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Published: September 19th 2011
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On Sunday 9th September we left Brisbane to move up the coast to Rainbow Beach. There were lots of people out in Brisbane with signs wanting the truth about 9/11, as I'm sure there were in lots of other cities across the world. It really showed me that although Australia is a long way from home and a long way from New York, the Western World is a pretty small place and similar things affect people in the same way all over.
As we moved up the coast we started to see more and more of the typical Queensland homes I was expecting to see - raised off the ground and surrounded by palm trees. The houses are raised up partly to prevent damage from flooding of the nearby rivers, and partly as a natural air-con. There are so many rivers, especially further up past Rainbow Beach and you can really see how the floods in January got so devastating. So far I haven't seen much flood damage, and I've been told that's more to do with how well things have been rebuilt than a lack of damage in the places I've seen so far.
We arrived in Rainbow
Beach at about 5pm; it's a fairly small town that really only sees tourists who are going to Fraser Island from there, but we still managed to find a bar showing the Wales game, and so settled down with a beer to watch the match. The next day we got up ridiculously early to go over to Fraser - the world's biggest sand island that's only accessible by 4WD vehicles. We watched the obligatory health and safety videos about driving on the island, and also about not swimming in the sea due to sharks and dangerous rips, and being 'dingo-safe'. There are lots of wild dingos on the island and it was a bit like being in Yosemite Park in California - you have to lock up all your food and toiletries because the dingos will attack anything to get at something that smells like food. We were also told lots of stories of people getting drunk and dying either by going out in the sea at night and drowning or by driving when drunk and crashing or rolling the car. So with that in mind we set off for Fraser...
There were 7 of us in my car
- two British girls, three Germans and a Dutch guy plus me, and our group had three more cars with 7 or 8 people in each, so we were a fair sized group. Each car had their own food which we had to cook as a group, and we all took it in turns with the driving. We did have a guide who was in the first car and he led us around and told us where to stop and for how long. We all loaded onto the barge to get across to the island, and as soon as we were off we were driving on the beach. Driving on the sand was so much fun and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We had a few mishaps, particularly when we hadn't noticed the waves and got completely submerged in a couple (one of the funniest things to have ever happened to me), but no one rolled the car or even crashed it slightly. We stopped for lunch on the beach that day and then carried on to one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. It was slightly inland but was surrounded by white
sand and palm trees and the water was completely clear. Having never been to the Caribbean I have never seen water so clear and couldn't stop saying, 'I can see my toes!'. We swam in the lake and lay on the sand, and were not ready to move when the guide suggested we head to camp. Our camp was already set up with lots of 3-man tents and a big communal eating and drinking area with gas stoves and bbqs under canopies, and we even had real toilets only a short walk away. We spent the evening eating and drinking and getting to know everyone, and the atmosphere was really lovely.
The next morning we were not impressed when we woke up to rain. The last few days had been high 20s and early 30s and we were not impressed by the 22 degree cloudy weather that greeted us! We set off to Ely Creek, another beautiful clear stretch of water that would have been a lovely bath if it had been hot, but I was not quite brave enough to go completely in, and the people who did looked like they regretted it quickly! We moved on to
see a wreck that had washed up in the 1930s and has been on the island ever since, in quite good shape considering! We then drove to the Champagne Pools; saltwater pools that the sea washes into, creating little bubbles and looking like champagne. We weren't all that impressed by these - there wasn't that much water in them and it wasn't bubbly at all, less champagne and more cava we thought! We then took a walk up to Indian Head - the highest point on the island where we did see some stunning views of the island, and even managed to spot a sting-ray in the sea below us. That evening involved more eating, drinking and getting to know our now well-bonded group of friends.
The sun decided to come out again for our last day on the island and we loaded up the trailer and drove to Lake Wabby. This lake was a 40-minute walk inland, through the forest for the first 30 minutes and then over huge sand dunes for the last 10 minutes. It was literally like being in the middle of the desert; we couldn't see anything but sand and then suddenly came upon
this huge lake and wanted to run all the way down and jump in after walking in the hot sun for so long. We had been told stories about people breaking their legs and neck by running down, so we decided to roll on our sides into the amazingly cool water - one of the most refreshing experiences of my life. We spent the next hour or so swimming and lying in the sun, and then had to trek back to the cars for lunch. We were sad to then leave Fraser Island, but had one of the best hot-shower-and-cold-beer-combos ever. That evening the hostel had a night of karaoke and so our new Fraser family spent most of the night hogging the mike and generally making fools of ourselves; one of the best nights I've had so far.
The next day we travelled to the town of Agnes Water, which has a nearby town called 1770 because this was one of the first places the British landed back in 1770. We were very confused for a while and weren't sure if it was one town with two names, or two different towns, but we have since come to
the conclusion that it is in fact two towns. On the way here we stopped at the famous Bunderberg rum factory and tasted some of their rum. I'm not a rum fan but I do have to say it went down pretty well at 11am on a Thursday morning!
When we arrived in 1770 (does anyone else find this amusing??) we headed straight for the beach and stayed there for the whole afternoon. The town itself is pretty small and relaxed, and the hostel I'm staying in is the cleanest and most chilled I've ever been to. I have managed to get a job here for 2 hours a day, cleaning for accommodation which saves me a fair amount of money over the next week. On Friday morning I went for another surf lesson but the waves weren't great, so we spent most of the time sitting on the boards catching a tan. On Saturday afternoon we went on a Scooteroo tour, which is probably one of the best things ever invented; three hours driving around town on 50cc scooters that have been beefed up to look a bit more manly and then driving to the beach to watch
one of the few sunsets over the sea on the East Coast. We had leather jackets and fake tattoos and had so much fun.
I'm going to spend the next week working in the mornings and then lying on the beach or going surfing or kayaking in the afternoons. Not bad for late September, hey!
Love to you all xx
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Hannah P
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sounds lush han! so jealous! ur pics are breath-taking!! so happy for you that youre having such a fab time! love u loads xxxxxxxxxxx