Fraser Island

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Ok so Fraser Island has to be the best experience I have had so far - absolutely a great laugh. We arrived at Hervey Bay and stayed at a hostel called Beaches. It is through Beaches that our Fraser Island and Whitsunday packages are booked through. We stayed on night in Hervey Bay, getting ready for the trip to Fraser the next day. Basically, you get put into a group of 8 and share a 4x4 vehicle. Anyone with a driving license more than 2 years old and is over 21 can drive. Luckily for me and Lynsey, we were the only drivers! Scary thought right! So while me and Lynsey get taught about the vehicles and how to drive in sand and off road, the others went shopping for food and drinks. I was a little nervous about the driving as I hadn't been behind the wheel since leaving the States and the 4x4s were manual and I hadn't used gears in a year! So it was decided that Lynsey would drive the first day.

In our car we had me, Lynsey and Stephen, a couple called Kelly and Phil, two friends called Caz and Emily and another girl called Becca. Caz and Emily were in our room at the hostel and we got in really well so they asked to be put into our car for the trip. We left the hostel in our car and made it to the ferry by 10am. Then the fun started! The roads - if that's what you could call them! - were intense to say the least! No matter how slow you drive, you are going to bounce around and probably hit your head a number of times on the roof! We had a map and a sort of itinerary so we headed to Lake Birrabean first. It was a gorgeous, clear water lake with very white sand. We were fortunate that the sun came out just as we arrived and we all went for a swim.

After the Lake we headed to our camp site. On the way, we stopped at a shipwreck on the beach, but the weather had started to turn and we wanted to get the tents up before it rained so didn't stay long. We had two tents so four of us to a tent. Unfortunately, they didn't come with instructions on how to put them up and you should have seen us struggling with these tents! It was ridiculous, but eventually we got them up!

So the first night we had a BBQ. I had brought my speakers so we had music, played card games and had some drinks. I stopped after a few as I was driving the next day. It was a really good night and a right laugh watching everyone in the drinking games. I won't say what the games were because I think the words would offend a few of you, but lets just say it was very funny!

The next day we got up and my turn for driving had come... It went well and I adjusted fine to the gears. Had a slightly scary moment when I hit some very deep sand on the beach and felt like I lost control of the car. So weird driving on sand! We went to Indian Heads first, which was a lookout point where you are supposed to see whales, sharks and dolphins. The sun had come out and it was a gorgeous day. We did see a pod (think that's the right word) of dolphins near the rocks right below us, but no whales or sharks. Next, we were supposed to walk to Champagne Pools. Now at the hostel, the woman had said we weren't allowed to drive there but it was only a 15 minute walk. Turns out it was more 45 minutes! The weather was lovely until we neared the pools and it went very overcast and started to rain! It was supposed to be really nice rock pools that you can swim in, but to be honest they weren't that great and with the shitty weather, they were a bit disappointing. Not really worth seeing. You aren't allowed to swim in the sea on Fraser because there are so many jellyfish and sharks, but the pools were really small so you couldn't really swim in them either! Anyway, we ate lunch there and then wandered back to the car. I drove us to a holiday village to pick up some more snacks etc and then we headed back to the camp site.

That night was a really good night! We lit a camp fire as it had stopped raining and stayed up pretty late. The most famous lake on Fraser, Lake McKensie, was closed due to work on the public facilities during the winter, but a group told us that they were allowing you to visit for an hour only. So the next day we decided not to go to Eli Creek as planned, but headed to the lake. It was so worth it. This was the lake we had seen in the pictures. It was so beautiful and again the weather came through for us and it was a beautiful day. We stayed there until we had to leave for the ferry back to Hervey Bay.

Before doing Fraser, we had heard good and bad things about it. I think the group of people you are with really help to make the trip. We were very fortunate with having Caz and Emily in our group as we all got on so well and had a great laugh. The others were nice but we really clicked with the other two. Caz hopes to meet me and Lynsey in Cairns for a bit and maybe find work with us. Also, we were one of the last groups allowed to drive themselves. Recently, a group had an accident or something in the 4x4s and sued the company, so from July 1st, you can only go on a guided tour with a driver. Such a shame that a few have now spoiled the fun for others. Glad we got to have a go though. Me and Lynsey are hoping to go back for maybe just 2 days in better weather to see some of the parts of the Island that we didn't get to see. So after this amazing time, expectations were high for our trip on the Whitsundays!

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Photos

The group
All in front of the 4x4

Indian Heads
View from above

Indian Heads
Looking for dolphins

Lake McKensie
Emily and Lynsey

Comments

[Mum]

Wow
Oh my God, you clever clogs you driving like that. I'd have been terrified, Gordon said to say Well Done too. How lucky was that that you got in just in time before 1st July and had to be driven. What an experience. Wish I could have been there to see you all putting the tents up!!!! Glad you're having lots of fun and that all is going well.