Two Beers and a Pretzel

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.  It also has a rainforest, a nice variety freshwater lakes, shipwrecks, and you can drive on the beach.  You cannot go into the ocean because there are serious rip currents and semi-permanent packs of sharks (including a few great whites).  It is a UN World Heritage Site, because it had some unique habitats and endangered species.

From our hostel (Pippies) in Rainbow Beach.  This hostel had some pretty strict rules.

If you don’t know, GOON is almost wine in a box.  A real box, but not really wine…  It will not actually say “wine” anywhere.  It will be called “Sweet Dry White” and some boxes have ingredients like grape juice, alcohol, eggs and fish.  It’s called GOON because when empty, the mylar bag in side the box can be inflated into a pillow and apparently the Aboriginal word for pillow is GOON.  It’s also a backpacker favorite because it’s like $8 for 2 liters.

So anyway… 11 of us (4 Germans, 3 Brazilians, 2 Swedes, 1 Canadian, and Me) loaded 3 days provisions and tents on the roof and packed into an early ’90′s Toyota Land Cruiser.

It was a beautiful day for the 10 minute ferry crossing. We made it to gorgeous Lake Mckenzie before the rain started.

I couldn’t resist testing the underwater abilities of the Olympus u-8000 – especuially with the dramatic dropoff.

The rain was intermittent as we setup camp and Aaron had some fun unloading the roof rack.

The next day we went to the shipwreck and a spot where rocks jut out called Indian Head

On the way to campsite #2, Arron and I had to change a flat tire that eventually cost us $20/person.  We had a little help…

Then we moved on to an Aboriginee camp where “Nick” hosted us for a campfire and some digireedoo playing…

He gave us PVC digireedoo’s to learn the playing method.

There were also a few dingos roaming around.

The next day we woke up very early to beat the tide on the beach and drove to lake Wobbi before catching the ferry back to the mainland.  Janine apparently did not enjoy the fact that I was taking a picture while driving…

Lake Wobbi is full of algae, so it’s green.  This pic is from the sand dune about 50 meters above the lake.  We actually had enough sun for me to get a mild burn while playing frisbee in the water.

Then a long drive on the beach back to the ferry…

Back to the hostel to relax and catch a bus to 1770 the next day, where Aaron and I booked a “Chopper-roo” biker tour and a 4×4 rain forrest tour.