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The only thing really to do in Rainbow Beach is go to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. The majority of backpackers choose to do the self drive tour where, basically, we're given a 4 wheel drive, food, alcohol and tents and then sent on our way for 3 days. I arrived early evening on Thursday 23rd April ready for my Fraser trip on Sunday 26th. The hostel I was staying in put on free trips to the Carlo Sandblow so the next day, I and few girls from my room went to check it out. It's a big expanse of sand that's been blown inland and it was really weird seeing that much sand in one place then looking down the big cliff face to the sea. The next day was spent doing very little, just lounging round the hostel, but we went to the Sandblow again to watch the sunset which was nice. On Saturday afternoon we had our Fraser briefing and were put into our groups. Each group had 10 or 11 people in it and we could choose who we wanted to a certain extent. We then signed our lives our on many insurance forms and told the guy organising it who was planning to drive so he could check our driving licences etc. That night was spent trying to cram as much as we could into a small backpack, in between trips to the Discount Variety Store to stock up on sparklers and glow sticks that we didn't even end up using.
It was an early start the next day for 7am pancakes then yet more briefing about how to load the cars up and how to drive the cars safely in sand etc. Finally, we were ready to go and we all set off in a convoy to the place where we got the barge. The crossing was really quick, only about 4 minutes, so we were soon on our own with a big car and lots of sand. Alan, the briefing guy had given us an itinerary that we didn't have to stick to but we thought it would be easier if we did. We first made our way up the beach to Eurong, which was like a little town with a shop, restaurant, hotel etc. Our car was the last to arrive so everybody saw us get spectacularly stuck in the sand. We had to then dig the wheels out and get everyone to push until we finally got out. After a toilet and Magnum stop we then went on our way in search of Lake McKenzie. It was the most beautiful thing ever, only slightly spoilt by the hoards of people who were there. It was so blue it looked just like a swimming pool and it was freshwater so going without a shower for 3 days didn't really matter. Me, Wils and Lars decided to do the "Great Lake Swim" and swim across to a beach on the other side. It was further away than it looked! When we eventually got there, me lagging behind, we decided it was too much effort to swim back so instead just walked around the waters edge back to where everyone else was.
Alan had advised us to leave the lake by about 4pm so we'd make it to the campsite before sunset. With the best intentions we left at about 3:30 and somehow got stupidly lost. Driving around on sand "roads" in the middle of a forest was bad enough but it was starting to get dark and we had tents to pitch and food to cook. Thankfully, another car from our group was in front of us and we ended up finding a car that had come out the previous day and knew how to get back to the campsite. We were driving in a convoy, the sun blatantly going down when we heard a sound like air coming out of the tyre very quickly. We stopped and I got out to have a look, as I was in the front, to find the tyre completely flat! God knows how we managed as we were driving really slowly because of the roads and we were in the middle of the convoy and nobody else's tyres were flat. Anyway, no one in our car knew how to change a tyre so some lads from the other cars did it. By this time it was completely dark and we still didn't know how far away from the campsite we were. After what felt like hours, we made it to sounds of clapping and cheering by all the other groups who had already been there about 3 hours! We then pitched our tents and got the steaks and the goon on the go. Goon is just wine in a box but everybody here treats it like it's a magical gift from God so who am I to be any different. In all honesty, it's no different to wine in a box at home although it is pretty cheap. That night passed in a haze of drinking games, dingo chasing and star gazing, as the stars were so beautiful that night, and I woke up the next day feeling horrendous.
I think Fraser Island is possibly the worst place to have a hangover. I couldn't just stay in my tent and sleep as the heat was unbearable past 8am. I couldn't drink gallons of water as we had a 20 litre bottle between 10 of us and it was quite a way to refill it. So I cracked open a re-hydration sachet, which helped a little bit, and just moaned about wanting to be at home in my bed. The beach wasn't safe to drive on until midday because of the tides so at about 10am we made our way to Lake Wabby on the inland roads. The bumpiness of the roads was just churning my stomach so when we had to pull over to let a tour coach go past, I got out and threw up on the side of the road. I'm sure that was a lovely sight for the people on the coach. Once we got to the lake and walked the massive trek from the car park I was starting to feel better so we sat in the water for a bit watching the cat fish which live in it.
Before we set off on the tour we were told that we weren't allowed past a certain point about half way up the island as there'd been a cyclone a few weeks before and it wasn't safe to drive. This point was just south of the Moheno shipwreck that a few of us wanted to see so we planned to park as far north as we could then walk the rest of the way as we didn't want a ridiculous fine for driving past the line. We underestimated how long it would take to get back to the beach, and we had to stop off at another little town area called Happy Valley for ice and water. By the time we were nearly at the point, it was already getting late as it would take an hour to walk to the shipwreck and hour to walk back, then we had the tides to consider. We decided we didn't want to risk it so we drove back to camp and played frisbee on the beach and drew silly pictures in the sand. I didn't drink at all that night after the night before and it was so cold, I ended up going to bed at the embarrassingly early time of 7:50! I went straight to sleep virtually so I must have needed it although I think I must have had a mosquito trapped up my top all night as I was covered in bites all over my stomach and back the next morning.
The barge back to the mainland was at 2:30 so we decided to go back to Lake McKenzie in the morning as it had been so nice the first time. Wils and I did another "Great Lake Swim", this time walking round and swimming back, so now at least we can say we swum there and back. At about 1ish we decided to pack up and make our way to the barge thinking an hour and a half was plenty of time. It wasn't. We got there after driving up the beach for miles and miles and about 3:15 but luckily the only other car that was in front of us was there waiting and all the other cars weren't far behind. I think we were just told 2:30 to make sure we weren't late.
Back on the mainland we went to fill up with diesel then took the car round to Al's garage to unpack the roof and for the mechanic to inspect it. We told Al about the tyre so he got it down off the roof to have a look. It was the first time we'd actually been able to see the damage, and it was completely slashed! I have no idea what could have caused. We were charged $100 for a new tyre, $20 for a new light which accidentally got slammed in the door and $5 for a new bowl which we'd lost. It wasn't so bad though as it was between 10 of us! Back at the hostel, it felt so nice to have a shower and sleep in an actual bed! Everybody left the next day after one last trip to the Discount Variety Store and the day after I did my skydive! It was quite scary, especially when we got to the right height and the guy I was jumping with opened the door. We then sat on the edge and fell out. I can only describe the sensation of falling as uncomfortable. It was freezing cold and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Once the parachute opened it was nice gliding around but, to be honest, it was nowhere near as scary or exhilarating as my bungy! I'm glad I've done it though!
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