Fraser Island

14 - 16 September 2011

One of the absolute highlights of the trip for Sam and I.Fraser Island was 3 full days of razzing jeeps up the beach, visiting beautiful lakes, getting far too drunk, constant action packed excitement.We were so lucky with our group, all 20 of us seemed to just fit together and had the time of our lives....

Day 1

-Lake Wabby - situated next to a Sand Blade (if my memory serves me correctly) we appeared to be in the middle of the desert before the most incredibly green lake greeted us.Set in a valley of its own we watched the birds and cat fish in the water.The water was bitterly cold. We lay on the sand and soaked up the sun, my life was it hot.Probably the hottest it had been sunbathing... but doesn't help it was virtually a desert!

-Moon Rise - when we arrived back at camp having cooked dinner our guide Luke told us about the phenomenon of a moon rise.None of us westerners had ever hear of such an event... but as we sat on the sand in the pitch black we were astounded. An orange sphere broke the horizon.As we started on in amazement we literally saw the moon rise up into the sky, beginning orange and getting white as it rose higher.I don't think I have ever seen something so beautiful that I never knew existed.Sam and I sat for so long on the beach, completely in awe.

Day 2

-Eli Creek was our morning bath!Having driven up the beach we all piled out and walked, swam, ran and waded down Eli Creek.A fresh water creek leading into the ocean covered by drooping trees and sand sides.The one mad thing about Fraser Island is that it is completely made of sand. So everything is growing out of sand and its always soft beneath your feet! The water was cool to say the least and my hesitation was soon interrupted by Sam lifting me up and dunking me in! I squealed with hysteria and shock at the cold.... I got him back a little further down the creek!

-A quick stop at Lake Allom we watched the turtles bobbing around in the acid lake.Unfortunately we did have to say that our Turtle experience at Paronella Park certainly out shone this one... only because we were able to get so close to them!(Turtles) It was my time to drive!Sam had done a sterling job on the 2nd day, flying down the beach and tackling the soft sand with such skill!I however was a little more.... slap dash!The girl who had driven before me had some challenging inland tracks and she did bump the side of the Jeep (which thankfully wasn't noticed!).I was a little concerned because the tracks were so tight and had to be driven fast so we didn't get stuck in the sand!But Luke assured me I would be grand and I freikn loved it!Once off the inland tracks and onto the beach we hit speeds of 90KM/H! Before skidding away on some soft sand and parking up at the Champagne Pools.

-Champagne Pools - given the name becuase as the waves crash over the back of the rocks it looks like champagne fizzing into glasses.Beautiful spot.I sat and bathed in the sun while Sam went crab hunting with Luke... they came back with a biggen!

-Indian Head - when Captain Cook discovered Fraser Island he named this so as he saw a group of Aboriginals standing on the head of the rock.We walked to the top and obtained such fantastic views and even spotted some sharks all the way down in the sea.

-Mahrno Wreck - stunning ship wreck.On route to visiting this Luke got us all to park up and we jumped out... before my very eyes some guys fishing were pulling in something big.They had been out with a canoe to drop blood into the ocean and some big bate.No joke, they were pulling in a shark!I later found out that it was a Grey Nurse Shark, not tooo threatening to humans, especially as it wasn't huge... but the guys told us they caught a 12-footer the other week... but they couldn't pull it in!And this is what they do in the spare time!! Unbelievable!

We got to watch the moon rise for the second time this evening.

Day 3

-Lake McKenzie was the perfect conclusion to the perfect trip.The lake was the most stunning far stretching lake.Although the water was icy we were all in within a flash!Sam and I went and explored, finding and virtually deserted white sandy beach were we spotted a big Goanna!Of course we then sunbathed for a while before a dip in the fresh water lake - all clean for the drive home! Oh - we spotted dolphins whilst on the Ferry hedding back to main land. What a trip.