Nature Study

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10/25/08
I wasn’t sure which part of the Fraser Island “adventure” deserved the adjective more: the beach-driving, bush-camping part or the part where you are thrown into very close quarters with ten complete strangers.


On Saturday evening after the sailing trip, Cristina and I spent another night on a Greyhound bus, traveling about eleven hours from Airlie Beach to Rainbow Beach. Rainbow Beach was tiny, it seemed to have about one street with shops and cafes, but of course had an amazing stretch of beach and ocean views. Airlie Beach had been a bit bigger, but I was actually surprised by the small size of the towns. The two of us were quite exhausted but pushed ourselves out for an exploratory walk. We were advised to check out the Carlo Sandblow, which is a huge expanse of advancing sand blown up and over the forest by consistent winds. I’d never seen anything like it, it felt like we were in a desert, except that we were surrounded by lush vegetation. Apparently it will continue to expand over time, killing the forest as it goes.


We were staying at Fraser’s on Rainbow Beach, which was part of our package. It was clean, open, and inviting. There was a pool and hammock and the entire complex was situated around a central bar area which proved to be too loud at night. I was glad I could still hear geckos making their loud chirping noises even this far south.


I’ll have to finish this later, please do check back. I just wanted to post the photos for your viewing pleasure but you have to promise to read about them as well in the next few days! This is a good one, I promise haha.

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Photos

The Maheno shipwreck.
A luxury liner from the early 1900s.