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Published: November 14th 2005
Hello Everyone,
We've arrived in Brisbane and are finally done with our bus transport!! Bus is by far the worst way to travel...so slow! Anyways, when we were back in Hervey Bay we went out to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We went on a self drive safari with 8 other people that we got put with in a 3 ton 4X4 vehicle. The morning we left we had an hour briefing on safety and instructions on how to drive on the loose sand and beaches. Needless to say after the briefing we got the feeling that we would be lucky to come back alive. The vulgor guide that did our briefing played videos and told stories of nasty rollovers that left many either dead or paralysed! Funny how they tell you this after you've forked over your money. The self-drive safaris are actually ending in December due to a government ban because of the high accident rate.
Luckily we had a good group, for the most part and had fun. Highlights of Fraser include Wallooby creek, a crystal clear watered creek running through the middle of the island. Much of the water in the creeks and lakes on the island is crystal clear because it gets sifted through miles of sand leaving it clear, clean and drinkable. Then we hiked out to Basin Lake. Next stop was Lake Mackenzie, another crystal clear lake that while you are swimming you can sip up some water. But then we noticed a little poo floating around and opted to stick to our bottled water. After Lake Mackenzie we drove to 75-mile beach which is registered as both a highway and runway. This is where all most all of the accidents occur because of washouts and fast driving. We camped along the beach and spotted a few Dingos (wild dogs).
The next day we continued along the beach and stopped at Eli Creek, a freshwater creek that runs into the ocean, a shipwreck that washed ashore and The Pinnacles which is a sand rock formation that looks similar to the North Dakota badlands. We then spent over an hour at a place called Indian Heads where you can climb to the top of this lookout and if your lucky see tiger sharks, manta rays, turtles and fish. We saw a manta ray and a turtle, but no sharks. Crazy thing is people were swimming in the water!! (We were strongly advised to do no swimming in the ocean around Fraser Island, especially at Indian Head because of the aggressive tiger sharks in the area). Our last stop of the day was at Champagne Pools where waves crash over a formation of rocks and it reminds you of champagne as the water gets all bubbly. It's quite pretty. We then drove to our campsite in a campground and camped there for the night.
The last day we went to Rainbow Gorge and the sand dunes. We climbed up an enourmous and steep sand dune, it was more fun jumping back down. Then we went back to Lake Mackenzie because it is so gorgeous and relaxing there. The scariest (and slowest) ride of the entire trip occurred on our way to Lake Mackenzie. This german girl was driving and once we got inland she thought she should make the one way road a 2 directional road and drive in the trees! Then we almost missed a turn, so she made a fast sharp turn in our 3 ton vehicle so we wouldn't miss, I thought for sure we were going to tip over. After this incident we alleviated her of her driving duties and put someone else is the drivers seat.
The diversity of our group made the trip quite fun and comical as English was most of these people's second language. There were people from Switzerland, Germany, England, Ireland, Belgium, France and we were the only 2 Americans.
That's it for now. Keep sending comments, it's so fun to read them! Pictures from Fraser Island are up...they're in the gallery.
Beth and Justin
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i love you barth>>. Deutsch