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Sharks again? Nope..this is the main rule when dealing with Dingo Safety. We have made it to Fraser Island, home to Australia's most purebred dingo's. So far the East coast has kind of left us lacking in excitement. The surf is always good but it is just same same in every town. Crawling with all the flashpackers (our new word for fancy backbackers who bring heels and other fancy things) it is a bit uninteresting. So, we hopped over to Fraser in hope of an adventure. It is the first of our last 3 big ticket items in this trip and it was sweet! Imagine a giant sandpit for adults and kids and then you are half way there.
Fraser Island is the worlds biggest sand island but the ecology is only one of the many wonders of the place. Rainforest and over 200 freshwater lakes dot a landscape which at only 120km by 15km is pretty impressive eh? Fraser Island is also the place to see all the dangerous sorts of wildlife.... Spiders, sharks, jelly fish, crocodiles, and out of the top 10 deadliest snakes in the world, Australia has 6 of them. In fact if there is 2
words you do not want to hear precede any of these animals - it is 'Common' and 'Deadly' yet worryingly most of them are named both and are on Fraser. Not to mention the Dingo. They look a bit like Emma used to (for the Orr family) but would rip you to shreds and everyone has heard of the famous cry "a dingo ate my baby". Well its true! (not my baby but other people's). Plus, with a lethal undertow and man-eating sharks the sea is a definite no-go. Frightningly enough, the reason you cannot go in the sea is mainly because it is the worst place in Australia for Tiger Sharks. They are everywhere. Hmmmm. I refer back to WA where we were actively encouraged to swim alongside them. Not sure why there they dont eat you and here they do.....Something fishy I feel.
So, how does one negotiate such a place? By joining 8 other people and ragging a Toyota Landcruiser around for 3 days and 2 nights of course. It was the ride of our lives. The best bit is that it is an unguided, self-drive, funtastical outing. The hostel predetermine your groups and luckily asides
from the frenchies (you all know they are a pain dans le derriere) we had a really good mix of people. In fact as we walked into our dorm we saw Jahn who we had travelled with in the Northern Territory and who was going to be in our group. A funny German chap who has taken on some of my phrasing as a result of this trip. On hearing him say "Whatever" we were delighted to learn that he had liked it so much he uses it as his own as well as that great British phrase "fuckwit". I love to teach people our highly expressive British language. All we need to do now is get the union jack on their flag! So, after a brief argument over the grocery shopping where frenchies decided they needed an actual coffee vat for 3 days - not going to happen, we set off. The first drive on soft sand is a little hairy with the thoughts of getting boggeed in the sand or turning over firmly on our minds but it is pretty easy to get used to and moments later we were practically flying along the sand. The Eastern Beach
is also the highway and the runway for the Island. Pretty weird to watch a plane coming towards you and land as if it is a car driving past. Not content with that though, and with the tide coming in faster than we went out against Portugal (REALLY!!!!) we headed inland. We literally drove around a rainforest on 4WD tracks up and down drops on which at times all 4 wheels left the ground and all 8 heads hit the roof. Andrew drove most of the time as the others in our group were a bit afraid... bloody Europeans! Safe to say, as well as motorbikes when we get home I definitely want to get a 4WD. I may even call him Bruce!
Although the sea is a no go, Fraser has tons of really beautiful freshwater lakes. Pure white sand meets turquoise waters which you can drink from as well as use to clean your diamonds and soften your hair. Sic! Lake McKenzie is probably the most spectacular but Lake Wabby is surrounded on 3 sides by eucalypt forest while the fourth is a massive 200m tall sandblow (sand dune) Great fun!! We also managed to climb up
Indian Head and do a spot of whale watching.
It gets dark pretty early in Australia (I can't wait to get home to have some light after 5pm), so we were putting up our 6 man tents in no time and set to preparing our feasts on our 2 ring hob with one pan for 8 people - Tuna it is.....again! We camped in the rainforest the first night and then out on the beach. We love camping and it really made me miss Berryl. The Greyhound (the bus we are taking up the East Coast) is OK and definitely more comfortable, plus you can sleep whilst driving which is frowned upon in a car you drive yourself, but there is nothing like stopping where you fancy and staying the night. As for animals there was some screaming involved by Lara on the first night. As she and Jahn went to the tent there was a scream which made us all fear a Dingo attack. In fact it was because a behemoth spider was living where we are sleeping. Followed by a second scream to find its only marginally smaller younger brother. It was the biggest spider I have
ever seen and I have to say that I was not sure I would have time to even find our poo spade, let alone use it to dig. Terrifying! On our second night we camped out under the stars with the sound of the lethal man eating infested sea and the footprints of deadly dingoes all around us. At least we could look at the milky way. We even managed to spot the green eyes of a dingo approaching our camp at bedtime.
So that was our Fraser Island adventure. We thought we would leave you with one of our new songs we have learned whilst being here. There is a few songs about Australia which we know and this is one of our favourites.
Redback, Funnel-Web, Blue-ringed octopus
Taipan, Tigersnake and a Box jellyfish
Stonefish and the poison thing that lives in a shell
That spikes you when you pick it up
Come to Australia
You might accidentally get killed
Your blood is bound to be spilled
With fear your pants will be filled
Because you might accidentally get killed
Your life's constantly under threat
Have you been bitten yet?
You've only got three minutes
left
Before a massive coronary breakdown
Redback, Funnel-Web, Blue-ringed octopus
Tiapan, Tigersnake and a Box jellyfish
Big shark just waiting for you to go swimming
At Bondi Beach
Come to Australia
You might accidentally get killed
Your blood is bound to be spilled
With fear your pants will be filled
Because you might accidentally get killed
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