Sunday 3rd October

Greyhound to Hervey Bay for 1 night before Fraser Island tour. Wouldn't want to spend too long with the girl at reception, who appears to be on a 24hr a day casting for the happy bouncy one in Big Brother - "Gooooood, yay" in up and down squeaky voice.

After putting our bags in the room we went to meet our guide for the tour - WORM. An unusual chap with an artificial leg. We also met the rest of the travellers on the tour. We were teamed up and then taken to the local supermarket to buy supplies for the trip. Our team consisted of 4 girls from Ireland, a couple from Canada, us and a german couple.

Oz tapas in a bar in the evening - a tasty mix of multi cultural starters. Early night for a 6am start.

Monday 4th October

Aboard 8 person self drive 4WD land cruiser (the german couple were in with Worm) - drive to the port and a short ferry ride to Fraser island. It's the largest sand island in the world and world heritage site. There's a large young rainforest that was heavily logged up to 1950s. The drive takes you through very bumpy sand tracks in the forest and along miles of sandy beaches. Quite spectacular but hard on the arse.

We went to 2 large fresh water lakes - Lake McKenzie and Lake Wabby for swimming and bush walk. Lake Mckenzie was a lovely clear blue lake with white silica sand. Lake Wabby was more like a fishing lake, brown murky coloured water with large cat fish in it. There was also a large steep sand dune which I climbed to take photos from the top so that Amie could see what was on the other side (more sand).

Over night camp on the beach cooking on a camp kitchen. There were many (pure) dingos anxious to feed on any scraps. Good mix of people; Irish, Canadian and German, all young. How the irish love to drink and play drinking games with balls, until they can no longer stand, then with cards. The guide is rather self opinionated and not very informative, sometimes downright rude, particularly to those whose first language is not English. He lost a leg and almost his life in a base jumping accident 10years ago. Anyway, it fell to Steve being the eldest and most handsome to knock him down a peg or two. It took a bit of time and a face off the next morning but his attitude gradually improved. We eventually got quite pally.

Tuesday 5th October

Amie being the only person not having some degree of a hangover, drove us all up the island along the beach to Indian Head and Champagne pools.We saw a large tiger shark from Indian Head, where we also met Markus. He told us a sad story of black Christmas. In the early 1900s some white men took 200 aborigines on to the head and when they wouldn't jump off they were shot. We have yet to verify this story though since our guide had not heard anything about it. Champagne pools were frothing rock basins as the waves broke over the rocks. After a picnic at Wabby point we had a fast drive back along the beach to avoid being cut off by the high tide.

More cooking and beer to be had followed by horizontal star gazing on the sand dunes. More stars than we've seen before in a cloudless sky.

Wednesday 6th October

Woke at 5:30am to find the camp a bit of a mess, as the Irish and German contingent in the other team had their rubbish and Esky (cool box) out and the dingos didn't need a second invitation. They didn't think much of the bananas and beans but polished off most of the rest of their food. Worm and I cleared up and we started to get on a lot better.

Decamped and then a short drive for coffee and cake. Steve pondered the value of millions of years of evolution while watching a magpie sized bird with a beautiful flash of vivid blue around his eyes. It had a beak about 2inches long, presumably for extracting insects from crevices but totally impractical for picking cake crumbs from picnic tables. He will get a very sore neck if he pursues that form of nutrition at least for the next million or so years.

More sand driving then into the bush before picnic and walks to 2 more fresh water lakes. The first was black lake which was stained from the sap of the tea-tree giving it the appearance of weak tea. The second and most beautiful was Lake Birrabean, where we swam in crystal clear waters and watched a white breasted sea eagle flying and swooping for fish. Lake Birrabean was like Lake Mckenzie but better since it wasn't as crowded.

We all chose not to use the public toilets where the python was said to live. A large notice gave instructions to follow if attacked or threatened by dingos. The final of the 6 instructions was call "calmly" for help.

Returned for the ferry from Kingfisher point as the sun set. Showered before a meal at a bar with Worm and the Irish crowd who later went on to an irish bar and night club before returning to the hostel at 4am for a final drink or 3 and a singsong for a further hour. Amie and I, however, were in bed by 10pm and were by far the freshest in the morning.

Thursday 7th October

Amie gave Worm a half hour lesson on researching Fraser Island on the internet. He seemed very pleased and we parted on good terms. Took the 10:30am greyhound to Rainbow Beach, a 2 hour drive south. The mountain range has moved further west and is only visible on the horizon. We drove through wild forests of gum trees and enormous cultivated forests of pine trees, often stretching as far as the eye could see. They varied in height from 2ft freshly planted specimens to some that must have been 80-100ft tall. It's difficult to grasp the size of this country. They will never go short of wood and although you often drive past vast areas of forest that has been burned, it is nothing compared to the land that is put over to forest - both natural and cultivated. It is quite breathtaking.

We've gone upmarket with 2 nights at 'Debbie's Place' with our own kitchen, shower and toilet, plus a king size bed and an eating and cooking area on our own veranda. Debbie tells us that Rainbow Beach is the most beautiful place in Australia but everyone is very patriotic about where they live. She was very pleased to show me all the pictures of the fish she had caught in the sea around here, including a Spanish mackerel that was bigger than she is. She is driving us up to a beauty spot to watch the sunset this evening. "The most beautiful sun set in Australia". Unfortunately a low line of clouds spoilt the final 15minutes but before this it was a fantastic view.

Cooked a thick piece of pork filled with herb and garlic butter and retired to the most comfortable bed thus far.

Friday 8th October

This is a very big country indeed. I've never slept in a king size bed before and when I awoke in the night unable to find Amie, I was forced to seek the assistance of a group of 8 natives and we set out to find her. We trekked for what seemed like days before reaching the snowy white peaks of the North West pillow mountain range, upon which I planted the union flag and claimed it for the empire. It was here we found Amie and headed back for more central areas, crossing 2 time zones on the way before waking refreshed at 8am. Did I mention the tasty mushrooms that we ate with our dinner?

The problem with Debbie's Place is that you're less inclined to leave to see the area! It's rather cloudy today and we must get some washing done. Debbie took me to the laundry, showed me how the machines worked, gave me a basket for the clothes and then said "put them by the door, you're on holiday; I'll do it for you." So Amie does the computer and Debbie does the washing, it's a good life for a man down under. Had a walk on a cloudy beach after lunch and were fascinated by the patterns made by the small balls of sand that the crabs expel from their holes as the tide ebbs. Could they have been the inspiration behind the intricate dot painting style used by the aboriginal artists?

Returned to Debbie's as the rain started and offered to help get the washing in. "No worries, I'll put yours through the drier". Reading Bill Bryson for most of the afternoon on the veranda sheltering from the rain. It's nice not to be rushing around for a day. We have a 10am greyhound tomorrow so an early night after banana surprise for dinner.

Amie goes walk about in the king size outback we laughingly call bed. Well if she wants to wander off and get eaten by billabongs, matildas, billy boils and jumbucks, she has only herself to blame. I for one am getting a good nights sleep for once.