A couple of hours drive up the east coast and we were in Hervey Bay. As part of the package we have a night in a hostel either side of the trip to Fraser. We met up with Rose and spent the evening chatting to people that were also leaving tomorrow.
5am the next morning we were up, showered and ready to leave. During the safety debrief we were told there was a chance to skydive onto the island...after a lot of urming and arghing Rose and I (Sal) decided to give it a go. Rose had skydived before in New Zealand and loved it, so why not hey? Plus it meant I could get out of packing the campervan and food shopping!
So, we were literally chucked into the back of a minibus and on our way to the airport before we had chance to change our minds. Next I was reading a form that stated things sometimes go wrong and there was a good chance it could while I was diving. It was at this point I decided to stop reading and just sign. See Dad, you've no need to worry, I'm a lot more sensible these days! After getting kitted out and given a talk of what to expect we were up in the plane being told to look out the window at the beautiful views!! They had the right idea actually, taking you up so high by the pokiest, tin can excuse of a plane...it would make anyone want to jump out! Rose had decided I was to jump first which suited me; time to get strapped to Tony, my one legged tandem instructor (I kid you not). He literally said "window open" and next thing I knew we were freefalling towards the sea. It was only for 30 seconds which beforehand I thought was far too long but it actually went far too quickly, as did the entire dive. I LOVED IT! After the parachute came out there was about 3-4 minutes before I was landed very safely on to the beach. The only downfall was being told that we were now going to the supermarket to meet everyone else to do the shopping...I think they just say you land on Fraser Island to make it seem even more appealing??! Luckily Jen had done most of our shopping by the time we got there...we were told to spend around $15 (7.50) each, ours came to $35.

The idea of this trip is to 4x4 drive around Fraser, the biggest sand island in the world. We were in a group of 9, some people in the group were fun (namely me, Jen and Rose) and some others were not quite so (the other 6 passengers!). Luckily for us we drove in convoy with others from the hostel who we had a real good laugh with. We were given a 3 day itinerary to follow which took us to all the best sights on the island; Lake Wabby, Lake McKenzie, Maheno Shipwreck, Indian Head and Champagne Pools. We camped just off the beach and spent the evenings BBQ'ing and sitting around playing drinking games. We had been told that the dingoes on the island have become dangerous over recent years so we weren't looking forward to seeing them. By the end of the trip we had seen a fair few of them, especially at night round the camp, but we followed the safety advice we were given back at the start...to stand up and cross your arms over your chest??

We were very lucky with the weather, only a brief shower when we first arrived. Having not washed (other than in the lakes) or been able to use a toilet for 3days/2nights we were all glad to get back to the hostel! That night we had a big party (with the fun people) and were very sad to say goodbye the next day. Hoping to meet back up with the Dutch lads if we get chance before flying to New Zealand.