When last you heard from me we had checked into our hostel in Brisbane and still had a day to spend there before heading north.
We spent the next day exploring the CBD, botanical garden and riverside. Frankly, it was underwhelming – Brisbane might be a good city to live in (I’ve been told so on a number of occasions) but when you’re just passing through like we were it just seems smaller and less exciting than Sydney, but not enough so to make it really charming. Or it might just have been the weather, which was overcast and lukewarm at best.
Also, we once again tried to get surf shorts, and again failed to find anything interesting – aren’t metrolises supposed to have the stuff you can’t find in smaller towns? Well, quite tired from walking the city we ate dinner at a Tibetan restaurant (yummy – there’s an idea for a journey some day) and headed back to the hostel.
Later that evening Andi went out with a bunch of German guys with whom we shared a dorm, but I decided to stay in and get some sleep. I believe that it’s a good idea to have some time to ourselves, so we don’t begin to get on each other’s nerves. It was probably for the better anyway, since it meant I was awake to get him out of bed early the following morning (not an easy task, let me tell you), get us to the transit centre at 7:45 to catch the bus and offer some sympathy for Andi’s mobile phone which had been lost the night before.
In the early afternoon we arrived in Hervey Bay, the town from where we would go to Fraser Island the following day. Andi bought a new mobile and got his number transferred to a new sim card, and after that we packed our bags for the next day (we had to leave most of our luggage in lockers at the hostel) and for once cooked a decent meal ourselves.
The following morning we checked out and got introduced to our self-drive group. We were 9 in our car, and there were two other groups of about the same size, who would be traveling more or less alongside us for the next couple days. After that we were driven to the garage to get our 4WD, load up the camping equipment, went food shopping together and then boarded the ferry to Fraser Island.
After engaging the four wheel drive and appropriately deflating our tyres we were set to start wrestling with the sandy tracks of the largest sand island in the world. The first day was pretty much just spent driving from the barge landing on the west coast to the beach on the east coast, which would serve as our highway for the rest of the trip.
Driving around Fraser Island is kinda tricky; not only did we need to make it to the camping ground before sunset – we also had the restriction of only being able to drive on the eastern beach during low tide. When the tide was at its lowest however, it was like a 6 lane freeway, save for the occasional piece of driftwood or a sandy washout. Philip, our designated driver for most of the trip, handled it admirably however – hats off for an unusually good balance between fun and safety.
We decided to follow the suggested itinerary which we had been given and which – we were told – would allow us to see all the coolest spots without any problems with the tide. Deviating only slightly from the suggested route (not willingly, but the road signs weren’t very forthcoming) we arrived at the Cromwells camp ground before sunset. It rained while we were putting up the tents and hanging up the tarps, but luckily the rest of the night was dry.
Campfires are illegal on Fraser except for special designated places and using your own non-treated firewood brought from the mainland – needless to say we didn’t have one. There was however another group at the campsite who would be going back in the morning, so they decided to use the rest of their gas as an impromptu fire. Also, in the dark we spotted a couple of dingos (which we were under strict orders not to feed either directly or by leaving food or garbage unattended).
We got up early next morning, so we could get to Indian Head and the Champagne Pools in the north before the high tide at 9.
We did however have enough time to make a stop at the wreck of the Maheno.
As we came there, a couple of rangers showed up, making sure none of us had any crazy ideas, like going inside the rusty remains of the ship (which of course none of us would consider doing).
We ate breakfast near Indian Head, a rocky outcropping on the otherwise very sandy island, and then made our way to the Champagne Pools. This rocky pool is named after the frothy spray from all the waves pounding the place, and although the rocks are treacherous, it is a popular place to bathe.
We ate lunch and then went to a nearby beach, for once just lounging around on the sand, doing trick photography and enjoying the sunshine (the waters around Fraser are full of tiger sharks, so swimming is discouraged).
Next up we headed south again, stopping at a little village to buy ice for our eski’s (cooler boxes) and then finding a camping ground for the night just south of Eli Creek. Our campsite for was a lot more well organized than teh previous night, but unfortunately the tarps and tents weren’t quite waterproof as one would have wanted. After spending a night dodging puddles, you are more than ready to head back to civilization, which in fact was what was on the program.
After heading inland we made our way to Lake McKenzie, a beautiful clear lake perched on the sand 100 meters above sea level. It was very pretty, and had the weather been better we would have been quite content to just lounge around by the lake the rest of the day. As it were, we went a bit further inland to Central Station, which has a somewhat misleading name – for me at least it evokes images of big terminal buildings, not a parking and picnic area in the forest, which is what it really is. Anyways, that’s where we ate lunch before going to the barge landing from where we would be transported to the mainland at 4 in the afternoon.
Back from the island, we re-inflated our tyres and made our way to the garage to clean up and hand over the car. Finally, back at the hostel and the warm embrace of civilization, we all took a couple hours to bathe and put on dry clothes and then went to eat together at an Irish pub. Today, after enjoying sleeping in a real bed, we’ve checked out, and later in the afternoon we’ll catch a night bus to Airlie Beach, where we will arrive at 6 tomorrow and go sailing for three days. So it’ll be a few days until you hear from me again. Hope you are all doing well!
