So back to Noosa, again, for the rest of the day and the night. We went to the coffee club for lunch and got our cinema meal deal again, that's tonight's entertainment sorted. We went to the Irish bar SoHo, my favourite bar in Noosa, for some food and drinks before making our way over to watch a movie....Avengers Assemble: The Rise of Ultron (or something like that anyway). LOVE IT! We both did, and watching it in 3D made it even better.

Early night for our early start, we had to be at the tour office for 6:45. We booked our tour with Drop Bear, an independent touring company. Luckily the office was only just down the road, so a 5 minute walk wasn't too painful.

We sat around watching a health and yawn, I mean safety, video for about 45 minutes before we really started to get to know our tour guide. We called him 'Simon', but because he is Norwegian it's actually Simen, pronounced 'Semen'....I know hilarious right! Or maybe I should grow up... Really though, Simon was great, he really really was and the more we got to know him the more awesome he became. He learnt most of his English in Ireland which explains his mutated accent, sounding rather Cornish actually. He is somewhat of a hippie, having not worn any shoes or flip flops for almost two years or something. If you looked at his feet, you could tell. He doesn't even own a pair of shoes, crazzzzyy!

I will apologise now because as I'm writing this blog post I can tell already I'm going to get carried away. I can't help myself because this was the best trip we have ever been on! If you have the attention span of a pickle, are incapable or reading (and if you are I would question how you made it this far already) or are a more visual person then just skip to our album for some pretty pictures. It's actually difficult for me to write this as at this very moment I'm on a beach in Indonesia trying to catch up with this damn blog which is getting slowly slipping away from us. I'm on a sun bed, which is great, but the umbrella is up so I can see the screen of the iPad. It really is a hardline because right now I want to be in the sun or playing in these monstrous waves which keep threatening the integrity of my sun bed sitting nicely in the sand.

We left for Fraser Island in a convoy of four 4x4 Toyota Land Cruisers. Our first ride on this journey was shared with a Nick and Jodi, a couple whom live in Western Australia but Nick being from the UK and Jodi from New Zealand. These guys were great and were an important part to making our trip so amazing. Our driver was Chabby, that was his nickname anyway, I have no idea how to pronounce let alone spell his name. He was Spanish, and sadly his girlfriend was in another car as ours was full with baggage in the back while we made our way to camp. Luckily for us the weather was blessing us with its golden glow and warming touch, actually, it was rather bloody hot but it was bearable and the tide was in our favour, which meant very little driving on the Tarmac as we took to rainbow beach to literally drive along the coast, yes, on the sand! How freaking awesome is that!

As we were driving along the sand we stopped at a cliff face that was rather colourful. Simon firstly explained to us that the rocks gained their colours from oxidisation as some of the minerals react with the air and moisture. Then he told us that that was alllll rubbish and proceeded to tell us about the aboriginal theory, which seemed totally legit. So as the story has it, there was a women who was the queen of a village a little while away from this beach. She was in love with the rainbow whom would come down to visit her as loving people and apparently as rainbows do. But there was a big nasty man with a mighty boomerang that when tossed would unleash devastation on anything in its path. This idiot learnt that there was a queen not too far and took a fancy to the idea of having her as his slave. He went over with this boomerang to kidnap the queen. Knowing that if she did not agree to go with him he would destroy their village and proceeded to go back to the beach with him. She cooked and cleaned for him as he mocked her, this went on for a while. She wanted to leave but she was scared that if she got caught that he would kill her and hurt her people. One day, with that in mind, she decided that she had had enough, making a run for it while he was asleep. Because the beach was so long in both directions he could see her legging it when he woke up! Of course he didn't like this and threw his boomerang at her. She must of heard it because it was at this moment that she knelt on the sand and started to say goodbye to her love, the rainbow. The rainbow being the top lad that he is rushed down to the surface and put himself (or her, I don't think anyone really knows) into the path of the death boomerang. When it hit the rainbow it shattered into millions of tiny pieces and rained down onto the beach, somehow killing that nasty person with the boomerang in the process too. The queen survived (of course) and returned to her people, and from that day the beach was known as rainbow beach.

Story time over and a few group photos we proceeded up the beach, with myself taking the steering wheel now. We stopped at the small village Rainbow Beach to pick up a few more people booked onto the tour and grabbed some breakfast. Still in the drivers seat we made our way to the ferry, going through some very deep sand but avoiding getting bogged, feeling like my new name should be Colin Mcray. The ferry was only about 10-15 minutes across to the island where we changed drivers and made our way to our camp, all on the beach, no roads from now on. We spotted our first dingo casually walking down the beach before moving on and coming across another which had savagely mauled a coconut! Our camp was brilliant, around 12-13 tents set up just behind a dune (for winds belter and privacy I guess) with the beach just over the top. I love camping so this is great, but I was a bit miffed that I didn't get to pitch the tent, how inconsiderate!

We had solar showers and a toilet which was essentially a hole dug into the ground surrounded by a very tall and skinny tent, like the showers. We had a communal area with benches set up and a roof over our head. Our only power source came from a car battery which is charged by a PV panel during the day for a few lights. Our most important items were the cooler boxes, used to keep all our booze cold, this space was not to be wasted on soft drinks. We tucked into our first lunch which were just wraps, but very nice and most importantly filling. We met with Mark, the owner of the company and he actually resides on Fraser Island which is almost a dream come true. Mark and Simon work well together, feeding off of each other and making for great entertainment. It made it even more tragic after witnessing this to discover that this would be Simons last trip on Fraser after 21 months of working with the company due to visa requirements and given that he also has an opportunity to work in various locations doing the same kind of work over Asia.

Lunch over it was now time to explore the island. We drove along the beach for about 15 minutes before parking up and heading inland by foot, the half an hour walk would take us to Simons favourite lake on the island - Lake Wabby. The trek was mostly through forest which eventually lets up as you near the lake, uncovering vast sand dunes in every direction. It really did feel like you were in the desert and that everywhere you looked the lush vegetation in the distance hinted at an oasis. Walking through our little desert we eventually found our oasis, Lake Wabby which is noticeably green, getting its colour from.... FULL OF NATURAL OILS GREAT FOR THE SKIN The last dune pretty much descended into the lake, it was steep and it was massive! We swam, played games and ventured up to the look out which gazes over the lake and the dunes. It was here that we eventually played the name game, always awkward and no one really wants to play it, especially when your told to tell everyone a fun fact about yourself. This is the moment you always realise how boring you are! I need to take up a hobby!

This is also where Simon took the time to tell us about when the aboriginal people used to live on Fraser Island and the three rules that they lived by. Firstly, the island was called K'gari which meant paradise, and frankly it was hard to disagree, so from now on I shall be calling the island by its true name, K'gari (in case you missed that the first time round). Simon promised to tell us how it got to be known as Fraser Island on another excursion. The natives here had a great life, the lakes are full of fresh water, the forest provided them with resources and the island was home to many animals...food. Life was easy for the people here unlike other natives whom lived in the outback where survival is extremely difficult. The natives here were some of the strongest aboriginals in Australia, maybe not in terms of numbers but in terms of size! The people here were strong because the island let them flourish, they were actually hench.

We watched the sun set behind the trees and made our way back to camp, this was when we met the twins, Hannah and Clemmie. They were great, so funny and so much energy and found ourselves spending a lot of time together. If you guys are reading this I'm sure you already know how awesome you are. Back at camp dinner was already underway. We really didn't go hungry, PLENTY of steak, sausages, cheesy mash and vegetables. It was great, just missing the damn gravy! Of course after dinner drinks were drunk before spending our first night in the tents where Emily and I had accumulated 5 sleeping bags to keep us warm.

To make the most of our day Simon woke us all up, with a digeridoo, how cliche! It actually makes quite a good alarm, he walked around playing it, stopping at each tent for a couple of seconds sensing where your head would be laying to make sure you could hear him loud and clear. Now I'm not particularly proud of this, but we followed Simons example whom never showers when he is on K'gari! There are a few reasons for this: 1. Queuing: 2. It takes time: 3. They're not great showers: 4. Why would you want to wash off all the moisturising oils that you soak in from the fresh water lakes here. We set off at seven and drove to the shipwreck. It's was pretty cool, the ship is called Maheno and was used as a hospital ship during WW1, at the end of the war it was returned and used as commercial services until it was sold as scrap in 1935, to Japan. Unfortunately Mahenon never docked on its new home because of a cyclone, after three days it was located washed ashore on Fraser Island. The owners did attempt to re float it and then sell it but with no luck therefore it was finally stripped and abandoned on the shores of K'gari. Sadly when we set off it was heavily overcast, and it did start to rain so Simon piled us back into the 4x4s and we headed over to the Champagne Pools, Emily now behind the wheel! She did great, even through the really really soft sands and steep inclines! She actually ended up driving more than me on the island because she enjoyed herself so much. The Champagne Pools get their name from the bubbles inside the small rock pools, caused by the waves that wash up over the rocks. We sat in the pools, swam with the fish and played some football. We also ended up filling the smallest pool there with about 6 of us lads, I don't think sardines in a tin satisfies how cosy it got between us.

By the time we finished here the weather started to improve and in the end turned out to be a really nice day. We had managed to commandeer a 4x4, filling it with Emily and I, Nick and Jodi and Clemmie and Hannah. It also started to get a bit stressful when a guy called Jasper (whom was eventually referred to by other names by various people on our tour) wanted to drive. Jasper did a lot of driving today, and in our car we agreed that the lads did all the driving the day before so today would be the girls turn. Jasper is 21 from Sweden and must be an only child because he has a poor understanding of sharing. I think it's fairly safe to say that he probably didn't like me after I told him that the girls were driving today, he soon moved into another car where the other passengers were clearly too nice to ask him to get out of the drivers seat so that they could have a go. It became a running joke when after each stop he was back in the drivers seat.

Aaannnnnyyywaaayyyyy! We had a short drive to Indian Heads where we were treated to more stunning views of the island and another story, yaaayyyyy. Trying to summarise it as quickly as I can, captain cook sailed past the island when he discovered Australia, saw an aboriginal but didn't know it was an aboriginal because these ones were so well fed and hench, not skinny like the others. I think that's where the Indian Heads name came from because he saw them here. Not sure how that tied into the story but Simon told us. So when captain Cook went back to the UK to tell people a family with plenty of wonga jumped onto their boat with a crew and sailed to Australia, presumably on their way to Sydney. These were Henry and ELIZA Fraser. Well Captain Cook failed to mention the shallow coral along the coast and their boat got wrecked and coincidently only Henry and ELIZA survived. They managed to swim to the shores of K'gari and the aboriginals sensing that these people needed help took them in. Sadly, Henry died of a disease or something. Soon after, LIZZIE was found by the British and taken back home. Having no husband she was now rather poor and decided to write a book about her adventure. Well it was a bit of a flop, so in an attempt to sensationalise her book she told how the aboriginals were bad people and mistreated her, killed her husband and were even cannibals. This upset a lot of people, so some guys went over with guns. Guns vs boomerangs, the outcome was fairly obvious. They eventually surrendered and a bunch of them were marched to the edge of Indian Heads and forced to jump off.

Story over we drove back to the shipwreck to see it in the sunshine and take some decent photos, this time Clemmie or Hannah (sorry girls, you look too similar and I can't remember) at the helm. After the shipwreck our next destination was Lake Allom, an orange lake again getting its colour from the trees, tea tree actually so very good for your skin. My favourite thing about Lake Allom though, wasn't the fact it was so orange or good for your skin, but because it was full of small turtles! We hung around for a little while swimming with them and made our way across the lake and back, I never knew swimming could be so exhausting! On the way to the lake, Simon introduced us to Bob. Bob is Simons favourite tree on K'gari, and he is pretty cool. He told us a little bit about Bob and given that it's Simons last tour he gave Bob one last hug before we all joined in with him. Fun fact; apparently people who hug trees live longer....although Simon may have just been looking for a way to disguise his madness. Apparently one of Simons hobbies is to climb trees, and I don't think he was joking about it either. We found a palm tree (I think it was anyway) next to Bob where he taught us the technique he uses, putting his money where his mouth is he gave us a demonstration flying up to the very top without any problems before sliding down it like it was a fireman's pole. We were pretty lucky to make it to Lake Allom because it's fairly off the beaten track, not many tour companies venture here which made it even more special.

Our last stop for the day was Eli Creek. This water is some of the cleanest fresh water on the island. A short walk into the forest we got to a ridge with some steps down into the creek. Simon was telling us a little bit about the creek and explained that the water from the creek was a wonderful 34 degrees celsius. He lied! It was 16 degrees, which is horribly cold! When we were SCUBA diving we learnt that water absorbs your body heat 4 x faster than air, even when we were diving and we came across water that was 24 degrees in places it felt pretty cold, so this reading 16 degrees and thinking that it's not that bad, it really is! I kinda hated him a little bit for getting us in the water, as if this wasn't enough Simon proceeded to splash us all with the water shortly after we had some pictures taken, that was very very cruel. After manning up and taking the plunge a few of us floated down the creek back to the beach. Tying a rope between two 4x4s Simon had created a volleyball net, where most of us attempted to play. Eventually some of us learnt that there were too many people playing and no one was keeping tally of the score, deciding to throw the rugby ball between us instead while the girls chatted.

Watching the sunset behind the mountains we headed back to camp for dinner, chicken stirfry tonight. Most of the night was spent under the moonlight on the beach, listening to the waves crashing onto shore and gazing at the stars. While we were sat here we spotted two dingos walking down the beach together, they climbed up the dune and invaded our camp. This was short lived before they were chased out and they continued down the beach. The night went quick, a sure sign that we were having a great time.

Woken up by the digereedoo again we had breakfast and set off, today venturing pretty far inland to the infamous Lake McKenzie!! Simply beautiful! White sand and turquoise waters scattered around the lake. Simon doesn't like people from other tours, which has been a great principle in ensuring that we were all having a great time. He took us to a nice little spot, a fair walk from the entrance but we had the entire lake shore to our group. The water is of corse fresh and very clean. The sand is also quite special here, apparently NASA used to come here to STEAL some of the sand because it's some of the finest, softest, purest sand in the world. I think he said they used it for microscopes or something. This was the closest we all had to a bath during the trip, using the sand as a shower gel to clean and exfoliate our skin, faces and all, even using it as shampoo, and, wait for it, as.......toothpaste! I'm not sure it's a particularly clever idea, surely it would scratch off your enamel? But it did leave your teeth squeaky clean, although it tasted pretty awful and of course left your mouth feeling rather gritty.

After playing in the water, listening to music, sunbathing and throwing the rugby ball about we made our way to Central Station, the hub for the nasty logging industry on the island. There were a lot of trees that were worth a lot of money on K'gari, luckily the island is now protected as it is a World Heritage site. We had lunch and Simon introduced us to his second favourite tree, sadly we didn't catch the name because we lagged behind the group because we found a snake. We had some food and then had to sadly say good bye to some of the group who had to catch a different ferry to Hervey Bay. This meant we had to say goodbye to a Nick and Jodi :(. Without these guys the trip wouldn't of been as special or half as fun. Needing a volunteer driver to help cart the people to the ferry Simon asked us who would like to help drive some people over and bring the vehicle back, try and guess who's hand shot into the air and helped him out? Yup, Jasper....shocking right, never saw that coming. He'd already done a lot of driving today as well!!

Feeling tired the twins and us were in a 4x4 resting until Simon got back. Our drive back to the ferry was long and tiring, our jounery from the ferry was even longer and more tiring, now dark and unable to drive along the beach meant the journey was way longer than what it was on the way to Fraser. Dropping more people off at Rainbow Beach, Freddy (one of the young lads on the tour) handed over a drawing to Simon he made while on the trip. It was of Lake Wabby and it was amazing! Obviously a very talented artist, never saw that one coming. You could see by Simons face how much this meant to him, you could see how emotional it was for him to be saying goodbye to such a wonderful place on earth. Soppyness over, we continued back to Noosa, finally getting there around 21:00ish. Thank you Drop Bear Adventures for such a great trip and the people who made it so great! Our best time in Australia by far.

Straight to the hostel, nomads, 8 bed dorm, again! Straight over to SoGo for a meal and a drink before rearranging our bags ready to set off to Airlie beach for our next excursion! A 17 hour nighttime bus journey...

C & E x