02.11.-06.11.18 - Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

I spent the last few days on Fraser Island. The tour was booked and organized directly from the Greyhound office. We arrived in Hervey Bay in the evening by bus and had time to pack a small backpack that we were allowed to take with us for the next 3 days. The next morning, we started pretty early. There were about 22 people for the trip and we were divided into 3 all-wheel drive jeeps. Everyone over 21 years old was allowed to drive 👍

In our jeep were 5 Germans, a Dutch person, a British person, and a Norwegian. We decided to speak English in the car, which at least helped me a bit with my English skills. We crossed to the island by ferry. The island is ONLY made of sand! It was really difficult to drive there! On the first day, we went swimming in two lakes and took a short walk through a piece of rainforest. We set up camp at noon. I was initially a bit shocked... but in the end, I didn't find it so bad anymore. There were 2 portable toilets. No running water. Only hand sanitizer... We had cans of water for drinking and brushing our teeth... And coolers for our alcohol and food 😜

The first evening was REALLY nice! Our guide took us to the beach... which was about 100m from the camp, but you shouldn't be there alone because there were dinosaurs roaming everywhere. The starry sky was AMAZING! We saw the Milky Way and several big, bright shooting stars. Our guide also showed us that there were stars in the sand... when you scratched the sand with your feet, there was a reaction and the sand glowed. REALLY cool!

The night was very tough! Three of us were in one tent and the ground was really hard! After breakfast, we drove along the beach for a long time. Then we went swimming in the Champagne Pools. After that, I finally got to drive as well. We stopped at Indian Head. We climbed up a mountain and took some really good photos. Then we went to an old shipwreck, which is very famous on the island. And then we drove to a super clear river where we could swim.

On the last day of the tour, we had to pack everything and clean the tents from the sand... The sand was just everywhere 😩. We drove a pretty challenging route to the last highlight of the tour. Another lake. Then we drove to the ferry. But we still had a relaxed lunch.

Back in Hervey Bay, we were all looking forward to the shower and the washing machines 😝. In the evening, we all sat together again and had a nice last evening at the hostel.