Friday October 26/07 - Brisbane

Maheno Shipwreck

Our trusty Toyota with the "Pinnacles" cliffs in the background

The beautiful white sands of Lake Mackenzie

Chris going in for a close shot of a Sea Crate

Wild Dingo with a tag on his ear

The Fraser Island Crew (A Team)

We're in Brisbane now after a 5 hour bus ride down the coast from Hervey Bay. Orginally we planned to stay here for 3 nights but we are quickly realizing that there is nothing that interests us here. We've been relaxing in small, completely chilled out places since we arrived in Australia and we would love to keep that going so we are changing our bus passes to get to Surfers Paradise two days earlier. It's an easy choice as we are in dorm room tonight with some disguisting people that are so messy and want to get the hell out of this place ASAP.

Before this we were in Hervey Bay so we could do a three day tour of Fraser Island. Fraser Island is apparantly the worlds largest sand island and sits just off the coast from Hervey Bay. There are a couple of small resorts on the island but besides that it is very remote. Wild dingos and many other forms of wildlife are common. It was a very unique and incredible experience. You gather at the bar of the hostel in the morning and are put in a group of 11 people. In a very short period of time you must make a group decision on what you are going to eat for the next 3 days, everybody throws $20 in the pot and two will go off to buy the neccesary groceries. The rest of the group is taken to a 4WD rental place and we are given a specially outfitted Toyota LandCruiser to use for the 3 days. You need a competent 4WD to get anywhere on the island as it is made entirely of sand and there are no paved roads, just loose sand tracks through the bush. One side of the island is one massive perfectly straight beach which is 75 miles long. Once you are on the beach you can drive 80 km/h and then head inland through the tracks to visit the many lakes and other sites. We camped, cooked, drove, swam, drank, and did everything with the 11 former strangers for the whole time on the island. Cooperation, tolerance, patience, and humour are essential to have an unforgettable time with your new-found friends. We were incredibly fortunate to have been teamed up with 4 Irish girls, a lone traveller from London, and a couple travelling with their friend from South Africa. We all got along exceptionally well and managed to see some incredible stuff on the island. It was both a fun and educational experience that Jen, Nicola and I all thoroughly enjoyed.

With our bus passes now changed to head down to Surfers Paradise tommorow morning we are looking forward to leaving the big city.