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Published: February 7th 2007
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And so we were off once again, first stop was to be at a lovely little place called Noosa which was not unlike Byron Bay only a bit more chilled! We spent an afternoon on the Beach there being virtually the only people on our little section! Then the next day - crikey - we went to Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's little gem of a place! Man, is that cool! It was a little sad to be there but so inspirational! He really had a passion and the staff there are so keen to keep the enthusiasm and his efforts alive - it was amazing! We watched a number of presentations on the local and feral fauna as well as the famous Croc-usseum show - with snakes, birds and crocs demonstrating their skills! Scary stuff! But so well done! Although it was a little cheesy! However the rest of the Zoo was amazing, much more animal interaction than anywhere else, allowing Kangaroo, Koala, Baby Croc and Tortoise encounters! It was soo well done - I'd go back in a flash!!!!
That was Noosa done and dusted - in so far as our itinerary would allow anyway! And so it was
onwards and upwards, this time to a place called Rainbow Beach from which we would do a pretty fab Fraser Island 4x4 camping trip! After a briefing about the trucks, camping and the like we were put into random groups (which are said to make or break the trip - man is that true!!) Our group consisted of 3 germans - Rieke, Nora and Paul, 4 canadians - Gordie, Steve, Randy and Chris and 4 brits - Jon, Bec and Jen and I! That evening we opted for a few getting-to-know-you drinks before being confined to a Jeep and everyone seemed pretty cool! The next morning was an early start for free pancakes at our hostel and packing the truck up. This we managed relatively quickly and by 10am we were off - island bound! The 7 minute ferry journey was painless and within minutes of getting off, we were well and truly stuck in the sand! Not 3 metres into the trip! At this point Randy was driving and a quick exit and some assistance from everyone got us out of there pretty swiftly! It had been recommended that, given the tides, our first stop be the rather stunning
Lake Mackenzie - which took some getting to! It was 19km from the beach highway - which was quickly to be proven a pretty smooth ride, despite not seeming it at first experince! The 19km that ensued to the Lake were unbelievably bumpy! Our speed was reduced to about 15km/h and our teeth were well and truly rattled! Tippy tippy did indeed enter the equation once or twice going up hill and down dale to get there - however Randy's driving got us there in one piece - albeit a pretty hot piece! The lake was soooo welcoming and the temperature and landscape divine! White-golden sands, turquise waters and clear blue skies! Certainly no complaints! From there it was on to beat the tide, our driving times restricted somewhat with no driving 2 hours before high and low water! Thus it was a pretty speedy affair as soon as we got back on the beach, with cries of Jelly (jellyfish about to be pulverised!) and Washout (where the rainwater drained from the island!) punctuating the screams and laughter! So much fun!!! Our campsite that night was a near the Maheno Shipwreck and involved gritty food, camping in semi-erect tents and
HUGE horse-fly like blood sucking flies! Delightful! However, the experience was seriously improved by 4 litres of GOON!!! This is extremely cheap boxed wine, which is incredibly effective - as long as you want to be near paralytic!!! With the music pumping, the wine flowing and the waves crashing it was a good nights camping!
The morning wasn't quite so great given the hangovers, but we were soon off again - heading first to Eli creek for a wash and a cool down and then on to the Champagne Pools. Getting there was a wee bit hairy requiring complete evacuation of the vehicle and a considerable run up to get through the soft sand, but in credit to our driver of the day - Gordie - he managed it! The champagne pools were fairly big rock pools, filled by incoming waves which were pleasant enough - if a little nippy - given the low lying cloud and imminent threat of rain! From there it was on to Indian Heads a rather spectacular lookout point, that gave panoramic views back onto the island and down in to Shark, Turtle and Ray infested waters! I definitely saw Rays and Turtles, and
I think I saw a few sharks but wouldn't swear to it - although if they weren't they were pretty BIG fish!!! Unfortunately we didn't get the best weather for it - on a clear day there are usually plenty of sightings of sharks, dolphins and other large sealife! Ah well! From there we headed back down south (Dingo spotting along the way!) in search of a campsite for the night - opting to stop where the party seemed to be! Uh-oh - more goon!!! The tents were put up and more gritty culinary delights produced - before more campsite frolicks! The hangover the next morning was sooo much worse - given the extremely poor tent locations and the lumps in the beds - combined of course with excessive goon slapping quantites! Overall though - GOOD TIMES!!!!!
It should be said that even prior to this trip 2 pet hates of mine were camping and sand - probably not the best idea to go to the World's largest sand island and stay in tents then! Gritty food, gritty hair, sand where you didn't realise sand could be! All in all a fantastic laugh though and an experience not to
be missed - though probably not repeated! The trips like this seem to be made or broken by the group that you are in and we were very lucky as we had a pretty cool group!
Return from the trip saw showers and de-sanding before SLEEP!!! And suddenly I was sooo grateful I was staying in a hostel, dinner that night was also a sand free affair and MUCH appreciated! We had pre arranged to stay in Rainbow beach for an extra night to take advantage of a supposed freebie, thrown in with our package tour, to go kayaking with Dolphins off the beach - unfortunately due to the Cyclone brewing further North (North I hear you say? Yep, that's where we are headed!!!), the trip was considered too dangerous and we were offered a surf lesson instead - which we declined hoping we could trade the trip for something else with the travel agent......? Time will tell!!!
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