Livin the Dream: May 2010

After celebrating Lauren, Scott, and Tommy's birthdays, we decided to take a weekend trip. A couple of our friends had gone to Fraser Island and said it was amazing so we researched it and made plans. We went through a company that supplies everything for you. They provided us with a 4 x 4 off-roading Land Cruiser to drive around the island in, tents, camping equipment, and all the permits needed for the island. The package included 3 days and 2 nights of camping on Fraser Island so on Thursday, we rented a car and drove up to Hervey Bay where we stayed the night. In the morning, we met up with the company for a debriefing and after an hour of food shopping at Woolworths, we headed for the Kingfisher Bay ferry to take us, and our 4 x 4, to the island. Once we got on the island, we were free to roam around so we followed the signs to a sightseeing spot called Lake Wabby that was a highly recommended stop on the drive. We had to walk down a hike through the forest until the trees opened up to vast sand dunes and a serene lake. It was absolutely gorgeous and we all went swimming in the lake.

View of the port at Fraser Island from the ferry!

Tim, me, and Lauren on the Kingfisher Bay ferry

Me with a lifesaver on the ferry!

Tommy and I waiting getting ready to go!

Our Fleet of Land Cruisers!

Me and Sarah sharing the front seat of the 4 x 4 Land Cruiser! You can see the tall roof and all of our stuff piled in the back!

Lake Wabby sign

View of Lake Wabby from the lookout point

The rolling sand dunes

Swimming in Lake Wabby

Me, Lauren M. and Sarah on the Dunes!

Because the ocean tide changes so fast, there are only certain times that we are allowed to drive on the beaches. So after cooling of in Lake Wabby, we had to drive to the beach and stake out our camping spot for the night before the tide got too high. We found a great little flat patch that had a couple trees surrounding it and great views of the water. We decided to make that our camping spot so we unpacked all of the equipment and assembled the tents. The rest of the day we just hung out, played soccer on the beach, and enjoyed the nice weather. That night we cooked hamburgers, drank beer, and listened to music under a sky full of stars.

Our camping site! You can see the waves and the beach in the background!

Melissa and me! My shirt is wet from jumping in Lake Wabby.

Lauren and I hanging out at night

The next morning, we woke up early and did most of the trips sightseeing. First we drove for about 2 hours up the coast to Indian Head, a peninsula point that juts out into the Pacific Ocean. We parked and hiked up a slope to the top where we had amazing views of the white beaches and amazing blue water. These were the best views in Fraser Island and with not one cloud in the sky, it was a perfect day!

This is a picture I took while we were driving to Indian Heads

Lauren and I again on the beach

Climbing to the top of Indian Head

Northern view from the top of Indian Head

Southern view from the top of Indian Head

Lauren and I at the top of Indian Head

Me, Melissa, Lauren, Lauren M., Nina, Sarah, and Katie. All the girls!

Timmy and I at the top

climbing back down

After staring at the breathtaking panoramic views of the Fraser Island Coast, we headed back down to our 4 x 4s and drove to the next destination: The Champagne Pools. These are large sandy tide pools that fill up with water as the waves crash against the barricading rocks. So people go to float in the water and relax. It was a really unique thing to see and so much fun!

Lauren and I getting sun at the Champagne Pools

Our gang at the Champagne Pools! Scottie, Me, Katie, Lauren, Timmy, Tommy, Nina, Lauren M., Sarah, Melissa.

On the drive back from the Champagne Pools and Indian Heads, we stopped at the Mahano Shipwreck which is a famous shipwreck that's remains are found on the beach. It was really old and withered from the years, and rusty from all of the salt water. We looked around it and took some pictures before heading back to the campsite. The rest of the day we listened to music, cooked food, drank beer, and enjoyed eachother's company. Later that night, campers from a spot a about 100 yards away came and hung out with us. They were from all over the globe and it was really nice to meet interesting people from other cultures who were traveling and experiencing Australia like were are.

Mahano Shipwreck

Sarah and I

Melissa, Nina, Lauren M., Katie, Me, Lauren, Sarah at the Shipwreck

Lauren M., Me, Melissa, Lauren, and Nina in the back of the 4 x 4 on the way back to the campsite

Katie, Nina, and Me

Afternoon view from our campsite

Beautiful sunset from our campsite

Melissa, Me and Nina hanging out at night.

The next morning was our last day so we woke up early and checked out Birrabeen Lake. It was such a beautiful and tropical lake hidden in the rainforest. The white sand and crystal clear water reminded me of places on the Travel Channel. It was so pretty and such a hot day so we laid out, got some sun, swam around, ate lunch, and then headed back to Kingfisher Bay. All in all, it was a great weekend! We saw so much and it was definitely one of the most memorable weekends in Australia thus far.

Our entire crew at Birrabeen Lake!

The beginning of May brought about a lot of days of celebration. After the Creamfields festival, came Cinco de Mayo, which also happens to be our friend Tommy's 21st birthday. The night before, we went to a great little Thai food restaurant in Broadbeach. It was my first experience eating Thai food and it was really good! Then it was Cinco de Mayo so it was a day full of cervezas in the sun :)

Tommy, Timmy and me at the Thai food restaurant

Lauren, me, Alyssa, and Taylor drinking Coronas!

The birthday boy, Tommy, and me!

me and Melissa!

That next weekend, May 7th-9th, was the weekend before Lauren's 21st and Scott's 20th birthdays. We decided to do a girls weekend for Lauren's birthday so Sarah, Lauren, Alyssa, Taylor and I rented a car and drove up to the Sunshine Coast and visited Noosa Heads. We got there in the afternoon on Saturday and walked around the town. It was so adorable and quaint...my parents would have LOVED it! And the beaches were amazing! We checked into our rental accommodation for the night- which was a huge house!We decided to book a sunset cruise that took us around the channel that was lined with really pretty houses. We brought a couple bottles of wine and took some great pictures and chatted- it was so worth it! After the cruise, we had dinner at a restaurant called Laguna Jacks and Lauren got a desert with a candle in it in honor of her birthday. The next morning we woke up and booked a camel ride! Sarah had been dying to ride camels since she came to Australia so we all decided it would be fun. The ride was an hour long and we got to ride our own camels on the beach. It was so random but such a blast! Not many people can say they rode camels in Australia! After stopping at the most photographed pub in the world for lunch, we packed up and headed back down to the Goldie.