Wednesday 4th June - Sunday 8th June 2008

Hello ok so I am back from Fraser Island and I think this has to be by far the best part of my trip by a long way its just so amazing had an immense time over there!

So as part of the package we had a nights accomodation arranged in Hervey Bay in a place called Next backpackers which is such a nice hostel its modern and very spacious. Here we met the other people who would be in our 4x4.

Basically the whole Fraser Island experience is where you spend 3 days, 2 nights doing a self drive of the biggest sand island in the world. We booked a package where we would spend the night camping in an aboriginal ground where we could learn the didgeridoo and have camp fires as they are banned elsewhere on the island.

Ok so its Wednesday and we are booked into the hostel by 1ish, we had to arrive by 3pm as they go through a safety briefing as there have been so many accidents over there, even deaths of tourists as most of the driving is on the beach and there are little nastys that can trick you out and flip the van which wouldnt be pleasant. They also show you a video about saftey of the Dingos - the wild dogs which roam free over there.

Before all of that though we met up with the other people who would be in the van, they can accomodate upto 11 people however there were only 6 of us for this trip which was cool, plenty of space in the back to chill out with and put the cool box full of booze back in there with us We obviously had me and Adam, a guy from Switzerland, a German lad and an Irish couple. We all got on really well so it was gunna be a good do!

After the safety briefing we headed out to do the food and alcohol shop to last us over the next couple of days, each of us chipped in $20 so we had enough. That night we all met up again and had a few drinks before getting an early night as we were up early to get the ferry over to the island.

Thursday morning rose abit cloudy however the cloud was lifting and it was set to be a good one. We headed out for another safety briefing with the 4x4 showing how to flick things over when driving on sand and tarmac etc. We then hit the road to catch the ferry at around 9am.

Once we were loaded on to the ferry we were on our way over, a journey lasting no longer than 20mins. When landed we were the first group off the ferry. There were around 15 other 4x4s on the boat. We had a guided sort of itinery given to us by the company which we didnt have to follow but it listed the best routes to do to get the most out of the time over there.

First stop was Lake Mckenzie. What a destination it was!! The roads down to the lake were all off roads, the only tarmac laid on the island is in the centre. Anyhow it was entertaining being thrown around in the back as the Irish guy driving got used to the conditions. So we arrived at Lake Mckenzie for around 11ish. The sun was blazing and the water was beautiful. Crystal clear was in the lake with pure white sand it really was paradise! We stopped here for around 2 hours having fun in the lake with fellow 4x4'ers, we also made lunch here.

After lunch we hit the tracks again down to the beach to start a 30km drive up to a ship wreck. We journey took around an hour but it flew by as the scenery to take in was stunning! It was also interesting as light aircraft can land on the beach so we were weaving in and out of parked up planes! The shipwreck itself is pretty impressive. I cant remember how long they said it had been there but it was a rusty mess yet still cool.

We then continued our journey back down the beach for around 20kms towards the camp site. The sun goes down here at around 5.30pm so we had to be in the campsite for 4ish to ensure we were safely set up so we wouldnt be ravished by the dingos lol. It was entertaining in the back of the van as the beers were popped open and we had a guy who brought a guitar across with him so that passed the time.

Later we were settled in the campsite with this aboriginal guy who was abit of an arse. He was a normal australian guy coloured alittle, but he decided to change to the aboriginal ways around 5 years ago, leaving his wife and 3 children so he said. Strange! Anyway there were other groups there who had booked with the same company as us and were doing the itinery a different way around but ensured we met at the campsite at the same time so it was cool to get to know other people there. We went out collecting firewood and one of the guys nearly walked facefirst into a massive spiders web which would of given him a nasty sting if not killed him! This was proper camping!

That evening we had drinks, cooked food, got the fire going and played the didgeridoo. I was admittedly crap at it, it takes some real skill from the guys to be able to play properly through breathing and blowing at the same time or whatever they do! Anyhow later in the evening we all headed down to the beach to get a fire going down there and look at the stars which were unbelievable!! It was truely amazing and the amount of shooting starts flying through, and the cloudy effect through the centre where there are just so many stars was just crazy! On my way back up to the camp I needed to wash my hands so where the water tank was there was a hose pipe held in to it at the top with a brick holding it in place. As I couldnt get the water tank working I decided to pull the hose pipe down, along with the brick which came plummeting on to my big toe causing abit of a mess. Out came the girls baby wipes and they looked after me, not a bad little accident to have haha

We also had a few guys who had got into the fire dancing stuff and bought some chains which hold the fire ball things at the end, I cant think what you call them so that explanation will have to do. I gave that a go too which was pretty fun! The night went on and so we hit the sack later on after a few more glasses of goon!

Friday morning dawned and we were up early again ready to set off to a lookout point up some cliffs. Here you could aparently see the dolphins and the odd shark fin pop up and some turtles but we werent so fortunate and left after a short while to head to the Champange pools!

On the way up there is this route through the sand we were told not to go down and instead walk around to the rocks. We could see why as some guys and burried their tyres half way in to the sand and were starting to dig themselves out. We could of offered to help but sack there I arent wasting my trip digging someone else out haha. So we went around to the champange pools which wree pretty cool and stuck around there for an hour I would say.

Later on we drove down towards a different lake which we planned to look at on our own which wasnt listed in our little itinery. It was home to little baby turtles, and loads of the little things too! The lake stank aswel! Theyre funny though as they just bob their heads in and out of the water every now and then, reminds me of games you can play at funfares where you have a hammer and smash the frogs head when they pop up hah!

Later we continued down the beach to this fresh water stream which you can walk up which was really chilled out and cleaned by cut toe thoroughly which was good!

Following on from that we drove down to our campsite for the evening which was located on the beach. We arrived just as the sun was setting so had to get a move on putting the tents up. We also got the evening meal cooking - spaghetti bolognase - the first time I have ever eaten it! What a location to try it for the first time! We started on the goon at around 6pm which probably wasnt a good choice. We were mixing it with cordial to make it go down like water - white wine and blackcurrant juice what an excellent mix!

The evening was flowing in good swing we had some drinking games on the go which I seemed to loose on all the time so I was wasted by 9pm. At this point we got another group to come over and play with us. I went and asked them over, then once they arrived I passed out cold in the sand I was totally wrecked. Everything after that is a complete blur. I was sick next to where my head was laying and I was aparently saying some utter garbage when I woke back up to get in my tent hah gotta love it.

Saturday morning now and I feel like complete sh!t and have the hangover from hell but god it was a good night lol. Today we were getting the ferry back to the mainland at around 1pm. We went to the main little "town" they would call it which basically consisted of 3 shops and the odd house. We got some food there to ensure we soaked up the remaining alcohol left in the stomach!

We drove back to Lake Mckenzie for a few hours before we were due to catch the ferry. Unfortunately the weather wasnt so good today, but I would rather the weather be crap on the day I left rather than when I arrived as the lake looks so much better in the sun. In the car park bit of Lake Mckenzie I bumped into a Canadian guy I got on with really well back in Sydney so that was cool to catch up with him. So we chilled there for abit then headed to the ferry port to jump back over to the mainland.

Looking back on Fraser Island I had such a good time that I cant really express writing it on here. The guys in the van were quality which made it all a whole lot better. I got on so well with the Switz guy we just bounced off each other taking the piss it was such a good laugh!

So that afternoon we were back on the mainland and checked back in at the hostel. That evening we went out for a McDonalds the switz and me. That night the whole group got back together for some last drinks before we all left early the following morning.

On Sunday we left the hostel at around 5.30am and started the drive down to Brisbane. We decided on the way we would see Australia Zoo - the place where Steve Irwin worked!