The storm clouds brewing over Brisbane followed us up the coast and unleashed a months worth of rain just as we stepped off the bus in Noosa Heads. This is a reassuring sign when you are due to spend the next 3 days camping on a purely sand island.
We spent the day in Noosa in denial, analysing what ‘100% chance of rain’ “actually” means, as well as seeking out the towns comfort food. Frances had her first ‘Boost’ of Australia, and we discovered she is as slow at drinking smoothies as she is eating ice cream. It’s impressive really.
The next day we embarked on our Fraser Island 4WD adventure. Having watched a thrilling safety video on how not to get stuck in sand or eaten by dingoes (or both at the same time), we set off to Rainbow beach in our designated vehicles. Car 1 was brought together by 3 unifying factors; British1 couples2 in-their-mid-to-late-twenties3. I.e, too old for this shit.
Once across the ferry, Andrew took the wheel as the first to drive on sand. Our Spotify playlist acted as a great ice-breaker for the car, and a distraction from the bumpy ride, so thank you all.
We arrived at our campsite seemingly unscathed only to find we seem to be staying in a horsefly hotspot. Andrew quickly mastered using his sun-hat as a cricket-bat, and was expertly thwacking them for a six in no time at all to save the group’s collective skin.
We spent the afternoon at Lake Wobby, a Teatree lake, which is surrounded by some impressive sand dunes. Our guide also revealed his own legendary horsefly skills. He can catch and crush horseflies between 2 fingers, and eat their honey sacs. We were saved.
He was also insane at boomerang
We won’t show Frances’ video as it is not worth viewing. On the drive back we met this fella:
That night Andrew channelled his Aboriginal rhythm in an attempt to warn off the rain.
This did not work. We had the worst nights sleep of the entire trip. Sweat, horsefly bites and tents don’t mix well.
Nevertheless we were (unwillingly) up at 5.30am ready to brave the next day. There was a freak tide about, the highest of the year, so we weren’t able to leave as early as expected and instead killed some time sitting on the beach to wake up. Other tours underestimated the high tides and paid the consequences.
Eventually we left and headed up to the furthest point of the island; champagne pools and Indian head.
On our way we passed the Moreno shipwreck. This ship found its way onto the shores of Fraser Island after it was decommissioned and on it’s way to Japan. It’s engine was removed so it was dragged along by another boat, which sounds like a great idea until the rope snapped in a storm and the Moreno was no more.
Our final stop of the day was Eli Creek, it’s freshwater apparently clean enough to drink (as long as it’s upstream from any human).
Throughout the day it became apparent there was a pattern amongst the group, those who had drunk goon the night before had slept really well. Goon is the Australian equilavent of Lambrini, but actually alcoholic. For those lucky enough to have surpassed the Lambrini section of your youth, its a terrible terrible wine. We were so desperate for a goods night sleep though, we would have tried anything. It worked well, until the rains started and the tree frogs had a party.
Our final day on K’gari (the islands aboriginal name) we said goodbye to the sand highways and headed inland through the forest. Stopping only twice to move fallen trees from the storm that were blocking our route. After a short ride we arrived at Lake McKenzie.
It’s pure silica white sands and clear waters make for excellent photos, and also face scrubs apparently.
This marked the last activity on Fraser Island. We’d had a fantastic time, even with the rain and horseflies. Car 1 managed to get stuck in the sand and crack the windscreen only that one time. Our guide told us many dream time stories and educated us on his aboriginal culture. We’ve even bought a boomerang, and intend to practise in the park…a very wide open park.
Immediately after the Fraser Island trip we boarded an overnight bus to Airlie Beach. As awful as that sounds, we did in fact sleep very well, anything’s an upgrade from tents and tree frogs.
We arrived in Airlie beach ready for our tour of the Whitsundays. It’s all tour tour tour, lads lads lads at the moment. But this time we chose a tame sailing boat specifically tailored to couples and aircon aficionados.
We boarded the vessel and headed out on a very choppy sea. Andrew managed to fall over and possibly break his finger within the first 10 minutes, making for a strong start to the trip. Luckily the sky cleared and the swell died down as we pulled into Whitsunday island.
It’s jellyfish season in northern Queensland so we donned our stinger suits and headed down to the beach.
Andrew didn’t have his glasses on so got unnervingly close to a stingray.
The following day we stopped off at 2 snorkel sites and had our first glimpse of the vibrant coral.
Frances had a go at paddle boarding. Andrew followed along just out of shot to avoid evidence of his epic falls.
On the way back the winds were in the right direction for the crew to kill the motor and set up the sails. Andrew was given a big responsibility whilst the skipper helped put up the ropes.
He kept us on course and we managed to successfully sail back to harbour.
We are now spending a week around Cairns and Port Douglas after a gruelling 10 hour bus journey north. After that, we’re off to Bali so we’ll post again soon.
There & Back Again 