the plankmeister's interweblet

Friday, January 25, 2002

Fraser Island : Australia

Today, I went to Fraser Island. Again :) I met everyone in the groups for the first time this morning, and everyone seems like they're going to get on well, which is good. In the truck I'm in, there's: Me, Ed, Toby, Linnea, Nadja and Christina (the 3 Danish girls) and 2 Korean guys who speak bugger all English. One of them is called Jin, but the other one... I dunno. I asked about 10 times but couldn't understand the reply. In the other truck is: Danny and Jen (They're English, met over here and are travelling together and get on very well [if you know what I mean]), Cecilia and Ursi (Cecilia is Swedish and Ursi is Swiss. They're travelling together too.) Wayne and Luke (2 English blokes travelling together who have a penchant for tattoos) and a Dutch guy called Rocko. (Who is, aparrently, slightly eccentric) At about 8:15am we all jump in to our allotted trucks at the hostel to take them over to the shed to load up with all the gear we'll need. I drive our truck, and admittedly, go a little faster than is good for the 7 people in the back. When we get to the shed, the guy who we followed over in the trucks ambled over, and in his most laid-back stern voice gave me a telling off (Read the following in a slurred Aussie accent) "What was all that about mate? Sllllllloooiiiidin' aaallll over the road! People bouncin' roun'intheback!" Sliding all over the road indeed! I'm no Colin McCrae, and this is a Toyota Landcruiser 4x4 and if it slid, I, and everyone else in the truck, would've known about it. Even other people in the truck were like... "Sliding? eh? What's he on about?"Anyway, there were already some other trucks waiting for us at the shed prepared to take to the island, so we all set about loading up all the gear and getting a safety brief. That done, we all jump in and go food shopping for the 3 days on Fraser. Wisely, we made a shopping list beforehand, so there are no arguments and we wend up buying an absolute shitload of food. Iceboxes filled, and food packed, 15 smiling faces and 2 trucks make their way to the ferry to Fraser Island. Once across jerry cans are filled and we are on our way. First stop: Lake McKenzie. Toby drives the first section. The terrain is rough in places and with a few big bounces we make it inland to the most beautiful lake on the island. The only thing is, it starts to rain. Bugger. It's quite bizarre... we're all there swimming in the lake while it's raining! Quite an amazing experience. After an hour or so, we all decide to move on and investigate Basin Lake after heading back to the trucks for lunch. The rain stops just in time. There's a walk that leads there from Central Station, so that's where we head. I'm at the wheel, and the terrain isn't as rough as I remember it being on the way to Central Station. I drove this track last time, and I'm certain it took longer cos it was so rough. We have to virtually go through the trees at one point cos a Dingo wouldn't move out of the track. Tsk! The rain has picked up again and it's storming down, but once again, it stops as we park up in Central Station. Everyone out, we set off through the rainforest on a 40 minute round-trip walk to Basin Lake. I end up trailing behind taking random photos of things I think might look good. By the time I get to basin lake, everyone else is heading back cos it's starting to rain again. Took a few snaps, had a brief paddle (lovely water!) and headed back to the trucks. On the way, Rocko and I talk about I. T. and diving and all sorts of stuff, and about halfway along the walking track the heavens open. I'm more than worried about my camera, as the bag it's in is pretty soaked. Walking back through a tropical storm in rainforest is actually really enjoyable. If I didn't have my camera to worry about I'd be skipping along. :) There's a building near the car park where everyone is taking shelter. Much needed shelter! The rain is coming down so torrentially it's unbelievable. I've never witnessed rain like that. With no aparrent relent in sight, we take the executive decision to run back to the trucks. As soon as we all pile in, the windows steam up. 30 minutes later when the windows are clear we head onwards to the eastern side of the island through more rough terrain to camp on the beach near Eurong Resort. The place we find to camp is pitiful, but as we're currently being thrashed to death by a rain storm, there's no real option. I got out and did a little reccy to find somewhere better, but could only find somewhere slightly more sheltered a few metres further away from the beach. The memory of running back to the truck through that rain and wind wearing only a pair of swimmies and sandals will stay with me forever! Running into the wind being needled by millions of merciless raindrops. Ouch! We move the trucks and set up camp. HAHAHAHA. Well... We chill out for a bit, then come up with several ideas of how to align the trucks to provide some shelter, and try all of them, settling with reversing them doors-open back-to-back and using conveniently provided tarpaulins to create a sort of tunnel between the trucks. There's no option but to set the tents up in the wind and rain. The rain is absolutely merciless and the wind is howling. I get so cold I start shivering uncontrollably (Still only wearing swimmies. I don't want to get my other clothes wet and I have no waterproofs. It's not meant to rain on Fraser!!!!) and have to go and sit in the truck after helping setup the tents. The other guys set about bolstering the supports for the tarpaulin with freshly hacked tree limbs. Luke and Wayne are going nuts! Branches flying everywhere! However, it's all good, as they sort of construct a roof for the tarps, and after what feels like 2 hours, we have shelter. Well done lads! I feel a bit useless just sat here, but there's more than enough people to sort it out: Toby, Luke, Wayne and the 2 Korean guys. That done, there's no real way to get round the back of the trucks because of the way the 'corridor' has been constructed, so the same guys who built the shelter end up cooking. The food is not bad, either! Steak sandwiches and hot dogs. Mmmmmm! Looking outside, it's now pitch black out there, and the wind and rain are still giving our camp a beating. And then the drinking games start! There's a bit more room in the back with a few things sorted out, so Ed and I climb over the front seats to sit in the back with everyone else. I've had a few beers already (well... 5), and I'm feeling 'first buzz.' As the evening progresses, the weather recedes and stars show themselves, so the tarpaulin corridor is de-constructed and people start socialising by swapping between the trucks. I think at one point, we had 11 people in our truck playing drinking games! The one with rude actions was quite funny. Especially seeing 5 gorgeous girls having to make fools of themselves. HAHAHA! Time seems to have been tampered with, as it's not even 10 o'clock yet. It feels like at least 3am! Slowly, people start drifting off to bed. A few stragglers stay up to drink some more (that'd be me and Ed then) and it's about midnight when everyone's in their tents. All night I get woken up continually by the wind and the rain reasserting itself. It sounds hellish out there! The tents are on a slope and I'm sliding down to the bottom corner where a small pool of rainwater has managed to collect. Bugger! wet sleeping bag, wet legs. Oh well. Can't do anything about it. Throughout the night we've seen several dingoes wandering round the trucks. Last time I was on Fraser, we saw loads of them, and I thought all the bad press they got was undeserved. However, now I know different. The night I got to the hostel in Hervey Bay, I met a guy who'd just come back from his Fraser trip that day. He told me how a few of their group were sitting on the beach chatting, and one of their group, a woman of very small build, started screaming all of a sudden and got dragged off. By a Dingo. They all jumped up and tried to scare him [the Dingo] off, and he let go, but as the girl was scrambling to stand up and run away, he counter-attacked and bit the back of her thigh, puncturing the skin. He let go again, and as a group, they folded their arms, backed together and slowly moved away. A pretty terrifying story! As the guy was telling me I was thinking "Shit! They DO deserve the bad press!" The guy said the dingo was a big male, with white 'socks' on all four feet. I'll keep a lookout for him, I thought. But there was no need, because the following morning.......