Rainbow beach, Fraser Island & Rockhampton

Me and the van!
see all photos »

Ello!

OK, so we got to rainbow beach and were sooo happy to be back in civilisation! we booked into a campsite which had quality facilities and a pool which was just off the beach - Heaven! We juumped straight into the pool!

The most popular being the Thunder Cats theme tune!

The rest of that day was spent chilling out and having a wander on the beach. It also gave us time to dry out the tent! In the evening we went to the hostel accross the road to shoot some pool. that night we slept pretty well and woke up with a spring in out step, i think because the next destination was Hervey bay... which leads to Fraser island! i have met so many people that rate fraser island as the best part of their trip - even some that say the best time of their life! so we were pretty excited. We left rainbow beach early but not before having a 'smokie' from the local bakery (cheers sarah-damn tastey!)

not interesting - but the only pic i have of rainbow beach!!
see all photos »

Hervey bay is a couple of hours north so we were there early afternoon. When we booked the frazer island tour you get 2 night accomodation in the price at Koalas hostel. This was also the meeting point for the gang.

Fraser island is a 9 - 11 person 4x4 off road adventure, camping on the beach type of affair. Its a sand island about 80 kilometers long and (at a guess) 35 kilometers wide! because mike and the mecanics (mike and his gang) were travelling a day or so infront of us they decided to slow up and get on the same tour and van as us! At the same time another 2 dutch guys we know from sydney were coming south down the coast and arranged it so they could join in the fun! So in total there was 9 of us - just enough to fill the vehicle! Excellent! So we all met that afternoon and chilled out together. The gang = Me, Daan, Renz, Mark, Jocham, Mike, Nicki, Patrice and Rick.

Shark Museum
see all photos »

Later we went to a shark museum. It looks alot better on the outside then on the inside. In fact i thought is was a bit rubbish. Its just some guy that likes to kill tiger sharks and show a video of it. And for 12 buck to get in - we was robbed!

That night the gang got to know each other and had a couple of drinks in the extreamly smelly club they have at the hostel (it was a sort of sick mixed with bleach smell!). we went to bed early as it was a 6 am start! ERR!

The next morning we gathered around our van for the loading session! This included counting everything, checking all tents and cooking facilities were in working order and loading it all into the Van. I have to thank mark here because he was the legend that most of the time throughout the trip, packed and unpacked the van! Ta mate! We then had a briefing of where to go and not to go on the island and a few driving rules (blar blar!). and then that was it - see you later! So off we went to the barge port in the capable hands of yours truely behind the wheel!

On the road - i'm driving!
see all photos »

There was a total of 5 trucks in the tour, and we had the lead. After the ferry crossing you travel about 50 meters and hit the sand tracks. I did't realise how off road this trip was going to be. The roads (if you can call them that) wind through rainforest for miles and eventually you hit a junction and pic your destination! we had been given a suggested itinery which we decided to stick to. So first stop was central station about 10k inland. It is a camp site kitted out with toilets and showers! and an information board about something! (i forgot to read it!) it suggested walks around the area so we tool a light stroll in the rain forest.

the gang on the ferry
see all photos »

Back in the van - driving duty had passed to jocham. The further we went inland the more challenging the roads got. It wasn't long before everyone was out of the van digging the sand out from the wheels! we were on the road again pretty quickly heading to stop number 2 - lake birabean.

We pulled the truck to the side of the road and went down a short walking track. When the track opened up we were hit by a beautiful blue fresh water lake with a white sandy beach to go with it! I was amazed. The water was crystal clear and sooo inviting! We got the football and Frisbee from the van and had some beach fun! I wasn’t expecting it to be so scenic. I presumed Fraser was just a lot of sand dunes. How wrong I was! We probably stayed here for about an hour, because we had a schedule to stick to we needed to get on the move - I could have stayed all day. After about 40minutes drive through the forest we hit the beach, 75 kilometre beach! It was very cool to drive along the beach, it went on forever. Its was also weird to see so much traffic on it! 4x4’s everywhere! It is the main route up and down the island, well definitely the quickest anyway! We had to drive about ½ way up for the next attraction! This took about an hour and ½. Renz started the sing song - we all joined in. The most popular being the Thunder Cats theme tune!

out first walk!
see all photos »

Elie Creek is a stream of fresh water heading to the sea. There is a short walk path along the side which leads to steps that help you get into the creek. At its deepest its probably up to your stomach. We all got in and slowly made our way down stream checking out the fish swimming around our feet and having the odd splashing session! It was lovely and cool - which made a nice change from the sticky car! We made it back to the car and headed on up the beach to the shipwreck.

I think in 1939 (someone correct me if I am wrong) a fairly luxurious ship ran aground and nothing could be done! So it became a wreck! And is now something that is pretty funky to see on the trip up the beach! I took a few nice pics and the a friendly ranger took a group photo of us all (poor women had about 8 cameras around her wrist! Ta luv!). By now the sun was starting to go down so we needed to get to a good place to camp. We headed south down the beach. There are designated areas along the beach for camping. We basically kept going until we found the other groups and nestled in! within 30min we had the tents up and stoves a’cooking! I was head chef today, and in charge of the bbq. I cooked a fine meal of burgers and sausages! Once that was over everything was shoved in the van and the beers came out! It was a very fun night. Around 40 people socializing just off the beach with the waves crashing, a nice sea breeze and as much room as you could possibly want! Awesome! I was sharing a 3 man tent which is actually a 2 man tent with daan and renz. So it was a bit cosy! But to be honest - we all slept like babies!

just chilling at a lake
see all photos »

In the morning we were woken rudely by the sun beating down and creating a sauna effect in the tent! So everyone was up at 7 and slowly started to pack the van. We were off up the beach at about 9. We headed to a campsite that had showers to make ourselves look presentable! It wasn’t quite the happy crew singing along the beach as the day before, but spirits soon lifted once we were clean and refreshed by lunch!

We headed to a north point of the island called India Head. This is a rocky area which juts out to see and very often sting rays, turtles and tiger sharks can be seen. It was so hot! The climb wasn’t even that bad but by the top I looked like I have been swimming - towards the edge the breeze eventually cooled me down! It was very beautiful up there. We managed to see some sting rays bobbing about, and some tiny sharks which could have been fish - but its better to say sharks! While we were on the beach we witnessed a pretty cool site of a Dingo munching on a snake! Yummy!

more lake pics
see all photos »

After we had spent some time mooching about the rocks, we drove south to happy valley which is actually a resort on the island. Our beer was getting warm… and more ice was needed! After that I am sure we went somewhere else but I can’t remember where? Nothing that significant obviously! So eventually the sun started going down again, and a camp was needed. We were travelling in convoy so where ever the car in front stopped was our base! Similarly to the night before 40 of us had a get together and nattered the night away. Because the sun goes down quite early you always thought it was much later than it actually was. And if you didn’t have a watch - all you needed to do was guess what time you thought it was, and then minus 3 hours! honestly it was pretty accurate! Another funny night was had by all! Cracking!

The crew and the ship wreck
see all photos »

Same thing the next morning with the sun and the sauna - this time at 6 am! Nice! So we packed up (again slowly) and headed inland to lake Wabby. Its actually a look out point over the lake and sand dune. Its was very nice, but no one fancied the 1 ½ hr hike to it! It was early remember and damn hot! So we looked for a while and that was enough. Next stop was lake McKenzie about 40k inland. It was amazing! Similar to the lake Birabeen, but just bigger and more impressive. A downside however is its more popular. They do day trips form the mainland so busses of people arrive just before lunch. You still had the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere though. We spent about 4 hours here just chilling in the shallows, playing with the balls, and swimming after a turtle!

the ship!
see all photos »

That was fraser! We returned to the ferry in the afternoon and were back in the hostel in Hervey by 6pm. I had such an amazing time on Fraser island. It is definitely one of if not the highlight of my trip so far! I will have sooo many cool memories of it!

That night we tried to be sociable but everyone was knackered! We were in bed pretty early. The next day we said our goodbyes to mark and jocham and then drove in convoy with mike and the mechanics to Rockhampton. Its not very interesting here so won’t go into too much detail. We went out for some food to a pretty cool rodeo bar though, but its only on Friday nights! Boo! Oh we also watched a pretty mean thunder storm come from the west and felt its wrath while eating! Quite a cool sight!

In the evening
see all photos »

So that ends this blog entry! Few I hear you gasp! Go and get a coffee - stretch your legs and meet me in the next one! Airlie beach, whitSundays, magnetic island and cairns!

Tra xx