Fraser Island 3/14/08

Day 2
This morning we all head out with the shovel to find our personal dunnies, oh the joy of the bush! Me, I go out into the sand dune and hope no one is driving by...I will not venture into the woods like the others, who all come out shrieking with stories of many spiders and critters....The spiders and critters in Australia are very big,furry,deadly and have been seared into my brain for eternity! The dunes are wide open and there is no fear of any crawly thing climbing on me while in a squat!

Back to back the land cruiser..and ...my most horrible memory of Australia!!!! As I am handing in the tents and such I look over on the seat of our land cruiser and see the biggest, furriest, nastiest spider I have EVER seen or even thought of!!! I scream and point it out and of course people are going nuts!!!! Next thing I know someone is swinging the shovel at it...please don't miss and let is burrow somewhere in the vehicle, cause I will not get in!!!!! It flies thru the air...looks like a bird it is sooooo big!!! and then splat on the floor of the truck...oh my freakin shit!!! It was as big as a softball, black and brown and furry and so scary it makes me squirm just thinking of it...and DEADLY as we later found out...you die with in 15 minutes of a bite...oh yay..good to know...can you guys drop me off at the ferry....

Back to the cruiser, it took a lot of inspection time before any of us would get in... we head back out on the beach and stop at the rusty wreck of the SS Maheno a luxury liner that crashed on the island long ago. We keep driving up to Champagne Pools where the violent sea is kept at bay and little Jacuzzis of safe water are filled with bubbling seawater. This is the only place where you can actually swim on the island other than the freshwater lakes in the center of the island, the ocean is too dangerous and filled with sharks and undercurrents. We eat lunch and hang here for most of the afternoon as the tide is high and we can't be driving until 4pm. When the tide is up there is no longer a beach to drive on, gone poof

We head out to Indian Head at 4pm and climb up to the top for a beautiful view of the beach, the ocean and the sand dunes on the island intermixed with the forests, it is so beautiful. The sun is setting and the light is glorious,there is a 360 degree view that takes your breath away....Beautiful Australia!