When we arrived at the hostel for our early briefing on our Fraser Island trip we felt a little bit nervous. We didn’t really know what to expect - some people said Fraser Island was massively overrated, we’d heard stories of broken arms and legs from people who’d been sand-boarding on the dunes and worst of all, we were about to be stranded, in a tent, for 2 nights with a group of people who could potentially be massive douchebags. At the briefing we were hastily put into groups of 8 and shown a video warning us of death by dingoes and dangerous driving. This really helped to put our fears to rest.
They then gave us approximately 5 seconds to decide what food we wanted for the next 3 days and then Jen was sent to a tiny supermarket with another girl, Josefin, to buy provisions for this group of strangers. Chris stayed behind as he was one of our group’s designated drivers, and was told about the variety of ways in which we could die on Fraser Island - and how much it would cost us financially if we did.
When Jen and Josefin returned with food our whole group helped to pack all the stuff into our 4WD drive and we all set off for the barge crossing. There were 6 cars in total, all containing 8 people each, but 4 of the cars were full of Danish students who all knew each other and didn’t really want to talk to us; so our car quickly bonded with everyone in the other car and formed a group of 16 which worked out quite nicely for the whole trip.
Fraser Island is a sand island which has rainforest so driving there was eventful. Driving through the rainforest on sand tracks was really bumpy with loads of great big potholes which meant that everyone and everything in the back was sent flying every few minutes. Driving on the beach was really flat but quite slippy and slidey and sometimes a bit splashy. They had given us a map with numbered locations where there was interesting stuff for us to look at so we had a few stops on the beach on the way to the campsite to look at a ship wreck and a nice river. By the time we arrived at the campsite everyone was tired and hot and hungry but we needed to put the tents up before it got dark so we hastily had some lunch before making a start.
It quickly became apparent that most people had never put up a tent in their lives when they mostly just stood around looking at it with baffled looks on their faces. Luckily the tents they had given were larger versions of the tent we had in New Zealand so Chris swung into Scout Leader mode. Once they were up we decided to take a drive to a lake for a swim. But the drive was a lot longer than we had anticipated and very bumpy, and by the time we got to the lake it was about to get dark so a few people had a quick dip and then we had to drive back.
That night we had a BBQ and a few drinks which was really nice after our jam-packed day and it gave us a chance to get to know everyone and thankfully there was not a douchebag in sight. Everyone turned out to be really nice and we had a good laugh. Which made us pleased. The owner of the campsite, Nick, took a bit of a shine to one of the girls in our group and offered her a bed in a kind of permanent tent which was near to his house. She was slightly wary but the permanent tent had 2 airbeds and was nicer than the shit tents they had given us so she made the very smart decision to ask us to join her. We felt it would be rude to refuse. When it was time for bed, Jen realised that she’d had slightly more than a few drinks and so was extra pleased that we didn’t have to sleep on the floor.
The next morning Jen was the last one to get up and was very disappointed that there was no toast. Or coffee. But after a banana and a tin cup or two of milk she felt ready to face the day. We all piled into our trucks and drove down the beach to a place called Indian Head which had lovely views of the island and then we spent the afternoon on the sunbathing on the beach and swimming in a rock pool - but not in the sea because there are tiger sharks and jellyfish. Welcome to Fraser Island. You might die. That night we had a few more beers around the campfire and slept in the awesome tent again. We probably should have been nicer and offered it to someone else in our group but we like airbeds so we didn’t.
On our final day on Fraser Island we packed up the camp and drove to Lake McKenzie which was very beautiful and had turtles swimming in the water. We spent the day doing more swimming and sunbathing (or sun-burning if your name is Chris) before eating a picnic lunch and driving back to the barge back to the mainland.
After unloading the cars back at the hostel we all felt very tired and grubby - there were showers on Fraser but they were cold and dribbly so we’d spent most of our time there covered in dirt and sand. We had showers and steak at the hostel but then it was time to say goodbye to all of our new-found friends as we were getting the overnight bus to Mackay.
The bus ride was uncomfortable, not least because we were both completely covered in mozzie and sandfly bites from Fraser, and we arrived in Mackay at 7:40am. But it was nice and cool at that time of the morning so we walked to our hostel. We had cleverly booked a private room as it was only $5 more than both of us sleeping in dorms so it meant we were able to go straight into our room and have a bit of a sleep. After washing all of our grubby clothes from Fraser we headed out into Mackay which was very quiet as it was Sunday but also very hot. We had a Subway and went for a swim at the city lagoon. There is a river running through Mackay but you can’t swim there as there are crocodiles. Eeek!
We cooked dinner and went to bed early as it we were booked onto a “Platypus Safari” tour the next day which we found out left the hostel at 5am. So we had to get up at 4am. 4am for crying out loud! It was still dark! But the platypus is nocturnal so the best time to spot them is early in the morning before it gets too warm. Our guide, Keith, a nice old man, drove us out to Eungella National Park as the sun was coming up (and we were snoozing) and when we got there we were able to see about 5 or 6 platypus feeding and swimming which was fantastic. He also told us that David Attenborough had filmed there which made us rather excited because we love him. We also saw kingfisher birds and a small brown snake. Next he took us for a walk to something called the “Sky Window” which is basically a platform which gives lovely views of the valley below but it was very foggy as it was still so early so we couldn’t really see much.
Then he took us for a walk through the rainforest in the national park and told us about lots of the different plants and trees we saw there. The walk led us to Araluen Cascades, a waterfall in the middle of the rainforest where we went swimming. It was absolutely bloody freezing. But it was an amazing experience and there was nobody else there except for the 7 of us. And a couple who were there when we arrived and clearly were planning to do more than just swimming in the waterfall. But they quickly disappeared when we got there and ruined their plans for sexy time.
After swimming we walked back through the rainforest and then went for lunch at a nearby country hotel where they made their own fresh pies which they served with chips and mushy peas and gravy. Bloody delicious. We love pies. We got back to the hostel around 1pm which was really weird as it felt like we’d been awake for ages. Because we had. Did I mention we had to get up at 4am…? So of course we went straight for a sleep. But the rooms were not air-conditioned and it was fiercely hot so eventually we had to go out into the world. We retreated to the one place we knew would provide lovely air-conditioned protection from the heat of the afternoon - the shopping mall. We mooched around in there for the rest of the day and bought some nice strong anti-histamine tablets so that Jen wouldn‘t be forced to cut off her own legs to stop the itching from the bites. We had another early night as we got the coach to Airlie Beach this morning at 7:45 - it was pissing with rain but the lovely old lady who ran our hostel, Wanda, gave us a lift to the station in the minibus. We loved her and would have happily stayed another week in Mackay just so she could look after us.
It’s been very rainy today so we haven’t done much, although we did bump into some of the people we went to Fraser Island with which was a nice surprise. Tomorrow we’re catching a boat to go on a 2-day cruise around the Whitsundays which includes some diving and snorkelling so we’re really looking forward to it. Although we’re aware that we were very lucky with the Fraser Island trip so we’re bracing ourselves for a boatload of dickheads this time. Fingers crossed it stops raining at least.
They then gave us approximately 5 seconds to decide what food we wanted for the next 3 days and then Jen was sent to a tiny supermarket with another girl, Josefin, to buy provisions for this group of strangers. Chris stayed behind as he was one of our group’s designated drivers, and was told about the variety of ways in which we could die on Fraser Island - and how much it would cost us financially if we did.
When Jen and Josefin returned with food our whole group helped to pack all the stuff into our 4WD drive and we all set off for the barge crossing. There were 6 cars in total, all containing 8 people each, but 4 of the cars were full of Danish students who all knew each other and didn’t really want to talk to us; so our car quickly bonded with everyone in the other car and formed a group of 16 which worked out quite nicely for the whole trip.
Fraser Island is a sand island which has rainforest so driving there was eventful. Driving through the rainforest on sand tracks was really bumpy with loads of great big potholes which meant that everyone and everything in the back was sent flying every few minutes. Driving on the beach was really flat but quite slippy and slidey and sometimes a bit splashy. They had given us a map with numbered locations where there was interesting stuff for us to look at so we had a few stops on the beach on the way to the campsite to look at a ship wreck and a nice river. By the time we arrived at the campsite everyone was tired and hot and hungry but we needed to put the tents up before it got dark so we hastily had some lunch before making a start.
The bus ride was uncomfortable, not least because we were both completely covered in mozzie and sandfly bites from Fraser, and we arrived in Mackay at 7:40am. But it was nice and cool at that time of the morning so we walked to our hostel. We had cleverly booked a private room as it was only $5 more than both of us sleeping in dorms so it meant we were able to go straight into our room and have a bit of a sleep. After washing all of our grubby clothes from Fraser we headed out into Mackay which was very quiet as it was Sunday but also very hot. We had a Subway and went for a swim at the city lagoon. There is a river running through Mackay but you can’t swim there as there are crocodiles. Eeek!
We cooked dinner and went to bed early as it we were booked onto a “Platypus Safari” tour the next day which we found out left the hostel at 5am. So we had to get up at 4am. 4am for crying out loud! It was still dark! But the platypus is nocturnal so the best time to spot them is early in the morning before it gets too warm. Our guide, Keith, a nice old man, drove us out to Eungella National Park as the sun was coming up (and we were snoozing) and when we got there we were able to see about 5 or 6 platypus feeding and swimming which was fantastic. He also told us that David Attenborough had filmed there which made us rather excited because we love him. We also saw kingfisher birds and a small brown snake. Next he took us for a walk to something called the “Sky Window” which is basically a platform which gives lovely views of the valley below but it was very foggy as it was still so early so we couldn’t really see much.
Then he took us for a walk through the rainforest in the national park and told us about lots of the different plants and trees we saw there. The walk led us to Araluen Cascades, a waterfall in the middle of the rainforest where we went swimming. It was absolutely bloody freezing. But it was an amazing experience and there was nobody else there except for the 7 of us. And a couple who were there when we arrived and clearly were planning to do more than just swimming in the waterfall. But they quickly disappeared when we got there and ruined their plans for sexy time.
It’s been very rainy today so we haven’t done much, although we did bump into some of the people we went to Fraser Island with which was a nice surprise. Tomorrow we’re catching a boat to go on a 2-day cruise around the Whitsundays which includes some diving and snorkelling so we’re really looking forward to it. Although we’re aware that we were very lucky with the Fraser Island trip so we’re bracing ourselves for a boatload of dickheads this time. Fingers crossed it stops raining at least.
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