Fraser Island

Why? Why was my alarm going off at 6:45? I was in the middle of a cracking dream, although I can’t quite remember what it was now, and I was having to drag myself out of bed and get ready. I had booked myself on a day tour of Fraser Island and James was to be leafing through some scripts whilst I was out and about. The pick-up from the hotel was clean and uncomplicated, and we were soon at the ferry departure point. The journey across the water took about 40 minutes and I was happily basking in the sun and chatting away to the old couple on the seats next to me about general Australia things. I was still loving the fact that we had seen wild Koala bears but they didn’t seem very impressed at all. Still, I did enjoy his cr-azy socks that had “Marijuana” and marijuana leaves printed on them.

When we arrived at the shore of Fraser Island we got on what I can only describe as a “pimped-out” school coach which had huge wheels and raised suspension. It became abundantly clear why as soon as we set off – there were no roads to speak of, only sandy tracks that were bumpier than……well, I can’t think of a cogent analogy, but it was the bumpiest ride I’ve ever been on! The first stop was Lake McKenzie, a freshwater perched lake – “perched” because it was up in the sand dunes and had formed through the sand and organic matter forming a big sink to fill up through rainfall alone. It was a cracking lake, but flipping freezing! We were all assured that it would great to have a swim in and it would make our hair really soft (which is just what I was looking for) but after about 10 minutes it was too cold to take, so I lay back on my towel on the beach to warm up. It was then that I realised that I had inadvertently set up camp on a massive ants nest. And I mean the ants were massive and not the nest itself! And then it was time to jump back on the coach and get to the next stop!

Lake McKenzie

The next stop was in the rainforest, and only a short, but bumpy, ride in the Beast (the pimped-up coach). It was a chance for Craig, our tour guide and driver, to tell us a little bit more about the area that we were in and walk us along the boardwalk. He dealt out facts and figures about the island and its flora and fauna, all interesting stuff, but I won’t bore you with it at this stage. Once we had finished in the rainforest we jumped back in the Beast and headed to the restaurant by the beach for a laid-on lunch. As expected, it was a buffet with nothing amazing on show, but I made sure to fill my plate so I wouldn’t be feeling the hunger pang later on, as it would be a late drop-off back at the hotel.

Next up was a trip along the beach in the Beast, passing fishermen and a dingo searching for, and chomping down, crabs. We arrive at The Pinnacles after a 20 minute drive along the 75 mile beach – a set of hardened sand with various colours due to varying mineral content. After that we drove down to the shipwreck of the Maheno. The wreck was pretty majestic, having lain there rusting since 1935, although it was crawling with tourists, mostly having got off from the Beast itself. Off the coast we also managed to catch a glimpse of whales breaching the waves. After the shipwreck we headed to Eli creek, where I joined the rest of the tourists walking through the creek. It got too deep at several points so I had to stick to the sides, and gave up when it started to wet my shorts, even after I had rolled them up as high as I dared. On the return leg down the beach we saw another dingo, just trotting along the beach and not even noticing the Beast pulling up alongside it.

The Maheno shipwreck

We got the ferry back to the mainland as the sun was going down and the coaches were waiting to take us back to the hotels. I was the last drop-off (again) and got back at around half 6. We wandered down to the high street to grab two battered sausages with chips and another bottle of wine, to share, and relaxed with The Goonies on the telly. Bliss. A SKYPE with the folks after that and a bit of a pack up for the early start the next day and that was the end of Friday the 7^th of September.