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.

I insisted on at least driving through 1770 because it is the site of the second landing by James Cook and the crew of HM Bark Endeavour in May 1770. Obviously for this reason alone 1770 deserved at least a photo. Though once we got there we were pleasantly surprised how nice it was and stayed a bit longer. There were, beautiful beaches and hiking paths, and of course the sculpture commemorating Cook and his efforts. We found a nice beach with waves to finally use our boogie board that we had been schlepping around and went for a swim. It’s definitely a nice place to spend some time in.

The marker for Cook's landing spot and our van

Then we were off to Bundaberg. Bundaberg is most famous for its rum distillery which is called Bundaberg and Bundy for short since the Aussies (Another shortening from Australians) can’t be bothers to say names with more than two syllables. The ever present mascot is a polar bear because they wanted the drink to appeal to people in colder climates down south, because Rum is a tropical stereotype.

The other reason the town is famous is the Ginger Beer factory which I have to say I like more than the rum. It’s non alcoholic but it’s really good, so I was excited about going on their factory tour more.

We arrived in Bundaberg in the evening and decided to try to have a meal out again since we had failed yesterday. I had a craving for Chinese since I hadn’t had Chinese the whole trip and I missed it. Of course there was a Chinese restaurant in the town, which was much cuter than Rockhampton. We were the only patrons at the restaurant the whole time, it smelled of mildew, and the wallpaper and rugs didn’t match and the colors were overwhelming, but we decided to stay anyway even though we felt uneasy about it. We would have rather just taken the food out but then we had no where to go besides eating takeout in the van which was less appealing than eating in the mismatched soggy restaurant. When the food came, though, I have to admit that it was the best Chinese food I’ve had in AU. The problem is that there are so many Asian people here, that the food is actually properly Chinese and not the Americanized version which I’m used to. But in Bundaberg I had proper westernized Chinese food which was so yummy, or maybe it was because I’d been eating ramen for days before that but it was lovely.