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My little 5 yr old Ryan stopped for a moment and said “I just crossed the desert…and I’m thirsty !”, huffing and puffing begging for water as we climbed over the sand dune after a very pleasant swim at Lake Wabby.
Lake Wabby is one of the fascinating lakes of Fraser Island. To get there, we hiked through the forest then climbed over the Hammerstone sand dune down to the lake. The emerald water of Lake Wabby is enchanting. We had the lake all to ourselves. Whilst engulfed in the serenity of our environs, we were surrounded by black catfish and other unknown freshwater fish as if waiting to be fed. It's a pity we couldn't stay long. We have to head back to our campsite before dark. We bid our farewell to the beautiful green lake and pledge to return again armed with sleds so we can also go sand tobogganing the next time.
Alas, we didn’t we make it back to our campsite before sunset. I can truly say that it was the most stressful one hour drive of my life. Imagine traversing extremely rough, narrow and bumpy dirt/sand tracks at night going through puddles and whatnot
crawling at the speed of 30km per hour. We had a momentary relief when we reached Eastern beach - the super highway of the island where we can speed up to 80km/h. However, little we know that high tide is creeping in. We’re at risk of getting swept into the sea. Lucky, we reached the turn towards inland route back to our campsite before the surf caught up with us.
It’s our very first family camping trip. We chose Fraser Island to camp because it is truly a beautiful and magical place. Imagine crystal-clear freshwater lakes and creeks, enchanting subtropical rainforest, vast sand dunes, long pristine white sandy beaches and dramatic coloured sand cliffs all found in this island, which took millions of years in the making. Fraser island made it to the World Heritage list in 1992. It’s the largest sand island in the world where forest grows. It is the only place on earth where tall rainforests grow in sand dunes at elevation of over 200 meters. A truly remarkable example of natural phenomena. The indigenous people call the island
K’gari, meaning paradise.
Fraser island is also known as the 4-Wheel-Driving mecca of Queensland. The adrenalin
junkies on their 4WDs get their thrills by traversing the island’s rugged terrain. Not for me though, it’s what I'll equate to STRESS really … However, Jamie and Ryan rather quite enjoyed the bumpy nerve-wrecking ride while I hold on to my dear life at the edge of my seat clutching on the door handle. Ryan would shout “Do it again” everytime our 4WD go airborne ! The 4WD gear of our car automatically disengage everytime it goes over 40km/h. So, one of my duties (apart from navigating where to go) is to be the
“button-pusher”, meaning literally push the 4WD button to re-engage it and also … to push Jamie’s button, meaning annoy the hell out of him everytime I get stressed !They say one of the main relationship killer is when couples go on road trips, which can turn into a mayhem. Women can't read maps and men can't ask for directions, which is a load of cr@p except for the latter 😊. I can certainly read maps, though Jamie hates asking for directions. We've gone to a lot of road trips and so far we managed to return home still happily intact. Though I must admit that
my hubby has been very patient with me ... 😊.
Running for cover …
Why is it when it starts to rain, people always run for cover ? What’s so bad about getting wet, especially when you’re already out swimming ?
C’mon ...can’t common sense over-ride the things that’s been hardwired in our brain ? I’ve seen this brain malfunction in plenty of occasion, being always at the beach and all…it’s a classic !
Lake McKenzie is teeming with happy tourists frolicking in its crystal-clear blue waters. There’s a wedding rehearsal in play being filmed. I lost count of the number of takes the young couple did for a perfect screen shot. Tourists from all walks of life have their eyes focused at the bride and groom celebrating their love for each other…watching...cheering. Then suddenly, the rain came pouring down. I watched everyone run for cover in amazement…Ryan and I now have Lake McKenzie all to ourselves 😊. I stretched out my arms, closed my eyes, faced the dark sky and let it rain down on me. It was the most surreal experience I’ve never felt before. It felt wonderful ! I've never thought that embracing
what everyone fears can be enlightening.
A lot of people have been raving about Lake McKenzie as one of the most beautiful lake in the world. I’d say because it’s been over-hyped by the Australian tourism industry. Tour operators drop bus load of tourists to this lake everyday. With hundreds of bathers swimming and
pee-ing in this lake, the water starts to smell funky. I was a little apprehensive to go swimming. It’s the cleansing rain that made me “brave it”. There’s another lake where less people go -
Lake Birrabeen. I have much appreciation of this lake and thought it's way better than the over advertised Lake McKenzie 'cos it's pristine and cleaner.
We set our camp at
Lake Boomanjin - the largest
perked lake in the world. The campsite is fenced to ward off the
dingoes (wild dogs). Warning signs about dingoes are everywhere. It’s their mating season. They apparently get edgy and attack people. A week prior to our arrival on the island, there was a teenage girl who got bitten by a dingo. I only saw one dingo lurking around our campsite and another one at Lake McKenzie which got in the back of
a utility truck and ravaged its load. There’s no electricity in our campsite. However, it still has the basic facilities such as toilet, shower (cold) and tap water, though not potable. Lake Boomanjin campsite is popular for group bookings for young backpackers (usually from the UK and Europe). This campsite is not suitable for families with young children and anyone who loves peace and quiet. If it wasn’t for the rain, we won’t have any decent sleep at all. It was the rain that made the happy campers stop partying throughout the night and made them retire to their tents. However, having said that, the rain didn’t deter one group of campers who partied all night long on our last day at the island. It’s hard not to over-hear their conversations since they are partying right next to our tent. Jamie had to tell them off twice because they’re getting extremely rowdy. I’ll just skip on their rather quite
colourful language and the kind of
stuff they get into. They eventually moved to the other end of the campsite which didn't really make much difference with the loud noise. We had the option to camp by the beach but I
chose to camp at Lake Boomanjin because of its facilities. As our very first camping trip, I’m not yet prepared to “rough” it…not having to shower for days ... squat out in the wilderness ... and get my @ss bitten by snakes, dingoes or other nasty critters....
(no thanks !). We only had the chance to explore the southern part of the island. We are planning to go back to see the
Champagne pool, Eli Creek, Maheno shipwreck , coloured sand-cliffs of the pinnacles and watch the migratory whales and other marine animals in the north.
So ‘til then……
Cheers ! 😊
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