We finally arrived in Noosa after battling through the Friday afternoon traffic out of Brisbane and instantly fell in love with the place, especially Kat's family unit with amazing views over Sunrise Beach. We decided to go for a quick dip in the sea before the sun went down, a nice refreshing swim before a meal and drinks for Laura's birthday. To celebrate for the birthday girl we went to a nice restaurant and Laura was happy with her chill seafood pasta which had considerably more seafood then pasta and Charlie had his second burger of the day! After a few schooners of beer we then headed to KB's or Kamel Bar for some jugs of cocktails before heading home to a nice comfy bed. Purely by chance, Laura woke up just before sunrise and saw the orange-ing skies begin to appear from the balcony so woke up Charlie to enjoy the sunrise and, of course, take some snaps! After the amazing fiery sunrise we slept a little longer before waking up and heading down to Noosa main beach. We spent the day chilling on the beach with Kat and her family and wondered around the town before walking back around 7kms through the national park, a beautiful walk following the coastline with amazing views. Although we didn't see the illusive koala it was a lovely walk topped by an ice cold beer at the surf club. We were all shattered after the walk so decided it was time for a nice chinese, a few beers and an early nights sleep before our bus to Hervey Bay in the morning.
The next morning we got to the bus stop with plenty of time but, from the amount of people that where waiting, we were worried that we wouldn't get on. After a long wait and being the last to get on because of our route to Hervey Bay, we finally got on before stopping and getting on a different much quieter bus that shortened our journey time by over an hour. On arriving at Palace backpackers we chilled out for a bit then met our guide and group for orientation. We were told to get in to groups of around six to shop together for our food for the trip so teamed up with Joel, a Scottish joker, and three english boys, Will, Chris and Archie who were on their gap year. Our shop consisted mainly of meat for two nights of bbq on the island and 1.5kgs of ham for sandwiches, with a few other bits chucked in! We stocked up on goon, 4 litres of box wine for $10 and headed back to the hostel to prepare for our expedition.
We were checked out by 6am and met for more briefing at 6.30am. We then loaded our wagons, classic toyota land cruisers and swiftly left. Charlie drove first and, with a convoy of four trucks, we headed down to the crossing point, boarded the ferry and enjoyed then sun and views on the crossing. Once we arrived on the island we engaged four wheel drive and made our way to our first stop, Lake Mckenzie. The first part of the track was steep sandy bumpy tracks going up and down, by far the most extreme track on the whole island, with some entertainment as the girl driving ahead of us stalled half way up a hill! We arrived at Lake McKenzie in the sunshine, and what an amazing place it is! Bright white sand leading in to a perfect blue fresh water lake! The water was so refreshing in the sun we were sad to leave after only spending an hour or so there. We also saw a Goanna the Aussie name for a Monitor Lizard in the cark park and on the beach which was a great sight!
After Lake McKenzie we went to Central Station where our guide Rango told us about the history of Fraser Island, its logging past and its importance in the present. We then walked along a nearby creek before having lunch in the sun, in the company of the purest line of dingo in Australia, their native wild dog, who were very interested in our backpacks and our food. One was even jumping up at the windows of the trucks trying to get in. After lunch we continued on to Lake Wabby where we spent the afternoon. The thirty-five minute walk to Lake Wabby was through lush forest before suddenly coming out on to a sand blow, an area that was like a desert where sand has blow up off the beach and covered everything in its path. The Lake was situated at the end of the Sand blow creating a giant dune like hill in to the lake, great to run down before splashing in the lake. We spotted some catfish and whilst sitting in the shallow water small fish came and nibbled at our feet. After a nice afternoon at Lake Wabby we arrived at our campsite, tents ready and a trailer with cooking and cleaning facilities, and an awning over some picnic benches it seemed to be pretty comfy! We ate our yummy steaks and sausages and drank lots of goon, invading the next door camp who seemed less inclined to party, with first class entertainment from Archie, Will and Chris. We ended the night sitting on the beach under moonlight staring in to the amazing night sky.
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