Noosa-Rainbow Beach - Fraser Island - Hervey Bay - 1770 - Airlie Beach

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The weather did clear up at Rainbow Beach, which I was very happy about as the next day we went to Fraser Island for a 4x4 Self drive tour. In total we had about 4hours briefing on how are where to drive on the beach, how to drive the on the sand, where to go, camp etc. The next morning we set out in groups of 8, in a convoy of 7 cars. Fraser Island is (the world biggest) sand island. We caught a barge from Rainbow beach to get there and then off we went, driving along the sand right next to the sea. In our group Bryan drove first followed by me in the afternoon (may I add here that we have all come back safe)! We drove up the beach to our campsite (where I did some stunning parking 😉 before the tide started to come in and then made our way to find Eli creek to have a swim. It was a really hot day, but you are not allowed to swim in the ocean because of the strong rips and currents - which you could see by the waves crashing onto the beach! After setting up camps We walked along the beach to a fairly big shipwreck, before walking for what felt like miles on the soft sand to the creek, which was very pretty and refreshing. The sun set on our walk back which was beautiful! We saw some Dingos too! Very cute but obviously didn't go near them, they came quite close to us though as the trip went on! We then prepared the most extravagant camping meal I have ever had on a gas stove - Steak and potato salad, yum. The rest of the evening we spent sensibly socialising (with a very little bit of goon), before going to bed (3 man tents) to endure a very cold night.

The next morning we were up to watch the sunrise before heading off to the furthest point we were allowes to drive to - Indian Head. This is a massive cliff, where the tour man told us before leaving that if we were to see any sea creatures it would be here. Up we went to cliff top, where we stood just staring at the sea for about 20 mins before a Whale made my day and swam by! yesssssss!! Big black creature surfacing every 5 minutes or so to show us a big body and fin. All very pleased that we had spotted a whale, we headed back down the beach past the campsite and the shipwreck to head off road to go to Lake McKenzie. It was my turn to drive again, it was the most dodgy bit of driving in my life, the track was bumpy, had loads of ditches and was really steep in parts, but it was awesome fun! The track took forever to get down but it was so worth it we reached the lake. The water was crystal clear, so beautiful. Sophie and I were straight in there, as the sun was still shining! After some convincing (splashing) the others were in too. Bryan drove the track on the way back which was considerably more bumpy I was told! We arrived at the campsite again before the tide began to come in, where we made a very yummy stir fry and a bit more socialising. We'd learned our lesson from last night, so tonight 5 of us shared the tent - we were toasty!

Up early again this morning, another lake to visit - its such a hard life! To get to this lake we could have parked on the beach and walked there, but we decided to make things more difficult for our selves and drive in land (again on another dodgy track) to get to it. Yep I drove again - think I'm going to take it up! We did get to go to two nice lookouts for our efforts though. Fraser Island is an amazing place, considering it is a sand island the landscape changes so much, from the obvious sand dunes, to red canyon areas, to fully grown forests!! Lake Wabby was in the middle of a sand dune, one side of it a massive forest stood. The water was much greener here but still good for a swim. We were told that if we were really still the cat fish might come and exfoliate our feet. Sophie and I sat in the water for about twenty minutes, after a while there was about ten cat fish swimming around us but I guess they didn't like us because they didn't nibble our feet at all.

Once we were back on the beach it was our last drive on the sand with the sun shining and waves crashing. Before we knew it, we were back on the barge, leaving Fraser Island behind - good times!

That evening was the first match of the world cup and despite Russel and Sophie's best efforts to stay up for it, we were all asleep by 9.30pm.

The next day, having said good bye to my Fraser Island friends, I went to Hervey Bay to meet Jackie's friend Liz and her husband Matt. Liz used to live down the road from Jackie and they did 'exercise classes' together hmmmmmmmm. We drove from one side of Hervey bay to the other, it is a massive bay, with some good views of Fraser Island at some points. Hervey bay is quite an up and coming place, lots of new resorts being built, replacing some of the more outdated places. We went to Liz and Matt's gorgeous house, where I met their dogs - Mela and Bronte. Early evening we went for a drive around near their house to spot some wild kangaroos! soooooooooooo cute, one of them had a Joey in her pouch, which was gorgeous! That evening we went out to dinner with their friends Leanne and Dean which was a good laugh. Was so nice to sleep in a big bed that night. Had a really relaxing morning in the garden before going for breakfast (yum)! Short walk on the beach, it had started to rain by this point, before I said goodbye to Liz and Matt (and to luxury) to get on the bus. Really fun couple, had a great time.

Continuing north my next stop was 1770, to meet back up with Sophie. It is called 1770 because this is where(and when) Captain Cook first came to Australia (before leaving and being eaten). Our day here was not very eventful, it rained all day so we watched films and ate all day, before boarding the night bus for Airlie Beach.

Airlie Beach is were I am now. This is where all the sailing trips for the Whitsunday Islands go from, I was supposed to go on a three day trip to the outer Barrier Reef, but the winds are too strong so my boat got cancelled. I'm now on a 2 day party boat! It has a slide into the sea!! Thats what sold it to me! I will tell you of these adventures in a few days. A week today I will be on my flight home!!! I can't believe it is almost over, but very excited . . .

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