Starting in the rain

Our tour to Fraser Island started with the fact that we had to check out of the hostel at seven in the morning to attend the safety briefing, as we had missed it the day before, as our bus arrived late in the evening at Rainbow Beach.

After the safety Briefing it started to rain, so we were all wet before we even started the tour.

After the rain showers and after we all had put our luggage, which we would not need for three days in a container, we all got into our car.

On the first day we sat in the leader car, in the car in which only the tour guide drives, as he has to give the route that we can drive on the sand. Unfortunately none of my friends or me were allowed to drive, because we are not yet 21 years old.

First we took the ferry over to the island. There we had a 90 minutes drive along 75 Mile Beach. It’s something else to sit in a car that drives over sand. It jerked a lot more. At this time all clouds where gone and the sun was shining bright.

Taking a bath in Lake McKenzie

Around 12 o’clock we had a break and had lunch. In the middle of the beach in the sun, without shade we ate our wraps. After lunch we went on with the tour.

We then made our way to the famous Lake McKenzie. The lake is beautiful with the colours and the white sand. It is something completely different to see a lake again when you only see the sea for months. We were swimming in the water and just enjoyed the view. Even though I love swimming and I go swimming every week in Germany, I haven’t swam for months now. Even though the distance we wanted to swim was relatively short, I had a lot of problems with my condition.

In the afternoon we went back again. I would much rather have spent much more time at the lake than just an hour. The way to the lake and back was very bumpy. We drove through the forest over stones and roots. And we drove through mud and water. To drive through the sand at the beach is still pleasant, but to drive through the forest is absolutely not nice.

Sand Island or Jungle Camp?

In the late afternoon we arrived at our camp. We all had to sleep in tents and there were no mattresses, which meant that we had to sleep on the sandy ground. My friends and I also thought that we could save the money and not have to borrow a sleeping bag. The excitement for the night without mattresses, blankets and pillows was of course huge.

For dinner we all cooked together in our group from the car. There were vegetables and in addition rice noodles.

One of the girls I travel with and I are absolutely no fans of camping and we were not in the best mood after we had to get ready in totally dirty bathrooms. There were also a lot of mosquitoes, ants and lots of other bugs everywhere. In the evening everyone from the camp sat together, went to the beach or drank.

In the night I could sleep very badly, on the one hand because a few people in camp were still very loud for a long time and on the other hand because thunderstorms started in the middle of the night. It was my first thunderstorm that I have experienced in Australia and it was very loud.

Fraser Island and its beauty

When we woke up in the morning from our night of horror and we already had half of the Fraser Island tour behind us, we had breakfast. After breakfast we all got into our cars and made our way along 75 Mile Beach to the champagne pools.

After the champagne pools we walked up to Indian Head Lookout. The view from up there was breath-taking. We could look very far and the water was turquoise/blue. From there I just enjoyed the view over the landscape.

After that we already made our way back to the camp, where we had lunch. (And what else could we eat but wraps?)

Back in Germany?

After lunch we went again over the bumpy track through the forest to Lake Allom. There we could swim in the water or take a walk around the lake.

For us the lake was not as special as Lake McKenzie, because it just reminded us so much of a German lake. Also in the woods we often stand and think that this could be a German forest. There you are 16000 kilometers away from your own country and then it feels like home.

In the afternoon we went back to the camp. There we all together started early to prepare the dinner. That night we had a barbecue. While some prepared the meat, others prepared a salad and a potato salad. The evening went off exactly as the evening before.

Almost survived

“The Jungle Camp is almost over” With these words one of my friends woke me up the next morning and to be honest, if you hate camping as much as we do, you could almost compare the three days on Fraser Island with jungle camp haha.

After breakfast we packed all our things together and put them in the car. But before we went back to Rainbow Beach we visited the shipwreck.

We did not stay there too long, because then we already went to the Eli Creek Lake. There we had again the possibility to swim, before we had again (who would have thought it) wraps for lunch.

Back in the hostel we first washed a huge machine laundry and showered afterwards. I also washed out all my suitcases and bags because everything was too dirty after this sandy trip.

In itself, the Fraser Island Tour was really nice and also the island is really exciting. In no way do I regret having made this tour. Even if I wasn’t really enthusiastic, now it is another experience and another story to tell…

After Fraser Island we continued our trip up the east coast to the Whitsundays. If you would like to know what we experienced during our time on the Whitsundays. Please read my next blog post Sailing the Whitsundays – Australia Travel Diary.