13 hours and quite a number of 'refreshment' stops later, we arrived into Hervey Bay. Sure enough, the Beaches shuttle bus was there to pick us up and we were taken back to the hostel, where the twins we had met were also staying. We got settled in our dorm and then, once again, I spent the day watching cricket and drinking. Amazing! That evening, with no food in the food bag, we treated ourselves to a plate of Lasagne from the hostel, spending a mammouth $9 (4 pounds!) and then went to bed. Up early the next morning for our Fraser Island adventure.

By 6.30am, everyone had met in the bar (unfortunately it was shut) and we were all labelling up our luggage, eating breaky and waiting to be told which groups we'd be in. There were 22 people and so there would be two groups of 11. We requested that we be in the twins group.....and then Emma requested that she 'not' be in the same group as a girl they'd spent the night with in their dorm. (More on that later!) Sure enough, Emma, Charlotte, Becki and I were put together, along with 5 Germans and 2 Japs - a good group!

It was time to sort out the shopping for the next 3 days. We were given a suggestion menu along with a list, and had to discuss between the 11 of us who liked what, what we wanted to eat, what we didn't like and most importantly, how much alcohol to take with us. Emma and Michael volunteered themselves as our shoppers and went to buy the agreed shopping list. Sending Emma may have been a wee mistake as she liked her luxuries and came back with designer brand jams, biscuits, sweets and juice, when the other group had the equivalent to 'Asda Price' everything! In fareness though, we had awesome food and none of us went hungry over the 3 days - the extra $7 was worth it

With food shopping agreed, alcohol loaded in the back of the 4x4 and bags put up on the roof, it was time to head off to the 4X4 company for instructions on where to go on Fraser Island and to collect all of our camping gear. Becki and Charlotte volunteered to do a check list of all the camping stuff. After watching a 'safety' video, being told that we'd all have to pay an excess of $100 if anything happened to the truck (!!) and collecting our maps and camping permits etc, it was time for the oooffff!! Flow was our nominated driver and so we all piled in and made our way to the barge where we'd cross the water and be on Fraser Island in no time at all.

We arrived at the barge crossing and watched as Flow reversed it back down the ramp and onto the barge. We walked on as passengers and went to sit up on the top deck in the sun for the 45 minute crossing. The sun was lovely when it came out, but already, the sky was quite overcast. We arrived on Fraser Island and all piled back into the 4x4 - the adventure was about to start.

We'd literally been on the island for 2 minutes and what did we see?!....a wild dingo! We'd been told that although there were lots of them on the island, the chances of actually seeing one were quite slim. He was creeping around by some trees, but soon vanished when he heard us. The group decided whether to go 'left' or 'right' down the tracks and we bagan our journey to the first sightseeing spot...Lake Wabby. The tracks were mad - I'd imagined that there would be well beaten tracks and even gravel ones to drive around the island, but no! Thick sand lined each track and every step of the way was up and down and side to side. It was so much fun being in the truck whilst it was bouncing around and Flow seemed to be enjoying himself driving, so everyone was happy. It was like Ace Venturer!

When we reached the beach track, it was totally out of this world. Fraser Island has over 75miles of sandy shoreline and once in the truck on the beach, all you can see in either direction is sand, sand, sand and more sand. The waves crashed over the beach and the jagged sand mountains along the shore were immense. Hard to descirbe, but I've never seen anything like it.

After nearly and hour and a half, we reached Lake Wabby. We parked on the beach and then took the 35 minute walk to the Lake and Sandy Dunes. Charlotte had a fright on the way - she found a Huntsmans Spider in the ladies loos..excellent! The track seemed to go on forever, but after we'd climbed the last hill, we reached a lookout point that looked straight down over the dunes which led almost vertically down into the massive Lake Wabby. The water was an amazing shade of almost emerald green and looked so clear. There was huge Cat Fish swimming and from that height, they looked like baby sharks. We made our way down the side of the hill and reached the soft, white sandy dunes in minutes. People were splashing around in the lake and even though it had been quite windy and almost chilly by the beach, the sun had made an appearance and it had gotten very hot!

It was by this time nearly 2.30 and as none of us had yet had lunch, we decided to make our way back to the truck (seeing another deadly spider in a web in the way back - the Silver Orb) and began making ham, cheese and crisp sarnies in the back. Turns out the English idea of crisps in the sarnies was welcomed and approved by camp German and Jap! They were adicted!

Next stop of the day was Eli Creek. Again, the wind had whipped up a bit and so the idea of floating down the freshwater 'freezing cold' creek was not that inviting. Emma gave it a go though - the rest of us walked up the planked boardwalk and came back via the same route! Back in the truck and up to The Pinnacles - Coloured Sands. As it was getting late and we had to be back at BaseCamp by 5pm, we drove on by and made our last stop, the Maheno Shipwreck. That was totally out of this world. On the massive, long sandy beach, lay the wreck of the Maheno - almost totally out of the water at low tide. Only a rusty, collapsed outline of the once huge, proud ship lay there, but seeings as half of the ship lay totally burried in the sand, the huge framework still standing is extremely impressive. We watched the waves lap up to the port windows and rush back out to sea again, quickly followed by the next, and the next. We took lots of pictures and then it was time to head back to the truck and make our way to BaseCamp.

Eventually, only 30 minutes late at 5.30pm, we arrived and were shown to our camping plot. Team 'B' had already arrived (the other truck of people that had left the same morning as us - including the girl who's group we'd asked not to be in...) and out their tents up. We unpacked all of our stuff and soon had ours up too. Between 11 of us, we had 2 x 6 man tents, so when the group of 5 Germans took one, it looked as though it was going to be a tight squeeze with Emma, Charlotte, Momo, Hero, Becki and I all in one!

After everything was set up, we were able to take a look around BaseCamp - nice shower block, sheltered eating area with BBQ stoves and also a shop for emergency supplies. It was soon time for the first group meal. We pulled all of our food boxes out and began preparing the BBQ that we were going to have. Mmmm....chopped onions and peppers fried and put over the top of burgers along with boneless chicken thighs and legs. Louis made the best salad ever that was huge enough to feed an army - we even had a balsamic dressing to put over it - get us, POSH CAMPERS!!

The evening was quite an early one - everyone was tired from the days adventure and early start. We crawled into the tent and just as we did, the rain started. Thunder and lightening followed....and with no exageration, it didn't stop ALL night. The tent leaked slightly and we got dripped on a bit... By the morning though, the rain had stopped and we were able to get on our way after breaky and headed for the next land mark, Indian Heads. Here, we climbed up the hill and were able to stand on the top of a massive headland and see the view of the beaches and the sea either side of us for miles and miles. On a clear day, it's not uncommon to be able to see the shadows of sharks, dolphins and turtles in the sea below - but unfortunately, we didn't see anything. The rain had started up again and the sky was quite dark. Half an hour later, the sun had popped out again, which was perfect as it conincided with our next stop - Champagne Pools.

The day before, we'd been told that we wouldn't be able to get to Champagne Pools as the track to pass it was far too sandy and nearly every truck that attempted to cross it, was getting stuck and a few had even had to be towed out. So...Flow (being the great driver that he is!!) revved the engine and whilst leaving us standing on the beach - to make the truck lighter - sped straight across the sand and reached the other side without getting stuck! Within minutes, we were back in the truck, flying up the next beach and arrived soon after at our destination.

Here, we took all the food from the truck for lunch and made our way to the Champagne Pools. They are so-called because apparently when the waves crash over the rock pools, it causes the water to fizz like champagne. The day we went, I don' t think the waves were big enough though. Although I could see how it got its name, the pools were quite shallow and not much water was flowing over them. We decided to lay on the beach and sunbathe for an hour or so - making the most of the hot sun! - and then started on our lunch when it started to rain again. Just then - Team B showed up. Their driver hadn't been quite so smart and they had got stuck and had to walk the long beach which had taken them nearly an hour....!!

After a relaxing lunch and sunbathe, we got back to the van and made our way back towards the BaseCamp. Just as we were motoring through the 'sandy patch', we felt the wheels sink and then, sure enough, lock up. We were stuck too!...OOps! We had about 45 minutes to dig ourselves out before Team B would see us - so that was ok!! It actually wasn't that bad and within minutes, we had freed ourselves. But then - an idiot swerved diagonally infront of us and got stuck himself - which caused us to stop and get stuck again! We had to wait for a big green truck to haul the car infront of us, out. We were then able to get away....just before Team B got there!!!! Whilst we were waiting around, we saw another dingo up on the hill - so that made it more interesting!

Instead of going straight back to the Base, we decided to go for a coffee in a cafe near the Maheno shipwreck, that we'd seen the day before. After doing that, we headed back and everyone had a lazy evening - again, all feeling quite tired. Dinner that evening was tomato pasta. It turned out to be the best tomato sauce made from scratch that I've ever had..it was the dogs! As it was the last evening and they had been back for quite a bit longer that us, Team B were well underway with their alcohol....oh dear!

Darlene started squawking....and I mean, attempting to sing Mariah Carey's 'All I want for Christmas' in an wailing operatic voice. The first song was ok, but after the third or forth, everyone could barely hear themselves, let alone have a conversation. Everyone was staring at Darlene and so when she croaked up, 'What's wrong with my singing?' Becki honestly answered her, 'It's painful love!' Well....that was it!!! For the rest of the evening, Darlene was running around whispering to everyone, pointing and staring (like a school kid!) and finally came over to us and said that Becki had been very mean and that I shouldn't make comments that might upset someone. Becki told her that she's asked for an opinion and that she had given her one, she replied with (in a voice that is similar to the Queen's) 'Where are you from?!'. Becki replied, 'Bournemouth - why?!' (I wasn't sure where this one was going...) Then, to your utter amazement and disbelief, she replied, 'Well, Im from London and we've obviously had extremely different educations!!!!!!' What a SNOB!! Needless to say, she didn't find Becki's next comment about 'Finishing School' very funny! She stormed off and said - 'Enjoy your evening!' Well funning! I will not comment on what I had to say but lets just say they weren't recieved that well either...

Anyway, Team A happily enjoyed the rest of the evening and had a few more bevvies. Darlene even got lucky with one of the Chilean guys, so she couldn't have been that upset! We went to bed slightly later, but slept like logs.

In the morning, we packed up all our tents and re-loaded the truck roof with all our equipment. It was time to leave BaseCamp We headed off for our last day of sightseeing and nearly 2 hours later, we arrived at Lake Birrabeen. After a brief stop there, we missed out our lunch stop and decided to go straight to Lake McKenzie for lunch there and an hours sunbathing before we headed back to the barge. Lake McKenzie was massive too, but unfortunately as the sun wasn't out, it looked really dark and deep. On a sunny day, it glows turquoise and looks amazing. You can however drink the water from the lake. It's meant to be the cleanest, natural spring water on the island.

At 3pm, we headed back to the barge and after waiting around for a bit and listening on the radio, how England were getting whipped in the cricket again ! we got back on and headed for land. Back at the 4x4 company, we unloaded our stuff and then drove back to the hostel.

That evening, everyone from the group met in the bar and had some dinner...a few drinks later it was time for bed and everyone went off their own ways. In the morning, the twins and also us - originally - were heading off to Noosa Heads. Unfortunaly, Becki and I forgot to book the Greyhound and so got stuck in Hervey Bay for another torturous day of doing nothing!! and the cricket wasn't on. It wasn't that bad though, we had a look around the shops and then had an all you can eat chinky for dinns! Mmmm!

Thursday morning, we got up early and were at last heading out of Hervey, for Noosa. However, when we got to Noosa, we decided that for the sake of staying one night and then having half a day to look around the next day, it wasn't really worth it, so we stayed on the bus and went straight to Brisbane.

So here we are now - for 4 nights until we leave for Surfers Paradise on Monday. A few days of looking around the shops and being back in civilisation (with no local weirdos lurking) will be nice. The hostel we're in is alright too, so a good few days I think....

Bye for now

Miffy x x x