Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island

Chili muffin surprise express tabulator! Captain Rapebeard reporting live from Australia!

But seriously, yesterday I got back from Fraser Island with excitement. And last night I typed up the previous entry about Noosa. Now it’s Fraser/Rainbow Beach’s turn. BRING ON THE NUTS!

I got to Rainbow Beach four days ago, a little bummed out because I left some really cool people in Noosa. But they were all leaving as well, so it’s not like I just abandoned anybody. Either way, when I arrived here I was intimidated once again by all the new people who looked so important going about their hostel lives. The reception screwed up some bookings, and the first room they put me in was already full. I had to go back and be reassigned to somewhere else. This didn’t help my mood one bit. The next morning I checked out and booked a bus for 1:00 to Hervey Bay. Luckily though, a tiny snowball was rolling down the hill in my direction.

It started when I somehow got the idea that maybe it was time to actually spend a little money on something. So far in my trip I’ve only participated in free or nearly free activities, such as going to the beach or walking around a city. It might have been all the talk of Fraser around here, as this hostel/area is a launching point for a 4WD, self-drive, 3 day/2 night tour around the nearby Island. It costs about $150 on its own, with another $65 for food. They give you a heavy-duty jeep, throw nine or ten other people in there with you and set you loose on the largest sand island in the world with a cheesy map. I had planned to head to Hervey Bay and launch from there. But the girl (Zoe) at the Peter Pan (backpacker travel company) kiosk said it would be faster to go from Rainbow Beach, then head up afterward. Like a limp noodle, I booked a package which includes a sailing trip in Whitsundays a couple days from now for about $550 total. The orientation for Fraser was later that same day, with the trip leaving the following morning.

Soon after, I ran into Shlomi in the lounge area. He was also headed to Fraser Island, but from Hervey Bay instead. He had an extra couple hours to kill so we decided to go to the beach - which is only a couple minutes walk away, I went there the evening before but it was rainy and cold - to hang for a while. When retrieving my things, I ran into Karen, a German girl I met all the way back in Sydney. She had to catch a bus to Airlie Beach (to do the Whitsundays sailing trip, she had just finished Fraser) at 7:00 that evening, but had nothing to do until then. I told her we were going to the beach and invited her. So now we’ve got some manner of group heading to the beach. Awesome!

I helped Karen move her bags to my room where they might be more secure, and when I got there I met Ruth, who was in the middle of unpacking her things when I came in. Ruth is a very quiet girl from Switzerland who turned out to be booked for the same Fraser trip as me on the next day (and if you’re reading this, Ruth, you are a lamb!). I asked her some kind of introductory question (There are lots questions that are always first up when talking to new people in this environment. Things like “Where are you coming from?”, “Where are you headed?”, “How long have you been in Australia”, “Where do you live?”, “Why are you going through my bag?”. Stuff like that.) and realized that her English wasn’t as polished as most people around here. No matter. I asked her if she wanted to come with us, and after a look around, she agreed. Now we had four people!

Or so I thought. During the confusion of getting bags into things and people into swimsuits and to places, Shlomi disappeared. It’s unfortunate, but by the time we actually headed to the beach, his bus was due in about an hour. If you’re reading this, sorry man! On the plus side, I was headed to the beach with two cute girls. Can’t complain about that.

At the beach, the sun was out, the waves were up, and I tamed the ocean with nothing more than a body board and my manliness. The girls did a little boarding too, but Ruth had never been in the ocean with waves before, so it was probably pretty overwhelming. During a break from the water, I heard my name to my left, looked over, and saw Daron and Tamal - an Israeli couple I met during the two nights I spent in Brisbane - sitting about 15 feet away from us. You see what I mean about running into people? I was all like “WTF”, and they were all like “Hey man”. Things are kind of hazy around here, but we talked to them about Fraser Island and they ended up booking it themselves when they got back to the hostel. Even the same trip as Ruth and me!

When Ruth and I got back to our room, there were two Irish girls - Michelle and Shivon (sp) - hanging out in there who said that they were also headed to Fraser the next day. HOLY EFF. They knew some other people who were going as well. So when the orientation came around we balled together a big group from all the people we knew. It was Daron, Tamal, Ruth, Me, Michelle, Shivon, a German girl, a couple Swedes, an Australian… ummm… more… there were 10 total. I don’t remember things.

Basically, in the span of a few hours, I went from being grumpy and alone, to being booked for Fraser the next day with a bunch of friendly people. Nice! But of course that’s just the beginning. I haven’t even gotten to the trip yet!

Ruth and I mixed up some tuna and corn right as the orientation was beginning. It was essentially a video about the island, and then some explanation of how to get ready, and when to meet the next morning.

Sure enough, 6am rolled around and I leapt gracefully from my bed in high spirits and-… eff that. 6am sucks and makes me tired. But I did manage to slide out of bed, get a shower and some breakfast, then meet everyone out back where the jeeps were waiting.

A very Australian man talked us through driving, packing, safety, and camping procedures, which took about an hour total. Then we grabbed our food and our eskeys (coolers), filled stuff with alcohol (the tour is usually a huge drinkfest), and packed our jeep. It was a short drive to the barge that would take us on the short trip to the island. But we lost one jeep early on just on the way to the barge to a flat tire. I’m not sure when they got underway, but that’s unfortunate.

The tide was up when we got to the island, so we had to take a back road around the beach to start off. I hope this road is the bumpiest one in the world because holy crap was it rough. About 45 minutes of high-intensity shaking. I was having trouble breathing, the vibration was so violent. And the jeeps are pretty bare inside. Not much padding, and only a slender lap belt to keep you from hitting the ceiling. We finally mad it back to the beach, but the tide hadn’t gotten quite down. Most people cracked open a beer at this point and walked out the water to look around. You’re not supposed to go very deep in this water because there’s all manner of predators in there and it’s stinger season. About a half an hour later, the tide had receded enough to allow us passage.

Driving the beach was a lot better than the road we had just been on, but no picnic itself. There are dunes, soft sand, fast waves, and fresh water streams to look out for all the time. A good driver can smooth these obstacles out.

First stop was Lake Mackenzie, and what a stop! I’m thinking of telling the tour company to recommend this one last, because it was by far my favorite of any. We only had about an hour here, way way too short. Soft white sand greats you, leading up to brilliant blue/turquoise water at a perfect temperature and with a PH that soothes and moisturizes your skin. Dizamn, that was awesome! A few of us swam to a small island in the middle of the lake and hung out there for a little while. Not much to say really. We just swam around and enjoyed the incredible environment.

Back in the jeep and on our way down the coast. Just more driving and dodging hazards all the way to our camp for the night. We set up shop, started dinner, and got to drinking right away. The stars were the brightest and clearest I had ever seen, and there were so many of them. But I was told by somebody that there are even better places to see them even clearer. I hope I can make it there someday!

Waking up on Fraser Island is no picnic. The night is so soothing and restful. Bright stars, crashing waves, a sea-breeze blowing through your tent. Combined with the busy day, it’s not long till you’re out like a dead elephant. But the morning… hoh. Complete opposite. The sun wrecks into your tent and you’re blasted with heat and light all at once. Dozens of crickets and bugs buzzing in the bushes nearby. A hangover. It’s early. And you’re hungry. Hopefully you packed your food away properly the night before, lest some dingos will surely make off with it while you sleep (dingos are everywhere and VERY adorable, I totally wanted to pet them and feed them, which is exactly what you’re told not to do).

We threw all our crap back on top of the jeep and hit the beach once more toward Indian Head, the furthest point north we were told to drive. There’s a road that leads even further to some more beach, but it’s very deep and treacherous. We saw lots of other vehicles get stuck while we were stopped and looking around. We were there for about four hours waiting for the tide to subside so we could head back. Some guy swam way out into the surf and we all watched him, waiting for a giant tiger shark or something to leap out of the water and eat him. But it never happened. Darwin will get him one way or another.

We had a walk to the top of Indian Head which has a fantastic 360 degree view of the coast. We were supposed to be able to see sharks and dolphins and manta rays floating around, but all I saw was a couple of very large fish in the distance. After a rest we took a very long walk to a tidal pool where people are allowed to actually swim. Since we were waiting for low tide, the water was very high and rough. My feet and hands got pretty cut up on some rocks due to the strong currents.

After spending most of the day waiting for the tide, we finally headed back. All that was left to do was stop by a stream of some sort. That went well and it was time to camp again. More drinking and talking. Some sleeping. Wind blowing/breaking. Dingos. Murder afoot. Camping. Same story the following morning, except I was even more tired as we’d been through a full day of off-roading and other activities, as opposed to only a half.

The morning saw us attending yet another lake, this one much less perfectly serene than Mackenzie, but still very nice. It was propped against a large sand dune that hid an expanse of sand edged by trees. Had it not been for our visit to Mackenzie on the first day, this would have seemed much more impressive. Nonetheless, sprinting down the dune (despite the behest of the nearby signs claiming serious injury or death) and into the water was tits. The walk to and from that lake though was very long and tiring, effectively dampening our spirits just in time to leave the island.

That was yesterday. Most everyone had a good shower and a nap. It was relieving to clean all the sand out of EVERYTHING. I saved my fatigue for the night. Up until then, some of the people from our jeep and I sat in the outdoor lounge talking. Ruth and I made some spaghetti. I think I turned in about 11 or so and slept very soundly. Just about everyone in my room this morning was checking out, so we were all up before 9 and packing up.

Presently I’m sitting in the lounge. Just had some tuna and corn. I think that’s my third favorite food now, behind pizza and lasagna. Hot Fuzz is playing in the corner of my screen, and I’m waiting for a bus to get here in about 20 minutes to take me to Airlie Beach and eventually Whitsundays. I hope that’s everything. The pictures might do the rest.