B&E Photography: Rainbow Beach & Fraser Island

     We left the Ring's house with a huge smile on our faces and again headed North for a four hour drive to Rainbow Beach and Fraser Island. Rainbow Beach was really cool where they don't have assigned camping spots; it's every man (or woman) for himself. We backed our camper van down to a little bay where Erica and Kat cooked an amazing Garlic Prawn dinner, Sausage and Peppers, and some of the best bread we've had in a while. We then laid out under the stars talking to the locals about the extreme tides (the water line had receded over 100 yards out to sea in only a matter of a few hours). Also, a local and his son told us all about the local fishing there and showed us a giant Mud Crab that he had caught; was totally awesome and freaky (needless to say that the girls liked theirs dead and smothered in butter as opposed to very alive and willing to bite).
     The next morning we picked up our 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser and headed to the barge where it would take us across the small water straight to Fraser Island. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for the boys as we got to romp around the island in some of the softest purest sand that only the mightiest of 4x4's could handle. Over the course of the two days we were there we saw several vehicles get stuck but our Land Cruiser was a total champ tackling things we thought we were definitely going to need help getting out of.
     It was completely beautiful as we drove for over two hours on the sandy beaches towards our first destination at the Champagne pools. There the surf would pound against natural tide pools spilling frothy waves into sun-heated pools of glassy clear water that made you feel like you were inside of France's finest Champagne. After lounging around there, we headed down the coast to the gnarliest road we'd ever seen. It was the road inland the center of the island where we were to make camp for the night. We were bouncing around and had all four wheels spinning at max velocity as we passed vehicles breaking down left and right. It was completely awesome!
     That night we made camp in an area surrounded by a anti-dingo electrified fence that we overheard someone saying wasn't even effective. Apparently earlier in the year a Dingo had entered the area and taken a small child with him :( It was a bit scary because by the time we reached our camp site it was complete dark and we were setting up in pitch blackness only lit by our 4x4 headlights. We also had Kangaroo burgers for dinner that were really tasty; however, we felt bad for having fed them just a few days earlier. That night camping was both awesome and horrendous. Awesome because we heard and saw awesome animals like cockatoo's and bats. The bats were so loud flapping their wings that it sounded like to huge pieces of leather slapping together. Horrendous because we were literally eaten alive by Mosquitoes. On ONE foot, not leg, Brandon had 22 Mosquito bites. He lost count of his bites the next day after 60 had been found on his entire body. Yeah, 60!
     The next day we packed up camp and headed towards lakes Mackenzie and Wabby. Both were insanely beautiful with water so crystal clear you see practically infinitely underwater. We also floated down Eli Creek where the water came from a fresh, naturally bubbling spring that the water temp had dropped from the ocean temp of 79 to the fresh water temp of a brisk 59. On the way to our next destination, we saw a plane take off from the beach (so weird). Our next destination was a ship wreck on the island where an old steam ship named the Maheno had beached itself during the thirties or forties.
     Taking a few pictures, we then headed back towards the barge to leave Fraser Island and drive to our next major destination in Australia: The Whit Sundays. This would be the most grueling of drives: 13 hours in one sitting. Yeah, it was going to be a nightmare.