Dingoes, dodgy stomach and breakdowns

On the bus from Noosa we got chatting to a couple of lads at the back of the bus from Leicester - Dave and Dan. Turned out they were going on the Koala Adventures trip to Fraser at the same time as us, and because they seemed good lads we ended up fixing it that they were in the same 4x4 as us to ensure we could have a laugh. We arrived on Thursday the 30th for a pre-trip breifing, mainly giving advice of dingoes and driving on sand - Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. We also got to meet our group, which ended up being: Ad & Me, Dan & Dave, Dee & Sharon (Irish), Jules and Maria (Dutch), Jossi & Hem (Israel) and Andrea (Brazilian). It turned out we had the best group, purely because everyone was up for a laugh and having a few drinks! We went and did a group shop in the afternoon, with the boys buying a few extra tins of beans incase times became hard...

Hello Dingo

On the 1st we had to be up early doors to go pack the bus. It was a tight fit with everyone in the bus too! We then had another briefing from some idiot woman who insisted on talking to us like kids and talked so fast everyone gave up listening to her suggested itinerary. Looked like we were going to freestyle it!

Lake Birabean

Dan took on the mantle of 1st driver, getting us to the barge in good order. He ended up doing all the driving pretty much for reasons to be explained later.

The first day was spend basically driving on the beach until the tide was too high, then pitching up camp on the beach! The boys then took charge of the bbq, but due to the fact that the meat was awful and there was sand everywhere it ended up am unpleasant and small feed. It was a sign of things to come for me personally! The night was passed by drinking copious amounts of beers and goon (that cheapwine I mentioned before). Me, Ad, Dan and Dave started to sing Barmy Army songs, keeping the other bus awake (serves them right for going to bed at 9pm). We had an encounter with a dingo around our camp which I found amusing but Ad had to sprint into the van. This ended up being a major joke on the island as animal noises and false sightings were made throughout!

Lake McKenzie

After only a few hours asleep we got up pretty early as it was our only full day. I had my first experience of being at one with nature in the woods... i prefer actual toilets! We then headed off on our drive and stopped at a shower stop. Unfortunately it was at that point that our steering broke! We ended up loosing 6 hours waiting for some drunken mechanic to come and fix it. As a esult we were pressed for time, so Dan aka Jenson Button got his racing shoes on and sped us round some bumpy tracks. Due to his driving we got to see Lke Birrabeen (excuse the spelling). It was absolutely stunning, and no-one else was there. We moved onto another lake to camp and Ad was releived that this site was fenced to prevent dingoes getting in. The are puppy dogs really... The girls cooked but the mince tasted a bit dodgy. I at it as that was all I had all day. Bad move...

Not a bad place to stay...

I woke up with a rough stomach and feeling pretty ill. When we left the site I had to get Dan to stop so I could be sick in the woods amonst some massive termites. I declined even more after that and was feeling awful. I seriousy thought I was gonna collapse at one point!

We got to Lake McKenzie, which again was gorgeous (check it out on the net). The only thing was it was a bit busy, and as I felt rough I just lay on the beach after a quick dip in the freshwater lake. We headed back to the barge and got back to our hostel. I skipped dinner. I had eaten a slice of bread with jam all day! The bus went out together that night (the only bus that did this) and had a few drinks, but Hervey Bay was dead so it wasn't a big one (to my relief). Oh yeah, we got a 50% refund and 2 free drinks as a result of our breakdown, which was cool as we saw most of the island anyway due to Dan's quick moves.

The shipwreck