That's What She Said..

---

Got to Rainbow Beach at about 12. Checked into the hostel. The room looked like a Thai jail. 10 beds in a dark dank room. Awful. Had a safety briefing ready for leaving to the island in the morning. We had to watch a dvd about driving in sand and then one for being 'dingo safe'. The dvd told us to cross our arms across our chests and back away from dingoes. What a load of rubbish.. The guides said don't do that as covering your nipples won't protect you from a dingo! Was also below a couple in my bed again. Terrible nights sleep.

Had to get up at 6am to be ready to leave at half 7. All these early mornings are killing me! Got into our groups. I could tell that my group was going to be the best instantly! We loaded our car with our stuff and all 8 of us climbed into a big white Toyota 4x4 land cruiser. I drove first. We then conveyed to the ferry to get to the island. Had a bit of deep sand to get through just before the crossing. First gear and power!! We all made it through with no problems. Saw some dolphins from the ferry. Only took 10 mins to Fraser Island. I then let Jakob drive. He's 21 and from Norway. We found out quite early on that he's a model.. We didn't drop it until we got back. Poor guy. He's not just a pretty face though and we had a laugh. When we got to the island there were cars getting stuck in the sand immediately. All four of our cars got through it. Driving in deep sand is similar to driving in deep snow. Did quite a bit of driving on the first day. Visited Lake Mckenzie for a swim. There had been quite a bit of rain recently so the lake was 2 metres higher than it should have been. Also wasn't as clear as usual. Was still beautiful. The drive to and from the lake was some of the most extreme off road driving! Some really big holes and deep sand. People kept getting stuck. Our cars were troopers though. We named our car Helga as we decided she was a butch strong woman. Me, Sally and Gemma had a giggle in the car as we were making some very immature comments. The trip mainly consisted of a lot of 'that's what she said' and 'wheeeey'. We even got Leo, a French guy, Hedwig, a doctor from Holland and Maren, a German girl, doing it by the time we got back! We cooked dinner and then got drinking. Standard. Unfortunately I succumbed to peer pressure and bought a bag of goon.. $11 (£6.50) for 4 litres.. Wasn't actually that bad! Drank so much. There is a 'night club' in the campsite. It's a room with an aux cable, a string of flashing lights and 2 big speakers.. However when smashed on goon it's the best place ever! Me and Sally were dancing like idiots. We were also harassing our awesome tour leader Mick and trying to get him to dance. Funny.

Everyone was a bit fragile the next day. Especially Jakob. He kept having to have a lie down. I fed him painkillers and his day improved. We mothered him. He was grateful. First stop was Eli Creek. Also known as hangover creek. It's a lazy river. Was so clear and refreshing. Everyone felt a bit better after a swim. We then baked in the sun for a bit and chatted. We went back to camp for lunch. In the afternoon we went to Indian Heads. It's a beautiful lookout across the ocean. Watched some whales. Then we went to the Champagne Pools. They're rock pools that fill up from the sea that you can swim in. Didn't fancy a swim but sat in the sun and talked instead. Then went back to camp for dinner. We were all exhausted! Had a cheeky lie down before cracking out the goon again.. Cue more dancing and loonish behaviour from me and Sally. A big group of us went down to the beach to look at the stars.. Took our dingo sticks to protect our nipples. The stars were amazing. The moon was also gorgeous as it was red. Goon is the way forward when camping on Fraser. Tiny foam mattress and no pillows!! However you kind of pass out and don't notice. We weren't in Helga on our last day as we swapped with the people in Mick's car to give them a go at driving. The last day was a drive to Lake Waby. A long 2km walk through the trees, across sand and all uphill! Tough going. Was awesome when we got there though. A really steep sand dunes that goes straight down into the lake. Tried sliding down on my ass but just ended up burying myself! Then sat about in the sun again. The walk back wasn't as bad as it was downhill but still took us ages. We then had lunch then had to go back to get the ferry. As we got off the ferry we got stuck in the sand! Properly stuck too. We all piled out, unhitched the trailer and had to push. Then car 2 got stuck.. Was hard work getting them out. There was an after party for all the groups at the hostel next door with karaoke. Discovered a cocktail called a Tequila Sour. Error. Drank lots of them. Then went to an after after party at Mick's house. Ended up getting back to the hostel at 4am.

Had to check out before 10. Bus to Airlie Beach was at half 12. Just dossed about with Sally while I was waiting. She's awesome and I got a bit choked up when I had to say bye to her! I'll see her when she gets back to England though. As I write this I'm on the bus. The first leg of my 19 hour journey. Happy days.

Xxxx

---