G'day Gang!

After a good night's sleep in Hervey Bay we were picked up at the crack of dawn for our Cool Dingo's Tour of the biggest sand island in the world - Fraser Island. We travelled across to the island on a catamaran and arrived at 9am. As we stepped onto Fraser, we were greeted by Crazy Dave, our tour guide. He rounded up our group, we boarded our massive 4wd, and headed off to our first stop - Basin Lake. Whilst we made our way along the bumpy tracks, Dave told us facts about the island; including it it 126km long by 26km wide, and everything from the massive sand dunes, dense forest, and every form of life on the island is a product of the wind, formed over thousands of years.

We soon arrived at Basin Lake, where we had time to walk around and take photos. Then Dave left (oh no), and we set off on a 1.5hr trek through forest to Pine Creek Valley, where Dave and the bus were waiting to meet us.

From here we made our way to Lake McKenzie, for a humongous lunch followed by coffee and muffins. After we had stuffed ourselves stupid, we walked down the sand track to the lake. With its crystal clear water and white sandy beaches it was a beautiful sight. We spent time swimming, walking and generally enjoying this magical place.

In the late afternoon we made our way back to our accommodation at the Kingfisher resort, and checked into our lodge - no tents for us - YEEHAAAAAAA! We all got freshened up from a long day, and headed down to the dingo bar for dinner and then spent time drinking and getting to our know our group.

Sunday, we were up at 6am a bit worse for wear, but soon felt better after our fry-up breakfast. At 7:45 we boarded the bus and drove to a lookout point over Stonetool Sandblow. This is a site where ancient Aboriginal Stonetools have been found - hence the name. The view was amazing across the massive sand dunes with the ocean in the back drop.

We continued across the island to Eastern Beach, otherwise known as 75 mile beach, we are not sure why as it is only 59 miles long. We drove along the beach and stopped at the shipwrecked Maheno. This ship was wrecked in 1935, when it was being toed to Japan and broke free, and finally came to rest on Fraser. It's now looking very old and rusty, but still remains on the beach and is a major tourist attraction.

From the Maheno it was a short drive to the Pinnacles, these are basically cliffs of coloured sands, ranging from white, through yellow, to red. We then continued on to the Champagne Pools, where we spent about an hour messing around before we headed to the base of Indian Head for a picnic lunch on the beach. After we filled our bellies, yet again, we climbed to the top of Indian head for some great views across the dunes and along the coast.

From Indian head we drove back along Eastern Beach to Eli Creek. This is a fast flowing fresh water creek, that runs for 7km until it reaches the ocean. Its crystal clear waters are freezing cold, but despite this fact we still launched ourselves into the creek and floated back down to the beach for a coffee and yet more cakes.

We then headed back to the resort and a small group of us walked to a lookout point to watch the sun set over the Australian mainland before heading down to the dingo bar for pasta and pizza night, with plenty more beer and cocktails.

Monday, Emma's Birthday!!

After our pancake breakfast we made our way to Lake Wabby. This is a beautiful emerald-green lake surrounded on 3 sides by eucalypt forest, whilst the 4th side is a massive sandblow. We arrived at a look out above the lake, and it looked amazing! We made our way through forest and across the sandblow, to the lake, and were all in the water within seconds to cool off! Crazily, Lee and a few others swam all the way across to a small beach on the other side, when they finally returned Emma pointed out the massive cat fish they'd just been swimming with - nice!

We made the trek from the lake to the beach where Dave greeted us with the news that an earthquake had hit the Solomon Islands, and a tsunami warning had been sent out across the east coast of Australia. Luckily this was soon withdrawn, as otherwise they'd have evacuated us from the beach.

We set off on a walk along the beach, then Dave rounded us up and took us to Eurong Village Resort for a dip in the pool and a BBQ lunch. More FOOD - Very nice!!

In the afternoon we headed to Lake Birrabeen, where we spent a few hours at the lake swimming and splashing around in its clear water and lazing in the sun. The girls decided to have a beauty session for Emma's b'day, by covering themselves in some organic matter they found at the bottom of the lake. This was very funny, but even funnier when it wouldn't come off - Big Kids!!

Our final hour on the island was spent in the sand bar having one last beer before we cruised back to the mainland. As the sun set infront of us and a full moon rose behind we said our goodbyes, what a perfect end to a perfect trip.

We would like to thank Crazy Dave for being a wicked guide; and Phil, Ruth, Hazel, Laura, Chris and Stacey for a great time, and we hope you all enjoy the rest of your travels. Hope to see you again.

Lots of Love,

Lee and Emma

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