands and wild safaris.
SATURDAY
We were woken up early this morning by the sunlight pouring through the small gaps in our tents, so we wasted no time in packing up camp and heading off again in search of more idyllic spots to sun bake.
Just thought I'd also mention that I went with a couple from our group (this one's for you Will and Catherine, love you guys!) to dispose of the rubbish, and they let me drive the jeep back to camp which was awesome!
We found Lake Wabby after some hair-raising off-roading, which was much the same as Lake Mackenzie so everyone was happy with that, and we passed most of the day there. We moved off again in the late afternoon to find our next campsite, as we had to comply with the tides and beach-driving times. We set up camp and drove along the beach to Indian Head, a tip of the island from which you were meant to be able to see sharks and whales. It wasn't our day that day as we didn't get to see any marine wildlife, but we were the audience to one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever witnessed. Colours from purple to pink to deep crimson lit up the sky, blending day into night seamlessly.
We got back to camp and cooked up a big chilli for our group, then passed the time in much the same way as the previous night, with goon and marshmallows featuring heavily. Then it started to rain so we packed up our stove and retired to the safety of our tents, to catch up on some lost sleep...
SUNDAY
Today was our last day on the island so we were determined to make the most of it. We were just deciding on a destination when the heavens opened once again, so we piled into our jeep and drove to try and get out of the rain. We evaded it briefly and got out to explore some sand dune systems, yet we hadn't outrun it completely and it soon caught up with us. We decided then that, as our ferry was at 3:30pm, we would drive over to where the ferry came in and do all the odd jobs that needed doing like repacking the jeep in the correct fashion, re-inflating the tyres to normal pressure, and eating lunch! However, as soon as we got there, the weather took pity on us and the clouds parted to reveal a bright sun just inviting us to get to the beach. We duly obliged and spent the next 2 and a half hours on the beach before having to get on the ferry back to the mainland.
After doing the washing up when we got back to the car drop off point, we made it back to our hostel for showers and our last group dinner. We made a makeshift dinner of mash, vegetables, and a 'tomatoey' sauce, with bacon as an option for the carnivores in the group. It went down well, and we said our goodbyes to the rest of the group. I then, for some strange reason, decided it would be an excellent idea to stay up and watch the Brazil vs. Australia game, which was on at 4am in the morning! I caught an hour's sleep before waking up again to watch the match, then caught another two and a half hours kip before having to be up for our bus to Kroombit! I'm tired now just thinking about it!
That's all for now folks, it's Kim's bday tomorrow so we'll see how that goes...
See ya, love to everyone
Tom xx
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