Now I will continue on to talk about this past weekend. Let me just say Fraser Island was absolutely GORGEOUS and so far has been my favorite place that I have been to in Australia! I will upload pictures to Picasa as soon as I can so that you guys can see just how wonderful this place was! We only made it a weekend trip but we packed a lot into just a few days!
It was Kat, Carolyn, Beth and me going on this weekend trip! We left on Friday night after Kat got after work and got on the road at around 8 P.M. which actually worked out so that we avoided any traffic jams! Originally I thought the drive to Hervey Bay (which is where we would stay that night) was only 3ish hours, but it ended up being about 5 hours which still isn't that far of a drive. We got to our hostel at around 1:00 AM and were all ready to go to bed. We checked into our hostel and it was us four girls and then two guys as well who were from New Zealand and San Diego. The guys were really cool and I was surprised to hear that neither of them had met many Americans while being here. I am slowly learning where I chose to study abroad so did basically every other American lol. I like traveling because I get to meet so many people from around the world and there are usually plenty of interesting conversations to be held.
The next morning we were up at around 7:00 AM and I was exhausted because I didn't fall asleep until sometime after 3:45 (which is the last time I looked at the clock). We got picked up by a shuttle bus and then headed down to hop onto the catamaran to go to Fraser Island. It was only about a forty minute ride until we got to the island and as soon as you stepped onto the dock you realized just how pretty of a place you were going to spend your weekend. I really wish I could get pictures to capture just how pretty all of these places are but I can never get them to capture all of its beauty!
When we got off of the catamaran we dropped off our bags to be taken to the resort and then met our tour guide Peter, who was absolutely hilarious the entire trip! When we got on our big four wheel drive bus we continued on to drive through the forest. Somewhere along the line I found out that Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and that is basically just another bragging right it has. :)
We drove for a little and then hiked through the forest for about ten minutes until we got to Basin Lake, which was a really pretty fresh water lake on the Island. There is a story that the entire Island is a god who wanted to be part of the earth, and all of the lakes are here eyes so that she can still see into the clouds where the rest of the gods are.
After Basin Lake we took a thirty minute hike through the forest, where it started to rain! I kept laughing to myself at how I was walking through a rain forest, through the rain! After our little hike we ended up at Central Station and had lunch. Central Station is where the rail road use to be, but no longer is. Lunch consisted of really good ham and pineapple sandwiches along with some pasta salad.
After lunch we went on another small hike through the forest along Wanggoolba Creek where the water was so clear you couldn't even tell the creek had water in it!!! We only hiked for about fifteen minutes to meet Peter at the bus and then drive to Lake McKenzie.
It is really hard to chose my favorite place on Fraser Island but this is definitely towards the top of the list. I have never seen sand so white, and water SO clear. Not to mention that it was surrounded by a rain forest just made the scenery stunning. It started to rain a bit and to add to the beauty a really big rainbow started to show in the sky! Normally I would have asked for blue sky and white clouds but the rainbow stretching across the island seemed to be just as good! The sand at lake McKenzie is so fine that you can clean your jewelry and exfoliate your skin with it. I took a couple pictures with my underwater camera so we will see how they turn out, I still have to take 15 pictures before I can develop it.
After Lake McKenzie we headed back to the resort and checked in. We attempted to go and watch the sunset but instead of going right which was the correct way, we turned left and got onto the wrong track. So after that we took a shuttle back to the dingo bar and had dinner. From dinner we went back to reception and went swimming. The pool was heated so it was a perfect way to end the day. After a bit we all moved into the hot tub and just relaxed, had girl conversations and stared at the stars and full moon! After the hot tub we went back and took showers at our cabins. We then went down to the Dingo Bar and had a drink that was called "Bootylicious" and it basically tasted like cherry 7-up. We were there for a bit but then still made it back and were in bed by midnight.
On Sunday we woke up at around 7:00 AM again and headed down to breakfast. After breakfast we were on the bus for a pretty drive on a 75 mile long beach while we headed towards the Maheno Shipwreck. The ship had been there since 1935 when the Japanese lost it during a storm. They had taken out the propellers to make it easier to transfer but then ship got disconnected from the ship that was towing it and since it didn't have propellers there was no way to keep it on track and it ended up landed on Fraser Island. During the second war Australia had tested a bomb on it, but since it wasn't a direct hit the ship isn't totally ruined. (Although it is very deteriorated).
After the Maheno Shipwreck we stopped and looked at the Colored Sands which honestly there isn't much to say about that. We then continued onto the Sand Dunes which were just really really fun! On the walk towards the sand dunes we passed a really large spider that was just hanging in between two trees but sadly I couldn't capture a good picture of it for everyone to see.
After hiking up one giant sand hill with your feet sinking every step you took we then continued to jump off the sides of the sand dunes! You literally could not see what was below until you went up to the very edge. When you would go to jump you wouldn't be able to see what you were going to land in (but obviously it was going to be sand) and so it just felt like you were jumping off of a cliff!! When you landed you ended up stuck in sand that went all the way up to your knees haha.
We stuck around there jumping around for a bit before we headed over to some really pretty champagne pools. Champagne Pools are where the rocks and sand have gone a little further out into the ocean and make a little pool filled with ocean water. Then when you sit in the pool you get a view of a bunch of waves crashing in front of you and then they would continue to toss you around in the champagne pool. We hung around there for a bit before heading back to the bus.
On our way to Indian Head we saw a wild Dingo! He was just wondering around the beach and we all got off of the bus to take pictures of him while he just sat there looking at us, wondering why we were all taking pictures of him haha.
When we got to Indian Head we had a ten minute hike up to gorgeous lookout spot on the Island! We were basically at the edge of a cliff sitting and standing on rocks looking at our surroundings. In one look you could see the ocean, forest, and sand dunes all at once. Simply Gorgeous.
Since we had missed the sunset the night before Peter drove a little bit faster on the forest roads then normal so we could make it to the beach and watch the sunset over the water. We can't do this where I live because I live on the east coast so the sun only rises over the water. However, since we were staying on the west side of the Island we could watch it here! We made it just in the right amount of time!
After sunset we went and hung out in the pool and hot tub once again. We couldn't pass up the opportunity knowing we had to leave soon! After the hot tub we went and had dinner for about 45 minutes before the bus picked us up to take us to catch the 8:00 PM catamaran. We got back to our car at around 9:00 PM and headed back on the road!
We got back to our apartments at about 2:00 AM and then all headed to bed!
All in All this weekend was an absolute blast and one of my favorites so far! Pictures will be up soon, but it may be a few days as I have a couple homework assignments I need to start working on.
I love and Miss you all!!!
Chels <3
P.s. Sorry it is so long I obviously do not know how to make a short post!
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