Animal fun

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Hi all

Well after I last updated on here it was evening time and in Airlie Beach there is only one thing to do and that is go to the bar. So me and Tom headed down there and we had a mini after party from the people of the boat. We also met two girls (Sarah and Lisa) who were on the Oz bus with us. We got some free drink as all the boats did however by claiming there were more people on our boat we got more free drink. About 8 of the 17 people of the boat came and so did a couple of crew members. After the pub shut I headed back although Tom went to a club and kept the party going till the early hours when he stumbled in with just one and a half hours before our bus left.

We had a cool driver called Beaver who kept us entertained on the long drive down to the cattle station, and half way there we stopped for a game of lawn bowls, where we felt like we aged about 40 years, unfortunitly Lisa won though, though i came close, I'm not sure if thats something to be proud of. We stopped for lunch by the sea and had a bit of a picnic, though we did see a brown snake which we later found out was actually quite an agresive poisoness snake, but it left us well alone, phew.

We got to the cattle station at about 7 and checked in to our dorm, with the four of us from the night before (me, Tom, Lisa and Sarah) and Kate who we met in Airlie Beach, then it was to dinner for roast Goat. After dinner I learnt how to crack a whip, though it did feel kinda weird wearing goggles to do it. Apparently its when the end of the whip breaks the sound barrier it makes the noise, not when it hits the ground. It took a little while but I got the hang of it in the end. We then played some games including one where we had to pick up an increasing smaller cardboard box with our teeth who someone else we met in Airlie beach (James) was really good at and since then he has been known as Mr Flexible. After that when everyone headed of for the night we kept the party going in our room which was fun, playing games etc.

The next morning it was another early rise (we think we have had over a week of pre 7am rises at the present time), then it was off to do some Horse Riding and Goat mustering. Now there were horses called Jude, Marigold, Muse, but my one was called Frank, and Frank has got to be the laziest horse ever. It refused to get going till someone else dragged and was getting passed by everyone, well until Muse (Mr Flexible horse) decided to be stubborn as well. However I still tried to help herding the goats into the pen and Jude (Toms horse) helped by biting the goats on the behind. When i made it back to get off the horse a little time after everyone else it was time for the goat rodeo which was hysterical. We were in teams of 3 (Me, Sarah and Kate) and we put in a rodeo pen with one goat then one of us (Sarah) had to catch it, then I had to turn it on its side and Kate had to get the rod to mark it (though it was cold). Out of 6 teams all i can tell you is we weren't one of the three quickest, but it was so funny. Our last thing to do at the Cattle Station was to get electricuted by what they use to herd the goats when they are not on horses, which was quite a shock but was alright, though Lisa enjoyed it so much she went back to get another.

We were then back on the bus and heading for Hervey Bay which was another long day on the road, though everyone was so tired it went quite quickly, we got into Hervey Bay, said goodbye to Beaver, Mr Flexible and Kate (though we will see the last two again) checked into our hostel and got went to all you can eat pizza night.

So the next morning we were up to watch our pre Fraser Island (the worlds largest sand island) video and got taught about how to drive our 4x4 off road and on the beach. There was ten of us in our vehicle 7 Brits, 2 Austrians and 1 Italian. After our introduction we went to pick up our car, I was first to drive (5 drivers in our group) and started to go off with the door still open. We went to buy our food for the next 3 days and went onto the barge. It was only about 30 minutes to get accross to Fraser Island then we had to let down the tyres to give better grip andI was off driving off road through the centre of the island which was great fun to be driving again for the first time in 2 1/2 months and my first offroad which was difficult at first but I soon relaxed into it and was really enjoying going over the bumps. Once on the beach I had a small drive then I was in the back and we carried on up the beach (driving on the beach where aircraft also land) we stopped at the shipwreck on the east coast which is pretty rusted by now and then up to India Head which its a big cliff where you are meant to be able to see turtles and sharks from though we didn't see anything but it was still a spectacular view. Then we went to find a campsite and we had a few arguments about that, then once we found our campsite just off the beach (so we were not camping on the road) we had an interesting time trying to put up the rubbishy tents we were provided in the wind. Then we couldn't get the gas stove to light in the wind so we ended up (I'm not lying here, sorry) having Ketchup sandwhichs and apples (to be healthy). The four of us (me, Tom, Lisa and Sarah) stayed up later again drinking some more Goon (Australian term for cheap wine) and eatting food that we felt we had been shortchanged by, (a lot went when me, Sarah and Lisa were in the front).

Up at about 7 the next morning me and Lisa walked down to Ellie creek for an early morning dip which was very cold but totally woke me up, and there were proper toilets which was excellant. There was a current in the creek which took us along a bit. Then we walked back and waited for a couple of hours till the tide was not covering the road and we headed to Lake Wabby which is this great big lake about 2km inland which we had fun swimming in and taking cheesy pictures, it was a walk on sand dunes to get there which was some amazing sceneary and Sarah decided to role down the hill. At this point Sarah wasn't enjoying herself as someone had criticised her driving and people were not helping when we had difficulty with our tent the previous night so it was good to see her smiling again. Then it was back to set up camp which took a lot less time and was more sheltered so we got a good meal. There was a party a few tents along which us 4 and the 3 non English speakers all went to and we hung out with random people there chatting to them, the people whos tent it was were a bit amused as we were initially all heading for another tent where it termed out there was not party so on the way back we all stopped a random tent. We started to see Dingos firstly just one but soon they were walking past every ten minutes or so. They basicly look a lot like foxes. it was a really fun night and made better due to the rubbishy night before

This morning we had to be left by 8 from the campsite before the road was covered again, however we still saw some more Dingos before we left. We headed to Lake Mckenzie (the 6th best beach in the world) and sunbathed all morning and swam which was great and it was a really pretty beach and cold frshwater again which is meant to be drinkable though we didnt try. After burying Sarah in the sand we headed for a picnic site and had a good meal before heading back to the barge to get back to Hervey Bay, did my last driving for a couple more months and checked back into the hostel never to see those people again, woohoo.

And thats where I must leave as they are shutting up here.

Night

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