Now then everyone - Fraser Island - DEFINITLEY IN THE TOP THREE THINGS WE'VE DONE SINCE WE LEFT HOME!!!

We were up at 7 in the morning and somehow managed to be late for the introduction at 'Aussie Trax', the 4X4 rental place!! As Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world (123 km long) you cant just head there in a normal car as the sand & roads are insane! So you can either go on a tour (where a cringy tour guides come inclusive) or if there is a group of you, you an hire your own 4X4 and drive youself (only down side is you have to look after the vehicle). So, we sat for about half an hour watching the intro video on safe driving on Fraser! This included not getting salt water in the engine, letting the tyres down when you get there so you can drive on soft surfaces, tide times etc etc. Me Debs & Hannah were designated drivers and Debs was looking decidedly grey afer all the differences with driving on sand were mentioned!

So we got all our kit in the 4X4 and headed straight to Woolworths (& the bottle shop for about 20 litres of wine & a couple of bottles of spirits) to grab our shopping! The buchers was well kitted out for Fraser travellers - it did 10 burgers, 10 steaks, 30 sausages & a load of mince for like 50 dollars!!! THEN WE WERE OFF!!!

Hannah was the first to drive, so we headed to the ferry and were off. After about a 45 minute journey we landed on FRASER ISLAND!! We pulled in and took down the tyres to 35psi and set off on our way to 'Happy Village' which was a dorm/ sleeping bit!! There was nobody looking after the place - Aussie Trax gave us the keys. After about 100m the tarmac dissappeared and we were on some completly crazy roads, it was like being on a roller coaster...they literally made Cambodia's roads look like the A1!!! Hannah did a well good job to say she drove a mini back home!!

Aussie Trax gave us an itineray to follow to make sure we saw the main things - so the first place we were heading to was Lake Banaroon!! We got there and it was completely deserted - just the 7 of us chillin on a beach of proper white sand with a beer in the glorious weather!! Went for a quick dip and then headed back off to find the hostel!! Arrived at about 4 and dropped our bags off in the rooms and put some fresh food in the fridges, and headed to find another lake close by ! This lake was nothing compared to the last one so we headed back up for a BBQ & showers!!

We sat around for an hour or so, me, debs, ryan & charlotte played some cards with some goon and then me and ryan did the male thing & cooked a BBQ for the group!! I didn't drink too much cos I was the driver for the next day & we were up at 5.30 the next morning to drive up the '75-mile beach' for 40km to 'Indian Heads' where you can see sharks right up at the shore relly early in the morning!! So we got up at the crack of dawn, and got in the 4WD. It was about two minutes to 75 mile beach and once on there it was like riding on the road - it even had a speed limit of 80km p/hour!!! It was amazing, driving down a golden beach at sunrise!!! We had a bit of a rush on our hands as we had to get to Indian Head before a certian time because the tide was coming in fast and you could get saltwater in the engine or, worst comes to worst, you could get stuck in the sea!!!

We got to Indian Head at about 8.30 and the tide was already coming in!!! It was a bit of a gamble going any further so we sat about dithering fo about 15 mins! Then another 4x4 just drove past us and carried on down the beach so we decided to follow!!! It was close but we made it... only to realise later that the beach we was dithering on was actually Indian Head!!!!! So, we were stuck at the wrong part of Fraser Island and had a 4 hour wait before the tide had gone back out so we could head back down the beach!!! b*****!! No matter though, we spoke to a group (who were from Preston) and they had sat waiting for sharks for 2 hours and saw nowt!!!! We sunbathed on the brow of the Champagne Pools (which were rock pools but were flooded as the tide was in!!) At about midday we headed back off down the 75 mile beach towards the Maheno Shipwreck, which was right on the beach (see the pics). That was awesome - especially with the waves crashing up into the inside of the boat!!

After spending a while taking snaps of both the wreck & people climbing on the car, and generally mucking about, we carried on down the beach towards 'Ellis Creek' - basically a really clean 'beck' heading towards the sea!! It was about knee deep but both Ryan & Debs decided to swim! They said it was freezing! After we strolled down the creek we headed back towards our car and saw a big 4WD tour bus completely stuck in the sand!! They ended up tying three buses together, two that wernt stuck pulling the other that was!! Hilarious!

From here we were supposed to head straight back to camp as driving at night is illegal!! However it was only about 3pm so we decided to head for Lake McKenzie, which has the clearest freshwater in the world!! We decided to take what on the map showed as a inland shortcut!!! Hehe ... what a load of rubbish, it was the craziest road I have ever drove on in my life!!! There were tree roots sticking up everywhere and 3 or 4 metre ditches in the road!! I had well good fun but I was almost gurning with concentration!!! Check the vid when they're up!!!

Debs now! Hello! Chris did well good with the roads, im not joking, it is the most bizarre experience we'll probably ever have! The roads were like speed bumps, but 3 times the size, and were just one after the other so you were constantly being thrown around in the back! And I mean thrown around...like arse off the seat and in mid air! At one point the cooler box rose by about a foot and then landed on my toe, ouch! And every now and then, we'd have to make a climb uphill and there'd be a big tree stump where the car would tip to the left so we were at a 45 degree angle to clamber over it! Can't explain it really! We soon realised that it was best to get to Lake McKenzie by going along the beach, so gave up and went back to the house for the PARTY!!!!!
What a night! Not gunna mention how much we drank because it's not big or clever, but for the first time in my life I don't really remember the night! We started off all civilised with beer, wine, vodka etc. with our meal, then at about 10 our mates Sniffy and co. (two elderly couples who were staying at our 'house', who always stayed up with us when their hubby's went to bed, bless!) bought us a couple of bottles of champagne...then we were all dancing and singing and playing games! We took their address and promised to go round for a cuppa the next day, but all drunken promises! Think we had a couple of hours sleep, as we were up at 8 (another early start).

Chris now, when we awoke we were all well rough!!! So we cooked some bacon on the BBQ and crammed a butty and a brew down before resuming the trip!!! As this was the last day & we had to catch the ferry by 4pm we only had two stops, one at Lake Wabbi & then the imfamous Lake McKenzie!!! As Debs was both still drunk and scared half to death by the roads, it was Hannah who was driving again!! Glad it wasn't me!!! As most in the back were still drunk we were singing along to some crap songs and listening to 'Baby Jesus' Radio station (loved the story hour) and generally being quite annoying!!! When we stopped at a crossing the girls decided it would be a grand idea to throw a hand full of rice crispies at Hannah!! This ended up being a 7-man rice crispie fight, the result being hannah getting half a box throw over her head!!! (Check the vid when it's up!)

After what should have been 30 mins, but was three hours, narrowly missing getting stranded in the sea as we were fighting against the incoming tide and couldn't find our exit off the beach (very scarey but funny looking back) we arrived at the first destination, Lake Wabbi. This place was stunning, it was huge sand dunes right next to a lake! The lake was a bit small and not too clean but the dunes were an awesome sight!! Bit hard work to climb up with the hangover but we made it to the top and got some pics from the lookout and then trekked for about 3km to get to the lake!!! On the way we managed to spot a 'Wolf' Spider - a HUGE thing capable of killing a person!! Hideous thing!! We decided not to hang about here as we had heard good things about McKenzie so we trudged back towards the 4x4!!!

On the way to McKenzie everyone began to feel the toll of the night before (I was falling asleep whilst being thrown everywhere!!) When we arrived - it was immense!! The weather could have been a bit nicer but the lake was still a shocking blue & the beach was the whitest sand!! Straight away we all jumped in the lake to refresh... and it worked!! The water was freezing - exactly what we needed!! After half an hour of playing in the water we headed back up to the car, dried off, and headed towards the ferry, via 75m beach!!

Our last little cruise was crazy as when we picked the van up and watched the intro video it mentioned planes landing on the same beach as we were driving down!! We didn't see the plane moving but it had just landed, and were right by it (check pic)!! weird experience driving down a beach with the sea on one side, a plane in front of you & a shipwreck behind!!!!

We got up to the ferry port & got a coffee and some toasties and chilled for an hour or so before realising we had about ten minutes to fill the air pressure in the tyres and get to the ferry!! So after a load of panic & some ace teamwork by me & ryan we got to the ferry just in time and were headed back towards mainland Oz!!

Was sad to leave Fraser Island but we had and absolutly unforgettable experience there!! Would recommend it to anyone heading for Oz!!!

Hope all is well back home - missing everyone loads!!!

lots of love,

Chris & Debs xxxxxxxxxxxx