On awaking at 6.25 in a rather chipper mood, I discovered the tent had transformed into a sauna-esque explosion of heat, so I equally evaporated to the outside. As people began to wake up it was soon discovered that Lucie had slept entirely in a massive puddle in her tent and Barry had slept in a tent on his own with no sleeping bags due to Daniella somehow using 2. After lacking in effort we managed to pack everything up and Joff drove us off inland towards Central Station campsite. Progress was slow due to mad wack roads but we arrived successfully, cleaned ourselves and the dishes and headed back on towards Lake Mckenzie. And Whoa. Lake Mckenzie is an amazingly beautiful, 2 tone, perfectly clear and blue lake, with the finest white sand that you can use to wash yourself and even brush your teeth with, if you so desired. Apparently. We played in the lake for a while, then a dingo ate our football. And it began to rain. We grabbed a lunch of tuna and peanut butter sandwiches before it was my turn to get us back to the barge. Now we all thought we were late, so I rallied Taloola around the roads, mighty safely I add. Unfortunately, we arrived an hour and a half early, and the only time anything dangerous happened was at the very last hump before the tarmac road, and I was going about 5kph, and the right sand of the track just dropped away without warning. After much screaming and heart beating we realised we were upright and pulled into the petrol station, where Joff and I pumped the tires back up, we all got ice creams, a random tour bus driver gave us loads of free spare cookies and muffins, and we headed to the barge queue. On the barge we mostly passed out in really uncomfortable positions and I woke up with a non-functionary arm.
We then went through the motions of unpacking and returning Taloola to palace, checking into our rooms, awesomely most of us were in the same apartment. That evening we enjoyed all you can eat Dominos pizza, and I won the challenge by eating 12 slices, then there was no more left. No alcohol tonight though, just far too much Lift, an old school lemonade drink. We retired to our room, and Jamie, Joff and I chatted rubbish for a few hours while half asleep. Extremely funny though.
Showing posts with label Fraser Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fraser Island. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 April 2008
Friday, 18 April 2008
Friday 18th April 2008
Woke before everyone, in a heat explosion floppy tent. I scrambled outside and surveyed the rising sun, recalling how I poured water throughout the van in the middle of the night trying to fill my bottle from our extremely heavy tank of potable water.
I took some photos of the morning sun glistening off of Taloola and our over exposed camp, and then folks gradually began to wake up. 2 rainbows appeared to the south, which we marvelled at, then pondered the incoming rain. In an hour or two we managed to eat a breakfast of brekkie bars and apples and packed the van up with all manner of camp equipment melded with sand. Twas my turn to drive awesomely down the beach, and as we were so efficient we left a bit early and still had to dodge the sea a bit. But soon we were free to drive manically along the beach within sensible guidelines. We stopped off first of all at Dunarabu camp site to wash all our cutlery, user their facilities and the such like. Viewing the amazing coloured sands and the beach wreck, surrounded by crazy dangerous jellyfish or something. Our final target for the day was Lake Wabby, where we would camp nearby. We had to trek 45 minutes along a random path through the forest until we emerged at an amazing site. A huge sand dune that plummets straight down in the lake's edge. Surrounding the lake on all other sides is rainforest and the water itself gets infinitely deep very quickly. The water and the air was very cold but we all kept in anyway. We group swam across it to a small bank the other side, where we were happy to find out Fi was a lifeguard. Although fresh, the lake wasn't as clear as we thought it might be. Once we swam back it started to pour down and we waited under a tree till it passed, a few photos up the dunes later and we walked back. I chatted to Jamie about Asia and travelling in general. As we approached Taloola the heavens opened and we made a mad dash for cover and waited like predatory pandas. Eventually we drove along slightly, to an amazingly perfect tent pitching area, shielded by a sand bank and expertly placed trees. With ease and practiced wit we constructed our tents far better than last night, Barry fashioned an awesome rain cover and the girls began cooking pasta. The end result was insanely yummy and we wolfed it down like hungry monkeys. A group of peeps arrived nearby really late on their first night and were panicking with the difficulty of their night time task, so the 4 of us lads bust on over there, and if you were there, you would have witnessed the greatest and fastest tent erection in history. So much so that all the girls swooned and the other guys became dejected with our manliness. Following this, a night long issue occurred involving the disappearance of our mallet, possibly due to Jamie's absent mindedness. No biggie or 2pac though.
The night once mroe descended into a goon and drink fest, initially via an over compelx game that involved drinking every 30 seconds. Though with no watch available, we were forced to count, somewhat innaccurately, ourselves. This in itself descended into random shouts of "Drink". Good fun. Later in the night I discovered Fi was from Honiton, and we had a lengthy discussion about every Exeter pub and club, as well as Ottery St Mary. The night also involved sporadic dives into tents to avoid the rain, which left sand everywhere. Fantastic night.
I took some photos of the morning sun glistening off of Taloola and our over exposed camp, and then folks gradually began to wake up. 2 rainbows appeared to the south, which we marvelled at, then pondered the incoming rain. In an hour or two we managed to eat a breakfast of brekkie bars and apples and packed the van up with all manner of camp equipment melded with sand. Twas my turn to drive awesomely down the beach, and as we were so efficient we left a bit early and still had to dodge the sea a bit. But soon we were free to drive manically along the beach within sensible guidelines. We stopped off first of all at Dunarabu camp site to wash all our cutlery, user their facilities and the such like. Viewing the amazing coloured sands and the beach wreck, surrounded by crazy dangerous jellyfish or something. Our final target for the day was Lake Wabby, where we would camp nearby. We had to trek 45 minutes along a random path through the forest until we emerged at an amazing site. A huge sand dune that plummets straight down in the lake's edge. Surrounding the lake on all other sides is rainforest and the water itself gets infinitely deep very quickly. The water and the air was very cold but we all kept in anyway. We group swam across it to a small bank the other side, where we were happy to find out Fi was a lifeguard. Although fresh, the lake wasn't as clear as we thought it might be. Once we swam back it started to pour down and we waited under a tree till it passed, a few photos up the dunes later and we walked back. I chatted to Jamie about Asia and travelling in general. As we approached Taloola the heavens opened and we made a mad dash for cover and waited like predatory pandas. Eventually we drove along slightly, to an amazingly perfect tent pitching area, shielded by a sand bank and expertly placed trees. With ease and practiced wit we constructed our tents far better than last night, Barry fashioned an awesome rain cover and the girls began cooking pasta. The end result was insanely yummy and we wolfed it down like hungry monkeys. A group of peeps arrived nearby really late on their first night and were panicking with the difficulty of their night time task, so the 4 of us lads bust on over there, and if you were there, you would have witnessed the greatest and fastest tent erection in history. So much so that all the girls swooned and the other guys became dejected with our manliness. Following this, a night long issue occurred involving the disappearance of our mallet, possibly due to Jamie's absent mindedness. No biggie or 2pac though.
The night once mroe descended into a goon and drink fest, initially via an over compelx game that involved drinking every 30 seconds. Though with no watch available, we were forced to count, somewhat innaccurately, ourselves. This in itself descended into random shouts of "Drink". Good fun. Later in the night I discovered Fi was from Honiton, and we had a lengthy discussion about every Exeter pub and club, as well as Ottery St Mary. The night also involved sporadic dives into tents to avoid the rain, which left sand everywhere. Fantastic night.
Thursday, 17 April 2008
Thursday 17th April 2008
Woke up insane early, checked out, and threw our big bags in lockers. Watched a video detailing how not to die instantly and not to sleep in the road on Fraser Island. Also, avoidance of dingos, but to fight back aggressively should you have to.... Got in our groups (no choice) and ours seems really good. Signed all our lives away (me and joff only drivers), paid $1000 for bond, got sleeping bags, then met our 4x4 for the next few days, soon to be named Taloola. Joff expertly drove the old 4x4 to the garage and we utilised some excellent team work packing Taloola extremely snuggly (3 tents, gas, stove, sleeping bags, mats, eskis, cutlery, etc). Drove to woolies to get group food, which, thanks to Susanne, was highly organised and only cost $10 each for 3 days! This included a meat BBQ for the first night. We then bought vast quantities of goon (boxed cheap wine) and beer. In the end we were the last to leave the supermarket, but 2nd out of 4 to get to the dock, and bust out some hacky sack car park action. Before boarding our Barge of wonder, we lost Barry, our token irish guy. This was partially due to a toilet hunt and his commencement of alcohol consumption. Needless to say some Oz dude threatened him with a $27,000 fine later on in for the escapade of existing in close proximity to an open beer can.
Anyway, Joff reversed with great skill onto the barge. As the 2nd driver I had the front seat, which was cool as the other 7 were crammed in the back with all our bags, where as I could stretch out comfortably. On the barge I bought a Diet Coke off a guy who seemed convinced I was to blame for every stupid car accident on Fraser Island. Apparently 3 4x4s roll a month, to much calamity. On arrival, Joff and I let down the tires in preparation for some serious off roading, and nearly got lost trying to obtain our camping and vehicle permits, though my nav skills saved all mankind. What followed was a grueling x miles of driving for Joff, through the middle of the island an crazy uneven tracks through forest. Eventually, we bust out to the eastern beach and on up the beach towards the champagne pools, and Indian point. We reached Indian Point quite late, just about at the time when we weren't meant to drive on the beach after due to the tide. It was pouring at this point and we took a short inland track to the champagne pools under my driving skillery. The weather cleared so we walked down the cliff to the disappointing champagne pools, where you can normally swim in really hot water. But there was no sun and tide was far too high. Still, having a great time even though we realised we were stranded far from our suggested camping area.
After a discussion with a bus driver, it turned out the beach was fine as long as we (read I) were careful and stopped if waves were close. So I busted along the beach for a while, dodging waves and rocks, one eye on the ever creeping sea. In the end, we just had to choose a bumpy area to build our home for the night, with no one else in sight. It was quite exposed to the crazy wind and sporadic rain but after much confusion we got all the tents up, though one had suspicious structural integrity. The meat got cooking and we all chilled, mainly hiding in Taloola, with beer and goon. Barry manned our temperamental gas stove for the first batch of sausages and burgers. Foolishing, I was left in charge of the next batch of sausages, which turned out surprisingly good, for half meat half sand sausages, and we kept them wrapped for tomorrow. Fiona was unfortunately ill for the entire evening :(.
The rest of the night involved moderate drinking and then crashing out before 12, much to Jamie's dismay. Barry, Jamie and I shared a tent which was awesome, except it was our "special" tent, so kept flapping against our faces and halfway through the night Barry woke up, had a panic attack, and trampled me trying to get out. Quite humourous.
Anyway, Joff reversed with great skill onto the barge. As the 2nd driver I had the front seat, which was cool as the other 7 were crammed in the back with all our bags, where as I could stretch out comfortably. On the barge I bought a Diet Coke off a guy who seemed convinced I was to blame for every stupid car accident on Fraser Island. Apparently 3 4x4s roll a month, to much calamity. On arrival, Joff and I let down the tires in preparation for some serious off roading, and nearly got lost trying to obtain our camping and vehicle permits, though my nav skills saved all mankind. What followed was a grueling x miles of driving for Joff, through the middle of the island an crazy uneven tracks through forest. Eventually, we bust out to the eastern beach and on up the beach towards the champagne pools, and Indian point. We reached Indian Point quite late, just about at the time when we weren't meant to drive on the beach after due to the tide. It was pouring at this point and we took a short inland track to the champagne pools under my driving skillery. The weather cleared so we walked down the cliff to the disappointing champagne pools, where you can normally swim in really hot water. But there was no sun and tide was far too high. Still, having a great time even though we realised we were stranded far from our suggested camping area.
After a discussion with a bus driver, it turned out the beach was fine as long as we (read I) were careful and stopped if waves were close. So I busted along the beach for a while, dodging waves and rocks, one eye on the ever creeping sea. In the end, we just had to choose a bumpy area to build our home for the night, with no one else in sight. It was quite exposed to the crazy wind and sporadic rain but after much confusion we got all the tents up, though one had suspicious structural integrity. The meat got cooking and we all chilled, mainly hiding in Taloola, with beer and goon. Barry manned our temperamental gas stove for the first batch of sausages and burgers. Foolishing, I was left in charge of the next batch of sausages, which turned out surprisingly good, for half meat half sand sausages, and we kept them wrapped for tomorrow. Fiona was unfortunately ill for the entire evening :(.
The rest of the night involved moderate drinking and then crashing out before 12, much to Jamie's dismay. Barry, Jamie and I shared a tent which was awesome, except it was our "special" tent, so kept flapping against our faces and halfway through the night Barry woke up, had a panic attack, and trampled me trying to get out. Quite humourous.
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