It was a nice feeling stepping out of the air plane - the outside temp was at least 10 degrees (C)higher than in Melbourne - nice! As soon as we arrived to our super-clean hostel ("Next Backpackers"), we booked a two-day tour on Fraser Island. After a falafel and a hair cut (only me ... ;-), we had a quick look at the beach before the sun set at 6 PM (as always, way too early). We finished the evening at one of the four open (it's off-season now) restaurants here - an Irish pub. After a couple of beers and some laughs at some crazy Irish limericks, we enjoyed a Guinness and beef pie with mash' (what else)!
Early next morning, we're picked up by our (funny) tour guide and joined the others in the group (quite a few germans, 3 scotts, 2 welch guys, an aussie couple and a french couple). We took the 4WD bus over "The Great Sandy Strait" onto Fraser Island. First impression was -"where's all the sand?". Sure, we landed on a nice beach but apart from that the island seemed to be completely covered by a thick bush.
The island is protected as a world heritage since 1991 and very few people live here. The first thing we saw after getting off the ferry was a Dingo - cool! The first stop was a 20-minute walk through a rain forest (the only one in the world growing in sand only). Really nice with the cool fresh air, and the huge old Kauri Pine trees were quite impressive! After that we continued over to the east coast where our camp site was located. It was time for an all-you-can-eat lunch (a fact that our tour guide announced at least ten times ... ;-)
After lunch we stopped at a fresh water creek, an old ship wreck, some multi-colored sand dunes and climbed a small hill for some marine wildlife watching (ocean was "dead" though).
Nice stops, indeed, but nothing special ... An hour before sunset, we returned to our camp site and checked in to our cabins. Since me and Tina we're the last guys to book the tour, we had no other choice than to upgrade our accommodation to more luxurious one. And the cabin was not bad at all - a huge comfy double bed, an ocean view and a large clean bathroom! Can't remember when we stayed that good before ... Certainly not in the camper van, even though the first two might fit ... :-)
After a long longed shower, we joined the two welsh guys (John and Nick) and the Aussie couple (Craig and Erin) for some beers before the dinner. As it happened, there was a national rugby game this evening, Australia vs New Zealand. So our new friends gave us a crash-course in the rules of the game, and we then enjoyed a great game! Quite a surreal feeling, watching on TV and drinking beer and wine in the middle of nowhere, far away from any civilization!!!
The next day, we had an early lunch and drove south along the beach (speed limit is 100 km/h). I'm pretty sure I'll never go that fast on a beach again, pretty cool feeling! The first attraction was Lake Wabby - a fresh-water lake in the middle of the "desert". To get there, we hiked some 20 minutes through a lush forest. The color was quite dark (and not turquoise like we had seen on fliers, but the was probably another lake (McKenzie)), and the water wasn't that warm either ... but we dived in anyway. As soon as got on, it started to rain, quite heavily ... Strange feeling, being surrounded by sand (desert) in a black'ish lake with the rain pouring down on us ...
After a picnic lunch, with way to little food, we continued to another lake, Lake Garawongera. Another fresh-water lake, but this one was located in the bush, 220 m above the sea level (also some kind of world record, plenty of them here ...). Dark, cold water but since bathing was the theme of the day, we never hesitated going in. Of course, as soon as we got in, it started to rain again ... No worries! Apparently, the bottom sediment (sand) in the lake is great for your skin (like a mud treatment, only with sand). Of course, we had to try it! We rubbed the white sand all over our body and awaited the "amazing results" that our tour guide had promised. No instant result but after a while you could really feel that the skin had gotten really smooth! Perhaps not amazing but still cool! :-)
We really appreciated the two-day tour on the island and we also enjoyed spending some time with some nice people! The two welsh guys also stayed at Next, and we finished of the day by a all-you-can-eat (what else) Mexican buffet. Me and Nick also stayed up all night (o well, at least til 3 AM) to catch the Premier league fixtures of Everton - Spurs (0-0) and West Ham - Pool (0-3). Nice to have a conversation on football with a proper Brit (for a change)!
Today, we have had a relaxed day with some time on the beach and a long walk along the shore! Tomorrow, we going out to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkeling! Can't wait! Life could be harder! :-)
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did u take some of those sand with you? they said it brings good luck (minus the rain of course)
ReplyDeleteWe didn't ... Because of all the rain that day, I'm guessing it could only have brought bad luck ... ;-)
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