The Greyhound bus arrived in Rainbow beach and dropped us right outside our hostel (Pippies) a great hostel with clean rooms and air conditioning that actually worked! As we had a day to do something before we had to go on our Fraser Island tour we decided to head to the beach and soak up the rays. Rainbow is a lovely place with local shops and restaurants doing some good business. We had our briefing for the tour that afternoon where we would meet the people who both of us would be sharing a 4WD jeep with. We were grouped with four German boys Max ,Max, Marvin and Nick also a lovely couple from Coventry Steve and Holly who were living out in Oz. At the briefing we watched a video with the do's and don'ts of driving in sand and put our deposits down for the van. We also then went shopping as a group for our food and alcohol. That night we went to dinner with Steve and Holly at the local hotel which was really nice and got an early night before having an early night.

We woke early to pack our small rucksacks for Fraser Island and checked out of the hostel. After packing up the car we were ready to go, instead we had to wait for low tide so we could drive on the island. After another briefing we set off. Us and Steve were the only ones in our group over 21 who could drive the jeep, but after watching the video with pictures of lots of crashes Rachel didn't fancy it. Becasue there have been a lot of crashes there are now tag along tours where you follow a guide in the lead jeep. In our tag along tour there was 24 people so it was a nice number. After catching the ferry over to the island, which is one of the largest sand islands in the world first we headed to Lake Wabby. It was a 45 minute walk in land from the beach and the sand on the path was boiling. Lake Wabby is a green fresh water lake surrounded by sand dunes and is very picturesque. The water is a nice temperature to swim in although fish nibbled at our feet. After some time at the lake we walked back along the trail to the jeeps and set off for Lake Mackenzie. The drive along the beach was fairly smooth only having to drive through a few creeks but the drives in land were a lot more bouncy! The sand inland was very deep in some spots and the jeeps sometimes got stuck. Our guide was very good and helped when we did. The drives were fun but at the time Rachel did get nervous at some spots, especially after seeing all the pictures of the accidents but J and Steve drove well. We reached Lake Mackenzie after about a 2 hour drive. It was stunning. The sand was so white and the water so clear. It was fresh water too which was lovely to swim in. Some people were even drinking it. We sat around for a while and messed around in the water with our group. J swam over to the other side of the lake and there was deserted beaches there. As we are travelling in the Australian summer holidays it was quite busy but it was still a gorgeous place. We wished we had longer there. On our way back to the campsite we came across a jeep which was on fire. Our guide and a driver of the sewage lorry in front of us (nice!) put it out then our guide's jeep towed it back to the resort on the island. It made our journey a bit longer. When we arrived at the camp site we were all shattered, we put on the BBQ and Max cooked us our dinner which was hotdogs. It was yummy!

The following morning we had breakfast and left the aboriginal campsite around 10am and headed for a place called Champagne Pools, it was given this name as there is a rock wall which the sea waves crash in to creating a white bubbly wash in the pools (like champagne). We spent around an hour here then left for a place down the beach called Indian Head which is a great viewing point out to sea, we saw small sharks, stingrays and turtles clearly in the water, although it is now famous for a picture where a couple are having a smooch in the water, totally oblivious to the 12ft tiger shark behind them!! Scary! But fortunatly the shark wasnt hungry that day! After spending a little while here the group headed to Eli Creek known on the island as 'hangover creek' because the water is sooo cold it wakes you up after having a skin full the night before! It was a nice end to the day walking through the creek to the top and then floating down. We were back at the campsite early evening which gave us more of an oppotunity to drink the case of beers and the 12 litres of goon we took. Straight away we drank while other groups either cooked or showered and by the time other groups started the eight of us were well on our way. We socialized with the other groups by the camp fire and went to bed around midnight and tried to get some sleep in the clamy tents dripping of sweat. Uncomfortable is an understatement, J woke up at 6am as he couldnt bare it anymore and sat on his own drinking tea watching the dingos prowl around the campsite until others got up.

Everybody woke up the next day with a very dry mouth, looking terrible from the goon and minimal sleep. It was J's turn to drive first that morning to the 'Hangover Creek' and as he opened the door this huge spider crawled around the top of the door. It was a Huntsman although they are not venemous they look pretty scary! We soaked in the creek for a couple of hours before heading to a resort on the island for some lunch then caught the ferry back to mainland. Once back at the hostel we swept out the cars before checking back in to our rooms. There was a happy hour at the hotel in the town so we went for some drinks with Steve and Holly and ended up getting dinner there too. It was a nice way to round off a great trip in which we saw some gorgeous places and met lovely people.