Dingo Dodging
Trip Start
Feb 04, 2008
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26
46
Trip End
May 28, 2008
Fraser Island,
Australia
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Our morning started with another briefing, this time from Troy's dad Jake Jacobson who "knows Fraser Island better than anyone else because he lived in the sand dunes 6 days a week for 3 and a half years like a ferret!!!" If Troy was good cop he was definately bad cop and spent the next hour trying to scare the hell out of us and trying to convince us that we were going to kill ourselves once we were let loose on the island with the 4x4 or at least mauled by dingo's. After showing us videos of car wrecks and stories of paralysed backpackers we were all beginning to have a few doubts about what we'd let ourselves in for.
After a 5 minute tutorial of how to drive the 4x4 we were packed onto the ferry for the 30 minute journey to Fraser Island
3
. The first stop there was Lake McKenzie which is a crystal clear fresh water lake where the water is so pure it's like swimming in Evian, you can even drink it as you swim. We spent a while there chilling on the beach and had our first encounter with a dingo who looked more cheeky than scary as he bowled onto the beach and rifled through the handbags of people swimming in the lake. Our next stop was the Maheno shipwreck which was washed ashore over 65 years ago and was the first time we got to drive along the beach as previously we'd been amogst the inland rainforest. That night we were staying in an Aboriginal campground. We cooked cooked up a big group barbie and got to know our group better after some goon drinking. Our tour included a dance by an aboriginal tribe but none of them from the mainland had turned up on the island so it was left to Travis, the only one who lives on the island full time to perform for us alone. We all got to have our faces painted in ochra and joined in the chanting and Sam even got up to join in the male part of the dances. After that we sat around the camp fire (built by Gem and Sam!) and carried on drinking and chatting until the early hours.
28th March 2008
We set off early to drive up to Indian Head which is the most Northerly point that vehicles can access on the island, it is also the best lookout for Sharks, Dolphins and Turtles
2
. We had to climb pretty high up onto the rocks which was quite dodgy when hungover (Sam) but we did get to see dolphins and turtles. After that we walked to the Champagne Pools which were a fair distance from Indian Head and were like spa's with all the waves crashing over the rocks and bubbling into the pools. We had a dip in there before heading back to the beach for lunch. As we were relaxing on the beach we could see a huge storm on the horizon which looked pretty ominous. An hour later it had reached the island and the thought of having to camp out behind the sand dunes was starting to seem like a nightmare. Luckily for us while we were shelteriung from the rain the Irish girls got chatting to a guy who was renting a holiday home on the island which happened to have 7 spare beds! Wade soon became our saviour when he offered to let us stay and we were soon partying in his house, drinking his booze and generally living it up as all the other backpackers on the island tried to set up camp.29th March 2008
We woke up warm and dry unlike the rest of the island as it was still raining and had been all night. We were particularly chipper as we had the spare double room in the house while the other girls had to share a room (and beds)! We said goodbye to Wade after clearing up the devestation we'd caused in his previously immaculate rental and set off for Lake Wabby which was the first stop on our agenda. The rain eased off as we got there but was still overcast. We began our 2 Kilometre hike through rainforest and over sand dunes to get to the bright green lake which surrounded by Tea Trees on one side and sand on the other. The tea tree in the lake has infused with the water so it smells great and was a treat for all our mozzie bites!
We were supposed to stop at Lake McKenzie again on our way back, however because the weather was far from perfect we headed straight for the ferry back to the mainland. We were all pleased to make it back alive and managed not to flip our toyota land cruiser in the dunes. It really was an amazing trip.
