Friday we woke at 5.30am, checked out at 6.30am and headed straight to the 'common/ tv room' for our 6.50am Fraser Island self-drive safari briefing. We watched a two part DVD, which Sarah struggled to keep her eyes open through, then we were split in to 4 groups of 9. We signed a contract, paid a bond then Sarah drove us to the camp shed where the French and Dutch guys checked off our stuff and we packed up the 4X4 with the equipment. We had about 45 minutes to wizz round 'Woolworths' to get essential provisions for the next 3 days then it was a 25 minute drive to the barge terminal.

It was a 45 minute crossing to Kingfisher Bay, we reduced the tyre pressure, as instructed, and put the food into the eskies (cool box). On reaching Fraser we headed straight for the local store to collect our permits before getting our first taste of sand driving down the narrow, winding, bumpy tracks to Lake McKenzie (screaming and yelling at Frake, the Dutch dude, to slow down, as we thought we were going to tip, get stuck or have a head on collision with an oncoming vehicle) where the sun was out in full force - a perfect taster of weather to come! Finally, some luck with the weather!

After a dip (a forced one for Sarah by a bloody Pikey!) we headed towards the beach to find a camping spot for the evening. All four Palace 4X4s ended up at Cornwells Break Road and we set up camp and had lunch of sandwiches before chilling out and exploring the area. In the evening we had a bar-b-q drank wine and retired to bed too early - it had been a long day!

Yesterday morning we were up early, thanks to the extreme stuffy heat of our tent, and had a breakfast of cereal, juice, bread, butter and jam. We packed up camp and headed along the Beach Highway stopping at some 'proper toilets', a welcomed change to the hole we had to dig ourselves the night before. We stopped by Maheno Ship Wreck for a wander and photo opp, before continuing onto Indian Heads where we walked up the short mountain/cliff to enjoy beautiful views of the rest of the coastline and out to sea. We bumped into Simone, the German lass from our outback/Big Rock safari and had a chat before making our way to the most northern point we were allowed to access, Champagne Pools. The pools get their name from the bubbles left by the massive, strong waves that crash over the rocks. We had a dip and watched some Asian girls get battered and dragged along the rocks by a fierce wave, cutting their backs, knees, arms and bums, ouch!! From here we drove back onto the beach to have some lunch before both of us took it in turns to drive back down the beach, stopping at the Pinnacles and Eli Creek for more photo opportunities, a cool down and to fill our water bottles up in the fresh water creek. Then it was back to 'base camp' for the evening. The group enjoyed a lovely pasta bolognaise courtesy of Ms Herbert and then we played a few wine-aided games before bed. One game involved one person thinking of a item (thing, person, film, etc) and the others having to guess it from asking questions that could only be answered 'yes', or 'no'. A classic one came from the Korean guy, GS, who gave the clues 'animals sometimes eat it', 'it can be found in your bedroom and sometimes your kitchen' and 'it's not alive' - thats right it was a book (!?!) as Sarah correctly guessed! Don't ask us how and why!!

This morning was another early-ish start and after breakfast and packing up camp we made the short drive to the entrance of the walk to Lake Wabby. The 1.8km walk (sure it was more like 3!) was quite nice through rainforest that opened up onto a massive sand dune, which seemed as though it stretched onto the end of the world, like a dessert. Once at the lake we enjoyed a well-deserved hour in the cool waters before the WALK OF HELL back to the van. The increasing heat from the sun made the sand like molten lava beneath our bare feet (don't ask why we walked there un-flip-flop-aided!). We spent a hellish 45 minute in a comical journey that comprised of running over the hot sand, stopping to bury our feet to get to cooler sand, rushing from shade to shade and attempting to walk on Sarah's towel as points of 'safe havens' from the lava-like-sands. It was so hot that Laura's body began to shake uncontrollably in heat-induced-spasms every time she couldn't get to the shade quick enough, which provided Sarah with some amusement (how cruel!). Once we were back at the beach we relieved our feet in the sea (ahhhh!) then headed back to Lake McKenzie, stopping for a calypo enroute. At the lake we enjoyed our final mix-mashed lunch, a sunbathe and a dip before heading back to Kingfisher Bay for the 4.00pm barge back to Hervey Bay, making sure our tyres were fully pumped back up. One of the groups ended up missing the barge completely and had to stay behind an extra night on the island. Once we had unloaded the car and were back at the hostel and our 'bond' safely back in our pockets, we had a relaxing evening chatting to fellow hostelers, scoffing left over Domino pizza and watching 'Ray'.