Wednesday 13-10-2010

Drove to Hervey Bay today. Chrissa and I were going to stay at a campsite at the beach but the rest found Colonial Village YHA hostel where the camping was cheaper. It's a really nice hostel, with a big lounge, pool, Jacuzzi and wii bowling competitions at night. We got settled in and decided to get some eggs and milk for making pancakes. When we got back Chrissa made a nice mistake as she accidentally locked the keys in the car. We asked our neighbors, real Tasmanian crazy family but very funny and friendly, if they could help. We looked for a metal coathanger but couldn't find anything. The neighbors had some metal wire and found some packing strip. That is when the great adventure began. Merlin got taken apart, metal wires in the door, window and so on. The metal strips were taken off and rubber strips were forced. It took Matt/the neighbors/a dutch guy about two hours to achieve nothing. It was really funny, exciting and nerve wrecking to watch 6 people trying to break into our car. After allot of frustration we actually found out Merlin is unimpenetrable, atleast we don't have to worry about people trying to break in. Our neighbors decided to call their road side assistance to see if they would come out to help us. The guy pretended he had been driving our car and they were actually gonna come out to the campsite to help us!!! The people here are so friendly, I still can't comprehend it. They would come out within 1 hour so Chrissa and I decided to make dinner as it was already 20:30. Halfway into making our dinner our neighbor came in with our car key!!!! We were so happy :D We played wii bowling after and went to bed with a good feeling.

Thursday 14-10-2010

Unfortunately Kate isn't feeling to well today. We all, except Kate went into town today to see if we could find some offer to Fraser Island but there weren't any and we quite quickly decided to head back as there was nothing to do there. That wasn't as easy as it sounded as we actually walked for 2 hours to get back to the hostel. Hervey Bay is really spaced out. The rest of the day we swam in the pool, I watched a movie, folded the laundry and hung out a bit. At sunset we drove to the beach to see it. Unfortunately the sun was setting in the other direction but we had a nice stroll along the beach. Ofcourse we had another wii competition and unfortunately we didn't win tonight either but we did meet a really nice Swiss guy who won and he shared his jug of beer with us.

Friday 15-10-2010

Today we did nothing exciting. Looking into Fraser options and sitting around talking. We decided on a trip, heading out from Rainbow beach, a guided self drive tour. Kate, Chrissa and I went into town to do some shopping for the trip and to get some eyedrops as I had a very swollen eye in the morning and I didn't want it to get worse. And ofcourse wii bowling at night. Again none of us won.

Saturday 16-10-2010

It rained like crazy last night and I had a brilliant morning because when I woke up and looked at my stuff everything was soaked. My camera and bag, my dive logbook, my whole purse, my wallet was drenched, my clothes and my torch. I was so pissed and sad at the same time. Luckily it was a windy, sunny morning and I put out everything on the car roof. Really fun site with all my stuff on the car roof, especially all my $50 bills…we left it out to dry for a bit and then headed for Rainbow beach. The drive wasn't that long, the annoying thing was that at one point we heard a loud noise like something hitting the windshield and we looked if something had but couldn't find anything on the windshield. After about 10min 2 cracks came up!! Arghh…we hoped it wouldn't get worse so we looked for a Woolworths at Tin Can Bay to get a cake for Andy. He is turning 22 on Fraser Island. We got a chocolate cake and some candles!! When we were driving to Rainbow beach, 15min the crack got worse and worse. We checked into Pippies hostel and we actually got an apartment cause that was the last one left. We didn't mind because it was included in the price. Chrissa and I first went to the mechanic with a bad feeling it was going to be very expensive and that they would rip us off. We actually drove to a mechanic and they were really kind. They said we could drop the car off around 6pm and they would drop us back at the hostel. The price wasn't as high as we had expected +/- $250 which is really nice. We had our Fraser briefing and got put into our groups, us five and a brother and sister from Taiwan, w***y and Hin. We went to the beach to have a nice swim and look at some guys surfing. After we wanted to get some free internet time in that we got with our trip but the girl decided to close the place up early as it was Friday and she probably wanted to go out. That meant 2min of internet time. We brought the car to the mechanic and they brought us back to the hostel. The woman told us about a really nice sand dune we could go off if we wanted to and that she had a boogie board we could lend when we got back. After we made dinner, watched tv and went to bed.

Sunday 17-10-2010

This morning got up early to get to Pippies hostel for our trip to Fraser.We checked al our 4WD 11 seater Toyota Landcruiser. Got our food and drinks in there and Matt was our first driver. We drove to the ferry and had a really short 7min trip to Fraser, it looked amazing seeing the island and the amazing clear waters. And there we went, highway on the beach which is very strange but a great experience. The water colors are gorgeous with the braking waves. We first drove to Lake Wabi. A really nice walk through the rainforest and then you reach these great white sanddunes. Behind the dunes there is a lovely lake with catfish and turtles. We had a refreshing swim and a sunbath then walked back to the cars. Andy drove on to our next stop…Eli creek where we had a nice walk and a bit of a lye down. We then went on to a huge shipwreck that had been there for 75 years, since 1935, june 11th. It was used in the war as target practice and was being towed to Japan for "scraps", but probably for military purposes. Then it was my turn to drive, that was the coolest experience ever. Driving on the beach and going through loose sand…it was great fun and I think I had a big smile on my face the entire time. We headed off to the camp to get everything organized. We got our tents and mats and after headed for the beach. Sunset was really really lovely, we didn't see the sun but the sky color was amazing. We waked to the pankackes/coloured sand which look like rock formations bit are actually totally made from sand. Amazing orange, crème colors. The only very disappointing aspect was that someone had carved " Australien Trip 2010" into the sands. We all couldn't comprehend why someone would do that. That bothered me for quite a bit. When Kate, Chrissa and I were walking back to our camp we came across a dingo which is a wild dog which lives on the island and actually the purest kind of dingo is found on Fraser. They can be quite dangerous as people have fed them in the past and they can get aggressive. They do look allot like real dogs but we had to be quite careful. When we made dinner and had some goon with marshmallows at the campfire. We kept going to keep awake for Andy's birthday but unfortunately Kate and him didn't make it and went to bed 11:45!!!! We have a great group this trip. Everyone is a bit older and we haven't got very young party types in the group. It's just really chill and fun sitting around the campfire talking and drinking. The night was very very cold as the sky was clear and we were all standing around the campfire as the sitting logs were too far away.Our tent was nice and warm though, had a good nights sleep.

Monday 18-10-2010

Today we got up and had our breakfast. We headed off to the champagne pools first. These were pools created by waves coming over the rocks and the water being left behind. Champagne comes from the white froth of the salty waves crasing over the sides. It was breathtaking to see and amazing to sit in. Our own huge spa. On the boardwalk to but especially from the pools we spotted a few whales breaching and blowing not too far out at sea. Chrissa and I were very excited as we decided not to go whalewatching due to our lack of money. There were about 4 humpback whales there and were heading towards the next place we were going to. We quickly got into the cars and drove back south a bit to the Indian Headland. This was a place which the aboriginals named as they were seen as Indians, savages, etc. This was a 40m high point where people who had done something very wrong would get the choice. Jump off the cliff themselves or be pushed…deathsentanceit was. The walk up there was amazing as the scenery there changes every 50m. Sands, steep sand/rock, pine trees, golf course grass and sharp rock/sand again. It is so strange to have so much diversity in such a small area. When we got to the top we started watching the sea and saw four whales. Two going one way and two the other. The most amazing thing was that they came together right infront of us. 2 adults and 2 calves.It was the most amazing sight as they were actually quite close. In total we saw 14 humpback whales, lots of turtles, a few dolphins a sting ray and an eagle ray. After that amazing experience we went back to camp for lunch but not after we stopped at the local store for an ice cream. After lunch we had a decision to make. A very bumpy road inland to a lake where there were fresh water turtles or a relaxing lay/stroll at Eli creek. After voting everyone was up for something new so we decided to go to the lake. We got there and there were lots of small turtles swimming around. We stayed there for a bit and then headed back to camp. After a stroll along the beach it was time to cook dinner. There was another group with the same company at our campsite now so that meant another 18 people joined. I was very happy that I was in this group as the other group there were allot of young people in whilst our group was allot more sensible and older. After dinner we got the chocolate cake out and went to the tent where I lit the candles and Chrissa got the rest over to the tent. We celebrated Andy's birthday with a great piece of cake. Then the drinking started which our group didn't really join in on. We all went to bed quite early but not after I watched the other group play a few drinking games.

Tuesday 19-10-2010

Today we got up very early 6:30 and got going at 8:00. We first drove to a rainforest boardwalk which wasn't to spectacular but an enjoyable walk. Fraser is the only island in the world which has a rainforest on sand. After that we went to lake MacKensie which was absolutely mindblowing !!!!! A gorgeous blue lake with white sand and crystal clear water. Ofcourse we all went in and we started taking group foto's. There are some great shots of the whole group. What a great couple of days it was, with this lake as a highlight. That view is engraved in my mind forever...absolutely stunning. After lunch we headed back to the ferry. Unfortunately the trip was over. Chris our guide was the best we could have hoped for. He was really really good!!!! Once back at the hostel we had to take the 4WD to the mechanic to get it checked. Luckilyit was the same mechanic as we left our car with. We brought it in and our "Merlin" was all done and looked great with a new windshield. The mechanics lent us a boogieboard and told us to go sandboarding in the national park. We went there and found it was an amaing spot overlooking the town at one side and the ocean at the other. It was a big sandune and we had some fun boogieboardingdown the dunes. Unfortunately no one took their camera so we didn't wait for the sun to set….that would have been an amazing view. We drove back to the hostel and I met some nice dutch guys, Peter, Kim, Jelmer and a guy from England, Leister called Ian. After dinner I played poker and sihthead with them and didn't loose one time. I was actually very lucky and had a really fun night.

Wednesday 20-10-2010

We said goodbuy to allot of the Fraser group and headed for Noosa. Once we got there we went to the touristinfo to find a nice campingground. Unfortunately the campings were expensive, no cooking facilities or far out of town. We looked for hostels but most were fully booked. We did find a YHA in the center of town which looks good. We have to pay a bit more but that happens when you don't plan ahead. After checking in we went to the national park to do the coastal walk. It was a really nice walk along the coast, through the forest with great views. We got to the end and there we saw really big stormclouds coming in. We ended up running back to the car getting half drenched. The walk was really really good so that didn't matter at all. We got back to the hostel and realized Chrissa and I didn't have any cooking oil so Chrissa went out to get some. She didn't get back for a while and I was getting worried, luckily she only got lost but unfortunately she did scratch her car on a wall when she was trying to park back at the hostel. We decided to make dinner quickly and it was really really good!!! We made our own fries and had a few wines and now its of to bed. Tomorrow I'm heading down to Maroochydore where I will see Jiska, JIPPIE!!!!