It was such a relief to come back to Brisbane after the miserable weather we (myself and Holly) had in Stanthorpe; as soon as we stepped off the bus we could feel the heat again! We stayed for a couple of days and then headed to Rainbow Beach for a weekend of fun on Fraser Island. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's basically a massive island with some of the most deadly creatures living there including snakes and dingos (dogs who attack). The trip we went on was a 4wd tag along guided tour; we were split into 3 cars, 8 in each car and the driving was shared out over the 3 days.

The first day of driving was very extreme, but we being team E for extreme took it to heart, well the boys did. The driving was crazy, sitting in the back you could feel every turn, every bump and every time the car flew off the ground! Don't worry I'm alive to tell the tale. The first day it was pouring with rain and me being me sent home my rain coat as I thought I didn't need it. I began to regret that decision BUT luckily the rain didn't last long!! The first place we went on the island was Lake McKenzie which was pretty cool despite the rain although the photos would have looked a lot better with a bit of sunshine. Due to the rain we skipped out on a couple of lakes and saved them for another day. Instead we headed straight to our home for the next couple of nights, the campsite. Originally we were supposed to be camping the first night and sleeping in bunk beds the second night but fortunately some other campers had taken over the tents so we had the bunk beds for two nights, sweet! It was a massive dorm with 28 beds in a circus type hut looking thing! In previous years people had got attacked by dingos waiting under the hut to pounce on them in the pitch black at night, so there is now a caging around the whole of the underneath of the hut to prevent these attacks from happening again.

When we'd all chosen our bunks and settled in we went down to the beach with long sticks as advised by our tour guide as a measure of protection against the dingos. The boys came down to play football and the dingos decided they wanted to join in. We were told the best way to get rid of the dingos was to show dominance and no fear by clapping and making as much noise as possible to scare them away. So the boys all start clapping towards them, it looked pretty funny that they'd stop their football game to start clapping at dogs but it has to be done!

We were all given enough food for our group for 3 days, with meal plans and recipe ideas to follow if needed. For some reason we thought we were special to mix it up a bit and not follow the daily plan. Unfortunately for us, someone from our team (Will) left the cool box out all night and the dingos took everything, even the butter!! So we had to buy more food for the next two days to survive but luckily we still had some other things left that weren't needed in the cool box.

The first night we all got drunk in the evening by the campfire as you do. It was pretty cool but we all carried torches around with us and never walked anywhere alone in case of the dingos.

On the second day I had my turn to drive and for a second I actually forgot how to drive! But don't worry I assured my car mates and myself that as soon as the car started moving I remembered the driving techniques! It was pretty awesome driving a big 4wd car off road. Driving on sand is extremely different, let alone in a massive range rover; nevertheless I had a blast cruising along with the waves about a metre away from me. Although a funny and typical saying whenever anyone was driving was. "It's a car, not a boat!!" We'd end up driving in the water sometimes as the waves would come up so high it was almost impossible to avoid. I took the 4wd to a whole other level; the first day had been hell sitting in the back feeling every bump and turn; I accidentally made our car bump then fly over a massive ditch in the sand. We literally did go flying as everyone screams, "STACEYYYYY!"

The first stop of the day was a place called Champagne Pools. They were on the coast, pools made up of sea water and the champagne part comes into play as the water smashes against the rocks and flows over the top, creating pools. It's incredibly hard to describe in words so you'll see in the pictures when I eventually get around to uploading them!

We then stopped at a really cool view point, where you could sit on the rocks near the edge and if you fell, well that would be the end of you. Luckily we didn't lose anybody. Along our drive, our guide stopped us to take a picture and have a look at one of the most deadly snakes on the island. He spotted it camouflaged against a tree! Talk about good eye sight, it took me a few minutes to even find the snake; by that time if it had attacked I would be dead. Anyway, sorry enough of the 'dead' talk, we then carried onto the famous shipwreck on Fraser Island. It was a huge ship, rusted, I don't actually know the story of it but everybody has their picture taken by it so it's got to mean something! The next stop that day was Eli Creek, which the boys decided to swim up the whole way; it wasn't far, just pretty cold water! After this we headed back to the campsite for the second night of dinner and drinking.

Our last day we took a trip to ….., yet again I can't remember the name of the massive sand dunes and the gorgeous lake! One day I'll do some research and fill in the blanks, but the pictures say it all really. The boys did funny tricks running down the hill and piling into the lake, very amusing! And after this we headed off Fraser Island and back to Rainbow Beach Dingo Resort, where we stayed for a night. The next day, I had no plans and was completely unsure of where I was going; as a last minute decision I decided to go back to Brisbane.

Since being back in Brisbane, I reunited with a friend from Stanthorpe and some other people I'd met in Brisbane once before. My plan was to get a job and start making some money again. I did eventually get a job in a call centre for outbound electricity sales. For some reason I seem to have really bad luck with the job industry. My previous one day job in Melbourne have still not paid me and now this job which I had for a total of 8 days is also trying to rip me off. Not all aussies are as 'nice' as they seem!

With my bad luck in work I was becoming very miserable in Brisbane so I decided I needed a holiday and a trip to Fiji to meet up with my good friend, Holly. See the next blog for the Fiji story…not to be missed! J