We drove the short trip from Hervey Bay to River Head and were first in the queue for the barge across to Fraser Island. Toby and I were both a little nervous as the driving conditions on Fraser had deteriorated since the big storms a few months ago; there were particular warnings about towing and Toby had watched too many You Tube clips of people getting bogged as they got on/off the barge!

Things didn't start so well when the barge arrived and the attendant told Toby he would need to back on and keep the van wheels on a narrow track as he did so, while everyone else watched on! Aside from the bikes on the back of the van scraping (which required a quick removal half way through), we made it on in one piece and then thankfully, off again on the other side!

The drive across the island traverses incredibly beautiful forest but is certainly a rough old sandy track and we were pleased to make it to the eastern beach without too much difficulty. We had decided to stay at a fenced campsite called Dundabura which was 40km up the beach. It was dingo mating season and we were strongly advised to camp inside a fenced area as we had kids with us. There were some bone jolting rock crossings along the beach which are only accessible at low tide, but the car and van made it through with no difficulty and we set up camp at Dundabura. The ranger then came past and told us to keep the kids close and gave them a talk on what to do if approached by a dingo ... as there was a dingo currently inside the fence! We'd seen and heard dingos on our last trips. They were generally timid and had kept a respectful distance and we were not especially concerned by them however, on Fraser there seemed to be such a fuss. We tried to have the kids alert but not alarmed however Lachie's imagination was running wild and he thought he could see and hear dingos everywhere!

The next morning the ranger informed us the dingo inside the fence had been caught and put back outside so the kids were able to wander around more freely again. That evening when Toby and Lachie were fishing in the surf another ranger drove up and told Toby to keep Lach close as there was a dingo who considered this part of the beach his territory and would be "right onto" Lach if given a chance. Seemed a little over the top but certainly made Lachie stay close!

The next day we waited for the low tide and went exploring. We began at The Pinnacles which are domes made of different colored sand then stopped at an old wreck on the beach. We then had a picnic at Central Station in the beautiful forest and walked along the clearest stream I've ever seen before the rain started. Unperturbed, we headed to one of the major inland freshwater lakes, Lake McKenzie with the postcard pictures of it in our mind. However, when we finally arrived it was raining so hard we were unable to get out of the car and with the tide on its way in, we didn't have time to wait!

As it turned out, the rain continued on and off for the next couple of days but at least with camping on sand, there was no mud to worry about.

The next morning was Mothers Day so after being spoilt with breakfast and a lovely gift picked up back in Gladstone, we walked to a large sand blow near our camp. I'd never seen anything like it, the biggest pile of sand stretching for kilometres. We walked for what seemed ages but never reached the top and the kids had a ball rolling and jumping down the dunes.

Later that day, at low tide we were driving down the beach to see Lake Waddy when there was a whooshing sound under the bonnet and a not good burning smell! We were luckily driving past a small resort so stopped and refilled the radiator then headed back towards our campsite. Second attempt to visit a lake foiled! We did however stop at Eli Creek where the kids had great fun riding their boogie boards down the fast flowing fresh water.

On our third day after Toby had refilled the radiator and established it wasn't leaking, we decided to head to Lake Alloom which was only a short distance away. However, the engine again quickly overheated and we knew this wasn't good! Attempt three at visiting a lake was unsuccessful but now seemed the least of our concerns!

There wasn't a mechanic on the island but we were given the number of a tow truck driver and told of a particular sand dune back along the beach where we could get mobile reception. Toby kept an eye on a curious dingo, climbed to the top and rang roadside assist who said they couldn't help until we were back on the mainland and put him through to Rob, the tow truck driver. Rob said it would cost over $1000 to tow us off the island and strongly suggested we try and limp off and he could pick us up on the mainland if needed.

With the pressure of catching the low tide for 80 km of beach, we quickly packed up camp, bought 45 litres of water and tentatively headed off with storm clouds following us. Every 7-10 kms we had to stop, wait for the engine to cool and add water to the radiator. At one of these stops we were near the walking track to Lake Waddy so thought we would take a quick look while the engine cooled. However the sign said the walk was 2-3 hours return so our fourth and final attempt to see a lake failed! Our slow limp down the island seemed to be working and I was beginning to relax a bit. We stopped again along a deserted stretch of beach to cool the engine and the kids got out and ran around in circles on the sand, laughing and having fun while Toby was under the bonnet. I vaguely remembered what the ranger had said about dingos being attracted to excited kids and called them back to the car. As I did so a dingo came up over the dune and I called to Toby to let him know and shooed the kids back into the car. It came sniffing around and unfortunately, Toby's driver side door was open. The dingo came towards the car and I yelled and waved a magazine at it but it only took one step back before coming forward and putting its paws on the side step! By now Neve and I were shouting at the dingo and calling out to Toby however with the noise of the waves and wind, he couldn't hear us at all! The bang of the bonnet closing finally scared the dingo away and Toby looked very bemused when he got back in the car and listened to our tale! Not sure if the dingo would actually have been aggressive enough to enter the car or whether all the warnings had gotten to me, but either way I was pretty freaked out by the whole incident!

We made it onto the barge and off again at Skip Point then slowly drove into the nearest town, Rainbow Beach. The car had to then be towed to Gympie, about 80km away while we wait to see what's wrong, how long and how much!