Fraser Island

2 AUSTRIAN WOMEN, 3 DUTCH MEN, 1 SWISS MAN, A SCOTTISH GIRL, AND ME are grouped together in a 4x4 Ute that fits 5 in the back on benches (like a military vehicle) and 3 in the front seats.  The briefing was long and detailed.  Merv was the man who gave us the 2pm briefing and countless times said "I am not here to tell you guys what to do BUT..."  There were so many dangers with this Fraser Island 3 day 2 night camping/safari beach tour that is laughable.  "True story" Merv would keep telling us about people being eaten by tiger sharks, cars rolling and crushing humans, girls being airlifted by helicopter, drownings, and a baby that was eaten by a dingo.  And we are going there and paid $ for this again why?  LOL.  Why, because it led to 3 of the funniest and most interesting/amazing days of my travels yet.

YOUR FOOD AND GAS IS PROVIDED BUT YOU BUY YOUR OWN ALCOHOL.  The cooler for the alcohol was like a mini coffin but more square.  It is the biggest cooler I have ever seen.  Over here they are called an 'ESKY' (which is the brand name and has to do with Eskimos or something I don't know).  Anyway, you pack all your gear in to the 4x4 and cargo net it down.  The driver can't see out of the rear view mirror.  The people in the back feel like sardines.  Morale is high and everyone is excited and we head out for the beach spot where the barges pick us up to transport to Fraser Island.  Emmy drove first because she was from Scotland and is used to driving normal roads on the left side of the road.  It is 10am.  I already want to drink beer but can't because the esky is the first thing packed and has a ton of gear on top of it.  Damn it.  The barge takes like 15 minutes to get you on the island.  The huge steel forward hull lowers and the cars that drove in and packed tight drive right out on to the water and sand of the beach.  Here we go.  For those of you that have driven on the beach before, especially with a mission in mind (3 day camping trip), know that there is something special about rallying down the sand with the ocean on your side and caravan with a team.  Little things like communicating between the cars for when to go to 4 wheel drive or 2 wheel drive (first car puts their arm out the window and flashes 4 fingers - which is then passed by car 2, to car 3, etc, etc).  2 fingers was for 2WD.  Flashing your lights means you are in trouble.  Blinkers tell the pack which side of things we are going to pass on as you are not the only thing that moves out there.  You have also study the map and tide chart you were given so that you drive during safe driving times.  You would not believe the pictures I saw on the "Rock Wall" in the Rainbow Beach Hotel that is put up by the Rainbow Beach towing company.  Trucks and utes, and SUVs so F'd over it is unbelievable.  Some of them were so engulfed and sunken into sand and water than you could see just the roof.  Some were against rocks and mangled and crushed it looked like they went through a spin cycle in a washing machine for motor vehicles.  You are concerned about this and just hope the weather will be good and it won't be stormy or wet as that ADDS a ton of water and force to the creeks, washouts, and streams you have to drive through when getting to your Fraser Island destinations.

IT RAINED AND SURGED WET FOR 2 OF THE 3 DAYS WE WERE ON THAT FORSAKEN ISLAND.  It was like camping at Beverly Beach in Oregon, USA in tents with bad weather times 10 (Mom, you would not have been a happy camper lol).  You can't just pack up and leave either.  Your team, or group (we were Group B and were obviously the most fun and dominant group! - love and miss you guys!), has to come together and survive.  My dad just said to me on Skype "it sounds like Survivor" haha, yes Dad, it was, but without the voting off (although I could tell some group members in other groups would love to have implemented a voting off rule haha).  At your campsite:  No showers.  No running water.  No electricity.  No toilet facilities. No structures for cover.  No pillows.  No sleeping pads.  No campfires.  No picnic benches.  No chairs.  Just a few handfuls of international travelers joining together to accomplish a first few initial tasks; putting up your tents on the sand behind the dune to keep wind out while keeping under the tarp rain cover (some people failed at this and slept in the front seats of the 4x4s), and making dinner.  It was so funny the instructions for the menu for our prepacked food for 3 days was written like it was to be read by a 10 year old learning to cook for the first time.  "Remove cheese from package and place on bread slice"..."Remove corned beef from package and put in between cheese and bread"..."put another slice of bread on the beef and cheese"..."put in mouth, chew" - just kidding on the last part but yes the instructions for making a sandwich could have been understood by a kindergartner at snack time.

EVERY MEAL YOU HAVE HAS SAND IN IT.  Every meal we cooked seemed to also have heaps and heaps of water raining on our very small tarped area for cover.  The type of rain that creates huge runoff puddles on the ground around where you are.  Oh what an experience lol Quang Do for cranking this one up because it did was set the laughter meter to a 9 for the entire trip.  The game was a tin cup filled 1 third of the way up with boxed wine, premixed rum and coke, or beer (or sometimes all 3 - thank you Quang Do) with a full deck of playing cards set on top of the cup.  It was passed around the circle and you get one breath to blow off a bit of the cards.  Whoever messes up (not blowing off at least one card or blowing off the whole thing or using two breaths), or is left with the last card drinks the contents in the cup.  I cried a couple of times I was laughing so hard as I we abused this young innocent Swedish girl who didn't get the game well at first and Quang Do kept setting her up for failure.  Oh man it was good times.  Great times.

THE NEXT DAY YOU ARE UP TO BEAT THE TIDES TO GET TO A SHIPWRECK, ELI CREEK, AND INDIAN HEAD.  We lucked out a bit as it seemed to pour rain when we were at camp, cooking and what not, but would not rain when we went out to explore the island.  Eli Creek was a fresh water creek that flooded into the ocean and was no more than knee deep most of the time.  It was neat as we left our bag at the mouth of it and hiked up it and then "crocodile style" swam or cruised in the current down it towards the ocean.  So cold, but so nice.  It was like a lazy river.  Lots of splashing and antics by Group B followed by some bump/set/spike volleyball at the end of the creek on the mouth by the beach.  The shipwreck was fascinating as it is just right there on the beach in the shallow end and you can walk right up to it to take pictures.  Remember the entire island is a World Heritage National Park so everything is protected and historic.  Indian Head was magnificent.  It was named by Cook around 1770 when he was exploring the coast.  A massive bluff jetting out over the shoreline I remember standing there looking left and seeing an endless beach and looking right and seeing another.  Took some good pictures on the tip with only the Pacific Ocean behind me stayed away from the edge as the cliff drop was pretty hefty and there are no ropes or guide rails to keep people from falling off.

THE SECOND NIGHT WAS FILLED WITH COMMUNAL SINGING AND LAUGHTER.  Joel, one of our 2 guides for all 5 vehicles, played guitar into the night with songs like Take Me Home Country Roads and Oasis's Wonderwall.  By this point I have become really good friends and close with a girl named Stephanie from Austria (in my group).  We have the same sense of humor and get along great and it was fun to hang with her and party through the night.  After dinner, drinking games (moved to Asshole the second night where I helped explain the game to everyone the game and also the difference of singles on singles and doubles on doubles, etc), and music, I walked out to the beach with Steph and we just laid there and watched the arsenal of stars and planets in the sky invade our eyes.  We may have kissed and rolled around on the sand under the blanket of the cosmos as well ;)  It wasn't raining at this point.  It was warm.  It was clear.  It was awesome.  The final day was Lake Mackenzie, one of the purest/clearest/freshest (freshest?) freshwater lakes in the world.  It is in the middle of Fraser Island and has a sandy beach surrounding it with tropical foliage surrounding the beach.  It is like something out of a novel.  Apparently you can clean jewelry with the sand it is so fine and yes, you can, drink the water in the lake as you swim.  I did.  The 4x4 track to get to this marvel was something you have to experience.  While it can be a difficult run for a 4x4 normally (we broke and spring and burned a hole in our radiator which we found out when we returned our vehicle), the weather in the past few days made it into some awesome off-roading.  Huge puddles and bogs...Joel, the guide, who has been doing these tours for years said it was the worst he had ever seen it.  You aren't in Kansas anymore when you find yourself in a 4x4 ute in the middle of a 50 mile long island in the Pacific Ocean knee to knee knocking with 4 European men who haven't showered in 3 days.  Not to mention the crazy Austrian girl (jk Steph LUV U! :)) who doesn't seem to care as your heads are hitting your knees and the roof of the vehicle as she MASHES it 15km through some extremely technical 4x4 roadway in what feels like a jungle.  It was an incredible experience/adventure to say the least.  RCM