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Published: November 12th 2008
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Hello everyone,
We have just returned from a magical few days on Fraser Island.
We started the day by picking up the Landrover 4WD from Hervey Bay at around 6am and heading for the barge. The 4wd took a little getting used to but was great fun. The barge journey took about 40 mins and we arrived on the west side of the island. From there we had to go through the inland tracks to get to the beach which was around an hour of bumpy terrain, big hills and pot holes - this was awesome. We eventually arrived at Eurong where you enter onto the beach.
Within 5 minutes of getting out of the car, we saw a big monitor lizard - much bigger than any lizard we have ever seen outside of a zoo. From then on, we were convinced we would see a snake at some point, but we never did...Maria was pleased about that!
Driving on the beach was great fun, you had to be a bit careful with the tides going in and out and navigating the 'wash-outs' the creeks create but you could pretty much go what speed you want and
where you want so we headed north and had a look about. Maria even had a go at driving on the beach.
We headed north and decided we were going to camp on the beach that night. This proved to be a bit of a nightmare. We found a plot off the beach a bit that had a bank to keep the wind out and pitched up for the evening, what we weren't aware of was how many horse flies and normal flies there was going to be they were everywhere landing on you constantly and the horse flies have got a bit of a nasty bite on them as well, anyway as it became evening they seemed to disappear a bit and me and Maria took a couple of chairs onto the beach and sat there and had a few drinks then after a few hours decided to retire for the evening.
The next thing we know we are woken by the sound of rain hammering down on the tent and wind blowing it all over the place. I popped my head out to see if the tent was holding up then when I got back in
we realised there was a crab in the tent with us and not a small one either - we were both a bit freaked out by this experience, but managed to get the little fella out and get some sleep. The good news is, that the tent did manage to hold up until morning.
Anyway over the next couple of days we managed to put that behind us and get about and see the things we had hoped too. Maria was happy as we saw a dingo while we driving along and stopped for a couple of pictures. There are about 150 on the island, but is a big old island, so you're quite lucky if you see one.
We then went to one of the lakes called Lake Allom where there are big sand dunes for surfing and this nice fresh water lake that we had a dip in. After that we headed further north to a lookout point called Indian Head where you get a good look at the 75 mile beach and on a clear day you can see sharks in the water below apparently but it was very windy when we went so unfortunately
we did not.
We also saw the Maheno shipwreck on the beach, which landed on shore in 1935 after a vicious cyclone, and has been sitting there on Fraser Island ever since!
We saved the best for last and went to Lake Mckenzie mainly because the weather hadn't been that great the day before. It was so picturesque, a crystal clear lake surrounded by white, soft sand on one side and rainforest on the other. We had a little dip in there too, and it was surprisingly warm. This is one of those places that actually looks as good as the postcard - if not better!
After that it was time to get the return barge and head to our hostel in Hervey Bay. Later that evening, we were sitting on the balcony of our hostel, having a few drinks, when Maria turned around to see a possum right in front of her. I thought he was pretty cute, but Maria thought he looked like a super-sized rat and called him vermin. He just wanted food, but he wasn't afraid to get in your personal space! Another guy in the hostel (an Aussie) came out and gave
him some bread so he would go away. but I managed to get a few shots.
The next day, it was a long drive back to Brisbane, where we are now. We are off to Fiji tomorrow, so we should be blogging on that trip next week some time.
Lots of Love
Ben and Maria
xxx
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Cheryl C
non-member comment
Hat
Hey Ben love the hat... Where is the zink cream?????? So you seen a possum, a dingo and a little baby lizzard. Shared your bed with a crab, what about the drop bears????? CC