Heyyyyyy!!!

Massive apologies for the delay in an update. But here we go!!

So after leaving my new friends on Airlie beach, I caught a 14 hour overnight bus to Rainbow beach. I arrive in the morning and immediately befriend Alison, my new dorm buddy. After a 2 hour briefing for our 3 day (2 night) camping trip to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world, we got pretty excited. The only downer was that Alison, myself and several other german girls were in the tag vehicle, which meant that only the guide could drive that 4x4, whereas the other groups (there were 4 cars in total) got the chance to drive their car (there was no guide in their car, and they had to follow our car!!). We had to wait for the other groups to offer their vehcles to us. BOO!!

After a day of rest at Rainbow on Fraser hostel and an early start, we packed up our cars with necessary clothes, food, camping equipment and of course, alcohol for the next three days. To get on to Fraser Island we had to take a ferry, however we had to cross a beach first. With no rainfall for several days, the beach had become very dry which made it very difficult for any vehicle to get across. With our car being the tag car, it meant that we were also carrying the massive trailer (carrying all our gear) which assisted us in being the first vehicle to get stuck in the sand!! GREAT!! However there were a lot of us, close to 20, so with all our might we pushed and pulled, and pushed and pulled some more and eventually, after about an hour, we got us free. We also managed to help two or three other vehicles that got stuck too. We were like the backpackers rescue brigade!!

We finally arrive on the island (but not before one on the girls forgot to put her car in 1st gear whilst on the ferry, and crashed into the trailer infront!! Did she learn nothing in the briefing? )

We arrive on the campsite, which is right on the beach behind some bushes, sweet!! We set up our tents and have lunch. Then take a long bumpy ride through the forest to a Lake Mackenzie. The forest was amazing, to say that there is minimal rainfall there, the trees were so great. It amazing how nature adjusts so well to the envirnment.

I was imagining a grim little lake. But this was sensational. Clear water with white sand. Yeh it was freezing but we all jumped straight in anyways!!

We headed back to the campsite for the evening. Looking forward to a cold beer and dinner, everyones geared up for a late night and drinking games, but we'd been up since 6am and it had been a pretty busy day, so we were all in bed by 10.30pm. And I can honestly say it was the most uncomfortable night I'v experienced travelling so far!! Oh and before we went to bed we also saw a dingo!! I Pooed myself!! Not really what you want roaming around when you've got to spend a night in a flimsy tent. But its all part of the fun, right?

The next day, after a hearty breakfast and washing our dishes in the rough sea, one of the other cars (who had named themselves team hollywood) offered to let me drive their car for the morning. Very excited, I thanked them as some people in team hollywood hadn't driven yet. They became mine and Alison's adoptive family (as the german girls in our group kept to themselves!! )

Ok so driving a 4x4 on the beach with the wind in your hair, a gorgeous beach on one side and the ocean on the other!! WOW!!! Then the girls in the back spotted serveal whales (it was coming to the end of mating season, so there were quite a few about!!) Nothing else could have made it more amazing. After one stop at a secluded area of a beach, we headed to Indian head, a costal headland. The drive there was so much fun. We had to go up and down sandy hills, some cars got stuck but not me, hehe!!! With the help of the cheers from people in my car, and a determined acceleration, we didnt get stuck once!! The only way I can describe driving in sand, is like driving in snow and ice, but way more fun!!! Indian head cliff was amazing. It looked out over the island and ocean. Its one of those places where you could spend hours, just sitting and looking!! So beautiful! Then on the way back to the campsite we stopped at The Maheno, a famous shipwreck that killed not one person when it was caught in a cyclonic storm and drifted ashore in 1935! Pretty awesome!!

That evening we managed to stay up a bit later and bond over some drinks, seen as it was our last night. It was cold and windy, due to the rough sea close by, but that didn't stop a few of us from going to sit on the very dark beach!! Knowing that there were dingos all around us but we couldn't see them was a bit creepy but made it all the more exciting.

The next morning we had to pack everything back up, but we managed to go to one more lake before we had to head back. This one was my favouite lakes. Lake Wabby is surrounded by sand dunes and it was at the bottom of a very steep sand dune. At the bottom the lake was a blue green clear colour with pleanty of fish swimming alongside you. Hard to describe, but so beautiful. On one side a massive sand dune and on the opposite side was a great forest splashed with amazingly bright colours. An incredible view!!

Then sadly we had to head back to Rainbow beach and say bye to the most amazing sand island in the world. With one night still left in rainbow and the new friends we'd made, we decided to have a BBQ back at our hostel. We managed to squeeze our drinking games in here, and then as some farewell hugs.

People said to me before I came to Oz that I had to do Whitsundays and Fraser Island.They also said that I'd prefer one over the other. I loved Fraser Island and the natural beauty there was sensational. But my favourite would have to be Whitsundays. Maybe it was the people, maybe it was sailing in the middle of nowhere, but there was something that drew me to that experience so much more. I wana so back there, anyone wana come????????????????