East Coast Adventure, Part 2

June 11th:
    Our rainy days in Noosa were over, and we were ready to head North once again. Our next stop we were all excited for, as we were heading to Fraser Island to drive 4WD over the sandy dunes! We took a Greyhound to Hervey Bay where we met up with the group we would be heading to Fraser Island with. We all went grocery and goon together, preparing ourselves for the wilderness. Bridget, our friend from Byron Bay, came to join us for this adventure, and we all turned in early to prepare ourselves for our early alarms.
 June 12th:
    The whole hostel was excited, despite the 6:00am wake up call, as everyone was busy packing and preparing for our three day journey to the biggest sand island in the world. Our tour guide Tony greeted us, and before we knew it we were on the road! Our group was made up of three tag along 4WD vehicles, ours made up of Bridget, Helen, Hannah, Francesca, Dave, myself, and Tony! A short ferry ride away, we arrived to the sandy and bumpy island. Our first destination was Lake Birrabean, where we played in the water, hoping for the sun to shine through the clouds. After a quick swim, we walked through a beautiful rainforest, and then off to Lake Wabby. This was one of the most unique lakes I have ever been to, as it is a small dark blue lake, the deepest on the island, surrounded by sand dunes as far as you can see. We all swam for a couple hours, and enjoyed our time despite the rain coming down on us.
    We arrived at our extremely wet camp, and home for two nights, ready to warm up with some goon. Our camp was made up with small tents, a small outdoor kitchen, no washrooms or showers, and right beside the ocean. Everybody barbecued together, and soon learned that you had to be on constant dingo watch! Dingoes are very common on Fraser Island, and quite dangerous. Everybody learned to walk around with a ‘dingo stick’, and always walk in groups. The dingoes were very curious, and not very shy, so it was hard to believe that they could be dangerous, even though there had been an attack to a girl only four days prior to our trip. Not only were dingoes dangerous on the island, but the sharks were as well! We swam quite a bit on Fraser Island, only in lakes. The ocean that surrounds Fraser Island was notorious for the amount of sharks that swam in the water. After being in Australia for ten months however, I was not scared of the many things in Australia that would potentially kill me. Our evening was spent getting to know new friends, relaxing on the beach looking at the stars and the milky way, and looking at the phosphorescence lighting up the sea!
June 13th:
    I woke up the next morning listening to the waves crash on the shore, the dingoes howling, and with a sore and sandy back from sleeping on the ground. Dave and I were very resourceful, and filled empty goon bags with air as pillows for the night. Despite being sore, we were excited for our full day of driving around the island. After our camp packed up, we drove through the bumpy inland roads to a small river filled with small turtles. After playing with them and feeding them for a while, we all hopped back in the cars and set out to the famous Champagne Pools, with a great view of Indian Head on the way, as well as Eagle Rays swimming in the ocean. This is the only place on Fraser Island where you get to swim in sea water, as it is a lagoon where the sea water splashes up over the rocks into natural rock pools, where the water bubbles up similar to champagne. When we arrived the weather was overcast, which led to rain falling on us as we were splashing around in the Champagne Pools. It was such an amazing experience to feel the rain water splashing over us, and the waves splashing over the rocks onto us. By the time we were leaving, the sun had come out to dry us off.

    A short drive away, we arrived at the famous Maheno Shipwreck. This ship has been on the coast of Fraser Island since 1935, and is now a site that hundreds of tourists visit each day. It was beautiful as it was covered in rust, yet somehow well preserved in and outside the ship. It was such a beautiful site to see a rainbow appear over the shipwreck right before we drove to our next destination, Eli Creek. The creek was such a fun part of our day, as it essentially is a natural lazy river! We all jumped right into the shallow water, and floated with the swift currents down the creek, to do it all over again! This was perfect and relaxing way to end our busy day all over the island. Our evening was spent in a similar fashion to the night before, bonding over a few too many cups of goon on the beach, under the stars.
June 14th:
    The next morning we woke up even more sore than the day before, but head out extra early to catch the sun rise. Bridget, Francesca, Dave, Hannah, Helen and I had a new friend that joined us to watch the beautiful sunrise, a dingo. The dingo lay looking over the sea just a few meters away from us, watching the beautiful light come through the clouds. Unfortunately this was the last day of our Fraser Island trip, so we packed up and cleaned, setting off from camp for good. We drove to the very famous Lake Mackenzie to enjoy a couple of hours in the sun. It was bittersweet to leave Fraser island, as none of us wanted to end our amazing time there, however we could not have had a better time, and were all in desperate need of a shower. We set off again on the ferry to take us back to Hervey Bay, and said our farewell to tour guide Tony. After a delicious home made dinner, and warm shower, our Fraser Island group got together at our hostel and enjoyed a few last glasses of goon together before bed.
June 15th:
    The next morning was a day of organization. We had hoped to go to a day excursion to an island called Castaway, however they had no available spaces. We weighed our options, and over a delicious breakfast out, we decided to go to Agnes Water for four days of complete relaxation. During our time on Fraser Island, we became very close with a new friend Barney, who came to join us in Agnes Water. Our bus pulled up at our new hostel, and we instantly liked it. It reminded us of our time we spent in the Arts Factory in Byron, as it was on a large piece of land with a tea tree lake, river, farms surrounding it, hostel dogs Scooby and Summer, and campfires every night. 
June 16th:
    Dave, Helen, Francesca, Barney and I woke up bright and early the next morning for a surf lesson! Agnes Water is the furthest place North you can surf before the reef. Although the surf teacher was not the most enthusiastic, we all had a great time out in the water, some of us more successful than others. After a day out in the sun, we head back to the hostel for a delicious dinner, followed by a fantastic campfire before bed.
June 17th:
    Our morning began very slow and lazy with a nice lie out by the pool for a few hours. However in the early afternoon Dave, Helen, Barney, and I were feeling a little bit more active and set out to walk between the two townships of Agnes Water and 1770. On our journey we saw giant pelicans on the beach and being fed fresh fish by fisherman. We timed the 8km walk perfectly, as we reached the beach in 1770 just in time to have an hour of sun before the beautiful sunset. When we arrived in 1770, we celebrated with a picnic of fresh cut fries and sweet potato fries, along with a few beers and cider to drink while watching the sunset. There were such breathtaking views of the sunset, but because we waited so long at the beach, we were going to miss the last shuttle back to our hostel. We decided to act like true backpackers, and to hitchhike! Only a few short minutes after starting our long journey back, a car pulled over with three empty seats. The older couple agreed to squeeze all four of us in there to drive us back into town. They were so friendly and happy to help us out, it was a highlight of the day. Our day once again ended with great food, great friends, around a great campfire.
June 18th:
    It was time for round two of surf lessons! Dave, Hannah, Francesca, Barney and I went with a different surf company, and had such a fantastic time! The weather was beautiful, and almost all of us had a great time, and success on the board. Feeling energized, we head back to the hostel to relax by the pool, and to randomly dye our hair pink! Francesca put a few streaks in her blonde hair, and Helen and I put small streaks in the blonde streaks in our hair. We also met a lovely couple that managed the hostel and dyed each one of their dreadlocks pink to match ours. After a few days of relaxation, it was time to head to our new destination, on the overnight Greyhound to Airlie Beach!