Maybe the best thing so far...

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Arriving in Hervey Bay after a relativley short and painless bus trip it was 8pm-ish so we were only able to see it at night, but as with all the hostels up the coast there is always someone at the bus station to pick you up in their vans to take you to the hostel, another Koala's hostel. The hostel was pretty cool with a swimming pool, bar and relatively nice rooms. After a couple of minutes our 6 bed dorm room was filled by two canadian guys who were in the van. In my experience Candian people are always really cool and up for a laugh and Mike and Adam were no exception to this and we all got on really well right away.
Friday was the Fraser Island briefing talk at 3pm. In the morning we went to see the beach but as we venture the north the sea is now a no-go area with more killer sea-life than there needs to be, with loads of jelly fish and stingers... not to mention an abundance of sharks. The briefing was a very poinient time for us as we find out who else will be with on the island.
The Fraser Island lowdown - It's the largest sand island in the world, with no tarmac roads, so the only way to get around the island is by driving in a 4x4 jeep. There aren't too many hostels (if any?) so the best way to sleep on the island is by camping in a tent on the beach.
We had payed for all these privilages in Sydney so all was set and ready for driving and camping.
The jeeps hold 11 people so depending on who was in our group really decided how good the trip would be. We sorted it so that Mike and Adam were in our group so we knew we'd have a lot of laughs. After a short safety video about the island and how to look after ourselves and our rubbish etc. The island is all national heritage so they are very keen to not polute the island and there are many fines in which they can punish anyone who does. We were then put into teams, we were in Team D. First impressions of the group were good and we were happy with the team we'd been put in. We all needed to decide what food to take with us from the suggested shopping list provied by the hostel and then a couple of us had to go and buy the food and order a meat package from the butchers. We looked after the alcohol side of things, buying a box of goon each and a 30 pack of beers between Mike, Adam and ourselves. That night we went out with the canadian guys, was pretty quiet but we had a good laugh and brewed the vital ingredients for a camping trip, laughter, beer, laughter and fun!

FRASER ISLAND - SATURDAY.
5.20am and my alarm sounds (the A-Team theme tune) we crawl out of beds after a couple of hours sleep and head to the carpark out the back of the hostel to our vehicles. With a small bag packed for the trip we leave our big bags in the bag storage shed and begin to gather our equipment; tents, cool-boxes (eski's in Oz) goon etc. The rest of the team did a great job checking everything and then packing the big jeep, we did well at watching them do this. It was then off to the bar for another briefing with an old-ish woman who was amazing, she knew everyones name, but she knew mine first and kept telling me to do various things... mostly to be quiet! as the drunken, hungover, witty comments were flying out, she loved the banter and I think she had a soft spot for me, haha! We loads ourselves into the jeep with Adam behind the wheel and head off to the Harbour where the ferry picks us up and takes us over to the island. I slept the whole journey. We squeeze ourselves back into the jeep and drive down bumpy sand tracks to our first port of call on our suggested itinerary; Lake McKenzie. We walked down a sandy path surrounded by huge rainforest trees with the sun peeping through the top canopy of leaves towards a huge blue lake. The first sight of the lake and the first thing that came to mind is the scene from 'The Beach' when they discover the beach and Moby 'Porcelain' plays in my head. Bright white sand, emerald green trees and water that fades from the brightest sky blue to a deep dark navy blue.... the word incredible doesn't give this place justice! The weather was un-decided between sunny and cloudy, but it was warm and dry so we pile into the fresh water lake. Where the water fades to deep navy is where the lake plunges into darkness and is seriously deep, best not to think of anything nasty and no fear of sharks in there, so we just swim around and dive down, very cool. It was then back to the jeep for a spot of lunch out the back of the jeep. The eski's were unpacked from the roof storage and the meat bag was opened to make a load of sandwiches. The group were getting on really well, helping each other out to get their food and discussions of what to do and where to go were very relaxed and easy-going, perfect. We then floded ourselves back into the jeep for anothervey bumpy trip to Lake Wabby where huge sand-dunes meet a swamp-like lake and dark trees. Rolling or running down the dunes intot he water was the main attraction and a lot of fun, but I wasn't a big fan of the swampy green water, was still good though. Next on the agenda was the shipwreck 'The Maheno' and I was behind the wheel. It was so good to drive again and the bumpy sand tracks were soon abandoned as we hit the shoreline and it was 80Km/hr down the long stretch of five mile beach, splashing through rock pools, cruising past a lonesome dingo (a wild dog, there are loads on the island) was awesome!! I was lucky because that was by far the best drive as we had all been taking it in turns to drive. The Maheno shipwreck is a trans-liner ship that crashed ashore Fraser Island in 1935. After standard picture taking etc. it was back in the jeep and off to find somewhere to set up camp. We found some other Koala jeeps so decided to join them and set up our camp.
I set up our tent with help form Chris, Matt was looking after the meat cooking us a BBQ, the girls of the group were sorting out a salad and potatoes were boiling on the burner. As the sunset everyone had to stop what they were doing for a monet to admire a stunning red, orange and pink Fraser Island sunset. That night we got drinking games under-way and a lot of fun was had by all as the groups merged together to play the game we now play at every stop ('the frog jumps into the pond splash'). We one of the stoves burning in the middel as wood fires are not permitted, was a great night and the food was brilliant and with the dark of the night we turned into our sleeping bags at about 12.

SUNDAY.
We all wake up around the same time after sunrise at about 8am and pile ourselves into the jeep and head to a campsite for a sausage butty breakfast on the campsites electric Barbeques. First stop that morning was a place as far north as you can driveon the island to Indian Heads where apparently you can see sharks, turtles and other marine life, but we saw nothing but a few fish.
Next stop was Eli creek a fresh water stream that flows quite strongly down to the sea, where if one wants you can float down to the sea, but it wasn;t really deep enough. On the walk there I saw the biggest spider I've seen so far catch a fly in it's web and then wrap it up and left it dangling there, all captured on my video camera in macro mode... it looks amazing, one of the best things I've ever filmed!! Scary spider though, erruugh! There was also a huge eel in the creek swimming up stream. The wildlife on Fraser is incredible we also saw a huge lizard and copius amounts of birds, eagles, hawks, kites all sorts. We wanted to get our camp set up a bit earlier so we could eat before sunset which was about 5.30pm, so we went along Five Mile beach to be waved down by another group in a Koala jeep to set camp with them. Again Chris and I set up the tent and Matty was taking care of the meat for tonights meal, mince and pasta. I've never seen such a huge amount of pasta and mince meat all being cooked at the same time! That night was even better than the night before from the sunset to the drinking games. This time the group and circle around the fire was increased so another stove was needed for more heat. One game was simpy to down your drink and as it went around the circle you stand up and everyone chants and claps what ever the drink of choice was, mainly "GOON, GOON, GOON" increasing in pace as they get closer to finishing, but one guy drining VB (beer) took ages so it started as VvvBbb, VvBb, VB but realising he wasn't getting anywhere we had to revert to VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB, you had to be there but it was hilarious and I'm sure will travel with us for the remainder of our journey. Fantastic night topped with some star gazing and the sound of a guitar played by Adam (english guy).

MONDAY.
Once again we awaken with the rise of the hot sun and with myself behind the wheel once again we head to Central Station campsite for breakfast, this time it was coco-pops in a cup and meat sandwiches using up the large selection of sandwoch meat provided in the meat package. I saw another huge Lizard and like David Attenborough himself captured his movements on my camera, again very good! It was then to another lake; Lake Garawongera, but this failed to impress so we went back to Lake McKenzie where we messed about in the water for hours. One of the best parts if the trip then occurred... people throwing! Five guys; Mike, Adam, Chris, Matt and myself and some strength we propelled one person high in the air. Just look at the pictur eof me getting thrown, it was SO high and the landing nearly broke my back it felt like I had been dropped on concrete, it was awesome though!!!
It was then time to say goodbye to Fraser Island and jump back on the ferry back to Hervey Bay. On the way out I saw an eagle snatch a fish from the water, also captured on film, it's becoming Wildlife on One!!

SUMMARY.
WOW!!!!!!! Was so much fun, Team D rocked and everyone became the best of friends in just a couple of days, so we went out for a meal that night. Fraser Island is amazing, from the wildlife to the amazing lakes and scenery. The sea was again sadly a no-go area. Driving the 4WD was brilliant. Sitting in the back was very bumpy and not all that fun but added to the all in all fantastic experience, probably the best thing I've done so far, massive thumbs up!

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Photos

Team D
Me,Adam(Canada),Emma,Katie,Anna(Sweden),Pedar(Sweden),Chris,Matt,Adam,Mike(Canada),Ed. All others were english.

Big spider!!!!
A Golden Orb

In flight entertainment
It hurt so much when i eventually hit the water!

Air time...
Matt flying

Comments

[BIG Col]

Absolutley amazing!!!
...that's it! Absolutley amazing. Sounds awesome mate, can't believe the photos, a fair bit of photoshop I think!!! Stunning. So good to read the stories, liked the way toy set out this email, very nicely organised. So oyu're right up north then now? Where's the next stop? I've heard that N.Z is a similar kind of thing to Fraser, well ,you hire a 4x4 and drive... Supposed to be absolutely sick! Loving the texts I get they really keep me going mate, though fuel the misery of having to work every day. Hope you've checked out my msn space thing, a couple of new pix. Newest from last weekend with M+D. Have you seen the roller disco ones yet? Well as I sit here on a well deserved day off, it's sunny, warm and Caroline's off buying tea. So I'm going to bust out the guitar, and chill for the rest of the day. Work to do on Monday though (Bank holiday) Balls, oh well. Spoke to naked Ben the other day, he went to a Love train thing the other night, absolutely LOVED it! I didn't know that your mate did events...? I think he could be someone who'd want a bar??? Maybe hook us up with some kind of meeting, if you think he'd be interested? Well, I'm off mate, great to hear from you, I love reading the tales. Just wish I could have been there to throw you higher, look better in photos, and embarass myself, in true OB stlye! (Owen Brothers), don't know what that was, trying something new I suppose! Ah, I'm imagining that I'm there, tits! Right bye!!! Oh, happy Easter, it's Easter Sunday tomorrow. Or today when you're reading this, or yesterday if you didn't check this on the Sunday, or last weekend, as you were out all week having fun?! Col