Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island

23-26 February 2010

Got to Rainbow Beach late in the evening only to be told that our briefing for Fraser Island was at 6am the next morning (I am rapidly forgetting what it feels like to have a proper night's sleep)! Managed to get a great group together for our 4x4 adventure though so it was with high hopes that we stepped outside the next morning to be greeted by a truck which, to put it politely, had seen better days. Frankly, I'm amazed it could even move - the panelling was rusty, the doors didn't close properly and there was unnerving amount of coughing and spluttering every time you so much as started her up! All part of the experience I'm sure but not very reassuring when a member of our group, who happened to be a mechanic, declared that such a vehicle would never be allowed on the road in Holland and that he would be amazed if it lasted the duration of our trip (three days)!

So you can imagine our reservations when we drove around the corner to the vehicle hire company for an hour of scaremongering with a man warning us how easy it would be to damage the vehicles (and ourselves!) and explaining that, because insurance is so expensive, they don't bother with it so we weren't really covered for anything. Finally though, we were permitted to set off in our disaster time bomb and take the ferry across to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island (worringly, of the three vehicles going in convoy, one didn't even make it out of the forecourt)!

Arrived on the island (so far so good) and headed north up the road that is the eastern coastline, hemmed in by the rolling waves on one side and the undulating sand dunes on the other. Spent the day at Lake Wabby, a refreshing pool of cool blue cradled at the base of an enormous sand dune a short, but hot, trek inland. Set up camp that evening further down the beach behind the dunes, ate chicken stirfry and had a few drinks to congratulate ourselves on our excellent camping abilities. Very enjoyable evening even though the bugs did their best to spoil it.

Woke up the next morning to discover, much to my dismay, that they had been successful and that I had been bitten. A lot. More than 400 times to be exact. Turns out leggings, shoes, a hoodie and a huge cloud of insect repellent still isn't enough to fend them off. Packed up and headed inland to Lake McKenzie, renowned for its clear fresh water and blindingly white sand. It is indeed idyllic and I tried not to let it be marred by the unpredictable weather (Mother Nature), frantic scratching (me) or mindless shouting and horseplay (the louts who clearly thought they were in Magaluf and waded about all afternoon spilling beer into the shallows). Eventually, we did get a bit of sunshine so managed to appreciate it at its best after all, if only for a brief while.

Left early to navigate the rough tracks to our campsite. Driving inland makes you realise more than ever the need for a 4x4. The tracks are what I would call rustic - loosely carved and full of unpredictable twists, turns and dips (or should I say craters)!? It is, quite literally, a rollercoaster ride - needless to say there were a lot of bruised heads by the end of it!

After a night of too little sleep and too much unbearable itching, we began driving north the next morning to the Pinnacles, huge cliffs sculpted by sand. Unfortunately for us though, Martin's theory proved correct and we were soon diverted from out itinerary by the ominous smell of burning rubber. Our handbrake was stuck. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long for the island's mechanic to come out and fix it and we were soon on our way again. Following the Pinnacles and unable to do the Champagne Pools or Indian Head due to high tides, we headed south again stopping at the Maheno shipwreck, beached in 1935. Our final stop before returning to the mainland was at Eli Creek, a freshwater creek winding down to the beach between lush green banks. Walked inland then waded back knee-deep in the icy water (a moment of relief for my itching legs)!

Arrived back at Rainbow Beach to unpleasant news - they intended to charge us for the mechanic callout. Since we left late on the morning of departure, we were splashed slightly on our right side by the incoming tide (not our fault and something for which the hire company assured us we would not be held responsible). It would seem they changed their minds since they were now insisting that the stuck handbrake (on the left of the vehicle) was the result of this incident. We tried in vain to plead our case but to no avail and in the end we had no choice but to pay and leave feeling cheated. Or did we? Decided we weren't going to take it lying down and after a polite but firm phonecall to the manager in Hervey Bay, a man from the hire company came driving down the road with his tail between his legs and our money in his hand. Victory was ours! Such a relief - had an amazing time on the island and definitely didn't want my memory of it clouded by the swindling ways of a dodgy hire company right at the last moment! Used the refunded money to treat ourselves to a steak dinner and a jug of cider (and forget about my itching bites for a few blessed minutes)! Stop scratching, stop scratching.....stop scratching.....