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Published: October 23rd 2014
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I was awake early as the two German girls were leaving too and they were leaving before me, it's hard to sleep when people are fettling around lol. We said our goodbyes and wished each other well on our travels. I got my stuff sorted, checked out, got some breakfast and then waited at the bus stop fir the mini bus to arrive along with some others including two guys I had seen at the Noosa hostel.
When the vehicle arrived it wasn't a minibus but a big 4 WD all terrain vehicle which can accommodate 24 people. We checked our names off, stowed our luggage and climbed on board. We stopped of to pick up some others and once all the pick ups were done we headed off to the ferry.
We had a minute of passengers, some day trippers, some 2 day one night and the rest of us 3 day 2 nights. The ride was fairly smooth as we were on Tarmac roads, I only say this now as it would be the last time we were to see Tarmac for 3 days lol. Our driver was called Cameron and he was
a bit of a character telling jokes and stories along the way.
We drove down to the beach to wait for the car ferry to take us on the short journey from the mainland to Fraser Island. Whilst on board the ferry we could get out and have a wander around. I took some photos and we all kept our eyes peeled for marine life, but sadly we didn't see any. Before the ferry landed we climbed back on board the bus ready to depart
When we landed on the island we drove off and up the beach for about 45 minutes. There are no proper roads on the island so it's either the soft sand on the beach or the soft sand tracks that criss cross the island. This is shy we needed a suitable all terrain vehicle to drive across the sands without getting stuck and up and down the sand hills in the island.
Fraser Island is basically a huge sand dune just off the coast off the coast of Oz near to rainbow beach and about 45 minutes from Hervey Bay (pronounced Harvey). However as it's been
around for 1000s of years it's inhabited by dingos, snakes reptiles, birds and insects, trees, ferns, bushes and various flora and fauna.
When we arrived we drove up the soft sandy beach taking our time as Cam didn't want to burn out the engine or make it overheat. We saw. Few other 4WD private and commercial tour vehicles coming I the opposite direction and we passed one or two along the way. We also passed stationary vehicles where. People (mainly blokes) had set up fishing rods and were eagerly awaiting a bite from a passing fish or even a small shark.
Around 10.30am we stopped off at a local holiday park which dated from the 1960's and is now owned by the kingfisher company. We had tea/coffee and muffin/biscuits and speed for about 15 minutes before getting back on the bus and headed off to Lake Mackenzie. There we changed buses and drivers, our new driver was called Tom. We needed to change buses as we were staying for longer than day trippers. Whilst we were there we spotted a dingo who came fairly close and just laid down in the shade. There are
signs all over the island telling people to be dingo aware as they can be vicious especially during yelping season which I think is when the pups are born and weaned.
After taking photos we went down to beautiful lake Mackenzie for an hour or so. It had lovely clear waters and was quite shallow in places so it was safety bathe. Around 12.15pm we had lunch which was pre prepared and dished up by Tom, an all you can eat salad style alfresco buffet.
After lunch we drove yo a spot further up the coast and had a 10 minute walk to Basin lake. This was just a view spot and photo opportunity before heading off on a 30 minute hike a long a track through the woods to Central Station. Not everyone wanted to walk so those that didn't went on the bus with Tom and then they met us at Central station.
This was where the loggers used to live and where the train tracks which criss crossed the island used to meet. There used to be a school on the site as the miners brought their families
over with them or started news ones lol.
We had a wander around Wanggooliba creek and Tom told us about the fresh water creek, some history of the place and pointed out the worlds largest ferns which have branches/ leaves around 5m long, some of the trees which grew there, a few of the species were actually brought in from the mainland and the USA as experiments to see if they would grow on the island.
From there we took another walk amongst the trees in Pile valley on the way we saw a lizard! Luckily no snakes were spotted but we'd had our instructions on what to do if we did, basically stay away and avoid at all costs lol. At the end of walk Tom was waiting for us with home made cookies and tea!
After refreshments we headed to our accommodation which was on the other side of the island. We were in cabins and I shared a room with two girls from Yorkshire and one from Sctland. Next door we had two Scottish doctors and two sisters from the UK and at the end two more English
girls, one of the other room housed Peter, Jake and Curtis. Some of the. Went to see the sunset but I just wanted to get a shower.
We headed down to the bar/restaurant area for a buffet all you can eat dinner and sat chatting getting to know our roomies and others on the excursion. The two Scottish doctors got chatting to some people on their table and it turned out they too were also on the Cool Dingo trip but were a day head of us so were talking about the champagne pools and the other things we would see tomorrow.
They also told us that down at reception there was a bar, restaurant, jacuzzi and pool which was open until 10pm. So so e of us walked down heart attack hill (as Tom called it) to the main complex which was quite posh and open plan. The guys on the other trip,hit the jacuzzi and pool whilst us ladies just got. Drink and dangled our feet in the pool. We caught the free shuttle bus back at 9.45pm back up heart attack hill and headed to bed as we were all pretty
tired from our long day.
Xxxx
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