This one's for you Cap'tin

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We arrived in Hervey Bay a little tired and jaded, not surprising as we had just spent 13hrs on a greyhound following our Airlie Beach adventure!  This could have been a nightmare but was actually pleasantly amusing as the bus driver was the funniest we have met to date.  When instructing his passengers what could be taken on board, eaten on board, drunk on board, done on board he was unable to summarise so instead of "no hot drinks allowed" we were given a rundown which ran something like this "please refrain from drinking hot beveridges aboard the bus so no tea; green, normal, black or white.  No coffee; with sugar or without.  No hot chocloate organic or otherwise.  Please only  have drinks with a screwtop like coke, diet coke, water, lemonade, ribenna, squash. No cans.  No diary based drinks so no milk, milkshake, youghut drinks.  No hot food so please don't eat sausage rolls, burgers, chips, kebabs, curry etc, etc".  He was genius and everyone on board listened with stiffled giggles particularly as whenever we went to make a drop he reminded the passengers to check their seats for music players i.e i-pods, discmans, walkmans, i-pod cases, headphones, wallets, purses, small change, mobile phones, mobile phone cases.  I think he covered everything that anyone could possibly carry with them bar the kitchen sink.  And he did this at every stop.  I loved him despite the night of uninterrupted sleep that ensued.

So anyway upon arrival at Hervey Bay we called our hostel  'Friendlys'  and were collected only to be driven to the nicest hostel we have stayed in so far.  In fact 'Friendly's' is not really a hostel more like the annex of your mates parents house.  We had a whole little apartment with a clean kitchen; bedroom (with single beds - not bunks and proper mattresses); balcony and lounge room with a sofa and wide-screen tv (!) we were in heaven and as we were sharing with a lovely couple from up-north, Kelly and Mark who had also been on our bus the 4 of us promptedly made ourselves a cup'a'tea and watched innane tv for the morning.  The afternoon was spent talking to Sheryl the owner of the hostel and the fountain of knowledge on all the various whale watching and Fraser Island tours  based in Hervey Bay.  Sheryl is the perfect source for an unbiased opinion on everything Hervey as she doesn't get any commission from the tour companies and has tried them all in order to give her guests an honest opinion and believe you me she knows her stuff. 

Having deliberated our options: whales or Fraser?  Em and I decided we were intrigued to see what the largest sand island in the world was like so Fraser  won.  We then had to work out if we should team up with other young'uns to share driving this sandy mass, if Em should drive it all, with me attempting to map read or if we should take the leisurly approach and get driven.  And after hearing some horror stories (from Sheryl) about dodgy car rental firms who don't give you back your deposit, and people driving like crazy crashing  your 4x4 resulting in you having to fork out for a new jeep (and sending us back home), oh and then there was the camping (we can slum it in hostels but camp? get to buggery!) we decided to be slightly un-budget and book on a 2 day 1 night fully  guided tour, all meals included and motel accomodation.  Not really backpacker but hey we are allowed luxury every now and then!       

And boy are we glad we did.  We went with Fraser Explorer and it was fantastic.  Our guide was a rather jovial chap called Captain Kangeroo (he wouldn't explain why) who had worked on the island for 25 years and he knew anything and everything about the place.  The trip took in all aspects of Fraser; Pile Valley where we wandered along the rainforest floor passing the most enormous trees 2m in diameter from  root to tip and craned our necks in vain attempts to see the sky;  Eli Creek where we walked bum deep in this beautiful fresh water stream to its sauce; the filmic Maheno shipwreck where we took the obligatory tourist photos of this rusting cruiseliner which was washed ashore in 1935, used as bomb target for the Australian army during the 2nd WW and is now sinking in sand; The Pinnacles with it's layers of different and striking hues of coloured sand; we climbed to the top of India Heads an extinct volcano and the supposed birthspot of the Island where we spotted a turtle swimming amid the swirling waves of the Pacific Ocean as it crashed against the rocks below; we drove along the 75mile beach the super highway of the island at a hairrasing speed dodging planes, people, 4x4's and the ocean.  And that was all on the first day!

We rested our weary heads and feasted on rather yummy food at Eurong [I'm right] Beach Resort where I saw a dingo (vicious wild native  dog) and following the advice given I duly crossed my arms, stood up tall, looked it in the eyes and told it in a stern voice to go away, which thankfully it did.  

The next day we rose early ate an enormous breakfast and trekked (with our food babies) through an almighty sand blow which was a truly breathtaking scene.  We were the first that day to reach the dune and were faced with uninterrupted sand for as far as the eye could see, it was beautiful and an image I will never forget.  And what could make this moment better I hear you ask?  Only the Lake at the other end.  Yep once we had crossed this vast expanse of sand feeling hot, tired, thirsty and covered in specks of sand we reached Lake Wabby an emerald green freshwater lake which was like finding heaven.  All the group stipped to their bathers and ran excitedly into the water to cool down - and cool down we did, it was ruddy freezing! 

The final stop in the afternoon was Lake MacKenzie a lake sat atop a sand dune.  This place is beautiful, a gorgeous clear blue as a result of it being pure rainwater (take note: not UK rain water), rimmed by the finest quartz sand which felt like flour between your toes.  Perfect.

Fraser Island far exceeded our expectations, we had to keep reminding ourselves that this is an island.  Made of SAND.  On this tiny patch of Australia you can find various eco systems alive and working together to create an idyll.  You have Mangrove Forest, Rain Forest, Pine Forest, scrub land, beach shrubs each supporting their own unique wildlife.  You drive through and around them and in a matter of moments you have passed through enviroments which would take you months to encounter on this crazy continent.   And it's made of sand, just to reiterate guys thats sand, masses and masses of the stuff has been swept onto the spot for millions of years buring old forests, allowing new ones to flourish then buring them again and over and over the process goes the result of which is a solid land mass which supports massive trees and beautiful lakes.  I think I can honestly speak for both Em and I when I say this is paradise.