Hello all from Rainbow Beach - the gateway to Fraser island. We have had an action packed few days with a 3 day 2 night trip to Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the WHOLE world - 75 miles long!!

But best go back a few days first. We sadly had to leave Byron Bay, much to our dismay, but we were booked up to go on Fraser with some friends that we met in Coffs Harbour. We spent the last day at Byrin hanging around waiting for our 8pm bus, so Sarah decided to pass the time away with some more jewellery making, and made a nice little anklet. Apart from that we didnt really get up to much. We eventually jumped on the bus up to Brisbane, arrived at about 10pm and left again that afternoon. First impressions of Brisbane - not too good - seems pretty boring and a bit skanky. havent actually heard anything good about it yet so dont think we will bother with staying there for very long!!

We arrived at Rainbow Beach that evening, and just had a few drinks with Toby and Verina - the guys we were going to Fraser with. This town is absolutety tiny, with just a few shops, 2 hotels, 2 little supermarkets and a couple of petrol stations. Dont think many ppl come here unless they are going to Fraser. The next day though we went for a little wonder and hit the beach. Again the usual mix of sunny weather, crystal clear water and white sand, coupled up with a couple of screaming girls (Sarah and Verina [who may i add complete replicas of each other, from opinions and attitudes to senses of humour!!]) because of the old jellyfish. In all fairness they did both get stung but didnt need any p**s on them to soothe the stinging as thy were not too bad. it then started to rain so we went back to the hostel for a swim in the pool in the tropical downpour, before our pre-departure meeting where you get put into groups of 10/11 for the tour.

We were put in a group of 10 consisting of 5 couples, us 4, an Irish couple, a Finnish couple and a Japanese couple - all of which were really lovely (just a little bit shy). We then had to sort out our alcohol for the trip and just wait for the morning!!

That morning we were all up at 7am for pancakes, and then another few talks about safety, the vehicle, the island etc. Then we were up on the roof packing the eskys (coolboxes), bags, beer, and camping equipment. We were all in a relatively old but sturdy Toyota Landcruiser, with seats for 8 in the back and 3 up front.

There were a few of us that put our names to drive, and the 3 most confident drew straws to see who drove first - yep that was me!!! So we all set off in a convoy of 5 jeeps to the ferry for the short crossing - within 10 mins we were driving in super low 4WD (tractor mode) through deep soft sand and sliding around everywhere trying to get to the ferry!!! really good fun!!!

Then once we got to the other side we were on our own!! we had a map, a suggested itinerary and a whole island to go wild on!!! There are no roads on Fraser just a long 75 mile beach, so you can only drive quickly at low tide on the wet sand, still we made haste to our first stop - Lake McKenzie. We had to come off the beach and go inland along a very bumpy track almost getting stuck in several places, but it was well worth it! We made a quick lunch and hit the lake. It wa absolutely stunning!!! Pure white sand along its edges and beautiful blue water, in the shallows it was like it was Britta filtered it was that clear!!!

After a few hours splashing around we headed to our chosen campsite (basically there are a number of them up the beach, they are just stretches kms long where you bump up over the dunes and just settle down on little clearings!!). We set up, cooked our supper on the old gas stove and played a few drinking games and some card games, whilst keeping our eyes open for the dreaded dingos!!! they supposedly eat everything! So you cannot leave food or even toothpaste out at night, but we waited and waited to try and spot them, only seeing 2. but those 2 just ran away (may have been something to do with 10 ppl running with cameras and torches to get that first glimpse of real wildlife [unless you count bloody sandflies - millions of the sods eating us alive during sunlight hours and they are HUGE]!!)

Next morning we headed off to the north end of the island, to Indian Heads, a huge cliff that overlooks the long beach and another section of beach - again beautiful clear water, perfect for spotting wildlife - and we did!!!! At last!! I have been hunting for turtles since we arrived in Australia and i saw my first one!!! Even got a nice pic of it coming up for air, added to this we saw a few rays and a shark!!! Yep a shark, but it wasnt very big (luckily or i would never had got Sarah in the sea for a swim a little later on!!).

We headed round the headland and chilled out on the beach in the sea, with Sarah jumping out of the water every time something brushed along her (AGGGH A SHARK!! AGGGH A JELLYFISH!! AAGGGHHH A STINGRAY!!!) until the rain came (again) so it was a 40 min trek to the next scenic point the Champagne Pools. Basically 2 huge rock pools that get filled up each high tide. We also saw a couple of Dingos (although one i think was at deaths door, very skinny, but easy to photograph!!).

After that demanding walk we headed back to the campsite stopping another 2 times. Once at the famous Maheno shipwreck - a 400 foot vessel that crashed amid cyclonic conditions back in 1935. Some lovely photos later we carried on to Eli creek. A pristine, clear creek that runs from the rainforest to the sea. We walked up a little boardwalk for 10 mins, then you jump in the creek and just float down (well Toby and I did!!). A couple of days later we heard that another group saw 4 snakes in that creek including an Eastern Brown Snake one of the most agressive and venomous snakes in the world!!! I was gutted, i have been hunting for snakes for nearly 3 months now and have still not seen one!! Sarah however did spot one of the scariest looking spiders ever, with a HUGE web which was pretty much 3D, with bits coming off everywhere, and millions of insects were caught in it!!

That night we all made supper and had a few beers and a pretty early night as we were all so tired. The other 3 couples were still pretty quiet, so Sarah, Verina, Toby and I just carried on and had a good old laugh together!!!

Then sadly it was our final day - off to Lake Wabby! A 30 min walk across a blazing hot sand dune, we arrived at a green lake nestled in amongst the trees, which was more than a welcome relief to just sprint down and dive straight in! You can never truly appreciate swimming until you nearly kill yourself in the heat first. We were all having a good time, scaring each other with tales of what was nibbling on our toes in the Lake (Merv the guy who gave us the talks [a very funny and crazy Aussie guy] told us there was plenty of wildlife in the lake) when Antti the Finnish guy spotted a dark shadow swimming near us, by this time it was only me in the water so i tried to catch it! A few unsuccessful attempts later i managed to get a finger on it - but it got away!

I got out of the water as we got ready to go, when loads more black shadows patrolled the shallows, so we threw a few crisps in, and they all came to the surface - loads of ugly black catfish!! Was really cool!!

Then we jumped back in to Jeep and headed home, trying to catch the 2pm ferry. We reached the hostel, checked in and all had a well deserved shower and a good sleep!!!

Just hanging around Rainbow now, trying to work out where our travels are going to take us, Toby and Verina have gone North so we wont see them now until the UK, Tytti and Antti the Finns have gone South, Ronan and Sharon the Irish are off North tonight and Hatsoko and 'Jack' the Japanese two are off skydiving!

All in all a bloody good trip, you will prob be tired reading all this, but it really was wicked!!! Driving in the sand (Sarah had a good go, speeding along the shore [i nearly killed us after misjudging a bump in the sand, oh and covered everyone in sand, the windows were open and we were stuck in soft sand, so i ploughed down the accelerator and didnt realise i was filling the back and everyones mouths with sand!!!])

Next stop - who knows, not us yet!!!!

xxx