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Published: January 20th 2006
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Fraser Island is the 4th largest island off Australia and the only island comprised entirely of sand. Its amazing to see all the wildlife that has grown and lives on Fraser Island, but there it is, dingoes and all!
Our group, Team 2 renamed Team Heavy because of the truck's license plate, was part of a larger caravan of 5 total trucks containing 50+ adventure seekers.
Team Heavy was made up of 5 British, 2 Americans, 2 Koreans, and one weird 45 year old spring breaking Canadian. The crew was good because, aside from the Koreans, which we all believed were lesbians but no one could confirm due to their lack of english oratory skills, we all have had similar traveling experiences. A british couple is traveling the world much like myself and had plenty of advice for southeast asia. Three of the other Brits were young girls traveling together so they were fun to spend time with. It was the Canadian that really the odd man out, even with the Koreans on board. He apparently travels solo to all spots spring break and hangs out with younger kids which definately gave me the creepy vibe if he wasn't
such a putz. The guy was totally harmless yet totally annoying at the same time.
The adventure starts at the Trailer Park of a hostel I stayed at who arranged the tour. They set you up with a random crew and tell you all to collect cash to go buy your food and alcohol for the weekend. Naturally, Royal and I took charge of the food situation, realizing that if we wanted to eat well on a camping trip, its better to shop for yourself, and shop right, than wait and see if someone else bought ground roo and 3000 muesli bars for the week.
Having only gone over budget by $100, we stocked top of the truck (see blue tarp on top of Heavy) and took teh Ferry over to Fraser Island. You need a 4WD vehicle to even get onto the island. There were no paved roads, only roads that had been reinforced by wooden timbers so you wouldn't sink in the sand. There was no dirt roads, rather packed sand passages through the woods. The packed sand led to potholes the size of Baltimore and blind turns right out of video games. After arriving at
the beach, you drive north and south along the 75 mile highway. All sand. Watchout for the planes, the 75 mile highway also acts as a runway and landing strip.
We were outfitted with an itinerery and supplies, passes to campgrounds and all the essentials. Some people in the caravan were itching for adventure while others complained that this wasn't what they signed up for. Fortunately, all of our truck was into having fun, except for maybe the Koreans, but they didn't say anything and just kept smiling. At night, we'd pool the trucks together and everyone sat in the middle of the lights (complete fire ban on the island, which we didn't know about and was devestating!) The first night we played soccer on the beach and the second we watched for dingoes all night. Just about everyone was "on the piss" whenever we stopped driving, so there was definately a party atmosphere in the campsites. Our backpacker crew was looked down upon by nearly everyone we came in contact with because much like Nantucket or the Hamptons, this island is a local community and we were a caravan of tourists coming to tear up the beaches and
party the night away.
I was so happy to find some happy and helpful locals the second day when Royal and I almost sunk the truck in the ocean. We decided to tie a tarp to the bumper and attempt an amphibiotic version of skimboarding/waterskiing. Royal was the first to ski while I drove. He lasted for a few minutes before takign a nice tumble. I immediately parked the truck and we switched driver and skiier. Before we even got the truck moving again, Heavy was hit by a gigantic wave, essentially forming quicksand underneath the rear tires. In a matter of 3 seconds, the entire rear axle was burried. I had an eerie feeling that we were about to have another shipwreck on our hands and be paying for a $30,000 car that will never run. Thank heavens for the locals that had stopped to observe our new sport. We traded them a case of bee for a tow out of the sand. It didn't take but two minutes for the yank, but those were the longest two minutes of the trip.
Unfortunately I have no pictures from this part of the adventure, but I am awaiting
some of them from my new british friends. I couldn't think about taking pictures at that point, but there are some floating out there somewhere and I'll post them as soon as they surface...
If you ever reach Fraser Island, don't hesitate to take a 4x4 tour. This was by far one of the things I'll remember about this trip for a long time.
Also, while attempting to format my camera to take pictures of the Southern Cross on the last night, I deleted my entire memory card so all the pictures seen in this blog and the Whitsunday Sailing blog are borrow graciously from Royal and other friends who have been kind enough to share their kodaks with me.
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