April 19, 2001 - Thursday - Herevey Bay
At the bus stop today in Noosa, we said good-bye to Caroline. The bus didn't come for a while but it finally did and I'm going to miss somebody I can hang out with. Joerg picked up Anna and we drove off and headed north. Anna turned out to be a pretty nice girl and I guess the slight negativity I felt toward her at first was from thinking that she's replacing Caroline. It was very childish, I know.
We drove and chatted and didn't really stop driving until we got to Herevey Bay. The hostel we checked into was OK and I met up with Jens again. He is in our group of 11 that's going to be going on the trip and we chatted for a short while before going to get some stuff done for the trip. After lunch, we met up with our group at the bar and we got a run-through for our trip tomorrow. Our group went to the supermarket after that and got the food we needed for the next few days.
April 20, 2001 - Friday - Fraser Island
A few of us woke up a little bit before 7 and realized that the girls who are suppose to go on the trip at 7 haven't woken up yet. Matt finally woke them up and they didn't realized how late it was. They stayed in the bed, slightly hung over and mostly drunk, they giggled for a while before finally panicking and rolling out of the bed to finish packing and checking out.
Our group got up a little later and got ready for our trip. We were briefed about driving the van and then were shown a video with car crashes and other information for just in case if we get into any danger or emergencies.
Our group consisted of 11 people. Other than Matt, Joerge, Jens, and Anna who I already know, there was a 29 yo Kiwi named Stuart, a wild looking Canadian named James, an English guy named Tony, an English couple named Cassandra, and Graham. There was also Sandra, who is from Holland.
Our van, which was group #4, along with the van from group #3 left the hostel being led by this old green car and we headed toward the dock for the ferry crossing. The dock was already filled with about 15 other vans, some of them large with huge wheels and air conditioning.
The ferry stopped and this old hunched back lady with a crabby face came out to herd all the people and cars onto the ferry. The lady reminded me of the old mom from "Throw Mama from the Train", but other people described her as Ms. Crabtree, the bus driver from South Park. The ferry took off with a pair of dolphins breaking water at a distant bay.
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| Mangrove and River at the dock - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and it stretches for miles up and down the Queensland coast right above Brisbane. It's a designated World Heritage Site. As we approached the dock at the other side, a large mud bank stretched out along the shore with mudskippers jumping for cover. A large muddy river meander through a mangrove covered riverbank.
The ride took about half hour and after we finally docked, we were herded off the ferry by the lady and assembled on the other side. Our van took off with Tony driving toward Central Station, which was only a few km away. The Central Station is just a small rest stop where people can go to the rest room, gather firewood and have a picnic.
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| Forest of Birch - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
We stopped there and followed a wooded path that wound through a crystal clear stream flowing over a sand bed. The path continued through some lush and some sparse rain forests and finally ended at a small greenish lake named Lake Basin. Everybody jumped in the chilly water but I just waded in up to my shorts.
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| Our group playing in Basin Lake - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
There were turtles, tadpoles, and small water beetles swimming in the water as well. It was a nice little picturesque lake. The group was getting along really well - people were talking to each other and playing in the water as a group. Jens brought a soccer ball so they were playing that along the path and in the water also.
We headed back to the car and loaded the car again and headed toward Lake MacKenzie. We ate a nice lunch at a picnic area right before the lakeshore and again we worked well as a group where people unloaded the truck and prepared the food and we ate sandwiches of cold cuts and veggies.
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| Lake McKenzie - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
We all headed down to Lake MacKenzie after that and again, I only waded. The water was incredibly clear along the shore and it gave off a blue hue in the deeper parts of the water. It looked like something you would only see in the postcard. It reminded me of the incredible beauty I encountered at the Cook Islands.
Our group again played the soccer ball and splashed in the water before we all packed up again and started headed toward the shore. We packed the floor of the van with firewood for campfire. The path again was very treacherous with a lot of loose sand but our 4WD handled it well. Matt took over with the driving and we reached the shore after a bit. The beaches just stretched for miles north and south with tracks all along the shore.
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| Our group settig up camp - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
We headed up north a bit and made camp at a flat dune next to group #3. Again, our group worked well as a team and went to work where people put up tents while others prepared dinner and some chopped the firewood. The camp was ready in half hour and we sat by the fire to start roasting some potatoes.
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| Action photos from camp - Stuart (L), Tony (R), Sandra (L), Anna (R) - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
Joerge being his annoying self and was issuing orders and stuff and was starting to get on everybody's nerves. He really likes to be in the center of attention and likes to tell people what to do, but nobody was paying any attention to him.
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| Action photos from camp - Graham (L), Cassie (R), James (L), Matt and Anna (R) - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
Graham prepared the Bar-B-Q because he had some chef experiences or something, but there's only so much you could expect from an English cook anyway. We ate our food while chatted by the campfire and we could see the waves rolling in in the distant. As dusk approached the campsite, a few dingoes slinked by the perimeter of our camp.
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| Our Campfire with Sandra on the guitar - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
We chatted some more while Sandra played her guitar and sang some lovely songs. She has a powerful and beautiful voice. James slinked off into the dark and returned to the camp occasionally to chat before disappearing again. I thought that was quite weird.
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| Our Campfire with Sandra on the guitar - Fraser Island - Queensland, Australia |
One by one, people turned in while other people went over to the other camp to chat. Later that night, it rained and poured and our tent got slightly damp as a result but other people were either completely dry or were very wet. I chatted late into the night with Stuart and listened to his many near-death experiences.
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