When we went to book it, I asked Jo what we did there, and she didn't really know either to be honest. If you're as ignorant as I was, it's a huge sand island which you camp on (or there are a couple of resorts), and drive around in 4x4s. I don't know what to expect, so when we were taken for a briefing the day before we left with the others on our trip, I was pretty chuffed. We'd be driving around in this huge Landcruiser, taking it in turns to drive, camping in a private camp, and seeing stuff.
We'd be sharing a load of cookers with other tour groups there, but would need to shop for everything we'd need. We were then left to put together a list to buy from the supermarket, and a list for the butcher. This was where the group of 4 lads who seemed really standoffish, and arrogant spoke a bit, and joined in, and we put together a list. They were ignoring the 2 french lads almost completely, so we had to make sure they were happy. The lads "leader" who we nicknamed GI Joe, then volunteered the 4 of them to go to the supermarket to buy everything. Mistake. Next morning when we checked over the receipt to pay our share, we saw that they'd bought stuff we'd agreed not to buy, and done other idiotic things like buy 7 apples for 10 people. Morons.
Anyway, in the Landcruiser we'd be driving was myself, Jo, Lorna and Kellie (brit girls), and Jeremy and Arthur (the frenchies), then in the lead vehicle which was driven by our guide Tony was the 4 lads. Anyone wanting to drive would drive the Landcruiser.
I drove down to the ferry and the first stint through the middle of the island which was like jungle with big sand tracks where steering doesn't really do anything. It was great fun, tearing around inches from death through the sand!
We got to our first stop which was Lake Birrabeen, which is a huge freshwater lake, where the water has been dyed by the trees and foliage around it to make a giant cold cup of tea. And because it's a sand island, the shore of the lake was a beach! We then headed to Lake Wabby with Jo at the helm. She took a bit of time, but got used to it and loved it. She was pretty good too, apart from sailing into bit roots or dips in second gear and sending everyone in the car flying on a couple of occasions! Lake Wabby was about a 25 min walk through huge sand dunes which felt like you were in a desert, then at the bottom of the steep bank of them was the lake. Again, it was freshwater and like a cup of tea, but this one had a lot more life in it, with lots of little fish, and quite a few pretty big catfish who would come right up to you. Another instance of idiocy from the lads was here, where to try and impress girls in another group, GI Joe tried to catch or at least knock out the catfish. Then when one of the girls boyfriend went over to her and they started kissing, Jo decided he'd had enough, so his little gang sulked off back to the cars! Loser!
(By the way, GI Joe is so-called because he was American and in the army on leave. He took some bands to work out with and his protein powder with him not just to Oz, but to Fraser too. He was vain, selfish, and incredibly arrogant. 2 of the other lads were Swiss, and 1 Dutch. They were a good laugh when Joe wasn't there, but as their unofficial leader, they acted as arrogantly and sulky as him when together. Shame, as none of them drove in the end because Joe didn't want to, but I know that 2 of them really wanted to at the start, but whenever we offered the wheel to them, they normally ignored us, or said no!)
Back to the story; we left Lake Wabby and headed back towards camp via Eli Creek, and a drive past the wreck of SS Maheno. To get back we had a nice long drive along 75 Mile Beach, with Arthur at the wheel.
Camp was ok, but we were lucky as we were supposed to be in tents, but as a small group, we slept in the rotunda which had a solid roof and floor, mozzie net walls, and bunkbeds. The girls pooed themselves when they saw there were 3 dingoes sitting under our room though! We had to be careful of them as they are wild, and do attack, but they're just dogs really, so a bit of a growl at them and they back down. One lad didn't know this however. His name was Jack (still is actually, he's not dead or anything), and as we walked back from the beach, we saw a dingo clawing and eating its way into a tent. I tried to shoo it away half-heartedly, but to no avail. Then as we went to walk away, we heard a very camp northern voice asking for help feebly. We got rid of the dingo, and out popped a lanky bleach-blonde bloke who introduced himself as Jack. Jack was funny without meaning to be. He felt like he was in "I'm a Celebrity..." and talked about working in a bar in Greece. When I said that they had different stars (in the sky), his response was "I knoooow, and they've got different singers and pop stars too over 'ere!" - I thought he was joking and laughed - Jo shook her head; he wasn't joking.
Anyhoo, we got on the goon and played some cards (turns out the frenchies were awesome at Shithead), until I spotted something out the corner of my eye. All I said was "err, girls..." Before they were all clinging to the ceiling and screaming. There was a bloody great Huntsman spider, hairy bugger about 5 inches across. Some weird fella then tried to put it in a cup - muppet - it was far too big for the cup, and it popped back out. Then some old loon who thought they were "beautiful" got rid of it. A few hours later there was another one (bit smaller) hanging from the ceiling in the rotunda, so loony came and got that one too.
Next morning we were off to see the Champagne Pools, which are natural pools on the coast refilled at high-tide, and then along the beach to the Indian Head, which is the only rock on the island, and is the edge of an old volcano, the rim of which is shown by the beach (only half though, the other half sunk in the sea). We climbed to the top and saw a turtle, a few rays, and a young shark.
We popped back to camp for lunch, then out to some dunes for some sandboarding. Bloody hard work getting up there, and wipeouts are a pain in the arse as sand gets EVERYWHERE! Straight after we went back to Eli Creek to wash and cool off, before getting back in the truck to head over to the western side of the island.
Because we were a small group, there was much less waiting around, so Tony took us across the island, and first to Lake Aloma, then onwards to the western beach to watch the sun set. Was really nice, and there were no other tours there as they don't do that route. Getting there was great fun too as Jo wasn't driving fast enough, so she handed over to me, and I got to tear across the island, it was brilliant. We headed back to camp, made a bit spag bol, drank goon, and then went and laid on the beach. As there's basically no light pollution for miles, you could see thousands of stars, as well as the distinct milky way. Was really lovely to see stars we don't get to see in the UK.
Next morning we cooked all the meat left over. GI Joe was hesitant to cook lots of meat on the first night, and this had left us with loads left over, none of which we could take home, so Jo and I took charge and made steak and eggs (good high protein brekkie!), which the lads didn't eat for some stupid reason, although when we stopped at a resort shop after leaving camp to pick up a drink and some fresh stuff for lunch, they spent about 20 dollars each on food. Dickheads.
We headed down towards Lake Mackenzie, and stopped off for a rainforest walk along the way. Lots of cool trees, all different shapes and colours reaching far up to the sunshine, and some streams running about underneath. Really pretty.
Lake Mackenzie was beautiful. Crystal clear (I swam out to the middle which was well over 12m deep and could clearly see everything on the bottom), with perfect white sand. We spent a few hours there topping up the tan, messing around in the water and having lunch, before heading back to the ferry and back to the hostel on mainland!
All in all, was a great trip, just a shame with a couple of nicer people, could have been a lot more fun, but as the lads vehemently refused to drive, and just wanted to sit in Tonys car, we got to have a great craic without them!
The following day after getting back, we boarded the Greyhound for Brisbane, and the rains started. It turns out it's been peeing down for weeks here, but we've managed to see loads of the city, and the rain held off yesterday (Sunday), so we looked around a few markets, and dipped our feet at the lagoon. Next stop on Tues is Byron Bay!
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