So here we are in rainy Australia...it serves me right for all the bragging I did about being in the sun while everyone at home would be freezing cold... Good job we've had experience of living in Manchester and don't let the rain spoil our fun!
It took us a few days to get used to everything, strangely enough I think I found it more of a culture shock than some of the Asian countries! Although I think that may have been cos the Aussie backpacker scene was a bit of a change from staying with friends or in small guesthouses. No-one to carry our bags up the stairs for us, or free breakfasts here! But we're settling in well and have met some nice people.
After being told by several people that Fraser Island was a must we decided it was worth a little detour and so booked on a two day tour, staying overnight in apartments on the island. We were in a group of 15 and our tour guide Drew was fantastic, just what you want from a guide - friendly, enthusiastic, funny and extremely knowledgeable. Let's see how much of what he taught us I can remember!
Fraser Island is the second largest island off Australia (after Tasmania) and it's the largest sand island in the world. The main highway is the beach (!) and most of the other roads are just sand tracks, with the occasional gravel surface, so access is via 4WD only. Drew made the driving look easy but after seeing some photos of what can go wrong, and also having to stop to help pull out a bus stuck in the sand, I don't think it's that straightforward!
We visited several parts of the island, including an area of rainforest where we did a half an hour walk, in the rain... It was amazing to see the variety of vegetation and to think that it has all grown in sand. My favourite trees were the ones nicknamed "scribbly gums" cos they have squiggly lines all over their bark, they look so cool! The lines are from when a certain type of moth lays its eggs on the trunk and the larvae then burrow into the bark to get to the sap. Pretty incredible!
During a brief break in the rain we went for a little dip in Lake Mckenzie which was absolutely beautiful - like a bath, except a bath where the water has gone cold and it's time you got out...it was still warmer in the water than out though! It's one of only a few "fetched" lakes in the world, which means it was formed when leaves and bark built up to form a seal in a sand basin, meaning the rain water couldn't drain out. Pretty cool!
We also made stops at the 'Indian Head' cliff (where suddenly the weather became extremely bleak indeed and within seconds we were soaked through and could hardly keep upright from the wind), the Maheno shipwreck (a ship that used to take people between Australia and New Zealand and which ran aground there when being towed to Japan for scrap metal), Eli Creek (the largest creek on the island) and Coloured Sands (a kind of sand cliff containing several different colours - very pretty).
During the trip we got our first glimpse of kangaroos (even seeing one hopping away across a field) and also sighted wild horses, dingos (wild dogs), dolphins and a huuuge spider! I also had my first experience of a leech when one took a liking to my wrist...and consequently learnt a valuable life lesson - leeches don't like tobacco so you can get rid of them by poking them with a cigarette. Unfortunately the person who did this didn't have a very steady hand so I ended up with a cigarette burn an a hole in my wrist!
As well as being an excellent tour guide, Drew was also an excellent chef and in the evening we enjoyed our first Aussie BBQ, delicious! The accommodation we stayed in was so nice and the apartments even had a dishwasher and washing machine - luxury! We almost booked onto a camping tour and were so glad this didn't work out in the end, even more so when we were woken up by the torrential rain in the middle of the night! Sadly the rain did stop us from seeing any phosphorus in the sand when we went down to the beach in the evening, but it was quite an experience standing on the beach in the pitch dark and driving rain, scraping at the surface with our feet, hoping to see the glow of the phosphorus coming through the wet sand!
We're now continuing our journey down the east coast towards Sydney, to meet Kirsty's cousin Katie, just in time for Christmas.
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