I arrived at Rainbow beach on Saturday evening, it is called Rainbow beach as it has 72 different colours of sand! On Sunday we wandered around the town and went and sat on the beach for lunch. We then had a talk about our trip to Fraser Island before going on an walk organised by the hostel to see the Carlo sand blow which is 15 hectares of sand! There we attempted to throw boomerangs and I watched people attempt to sandboard down the dunes but didnt fancy flying face first into sand at high speed myself! We then slid down what I can only descibe as a sandcliff to the beach (health and saftey is much more relaxed out here!) to have a look at the different coloured sands on the way down. It started off pretty scary but ended up being very fun and was definately worth it to see all the 'rainbow' sand! We then walked along the beach back to the hostel as the sun set, it was beautiful!

On Monday we left for our 4WD adventure on Fraser Island which is a sand island with freshwater lakes, rainforest and 124km of beach! We were put into groups of 8 and after packing up the cars we drove the the barge which took us to the island. It was a self-drive tag along tour so we had one guide looking after us who drove in front, and 2 cars that followed behind. It was very bumpy but great fun and I had a car full of really nice people so that was even better. On the first day we drove to lake McKenzie where we had a very refreshing swim and did and bit of sunbathing. We then drove a bit further to Wanggoolba creek and went for a short walk through the rainforest. We then went and set up camp by the beach, cooked our dinner and drank goon (very cheap wine!!) It was a really good group of people and we all got on great.

On the second day we went to another creek called Eli for a swim (no showers so did lots of swimming!). We then had a long drive to the champagne pools which are filled by the waves breaking over the rocks and hence are full of fizzy water!! Unfortunately at that point it started to cloud over but luckily it was still warm. On the way we went past the maheno ship wreck. We then went for a walk up to a point called Indian head from which you can see most of the island and also lots and lots of sealife!! We saw whales, dolphins, turtles, bull sharks and rays, it was amazing!! We also saw lots of Dingos whilst on the island. We then headed back to camp and the heavens opened quite spectacularly!! Luckily our guide was well prepared and we managed to get a tarp up so we could cook our tea, but the rain didnt last long so it was OK anyway.

On the last day we had a long and very sandy walk to another lake called Lake Wabby via another huge sand blow. It was definately worth the walk though as the lake was beautiful and there werent many other people there. It was boiling hot so we all had a lovely swim and a did bit more sunbathing. We then had to head back to the barge. On the way we passed a huge pod of dolphins playing right near the shore. It was fantastic! Just as we pulled in to the garage to unpack the cars it began raining, alot!! So we were very lucky with the weather. That evening, after a much needed shower the group all had dinner and a few drinks together before we went our seperate ways. I am still finding sand now and the ozzie mozzies found me just as tasty as the american ones (though luckily I didnt react to these ones), but it was a great trip!