Fraser island final part

g'day mate,
    For our last day we all got up early to watch the sunrise and it didn't disappoint. Our first stop was inland to another lake. On our way to the lake it was really neat we got to see some planes come in for a landing on the beach, now thats something you don't see everyday.

The lake we arrived at was unique because it was positioned right at the base of a steep sand dune.  We took some card board for sledding and headed down to the lake. It was a good 5 min downhill run through the woods, naturally us 5 guys turned it into a race and it was hands down the best time i've ever  had running.

We broke out of the woods ran across the top of the dunes and we all finished the race running and rolling down the dune right into the water. It was the best finish line to a race ever! We spent the next while here trying to sled on the cardboard and just running jumping and flipping down the dunes into the water. It was perfect.

    From there we drove to the final spot which was a lake more inland. This lake was very large and had a few more of those picturesque trees growing out of the water.  We took the boats out into the water one last time and drifted until we couldn't make out the people on the shore. This was an incredibly peaceful and unique place to spend our last hours on the island.

    We left here and caught the fairy to the main land, returned the land rover and started heading home. One car went into Brisbane for the night while the car I was in ventured a little further down the coast to Byron Bay.  We got in around midnight and drove around to find a good spot to sleep in the car for the night. In the morning we awoke with hopes to rent surfboards and ride the famous Byron Bay point break. Unfortunately we were pressed for time and no place was open early enough.  Also, the waves were only about a foot high so that didnt help.  We drove the car to the shore for sunrise and man was it a good one!
    After the sunrise we hiked up to the light house, and then stocked up on food for the rest of the drive home.

We managed to make the 12 hour trip home with no directions and no address of where to return the car. Through our own awesomeness and asking people for help we managed to return the car with only 2 mins to spare. All in all the trip was a blast!
-Evan

Fraser Island part 2

Hello all,
        The next morning I woke up for sunrise and just soaked it all up!

We cooked breakfast out the back of the truck then drove north on the beach to our first spot of the day. We were heading for a place called Indian Head which is an elevated peninsula with a killer view.

 It was an absolutely beautiful day and could see clearly all up and down the coast. We spent a while gazing off the cliffs into the water. We saw a 14 foot-ish tiger shark, a sea turtle, and some stingrays. While on Indian Head we heard of a place just up the road called The Champagne Pools so we headed up that way to check them out.
        After running some pretty deep sand and a thrilling drive we parked the car and headed down to the pools. The pools were naturally made in some rocks right on the shore. When the waves crashed on the rocks the pools would bubble a lot, hence change pools.  I had a blast here, it was nature at its finest!

        After the pools we drove inland to have lunch at a lake that we heard we could see some turtles at. Driving on the beach you have to be very mindful of the tide as it does come all the way up on the beach. This time driving on the beach it got a little harry, it really felt like we were against the clock.    We got to the lake and well. . . it was really flooded with no where to even really stand. We walked out to a platform just a few feet of the shore and had a feed. Almost instantly countless turtles swam up to us, it was really cool! I even managed to catch one!

         We then headed back to camp, on our way we stopped at the invisible river. It got its name as it is so very clear with a sand bottom which makes it even harder to see the water. There rivers is pretty clear of derbies so we went for a float. This was the perfect end to the day, a nice cool relaxing float down a river through the forrest that ended at the sea with the sun setting.
- Evan

Fraser Island (part 1)

Good day mate-

      Myself and 6 other friends took a road trip 12 hours north to a very cool and unique place called Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the worlds Largest sand Island and is sonly a short fairy ride from the mainland.  One cool thing about this island is that it only has a few minor little communities on it mostly for camping but besides that the island is pure nature.  Despite hardly any housing on the island off road trails for cars criss cross the island making it an excellent playground for 4 wheel drive vehicles. The interior has trails through the thick forest connecting its many lakes and lookouts. On the shore you can drive for miles down the beaches with lush forests on one side of you ocean on the other side and nothing but sand beneath you, it is really quite neat!

      We left right after classes at around 5pm, despite getting lost right off the bat we drove straight through the night and arrive perfectly on time to get briefed about the Land Rover we would be renting.   After a few quick do's and dont's from the company (there were many more dont's than do's) it was time to set sail.... literally though we had to catch the fairy to the island. We waited in line and backed our truck onto the boat along with about 20 other cars.

We arrived on the island and were greeted by a few pelicans just chilling out on the beach. We drove down the winding sand path through the forrest for a while until we came to our first lake. We ate lunch here and explored around. The lakes in the island are pretty unique, you may think how can a lake be on a pure sand island wouldn't the water just leak out? Its true it would but with a great amount of vegetation on the island over the years the old and dead vegetation has settled into the low parts of the island and made an impervious layer the water can not get out of. Over the past 3 years the island has gotten massive rains so these lakes have risen to about 5 to 10 feet above their normal state. This means that all the visitor board walks and plaques are underwater which is a pretty neat sight. This was the case at our first stop. We embraced the high water levels tossed on our bathing suits and went for a swim to get a better view. It was a really treat to swim in fresh water and it was quite warm! With the flooding theres some unique trees growing out of the water, we found one and decided to climb it.

After that we ventured down the shore where there was more of a beach. We hung out here for a few more hours. Myself and two of the other guys brought blow up rafts so we pulled those our of the truck and went for a float in the lake. It was great getting to explore all around and just hang out on a bright beautiful sunny day!

         We hopped back in the truck and back tracked a little to get out to the beach. We drove north for a few km just taking in the sights. As darkness moved in we found a camp sight just atop a sand bank right on the beach. We watched the sun set set up our tents and cooked dinner. The dingos were really out that night, we saw two on our drive up the beach, 2 more came running through our campsite and while we were out stargazing on the beach we had one walk right at us and one sneak up behind us. The ones we saw stargazing came up really close so we shined our lights on them and tried to scare them away. The dingos took off in a full sprint running a bit of a half circle around us before disappearing off into the woods. It was very cool to see these animals up close and personal!
-Evan
   

Tasmania Part 4

Hello folks,
        I woke up on our second to last day and decided to catch the sunrise from atop the nut. On the hike up I passed literally over a hundred wallabies it was pretty crazy. The hike was very very steep and gave great views of the  town below and the beaches. It was amazing up there a very unique landscape with not a person in sight. I couldn't have asked for a better setting to watch the sunrise. After the sunrise I spent and hour our so exploring around the nut. We all met up back at the hostel and starting driving east across the north shore. In about an hour we stopped at Rocky Cape National Park. It was well... rocky and very cool!

      From here we went to the town of Penguin (yes thats its name) and attended the local sunday market. There was food, shops, and a mini beer garden with live music. We had a look around and found some interesting stuff. There was one stand where it was just a girl standing in front of a framed picture of her with the cast of some Australian TV show. She wasnt even selling anything she was just talking about her experience of meting these people..... kinda of odd if you ask me. There was one guy who looked like he just unloaded his garage and attic with no order into his spot so I went over and talked with him. He pulled out a mini sward almost a dagger but bigger and told me that it was a Nazi officer sward from back in the day. It had some gems on it and even a few swastikas, he was asking $3,500 for it, I passed but it was still really cool to hold a piece of history like that.
 
     We stocked up on some local bake goods and fruit and hit the road. We found another water fall or two to hike and made our way to a nature park to see some animals up close and personal. The park was only open for another hour so I didnt buy a ticket saving me a few bucks, I was happy just seeing the wild penguins the night before. While I waited out side with Monica it started to rain and next thing we knew and killer double rainbow sprung up in the valley. It was perfect you could see both ends on end even looked like it stopped right on top of a sheep. We wondered around to take some pictures of the rainbow and found that one of the gates to the park was open so we got inside to see some animals for free. It was a nice little added bonus.

      From here we drove a few more hours to Launceston and settled into our hostel for the night. This hostel was huge and very very nice, we all really enjoyed it. In the morning we dropped of Cristian at the airport and spend our final day exploring Launceston. We hiked a path through a gorge on the edge of the city and just spent the day taking it easy.

       The next day I flew back to Sydney and back to reality, well kinda.  I had an absolute blast on this trip!!! Traveling around with three other strangers in a foreign land was really special. I have really been wanting to do this type of trip and it was even more fun than I could have imagined!
-Evan

Tasmania prt. 3

    Hello!

       I woke up, made some breakfast and ate outside to watch the moon set and the fog lift out of the valley. Then it was back in the car and off to Cradle Mountain National Park.  The drive here was stunning and very windy. We really lucked out with the weather as the rain and clouds that have been hanging around for three days finally lifted. This was quite a big deal as the peaks of Cradle Mountain are the main attraction and well if its cloudy you cant see them. The peaks were gorgeous! and quite unique. We did a hike around dove lake which sits right at the base of the mountain. It took about 3 hours and gave us some killer views. On our way back from the mountains we can across a wallaby just hanging out in the trail. We posed for pictures and he let us get closer and close. There was one point where I was looking into his eyes and him into mine and a strong wind came and I could see him squint and lean into the wind as to not get blown over. It was really neat, kinda of felt a connection to that little guy on a weird level. After that we hopped in our car and pointed north to the town of Stanley.

      The difference in temperature from the mountainous south to the coastal north was a pleasant treat, a little more warmth made a whole lot of difference. Stanley was a unique town situated at the end of a peninsula at the base of a big rock mountain type thing that they call "The Nut." We saw a isng on the way in calming that it has been named as the "tidiest town in tazzy" and it was pretty clear to see why. We found accommodations for the night and I opted for another night in the car. We got settled in and made some dinner. Once the sun had set we headed out to see if we could find ourselves some penguins! Walking through the town we passed many restaurants, none that could hold more than 20 people. They were tucked into quaint little spots  and gave a very nice feeling to the town. We found our way to the beach and had a look around but it was so dark if there were penguins we wouldn't have even known it.  We took a stroll on the very wide beach and headed back to the hostel in the rain slightly disappointed.

      Back at the hostel we started talking with a couple from France. We told them about our failed attempt at finding penguins, and to our delight they told us about their successful attempt only 20 minuets earlier.  Stewart hooked us up with a head lamp and a hand drawn map and we were back off into the rain to find some penguins! The map he drew was kind of confusing and led us right into a cemetery. Long story short we ended up walking around this cemetery in a pretty spooky storm when we should have continued down the road. We got to the rocks and started looking around. I heard some chirping ( thats whats well call the sound they made) and headed towards it, and BAMM found some penguins! They were small little guys only about a foot tall. We spent the next hour or so looking around and finding more penguins,  and even found another wallaby.

- Evan