S: So we all got up excited and raring to go. Bags were packed, lunch made and the Esky (cool box) was packed, locked and ready to roll to Fraser Island- the world's largest sand island. We met Danny our guide who looked a little bit like Captain Jack Sparrow so we nicknamed him Aussie Jack, he was a very laid back guy but knew his stuff inside out about the island. James was volunteered to drive first and we put Kev-the-Roo in place on the dashboard, introduced him to everyone and off we set. The car was a proper 4x4. We headed to the ferry and boarded, we could see massive Jelly Fish in the water and now we started to understand why we couldn't swim in the sea at Fraser Island, this isn't even mentioning the shark's lol. We hit the sand on Seventy-Five Mile Beach on the other side and James was loving it, the scenery was breath taking, definitely a scene out of a movie. After an hour we had to swap drivers and Veerle drove, so James decided the rest of us should crack open a beer - well when on holiday lol. We went to Lake McKenzie which is a rainwater lake in the middle of this island. It was beautiful, and we thought we could swim to the other side, I think it was over a mile and after 15 minutes swimming we decided to head left and go to the other beach. It was good exercise and we had a laugh along the way. On the beach the boys were talked into a human pyramid, it involved 10 people; it was funny to watch, especially as the last person had to be picked up to be put on top. After that we headed back to camp. It was in the middle of the island, tents had been pitched and basically it was two a tent. So the four of us got tents next to each other and then we headed for a nice hot shower. There were two toilet spots, the day time one and the night time one because we had to go through some woods to get to the toilet block, which at night could be dangerous. We had lamb chops, corn on the cob, garlic bread and salad for tea. The meat, corn and bread were cooked by James on the bbq and they were delicious, this was definitely needed after our hectic day. We then played the card game spoons with a few beers, which was a great game for everyone. Then off to the campfire for the evening sitting round talking and chilling.

J: The next morning we set off to Champagne Pools, it's called this because when the water breaks over the rocks and floods into the pools it resembles Champagne bubbles on the surface. It was a cool place as all the pools had different sea creatures in from Coral fish to large crabs. We then headed up the cliff to the Indian Head Point, this large solid rock is the reason Fraser Island had formed, and it is a very special place for the aboriginal people. Once at the top we had views stretching along the beach as far as the eye could see, we looked out to sea and we could see Turtles and Rays, if you're lucky it's possible to see Sharks, Manta Rays and even Whales from the top. On the way back to the Jeep I noticed the sand squeaking under everyone's feet, Aussie Jack explained it was because it was of the highest quality silicone sand and with the heat it plays music, how cool is that?!

S: Now it was my turn to drive and so far everyone had driven on quite solid sand. What do I get - soft sand….. the hardest bit to drive over, I swear I needed to change my underwear more than once lol. First I didn't like it very much until I realised there was nothing I could do steering and just let the car drive as such, oh and I got to do doughnuts. So we headed to Maheno ship wreck. This ship was heading to Japan as it had been sold for steel before the second world war and as Aussie Jack says it's a good job it got stranded here, they had more than enough steel for their bombs. It was amazing to think this ship was just left, and it's just a shell now and they think in about 100 years it will have all but disappeared. Back in the cars and I'm still driving and it's off to Eli Creek, which funny enough is a natural creek that runs down a slight hill. We are all given floating noodles and off we go down the river just being taken by the current, of course we turned it into a race, and I'm sure I won lol. Before we set off there were a group of lads trying and I expressed the words 'trying' to throw a boomerang. It went wayward and some lad picked it up, forgetting how a boomerang works, tried to throw it back to them and it ended up in the bush behind him.

J: Later once we got back to the camp Aussie Jack said grab some beers and let's go on a hike to everyone, we set off inland over massive sand dunes, that looked like they belonged in the Sahara Desert, to a point that was steep. Steep enough for Sand Boarding! We both we sat down on the sledge together and off we slid, it was really fast, faster than you would expect, going down face first was a rush. Then I decided that having never had a go on a snow board before why not try it now on the sand…. Scottish helped strap me on and gave me a few basic pointers then off I went…. And I stayed up until I hit the bottom, a natural I think, I would love to do that again. Then we walked back to camp before it was dark, remembering the dingo's hunt at dusk.

S: The next day we hiked again over the sand to Lake Wabby, it opened up onto a huge sand dune and then dropped down into a natural lake. It is unfortunately gradually shrinking due to the moving sand on the island. The guys all did the 'crumbed sausage roll' (laying on their sides and rolling down) into the lake and looked hilarious doing it. We saw some massive cat fish swimming just beyond our feet as we sun bathed to dry off. After that we drove back to the ferry and headed back to Pippies, all feeling a little glum that our adventure was over. Fraser was an amazing experience and we met some truly great people. The only down side for me was that my back and Fraser Island did not like each other, so back on the pain killers for a few days until it calms down again. As a Bon Voyage, we all decided to get Aussie Jack some beer as we were all meeting for pizza that night. He actually seemed shocked when we gave him the case of beer, and once we drank ours, he even shared them with us. The pizzas were delicious and on the way back to the camp fire, Aussie Jack admitted he had a daughter called Pearl and that she was black- as in the Black Pearl. It was an epic moment in James' eyes, especially as he had been calling him Captain Jack Sparrow for the last three days. We spent the rest of the night chilled out by the camp fire singing songs, oh not forgetting Georgie's Lady Gaga impression with her sunglasses on in front of the fire lol.