SPOON THE DINGO.....

Last night in noosa. we were walking for 5 miles to a place called the boat house for Ben to play a gig, and a long the way i happened to run nto my friend john with his baby on the street, he left a book for me at the front desk of the hostel, and if
I hadnt seen him passing i would have never known it was there, I am glad i got it, and you will have to read to read my book....when i get published to find out what the book is....

enroute up the coast Ben and I met a couple Michael and Ines, we hung wth them n Noosa and decided to all go to fraser islad early together....We got to the hostel called Palace, which is knd of ronic, because it was very far from a palace..at 6 am we met with 20 other people in a dark room to watch a saftey vdeo about the sland we would be campng on for the next 3 days...most if not all of us were half asleep durng the video, or hung over. I payed atention to the dingo part...looked at Ben, and he waved me off not to worry, they just tell you this stuff as a prelmnary saftey thingy.then they showed the video of drivng a 4 wheel drive truck over sand dunes, and how not to drive in high tides..again i looked at Ben, he smiled ad rased hs shoulders, and mouthed to me.no worries mate...

we got put nto a car with 7 other people, 2 irish couples, ines, michael (the dutch), and jill (the angry grl from the hostel i mentioned prior). they took us o a storage facility where we learned how to deal and work with the gear, set up our van, they gave us dirty dishes, dirty coolers, and a box of frozen meat.the 9 of us went to the market to try and buy food as a group for the next 3 days, we had no idea what were in for..at all.

All 27 of us 3 trucks boarded the ferry to cross over to the island....i packed a small book bag..with basically nothing in it, i rented a sleeping bag, and i didnt have a flashlght...for some reason because everything else here has been so organized, i really didnt think about the fact that would be on a sand island for 3 days...or in a tent, or not have acsess to a bathroom...at all.

once we got on the island, we got the "best" driver to go over the sand dunes... cant really explain what these ditches looked like or what they felt like rding in the back wth a loose seatbelt, but assure you my legs are brused and if you get car sick at all...this would not be a good trip for you...the 3 cars followed each other, we didnt have to stay together, but the guy advised us too n case one of our trucks got stuck in the sand, which happened often, that requred getting out with a shovel and dggng out the car, and then pushing t, and then run as fast as you can to get back n the truck as it was moving...

once we got to the camp site, using a map that could have been for another island....it wasnt marked at all...it was getting dark, we had to get the tents up.

out of 27 people, was the oldest on the trip, and as it sarted gettng dark and someone opened the frozen meat, pulled out the small gas burner grill..everyone realized we were right on the ocean, and the wind was causing a sand storm, blowing our fire out, so we couldn't cook. I basically took over, grabbed the meat found things that resembled patties, hit them together, broke em apart, used a large lid as a shield, bens head lamp and fed my group of 9...we had beans, sausage, and i thnk the other thing was chicken...cant be sure, dont really wanna know. Group satisfied, we started drinkng in the dark...everyone was huddled in a circle, and it seems the game we always play is, say your name, country, and your favorite scar, this leads to other conversations of course and thats how backpackers "bond"...the evening went on and started gettng a lot of questions about NY, everyone wanted to hear about the big city....i honestly felt like a camp counselor, or a life coach or whaever you wanna call it, sittng around with 15 20 year olds telling them stories and stories....i actually really enjoyed myself. I loved listening to where they were in life, how they felt, what they consdered important, what they want to do wth there lives...all of them, so sure of the decisions they were making.and i found that i didnt comment. I just sat and listened, sometimes in envy thinking.god i wish when i was 20 I had just done this then...but i gave some advice, and hey asked me questions about what will i do next, never judging, just bright eyed and wondering...luckily Ben saved me after awhile, so the questions stopped and we all headed into the tents.

I have never slept in a tent. Logan will tell you I maybe did, one night, until I made him get us a cabin because i was so miserable, and because hes a good boy, he did. I was flthy from the day, from the cooking, and i could have cared less, i honestly ddnt even thnk about it I was so happy to lay down..

The next morning, we go the trucks moving and had an itinerary to see a few lakes, making food took so long, that we missed some things, but in general we saw what we wanted too, and went on some fabulous hikes up the cliffs...i was speaking to Ines, when we fnally made it up, ad sitting on a rock very contemplative, she said..."we will never be here again, isnt that weird?"...I thought about giving her some buddha crap answer...like we shouldnt say that blah blah blah....but instead I said "your right Ines, we will most likely never be in this same spot ever agan...so take it all in....."

Later that evening it was bathroom time, usually I made Ben go with me, to guard against the dingos, however, I had to do a number 2....so with a shovel in hand i went to attempt and ttry to take care of business...not to get too detailed...but while squatting with a shovel under my arm, pooping in a hole, 5 dingos decided i looked like dinner...the video says to stop stand up, cross your arms over your chest and start shouting....um, a few issues i couldnt stand at the moment, had to think quick...so...i used the shovel..hahaha!!! and pointed it t them like i was actually gonna do somethng, god must LOVE me, cause it worked....and i finsihed, wasnt bitten and felt more alive then i have in years...

i never went to the bathroom at night once i was i the tent cause i was afraid to walk too far, so this led to not sleeping well...it was also freezing, and this is how we all came up with "spoon the dingo", Ines noticed in the middle of the night i rolled over and was spooning ben for warmth, if i say so myself, it worked...and i stayed warm, and truthfully during my quet contemplatve moments, i feel lonley sometimes, so cuddling him wasnt so bad. Ben and have been traveling for 12 days now together, and he has sngle handedly helped restore my faith in men...not once has he made me uncomfortable, and i feel he and i will be friends for a very long time because we both understand why we came here to australia and the type of experience we are both looking for, and this does not include intimacy.. I do hope that when i am ready to let someone n my life again, they have some of his qualities, because he is an amazing person and has made ths trip qute memorable for me.

We found a huge open clear lake, a few of us hopped in and swam to the other side of the lake, when i was in the middle and my legs felt heavy, and i couldnt see the bottom or the animal swimming around me, i wasnt scared, but i was thinking i will never do a triathalon!!!!! I got to the other side, then we decided to sprint back, felt amazing, the place was beauiful.

Every second being there your life was n danger, the truck could tip over, we werent allowed to drive through on the ocean during high tides, but we had to or else we would have had to sleep in the truck, that hour and a half drivng along the high tides, adn through ocean water was really intense. I felt lke i was on the show survivor, and truth be told, i wouldnt and couldnt have asked for a betterr group of people to be with, no one was an idiot, we all worked together and shared somethng together that many people never experience in a lifetime.

i leave fraser island learnng a few things about myself. The first is that iam very much a woman, and i enjoy being a woman. At one moment on our hike i was mumbling somethng about a manicure and a pedicure...and i heard Ines behind me mumbling about a day spa..Ines is a true european woman. Amazing head on her shoulders and she will do great things, but at 23, she really blew me away...Somehow i feel i found a balance of what i want by beng on that island. I was prepared to do whatever took to survive, but there were times i wasnt willing to sacrifice. It was truly the perfect balance, that i havent felt in qute sometime or possibly ever for myself. When you are stuck on an island, you have to trust people, you have to rely on others, you have to put your feelings aside...at times you have to take control in order to survive. you have to thnk quck, and you really realize what your limitations are and how far you will go....i realized i would go pretty far, and im not really afraid of things when i breath, and i dont care about rolling around in the mud and sand, but i do care about the shower...

With the right people surroundng you...you can trully accomplish anything....I did thngs i never thought i could do, and my team or group was really supportive and we all helped pushed our limits, leaving this experience to be very insightful and gratifyng....

in the meantime, we left the island and all had to split up, ben and i are continuing up north, just stopped in a town 1770 and rented small motorbikes, did a 3 hour ride around the city and to the beach for a an amazing sunset!!!

I have a friend who has a motorcycle....i can now understand a little bit more of why he is so in love with it, going 80 on an open road was pretty intense especially being on the other side of the road, but I really enjoyed it, and yes i know 80 isnt fast for the experienced riders, but thats about as fast as i think ill ever go. The aussie at the motor bike shop took a special interest in me, told me when comes to the states, i gotta take him on my bike to route 66...possibly in my next life;).....