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So after Brisbane we headed on up to Hervey Bay, the gateway to Fraser island, the world's biggest sand island. We were a tad worried that in true style we hadn't booked anything and everyone else we knew had booked months ago, oops. Basically, because it's a sand island you need a 4*4 so you either go on a organised tour or you hire a land rover, given the price difference we went for the cheaper option of driving ourselves, how hard could it be??
When we went to pick up our rental we had to watch a video of how to drive on the island which along with the "be aware of dingoes" talk put the wind up us a little!! But we jumped into the car and drove down to the ferry, drove slowly i hasten to add as the land rover felt more like a tank and did 0-60 in 30 minutes! So after having to reverse onto the ferry - yeah that was fun - i headed out to our starting point on the island which took about half an hour and lots of bumps on the head as we bounced along sand tracks. The first
few minutes i was a bit scared i was gonna kill everyone but quickly got used to it and cruised into 3rd gear woo hoo!! there seemed to be mixed reactions with Ginas "i've decided i dont like 4*4's" copmpared to Jemma's "yeah, yeah" after every hump!!
Figuring Jem quite liked the idea of driving and the fact that it hurt my weakling little arm and knee to drive, Jemma "full throttle" Harris got in the driving seat and we headed to Lake Mackenzie. We arrived as it was raining and at first too cold to swim but when we saw the gorgeous crystal clear water we couldn't resist and all went diving in. Soon enough the sun came out and the lake looked even more spectacular - so much so that me and Jem didn't get out for another hour!
After that we headed to Lake Wabby, an emerald green lake and we had to run down sand dunes to get there, kind of reminiscent of the desert in South America. As we approached the lake you could make out black shadows swimming around, big bleeding catfish!!! So that was Gina instantly out of the equation, i
managed to convinced Jem to dip her toes in but i was swimming solo in this one!! We wasted a bit of time laying on the beach before trekking back up the dune - what's that old Paula Abul song, one step forward two steps back! An hour later we got back to our bitchmobile!!!
Given we were only allowed to drive on the beach after high tide times we were a bit restricted on time so just drove up the beach and had a look at the old Maheno shipwreck before heading back to our apartment. Strangely enough we had hitch-hikers on the beach and given the rarity of that happening we figured it would be rude not to give them a lift down the beach. I bet they reggretted it - stuck in the back with harris flying over the rock bypasses - i'm sure one of them recieved whiplash and a concussion as part of the deal!!
Our digs for that night on the island were pretty smart with tv and en suite bathroom - that's luxury to us by the way - so we spent the evening in bed with pasta and Desperate Housewives
on the box!
The next day we checked out another lake, which for the purpose of this blog will be called lake no 3 as i can't remember the name, but it was another clear blue lake but due to me developing a cold overnight and Gina with an ear-ache we decided to give swimming a miss.
We headed on up to Indian head in the north of the island which was quite a long drive up the beach. I warned Jemma that Eli creek would be ahead of us and as the guide book quotes, "this creek can be treacherous pass with care" (in bold, underlined capital letters) we should slow down for this one.... A few minutes later we raced through what felt like a river, as water began leaking in through the floor we figured that it was probably the treacherous creek, oops! Indian head is the one area where we had to employ the low gear as the sand is really soft and everyone tends to get stuck, so we stopped, reversed for a run up and cranked it up the hill skidding and wheelspinning to the other side of the bay. We made
it to Indian head without any stalling or sticking incidents - Jemma redeemed herself after the initial creek incident. We had just enough time to take a picture and say "ahh" then leg it back to the car and head back for our return ferry. On route back i asked to stop at Eli creek to a) take a few pics and b) force jemma not to drown us again. So after a quick paddle i jumped back in the car and Jem gently approached the creek and stopped. She said "this time i'll go slower" directly before flooring the landrover in first gear, ploughing nose first into the creek creating a tidal wave over the car and mid creek cranked it into 2nd gear!!!! Mid wetting myself i checked to see we were all alive and found Gina still in crash position - head between legs kissing her arse goodbye much to Jemma's amusement!!!
I think at that point Gina vowed never to get in a 4*4 with Jemma again and i in fairness, when not creasing up, sat in a state of shock and confusion as to what actually goes through the mind of 'arris!! We made
it back to the ferry with plenty of time (not surprising with Jemma's lead foot) and we headed on back to the mainland.
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JOAN
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Why not try a bus!!!!!!!
I DID TELL YOU NOT TO LET HER DRIVE!!!!!! Can't you take the bus. Sounds like you're having a great time - one adverture after another. What memories you are going to have - enough to last you more than a lifetime Keep on enjoying yourselves but take care love to you all xx