Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well!!

Had a brilliant three days recently! But let me go back a few more, so I left Myella Farm and had one more night in Rockhampton! Its pretty basic there so just had a chill out evening! The next day I got the bus down to 1770/Agnes Waters! Unfortunately, the bus had broken down in the morning so was a couple of hours late but luckily there was a McDonalds opposite!! Eventually reached 1770 in the evening and checked into a nice hostel, although none of the houses there had keys and that trend was the same in the hostel!! Very strange but it was a pretty small hostel! Had a few drinks that evening with people!

The next morning we woke up to sunshine so had a quick look at the local shops (didn't take long as they literally had a small 200m strip with a few shops)! Then the heavens opened and stayed open all afternoon!! Unfortunately this meant I couldn't do a scooteroo which I was hoping to do! Spent the afternoon playing card games with people in the hostel! Then in the evening one of the guys from the local tour shop offered to take us over to the 'real' 1770! Turns out they are basically two halves of one town, 1770 and Agnes Waters! 1770 is where Captain Cook landed in (yep you guessed it) 1770 :) We went and saw the memorial thing they have and had a few pictures taken there! The views from around 1770 are amazing, even in the rain!

The next day we headed down to Hervey Bay!! Didn't take too long so was a nice journey! Checked into the hotel with one of the girls on the bus and then had our brief for Fraser Island in the afternoon! At the time, we had 8 of us that were heading out so we then went down to the local supermarket for the funniest shopping trip ever!! 8 people who had never met shopping for 3 days food! We spent $25 each which was pretty good and as it turned out we even brought too much and had an absolute feast every night!!

The next morning we were up at 6am for a safety video which turned out to be the funniest video!! it basically told us that we were gonna die on Fraser Island, either by dingos, snakes, spiders or the vehicles! We then loaded all our food and bags into the two 4 wheel drives and headed out!! In my car, we only had 2 drivers, and one was me (who hasn't driven a manual car in 3 yrs remember!!)! Anyway Nicola drove to the ferry but didn't wanna reverse the car on to the boat so my first bit of driving for over a month was reversing a huge 4x4 onto a small boat!! Needless to say, I didn't breathe for the couple of minutes that it took!!

It was a short 40min ferry drive over! We then headed to Lake McKenzie! At this point I should probably say that Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, hence the need for 4WDs! The 'roads' were just sand tracks which was pretty interesting at times! I drove first once we were on the island! Lake McKenzie is a fresh water lake so perfectly clear and absolutely beautiful with almost white sand! Our guide them suggested a swim across the lake! Apparently its only 500m but it took what seemed like forever!! Even though its a lake, we still had waves that kept splashing us in the face!! And then on the way back we had the company of the most annoying fly who was determined to keep flying around us!!

After Lake McKenzie, we headed to a small picnic area for lunch and then we headed out to the beach for some beach driving!! On the beaches we could hit speed of 80kph so needless to say that was pretty fun!! We then went to Lake Wabby, which had a 2.4km hike to reach it!! Took a while and our crazy guide actually ran it!! However, it was well worth it!! We walked over a sandblow which is where a huge amount of sand is blown onto the main land!! And then headed down a huge hill to another clear fresh water lake!! Even had the company of about 15 catfish in this one but it was beautiful yet again!

Our camping area was pretty basic but really nice, with tents already set up! The cooking area was pretty basic with 2 stoves and 2 BBQs but that was all we needed!! We had an absolute feast of a dinner but I think we deserved it with all the exercise that we had done!! We then spent the rest of the evening playing games and having a few drinks and doing some star gazing!! At the campsite, we also had the company of a few dingos!! They were really cute and look really skinny but thats normal! They are wild though so we were told to be wary of them!!

The next morning, we had a lie-in as we couldn't leave til 11am due to the tide!! Think it was just as well as they were a few hangovers going around!! First stop of the morning was Eli Creek which is the largest fresh water creek on the island! We walked alongside on the walkway for about 200m and then got in the creek and walked the rest of the way out through the creek!! We then drove further down the beach to a shipwreck which had been there since the 1930s! It was brought from Oz by Japan and was being towed from Sydney when it got caught in a storm and got washed up on Fraser and its been there ever since!!

We then had the option of a plane ride over the island which I did!! It was a tiny plane with just 6 of us and we had a quick flight over the island!! The runway is basically the beach and as we took off and came in we did a couple of massive turns flying at 90 degrees to the beach!! very good fun and got to see a lake called Butterfly Lake which looked beautiful from the sea!!

In the afternoon, we then headed up to Indian Head, which is a headland near the north of the island! We climbed over the rocks to the top to get some brilliant views!! The rocks weren't the easiest to climb over especially in flip-flops but we made it!! The final stop of the day was a place called Champagne Pools which are natural rock pools with salt water!! They were pretty cold but we were all glad of the refreshing water!!

We then got a real treat- a shower!!!!!! We had to pay and they only lasted 3 minutes but it was the best 3 minute shower ever!! Especially when it was followed by an ice cream stop!! Our feast for the evening was brilliant again!! And defo needed after the hectic day!! It was one of the lads birthdays so we had a sing song for him!! We then also went and did some star gazing and stopped the Southern Cross!! Had a much earlier night as we were leaving camp by 9am and had to pack everything away!! Was quite glad in the end as there were plenty of dingos that night roaming around camp!! Think one even got in our guides vehicle at one point!!

After another dodgy nights sleep, it was off to a place called Central Station for a short 15min walk in the forest alongside another creek!! Then we headed back to Lake McKenzie for a couple of hours chill out!! Well I say chill out but I decided to have another swim across!! Was a bit easier this time but still hard work!! Then had a nice hour sunbathing!! Saw a huge lizard whiel we were having lunch but lucky it took more notice in other groups lunch!!

I drove around for all of the island driving on the last day and absolutely loved it!! We had a couple of brilliant 'bump of the days' which was fun!! To get off the beach and inland, you have to go through very soft sand so you have to approach it in first gear and stay between 3000 and 4000 revs!! Very fun except that you hardly have control of the car as it just goes where it wants!! Must say that everytime we did it the girls managed fine and all the boys managed to get stuck!! Loved the driving though and did enjoy sitting high in a vehicle!! Won't quite be the same when I get back to my megane!!

Anyway best go as we are having all you can eat pizza tonight and then heading down to Rainbow Beach for one night tomorrow and then Friday will be spent heading down to Noosa!!

Missing you all

Sending lots of Dingo love

xxxx