Deep deep blue - Fraser Island, Lake McKenzie Day 1 / 19.11.2018

This morning we started heading to our meeting point for the Fraser Island tour and when we arrived, we wondered why there were no other people there yet. Then another German guy named Karim joined us and we decided to wait for a few more minutes, but we were glad not to be alone.

At around 8:45 am, a jeep drove into the driveway of the petrol station where we were and a friendly older man from Nomads Fraser Tour got out, put our stuff in the trunk, and explained that there were only so many of us because the other 27 people started from Noosa and were still on their way here.

After we arrived at a large garage with a huge parking lot, where many mustard yellow Nomads SUVs were parked, we had to endure a safety briefing in the form of a very long video - which was totally unnecessary because the three of us were still under 21 and weren't allowed to drive on the island anyway. On Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the world with the only existing rainforest that grows on sand - there were no roads, so we always had to drive on the beach or on sandy tracks through the jungle.

Eventually, the others arrived and we met a guy from Cool Bananas again - Jermaine, who joined Linni, Karim, and me. Then somehow Daniel, an 18-year-old German, and Iris, an 18-year-old Dutch girl, joined our little group. That became our car group and because none of us were allowed to drive due to our age or lost driver's license, we ended up in Car Number 1, with our two cool guides Ben (it was his first tour, so quite exciting) and Tony. In the end, we were a convoy of 4 cars with 8 people each.

Then we soon headed to the ferry station to Fraser and after a little incident with a giant spider, which Tony had to get from one of the other cars, we boarded and then drove onto the beach of our accommodation for the next 3 days.

On the bumpy road to Eurong - the place where we would sleep (driving on sand was so much fun and we were thoroughly shaken!) - we spotted a sea snake washed up by the waves. Sea snakes usually only live in the open sea, but they come ashore when they are infested with parasites that steal their life energy, and they try to shake them off with the help of the powerful waves. The catch, however, is that the snake is then so exhausted that it can't make its way back and ends up as food for dingoes - wild dogs that live here. There are about 60 of them on the island. Tony, who is quite experienced and has already experienced a lot, grabbed the snake by the head and body and showed it to us - but he said he could only do that now because it was so weak and could only break through thin skin with its venomous fangs, like between the fingers for example. Sea snakes actually produce one of the deadliest venoms in the animal kingdom, which would kill a person within an hour, but they are generally not aggressive. We could even touch it, and it felt quite smooth and soft.

Unfortunately, we had to leave it behind, even though we knew it would die, because you're not allowed to interfere with nature, which the rangers watch over.

After three quarters of an hour, we arrived and got our lunch: sandwiches with fresh salad and other tasty things. We also got to see our sleeping places briefly and were very happy to have chosen camping, because this way we could try out our sleeping bag which hadn't been very useful so far. There were also regular rooms, but everyone from our car group would stay in one of the 4-person tents. However, we didn't get a chance to explore our sleeping places properly yet, but we immediately got back in the cars and took the rollercoaster-like route through the interior of Fraser to Lake McKenzie, an incredibly clear lake of rainwater.

The various shades of blue were an incredibly beautiful sight, because at the front it was light blue and then suddenly the turquoise turned into a dark blue at one point, which was very fascinating. Here we went swimming and many - including us - exfoliated with the fine white sand or tried to brush their teeth with it. The water here could also be drunk and it was cleaner and chlorine-free than any tap water in Australia.

At the edge of the lake, there were eventually 2 beautiful trees, between which the guys in our group and Linni and I took some funny pictures later. Daniel and Karim also had their cool cameras with them, I really missed mine from home.

After a while, after we had seen a dingo for the first time here, which was walking along the parking lot, we went back to Eurong and divided into groups for the tents. We formed a group of four with Daniel and Jermaine and checked out our tent. There were a few thin camper mats that weren't uncomfortable at all, and even power outlets! We hadn't expected that at all and were therefore even more pleased.

Soon it was dinner time: pasta with Bolognese sauce and garlic bread. Nothing special, but it still tasted very good.

Afterwards, we dared to try one of the pool tables, I didn't know anything about the rules, but Daniel, who played against Linni and Jermaine with me, apparently knew quite a lot. So I soon got all the important rules, I just had to work on my skills a bit. But it was a lot of fun and at some point we went downstairs to the bar to get our blue welcome drink, there was cool music, and we went to the Wii in the common room and played a bowling game with an older couple, which was also very cool. In between, I was on the 'net hill', apparently the only spot here where you could get some reception. Otherwise, my phone was dead and I couldn't make calls either. However, the reception thing with the hill didn't work properly either. But you had plenty to do anyway, and when we were in our tents later, Daniel briefly opened a hotspot for us because he was the only one with reception here, as he had a different provider than us.

My sleeping bag was very cozy and I fell asleep like a lightning bolt.

Song of the day: Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf, because the song somehow fits and me and my air guitar skills think it's cool.