Sydney to Fraser Blog

Day 1
Picking up our van in Sydney was hard work. We had to get 2 trains and 2 buses to the company which they had failed to warn us about! It took us 4 hours to get there and drive back to our hostel to pick up all of our things so we were rushed, stressed and had lost a lot of time. Because of this we decided not to do a few stops just outside of Sydney and drove as far as we could before it was time to pull in and we found a rest stop by the side of the road to sleep.
The van itself is really nice. It's just like a people carrier. The fridge is great so we can have cold beers, meat and chocolate and we have watched a DVD pretty much every night. One of the best things about the van is that you can open the boot and a tarpaulin that clips around it with tent like windows on it. You can move a plank of wood out onto the edge and move the bed up so that your upper body is out in the tarpaulin section which keeps you cool. I'm really impressed with it. It's an automatic which is nice to drive as well.

Day 2
We woke up pretty early because as soon as the sun comes up the van gets really hot and we set off on a scenic drive through a national park with lakes dotted around. It made a nice stop for breakfast and had a little walk through Forster.
We passed through Port Macquarie to visit a koala hospital. Most of the koala's there are usually injured in bush fires but it was nice to have a look around and there were some touching stories.
We pulled in at a rest stop called 'New Italy' to sleep which had a museum and cafe so quite a lot of other people were staying there too. We saw our first cane toads, they were huge. There were kangaroo's behind the buildings too.

Day 3
Day 3 started badly as the battery was dead. Luckily some crazy Aussie had some leads to jump start us but it's kind of ruined our fridge dream! We have a separate battery for the fridge and DVD player but when it runs out it must somehow start to use the other battery, it's a lot older than the other one. We've had to be careful since then, switching the fridge off at night or if we're going to be out of the car for a while.
More time was wasted when a lorry had turned over, making the traffic absolutely terrible. Our next stop, Byron Bay, was definitely worth the wait though.
We headed up to the lighthouse and overlooked some beautiful beaches before spending a few hours on the main beach. We hadn't had a shower since the morning of day 1 so we used the beach outdoor showers! I felt a little embarrassed using shampoo and having a real shower just in the car park in front of everyone but I was just happy to have a free one!
We headed north again and pulled in by another pretty little beach where it was free parking so we thought we'd try and spend the night there. We had an hour reading on the beach before cooking our tea in the little park between the car and the beach. There were more outdoor showers, toilets, water fountains and even exercise machines in this park so we were being spoilt! We didn't have enough room to put the back out though so it was really hot!

Day 4
After being spoilt with another shower we headed to Surfers Paradise a few kilometres away with it's towers making it look a bit like Miami. We had a little look around before heading off, it's very much a party place so we weren't too bothered. Byron Bay was much nicer.
Our next stop was Sunshine Beach in Noosa, one of their many beaches. It was really pleasant and quiet so we decided to camp there as there was a little picnic area, toilets and showers. We had fajita's and I think that's the best meal we've had on the road so far.

Day 5
After yet another shower (we've saved so much money by having free showers as it means we don't need to pay to stay at a campsite) we headed up to Rainbow Beach where our tour started from the next day.
We arrived quite early so we had some time to sit and have a drink before our 2pm briefing for the trip. We were split into 3 groups. There were 6 other people in our group and altogether there were 24 of us I think. We needed to decide on a shopping list and then head off to buy our things. We went through driving on the sand in a 4x4, were told that we would see snakes and we all had to make sure we had a 'dingo buddy', someone to make sure you're not wandering around on your own and especially to be with at night if you needed the toilet. They would have to come with you.

Fraser trip day 1
We were up really early, had some more briefing about driving-this time with our guide, Tony, before we packed up our cars and headed off to the ferry 10 minutes away.
Our group consisted of:
Paul and Kate. A couple from Kent on a 3 week holiday
Gary from York who was currently travelling with Brian from Malta. They met whilst working together on a farm
Rich and Neil from Warwickshire who are travelling for 3 months. They spent 2 months in New Zealand to coincide with the rugby world cup
We didn't even get onto the island before we got stuck in some soft sand but we managed to get through it in the end.
The ferry over took less than 10 minutes and we saw dolphins by the side of the boat which was cool.
I didn't quite know what to expect with Fraser. We've seen some gorgeous beaches and some really nice jungles and rainforests so I didn't know how much different it would be.
Our first stop was Lake McKenzie and it was beautiful. It was fresh water, obviously with sand at the bottom and it was so nice. We had to eat our lunch in a cage there. Yes, a cage. Because of the dingo's you're not allowed food in any touristy areas so we all had to get into a cage! It was also our introduction to the marsh flies. I've been pestered by mosquito's and leeches but I think these might be the winners of the most annoying insect. They're like massive bluebottles but they suck your blood. They won't leave you alone! If they bite you they draw blood and it really hurts. Our fly spray was pretty useless too. We weren't warned that they love the colour blue and they can bite right through your clothes. If you looked around you would just see everyone batting their arms and legs or running away...this lasted for 3 days! They were awful!!!!!
It wasn't long before it was Ben's turn to drive. He did a lot of the in road tracks with only a little time spent on 75 mile beach which is used as the main road and even as a landing strip for planes. Ben did pretty well and it was great fun on the bumpy inland tracks. For a little while anyway. We were heading to Lake Wabby, equally impressive after a 2.5km walk which took in some of the desert like landscape. This lake was under some trees, a nice emerald colour but a lot colder!
We headed to our Aboriginal camp fairly late on and picked our tents before it was time to cook dinner. We had seen more dingo's during the day than we had in the whole 6 weeks in Australia. A few of them were running along with the cars to see if we had any food. On the walk back from Lake Wabby, one just came hurtling out of the trees which really made us jump. He seemed equally surprised though! We had about 4 or 6 dingo's that lived around the camp. Obviously they're looking for scraps but they're useful as they keep away any snakes or possums. There were a couple of pups which were cute but getting too close to them would mean that the big daddy would be after you. They kept their distance from you but were equally happy to wander around the whole camp.
After a lovely BBQ tea we were all pretty tired and in bed before 10. I wasn't used to sleeping on those thin roll mats again but I couldn't really complain. We were woken up by a lot of hand clapping at around 2am. It was really annoying. Apparently a drunk guy from the other tour group that we were sharing camp with was stood near a light and clapping to try and kill flies. I don't think I've ever been so simple when I've been drunk! It wasn't long until we heard growling, barking and some dingo's running about. I wasn't going out there! We fell back to sleep. The drunk guy must have been winding up the dingo's, passed out and got bitten all down his leg. He woke up in the morning with a load of blood on his leg and could not remember anything. What a tool.

Fraser Day 2
After our car had been playing up a little, we headed to the Champagne Pools. Big kind of rock pools but with a sandy bottom right by the sea where waves regularly refilled them. You cannot swim in the sea in Fraser because of the big currents and the big sharks. In our briefing we were shown a photograph of a couple only knee high or so in water and the picture was taken from a cliff nearby. There is a 4m tiger shark a few feet away from them and they didn't know anything about it until they saw the photo. They were lucky that the shark didn't have a go at them.
It was my turn to drive and I was really nervous. You have to look out for so much at the same time plus I was scared of the soft sand but it is a lot easier than it looks. Driving along a beautiful, empty beach by the waves, driving through the estuaries going out to sea and wrestling with the soft sand was so much fun. I don't want to drive a normal car ever again!
Our next stop was Indian Head, a big lookout point (where the shark photo was taken from). We could see quite a few sea turtles and a manta ray. It was a great view. Sadly we didn't see any sharks.
We headed to a lovely freshwater pool just on the beach for a cool down before heading to the Mohino shipwreck from 1935. It was really impressive.
We returned to camp earlier today and everyone was keen to have a good night now that everyone was getting to know each other better, including the other 2 groups. Joe, the Aboriginal owner of the camp and his wife came to say hello and to tell us a few stories about Aboriginal life and history. It was really interesting and he was really funny. I cannot imagine what he is on though, but it was definitely something and a lot of it! He came back later in the night to play the didgeredoo and sing a welcome song to us. It was really good.
We all went down to the beach to play in the phosphorescent sand and look at the many stars, you could even see Jupiter shining really brightly.
I stayed up too late with a couple of other people talking. I had a fright going to the toilet and seeing a Huntsman spider (venomous but not too deadly) even though I'd been warned that it was there. I didn't think it would be so big though! Whilst there were only 3 of us by the campfire the daddy dingo was pretty cocky and came and sat right near us. We had to stand up and make ourselves look big to make him back off a little. They bite you from behind so you shouldn't turn your back on them and if there are two of you you're supposed to stand back to back.

Fraser Day 3
I was so rough this morning. I was not happy at all! I can't wait for a good sleep tonight in more comfort!
We had quite a drive back to the ferry and stopped on the way at a creek. You walked upstream and then half floated back down with the current to the mouth (when it was deep enough to let you). It was very pleasant.
We also went to a waterhole on the beach that was red because of the tea trees. It was pretty manky though and the boys had a rugby game instead. I was impressed that Ben scored a try even though he doesn't even know the rules of rugby!
We were back on the ferry soon enough and we saw more dolphins further away.

I really loved Fraser Island. It was stunning and the people were great. We'll definitely keep in touch with some people. The trip was worth every penny and I couldn't recommend going more.

I was so happy to have a shower earlier. I have sand on every single thing I took to the island, even things that have only been inside of the tent!

Tomorrow we're back on the road again. We should reach Airlie Beach the day after where we will do a trip to the Whitsundays. I think that we'll only do a day trip to save time and money and not waste having the van anymore. The weather is so lovely again now, almost too hot. In Cairns it is 100% humidity which will be interesting!
Time for another BBQ tonight I think and the group want to go to the pub to say goodbye. I don't feel well enough to join in but I have a feeling that I'll be dragged for a little while.
P.s. Our tans are pretty awesome at the moment:)
P.p.s. I haven't had time to spell check this much as you only get 39 mins of wifi so sorry if there were loads of mistakes and sorry there's no up to date photos yet!