Fraser Island
It's Easter Sunday and I got a chocolate bunny from Phil and he got some lovely Lindt choccies from me. Hooray!
And today we are off on our 3 day, 2 night 4 wheel drive adventure on Fraser Island. We went to the briefing where this guy scared the living day lights out of us by telling us "You will die, you will come back in a helicopter, there are 35 hidden dangers on the beach at Fraser and they are all invisible!" Great... what a start... so after we all peed our pants, we tried to pack our car...
Have you ever tried to get 11 people to pack all their gear onto a 4xWD roof, plus food and tents and other bits and bobs? Well, you can imagine that all this took a while. We piled in our bags, our handluggage, various bits and bobs and then the food and drink - most important of all!
Four of us had gone shopping the previous day for the whole group and we all put in $20 so we had $220 and you'd think you'd be able to buy quite a bit of food with that, right? Well no. Not really, though we went to the equivalent of Asda here. We bought lots of things we needed and then spent about an hour at the register putting things back because we were over by about $100. Turns out though we barely did have enough food for the three days, I think we should have made allowances for the fact that I was with 10 extremely hungry boys who eat a lot several times a day and will faint if they miss lunch!
Anyway, off we drive down the road after mincing about for a while longer and then finally all of us managing to squeeze into the backseats of this decrepit 4x4. The ferry was good, the crossing was good, we came off the ferry ok and then we were in the sand and the forest and the forest trail. It was really cool!
Stephan did the driving first, because he'd driven 4x4s before and he was really good at not jolting us too much around. We all still had the warnings ringing in our ears about the 35 invisible dangers, so we were all a bit nervous in the beginning. The mood did get lighter soon after though, because we made it to Lake Mackenzie, our first stop. The mood may have also been improved by the fact that one row of boys decided to moon a passing car. Yes, they did. But it truly was hilarious - I'm not really sure why, but probably because we had all been so tense and the car was leaking with holes in the roof and the floors and it was raining all through, it all provided welcome relief.
Lake Mackenzie is beautiful! Blue clear water and a perfect white beach - the water is so clean you can drink it. I did. It tasted normal. I'm glad I did it fairly soon after entering the water and swimming out quite far from the shore, because Will, one of our group later confessed he had done a wee. Nice. Three days with boys and I'm bound to turn into a farting, burping, smelly wreck! Not really.
So then we went down the main beach which is stunning, too. Of course. There isn't a single place that isn't amazingly beautiful to be honest. So the beach is the main road on Fraser and all the cars drive there and airplanes land on it, so you have to keep your eyes open. Also, the beach is where most of the 35 invisible dangers are - the main one being a wash out that's like a cliff drop in the sand you can't see and then you flip over in your car several times and get horrific injuries. Anyway, we managed to keep our eyes open and made it to an old ship wreck by the beach which was really cool. It's just there, rusting away and you're not meant to climb on it unless you've had a tetanus injection. No, I think you're not meant to climb on it, period, but of course everyone does. The pacific is amazing, thundering into the wreck and spraying us and it was all too beautiful to be true.
So we're driving along further and we see this plane parked on the beach, so all the guys get excited and we had to stop and everyone had to pretend to be the pilot and sit in the plane with the headphones on and their picture taken. So funny...
In the end, we made it to the camp, which was in an Aboriginal area and consisted of some kind of wooden pavillion, in which we were meant to sleep. Well, so we get there and the place is deserted. We find the pavillion and something that looks like a kitchen, maybe and everything is seriously minging! The toilets are nasty nasty nasty and the showers smell like they have been used instead of the toilet.
So we trek around trying to find our Aboriginal host, who is blatantly drunk and attempts to show us around at some point, though I'm not sure that would be necessary as there's nothing to see. So we get cooking in the pithole of a kitchen and get a fire going and then things are much better! But we didn't realise there would be another group coming to join us at the same camp - so when a truck of another 11 boys rock up and we are all meant to sleep in the pavillion together, some people are not very happy at all! All the boys were grumbling at each other and grumbling about the lack of girls, except for me who was a no-go because Phil was right there with me. At times I felt like a ham amongst some very hungry dogs! Anyway, Phil kept his eyes peeled the whole time - so funny! - but to be honest, I had a lovely time. Everyone was very nice to me and we all had a laugh and a drink, so no complaints from me.
Come night time, our drunk Aboriginal host sits down for a chat by the fire with another chap who is bored stiff. So then he gets us to all introduce ourselves to one another and say why we came to Australia and why we came to Fraser Island and what we were planning on finding and doing with our lives. Hmmm.... so he starts off and reluctantly one by one we start the intros but then he gets stuck on this poor Korean chap who doesn't speak English and he keeps asking him questions and asking him why he doesn't answer them and stuff like that and we were all cringing! After several attempts to convince our host of the fact that the poor guy doesn't speak English, we managed to continue the intros though half way round the circle he lost interest and started talking about some rubbish. Gosh we were relieved!
Then he got the other chap with him to play the didgeridoo which was pretty cool. Then we had a go on the didgeridoo and then we got drunk and went to bed as this was much easier.
Next day, we made our way to some truly amazing spots such as Indian Head, which is a big cliff face and the Champagne pools, which are rock pools right by the edge of the Pacific and the waves slam over the rocks and over you and you can swim and play. We had a great time there once we made it! We were told that we couldn't take the car down to the pools and we had to walk from Indian Head but didn't know how far it was! Luckily, I managed to get us a ride on some passing cars- hooray!
The pools were amazing and we kept balancing on the edges and getting knocked off by the big waves. At one point though I got a bit too enthusiastic and managed to get thrown and scraped all over the rocks by this massive wave. Am pretty banged up, but it's not so painful really, only noticed it more when I stood on the beach and the sand around my feet started to turn red from the blood dripping down my legs! R well.
We also went and saw the Pinnacles, which are coloured sand dunes which look like rocks - really interesting! - and the sand is so soft and fine, it's amazing. We also went down to the main creek where you can kind of float down the river and sunbathe on the beach and that was really pleasant, though there were too many people for our liking there. But really, it wasn't so bad, we thought it would be worse because of Easter!
Back to camp and guess what! We had another group join us there and it consisted of 10 girls and 1 boy! All the guys were so happy and immediately rushed to get showered, shaved and change their clothes! So funny! We all got on well and had a nice evening, until our man from the night before showed up again and wanted to get us to introduce ourselves again...
He had another friend with him this time and the bored guy from the night before, and it was a bit better, because then they showed us how to make a fire by rubbing sticks together and it came in really handy, because then the electricity conked out and we couldn't see a thing!
That night, Phil and I went to bed fairly early and chilled out - it was good to have some time for the two of us on Fraser. Not that we had privacy, we were still in a pavillion with 20 other people only tonight, there wasn't quite so much snoring and smelly stuff going on!
Day 3 came round too soon and there after all that love in the air from last night, I think the guys were quite pleased to be getting away as they now had their fill! So off we went to the sand dunes - it's like the desert and beautiful, felt like Lawrence of Arabia - and then went to Lake Wabi. It's surrounded by tea trees, where you get the tea tree oil from and it turns the water into a dark dark green. It's really beautiful!
There is one steep dune leading down to the waters' edge and people run, slide or fling themselves down it into the water. Great fun! We all had a splash and then got ready for another round of Lake Mackenzie, as last time it was raining so much when we got there.
Now at this point, I have to emphasize that we all had a go at driving the car and it was really cool doing the 4x4 action hero thing, but the car wasn't in a very good shape at all. It really hadn't been in great shape before, but now after being with us for a while, it really wasn't in good shape at all... everytime you drove, it was banging away and making howling noises. It sounded like there was someone knocking the whole time and intermittently there were some explosions. I don't know... but anyway, we knew we were on the last day by now and it had been ok until now, so we reckoned as long as we made it to the ferry, it was fine.
So after our final swim, we pile in and guess what, yes, the car will not start. At all. Our ferry is in 45 minutes and we can't get the car going at all. So we all have a go at starting it and poke under the hood and we're all a bit puzzled. Another group of guys didn't have any bright ideas either and so we decide to push start it at least. So Andy gets in and we all push - no, not me - there are about 20 strong lads about, like I would make a difference pushing? But nothing, the engine won't do it and we don't have any space anymore other than push start this massive car by rolling it up a hill! And so I get to be at the wheel while all the boys push again and HOORAY! the girl got the car to start. YES!!!!
Too scared that it will stop again, we're all jumping in the car now, things flying about and us roaring down those tight roads, bouncing all over the place and the engine howling like a werewolf ready for the kill! Oh man, I was driving so fast to try and make the ferry and as we pull in - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! - it's just moving off and we've missed it.
Luckily we got a space on the next one and so sat on the roof and had some beers and nuts. We were starving, but that was all that was left from our food box, except a jar of mayo. I think one of the guys tried to even eat that by itself... so we made it back in one piece and we all agreed how lucky we've been to have been in a group together!
We truly had a great time and it was so much fun, really good! Would recommend it to anyone and all our mishaps added to our adventure and made it even better. To round the trip off, we then hit an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in town and emptied it. Hooray!
And today we are off on our 3 day, 2 night 4 wheel drive adventure on Fraser Island. We went to the briefing where this guy scared the living day lights out of us by telling us "You will die, you will come back in a helicopter, there are 35 hidden dangers on the beach at Fraser and they are all invisible!" Great... what a start... so after we all peed our pants, we tried to pack our car...
Have you ever tried to get 11 people to pack all their gear onto a 4xWD roof, plus food and tents and other bits and bobs? Well, you can imagine that all this took a while. We piled in our bags, our handluggage, various bits and bobs and then the food and drink - most important of all!
Four of us had gone shopping the previous day for the whole group and we all put in $20 so we had $220 and you'd think you'd be able to buy quite a bit of food with that, right? Well no. Not really, though we went to the equivalent of Asda here. We bought lots of things we needed and then spent about an hour at the register putting things back because we were over by about $100. Turns out though we barely did have enough food for the three days, I think we should have made allowances for the fact that I was with 10 extremely hungry boys who eat a lot several times a day and will faint if they miss lunch!
Anyway, off we drive down the road after mincing about for a while longer and then finally all of us managing to squeeze into the backseats of this decrepit 4x4. The ferry was good, the crossing was good, we came off the ferry ok and then we were in the sand and the forest and the forest trail. It was really cool!
Stephan did the driving first, because he'd driven 4x4s before and he was really good at not jolting us too much around. We all still had the warnings ringing in our ears about the 35 invisible dangers, so we were all a bit nervous in the beginning. The mood did get lighter soon after though, because we made it to Lake Mackenzie, our first stop. The mood may have also been improved by the fact that one row of boys decided to moon a passing car. Yes, they did. But it truly was hilarious - I'm not really sure why, but probably because we had all been so tense and the car was leaking with holes in the roof and the floors and it was raining all through, it all provided welcome relief.
Lake Mackenzie is beautiful! Blue clear water and a perfect white beach - the water is so clean you can drink it. I did. It tasted normal. I'm glad I did it fairly soon after entering the water and swimming out quite far from the shore, because Will, one of our group later confessed he had done a wee. Nice. Three days with boys and I'm bound to turn into a farting, burping, smelly wreck! Not really.
So then we went down the main beach which is stunning, too. Of course. There isn't a single place that isn't amazingly beautiful to be honest. So the beach is the main road on Fraser and all the cars drive there and airplanes land on it, so you have to keep your eyes open. Also, the beach is where most of the 35 invisible dangers are - the main one being a wash out that's like a cliff drop in the sand you can't see and then you flip over in your car several times and get horrific injuries. Anyway, we managed to keep our eyes open and made it to an old ship wreck by the beach which was really cool. It's just there, rusting away and you're not meant to climb on it unless you've had a tetanus injection. No, I think you're not meant to climb on it, period, but of course everyone does. The pacific is amazing, thundering into the wreck and spraying us and it was all too beautiful to be true.
So we're driving along further and we see this plane parked on the beach, so all the guys get excited and we had to stop and everyone had to pretend to be the pilot and sit in the plane with the headphones on and their picture taken. So funny...
In the end, we made it to the camp, which was in an Aboriginal area and consisted of some kind of wooden pavillion, in which we were meant to sleep. Well, so we get there and the place is deserted. We find the pavillion and something that looks like a kitchen, maybe and everything is seriously minging! The toilets are nasty nasty nasty and the showers smell like they have been used instead of the toilet.
So we trek around trying to find our Aboriginal host, who is blatantly drunk and attempts to show us around at some point, though I'm not sure that would be necessary as there's nothing to see. So we get cooking in the pithole of a kitchen and get a fire going and then things are much better! But we didn't realise there would be another group coming to join us at the same camp - so when a truck of another 11 boys rock up and we are all meant to sleep in the pavillion together, some people are not very happy at all! All the boys were grumbling at each other and grumbling about the lack of girls, except for me who was a no-go because Phil was right there with me. At times I felt like a ham amongst some very hungry dogs! Anyway, Phil kept his eyes peeled the whole time - so funny! - but to be honest, I had a lovely time. Everyone was very nice to me and we all had a laugh and a drink, so no complaints from me.
Come night time, our drunk Aboriginal host sits down for a chat by the fire with another chap who is bored stiff. So then he gets us to all introduce ourselves to one another and say why we came to Australia and why we came to Fraser Island and what we were planning on finding and doing with our lives. Hmmm.... so he starts off and reluctantly one by one we start the intros but then he gets stuck on this poor Korean chap who doesn't speak English and he keeps asking him questions and asking him why he doesn't answer them and stuff like that and we were all cringing! After several attempts to convince our host of the fact that the poor guy doesn't speak English, we managed to continue the intros though half way round the circle he lost interest and started talking about some rubbish. Gosh we were relieved!
Then he got the other chap with him to play the didgeridoo which was pretty cool. Then we had a go on the didgeridoo and then we got drunk and went to bed as this was much easier.
Next day, we made our way to some truly amazing spots such as Indian Head, which is a big cliff face and the Champagne pools, which are rock pools right by the edge of the Pacific and the waves slam over the rocks and over you and you can swim and play. We had a great time there once we made it! We were told that we couldn't take the car down to the pools and we had to walk from Indian Head but didn't know how far it was! Luckily, I managed to get us a ride on some passing cars- hooray!
The pools were amazing and we kept balancing on the edges and getting knocked off by the big waves. At one point though I got a bit too enthusiastic and managed to get thrown and scraped all over the rocks by this massive wave. Am pretty banged up, but it's not so painful really, only noticed it more when I stood on the beach and the sand around my feet started to turn red from the blood dripping down my legs! R well.
We also went and saw the Pinnacles, which are coloured sand dunes which look like rocks - really interesting! - and the sand is so soft and fine, it's amazing. We also went down to the main creek where you can kind of float down the river and sunbathe on the beach and that was really pleasant, though there were too many people for our liking there. But really, it wasn't so bad, we thought it would be worse because of Easter!
Back to camp and guess what! We had another group join us there and it consisted of 10 girls and 1 boy! All the guys were so happy and immediately rushed to get showered, shaved and change their clothes! So funny! We all got on well and had a nice evening, until our man from the night before showed up again and wanted to get us to introduce ourselves again...
He had another friend with him this time and the bored guy from the night before, and it was a bit better, because then they showed us how to make a fire by rubbing sticks together and it came in really handy, because then the electricity conked out and we couldn't see a thing!
That night, Phil and I went to bed fairly early and chilled out - it was good to have some time for the two of us on Fraser. Not that we had privacy, we were still in a pavillion with 20 other people only tonight, there wasn't quite so much snoring and smelly stuff going on!
Day 3 came round too soon and there after all that love in the air from last night, I think the guys were quite pleased to be getting away as they now had their fill! So off we went to the sand dunes - it's like the desert and beautiful, felt like Lawrence of Arabia - and then went to Lake Wabi. It's surrounded by tea trees, where you get the tea tree oil from and it turns the water into a dark dark green. It's really beautiful!
There is one steep dune leading down to the waters' edge and people run, slide or fling themselves down it into the water. Great fun! We all had a splash and then got ready for another round of Lake Mackenzie, as last time it was raining so much when we got there.
Now at this point, I have to emphasize that we all had a go at driving the car and it was really cool doing the 4x4 action hero thing, but the car wasn't in a very good shape at all. It really hadn't been in great shape before, but now after being with us for a while, it really wasn't in good shape at all... everytime you drove, it was banging away and making howling noises. It sounded like there was someone knocking the whole time and intermittently there were some explosions. I don't know... but anyway, we knew we were on the last day by now and it had been ok until now, so we reckoned as long as we made it to the ferry, it was fine.
So after our final swim, we pile in and guess what, yes, the car will not start. At all. Our ferry is in 45 minutes and we can't get the car going at all. So we all have a go at starting it and poke under the hood and we're all a bit puzzled. Another group of guys didn't have any bright ideas either and so we decide to push start it at least. So Andy gets in and we all push - no, not me - there are about 20 strong lads about, like I would make a difference pushing? But nothing, the engine won't do it and we don't have any space anymore other than push start this massive car by rolling it up a hill! And so I get to be at the wheel while all the boys push again and HOORAY! the girl got the car to start. YES!!!!
Too scared that it will stop again, we're all jumping in the car now, things flying about and us roaring down those tight roads, bouncing all over the place and the engine howling like a werewolf ready for the kill! Oh man, I was driving so fast to try and make the ferry and as we pull in - AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! - it's just moving off and we've missed it.
Luckily we got a space on the next one and so sat on the roof and had some beers and nuts. We were starving, but that was all that was left from our food box, except a jar of mayo. I think one of the guys tried to even eat that by itself... so we made it back in one piece and we all agreed how lucky we've been to have been in a group together!
We truly had a great time and it was so much fun, really good! Would recommend it to anyone and all our mishaps added to our adventure and made it even better. To round the trip off, we then hit an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in town and emptied it. Hooray!
posted by Phil and Tanja @ 10:35 PM
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