I was thrilled when I woke up this morning and saw that the sun was shining. We were late coming to the beach since the gate of the campsite was locked and we had to go around and were worried we might miss the tour. When we arrived to the parking lot surrounded by pyramid shaped tank traps or Dragon’s teeth there were two 4wd cars there. The beach was fortified against a possible attack by Imperial Japanese forces during WWII and the pyramids are what’s left of it. I was expecting a bus and more people but we were the only ones there. The driver of one of the cars motioned for us and he told us we were the only tour participants. We assumed he just picked us up in his own private car. Unlike our Fraser island tour guide, this one seemed pretty uninformed and just drove us to the locations without too much explanation.

First we did a bit of sandboarding which is like sledding but on sand dunes. We did that in two locations. It was scary at first but then became fun. The really bad part was walking back up because it was so steep and we were out of shape. So we didn’t sandboard for very long because we got too tired.

Sandboarding

Stockton Beach is less than 3.5 km from a military base and we saw and heard many military airplanes fly over us as we rode along the beach. The next stop was Tin City, an actual town in the dunes with a handful of inhabitants. It was first built to store provisions for shipwrecked sailors because the beach was a popular place to become shipwrecked with almost 100 wrecks between Newcastle and Port Stephens. It was also where Mad Max with Mel Gibson was filmed and I feel like I have to see the movie now. It was interesting to see how some people chose to live, I definitely wouldn’t. The last thing to see on the trip is the wreck of the MV Sygna, a Norwegian bulk carrier, which we stopped at and observed.  I thought Stockton Beach was very unique and really enjoyed the visit.

Tin city

Since it was only midday we drove to Newcastle and had a look around the town. There was a nice beach, but we didn’t have time to go swimming, and a lookout over the beach. The centre was cute and there was a lookout over the central train station so we climbed the tower and had a panoramic view of Newcastle. It was a nice town to have some lunch in and walk around but there was not much else to do or see.

That evening we decided to stay in Lake Macquarie, for no particular reason other than we had liked Port Macquarie, so we figured Lake Macquarie was nice too. It wasn’t particularly nice and we could tell we were getting to a more populated area since people did not seem as friendly and the bbq’s weren’t free anymore. The lake wasn’t a swimming lake and may have been nice if we had a boat but we weren’t too impressed.

We were picked up at our campsite in the morning by a huge 4wd green bus and were brought to the ferry which then took us to Fraser Island. It was overcast so we knew it would either be raining shortly or the clouds would break and the sun would shine though, of course we were hoping for the latter. Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and there is only one very short paved road there so, therefore, you need a 4wd to get around it. The main highway of the island is actually the beach which runs along the whole east coast of the island.

Our bus

We first stopped at the Yidney Rainforest which is the only rainforest on the Island which had not been logged since it was the last one which was supposed to be logged. Logging started in 1863, being initiated by American Jack Piggott and ended in 1991. In 1992 the island became a world heritage site. The rainforest is home to some spectacular plants and trees which our tour guide, Kirk, was excited to talk about. He loved the Island and it seemed that he knew everything about it. He was one of the best tour guides I’ve had on a tour, and he talked non-stop for two days which was impressive. We had a nice walk through a part of the rainforest, but we got eaten by mosquitoes which wasn’t too fun. We were told over and over again to “only leave footprints and only take pictures,” so I didn’t think killing mosquitoes really fell into that motto, but nevertheless I squashed a fair share.

As we rode the bus to the place where we would have lunch the rain started to come down and by the time we were supposed to get out of the bus and have lunch it was pouring. It was the kind of rain that gets you soaked in seconds. We all ran to the restaurant and had a buffet lunch and hoped that this was just a shower, but no such luck, it just kept coming down.  I was really upset because I was really looking forward to relaxing in Eli Creek. Eli Creek is the largest creek on the east coast of the island and you can walk to the top via a boardwalk and then use it as a lazy river to get back. I put my bathing suit on before getting back on the bus just in case.

After lunch we went to 75 mile beach which is the highway and even runway but it’s not good for swimming because of dangerous currents and Tiger sharks. We spent most of our time on Fraser Island driving along this beach. It was still raining and a bit chilly when we got to Eli Creek. I first waded into the clear clean stream with my umbrella and when I reached the top of the boardwalk I really wanted to ride the creek back. My clothes were already damp from the rain so I figured I can either be wet and swim, or I can just be wet, so I went for it. The rest of the group thought I was crazy, but I thought, “Screw you rain, why should you ruin my fun?” One other guy followed as well so there were two of us in the creek. It was very relaxing to lie in the water letting it do with me what it wanted, until I hit a root, which was painful. The water was warm, the surrounding silent, and the pitter patter of the rain on my face didn’t bother me at all. It was one of my favourite moments on the island. The rain was probably a blessing in disguise because our tour guide said that on nice days the creek is jam packed with people, or maybe he was just trying to make me feel better. I was a bit chilly after and moist the whole day, but I would have been moist anyway since I happened to have the seat in the bus under a leak.

Eli Creek

The next stop was the S.S. Maheno wreck which was shipwrecked on the island in 1935 while it was being towed after its retirement. We saw before pictures so we could compare and see the drastic effects of salt water and wind in less than 100 years. We also learned that soon after it became beached a wedding was held on it because it was still a beautiful ship. I thought that was a very original wedding location.

Maheno Wreck

The next site was at the Champagne Pools which on a nice day would be a cool swimming spot and people asked me whether I was going to go for another dip. Because the weather was so bad the waves crashed into the pool and caused too much motion so I thought it looked a bit too dangerous to go swimming since it was really rocky, but I did go for a wade.

Champagne Pools

That night we stayed at a campsite where we had a bbq dinner, played cards, and hoped for a sunny day the next day. We slept in tents but they were permanent tents with wooden floors, double beds, and nightstands so they were comfortable except that I could hear everything outside such as the pop pop pop of the rain on the canvas and worse the loud rainforest birds really early in the morning, so I didn’t sleep too much because of that and because I always have trouble sleeping in new places.