We arrived at Dingos Backpackers at Rainbow Beach around 2:30pm so we had plenty of time before we had to check in so we walked to the seafront to check out the shops and beach. It's a very small town so there was only a few shops, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants but the beach was beautiful. It went on for miles but only had people in the water in a small area watched by the life guards. Seeing this beach made us want surf lessons even more, Matt especially itching to have a go. Having learnt our lesson from the Whitsundays we decided on stocking up with 16 litres of goon, knowing it doesn't actually taste too bad, as it is easier to share for games and far cheaper than beers: 16 litres only costing $20, so about £14. We headed back to drop off the goods in the van and get a drink to wait for the meeting. Dingos seemed a nice little hostel but was very busy as it was totally full with what we now realise is the people like us about to go on the trip and the ones who have just come back.

Our briefing started around 5pm and involved watching a couple of DVDs about how to drive on the island, going through the itinerary for our trip and meeting the rest of our group . We were put in group D with 2 girls from Newcastle: Jen & Charlotte and a girl from Israel called Hula. We were supposed to have another 2 girls in our group but they hadn't arrived at the hostel yet. We quickly got chatting and it became clear that Hula was quite a worrier and also pretty bossy so we were definitely in for an interesting trip! We popped to the shop to stock up on supplies before heading to bed for an early night - it was karaoke in the bar & none of us fancied that!

By 7am we were up, dressed, packed & ready to take our sheets to the laundry, check out, have our free pancake breakfast and meet our group by our car! As group D, we were in the 1st group (there were 4 mini groups per group) and we had Darren as our guide. He explained that for the first day, we would be riding in the lead car which he drives so we could all sit back and relax as none of would get to drive until tomorrow! This was a big shame for the boys who were looking forward to driving but a massive relief as well as there was a trailer on the back carrying all the food and alcohol . We fetched our food Esky (they supplied us with all the ingredients and recipes for all our meals while we were away!), filled our drinks Esky and packed our bags into the trailer. The 6 of us had just made ourselves comfy in the spacious 10seater vehicle when we were told that 3 late arrivals were coming to join our group! So we all shuffled about and introduced ourselves to Natalie, her fiancé Chris and her brother Sam, all from Cornwall. Then we were off!

It was only a 20 minute drive to the ferry crossing point at Hook Point which took us into the south of Fraser Island. Whilst on the ferry we were encouraged to go up to the top deck to see if we could spot any dolphins. All we spotted were jellyfish which was a little worrying! Once off the ferry we were onto sand and from there we had a very bumpy ride as we headed north up the island. We had all been briefed about how different it is driving on really soft sand and how quickly the cars can get stuck, but before our car had even left the ferry a car from another group had got stuck in the sand moments after getting on the beach . This proving how eventful this trip may become. The car got moving again and we all continued our journey. It took nearly an hour to get to our first stop purely because of the speed you have to drive and not because of the distance. The old mine road we took was like a corrugated sheet so it was extremely bumpy and once we hit the beach we picked up the speed a bit but with the same being so soft in places you are really restricted to how fast they will let you drive.

The first stop of our trip was Lake McKenzie. This is a beautiful, huge lake where you can swim, sunbathe and snorkel. This is a lake filled purely by rain water as theres no streams or rivers that feed it. With it being such a pure type of water only a few animals can live in it which means there's nothing that with bite, sting or eat us. They don't even let boats or jets skis on it to keep it so pure and they weren't kidding either as once you get in you automatically feel the freshness. It was literally like swimming in cool mineral water, it was incredible, where you could actually swim and drink at the same time if you wanted to . We had a lovely time relaxing here whilst chatting to each other and finding out more about our backgrounds and how we had ended up in Australia! The water was refreshing as it was a really hot day and we were grateful for the chance to stretch out a bit after being squeezed in the van together. After about an hour or so we headed back to the cars and made our way up the island towards our camp for the night, stopping at the Maheno shipwreck for a few photos. Over the years, the various campsites had tired of the groups breaking the no noise or alcohol after 10pm curfew so had refused the company any further bookings! The only campsite which would still accept them was K'gari, a site owned by aborigines who didn't have any real camp rules apart a zero tolerance policy regarding violence or creepy behaviour! The site was pretty big, it can hold around 200 people and there was only 1 shower & toilet block so as you can imagine it wasn't particularly pleasant! We collected our cooking utensils and camping mats then set about cooking our evening meal: steak & salad! Chris & Sam were in charge of the steaks, Hula prepared the salad (after kicking Gareth off as he wasn't doing it correctly?!?!) while Jen, Charlotte & Natalie made the potato salad . They did an excellent job and we were all starving by the time food was served! I must have been so hungry that I had the shakes as no sooner had I been given my plate with a gorgeous piece of steak on it did I flip it in the air and watch gobsmacked as my steak landed on the dirty, muddy floor! After Matt ran and washed it under the tap and put it on the barbecue again Gareth very kindly offered to swap as he was happy to still eat it! Such a kind brother! :-) After dinner, the goon continued to flow long into the night & we ended up having a boogie in Winkie's, the camp nightclub, before heading to bed around 1am. Me and Matt then woke around 2am needing the toilet. So needing to go in pairs we set of in the dark. The main problem now was that Matt was more drunk than when he went to bed so it was a pain getting him to walk properly with me. With him like this I don't know how he'd protect me from the dingos but we made it safely back. It wasn't until the next morning that we learned a dingo had actually made it into the camp and had been spotted near the toilets at about 2:30am!!!!

The next morning we all awoke around 7am feeling rather sore & achy as it certainly had not been the most comfortable night's sleep we had ever had and with most people feeling groggy from the drink . We set about making breakfast before heading to the cars and back on the sand! Our first stop was Eli Creek. Eli Creek confused us at first as it just looked like a stream of not very deep water that was flowing from the land to the sea, but once our guide had said we had to follow the boardwalk up the stream and then swim back it became a bit clearer. The boardwalk only took a few minutes then suddenly we came to the bridge where there's a few steps leading down to the water. As we climbed in, the water was freezing so it caused a lot of laughs and screams. The idea is you just relax and you float down the creek back to the beach, easier said than done as the creek contains a lot of hidden rocks and branches but it was lots of fun and the water was just like Mckenzie lake and was crystal clear and pure fresh rain water. This was the perfect way to refresh us all from the night before and wake us all up, most of us not having showered earlier either so this was bath time as well!! We got to cruise down the creek a few times before we went back to the beach where both the tour guides were now surfing in the same sea that they'd told us not to go in because of the heaps of sharks and even more jellyfish . Nevertheless they were both very good and they didn't get eaten or stung.

We had a brief stop in the island village to have lunch & pick up any supplies before moving on to the next sights. Finally it was time to swap cars so those in our group who wanted to could have a go at driving. This wasn't without dramas though as there were 9 of us in our group and the cars only hold 8! It made sense for Hula to stay in the lead car as she was travelling solo and doesn't have a driving licence whereas the rest of us were in groups and we weren't prepared to be split up! She wasn't so keen on this idea and took a lot of convincing but we stood our ground and eventually she gave in! During the changeover, one of the other group pointed out to our guide that the fuel gauge was showing as empty but he said it was nothing to worry about as the gauges don't really work!

Matt was first in the driver's seat & thoroughly enjoyed thrashing the car about on the sand & through the water! Chris took over further along the beach but soon found the car kept cutting out for no reason! It would start again and go a little further but then cut out again! We kept persevering and eventually made it to the opening for the track to Champagne Pools . The guide told us we need to really rev the engine and under no circumstances stop or we would never make it up the sand bank as this was about 800m of really soft deep sand. We tried but failed miserably as the car cut out again half way up! We rolled back down and finally the guide checked the fuel situation only to discover that the guy had been right a couple of hours ago when he said that the fuel was showing as empty & the reason we kept cutting out was that we had run out of fuel!!

With the van now left behind we got dropped off at the Champagne Pools. This was a 5 minute walk along a boardwalk along the top of some cliffs with beautiful views back over the beach we just drove down and of the Indian Heads. The champagne pools are just rock pools really but quite large ones and got their name because of how the sea crashes over the rocks therefore creating bubbles like in champagne. This was nice and scenic but with us being so spoilt with such clean fresh water in Mckenzie lake and Eli creek it wasn't as pleasant now being in salt water . Matt and Gareth had climbed up on to the rocks to try get a picture but before I had even got the camera a massive wave crashed into them and nearly knocked Matt clean off, in the process cutting his hand and feet where he had been dragged over all the barnacles on the rocks. It was only a few cuts so he was ok but they looked pretty nasty. We had an hour there before we headed back up to be picked up so we had fun taking a few pictures of us jumping in the water and posing on the rocks, we then got taken back to our broken down car at Indian Heads.

Indian Heads is a big rock formation which points out towards the sea. With it being a bit of a climb to get up its a good height to get some lovely views of the long beaches either side and back over the island where you can see vast amounts of white clean sand showing that the island is a huge sand dune. With it being such a good view point everyone can walk to the edge of the cliff to get great view of the sea as this is a very popular spot for turtles, sharks and dolphins . We were told that you can sometimes see the sharks patrolling the beaches in the shallow water as they swim up and down the coast but we were only lucky enough to see a couple of turtles and lots of jellyfish. We wanted to get some pictures in our Santa hats on the beach so we did that before getting back in the car to head back to camp. The car apparently now fixed, with the problem being the fuel cap missing, we headed off, only for it to continuously break down again all the way home until he syphoned 2 litres of diesel out of one of the other cars. We made one other unplanned stop on the way back to camp as we spotted a dingo on the beach. We slowed right down so we could get a good look at him and he seemed equally as intrigued by us, coming right up to the car to investigate us!

Somehow we made it back to camp and made a start on cooking dinner. We were having Asian stir fry and Matt designated himself chief chef! Hula had nominated herself to do the vegetable chopping but soon needed assistance and dragged Gareth over to help . By assistance what she really meant was someone else to do the job and soon abandoned Gareth with a pile of vegetables that still needed chopping so I stepped in to help and between us we got the job done! Dinner was delicious and was washed down nicely with even more goon! What was left that is as we were shocked to see how much we'd actually drunk last night, between 6 of us we had somehow drunk 15litres of wine???? We were allowed to have a bush fire so some of the new lads set about getting the fire started. It was lovely sitting around the fire, chatting. Some girls had come prepared with marshmallows which they shared with us, which was a great way to get the conversation started, also a girl had a small guitar and was singing songs.

As the fire started to die down, Sam & Chris decided to go in search of fire wood and set about climbing trees and ripping down branches! This caused more than a bit of worry amongst the camp that they were going to hurt themselves or someone else and many people weren't very impressed that they were damaging the trees! Eventually around 12ish we headed to bed, not looking forward to what we knew was going to be another restless night! Just at this moment we noticed Chris dangling quite high up in a tree only for the huge branch to suddenly snap and send him crashing to the floor landing flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him, biting his tongue and hurting his neck .

Our final morning meant that after breakfast we had to pack up our tents and collect all our belongings ready to head off. On our way back towards the ferry crossing, we stopped at Lake Wabby. To get there you have to walk for about 40 minutes inland, up and down some slopes and through some bushes on rather hot sand! Once there though, all that effort was worth it as the lake was beautiful! Most of us just relaxed in the water where the only thing to bother us were a few fish while some of the more adventurous others decided to climb up the sandbank to see the view back to the sea. Their tales of having to run between bushes for shade because the sand was burning their feet only confirmed I'd made the right decision by staying in the water!

Once we had finished relaxing, we made the long journey back to the beach where we hopped back into our cars and made our way to the ferry for the short crossing back to the mainland. We got back to Dingos at around 4pm and couldn't wait to get in the shower and get freshened up as by now none of us had showered for 3 days!!! It was lovely standing under the running hot water and feeling the dirt wash away! We were all clean & ready for dinner by 6pm and enjoyed a few drinks with our new buddies . Unfortunately the entertainment was karaoke again so we retired to bed earlier than expected but much needed if we were being honest!

The next morning, Gareth was up early as he was going on a road trip to Hervey Bay to exchange backpacks with Betsy (she had borrowed Gareth's for her trip to Papua New Guinea as it was lighter and she had crazy baggage restrictions!). While he was away, Matt & I took the opportunity to catch up on organising souvenirs, writing the travel journal and chilling out with our friends from the trip. He got back around lunchtime and caught us having sneaky burger & chips! As we weren't in any hurry to get to our next destination, we decided to stick around Rainbow Beach for a little longer and, after seeing Jen & Charlotte off on their Greyhound bus, we headed for the beach armed with body boards! We spent about an hour catching a few waves before deciding that if we were going to make it to a campsite before dark then we really needed to say goodbye to Rainbow Beach and get back on the road!