FRASER ISLAND

Things were definitely looking up as we tucked into our steaks which we'd cooked on one of the free bbqs on the sea front at Hervey Bay after spending the day driving from Dicky Beach. Next day, we gladly left the campervan behind at the campsite and boarded a large 4WD coach with enormous wheels that took us across on the ferry to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. Better drivers than us (i.e. most people) would have opted for the more adventurous self-drive option but we didn't fancy spending the weekend digging ourselves out of holes which would have inevitably been the case if we had attempted to hire our own 4WD.

Instead we had our own guide who could have come straight out of 'Crocodile Dundee' and spent half the time cursing the stupid drongos driving around in hired 4WDs. He was really knowledgeable about Fraser Island, as his family has spent generations living or working there, and it was fascinating to hear his anecdotes about how his family were involved in the logging industry, the travel companies they set up in the early days and the looting of a beached ship. First he took us on a nature walk through the rainforest with the deafening sound of cicadas' mating calls humming in our ears, where we saw funnel-web spider nests and trees with all their roots above ground. At lunchtime, we had the first of several huge meals back at the resort and made friends with a couple from the West Midlands called Jodi and Stu. The rest of the afternoon was spent bombing along 75 Mile Beach at high speed, with the waves lapping against the wheels of the bus. We had a dip in the Champagne Pools, a series of rock pools filled with bubbling, fizzing sea water when the waves crash over the rocks, and saw the wreck of a ship which ran aground in a cyclone 70 years ago. To cool off, we took a little walk inland to the source of Eli Creek, whose fast-flowing, crystal clear water carried us floating on our backs back down to the beach.

Next day, after two more massive meals and an amusing evening of watching other people do karaoke, we crossed a huge sand dune (or sand blow as the locals call it), and spent a happy half-hour posing for photos of us jumping, legs akimbo, down the dunes. The blow sloped steeply down to a beautiful green lake with very clear water, Lake Wabby, where we spent an hour swimming and sunbathing. In the afternoon we drove to Lake McKenzie, one of the most photographed views on the East Coast thanks to its perfect combination of pure white sands and clear blue water. It was somewhere that lots of people had recommended us to visit and it certainly lived up to its reputation, as we lay in the shallows covering ourselves in sand and taking in the view. A dingo (one of the local wild dogs that have a reputation for stealing food, handbags and small children) even put in an appearance for us, before we had to head back to the ferry for our trip back to the mainland. That night we had a pleasant dinner at the hostel with Jodi and Stu, and planned the next leg of our trip north.