Rainbow Beach was our departure point to Fraser Island so we arrived at our hostel 'Dingo's' for our orientation at midday via the Greyhound from Brisbane. We were shown a video about Dingo awareness (pretty much the same as Bears- act big and dont run away!) and Fraser Island safety and put into team G with Nic, Ash and Stevo and were told we were to be joined by 4 more girls in the morning.

By the morning the 4 girls had arrived; 2 Germans and 2 Brits- Luci, Helena, Jessie and Becks. We got to know eachother and loaded all our vans up with cooking and camping equipment and were further briefed about driving the 4x4's in the sand. We drove for an hour or so and caught the small ferry across to Fraser (which is a National Heritage Site and the largest sand island in the world) where we drove along 75 Mile Beach to have lunch, after which we walked the 40 minute path to lake Wabi. Lake Wabi was the deepest fresh water lake on the island. We relaxed in the lovely cool water and played frisbie for the next 2 hours.

After this we headed to set up camp for the night (some had more difficulty than others putting up their tents!) on the sand dunes just behind the beach and started cooking our dinner, chicken stir fry and rice. This went reasonably smoothly apart from due to no handles on the pot and no strainer somebody (Craig) managed to drop half the rice on the floor! We sat on the beach to eat under the stars and watched a fantastic strom out at sea which really was amazing. After dinner the Goon came out.. now Goon, for those who dont know is VERY cheap wine that all backpackers drink. As told to us by our Fraser Guide Shane, it is apparently called goon due to the bag in which it comes that can be blown up after it has been emptied and used as a pillow and the Abrorigional word for pillow is... Goon! Well anyway, after a LOT of goon and vodka, I was in bed by 9.30!

I definitely struggled getting up the next day and all the boys went off to Central Station (the islands only civilisation with a canteen) for breakfast and the girls had the entire groups rashion off eggs on toast. We packed up camp and went for a wash in Eli creek- a freshwater supply that runs out from the island to the sea. We then made our way north up the beach to Champaigne Pools which are named as such due to the water bubbling in the hotter months and used as hot pools- it was unfortunately too cold for me but some brave members of the group jumped right in! We had an interesting lunch due to the fact that we hadnt stuck to the menu we were meant to be using and had already used the food for todays lunch and afterwards made our way to the tip of the island Indian Head to shark and turtle watch and enjoy the view.

Lastly we went back south to see the shipwreck that according to our guide was shipwrecked in 1937, took some pictures and tried to head back to set up camp before dark! We failed and so it was pitch black by the time we got there so the girls cooked steak, home made garlic bread and some veg and the men set up the tents (not on the dunes this time as the ranger told us off last time!) Due to a fight that broke out on the previous night the groups were split so the 70 odd people that were there before were now whittled down to 30, which made for a quieter night of drinking games and good conversation. Again, the next morning we found it ahrd to drag ourselves out of our tents but we packed up and loaded the trailers and took the VERY bumpy journey to Lake McKenzie, another freshwater lake where we all swam and sunbathed for a while. Our lunch-time ferry crossing meant we had to head back down the beach to go home. Team G were all put in the same room when we got back to Dingo's so we all ahd dinner together and played cards until we were all too tired and went to bed. The next morning we said our goodbyes after such a great couple of days and caught the Greyhound north to Agnes Water, otherwise known as 1770!