We made it (just like good Germans) five minute before we should be there and waited for the big red off road bus we saw in the flyer.
No bus came, but after a few minutes a large silver Land Cruiser showed up with a proper Aussie in it.
He was going to bring us to meet up with the red bus.
We sat down on the large comfy leather seats in the back and joined the bus a couple of minutes later at the main road where we changed over.
The driver greeted us and off we were on our tour.
As the tide was high in the morning we couldn't drive along the beach but had to take the dirt roads through the Eucalyptus forests. Always an eye out for any Koala bears, but couldn't spot any.
It was a long, bumpy but exciting ride until we got to Rainbow beach where we joined up with another bus for a rest and a chance to lower our tyre pressure.
During this stop we had the chance to enjoy the beautiful view over rainbow beach until we all had to get back on the bus to drive up to the ferry that should take us over to Fraser Island.
The ferry docked, not at a dock but at a sandy beach, so only 4x4 vehicles were able to get there.
Our bus had no problem (aside from being stuck once for a few seconds).
The scenery from the ferry (in either direction - to Fraser Island but also back to the shore) was wonderful. White sand, light blue water, some trees behind the sandy beaches and blue sky.
On the island we had to drive along the entirely empty beach for a while until we found a good spot to have breakfast with home made cookies and coffee.
Lulu won the competition of eating the most cookies.
The driver was also the commenter and he did a pretty good job telling all kinds of interesting, funny stories about the island while bashing over the sandy beach with 60 km/h. We could not yet use the flat, wet sand as the tide was not yet low enough.
After some km through the forests of the Island, that houses many unique plants and animals only to be found here, we arrived a Lake McKenzie. A sweetwater lake in the sand of which the entire Island is made. It looked as it was paradise... it was crazy to think I went swimming on new years eve, with loads of sun screen in a crystal clear lake on a sand island. "Happy Christmas Everyone".
As promised we had some BBQ after our swim. It was pretty good with a great selection of side dishes and even a small glass of beer.
The next stop was the a walk through the rain forest but to get there we had to drive a long narrow sandy paths. At a steep hill some inexperienced drivers in a Toyota Kluger (I think it's the same model as a Fortuner - so not a proper off road vehicle) got bogged in the sand and blocked the road.
He had to be pushed aside and we could continue our trip to the rain forest.
This was a bit of a disappointment as it was a very short wooden path with hand rails through some trees and there were some other groups from other buses there at the same time so the rainforest feeling didn't quite come up. We did however see a wild(ish) dingo walk around the area.
For the way back to the ferry we could use the beach "motorway" as the tide was low enough now to drive on the hard, wet sand. We got up to 80 km/h here.
Australia is a funny country, you can drive 80 km/h on a beach but only 110 on a 3 lane motorway which goes straight for 200 km.
Funnily there is also no lower speed limit for trucks, so even Road trains can go 110 - which they do!
Back on solid ground and off the Island we drove along rainbow beach south to Noosa North Shore.
This was another 40 km long drive along an nearly empty beach. We stopped in between for another cup of tea and some Lamingtons (some Australian sponge cake things with coconut powered - not my thing).
On the way back we passed through Noosa North shore and could have just got out at our camping ground, if we didn't have to pick up our car at the ferry.
It was already late afternoon and it has been a long and busy day. In the bus we covered quite some distance up to Fraser, around the Island and back. It must have been 300km or so (most of it on sand).
After a quick stop at the pub we got home and come up with a dinner plan.
Since we had no fridge and there was no shop on the island (a return ferry ride would cost 14 $) we had only some bread and left over potatoes from yesterday for dinner. Remember it was Christmas Eve... well, you have to compromise, I guess :-).
During the day, some new neighbours had moved into the spots next to us.
It was a bunch of Irish and British party people. I thought it would be a good chance to leave Karsten and Lulu some time on their own and enjoy a bit of wild partying ( it was Christmas after all), so I joined them on their way to the beach where they had set up a generator and had loads of beer.
Additionally to the beer, unfortunately there were also some harder drugs going around (and not just weed). It made me feel a bit uncomfortable after some time so I thanked everyone for their hospitality and the free beer and whiskey and walked back to the camp ground. It was a bit of a walk but I still arrived before midnight and had no issues falling asleep after a day like this.
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