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Published: March 7th 2008
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Arrived in Harvey Bay which is a very small quiet town with very little night life considering it is the gateway to Fraser island and thousands of backpackers must pass through here every year. Having said that the dorm was by far the best value dorm of Australia so far. It was a four bed dorm but it had it's own ensuite bathroom and kitchen. I booked a 1 day tour of Fraser island. They did 2 and 3 day tours but they all seemed to involve the same things, only slower. So once again I was picked up by a mini bus fairly early in the morning and taken to the ferry port where I boarded a ferry to Fraser island. Fraser island is an island made up completely of sand. It is really weird when you first set foot on the island to see miles of forest all growing out of the same sand you are walking on.
So the first stop was a sub tropical rain forest (a few less trees than a fully tropical one). As we walked around we were told of the history of the logging that was done on the island before it
became a national heritage sight. Then we were told the story of how the island was named which was slightly more fascinating. Cut a long story short: Mr and Mrs Fraser on their way back to London got shipwrecked by some unchartered coral and ended up on the island where the Aboriginals slaughtered Mr Fraser and sold Mrs Fraser back to the Colonials. On returning to England Mrs Fraser told her story wherever she went and made lots of money. But then people started to notice she changed the story every time she told it, she became branded a liar and despised by her own people so she went back to Australia. Where she was run over by a horse and cart in Melbourne. There is a film about it.
Next I was taken to the beach which has very strong rip tides and once again I was not able to swim in the sea. There was Eli creek which is a fresh water stream we could paddle in, but I do not know where the water comes from if the island is made of sand? We then saw some rock formations with different coloured sands in them which
was pretty. We saw planes take off from the beach which is also the main highway on the island. We had an excellent buffet lunch on one of only 2 resorts on the island. Then we visited the highlight of the island, Lake McKenzie. Which is a lot like Whitehaven beach with crystal clear waters and the similar white sandy beach. Except of course the water was fresh water and didn't sting your eyes when you swam in it.
In the evening I went out with a girl I had met on the bus named Louise. Louise is 29 and from Denmark and she has a really cool sounding job. She is a navigator for the merchant marines. She sails all over the world delivering stuff, then she gets off at port and parties with the other sailors, sails home where the wages she didn't spend at sea are waiting for her. She usually works 4 months on and then 2 off. But being freelance she can pretty much pick which ship she goes on and how long she is away for. Sounds like an amazing lifestyle. Louise also introduced me to a drink called BMW. (Baileys, Malibu and
Whiskey) It was disgusting but it was just one of many drinks we experimented with that night. We were both going to Brisbane the next day so we traveled there together. Louise was the second person I have met who did not know what Facebook was! It must be all that time at sea?!
I had met two girls from Brisbane in Ko Phan Ngan named Laura and Courtney, I saw them again floating down the river in Vang Vieng where they invited me to come stay with them when I was passing through. So when I got to Brisbane I left them a note on Facebook and Courtney came and picked me up the same day. She showed me all the sights of Brisbane (granted there isn't much there). I saw a few parks, played chess and went to some more shopping malls. Then in the evening Courtney and her cousin took me for a BBQ in the park where they have free grills you can use. The girls cooked me a steak and then Courtneys cousin Kahlehla showed off her fire twirling skills. We then went back to Laura's house where her and her boyfriend were celebrating
3 years of university paying off and getting her an awesome job. I spent the night on their very comfortable pull out sofa. The next morning I was sat in front of the TV, with snacks, and made to watch classic Australian films like "The Castle" which is about a typical Australian family in the 80's and is very funny.
I left on the coach for Sydney in the evening.
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