PETER AND THE WORLD: Fraser Island

Hi Everybody....

Sorry for the long break in updating my fotos and news from Oz. I (as always) have excuses for this lack of communication.

For a start I am currently in a town called Bundaberg where I have been working for the last 2 months towards getting my VISA extended. The requirements for the extension are 3 months "rural" work which includes fruit picking or packing and I have been employed in various packing sheds (tomatoes, snow peas and avocados) and picking tomatoes. The work is really mindless...which is probably why they need backpackers to come and do it...and the pay is not great either. Anyway Bundaberg has nothing on offer which is worth putting on a BLOG!

The second excuse is that my room in the backpackers was broken into and my backpack containing my camera, mp3-player, knife, hackysack, etc. was stolen...thus no fotos!!! Till NOW!!!!!

So, this weekend to break the long, boring slog of rural work I met Frauke and our friends Johan "Beer", Sarah and Paul from Brisbane for a long weekend on Fraser Island.

Did you know? Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.....

The only way to get onto Fraser Island is by ferry and a 4x4 vehicle is imperative. Fortunately Beer has a 4x4 as well as all the equipment necessary for a great weekend away, including kayaks, fishing rods, BBQs, tents, etc. Friday we landed on Fraser Island at about midday and were fortunate enough to see a Dingo (Australian wild dog) almost immediately...unfortunately I have no picture since we were promised loads of these creatures. We drove up the eastern beach for about 30 kms to where we set up our camp close to the wreck of the "Moheno".

First things first...CATCH DINNER!!!! We were fishing for "Tailor" in the surf. Due to my inexperience I was only able to catch 2 fish all weekend {which I am of course thrilled about :-)} but the pros were pulling in a total of 30+ fish each day. Learning how to bleed "Tailor" resulted in me being covered with blood....as you can see from the fotos. In any case these fish were converted into an exceptionally delicious dinner on 2 occasions!!!!

On Saturday we travelled across the Island to Kingfisher Bay where Sarah and Beer will be getting married next year. A trip of about 30 kms took us about 2,5 hours since the roads are deeply rutted and very sandy, which explains why you can only travel in 4x4 vehicles. After a drink at the bar at Kingfisher Bay Resort we proceded to Central Station for lunch. Central Station was a logging station in the 70's.... can you believe previous generations cut down trees on this world heritage site. After lunch we moved on to Lake McKenzie, one of the many fresh water lakes dotted around the island. The water is crystal clear and cold. If you open your eyes underwater it feels as if you have goggles on because you can still see everything as clearly as on land...incredible!!!! Unfortunately we couldn't spend much time at the lake since it was starting to get late and we still had a long drive ahead of us.

Sunday we drove north along the east coast passed the "Moheno", the Pinnacles, Red Canyon and Champagne Pools to Indian Head (the only volcanic headland on the island) and Waddy Point. On this drive I managed to get us bogged in the soft sand...fortunately Beer was able to extract us again without too much difficulty. It does however make you aware how dangerous it can be if you are driving around with little or no experience!!!

Monday was spent relaxing on the beach in front of the camp until it was time to pack up and head for home!!!!

Now I am back in Bundaberg, looking forward to another 3 weeks of fruit-something-or-other and then moving on as soon as possible. I have decided to head back down to Brisbane for a while to save some more money and then slowly work my way down to Melbourne. But as has been the case with me so often, these plans may change in an instant!!!

Keep watching this site to know where I will be!!!!!!

I hope you are all well

Peter :-)

P.S. Fotos from between Sydney and Brisbane will be uploaded SOON!!!