In the last week I have been involved in several conversations about how all of us travelers are perhaps the luckiest people on earth. And how we don't understand why more people, specifically Americans, don't take advantage of life, youth, freedom and their two legs and get the hell out to here or there or anywhere.
The night I was leaving 1770, I was sitting outside, writing the previous post, at the best hostel I have been to yet (Cool Bananas) and I met Dan and Tim, from New Jersey! Eight hours, a few beers, and a dinner of bangers and mash later we were still sitting at the same table discussing our journey's -- where we'd been, why we decided to come to Australia, and how it all compares to our home state. We discovered that we have a mutual friend -- a guy I knew in college and they knew from their hometown. It was such a relief to speak to people who knew, amongst other things, what I meant when I used the acronym TCNJ. But they were getting on a 2am bus to Noosa at the end of those 8 hours and so it was time for another round of goodbyes.
I moved on to Rainbow Beach the next day with Jess and Alex (both from England), and Andrea (from Switzerland) who I'd met at Cool Bananas. We were all going to Rainbow Beach to travel out to Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. Fraser Island also has a very unique eco system in that it is virtually the only place that rainforest grows in sand. Minus a few paved parking areas inside fancy resorts, there are no paved roads on the island. The island is only accessible via ferry -- the kind that carries vehicles. Your vehicle must also be 4WD since you will travel the length of the island by driving on the beach. For a package price, a hostel called Dingos in Rainbow Beach arranges for rentals of 4x4s, sets you up in groups of about 10-11, provides tents and other camping equipment, purchases food for 3 days and 2 nights, and gives you a map and some tips. The tips include: how to drive on sand, how to avoid being one of the 300 vehicles that get swept away into the sea each year, how to finding places to camp, and how to avoiding getting eaten by dingos.
Jess, Alex, Andrea and I decided to stay together as a group and quick grabbed a group of 4 guys -- Tim and Josh from England, and Ford and Skylar from Canada -- to join us. We were later assigned 3 more girls; Yolanda from Holland, Anne from Denmark and Barbara from Switzerland. Amongst our group we had 2 nurses, a paramedic/firefighter, a mechanic, and even two lawyers. In the case of any emergency, we'd be covered.
4 trucks left from Dingos Tuesday morning with 10-11 people in each. I think my favorite part of the trip was just driving around in the truck on the sand "highway". Since it was high tide we had to take an inland path on the southern part of the island the first day. This was also made of sand but went through the jungle rather than along the beach.
The first afternoon we stopped at Lake Mackenzie -- a freshwater lake with water clear enough to see through to the bottom in many places. By 2:30 we headed out to drive an hour up the island to a shipwreck in the area where we'd been advised to look for camping. All 4 trucks met -- although our team -- the A team -- arrived first and choose the spot... all others followed. This was to be a theme for the trip. The A-team was pretty much always first, fastest, and most efficient.
Before the sun had set, 16 tents had been set up, trucks and tarps were in place to block the wind off the ocean, steaks and potato salad had been cooked and eaten, the beer and goon had been opened and our 43 person beach party had begun.
On day two, we took our time packing up camp because the tides would not allow us to drive until late morning. We boiled some eggs and introduced a few europeans to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while we waited. Next stop was Eli Creek, where you can hop in the shallow and again insanely clear water and float along with the current (perhaps practicing a crocodile immitation) out to the beach.
After Eli, we headed up to Indian Point, where we climbed a few rocks up to a place where you can see the ocean on two sides and can frequently spot sealife. I was able to see a sting ray, 2 dolphins and an eagle's nest. This spot was another one of the many places that I keep thinking, "this is so beautiful, nothing could top this." And then inevitably, a day or two later something does.
We traveled back south along the island to find a camping spot for the 2nd night and again it was the A team that did the scoping out and the choosing of the location. Before we settled on a spot we had to dig the truck out of a few sand drifts but we beat out the other teams anyway. One truck never found us that night and had to camp on their own. Too bad for them because the site, the food and the party was even more memorable... or I should say NOT so memorable... for some.
By day 3, our hygiene had deteriorated pretty badly. But since the tides again did not allow us to drive in the morning we walked our stinky behinds 2 km up the beach and 2 km inland to Lake Wongai. The shore of one side of the lake is a huge and very steep hill of sand -- which of course taunts anyone with testosterone to run down and dive into the water.
After our hour long walk back from the lake we sat down for a lunch of eat-any-random-leftover-you-can-find with a side of sand. Then we headed back for the ferry to Rainbow Beach.
It was another awesome time. I have been really lucky so far with my random groups on trips like this. The people can make or break the experience. Our group was so much fun that I have decided to continue to travel with Jess and Alex for a few more days. And we will meet up with the 4 boys in Brisbane on Sunday as well. They've all been in Australia for almost a year and so their visas are coming to an end. Skylar and Josh will be heading home, at least for a little while, and Ford and Tim will go to Southeast Asia for the next 4 months or so.
Its addicting this traveling thing. Especially when you can travel and then work just enough to fund more travel and then travel a bit more. I might be hooked.
Watch video:
Video also available on my facebook page. Will load faster from there.
See more pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35537&l=1fc93&id=802088251
AND
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35546&l=777c9&id=802088251
1 comment:
I knew you were never coming back.
PS - I miss you.
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