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Published: December 28th 2008
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After a chilled day at our campsite meeting the long-term residents and chilling by the pool etc we turned in early in preparation for our log day on Fraser Island.
We hopped on our big green bus with Glen our driver and guide for the day at about 7:40am, only a few others on the bus made is complacent that it would be a nice peaceful trip..oh no..we did not reckon with half a coach load of German people complete with German-speaking guide..she handed out all sorts of info and maps, but wasnt kind enough to give us anything despite the fact she was preparing to take over half our day by talking German over the microphone..quite irritating when you are trying to enjoy the scenic beauty and all that! Now don't get me wrong, this is not an attack on foreigners, nor Germans in general..just this specific group..and i might add one or two of them ended up being quite polite and friendly BUT they pushed in front at every opportunity, including when you are lining up to get a great photo. They insisted on stopping at the same plants every time we came past in the bus..flowers are
flowers..thats all. But most annoying of all..when their personal guide wasnt talking endlessly over the microphone and glen actually managed to prise it off her long enough to inform us of things in English, they did not seek nice and quietly as we had done..oh no they talked at volume and laughed raucously over everything he said.. not appreciated!!!
So on to the finer points of the day:
First stop was our ferry, driven by our skipper whom we re-named Captain Birdseye as he just resembled him sooo much!! Crossing was beautiful, nice breezes but glorious sunshine alongside it and a pretty smooth 50min crossing with lots of pretty sights on the way. Must have been the weather or something but my sea-sickness didn't make any appearances!!
We docked at moon point and watched the 4x4 drivers go through the sea to get onto Fraser and then we were introduced to our 4-wheel coach for the day 'Boomerang' again, bright green!
First we drove for a good 40mins and lets say Glen was a pretty mean driver considering the island is made solely of sand and the tracks are exceptionally un-even and windey!! We drove to a rainforest-pretty
spectacular size trees considering they are all growing in nothing but sand!! we had a little walk through the only rainforest on Fraser which has never had a tree felled in it..quite impressive.
What is also amazing is how much the terrain varies, obviously its always sandy but the types of trees and landscapes vary a huge amount for such a small expanse of space.
Following that we headed to happy valley where we had a huge buffet lunch, delicious fresh salads, fruits, cold meats and bread with chilled water and an ice cream to follow...all complimentary but the ice cream so not so bad!!
Glen then took us down to the beach, and along the 75 mile beach-pretty spectacular to see it stretch as far as you can see along the shore. The Fraser highway was a novelty..just the beach but a few randomly dotted cones along and signs to be careful where you walk..then people just whizzing along!! Sharing with jeeps, buses, boats and campervans as well as planes was quite bizzare!
No swimming on this particular beach though.. i was quite disappointed when he told us that until he added that the reason is because
there are too many sharks that come right up close to the shore.. not Great Whites at this time of year though.. (phew..right?? WRONG!) there are big hammer heads and tiger sharks.. tiger sharks are always really viscious..hammer heads vary. So basically no swimming past putting a few toes in for me!!!
Instead we headed down a few km to the Pinnacles which is where the coloured sands are most spectacular..there are various stories about how the coloured sand came about but Glen gave us the non-story version which was about iron ore, oxidation and rust and all those sciency things!! Still..nice photo opp!
We then headed back up to the shipwreck that looks like its just been dumped in the middle of no-where. It's called the Maheno shipwreck and was a cruise liner until it got overtaken by modern shipping and then was sold for scrap to the japanese..but as they were towing it away the rope broke in a storm and it settled on the shore of Fraser and hasnt moved since..!
We then headed back up to a little freshwater creek to paddle in the chilly but crystal clear waters, nice and refreshing but
not deep enough to swim..but were then approached by Glen and he asked if we wanted to fly over the island. We decided it was a once in a lifetime opp and splashed out although it wasn't as pricey as we expected and totally worth every penny.
The shore was breathtaking from the air and we even spotted a few manta-rays in the sea. Our pilot (in laughable knee-high socks..not that its relevant..just funny!) took us over the island and showed us the sand booms..where sand comes up in waves and waves and actually covers the trees and spills out over the tops like sand lakes.. when you consider how tall the trees i mentioned before were its quite astonishing! and they are miles in diameter!!
We also saw lots of the lakes from the air, including a gorgeous little lake called Butterfly lake which you can ONLY view from the air..(hha one up on everyone on our tour!!) All the lakes are actually freshwater lakes, another amazing part of the island, because it rains storms and the sand cannot absorb the water fast enough, it runs down the sides and drags debris and leaves etc with it and forms
dents in the sand which get heavier and heavier and the leaves and debris become mulch and eventually peat which forms a seal in between the water and sand so it fills. Amazing nature and all that.
We were re-united with our group back at happy valley. The plane was a tiny light aircraft and i have to admit it did make me feel a bit queasy whilst it was bobbing around but the views were enough to keep me distracted!!
We then headed to one of the many lakes, called Lake Garawonga (or something similar) where we had some muffins and juice and then headed down for a swim. Now the guides say the water is 'champagne' coloured.. but we settled on wee.(or if you are being less vile apple juice). but still a dip was nice.. (oh and the water is that colour because of the dye from a plant not because everyone pees in it or anything!) but once you were in it was best to keep swimming as the ground had a horrible squelchy feel!
Unfortunately our day had to end somewhere and the lake was our final destination before an hour or
so drive back to the ferry, we stopped along the way to look at many a flower and we all kept an eagle eye out for the wild dingos but Glen said it was too hot to really expect to see anything and he was right. Luckily the ferry was a bit late so we had an extra 20mins to wander along the beach and take a few more snaps before we headed home.
A little more rocky ferry crossing this time so a bit queasy on and off but managed to see a very pretty sunset from the boat which was an added bonus to the day.. needless to say we were both in bed pretty sharpish after such a long busy day..!!
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