Fraser Island - Part I

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Hello again from Brisbane! We have survived the camping extravaganza on Fraser Island and are now in Brisbane for a few days relaxing/recovering and catching up with some old friends. But, this entry shall be all about Fraser Island, as it was an incredible trip, we met some great people and I definitely had some of the best days of my life out there.

The trip started Wednesday Morning with the orientation kicking off at 6:45 AM, there were about 40 people booked on the tour. Basically, Fraser Island is entirely made of sand, there are no paved roads, only sand roads, so only 4X4 vehicles are allowed. They had already divided us into groups of 10 or 11 to a vehicle, and even from the moment we met our group I could tell it was going to be a good time. After getting introductions out of the way we continued on, I volunteered to be the first driver, and also be the one to put a $750 bond on my credit card to insure the vehicle, a little risky if anything happened to the jeep, but if anything did happen we would all be held jointly accountable for whatever share of the damage, so I wasn't too worried. Two people then were assigned to go grocery shopping and the rest of us loaded up the jeeps and headed off. Basically you have three people up front and then the other eight in the back sitting sideways on two benches, so all of the gear went on top, making for one top heavy vehicle! Also, due to the space contraints we could only bring along a day-pack sized bag, which made us be choosey in what we took along.

Jeeps loaded up we then hit the road bound for the jeep hire agency where we would sign the paperwork and watch some orientation videos. I will admit, driving the top heavy jeep was a little sketchy at first, especially given it was a manual, and shifting with my left hand was definitely a new experience, plus it was a giant stick, and I definitely missed third a few times, instead going back to first, which made a bit of a rough ride for those in the back, but they had fun with it. At the agency we met the shoppers and through all the food up, it is quite amazing how much food you can get with $220! We then watched the safety videos on dealing with Dingoes (which I never ended up seeing any of on the island) and of driving on sand, all of the normal rules of the road still apply, and there are police that regularly patrol the beaches and back tracks on the island, so we made sure to listen up.

Orientation done we hit the road in a four jeep convoy bound for the ferry terminal for the 45 minute trip accross to the island, on the highway the speed limit got up to 100 km/hr, but with the wind it felt like the jeep was about to lose control at those high speeds, so I kept it down around 80 or so, plus I didn't want another speeding ticket! We barely made it to the ferry terminal on time as they were already loading when we got there, but they were quite organized, and got everyone to reverse on, which I managed to do with little difficulty. The group then headed up to the deck for some sun on the ride accross, and I finally got to meet the group as being the driver I had missed out on the half an hour worth of bonding that had gone on in the back of the jeep as we drove to the ferry. The group was made up of the four of us, two Irish gals named Eimear and Suzanne, two English chaps named Mike & Ollie, an English gal named Fiona, a Sasky girl named Sloane and a Japanese girl named Hanae. We had some great laughs on the short trip accross and by the time we loaded back in our jeeps it was obvious that our group was going to have way more fun than the other three!

I continued driving when we landed at Fraser Island and as we rolled off the ferry I engaged the four wheel drive and off onto the sand we went. Driving on the sand definitely took some getting used to, but luckily I was the second jeep in the convoy so I saw the mistakes made by the jeep infront of me going over certain bumps and what not and was able to correct them some what. But when you're driving on soft sand that is constantly shifting there is always going to be some feelings of uneasyness, plus with the jeep being so top heavy, everytime we went on a bit of a slanted road everybody held their breath. We headed accross the Island for the east shore and 75-mile beach, which is the main way north-south on the island, driving on the main beach was a whole new experience as the beach is obviously slanted, plus there is a strong wind, and the wet sand from the ocean isn't always as stable as you might think, but as we went along my confidence grew, and by the time we arrived at our first stop, Lake Wabby I was feeling quite confident in my abilities.

The weather that day wasn't the greatest, cloudy and breezy, but we wanted to make the most out of our time on the Island so we stuck to the action packed itinerary recommended by the hire company. Lake Wabby was about a 25 minute hike inland, uphill, but in the rainforest you are sheltered from the wind, so it was quite warm. Eventually we spotted the lake, which was quite the sight, it is basically in the middle of a large sand blow (a bunch of sand dunes) and the forest. Because it is basically fed by the rain the water just sits there and it was quite warm, I unfortunately had not changed into my bathing suit, so did not go for a swim, but instead we hiked up the large dune behind the lake for some views of the coast, and then ran back down the steep dune, which was quite fun. It was then time to move on so we headed back to the jeeps, and by this point it was starting to drizzle, we were getting hungry but had no time to pull everything down from up top and make lunch, so we instead continued on north up the beach to the largest freshwater stream on the Island.

I had done my share of the driving for the day, so Tom took over and did not a pretty good job, especially for someone who doesn't really drive stick, he stalled it a couple of times, but managed to get through some fairly difficult patches, including a very steep rock section that had been exposed by the cyclone that hit a few weeks ago, basically we all had to get out so lighten the jeep so it wouldn't bottom out, he got up a bit of speed and managed to force up and over the rocks, to much applause from the group of us. All four jeeps did manage to make it up undamaged which was better than could be said for some of the other vehicles we saw there, one guy damaged both his front and rear bumpers because he got impatient and tried to go an even worse route, which did not end well for him. We then continued on to the stream, and when we got out it was raining, the clarity of the water was absolutely amazing though, so bathing suit on, I headed up the boardwalk with Mike & Ollie and at the end of the boardwalk we got into the stream and waded down in the waist deep and quite cool water, which was crystal clear, and had some fish that were almost transparent swimming along, it was quite cool.

With the weather deteriorating and the tide coming in, it was about 3 PM at this point and we had to be off the beach by 5 PM, and having already encountered some rough patches we decided to not hang around for long and make a break for the campground. There was a shipwreck called the Maheo, which was a Japanese merchant ship, a little further up the beach, so we stopped there for some quick pictures, and then piled back in for the trip up to Cathedral Beach, which is where we would be camping for the next two nights. As the convoy pulled in the campground manager directed us to our sites, which were all together and next to some other sites occupied by some other groups who were on the same tour as us, but from the previous day. He then gave us the 10 minute spiel on being considerate and aware, and laid out the rules, the biggest being absolutely no noise after 9PM, which is quite early, but basically they shut off the lights in the cookshack at that point and we were encouraged to head down to the beach, about a 10 minute walk if we wanted to continue on partying, more on that later!

We then began unloading the jeep and setting up our camp, we made the smart decision for some us to set up the tents while a few others began making dinner, as we had never managed to eat lunch during the day, so we were all quite hungry. The tents went up fast, pushing pegs into soft sand is far easier than moutain rock and dirt back home! We threw our bags and foamies into the tents and then unloaded the coolers and boxes of wine, the four of us had all got boxed red wine, only $13 for 4L, which is referred to as goon, for the trip, as we wanted something we didn't have to worry about keeping cold. We then headed over to help with dinner and have a happy hour, cheersing to the great first day on Fraser Island.

Dinner was soon ready and consisted of chicken wings, sausages, bread, burgers and salad, and it was very satisfying. We were also the first group to eat as we had made the smart decision to set up and cook at the same time, so there were definitely some jealous people seeing us chowing down on some food. We washed up our dishes and then packed everything away and settled in and began playing some cards and other games for the evening, having tons of fun all night.

Well, I am now out of time once again, and you can probably tell I have far too much to say about Fraser, so I will have to leave it at that, and don't worry the sun came out for the second two days, and they were absolutely amazing, more on that later, for now I must say farewell as we are soon headed out to do some sightseeing around Brisbane with our local friends Sophie and Shelley, we may even be getting a proper Easter Dinner tonight!

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