Fraser Island -- An Experience

Again. I have very limited access to the internet so my pics are promised, but will not be delivered. They will come. I promise. Again.

I promised you positive information from the biggest sand island in the world.

I sorta have positive news? Actually it was really quite the experience. Wasn't good or bad, but it was an experience. And that's that.

Okay, okay. Details. I know. Not necessarily because you want to read them, but because I want to remember.

And....we're off.

We arrived at Fraser Roving hostel and immediately booked our 4WD experience. We thought we got a decent price -- not the best, not the worst, but good enough for all that was included.

Ross & I checked into our room (108 to be exact) with about 10 bed in the room. Whoa. Luckily, we were the only ones there. TRUE.

He went for a swim, I wrote some updates and that was that.

We got ourselves a drink before our briefing about our upcoming trip. It was a very informative session with about 17 other people. A lot of information. Too much information to remember.

Yes. I blanked out several times. What we covered? Not really sure, except cross your arms over your chest if you encounter a dingo. Seems like I got the best piece of information.

During our briefing, we met our new best friends for the next 3 days. A Norwegian couple, Erian and Frida, a English couple, Patrick and Tasha and then there were 3 others that were going to arrive a little bit later that night.

We signed our lives away to drive the vehicles, watched two really gay videos about Fraser Island (waste. of. time.) then we were split into two groups (one in on vehicle, the other group in another) and we were done.

We got together in our groups and talked about what kind of food we'd want on the trip as it would be easy to buy in bulk and share. Done and done.

The hostel offered an All-You-Can-Eat-Mexican for next to nothing, so Ross and I got that and ate our life away. I ate so much, I had to throw up.

Srsly.

We were sitting there, talkin to a nice Irish girl, Kristen, who was in the other group and I had to excuse myself to go throw up. I had ate so much, my stomach was in my esophagus. Ew.

Ross and I went back to the room to find the other 3 girls in our group. They were three young danish girls who seemed like they were having a blast in Australia. Very friendly, very young. We only met 2 of them as the other girl was off doing her own thing.

Ppl. This was the worst night ever. It was so hot in the room. Apparently people at this hostel like to stay up til 5 in the morning screaming their heads off. It wasn't a pleasant time. And I felt old thinking that.

We all got up around 6am to get ready and take off for our awesome, exciting adventure in a crammed 4WD (a very bright pink Toyota). Our only stop before going to the island was the grocery store -- and that proved to be a bit difficult.

Although we knew what everyone technically wanted, we were still not on the same page. But it all worked itself out in the end and we ended up paying about $4 a head for our meals for the next 3 days. Not too shabby.

Then we all got alcohol. Sweet.

It turned out the English couple, Pat & Tasha, were on the same page as us so we bought some food with them as well as alcohol to split. It worked out nicely. And they also gossiped with us that they over heard one of the girls on the phone last night complaining she was stuck with 3 couples. "It's going to be the most boring trip EVER."

Thanks for that. Her name is Ida (E-Duh). She's from Denmark, but has an American accent. Very confusing when she started to speak Danish to her friends. And she acted like that totally typical 21 year old loud-mouthed American. We were all very excited.

*insert eye-roll here*

Ross was the first one to drive the 4WD and he did beautifully. I was really nervous cuz um, I had never driven a 4WD. Period. And it didn't look easy. Remember, it's a sand island. So um. You can get stuck. Really stuck and potentially tip over. I guess I remembered that from the briefing as well. No good.

But I guess he pretended enough to know what he was doing so we got to our first destination in one piece. Sweet.

As soon as we hit Eurong Beach (a resort on the island -- no we didn't stay there), we got out, used the facilities and hopped on the beach to get to our next destination -- Lake Wabby. But due to some unforeseen circumstances, we ended up turning around. The beach was coming up way too fast and they warn you to NOT get any salt water in the vehicle or it'll cost you a grand. We avoided the water like a plague.

So back to Eurong we went and had lunch and hung around. Apparently there was another lake we had to visit, so we went there -- Lake Birrabunna. It was GORGEOUS. Crystal clear water, white sandy beaches with an amazing backdrop of trees and forests. Lovely.

But. That was VERY short-lived as Pat & Tasha forgot their bag with all their IDs, credit cards, etc. in it. Whoops. So, being the happy group we were, we all hopped back in the trucks to find their bag. We got back to Eurong (for the third time) to see that there were good people on the island who hadn't even touched the bag. Thank God. We were happy for them.

And coincidentally, it was low tide, so we could get back on the beach to find out camping destination.

But somehow, not sure if it was the weather or what, we found ourselves in another predicament and the tide was coming in fast. We couldn't get to our suggested campsite, so we found refuge up the beach in some random spot. It was all good. Got everything setup before dark.

Sort of.

Turns out, the tent I picked for Ross and I to use was a piece. An absolutely piece of shit. We had to tape the poles together since they were completely snapped. And we prayed that it wouldn't rain or else we'd be soaked.

Once that was fixed...I mean that very lightly...we started our dinner and started in on the goon. I had to pop a squat since there aren't bathrooms anywhere, and that was kind of scary -- even in the daylight. Dingos love to eat children. Well, not really, but they prey on small things and when girl's squat -- theyz bez smallz.

We eat dinner -- which turned out to be a three course meal of meat. Steak, sausage then a hamburger, WHOA. And we really dig into the goon. Play a dumb game of horseracing (drinking card game), but it was all good cuz it got us drunk. Fast. And if you're on Fraser Island, camping in the middle of nowhere, you want to get drunk.

As we were playing the game, someone yells out that there's a dingo walking through camp. We realized the next day how stupid we were, we were probably doing the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do and should've been dingo dinner, but he just stopped by to say hello.

I got over the card game fast, so I made Foss come with me to the beach so we could pee. We went to our separate quarters (drunk girl popping a squat...not. a. good. idea.) and then met up. Of course, being the drunk girl who thinks to much, we start talkin serious and I profess that I'd move to England for him.

*Record Screeching*

WTF. Remind me to not get drunk again. Kthx.

And that's all I remember. Not sure how we got back to the tent, but we did. Not that it mattered. Within a matter of hours, there was a torrential downpour. Everything in the tent was SOAKED. But because I was drunk, I was laughing about it. I kept waking up telling Foss I was wet and then we'd shuffle around, pass out. Woke up -- "I'm soaked" -- shuffle -- pass out. This happened a couple of more times. My favorite was that he would get mad that I didn't tell him sooner.

Hi. Still Drunk.

Eventually the rain subsides and we looked out of the tent to see 7 people staring back at us from the truck. Apparently everyone's tent had been drowned. We laughed uncontrollably at this point. All you can do is laugh. That's for sure.

Only thing that blew was Ross losing his camera to the rain. It was in a nice pool of water when we woke up. And it's his dad's camera.

Whoops.

We all got up and put away the drenched tents. The Danish girls actually found a crab in their tent. Funny thing is that their tent was the furtherest from the beach. Ha! How he got all the way up there to setup a home, I don't know. One girl -- Sabrina -- she immediately said, "I thought I felt something crawling around in my hair!"

Huh? And you didn't try to brush it away? Oh, the Danish.

I think one of the funniest things on the trip was the fact that a girl from the other truck walked up to us asking if we were missing a flip flop.

Note. Flip Flop. One. One Flip Flop.

Like we'd all look down and notice, "Oh Dear! I've been walking around with one flip flop this whole time! Silly me!"

Foss and I still laugh about that today.

We drive off to Happy Valley where we find refuge at a YHA. We all think about grabbing a bed there if it rains again. Our night was that miserable.

Then, we drove on down to Indian Head where we saw some really spectacular views. Unfortunately the engine overheated on the way there, but it was cool -- just needed some water and a breather. The other group just flew right by us. Nice one.

After Indian Head, we drove to Eli Creek which was...a creek. Apparently, if we had walked further in we would've seen some spectacular sights, but we were over it all. We wanted to see Lake McKenzie (what Fraser is KNOWN for), so we drove on to Eurong to use the phone (to tell the hostel their tents SUCK) and grab ourselves some sugar to keep us going.

We met up with another Fraser Roving group that were leaving that day to exchange tents and life was good. We were off to Lake McKenzie now.

We ate some lunch and had a dingo visit us during our break. But he wasn't the scary dingo I had pictured. He was rather timid and just hungry. Poor fellow. No. We did not feed him.

And down to the lake we went.

Ppl, this lake is really what it's cracked up to be. Absolutely gorgeous. Wish I had stayed there longer.

We decide to camp at Central Station -- totally not sticking it our itinerary -- but quickly find out you have to pay for it. We shrug it off and stay anyway...we'll deal with the ranger if he ever shows up. Always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Sabrina cooks us a nice Spaghetti Bolognese meal. She kind of turned out to be our chef while Ross and I were dubbed Mom and Dad.

Awesome. Pfftt.

We then start in on the goon and play the game of 7 as well as Slap. And sing Danish songs to make people drink faster and more. Brew hahah!!

OMG. We had so much fun. Too much fun. And poor Ida got wasted. So drunk that she tried to convince a Candadian guy from another camp to "come home with her." Luckily, he was a nice guy and put her to bed.

I found this out the next day as I passed out at 9pm.

I guess I am Mom.

We woke up DRY (yyayayayay!) but at 6am since Frida was singing to everyone to wake up. Bitch.

We clean ourselves up (yes, there were facilities here...sweeet), break down and off we went to Lake Wabby.

There were some crazy roads to get to Lake Wabby. Lots of bumps which the people in the back didn't appreciate. But, eh, it was fun. We took a nice long walk (where Ross and I had to babysit Ida -- she's a talker) to the lake which was at the end of a sand dune.

Way. Awesome.

Unfortunately we had 3 hours to kill there, so we sat in the lake just chatting it up. I was stupid and forgot sun-block, so I ended up burning my back. Not too badly, but enough to kick myself for.

The other Danish girl I haven't really mentioned much about is a complete idiot. She was the typical blonde bimbo. No offense to bimbos across the globe. But damn, Linneia was STUPID.

To do something, Foss and I walked back to the car where we had lunch and chatted with some people passing by. It was nice to get away from the group and be one-on-one.

We were about to walk back when everyone showed up because they were over it. We cleaned up the dishes, packed up the truck and we were off to the barge.

Everyone in the group looked absolutely beat. We all couldn't wait to get off this island and get a real shower.

We got back to Hervey Bay where the trucks were taken, we were all good to go, and we all got a shower in. Sweet. Although it was the coldest shower I've ever taken, I wanted it like that. Oh, did it feel so amazing.

We did a load of laundry only to find out the washing machine wouldn't spin, so it was soaking wet. We should've thought it out, but instead we just hung it to dry. And crossed our fingers.

Ross and I took one for the team to go complain about the tents to the manager. Honestly, he could've cared less.

He kept raising his hand saying, "Don't go there." Whaaat?!? Where were we supposed to go? He gave us $10 back for the 4th tent we hired and gave us a free jug of beer as well as two free All-You-Can-Eat-Mexican (kill me now), but, I didn't over do it this time. Thank God.

We sat around with everyone and talked about our trip as well as what was everyone's next adventure. It was good.

Foss and I walked around Hervey Bay and walked out to the jetty where we looked up at the stars. It was spectacular. We talked about the trip and ruled it as neither good or bad -- just quite the adventure. And that's the only way to explain it.

We both pass out, in a less hot room, where we are suddenly awoken every hour to screaming people. This hostel is MAD.

We packed up everything, got situated and off we were to our next adventure.

Again. Not a terrible experience, just an experience. Something I'll never forget. And that's what it's all about.

There Isn't Shit in Rainbow Beach

It's a pity really. We had such high hopes for our trip to turn around. And instead it got worse. A lot worse.

After getting ourselves an awesome ice cream cone with free toppings. ALL. THE. FREE. TOPPINGS. YOU. COULD. WANT. We left Noosa with heads high and smiles on our face.

We were hungry for lunch and decided to take a back road to Rainbow Beach. Finding ourselves on top of yet another amazing mountain.

We made ourselves some store-bought sausages that proved to be quite delicious. But boy, did they make my stomach hurt.

And being with someone you're not to comfortable around when something like that happens -- especially if he's English and acts all proper -- is not fun. Not. Fun. At. All.

On the long drive to Rainbow Beach, I started to feel the stomach pains. But of course, I had to keep my composure and act like it was all good in the hood.

But it wasn't. Oh no. It wasn't.

That drive was probably the longest drive ever. And then to show up at Rainbow Beach to see there was literally a petrol station (gas station), 2 backpacker hostels and a surf club didn't make it any better.

We checked in right away and asked about Fraser Island.

Guess when the next tour was going out?

Nope. Not Friday. Not Saturday.

MONDAY. It was Tuesday when we arrived and they said Monday??!

Oh Hellll No.

So we checked into our room pissed we spent $40 to stay in this shit town. We gave each other weary smiles and we went to the surf club to get some cheap beer. This time. It was cheap.

We sat outside overlooking the ocean calling all the places in Rainbow Beach and none of them were going until the following week. So we succumbed and called Hervey Bay which all were going out on Thursday.

DAMNIT! Ross was right. The Lonely Planet was right. I felt like a poo face.

We joked as we called around and found the best-for-us deal and booked it right then and there. Then we went back to the hostel, chatted with a girl about her travels and we were off to find some grub.

We ended up at a cafe that had a hamburger and chips deal with $8.50. We split it, but Ross was so tired from not sleeping the night before and driving, he was not good company. And that worried me more than anything. I got all defensive and he got weirded out. It was bad.

We ended up sleeping in separate beds that night. His call. Which made me re-evaluate the situation. Even contemplating about changing our course of being together to being just friends.

In the morning, everyone in the hostel room (which happened to be all girls) left before 7am which gave us time to talk things out. We concluded it was all good and we were just tired and being stupid.

Ross and I checked out of the crap hostel and decided to have brekky on the beach. Unfortunately, it was really windy and we were worried we would have sand for breakfast. So we backtracked to the hostel and cooked there. It was a pleasant meal with decent conversation. I think we were back on course at that point.

Then I decided it was my turn to drive. I did rather well, but any time I hit a bump or made a turn too quickly, I always felt like Ross was clutching the side of the car, scared I was going to hurt his baby. Not sure if that feeling will ever go away.

We drove through a town called Maryborough. It's known for the birth place of the author of Mary Poppins. Sad. I know. There were tons of Mary Poppins memorabilia all over the place. Almost in a creepy way.

After visiting the information centre and receiving the most ridiculous amount of information about this small town, we made our way over to the Big W to buy sleeping bags for our Fraser Island tour.

Then we went for a devonshire tea (scone with jam & cream w/ tea) -- um delish.

Then we were off to Hervey Bay.

The problem arose when we literally had 10km until the car's tank was empty. And since I'm driving, I'm freakin.

FREAKIN.

To to the point where Ross is enjoying himself telling me a story that I interrupt him to KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR PETROL STATIONS, DAMNIT! Yet another heated moment between to the two of us.

I've finally updated my blog to the point of where I am now. We made it to a gas station in time where I yelled some more because he wouldn't take my money. We're splitting this trip in 1/2, but he keeps paying for stuff. Not because he's so sweet and doesn't want me to pay. No. So my debt to him keeps racking up to the point that I'll owe him $1,000 by the end of it.

But out of the kindness of his own heart and how he hates change, he didn't use my money for the petrol because he didn't want me to have to bother with change.

HUH?!?

It's petty sh!t like this that is driving me nuts. Luckily, we're having a separation moment again. He's off swimming in the ocean, while I'm here updating my blog. Cuz I love you guys. And I need to vent.

V-E-N-T.

I'm thinkin Ross and I are on Day 8 and we haven't killed each other. Yet. So that must be a good sign. Spending 24/7 with someone is hard already...especially if you don't know that person that well.

So. I breathe. I try to get out of my head. I relax.

Any pointers would be lovely and appreciated.

Tomorrow. We go on a self-guided 4WD tour with 7 other people to one of the most exquisite places in Australia.

I'm ready. It'll be good for us to meet new people and have OTHER people to talk to.

Trust me. I'm still enjoying myself. I really am. And I know I'll have QUITE the stories to share with you as soon as I get back from Fraser. All positive. I hope.