Easter at Fraser Island

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Geo: -25.2168, 153.133

Happy belated Easter wishes..
For me it was a very memorable Easter. I spent it in Fraser Island QLD.
Sometimes i think is it just Luck? or Fate, because if someone said to me even 3 weeks ago what i was going to be doing for Easter, i would have said "probably nothing", but had i not met Carol, i wouldn't have gone to Fraser Island, If i had not been given the opportunity to do this job in NSW, i would not have gone to Fraser Island.
What i guess I'm trying to say is i am lucky to have spent an awesome time in Fraser Island over Easter.
But before i get to that i feel obliged to tell you how i came to be in Fraser Island.
A couple of weeks ago i was in Lismore working hard to finish the schools in the area before the school holidays, well it came down to the last day, but we managed to complete all the work. With that in mind and the impending Easter break looming, i decided to give Carol, a girl i had met in Katoomba, a call. As it happened she was going to be in Hervey Bay on the Thursday before good Friday. So i bailed on the others finishing the last few schools on the Thursday and i caught a 11 hour bus trip from Byron bay to Hervey Bay.
Boy was that a long trip, but i finally got there.
I stayed in a really nice Backpackers called The Woolshed backpackers where the owner (Brent) was a New Zealander.
We were looking to join a Fraser Island self drive tour but had been told over the last few days that it was all booked out till the following Thursday, being school holidays and a favorable tour among the backpackers. But our friendly New Zealand backpacker owner made a few calls and got Carol and myself into a 3 day, 2 night self drive tour or Fraser Island, but the only catch was it was on the Sunday, so we had 2 days to kill before the tour.
Let me recommend that if you are staying in Hervey bay and wish to do a Fraser Tour make sure you book the tour the day after you arrive, because Hervey bay is pretty boring, and with no car and limited transport, there isn't much to do.
We did go checkout an outdated Shark Museum with a frozen great white on display, but overall it really wasn't worth the $15 bucks entry.
Finally the days passed.
It was the Sunday and we had to get up at 5:30 to meet up for the Fraser Tour, we were split into groups in which there were 3 groups with 10 people per group. We all chucked in $20 for food and as much as you want for alcohol and we were off to the Barge and off the Fraser Island.
With the Self drive tour you are given a recommended itinerary but not to obliged to follow it, but in most cases people do because of the tides give limited access at certain times. There is also no tour guide with you, so its the 10 of you driving and checking out the sights and sounds as a group. We are also given a place to stay for the 2 nights.
My group consisted of 3 guys and 7 girls, this meant that it was mostly up to the guys to drive, which was AWESOME, it was the first time i had driven a 4*4, through tracks and along the beach. On the first day we stopped off for lunch in Lake Wobby and a a quick swim, and then headed to base camp in which we had to get there by 5, 2 groups, including us got there at 6:30, this was because we had to take a 3hr detour because waves had washed away sand along the beach which became rocks and there was no access available, but we got to base camp and set our tents up and had dinner.
The next day was a 6am wake up as we had to leave between a certain time before high tide, we had breakfast at Indian head and took a walk to the dismal Champagne falls which had been flooded by the high tide. Unfortunately we did not get the best of days as it rained for the best part of the day but we still managed to see the Maheno shipwreck, Eli Creek and Another small little lake off the beaten track which housed many small turtles which poked their heads out.
It was back to base camp for some Marshmallows and hot chocolate.
On the last day it was another 6am wake up as we had to take the detour again to get to Lake McKenzie, we stopped there for a couple of hours and had lunch before heading back to the Barge by 2pm to return to Hervey bay.
Despite the poor weather i still managed to have a great time, half of the memorable experience was the group that i was in. Our group was great, everyone was great and we all got along well, apparently the other two groups were having arguments all the time.
We reached back to Hervey bay and unloaded our gear and sadly parted ways with a few of the group, but a bunch of us grabbed a bite to eat at pizza hut but we still had to face the facts and say our goodbyes.
It was back to the hostel where i had a 1:30 am to 6am overnight bus to Brisbane to catch.
Sadly i had to say goodbye to Carol as she continues her travels up North and i had to be back in Sydney for work.
It was a long day, i didn't really sleep on the bus, but luckily i was meeting James Wilson and Hayley in Brisbane on the Wednesday, so i was lucky to get picked up from the bus station where i slept for about an hour and a half and spent the rest of the day catching up with James and Hayley.
Later that evening we all had a plane to catch, James and Hayley off to Melbourne and myself to Sydney where Richard picked me up. Overall i managed an hour and a half's sleep in 40 hours
So now i find myself in Sydney working during the school holidays, i will be here for another 2 weeks in a house in the western suburbs where eventually 12 of us will be packed in, its quite a squeeze already with just 8.
I'm also looking forward to catching up with Nick Ollie who is coming up for a visit, so i hope others will follow his lead and come up and visit me as i will not be able to make my way down to Melbourne very often.
I hope to come to Melbourne in late June for a week before i head to New Zealand.

I hope you are also enjoying these blogs, I'm enjoying writing them.

Till next time...

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