Fraser Adventures, pt.1

"Whatever you do in Australia, you must visit Fraser Island"

This was a common refrain from travelers and Aussies alike, and at the risk of becoming one of those tourists who goes to Paris without climbing the Eiffel Tower, I hastily booked a tour to the much-touted Fraser Island. A three day camping expedition in a 4x4 with nothing but a few tents, some hot dogs and a group of fellow backpackers? Sign me up!

Fraser Island itself, which sits just off the Queensland coast at Hervey Bay, is a World Heritage listed site, a place of unique beauty that is home to long stretches of white sand beach, glowing rust-colored sand cliffs, over 100 freshwater lakes, ancient rainforests and a host of unique wildlife. And spanning more than 123 kilometers in length and 22 kilometers at its widest point, Fraser is the largest all-sand island in the world.

Stepping off the greyhound in Hervey Bay, I navigated my way to the Koala Beach Resort ("resort" being a mighty generous description) just in time for the 3pm check-in and Fraser Island Tour orientation. Dropping my bag in my cramped but thankfully tidy dorm room, I wandered past the pool to the dining hall and was relieved to see two familiar faces -- Tom and Sarah! We headed in and grabbed a seat at one of the two picnic tables, where 20 or so other backpackers had congregated for the tour intro. I introduced myself to the two girls next to me, Anya and Lucy (from England and New York, respectively) and we chatted until orientation got under way. They began by splitting us up into two groups -- Team A and Team B -- and gave us five minutes for introductions. I was a member of Team A along with Sarah and Tom, zee Germans (the fashionable Peggy and Anne, the speedo-wearing Christian, and Julie), the Belgian couple (Gabriel and Lola), and young Simon from Denmark. Once we had been divided into teams and threatened with the loss of our deposit lest any of the equipment be returned with so much as a scratch, it was time to address the most crucial issue for our three-day camping expedition: how much food to bring?

With shopping list in hand (the first item being "beer"), we made our way to the supermarket. After piling our shopping cart full of food and enough goon to last a lifetime, we made our way back to the hostel to scarf down a quick backpackers-dinner of spaghetti bolognese before retiring early in preparation for our 6AM wakeup call the next day. Normally I would balk at holding a meeting at such an ungodly hour, but with the combination of my ever-worsening nighttime cough keeping me awake and a giant cockroach running across my face, I couldn't wait 'til morning.


Let the great [Fraser Island] experiment begin!*

* ten points if you got the reference