As we left Byron Bay a small group of grey clouds peeled off the mass in our rear view mirror and escorted us north towards Fraser Island. As we drove they gradually gathered friends and grow darker so we finally pulled into our destination under a thick blanket of rain, not a promising sign for three days and two nights under the sun and stars. The trip briefing that evening cheered us up as our new pals seemed to be as optimistic and clueless as us about what exactly we had signed ourselves up for. Basically the hostel gave nine of us a bright pink four wheel drive filled with tents stoves etc and we had three days to not kill ourselves and hopefully have a good time driving over the world's largest sand island.

The alarm clock went at 7 and we dragged ourselves downstairs to our communal shopping trip where the priorities were the Australian basics of meat, bread and beer. Rachelle and the other ladies injected some common sense (vegetables) and we were ready to go. Our group consisted of Alex & Sarah (English girls), John & Gavin (English lads), Ann (German girl) and Pak & Kong (Korean lads). Since everyone else except us was between 18 and 23 and one of the Korean's thought I was Gavin's dad we knew we would have to make a special effort to blend in so we bought a large amount of red wine.

The rest of day 1 went downhill slowly but steadily after the euphoria of the successful shopping trip. Ferry to the island, not a problem. Drive across bumpy roads to our first stop, simplicity itself thanks to John's expert driving. We even found our first natural attraction - Lake Wabby - without even getting slightly lost. To be fair the lake was fantastic, freshwater and at the bottom of a massive sand dune so you could run / fall down the hill into it where you could be nibbled by giant catfish. On the way back to the car however the clouds we had temporarily evaded by changing cars caught up with us and tipped eighteen hours of pent up water on us for the remainder of the day. The BBQ was miserable, putting up the tents was even worse and sleeping in them was indescribable and we were still 48 hrs away from a roof over our heads.

Day 2 didn't look too good either as we crawled out of our wet sleeping bags after a very small amount of sleep. The clouds were still hanging around like bored teenagers and after a shower at the local campsite we halfheartedly drove to Indian Heads to see if we could spot some sharks and manta rays in the water below. A morning can be a very long time when you rise at 5 am and are stranded by tide until 1 but as the time passed the worlds slowest miracle occurred. Patches of dark grey turned lighter and in places became tinged with blue. By the time we had walked up the beach to the decidedly flat 'Champagne Pools' thin strips of blue had appeared in a fluffy white background which melted away into the blue as we dashed back to the car for sunscreen. The remainder of the day was a joy paddling in brooks, putting up the tents for drying and cooking spaghetti then drinking beer under the stars with not a cloud in the sky.

Day 3 was just as enjoyable as day 2 had been. Admittedly there were dingoes sniffing around the tent when we woke up but as we had no babies with us they went away disappointed. The day passed quickly as we pottered about to the inland lakes which we breathtaking and soon enough it was time for the ferry back to the mainland and to give our lovely pink motor back. After a fantastic shower we rejoined our new young friends in the bar for a few drinks (always referring to the two of us as the 'flashpackers') to toast a great trip.

Love A & R