Alice’s Gap Year Travels

On arrival to our hostel in 1770 who should we find sitting in the main area.. only the Fraser Boys! They had a bus to catch that evening and so were glad we had turned up to entertain them, we played ping-pong and then the girls went to town to grab some fish and chips. The hostel was really nice with a swimming pool and sunbathing area, pool table, table tennis and a big screen where you could watch dvds and tv (the beds were the most uncomfortable yet however.)

On our first full day we sunbathed all morning then at 2.30pm were picked up by a shuttle bus that took us to Rod’s place for Scooteroo! Rod is this crazy old south african biker who runs a tour called Scooteroo around the town, and how do you get around? ONLY BY HARLEY DAVIDSON SCOOTERS! There were about 50 people i’d guess on our tour and after grabbing helmets and a leg guard (to protect you from getting burnt by the engine) everyone chose thier bike (mine was pink :D) and Rod gave us the safety talk. We were sooooo scared before we set-off but after a practise circuit we were straight out onto the roads so there was no time to be nervous, with a top speed of 80ks it was sooo fun speeding along but i found it was when we had to slow down and turn corners that was the tricky part! No injurys though and you stop down at the sea to watch the sunset and eat potato wedges 🙂 Also a guy we’d met in Byron bay and then Surfers, Scott, was actually now working for a couple of weeks as one of the marshals on the tour which was wicked. Back at the hostel we made dinner and then watched ‘Finding Nemo’!

Next day we had to be up early as we were booked in for a 4 hour surf lesson, is was lots of fun and I managed to stand up quite a bit which was great. Carrying the surf boards up and down a massive hill to and from the bus however was much less fun, infact it was a complete killer! We got back to the hostel and spent a couple of hours in the sun before getting our stuff together again as we had evening kyaking planned with the same company. It was hard work. Especially after surfing. Had a good time though and on the way back the guide warned that the winds were getting up a bit… Holly and I got caught by a wave and then a massive gust of wind came and before we knew it we were in the water!!! It was hysterical and we could hardly breath from laughing and disbelief! While i flipped the boat over and jumped in Holly grabbed our flipflops and sunscreen which were left bobbing in the water! It was pretty scary as the sea was getting fierce but eventually we were both back on board and safetly back on land.

Next morning we had to be up early again to catch our Oz bus. We were totally exhausted from all the excitement of 1770 and knew there was only more fun to come!..

XXXXX

The morning of departure we had to be up and ready for pancakes at 7.00am, the lack of syrup was slightly disappointing but there was no time to complain as we all had to get out into the car park where 7 4x4s were waiting to be loaded up with kit, food, booze and teams! With 10 in each team it meant on our campsites each night there was 70 people which was quite the party! Anyway Merv, (the guy who organises it all) showed us how we needed to pack the roof-racks etc and so we got right to it then he gave us a talk about being ‘Dingo, Driving and Drinking Safe”. After this – all the over 21’s who wanted to drive had a talk about how to sort the tyres and balance etc while we nipped to the shops to buy essentials like lighters for cooking, ponchos incase it rained and crisps for the boys!

In Team B there was us 3 girls, Holly, Mikalea and myself then 4 English guys in their 20’s Andy/Koala Bear, Paul/Vinegar, Josh/Madam and Seb… (just Seb). Then there was a Swiss man called Simon (aka Big Man) who didn’t talk much english but still joined in with everything and finally a 30yr old couple – Paul, and Nicole who was from Tasmania (aka Mum and Dad!)

Once packed and ready to go we drove down and got the ferry across to Frasers, Merv gives you an itinery you can follow but Josh and ‘Dad’ had already been a few years ago and so we were able to be more adventurous so instead of heading to the same lake as everyone else we went to Lake Birabeen first which was disserted. Beautiful. Fraser Island has huge fresh water lakes surrounded by white sand. We had a swim and it was so peaceful 🙂 Then we headed to Lake McKenzie in the afternoon just as everyone was leaving so had more peace and quiet to enjoy paradise. We got to camp around 6.30 – some of us set up the tents while others cooked the steaks and then the drinking games began…

On day two after a very messy night we awoke early, around 6.30am and a couple of us headed down to the beach to take in the views. One of the trucks had a group of 10 irish in and to our disbelief they were all still on the goon… having not gone to bed haha (thats the Irish for you! crazy..) After brekky we packed up and headed to the creek (basically a clear water puddle on the beach) where we wallowed for about half an hour to cure the hangovers. Afterwards we drove up to the tip of the island, Indian Head/Point, where you thern climb up the rocks and look out over the ocean – a magnificent view 🙂 On the way you pass a big shipwreck which has been washed up on the beach.

Next, we decided to try and find another lake and so started driving inland again through the trees, about an hour later we still haven’t found anything. The driving was pretty exciting though if a little sore on the bum and a couple of times we were sure the car was going to tip over! All the drivers were very responsible though! Having found nothing we decided to jump out for a quick stretch of the legs… WORST IDEA EVER. Literally the second we got out thousands of mosquitos swarmed us – we were screaming, swearing and slapping like there was no tomorrow “GET BACK IN THE *&^*^%* CAAARRRR!”

I wish we had it on video.

We eventually found a lake which you couldn’t swim in but there were loads of cute little turtles swimming about which was cool, having stopped to do the washing-up at a campsite and seeing a HUGE spider we got to the second camp around 6ish. Much like the night before we put up the tents whilst batting off the giant sand flys and the others prepared a delicious chicken stir-fry. After dinner we played a game of 21 which Seb failed miserably at leaving him drunk as a skunk and Paul was pretty gone too so later they went to mingle more with the other teams while the rest of us lay star gazing up at the milky-way and playing a cheeky game of ‘would you rather..’

Frasers is home to loooaaaaads of wild Dingos who tend to circle the camps looking for food which can be a bit disconcerting when you turn on your torch on your way to the toilet and see hundreds of green eyes staring back at you but everyone survived with no dramas and they just prowled around our trucks pretty calmly.

Getting the drunks back to thier tents was possibly one of the funniest things i’ve ever seen, a good night had by all!

Day three, we were the last ones to leave the campsite. We found another lake as we were all desperate for a swim and named it ‘The Golden Lake of Joy’ as the water was literally golden. After about an hour of banter and fun we headed off to do the washing up and then eat all the left over food including a very stodgy fruit cake before driving down to get the ferry back to the mainland. On the ferry we saw Dolphins which was the perfect end to our trip.

We had perfect weather for the 3 days we were there and renamed ourselves The Dream Team.

We re-fuelled the car, stopped at the bakery (with the bitchiest staff) and then dropped the car back at Merv’s workshop. That night back at the hostel everyone had glorious showers and the boys hrdly recopgnised us with our make-up and hair done haha – we did the quiz night and came… nowhere, goodtimes.

Next day we went with the boys up to Sandblow which is a big sand dune in Rainbow Beach to watch the sunset which was beautiful and ironically there was a big rainbow in the sky which was perfect. And also whilst in Rainbow the 3 of us got up early one morning and got a boat to Tin Can Bay where we got to feed a wild Dolphin which was pretty cool plus there was yet another rainbow!

Finally we left Rainbow Beach having had a bit TOO much time there and headed to the town of 1770…

XXX

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