Adam not having made any plans of his own yet also booked onto the same Fraser Island trip as me. We checked out of Noosa and left on the 9:30am bus. We were unlucky to get a bit of a grumpy driver. Sometimes power goes to peoples heads and it had gone to his.

We arrived in Rainbow beach at lunch time. The hostel was just across the road from the bus stop. Our room had a balcony and its own bathroom. We were sharing with an irish couple and two Sweedish girls. We got settled in and had a few cheeky drinks on the balcony as you are not allowed alcohol in your rooms. At 2pm we went down to the bar for our briefing on the Fraser Island trip. We watched a very cheesy video about how to drive on the Island and what to do if we saw a dingo! We were putinto our driving groups and given quite a few forms to fill in. No one wanted to drive first so I said I would. I hadnt driven for 7months so probably driving on the road to start with would be a good thing. After the meeting we cooked the last of our steaks for dinner and then went next door to find the Dutch boys in the next hostel. Their hostel had a much nicer bar than ours. We were in bed by midnight as all the bars closed at 11pm, which wasnt a bad thing as we needed to have checked out by 7:30am.

So in the morning we were up pretty early and ready to go. Each group had a big box of food to check and lots of camping equipment to check. We also had to record all the bumps and scratches on the car so we wouldnt get the blame for them when we got back. Then once all the cars were packed we set off. Hayden was our guide and drove the first car, we were car 3 out of 4. I reversed off perfectly and drove to the end of the road where I then made the classic mistake of putting my window wipers on instead of indicating! Ooops, not a good start! I didnt know they were on the opposite side to English cars. Having worked out how to indicate I drove fine along the road and up onto the ferry. Hayden then put the cars into 4 wheel drive as when we came off the ferry we would be on the beach. It felt really weird driving on sand. Your wheels would move without you moving them. It was like a train switching tracks but you were not in control. We didnt stay on the beach long before heading inland on a track. The track was really rocky and dusty. Hayden kept sayingkeep up to the car in front but then you couldnt see where you were going for the dust, so I hung back a bit. We soon reached the other side of the island and we were back on the beach. This time we were on harder sand so it was easier to drive. It was then time to swap drivers and a Dutch guy called Mark drove next. The first thing he did when he got in was get the car stuck in the sand. It made me feel quite good about my driving even though Hayden had told me off for swerving when I didnt it was the car behind me. We easily got unstuck and arrived at the place for lunch. We had a picnic on some grass in a small village area.

After lunch Mark continued to drive and we went to Lake McKenzie. He drove through the forest on a dirt track (so in my opinion was a lot easier than my drive). The lake was very nice. It had a nice little beach around the edge. The water was cold but not too cold, however the sun wasnt that hot so it would have taken a while to get dry so I only paddled. We stayed about an hour before we headed to set up camp. Now it was time for Adam to drive. He had got some of the other girls worried as he had been talking about wheel spins and things. He drove fine though and didnt do any tricks.

Our camp was just behind some sand dunes. We had to put our tents up. There were three people to a tent so Mark came with me and Adam. We also set up a kitchen area where the girls prepared the chicken noodles for dinner. The boys did the washing up. We werent allowed a campfire so we had to use the headlights from the vehicles and the speakers from our car as they were the best. We all sat around chatting and drinking. One group set up a game of spin the bottle but I wasnt involved in that. I spent a lot of time talking to Mark, Chris, Jenny and the other Scottish girl in our car. The toilet was the beach so you had to go up and over the dune and find a nice place in the dark to squat where hopefully no one could see you. Mark went to bed before me and Adam and when we got there he was taking up more than half the tent. Adam got in next so he was in the middle and then me at the edge. I had the side of the tent hitting me in the face and I had to lay on my side as there wasnt room to lay flat. It was by far the most uncomfortable nights sleep ive ever had.

We were woken up by Hayden at 6:15am. Breakfast was cornflakes but I couldnt really eat them with out sugar. The two boys werent feeling too good yet and the other girl that could drive was still to scared to drive so it came down to me to drive first again. I was quite impressed how people were keen for me to drive, I obviously hadnt put them off with my driving the day before. I didnt know it at the time but Hayden later said driving in the mornings is the hardest leg as the sand is softer. He also said I must keep up as the police will stop us if we drive more than 100m apart from the first car to the last car. It was a weird logic - the faster we drove the closer we had to be, usually the advice is to keep your distance! I did well though, my confidence had grown since yesterday and I kept up, driving at speed on the sand and through the little streams. I quite enjoyed it. I drove all the way to Eli Creek. There we got out and walked along the stream until it met the sea. Some of the boys decided to climb trees and jump into the creek from them. We stayed about half an hour before moving on.

The girl called Sarah now felt brave enough to have a go at driving. She didnt do too badly but was a bit cautious. She was the one that had been telling the boys off when they were driving for not looking at the road or driving with only one hand on the wheel and she was the one that swerved to miss a wave and went over a bump causing everyone in the car to bump their heads on the ceiling! She would have gone crazy if it was anyone else driving! We drove to a place called Champagne Pools. It was where the sea splashed over some rocks and created a rock pool. The water sparkled in the sun so it got the name Champagne. We walked along a boardwalk to get there. The sand and wood was roasting hot, you couldnt walk bare foot.

After the Champagne pools we had John join our car as he was in Haydens car but wanted a go at driving. He did kangeroo driving! Everytime he changed gear it would throw you forwards in your seat. Not a very smooth ride at all. The other girls werent too impressed either. He drove us to Indian head. It is towards the top of the Island and it is a big cliff sticking out into the ocean. We got out of the cars and walked to the top. If you are lucky you can see sharks swimming below, we however werent lucky. The only thing we saw was one sting ray. We made our wayt back down and drove a short distance to a picnic site where we had lunch.

After lunchit was Marks turn to drive again and we started making our way back to camp. We passed a dead shark on the beach and a jelly fish which Hayden picked up to show us. It was a clear blue colour. We could touch the round bit but not the tenticles as thats the bit that stings you. Further along th beach we stopped again as Hayden showed us how to find Pipi's. Pipis are a shellfish like muscles and are burried in the sand. He showed us how to find one for ourselves. I didnt find one but some people got really enthusiastic and came back with a handful. We also stopped at some coloured rocks called the Pinacles and then kept driving until we came to a shipwreck. Hayden explained the story behind the ship, about how it was being towed to Japan when a storm broke out and it got loose. As it wasbeing towed no one was on board so no one died. The Japanese tried many times to get it back in the water but couldnt so it is still there today.

Now it was time to head back to camp and Adams turn to drive. We had, had quite a long busy day. We had spagetti bolognaise for dinner which was really nice. Once again we all sat around drinking and chatting. An Irish guy whose real name was Jason but we all called Paddy entertained us with Jokes and stories. It was funny because of his accent and we had to keep asking him to repeat it as we couldnt understand. We then sang songs, the best one being Wonderwall and played an animal game. When it was time for bed I had a much better nights sleep as we all had an equal amount of space.

In the morning we had to pack everything away as we were returning back to the mainland later. Before we headed back to the ferry we went to another lake. Mark drove us there. From the carpark it was a 40 minute walk to the lake through the forest. On the way we saw a monitor lizard cross the path infront of us. The lake was behind a big sand dune so most of the boys were rolling down the dune splashing into the lake at the bottom. There were catfish swimming in the lake and they would come really close if you kept still. We then layed on our towels to get dry. It was warm but the sun was hiding behind a cloud most of the time so it wasnt really sunbathing weather.

At 12pm we started the walk back to the cars. It was now time to head back to the ferry. Adam drove. It was along the dusty road I had driven on the way there so I was pleased he realised how hard it was as before he thought it was easy as it was like a road.

When we got back on the main land we took the cars to the depot and we had to clean the inside and do all the washing up. They then dropped us off back at our hostel.

That night it was Halloween so we went out. We went next door again as it is better there and then to a hotel bar where they were having a Halloween party. The boys decided to go swimming and drinking on the beach when the party had finished but i didnt I went to bed. In the morning it was time to checkout and catch the bus to Agnes Water. Adam was still drunk and a bit useless. When he got dressed he put my clothes on as he couldnt find his.