Fraser Island Part 2

So on Saturday morning we awoke rather early, the sun comes up at way earlier than the crack of when dawn should be I reckon so you wake up at like 6am or something...still, it gets dark early too, so it all balances out I guess...So yep, as you can see from the picture, we saw a dingo pretty close to us today, looks like they tag them all. Isn't Dingo just a great word, Dingo dingo dingo...

Today we went off in a 4 4x4 car convoy, the tide was high so we went inland to avoid getting stranded and stuck on the beach, but eventually one of the cars started dying from all the hard work it was having to do, so we went back out to civilisation.

Then the rest of us headed to Eli Creek, which was just lovely too. Ami spotted that there were loads of blue bottle jellyfish on the side of the water, tiny little things that look like broken bits of bubble wrap..not fatal, but not nice stings either. There about the size of your nail and so you might easily not notice them floating about in the water...luckily Eli Creek was fresh water and we were seeing them where the sea met the creek.

It's just a whole lot easier to say this thing with pictures isn't it?
There was also a ship wreck where I reckon we all got some pretty cool pictures. Funny how people just leave ship wrecks, I guess they're too difficile to move and they then become tourist attractions!

There's so much to see on this island considering, you know, it's just a big sandune, but it's just amazing, every new thing you see is equally beautiful and slightly breath-takey, it's great! So on the way to go and catch us a campsite we saw the pinnacles, big pretty sandune formations.

Then we got a campsite with not so much wind protection from the sea and I got a bit freaked about all the holes in the ground, paranoid that we were going to be camping on a ton of snake holes......as dark came on, I drank a bit, discovered Bundaberg, cool rum ready mixed can things...must buy a couple of them...I didn't die by snake bite and slept pretty well. Oh there's a thing about snake bites and spider bites too I think it is...if you ever get bitten, don't waste time by trying to find the spider or snake flavour, just get yourself to hospital...there they have kits that test the flavour without you having to risk getting bitten a second time. Handy to know...if you're here.
I think Ami caught the sunset this morning, then came back in to the tent to sleep more. When we awoke we headed off to Champagne rocks and I got in the water!! It was lovely...although with me hurty foot a bit risky as the tide pushed you about a bit. So pretty though and it did bubble as the water came in sometimes too!

Then we went to a lake where we hoped to see little turtles, sadly we didn't, it was right brown and to clean a bit of the sea water off I got in, though didn't really enjoy it, and it was oddly cold...this is Australia don't you know I thought, it's meant to be hot hot hot! In the evening we went down to join Christian and crew in our original campsite and took advantage of their bbq. We got an ace glimpse of the Milky way as well as a few shooting stars, and a really cool image of a Dingo until some random horrid person drove up on to the sandune randomly to scare it or something, v odd.
The next morning we headed off to Lake McEnzie which was almost as amazing as Lake Birrabean, only there were more people about, I swam about for quite some time in it. If lakes looked like that in the UK I'd swim in them all the time. Who'da thought Australia would be the place where I'd choose comfortably to swim in a lake and ignore my swimming in a lake or the sea fears?

On the 'other side' (Rainbow Beach) we stopped for lunch and then spent an hour cleaning out Hit's car for all the sand that it had accumulated over the weekend...then a car wash, then a 3 hour drive back to Brisbane...I had a fab time travelling about with Ami, Joanna and Hit, it was really nice. We experienced the excitement of discovering that there were 'real' loos together (would it be a long drop or an Elsan type loo...), having ceremonies, they were subjected to my music taste, and all nearly got marrooned on the way back to the ferry on our return as the tide was a bit too high...

On my return to Brisbane I went to stay with Liz and loved the shower I got when I arrived! The company after that was lovely too, and she fed me lovely home made food and we shared a bottle of wine and had a good old moider. On the Tuesday Liz took me for a little tour of New Farm and to some delis and the like and then to eat in a nice restaurant there. Liz also recommended lots of films for me to watch, and showed me her book of all her film flyers which I thought was cute, it sort of inspired me to start going to the cinema more whilst I was here anywayz. My return flight I caught with Tiger Airways was even more annoying than the way out...This time they put us on the plane then had to get us off and scan our luggage again...as they'd received a 'there's a bomb' note or something. Sniffer dogs were in the luggage hold and the like too...that was all fair enough I guess, but the annoying thing was that they didn't try and help get us reasonably speedily back on, re-scanning more efficiently nor keeping us up to date via the tannoys. grrr. So back after midnight ready for work the next day. Humph! After a fabulous adventure on Fraser and a lovely evening and day with Liz it was an annoying way to finish. But I highly recommend you go and stay on Fraser Island if you ever get the chance, it's just lush, well worth it!

Fraser Island adventure Thurs 1st - Tues 6th April

OK so finally getting to this one...
On the Thursday I went in to work and had to be back home late avo to get me taxi, had plans of getting a few things on the way, but only managed a slightly mental looking orange hat and a bit of first aid bits. Was a busy day for the taxis in Melbourne as everyone was heading off for their holidays - taxis aren't ever present in Melbourne, there is a bit of a shortage..but I had booked so safe. Was flying with Tiger Airways, oh yay, one hour delay: it's at Terminal 4 in Melbourne which is a cardboard building with a runway which you practically have to push yourself off the ground from...as there was an hour wait, I went for the 5 minute walk to the International terminal to get some dinner to keep myself busy. Once actually on the flight, I felt desperately British and dull as the air hostesses/hosts frolicked and joked around and 'Magical Marklz' had a crowd in the back of the plane in hysterics...and then wandered up and down the plane with a blonde wig on...this would not happen on a British plane . Now, don't get me wrong, the more relaxed friendly attitute from people when you're flying in Oz, that I've experienced so far, is generally better, but irritating kid-like air hosts is less appealing. Anyway arrived in Brisbane and in true Hitesh style he said we were off to one of his friends house for drinks. Nice bunch of people, but then we had to run off to get some shut eye as we were to be up at 4am...and then we were off, Myself, Hit, Joanna, Ami and Cerry (we were going to meet Cerry's boyf up at Rainbow beach)...after packing etc we were off, 3-4 hours up the coast to Rainbow beach, with an interesting detour through some bumpy tracks for Hit to test the Landrover with.

At Rainbow beach we met up with Dan and Adam and Brook...but Christian's party were nowhere to be seen...the funny walky talky things were used but no response from him...so we got on the ferry over to Fraser Island. Over the other side was great, bumpy up and down roads...I started to worry I would get car sick, but it was too much fun to watch to get sick! We drove along the beaches with the tide coming in and out and then inland too. We went to one lake which was a bit brown and mirky for my liking, you couldn't see your bod as you went in...but then we all went over to Lake Birrabean, it was soooooo beautiful, clear white sands and amazing crystal clear water, I was gutted I hadn't changed in to my swimming costume so just paddled about...oh yep, the weather too it was just lovely and warm. In the evening before it got dark (around 6pm) we went to seek our campspot and by luck and chance came across Christian's party, so camped up near to them. So it was primitive camping with no loos or owt...so on out going for a 'ceremony' as it became known Ami and I spotted a little legless lizard...or snake...on checking my books since being back home I think it could be either. It was small and deffo looked more scared of us than we were of them...but I wasn't keen on it biting my bum whatever!! We saw dingos once or twice walking near the campsite too. Skinny torsos they have, not coz they're starving all the signs say....I'm going to post this one there now I reckon, coz otherwise these things just get rather long with the way I moider on...will do part 1 and part 2 Fraser maybe instead...