Cruisin' around Fraser

Well I really enjoyed Fraser Island! It just so happened that we were on a 4x4 coach instead of a jeep as we were on a tour, but I enjoyed it all the same!

We got up early again yesterday morning to greet our tour guide, a short man with a handlebar moustache who was aptly named 'Captain', and vaguely reminded me of Uncle Brian. After stopping at a few more hostels and parks for pick ups we made our way to the ferry terminal.

Once on the island I couldn't believe that the whole thing actually was sand! I still cannot fathom how so much vegetation grows on sand, or where all the flora and fauna came from for that matter, so if someone knows could you please explain it to me! All I do know is that instead of forming coal or oil, the vegetation forms 'coffee rock' over thousands of years, a very soft rock which looks like coffee when it crumbles. Funnily enough.

First we went for a walk in Pile Valley, (I forget the origins of the name) where there was a lovely creek (the name of which escapes me also) and the one of the oldest types of fern in the world, which dates back to the age of dinosaurs. It was huge too. Next we went to the resort where we were staying the night, Eurong Beach Resort, and we were delighted to see a decent-sized pool for once! After a hefty lunch we set off for Indian Head, one of the only three points on the island which are made of rock. We were promised we would see masses of marine wildlife here, but the only creatures we sighted was what Claire claims was a 'baby shark', and a platypus (We later found out that platypus' don't inhabit the island, so chances are it was merely a bird). However, the views were fantastic and the weather could not have been hotter nor sunnier.

We made our way back down the beach, which they use as a main highway for 4x4s and a landing strip for airplanes, AND a chicken spot for pedestrians. We stopped at the SS Maheno Shipwreck for a photo opportunity, The Pinnacles and Red Canyon, which are cliffs made of different colours of sand. The Aboriginal legend behind these state that the colour was caused by a rainbow man being shattered with a boomerang after the fiance of his beloved found out about her fascination with him. The girl apparently escaped unscathed, therefore the spot is a sacred site for Aboriginal women. Finally we stopped at Eli Creek, a creek which runs out into the sea. Claire and I walked up it - with great effort as the pressure of it was really strong! - and swam back down. One of the buses got stuck too so a group of lads had to push it out of it's rut, it was great fun to watch and cheer!

We went back to the resort for tea (with delicious breadcoated, cheesy tomatoey aubergine things!), which made me feel very bloated and very fat again, at which point the Swiss lady we had been talking to said to me; "So is your sunburn from today, or..." - all of a sudden I felt very stupid and very British! I have now vowed to be good from now on - always whack on more suncream than I need and buy some ryvitas on our next shopping trip!

This morning we got up early again to make our way to Lake Wabby. For breakfast I made a start on being good and ate the bacon, sausage, egg and only one hash brown. I should have had all the hash browns going for the walk we were about to do...

We parked on the beach and I stupidly decided to opt for flip-flops for the walk as it looked rather sandy. BIG mistake. I then realised that the walk was to be 1.8km, and my useless flip-flops kept slipping off my feet so I had to do the thing barefoot. Not the most comfortable thing I've ever done! Then just when we thought we'd got there we saw a sign: "Lake Wabby - 1km". I would've moaned if the massive sand dune ahead hadn't distracted me! Then I was quite glad that I was barefoot cos it was easier to walk the dune that way, but it still took forever! Eventually we got there, and it was amazingly... green. We hopped in for a swim, then I realised we were swimming with catfish and other little gill-bearing creatures! It was really weird they kept sucking our legs, apparently taking of sunburnt skin, eczema, psoriasis and the like. It was still weird though. Walking back 2.3km barefoot was no fun, I really should've opted for trainers!

After dinner (I tried to be healthy, I only had one bread roll and the breadcrumbs off the fish bits) and a swim, we went to Lake Mackenzie, the spot I was most looking forward to! It really did live up to it's reputation - the water was crystal clear up close and a turquoise-blue from a distance, and the sands were powdery white. It was beautiful. If only the loud, splashing, idiot crowds who can't appreciate a bit of tranquil paradise hadn't been there, it would've been perfect. I lay in the water for a good hour or so before getting out to dry off (and read some more of 'Rachel's Holiday' which I found in the book exchange box at the hostel to replace Michael Palin - yey!). Then it was back on the bus and back to the ferry and back to Hervey Bay.

It's funny to think that we've been here a whole month already - a third of our time is over - and when we were talking about doing Fraser Island whilst in Sydney it seemed like it was far off in the future. Now we've done it, it brings home just how quickly our time is going here. It really doesn't feel like a month at all, and when I think we've only got two months left it's quite sad and I wish we had more time. But hey ho.

Tomorrow we move on to Bagara as it's a compulsory Oz Bus stop, then we'll be spending Wednesday night in 1770 (the town, not the year!), then Thursday night in Dingo, an outback cattle station which is usually where the north- and southbound buses meet and throw a huge party! Can't wait for that! We're moving quite quickly now and it's annoying being on the road all the time as you can't settle anywhere, but we want to make Cairns in good time before our flight on the 23rd. So there you go.

I'll probably post again from 1770 as I get the feeling Bagara is at the back end of nowhere! Take care!

ps. Forgot to tell you - on our first night in Hervey Bay me and Claire went down to the beach around 6pm and the sea was SO warm it was like being in a bath! After a swim we got out to get dry and got chatting to a guy from Glebe, when all of a sudden thousands of fruit bats came flying overhead! It was like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, really spooky, and there was loads of them it was going on for about 10 mins. Weird!