Fraser Island

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im in airlie beach at the moment about to go on a whitsunday cruise later on to day. this has een the first chance to get on the internet for alomost a week.
After leaving brisbane for a short greyhound trip to hervey bay (pronounced harvey bay by the aussies even tho its clearly hervey!) we checked into a hostel called Koalas that we were also doing to fraser tour with. we weree really cautuous about this hostel and group because we had read loads of bad things online but it turned out to be fine and we had a great time.
the hostel was ok and was small building containing dorms set around a pool and bar with a really shit kitchen. the hostel only has backpackers going to fraser island staying there as there isnt much reason to go to hervey bay. the town is like a ghost town with the odd bar or shop but not much else. the beach is quite nice but has o surf because its shelterd by fraser. tho on the edge of town its just a huge industrial park like you get in england with mc donalds and kfc and the usual crap. we were booked into do the tour on monday but there was thunder storms on the bay so we put it back a few days and it really paid of because the weather was shocking the days we where suposed to be on the island.
the fraser islad 4x4 self drive tour is where they put you into a group of 11 new friends and give you a sturdy 4x4 with camping and cooking supplys in and let you loose on the island. they tell you that you have to stick to a itinerey and go to certain places at certain times but they have no way of knowing what you do on the island.
on our 4x4 me and charlotte shared it with a nude model, 2 austrian skateboarders, 1 professional football player for melbourne and a few others with less intresting hobbys. we got along really well and we both think thats what made the trip so good for us.
the actual island is amazing. its the worlds largest sand island and is coverd in lakes and dense rain forset. there is no roads, only sand tracks through the forest which makes very bumpy and long journeys, 7km took us 30mins along one road. when we arrived at the island we headed straight for lake mckenzie whcih was large fresh water lake in the middle of the jungle with a whitest sand along the edge. it was amazing and one of the things i will remember for a very long time, the water was so pure that you could drink it and see so far underwater. a sureal expirience was swiming underwater in the turquiose water and the lake droping of really deep and still bieng able to see the bottom.
we drove to the beach which stretches the entire lenth of the island and is the quickest way to get around because the sand is wet and flat so you can drive very fast, some planes even take of on it. we set up camp on the beach and struggled to cook spagbol in the wind ad ended up having the crunchyest pasta in the world from all the sand blowing in to it. the rest of the night is a bit of a blur as much goon and bunderburg rum was consumed by all.
the next morning after having a heated debate about driving on the beach when the tide wasnt fully out we drove to a lake called Wabby. we walked for almost a hour thru forest to walk out on to a amazing sand blow which stretched for miles of just sand, like the sahara and at the end of it at the bottom of a huge sand dune was a small lake which the sand was slowly eating up. because the advancing sand dune was pushing into the lake it was the deepest lake on the island even tho it was so small. it was a dark green colour and not very clear and the water smelt a little bit because it was either stagnant or because it was borderd by dense forest.
we drove up to the other end of the beach to see a wreck just lying on the sand of a old cruise ship called the Maheno which the story goes was bieng towed to a japaneise scrap yard from sydney when it was caught in a cyclone and beached on the island and has been left happily rusting.
on the way back from the wreck we walked up a board walk to eli creek and walked alond the base of the stream out ito the sea.
we camped at a large camp site in the middle of the island in a forest with huge trees, i cant really do them justice but they wwherre massive and they all had noisey insects in which where so loud somtimes that your ears would ring. this camp site was luxery with o sand in your food or wind and it had toilets and showers and no fucking dingos trying to eat your food at night. memorie of the nights not to good either because of excessive goon.
next day we spent it at lake mckenzie before coming back. i recomend the island to anyone and is well worth coming to australia just for it

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