Largest Sand Island in the World..Fraser Island!

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Hi Everyone!
I just returned back to Brisbane from our mid-semester break last week. I was in Fraser Island from April 9th-13th and Heron Island from April 13th-18th. I'm was so exhausted, but it was so much fun. I have been so busy this past week as well with a couple big midterm exams then was at Stradebroke Island again this past weekend doing a research project with my group for my Marine Science class. So I have been extremely busy!! This entry will be about my adventures in Fraser Island and the next one will be Heron Island.
Fraser Island, Day 1:
On the morning of Thursday, April 9th, my alarm went off at about 5:30am. We had to be at the University by 7am. I left my apartment about 6:30am to catch the bus over to the univerisity. Well, the bus never came and we ended up walking over there. It was ok because we ended up not leaving unitl 8:30am, go figure! As we approached the stop we saw about 8 4WDs in a row that would be taking us to Fraser Island. All our luggage was strapped on the roof and we had about 6 people in the back and one person up front with our driver. Wasn't the most comfortable of journies, quite tight in the back. We left campus at around 8:30 that morning and drove for about an hour and a half and stopped at a stop where we could use the toilets and get breakfast if we wanted. Aftewords, we had another 2 hour drive until we got to the barge that took all of our 4WDs to the big sand island. You really can't come on the island unless you have some sort of 4WD or if you want to get stuck in the sand. As we drove off the barge, we were directly driving on sand like it was a road (and it really was!). The whole island is completely sand! We drove for about 30-40 minutes until we reached Dilli Village where we were to be staying. When we arrived, around 3:00pm, we were set to our bunkhouses. Kelly and I were in one room, and actually were lucky because we had two separate beds whereas most of the rooms had bunkbeds. We then had lunch (hot dogs), and afterwords had a health and safety briefing. We then went down to the beach where we played some footy and frisbee as well as enjoy the wonderful view of the ocean at sunset and a full moon. We were told that we can't really swim in the ocean becuase of the high abundance of sharks (mainly tiger and bull sharks) and the strong rip tides. We then came back for dinner, which was extremely good! We had stir fried chicken and beef with vegetables over rice, it was amazing. The last thing we did that day was play a game of Australian trivia. Our team did ok, knew a few of the questions but not many (it was Australian trivia)!

Day 2:
Breakfast was at 7am every morning. On this morning we started our actual field work. We did beach transects today. Our group collected the different types of vegetation/plants from the sand close to shore to 100 meters up from shore. After that we had to do some work in our lab books then had morning tea. Lunch was soon after; we had chicken wraps which were very good. After lunch we went to Eli Creek, stopping at a famous shipwreck on the way there. As we're driving to Eli Creek (about 45min) on the sand of course, it was extremely bumpy but quite fun! We were pretty much driving over huge rocks at times because the tide was quite high. We actually saw small jets taking off and landing just as we were driving, so random! Once we got to the creek, we swam a little bit, but the water was so cold! We then played some volleyball and footy as well. Afterwords, we drove back for another amazing dinner (lasagna) and tirmisu for dessert! The tutors who were with us then did a couple powerpoint presentations for us for what they're studying themselves, or what they're working on for the PhD. We then got a chance to watch an episode on of Planet Earth on caves and such, qutie awesome!

Day 3:
Today we were split up into two big groups for our morning projects. One group was to go to the Rainforest first and the other group stayed around and worked on the Eucalypt forest. The next day the groups would switch places. Our group went to the Rainforest first. We had several tasks to complete while out there to complete our experiments. It was so moist and buggy out there! And there were leeches everywhere! I was not the smartest person and wore shorts instead of pants. Luckily for me, I didn't get any leeches on me, but everyone else seemed to get them. At one point we heard a scream and it was one of the girls in our group (Kelly, my roommate at the island). Apparently she saw this huge red ants, most likely bull ants and she freaked out. I think she said one bit her or something, not sure, can't really remember. I think she was freaked out more than anything. Rainforests are full of surprises. After our work was done at the Rainforest we returned back to Dilli Village for lunch. After lunch we took a 2 hour hike to Lake Boomanjin. On the way we climbed this big sand blow (quite tiring!) and once we reached the top you could jump down or roll down or however you wanted to do it, down the sand blow. After a long hike, we finally reached the lake, and those who wanted to swim could swim in it for a bit. The lakes on Fraser Island are very pure, clean and clear. There is a biological/geolical reason behind that but won't get into it-just crystal clear waters 😊. Luckily we didn't have to walk back because the tutors drove their 4WDs and met us at the lake. Once back to the village, we had dinner then started some of our data analysis. We were all very tired, so I'm pretty sure I went to bed not too long after inputing some data.

Day 4:
Today was similar to yesterday except instead of going to the Rainforest, our group stayed around and observed the nearby Eucalypt forest. We had tasks there as well and collected some samples of plants and what not. After lunch we went to another lake and it was so pretty, with yet again, crystal clear water. I swam the majority of the time and played some frisbee. We had dinner after our drive back to the village then we had some more time for data analysis. The tutors did some more presentations and we got to watch this awesome video on venemous creatures all around the world. Australia has sooo many venmous creatures, from snakes to fish! But I remember hearing that the deadliest and fastest snake lives in Africa, The Black Mamba. But Australia has by far the most abundant venemous creatures. By then end of the video, about 70% of the people watching were asleep, I guess it was late, but I was so intrigued by the video I didn't even think to be tired!

Day 5 (Last day):
Today was our last day on Fraser Island. We didn't have to do any work today either. We pretty much hiked to Lake Wabby. Before we got there it looked like we were walking in an endless desert; there was no lake in sight! But finally, we reached the lake and it was awesome! It was a little rainy that day but still heaps of fun! We were able to run donw the sand blow and jump right into the lake, so much fun! We swam for a few hours then took a group picture and headed back to the cars. We had lunch back at Dilli Village, but then headed back for good. After getting across the island from the barge we had to stop again and everyone switched from the 4WDs to a big charter bus that would take us back to Brisbane. We had to do this because another trip was coming for the next 4 days and they were going to use the 4WDs, so we just switched with the other class. When we got on the bus, the bus driver told us to expect a 4-5 hour ride back to Brisbane because the traffic was bad. It wasn't too bad of a ride back; we watched two movies and I listened to my Ipod for the last half of the ride. But the worst was yet to come. We arrived back in Brisbane at about 7:30pm that evening and I had about 3 hours to spare until I had to return to that very same spot and get on another bus for another class that took us up to Gladstone, then take a ferry to Heron Island. That bust left at about 11:30pm that night and it was about a 7 hour drive to Gladstone. I'll write about Heron Island in the next blog which I will do shortly. 😊 Overall, Fraser Island was awesome!!

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Photos

Sunset on the beach!
group shot of me, Kirthika and Kelly on the beach of Fraser Island

Sunset on the beach!
me!

Dingo!
Dingos are all over Fraser. They look like cute dogs but you aren't supposed to touch them/feed them etc. They can actually attack and are able to kill!

Shipwreck
me in front of the shipwreck on our way to Eli Creek

Rainforest
pretty trees in the Rainforest. They're white as the shed their bark :)

Climbing!
climbing up this sand blow was so tiring..but worth it at the top!

Reached the top!
top of the sand blow where we could jump down!

Beutiful lake
this awesome clear lake we swam in

Lake Wabby
So close..yet so far!!! We felt like we were walking forever in this desert!