This is gonna be a big one guys i warn you, and i mean immense. Im talking life threatening animal encounters, high speed car chases and dangerous desert survival! Parental guidance may be required due to scenes of pure unadulterated awsomeness. Dont say i didnt warn you...

After a very rainy and fairly boring journey, we eventually arrived at Rainbow beach backpackers under the cover of almost darkness. The rooms were nice enough, the facilities - meh, the bar however was just, well ok it wasnt anything special AT ALL but we went on the lash anyway :P and that soon led to a visit to the 'other' backpackers hostel two doors down...DINGOS....sworn enemy of all rainbow - no im kidding! it was a pretty cool hostel actually :) funniest thing was, james and elliot attempted to get in with me and sophie and since it was late night you had to show your room key to get in - fair enough right - well the boys figured it would be a good idea to show theirs, under the impression the bouncer wouldnt recognise a different hostels room key! i think it went a little something like this:

Elliot: Here's my key

Bouncer: thats not a dingo's key

Elliot: Right, have a good night then...

pathetic attempt! within 3 minutes I had him opening the gate for us! im going to put it down purely to my womenly ways...but actually i just told him we were going to be five minutes to collect our friends (pointing at 2 randoms) and then we would be gone...we wern't five minutes.

By the next morning i realised that there had been somewhat of a party in the boy's room without me noticing and that everyone seemed to be in someone elses bed (purely innocent im sure :P) with the exception of james, so i decided the only decent thing to do was to go in and make the situation as awkward as possible for everyone - with james's help of course. the day, once everyone found their correct room/bed, was mainly spent at the beach with a little bit of shopping intertwined - so nothing unusual there.

however in the afternoon we had the wonders of the 'fraser island safety video' to look forward to - a 50's style informational video consisting of survival techniques and safety advice for our upcoming trip into the wilderness. now let me just explain, we knew we were going to be camping on our own for 3 days and we knew there were dingos around and whats more we knew that driving in the sea was probably a bad idea all round. however what we didnt realise was that if a dingo approaches you, the correct defence is to fold your arms and slowly walk backwards until either you fall over or i guess get to your car...personally if i was a dingo i would be s*** scared if some strange tall being suddenly folded their arms and walked backwards - man oh man i would run like hell because that is one threatening sight! i mean if they like screamed or threw something at me, i wouldnt give a s*** but folding their arms?! are they crazy! i would run STRAIGHT home and hide...just incase they like decided to wave at me next or something! oh and apparently, according to the fraser island for dummies support group - sleeping in the road should be avoided if possible. not all together mind you, just if possible...

after that amazing fountain of knowledge dried up we decided to buy supplies. for the boys this meant goon. for the girls this meant goon, crisps, chocolate, sweets, crackers, coke, more chocolate and then some more goon if we could carry it. 4 litres each isnt excessive right?! then in the evening whilst the boys went on a guided tour to the infamous sandblow of rainbow beach (i dunno its some thing to do with sand and colours and stuff) me, soph and anna decided to go and find the same sandblow, but on our own. why you wonder? well we got back after the tour left so we didnt really have much choice, BUT after a lot of hills and steps and strange unsigned pathways we eventually ended up on a weird little cliff top and could kinda see it, maybe, if it was the right thing we were looking at...but then we remembered that we didnt care THAT much and would just say we saw it :P plus it started raining and anna apparently REALLY doesnt like the dark, even when its not you know, actually dark yet, so we made our way back through the rain and the sunset :) next job of the evening was to create a feast for the group using only 2 hobs and a can opener that didnt open cans. so bangers and mash it was! and all was going seamlessly until James's most recent object of his desires (i.e. his little bundle of heaven') decided that pouring away her boiling hot water from her vegetables whilst i was washing up with my hands in the sink was a good idea...in fact she continued to think that until i screamed and started trying to prevent myself swearing and punching her at the same time. bundle of heaven she may be...smart she is not. scarred my hand now is. thanks you little ginger bushbaby...thankyou.

Monday brought about a happy reunion of sorts, it turned out that Gav was staying at the same hostel as us, but had finished his fraser trip as opposed to us who were just starting it. so the meeting was shorter than desired but at least we knew he survived...just. first job of the day was to collect the two 4x4 vehicles that were to be our home for the next few days - sounds simple, but it turned out that me and sophie were the first two drivers who thye head guide crossed paths with, and so on roads we didnt know, in cars we didnt know how to drive, with bare feet as our only companion, it was our job to collect the cars and bring them back to the hostel AND remember the way back to the garage for later on! NOT a responsability i was hoping to be trusted with but as it happens i rather enjoyed it :) we both did actually. so first crisis averted, next was packing the damn things with all the tents, equipment, food, supplies and goon that would be required on the island - a task some would shrink away from in fear, but me - a veteran of african overland adventure vehicles, tents and cooking equipment alike, i sprang into action! well no, actually i kinda helped count some stuff and by then it was all kinda done - but the intention was there and thats all that matters! So we were all packed up and ready to go, and with a quick stop at the nearest bakery for a breakfast pie or two, we headed on down to the garage to be told, well basically to be told not to hurt, damage or emotionally tarnish the cars in any way!

as it happens the guy at the garage was a bit of a mental case, and mental case + girl who blatently isnt listening to his rant on the looking after of his cars does a very VERY angry old man make. A short drive and ferry ride later we had switched the tires to 4x4 mode (something that apparently became my responsability very early on - yay im useful!) and made it to Fraser Island! WOW what a place - it was incredible! beautiful sandy beaches as far as the eye could see and barely a hint of civilization to spoil it :) we had two cars and two groups (obviously) and the first day Sophie drove and apparently found her calling in life! she drove like a pro! accross bumpy trails, pot holes, sand, wet sand, everykind of surface you can imagine! you name it - she drove on it! and aside from a few bumps here and there (ok i think james may have broken his bum at one stage) it was a beautiful peice of driving and a pretty damn good start to the trip if you ask me!

first stop was lake Birribean, where we pitched up for a nice lunch of ham and cheese wraps :) we were hoping to go to the infamous lake makenzie but it was closed for refurbishment amazingly! but birribean was just as good, if not better in my opinion! the water was so beautifully clear and fresh, the colours as well were incredible, all the different blues and turquioses - it reminded me a lot of Zanzibar actually, and especially with the georgous hot weather we were lucky enough to have, it was certainly a wonderful little place to wile away a couple of hours! by the time we got to camp it was mid/late afternoon and after the tents were pitched, both groups merged together to make a 'team brew' to celebrate our first day on the island :) now dont get me wrong, we are civilised, just not THAT civilised so obviously brew's turned into goon and dunking buscuits turned into burgers and soon, before anyone could have done anything to prevent it, we were gone. drunk. hammered. trashed. pissed. oh and wet too, since it decided to biblically rain all night so we had to all huddle together in the shelter of the toilet block to devour our goon! i would like to add at this point that it was around oooo 9pm at the latest that we all decided to head to bed...yes you heard me 9pm! but then again we probably started drinking around 4 so its actually a lot more impressive than it sounds! thats basically it i think for that night...oh did i mention that whilst i was asleep i somehow turned myself round and mistook sophies bum for my pillow...leading to some rather embarrassing prodding and plumping on my part until she finally had enough and shouted 'Jenni, what are you doing you MENTALIST!' - totally deserved - i was snuggling my head into her buttocks after all.

the hardest part about today wasnt the camping or anything like that, it was that everything reminded me of africa, EVERYTHING. it was like doing it all over again except that there was no Wimpie or Conrad, and especially no Kav. none of the people who should have been there were, and even though i was enjoying it no end, somehow it felt wrong in a little way - i dont think the rain helped either because as i was packing everything back into the car whilst it was peeing it down, i started thinking about everlasting cups of tea (where the rain keeps filling it up) and huddling in the middle of the tent to avoid all the leaks. funny though because i was utterly content that first evening, for some reason i was just happy, not goon happy, just happy - maybe i felt that i was back where i belonged, i dunno, but it was a nice feeling :)

Tuesday came around sooner than everyone had hoped because goon hangovers are officially the worst kind of hangover you can get. put it this way, goon, our beloved backpacker drink, is made of nuts, nuts and fish. so you can imagine the smell of day old goon combined with damp bodies in small old tents and a couple of really bad headaches thrown in the s***s and giggles do not make happy campers! we left pretty early and made our way to the next lake (i think it was called lake Wabby but at the same time i really dont think thats right!). oh did i mention that I was doing the driving today?! yes dear friends they ACTUALLY trusted me to drive accross the beach all day! it was really fun, and quite exhilerating too - except that i think i drove slightly faster than soph at some points so the bumpyness maybe got a bit much for the people in the back by the end of the day - but it was still an amazing experience! and i kinda got a feel for the car pretty quick, i mean it wasnt my baby (my dear little clio still fighting for her life back home) but it was close enough clutch wise!! so as i was saying our first stop was a little lake that happened to be in the middle of a desert. no joke. you have to walk accross this massive desert to find a kind of valley like dip - almost like a huge huge pothole in the middle of a desert and a forest - it was so cool though becuase everyhting echoed and also the water was fresh and so clear! we swam for about an hour maybe, just pissing about whilst the boys attempted to catch fish the old fashioned way - leaping on top of them when they dont think they're looking! after that it was time to walk back and i suddenly realised where this place reminded me of - Soussevlei in Africa! great another africa memory, oh joy! :P oh and did i mention you had to climb a dune to get to the lake?! no? yeha they didnt tell me that either! seriously they should put that kinda s*** in the brochure!!

we made a couple more stops that day, including eli creek which was basically a nice fresh creek that we could walk down - and i mean actually walk in as we made our way down it - very refreshing :P and then the wreck was our final stop of the day. one of fraser islands coolest sights in my opinion was the massive ship wreck of the SS Maheno that washed ashore in 1935. it was massive, and i mean massive! and that was just what we could see - most of it was buried under the sand, but what we could see was rusted away and just full or mystery and stories - exactly the way i like it :) we got to our camp site a little later than planned, simply because we couldnt find it! the map said one thing, the guy at the 4x4 place had said another and then the signs on the island said a third! eventually a ranger on the island took pity and showed us where we should be camping and finally we made it just as the tide was coming in - not a nice experience driving over sea and very wet muddy sand! tonight was proper bush camping on the beach - so no cooking area, no toilets or sinks or running water - nothing! and whats more the mozzies were out for vengance - against EVERYBODY it seemed! it would have been nice to go for a sunset swim in the sea but since there were lots and lots of sharks just waiting for us to swim in said sea - i swiftly decided against any such action :P i did go for a little dip though...just my toes...no one was watching honest! :P

dinner that night was umm interesting to say the least. basically the fraser island tour company who provided all our food for us decided that stirfry would be the best meal for the evening - stirfry that required cutting and cooking of chicken, and vegetables, and sauce, and noodles, and with a tiny gas cooker and a small range of smallish pits and pans at our disposal on a table balenced up against a car in the dark - this was not any old dinner. it was the most impressive peice of campside cooking i had seen in a while. bravo team. bravo. oh and screw you fraser island tour company - stirfry?! on a beach?! over a gas stove?! are you freeking kidding me?!! what the hell was wrong with spag bol or something simple?!! yeah well we were laughing that night coz we cooked it and ate it and It. Was. Goooood. :P so after dinner, some goon, some repairing of tents because the wind was so strong and some last minute team work in the 'going into the bushes to pee and not being eaten by dingos' department - it was time for sleep. sleep that was swiftly interupted by maddy's need to pee again. and since both me and soph were VERY reluctant to go out into the rain with her (rule 1. on the not being eaten by dingos list is pee together!) she decided to pee outside the tent. literally right outside the tent. a thin peice of canvas was all that seperated me and her pee. i was getting flashbacks to noosa i tell you! but needs must and she survived :) later that night i woke to a strange rustling noise and deduced rather quickly that dingos were around sniffing the stealing whatever they could...fair enough, let them be, except that they wernt just about - they were right next to our tent. infact they were trying to get into the tent from the back and as i slowly turned my head toward the (thankfully) sleeping maddy (who would have actually thrown a fit had she been awake) i saw a dingo shape indent in the back of the tent where the dingo had pushed his head so far into the tent that i could make out the shape of his nose!! the video never prepared me for this...and folding my arms and backing away just wasnt an option right now so i did what any good surviver would do...i turned over and went back to sleep. :P

the second dingo encounter of the night came when james, who was sleeping in the car because he was too tall for the tent (apparently), heard some comotion and sat up to watch the dingos rampage through our campsite - and apparently he wasnt the only one who heard it ebcause a guy from the other group unzipped his tent to see what was happening only to open it and fine a dingo staring him in the face. wisely, he zipped it back up and retired. Very wise. he should be in the next video i think. :P

our final day on the island began with pancakes. how bloody cool is that! given it was no easy feat cooking pancakes on a gas stove with very little equipment but sophie james and me did a pretty damn good job if i do say so myself! washing up took place in the sea - always fun - especially when the waves catch you by surprise and you end up washing your clothes as well as the plates! and soon we were once again on our way! today it was Bean (one of the girls in our group) and Anna's turn to drive and after a few shaky gear changes we were well on our way to indian head - the top of the island where you can climb right to the edge and just stare out to sea! just beautiful! no thats not good enough, it was more than that, it was wonderous! the sun shining down on the water, sparkling in the heat (it was another georgous day!) and everyone together at the top for one of what might be the last of our Ozzy family outings since everyone was going their own way soon. but unfortuantly time passed quicker than expected and it was soon time to make our way back to the ferry where we started our explorations so that we could return the cars and (hopefully) escape without being charged for any damage. i should point out at this point that the back door of our car was almost hanging off - it had to be held in place whilst we drove! not our fault by the way, it was always like that! honest! so we headed back and whilst singing yellow submarine and feeling the wind in our faces, james invented the maple syrup sandwich much to will's delight and before we knew it we were back on solid land once more. then a ferry later (because they missed the first one) the other car was back as well :P at the end of the day a $5 dollar charge split between 8 people really wasnt much to cry about, even if the damn tent pegs were never there in the first place!!

the night was James's last with us, so we decided to make it a good one, also we were celebrating surviving fraser so we were definitly not short of reasons to party! but even when i bumped into Alice (you remember her from thailand right?!) in the bar and we had the traditional 10 mins of girly screams followed half an hour of very quick talking catch up time, even with the knowledge that she would be a day or 2 behind me for the rest of the trip and we would probably meet up again if not travel some of it together, even with all that fantasticness, we still couldnt fight the onslaught of tiredness sweeping through the group! and by 10pm me, soph and maddy had all fallen asleep with our books whilst trying to stay up until james got back. obviously we failed but i think he appriciated the sight of it anyway!

and thats that. sorry it was so long peeps but it was an incredible 3 days and there was a lot to say about it! but i wont bore you any longer, except to say of fraser island, in the words of CS Lewis,

"it could so easily be the end of the world, yet none is sure until you sail too far. Beautiful. Just so terrifyingly beautiful it is and shall be, this, what we discover".

xxx