Australia,  Fraser Island and Hervey Bay


En het is tenslotte een engelssprekend land, dus een keer het verhaal in het engels.

In Hervey Bay we went looking for a camping , well, that is not to hard, there were plenty. So we found one, near the ocean, but a bit outside the centre of town. We could also book a tour through this park, so we did and that means we will go to Fraser Island on monday. That left us sunday, we took it easy, went to a market and did some internetting.

Monday 20th of august, we woke up at 7, packed our stuff and at a quarter past 8 we were ready for the bus that came to pick us up for the tour. After we picked up the other people of our group, in total 14 persons we made a quik stop at a hostel for our food for the next three days, we payed at the office and we stopped at the bottle shop before we arrived at the harbour where we would leave with the barge for Fraser Island. After an hour we arrived at Fraser Island.When we got of the barge we first went to the cabins were we would stay the next three days. They were on the other side of the island, that meant one hour driving on sandtracks, bumping up and down. We arrived there around twelve, made ourselves at home and had some lunch. After lunch we started exploring the island, our guide who drove the bus brought us to some interesting places, first we drove over the main highway of the island, the beach, also the airport and favorite fishingplace, to the Maheno wreck, a ship that washed up on the coast a long time ago. Then we went to some sandrocks, impressive when you keep in mind that it is all sand. And after that to the best known rockformation of the island, Indian Heads. Captain Cook gave the rocks this name when he discovered them, because he saw some aboriginals on the top and he thought it were indians. We climbed these rocks and looked around over island and ocean, we saw some sharks swimming in the ocean, that is why we could not swim in the ocean. Finally we went back to the bus again, on our way back to the cabins we stopped halfway to have a swim in Eli creek, you could walk upstream for a couple of minutes, jump in the water and let the current bring you back. It was a bit cold, but a nice experience. That was our first day exploring, we went back to the camp, had a nice BBQ dinner, sat around the campfire and went to bed to get ready for the next day.

We had breakfast at 7.30 and when everybody was ready we took of for central station, not that there are any trains on the island, but in earlier days when the wood loggers were on the island this was a central point for them, now it is an information point and the start of a couple of walking tracks. Like the one to lake Mc Kenzie, via lake Basin, that was the walk we did, it was a very nice but long walk. So I was glad I could jump in the water when we finally got there. After the swim we had lunch, with a dingo looking at us and waiting till we were finished, so he could try to find some left overs. Our guide had brought the bus over, so we continued the tour to Rainbow gorge, a big natural sandblow with some steep hills, of which we climbed one, just to get down again, on what ever way you wanted, roling, jumping, sliding. That was the end of the second day, a day of a lot of walking and a lot of fun. At night around the campfire we found out our guide could play guitar as well, so we had a great day.

And then the final day, we got up around 7.30 again, had breakfast, collected our gear and had to hurry, because around 8.30 we had an appointent with Bruce for a morning flight of 20 minutes above and around the island. That was amazing, we could see the lakes, the forest and the ocean, with some sharks, really close to the coast. When we got back on the ground we noticed that we were a little sick from the flight, but it was a great experience. Now up to the next item for the day, a walk to lake Wabby where we would spent some hours relaxing, sunbathing and swimming. The walk went over another sandblow, with some hils and every time you got on top you hoped to see water, but there was another hill, untill finally there it was, so time for a swim, or maybe not, because the water was a bit cold some people decided to skip the swimming and go to the sunbathing. Before we knew it it was time to go back to the camp for our last bbq lunch and around three we started our trip back to the barge, which would bring us back to mainland Australia. He was a bit late, but at a quarter past five we were back at our caravanpark and we had to see goodbye to the others of the group and to our guide Paul.

It was a fantastic experience, we saw a lot of the island, the company 'Fraser Experience Tour' was a good choice, a little nice group and a great guide made our tour really Unforgettalbe.

Thursday 23th of august was the day for the next event, Whale watching, because this time of the year a lot of whales spent a couple of days in the bay of Hervey Bay. We left at 7.30 with the boat the Seaspray, we had heard some good stories about this boat. It was a little, fast boat and we were in the whale watch area within the hour. First they stayed a bit away from the boat, but after a while they came to the boat to have a look. So we could make some nice pictures. But that is not as good as the real experience of seeing these huge animals so close. Around eleven it was time to go back to the harbour and we had enjoyed every minute with the whales. This was another great experience.

But everything has an end, even our stay at Hervey Bay, on friday we packed our gear in the car and drove back to Childers, here we spent the night, talked a bit with our old mates and remembered our working time. The next day we drove off, heading north.