Day 1 at Rainbow beach- We got in at 9.40am where a wilting Scott was requesting breakfast pronto. So we wandered up the road via the nice looking bakery and to the cheap supermarket where we bought bread, ham and chrisps...lunch for breakfast hey! Once checked in we did the standard thing and we went to explore and see the sights. We alked down to Rainbow beach and along the sands to where rainbow beach got its name from, the different coloured rocks and cliffs. We had to hike over rocks as the tide was in and we were fully clothed...we still managed to get soaking wet however and in the end we gave up on the rocks and ran accross teh sands inbetween the tide going out and coming back in again. By this point we were boiled so we dashed abck to the hostel, had a quick cold shower and then went to the super-market to buy dinner and also maybe something of the ice cream variety. At 5pm we went on a walk up to a huge sand dune which overlooked the sea on one side and land, some lakes and the sunset on the other side- soooo bootiful! Scott decided he was lacking training so ran right to the top of the sand dune hill. Forgot how hard it is to run up sand as I ran for what felt like 100m but I would have been lucky if I'd made 20m! After watching a beautiful sunset we headed back down the sand dune, we were going to do some sandboarding but some others took them over to a steep shorter hill where we saw they kept falling off so we gave it a miss. On the way back we entailed darkness, and we soon found that everywhere looked the same in the dark so it wasn't long before we nearly got lost...it took 6 of us to navigate back. (and like always I had no idea where the way back was!) Back at the hostel we had some macaroni cheese and garlic bread...was nice but we didn't prepare too well for the dinner having to borrow some milk from the bar, and go without the butter which made the cheese runny not sticky so instead improvised and replaced the butter with bread. After dinner we sat outside and had a drink with the other 4 guys we'd met at the sand dunes, and an american dude with really long hair joined us also. We were hoping to see the live music the hostel provided but when it started they shut the doors so we couldn't hear or see it- sods!
Day 1 at Fraser Island- We got to breakfast for 7am as they serve you two free pancakeseach, I had the standard lemon and sugar and Scott had jam! We got picked up by the Fraser Island Explorers military truck at 7.50am by Mark who said he was going to be in for a long day as only me and Scott laughed at his jokes because everyone else was either foreign or didn't have a sense of humour. We got a 10minute ferry over from the mainland to Fraser Island and then went on a highway...by highway we mean the stretch of beach...was like a highway in respect it had speedlimits, but other than that it was just a long beach! There are two police officers on the island to make sure people are obeying the limits...and that is all they do! 25minutes on the highway and we stopped off at the resort for morning tea...we haven't had that luxuary in a while so we made the most of the muffins, biscuits, tea, coffee and orange juice. Apple muffins taste goooooood! Thankfully after morning tea, four of us moved groups as we were on the two day tour and the rest of our bus were doing the one day tour...we were so happy as our bus had serious personality defficiancies. Thankfully when we met our new group we got more smiles and hello's back than we did when wee got on the bus with our old group so this was a good start! We then went on a boardwalk in the rainforest on Fraser Island with our new guide Steve. This walk was 1.6kmlong and Steve classed its difficulty level as a 2/5. Before we set off Steve showed us some of the wildlife/plantlife. As he was doing this I looked up and saw this massive branch falling so shouted heads and darted out the way! Steve apologised and said that was his wife- hahahaha! We then set off on our boardwalk and saw some guana's and spiders- thankfully at a bit of a distance away so Scott didn't cry! We met a couple who were in the shows in Melbourne, Philippa and Darren so we spent the walk jabbering away about Australia and asked the standard questions you do when you first meet people travelling, where you come from, how long your here, what you do back at home etc etc. After that strenuous walk...I would have given it a 0.5/5 as the only tiring part was walking up some steps at the end...but according to Steve we wiykd have worked up an appetite for lunch. Scott was very happy to be fed again as 2 muffins and 2 packets of biscuits wern't filling enough. An all you can eat buffet and and two stacked plates of food later for Scott and we were ready for the afternoons activities. First stop was a ship wreck which was being towed on its way to be scrapped many years ago but hit a cyclone and it got washed up on shore. We could see only 1 level of the ship but there is apparently 5 levels according to photographs. We walked around it but your not allowed within a few metres of it as it is deteiorating rapidly. You could tell from the severe rusty look it was on its last legs. Whilst we admired the wreck, the rich 5 of the group went on a 15minute plane ride above the island...not sure how 15minutes constitutes $80 but hey, they enjoyed it. Apparently it was perfect weatehr conditions for flying, still when the place took off it was all over the place so I'd hate to see it take off in rubbish weather conditions! Steve said the pilot looked like a schoolboy the way he wsa dressed-hahahahaha! Next stop was a 30minute drive up the coast to Indian head. We walked up a hill which was 60m above sea level and it looked out over the sea. Scott was scared I was going to fall off the cliff when we were standing 6m away from the edge so I was on the ranes the whole time. I was allowed to look over the edge thankfullly to see some turtles (they looked like a giant leef from above!) and stingray. Just as we were leaving Scott spotted 3 dolphins within eye shot, well their fins bt yay I sae a dolphin! So I took some photos to show you all but as they were a little way down, all that shows up was the bloody sea! I tried...gonna have to purchase a camera with a hugggggeeee lense next time! On the way down I didn't see a rock sticking up on the path and stubbed my big toe, taking the skin down the side of my toe off...it hurt alot and I swore alot! After a spot of first aid we then went to the champagne pools which were rock pools shielded from the waves in the sea. Because I was faffing about my foot and Scott was faffing with me, we forgot the towel so we couldn't swim, so we dipped our feet in and sunk in the sand. (not good for my toe!) Getting back to the steps with a clean toe in deep sand with wet feed proved challenging. So I waited til we got to elly creek to sort it out properly. Here you could walk up a boardwalk and then float down the fresh water spring back down. It was fffffreezing! And when you got out you were attacked by huuuuge flies who like to bite! Little sods! So with this we chucked on our clothes still fully wet and hopped back on the bus back to the resort, to check into our rooms, to freshen up and then have dinner which was mexican themed. I was going to be in heaven for the night. Me and Scott were the only one's in the room, yay for finally getting a good nights sleep without drunkards or snorers! And we also got towels, and soap, and a tv, and free tea and coffee too- for a traveller this gives you the feeling like you've won the lottery. (not quite the jackpot though!) Dinner was amazing and to top it off it was an all you can eat buffet again, nachos, fajhitas, tachos-yummyyyyy! I had one huge plate and a pudding, if you think thats alot Scott had 4 plates and 2 puddings and spent the rest of the night regretting that move! When going for a drink after with the group which was nice, but Scott needed a lie down. So come 9pm we rolled back to our rooms trying not to tread on the millions of frogs we passed on the way! Back in the room we watched 2 hours worth of top gear...was probably an hours show but they like adverts more than we do at home here!Day 2- So if day 1 wasn't bad enough for eating, day 2 got a whole lot worse. Stll full from the night before's dinner our firs cooked breakfast since Perth made us have to make room for egg, bacon, hash brown, as it would be a while until we had them again! I seriously hoped we would walk all this off today or I would be a sumo sumo! We had to leave at 7.45am so that we would arrive at all the places before all the rest of the tourists did, which made all the difference. Mckenzie lake was a fresh water lake, you could be standing in deep water and still see your toes. The sand was also fine enough you could exfoliate your face and body- I wanted to know how the lake wasn't full of people early in the morning as part of a beautifying regime, it would save you hundreds of pounds! So after all the group, guys more than girls may I add (says something) had exfoliated, we swam and chilled out for two whole hours. Our peace was initially disrupted an hour later by a group of Americans-boy can you hear them a mile off. Not long after, the tourist mob came in their hundreds, the peace had gone so we moved on...well actually back to the resort for an early lunch! Thank goodness we were doing a 6.5km walk in the afternoon, iv almost forgotten what it feels like to exercise! Scott an I had learn our lesson not to get carried away by food this time so we ate sensibly si we could carry ourselves round the walk. The walk went through a forest, up onto a sand dune, and down a steep hill to a spring water green algy looking lake which was surrounded by trees. Was such a remote area and once again we were undisturbed by tourists- score! In lake Wabby however there were a fair few large and small, nosey fish! They all took a fancy to Scott's legs and he squealed like a girl when they swam at him. Scott's inadequate application of suncream whilst at lake Wabby meant that he resembled a red looking lobster! hahahaha! Deary me...we then got dropped back to the resort for a cheeky white magnum before the day bus tour picked us up and took us back to Rainbow beach whilst the rest of our tour went back to Hervey bay. Awesome trip.