Fraser Island

This is a little late, but so many things have been going on lately that it's been a little hard for me to write. From Brisbane on the 8th of May, we left in a four wheel drive bus to journey to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. Our tour guide/bus driver's name was Russell, and he was definitely an asset to have on this trip. For most of the bus ride to the island, he explained so much about the crops that are grown in Brisbane, the cattle farming, and the history. He was like a walking encyclopedia of Brisbane. Once we got onto the island after taking a barge across a bay, we were in for a bumpy ride. There are no roads, so everything that you drive on is sand. It was very fun to be flying up and down (strapped in a seat belt, of course) and seeing a lot of interesting wildlife. About 10 minutes into our drive, we saw a dingo. Since they are nocturnal, I was surprised that they were even out. They are so beautiful and on the island, they are the purest dingoes in the world. For the rest of the trip on the island, we saw about 15 dingoes, more than I ever expected to see in the wild in my lifetime. The lakes on the island are all freshwater, so swimming in them was just like swimming in a big bathtub, but not as warm as I'd like. Lake Birrabeen was so clear that you could see straight down to the bottom from the shore. The sandblows (or dunes) were huge and those required a trek to get up to the top. Going up is much less frightening than going down.  The colored sand was really interesting to see because even though it seemed like it was a solid piece of rock, if you kicked it the right way, sand would crumble down.  From the top of Indian Head, the only rock formation on the island, I was able to see bottlenose dolphins catching the surf. Even though we were very far away and very high up, it was still such an amazing sight to see them in the wild. I was very sad to leave Fraser Island because at that point, it was one of the greatest 3 days that I've had. Soon to come though, is the Great Barrier Reef =)

Shelby