Day 123 Monday 11th January 2010

Johno says

Today we were catching our Greyhound bus to Hervey Bay, it was an easy going four hour drive and we arrived to our backpacker accommodation late afternoon (which incidentally had one of the fattest pet cats I think I have ever seen in my life) and almost straight away had a briefing on our booked four wheel drive Fraser Island tour that we would start in the morning. There were 20 of us which were separated into 2 jeeps of 10, we were keen to not be in the group of two French guys who were clowning around before the meeting as the tour company held a bond of 1,000 dollars per vehicle and we didn't want to pay out for any damage. Luckily we were in a group of ten consisting of two Irish couples (Ken, Tom, Emma and Ether) a couple from Norway (I just called him John as his name was so hard to pronounce and Annie) and a couple from France (Julian and Cecilia). The other group would stay with us along the tour in convoy as it is better in numbers around the Island in case one jeep breaks down or gets stuck in sand or something so we wouldn't be completely rid of the jokers of the pack, there were 3 Irish (Ema, Adrian and Johnny) 3 Germans (Alex, Sebastian and Julia) 2 Canadians (Katlain and Matthew) and the 2 French guys (Antonio and another Julian) so we were definitely the minority being English. Fraser Island is essentially a sand Island which offers jeep tours whereby you camp along the beach for a couple of nights and explore the Island throughout the day so we watched a video on safety on the Island which included a funny part which warned you of what to do in the event of confrontation with the wild dogs or dingoes on the Island, then we handed over a bond in case of damage to the vehicle and went for a stroll around the area - it was a quiet part of town with nothing really open so we payed a visit to the supermarket and went off to bed ready for the early start of the tour the next day.

Day 124 Tuesday 12th January 2010

Stacey says

Waking up at a painful 5.30am, I headed straight for a shower not knowing when might be my next! We all checked out and headed round to the workshop, to pick up our jeeps, tents and equipment all needed for the trip. Having to check absolutely everything and some more paper work, we finally set off for our 10.15am barge across to Fraser Island, via an essential booze store stop to pick up the 'gargle'. Kenneth being first designated driver for the first day, set out on the island and straight away once we got onto the beach we got stuck in the sand! So we all had to get out and start shoveling sand away from the wheels and all pushing the truck, with Group 2 also helping us out, we managed to push it free. Moving over to the hard sand we progressed very well down the beach. We made our first stop to Eurong to buy some ice to put in the box with the alcohol and all bought ice lollies, it was roasting out this morning. Then continued our driving through to Eli Creek. There was an area where the water was clear and you could take a little swim. Which was refreshing as you cannot go in the sea as its infested with all sorts of poisonous creatures. Next we drove down to the shipwreck, which was a passenger shop destined for Japan, that was blown off by a cyclone in 1935. So we took some photos and then headed to the next scenic spot called 'The Pinnacles' which was a colored sand rock. Then finally we arrived to our camp site and pitched our tents, with a much needed refreshing cold beer. Not too much time for rest just yet as we had to cook up dinner, which was rice and beef caserole, with fruit cake and custard. We all helped to cook and clean the crockery just in time before it got dark. Great team effort! Everyone began to relax with some drinks and we decided to play 'the name game' and we managed to play this for most of the night, I think we covered every famous person possible between the 20 of us!! It was a great evening as everyone is starting to break the ice and get to know each other a bit better. With a few clowns beginning to surface, including Adrian the barmy chap from Ireland in Group 2, he was not getting on with the horse flies hanging around at all, swearing and slapping everything with his flip flop every 2 seconds, and our favourite quote by him for tonight being 'cut by the fu$king baaaaaalls!!!' in his high pitched Cork country Irish accent! and a French clown Julian from group 2 also sipping away at his whiskey bottle and always mucking up when it came to his turn to name the celebrity, having one of the other French guys help him out, and getting confused with 'I's with 'e's and 'g's with 'j's. A dingo came near the camp area and everyone shot to bed!

Day 125 Wednesday 13th January 2010

Johno says

We woke up in a sauna of a tent once the sun was up and running - it was to be yet another scorcher of a day! I have already decided at this point that I was going to be as drunk as possible this evening to knock myself out for a good night sleep - nothing like a good old camp drinking game to do the job. Everyone was really starting to get on with each other after last nights effort! Ken (yesterday's driver) was really starting to become the father of the group and started to get the sausages going on the stove, so we all had sausage sandwiches and moved on to explore the Island. I had stupidly confessed to being over 21 with driving experience for at least two years so I was the designated driver for day two. Day two consists basically of driving up and down the East beach so it would be the easiest day of driving, I managed a whole ten minutes before getting stuck in the dry sand which beats Ken's whole ten seconds the previous day! It was a bit emotional knowing that you have the teams bond in your hands. Our first stop was at a place called Indian Head which was a nice little Cliff edge to spot dolphins, sharks, turtles and stingrays. We spent around 20 minutes taking in the views plus having a team shot with the 2 groups from 20 or so cameras then moved on for our 45 minute walk down the scorching hot beach to a place known as the Champagne pools. The walk was a really hot one with the temperatures seeming like they were well into the fifties…The Champagne pools were little pools of clear sea water made from waves pouring over the sea wall… one pool had a few jelly fish in there so we headed for another one, after a nice soaking in the water we then made our way back to the jeep and went to a nearby campsite which had a barbeque to make our hot dog lunch. We then stopped for more ice and headed to the beach front to set up camp again, our lovely Irish friends kindly pre meditated a drinking game of Kings with each card meaning something different to do… Adrian was doing his usual killing flies routine. Everyone was really getting along, the Kings game really did take off with various dares, rules, drinking making it a brilliant night especially as I could relax as John was driving tomorrow - at one stage the guys were dared to all act like dingoes and circle the camp so all night seeking revenge on the girls, and visa versa. Quality! Stacey even managed a few press ups every time she was drinking (one of the rules for the night) haha. Various comical incidents happened with sand in Julians eye, the lads having to pile on each other and so on. One for us; 'Ladies and Gentlemen, now is ze turn of Steve…..' said in your best French accent. The funniest part of the evening for us was when someone had to dance and sing the birdie song with Julian singing the French equivalent… haha. I never knew the French could actually be so funny!! Tonight I succeeded to get drunk and collapse into our tent! Job done but now I am starting to talk like an Irishmen….

Day 126 Thursday 14th January 2010

Stacey says

This morning I was first to wake up, scrambling out of my tent with it being uncomfortably hot again. Slowly followed by Steve then Adrian, falling out of his tent and doing a roll along the ground. Classic. So today we set off a little too early, only by about 20 minutes according to our itinerary, just as it started to rain, but the tide was still high, so we had a lot of close calls with the waves coming in, (we weren't allowed to drive in salt water as it'll damage the engine). John the driver had a lot of pressure on him with everyone gasping in the back of the truck every 20 seconds, we were a little uneasy with his fast driving at first! But Kenneth told us all to relax J After a very bumpy ride we decided to stop at a café at Eurong for a bit let the rain stop and have a drink. The sun had came out blazing just as we arrived to Lake McKenzie. It was a massive lake with clear water, and safe to swim in, so we all ran for the water and jumped in. We splashed around for a while playing games before having some lunch. A Scouser from another company provided some entertainment this time, whilst standing on top of his jeep rummaging through food, he shouted to his group 'Does anyone know what an Australian cucumber looks like?' We the headed back for our 2.45pm barge. Adrian not being able to sit still got out a pack of cards and began to pretend he could do magic tricks, so Steve thought he try to reconstruct the one we'd learnt form the Amercian guys in Halong Bay. It went down very well. We then had some games of snap, before Adrian managed to drop his freshly opened can of beer, all over the floor, a guy popped his head around the corner and told him where the mop was. The whole group was then banned from buying anymore alcohol on the ferry. We then drove back to the workshop bang on time as itinerary scheduled. The guy had to check over everything and make sure jeep was ok and equipment was all in good condition. We all got charged to pay between us for one new tent and unfortunately Group 2 got done for having salt water in the engine. Meaning they lost their bond and had to pay $1000 between them. It all went a little bitter for a while then we headed back for showers and walked down to McDonalds.

Day 127 Friday 15th January 2010
Johno says
Today we didn't really have a lot to get done as we were transferring by Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach in the evening so we just watched some TV in the lounge and went into town to have some lunch. Apart from the Fraser Island tours, this part of Hervey Bay didn't really have too much to offer so it was a good thing that we were moving on almost straight away.