The so called harbour of Rainbow Beach. The ferries to Fraser Island
landed here and waited for the 4WD vehicles to board.
We woke up early in preparation for a two day exploration of Fraser Island which basically formed as one giant sand dune in the sea and now has diverse flora and fauna. You can only go to the island by ferry and there are basically no roads - you drive on the sand. Only 4WD vehicles are allowed on the island (2WD would be useless) so we rented a Toyota 4WD pickup from Adventure Centre at Rainbow Beach.
Leaving Winona behind we rushed for the morning ferry with Asmu at the Toyota's controls. 4WD has to be switched on before you can get on the ferry as the ferries just drive straight to the sandy beach and lower their ramps. Thera are no piers or anything. We were the only ones onboard the first morning ferry. The guy at the rental place said that we would have to hurry when driving at Fraser Island because the tide was coming in and the first 20 km you have to drive on the beach before you can get to the first inland road. The whole beach is under water when the tide is highest. If you can't get away from the tide the car is sunk in the sea... and we'd have to pay for the full price of the car (no insurance would cover it) as well as a hefty fine for polluting Fraser Island! You can imagine we were pretty anxious already when we finally got to the island and started the drive towards the north and safety.Things looked pretty bad straight away because the beach where you drive was already very narrow with the sea inching closer on the other side and a high, undrivable bank on the other. Many places were just wide enough for the car to get through without driving in to the sea. At this point we were all VERY nervous as the tide rose all the time and we still had most of the drive ahead of us. We didn't take many photos as that was the last thing on our minds on the scary journey...
Asmu drove as fast as he dared but we frequently had to slow down to avoid obstacles like treetrunks that had been washed on the beach. Then the worst imaginable thing happened: the whole beach was blocked by HUGE debris consisting of dead trees and other junk. There was no way to get through the debris and the tide was already so high that it washed the debris. Another car had stopped before the obstacle too and we had a quick chat with the driver who said he didn't dare try driving into the seawater and going around the debris that way. At this point the situation was very grave indeed and we were genuinely afraid. There was no way to go forward and there was no way to go back as some of the places we barely managed to drive through earlier would surely be underwater now. We quickly thought about the possibility of driving up the bank to safety but it wouldn't have worked - it was so high. Then Asmu made the decision for us: he waited for the right moment when the waves were farthest away from the beach and started driving around the obstacle. Gandi and I were preparing to get out of the car and swim as we had to literally drive in the sea. The possibility that our tires would just sunk in the soft, wet sand was very real. I don't remember breathing during the forever that it seemed to take to drive around the debris and back to the beach but we made it! I've never been more relieved than I was then. It still brings shivers to my spine when I just think about the situation. From the rear mirror we could see that the other car managed to drive around safely too, encouraged by our success. The rest of the drive on the beach was pretty uneventful compared to this nerve wrecking experience and we found our way to the inland road and safety from the tide. Thanks to Asmu for the courage to drive the car through the water!
Driving the inland roads was loads of fun! The car jumped up and down and we quickly gave the nick name 'pimp mobile' to our vehicle. :-) The weather was a bit gloomy but we still went to see some of the sights inland like the very shallow fresh water lakes, one of which had incredibly clear water and beautiful color. We drove forward and spent the afternoon at a great small pond which was surrounded by one of the most beatiful sand dunes I've ever seen. The sun started shining and we swam in the pond along with a school of some big fish.After swimming we continued driving and found our way back to the beach which was passable once again as the low tide had come. Immediately after coming to the beach we heard a weird flapping sound coming from our car. After a moment's wondering I realised that we had a flat tire! So the day was going to get even more interesting. The next challenge was to find how to change the tire and where all the required tools were stored. Some moments later we figured everything out and Asmu and I changed the tire Formula 1 style quickly and efficiently while Gandi took photos. Some cars were passing by wondering what the hell we were are doing. :-)
Continuing our journey we now had the worry that we had used our only spare tire and if we punctured another our drive would be over and the car would have to be stopped. We drove north and stopped at the small village of Happy Valley to check the condition of the punctured tire: it didn't hold any air. We also bought some ice cream and decided to drive a short tour through the inland and then get back to the beach and find a nice campsite for the night. Oh by the way, there were many "off limits" areas for camping on the beach that are changed periodically to let the nature have a change to recuperate. So... we find a nice, calm place for our tent some 100 meters from the sea behind a sand dune. After about half an hour of just chilling a ranger stopped by to check our camping permit (which we got from Rainbow Beach). He also asked if we had been told to keep our food supplies secured in case the wild dingos came sniffing around for food - we had. The rest of the evening went uneventfully.
The day began with the alarm clock going of at 8 o'clock. The sun was shining and after a quick breakfast we went to enjoy the beach for a while. Then it was my (kuvaweopu) turn to drive the 4WD! Hooray! The plan was to drive on the beach to catch the ferry at 1400 hours (ish) back to the mainland. It was pretty easy going but at one point we had to wait for an hour or so for the low tide to get through a tight spot on the beach. We waited for the tide with another car alongside us and played some card games to pass the time. Finally, we got to the ferry and crossed the small stretch of sea back to the mainland. There we drove on the beach all the way back to Rainbow Beach and had a car wash before returning the car. We got back to our beloved Winona and hit the road to the north. The next night we camped at a rest stop near Gin Gin. I love the name of the place. :-)
A travel day with some nice sunshine. Gandi is driving and I'm in the backseat (day)dreaming. There's still 1300 km to Cairns and there's a lot of dead kangaroos on the side of the road. The day passed nicely and we stopped for the night near Townsville. There were some cuddly opossum families resting at the same stop with us. :-)
Cairns! We're finally here! The sun is shining, the temperature is over 30 C and everything feels just right. We booked a Great Barrier Reef cruise for tomorrow and went to see the sights just north of Cairns for the rest of the day. There was a very nice five star camping area where we camped for the night. Swimming pools, outdoor movies, palm trees and everything! Me likes! Not too expensive either.
Oh yeah, a day at THE reef! Had a quite shocking wakeup call today as the loudest bird in the world started chirping just next to our tent. We went to the harbour to board the cheap-o-tours we had booked. The boat was old, but the crew and other travellers were very nice indeed.
We got on top of a lone patch of the coral reef and had a chance to snorkel on top of it. Asmu chose to scuba dive (it cost some extra) and apparently had a very good time. We were all very cheap and chose to not to rent the wetsuits the boat had to offer... BIG MISTAKE (as it turned out later). The reef was just awesome. So many colors and so many different kinds of fishes in the sea. After admiring the reef it was time for the trip back to Cairns harbour. One piece of advice: If they offer to drag you behind the boat in a net, DON'T ACCEPT. I did (and Asmu did) and I DEEPLY regretted it afterwards. I've probably never been so close to drowning as then but pride kept me from letting go of the net (and I almost lost my Speedos several times).
Uh oh. Burnt skin everywhere! Should've rented those wetsuits yesterday... So, just resting and healing the skin today, no other activity. The swimming pool feels SO nice. :)
On the road again. We're driving west and seeing the land dry as we move along. There are huge amounts of termitaria all over the landscape. The road changed to a single lane road at some point so we were very careful and moved to the side of the paved lane when there were big trucks coming straight for us.
We drove all the way to Normanton near the Gulf of Carpenteria and stopped at a campsite for the night. We refuelled Winona at Normanton, but the gas pumps were locked and had to be opened by the gas station manager as apparently there was a problem of some the aboriginal population trying to steal and sniff the gasoline to get high. :-(
At first we were planning to take a shortcut to Darwin through the coastal road but after talking to the campsite managers we decided against it: the road would have been unpaved and in a very bad condition. That decision meant about a 500 km detour, but at least the road would certainly be paved and in good condition.