Tuesday bright and early we started our journey to Fraser Island. We watched our safety videos and learned about how to keep our food from the dingos and camp responsibly. I have to be honest...I was excited to see Fraser and had heard good things about the guided self-drive tour but as soon as I heard there were no toilets near our campsite I was very, very, very hesitant to go. (Story below). I am so glad I did!
We went in a full group of 31 people plus our guide "Mozzie." Our truck, the "A-Team" aka "Fuck off Dingos!" was 8 people: me (H), Evan (E), Nat, Kat, Laura B, Laura R, J, and Jacks. I couldn't quite figure out what Laura and Laura's nicknames were but no one seemed to use them anyway. We loaded up our truck with a small daypack each, food for 3 days (with detailed instructions), and a huge cooler full of beer, cider and "goon" (in the US this is boxed wine).
I could write a book on Fraser and the island but I'll try to keep it shorter. We drove our Land Cruiser to a barge and rode over to Fraser Island. Fraser is the largest sand island in the world with 2 fresh water lakes, fabulous creeks, treacherous surf (no swimming in the ocean) and wild dingos. The driving was done through soft sand beaches, hard sand beaches (depending on the tide) and across tracks through the island. Evan got to drive 1st and a couple more times. I think he was in heaven.
To be honest, the entire place and our few days there were unreal. Everything was gorgeous and we had such a great group I didn't mind being dirty and covered in sand and sleeping on uneven ground and without toilets from 5p.m til 9 a.m every day. The only bad/sad part were thousand of dead birds along the beaches. Apparently they hit a strong headwind on their journey from Siberia back to Tasmania and didn't make it. We saw some still in the process of dying. It was miserable but I guess natural selection at it's truest.
Our first day we saw Lake Mackenzie and explored the island a bit. Our "guide" drove a lead truck and we followed convoy style with 3 trucks behind him. I have to admit, it's pretty cool riding in a convoy and just 4WDing in general. Just before sunset we headed to set up camp. I've never been much of a camper. Our adventures in NZ were pretty much the best I've ever done with the outdoors life and we had showers and toilets and full kitchens everywhere we went. But...we all set up tents, put up a tarp roof and got to cooking our steak and potato salad dinner. Everyone helped, Evan directed and cooked what we chopped for him and it all ran wonderfully. We washed our dishes in a large pot/bucket in cool water (no soap) and no one really seemed to care much. J dug the proper hole to dispose of our cooking scraps and we then proceeded to hit the alcohol cooler.
Right after dinner, once it was dark, we had our very own dingo visitor. We shined our lights on her, clapped, yelled, covered our nipples (as per the safety video). She was not afraid of us in the least until Nat walked over and yelled "fuck off dingo!" and there she went.
Our 2nd day started and ended at Eli Creek with some champagne salt water pools and whale spotting from indian head in the middle. I have to say that the evening dunk in the creek to get some sand and grime off was incredible. Not a shower but enough to comb my hair and put on deodorant after 2 days of living outdoors which, if you didn't know, according to Laura R, could be camping or homelessness depending on where the fine line falls.
The 2nd night we chopped and Evan cooked an amazing stir-fry. We played some drinking games and even danced the macarena (yes, the whole campsite did it). My night ended with the girls from our group on the beach under an incredible moon and a sky filled with stars while eating a caramel chocolate bar split between us all. The moon was so bright we almost didn't need our flashlights and the glimmer on the ocean was like nothing I've ever seen. If I wasn't scared of a dingo eating me I could have slept there easily.
Today we hiked about 45 mins to a freshwater lake in the middle of a sand dune. Other than the wind plastering me with sand it was a perfect day. Laura R drove us back to the barge and a hot shower, shaved legs, and non-sandly clothes later I'm good as new and wouldn't mind doing it all again one day.
Back to the toilet situation...when you've got people drinking into the night chances are they are going to need a toilet. Well, we truly had none. It was us, the sand dune, the beach, and a wooded area. Given that the dingos were roaming around we decided to avoid the wooded area at night. We also decided to travel in pairs/groups. So our 1st night me, Nat, Jacks, and the Lauras had to pee. We grabbed our toilet roll and headed out to the sand dune which was the most private place we could find. Laura B said, "Here, this is how you do it. Just take your pants completely off and squat like this." And we did. Laura B fell (not while peeing) which set us all laughing AND all peeing. It was one of my greatest accomplishments...peeing in wilderness...it's a skill that has escaped me for 29.5 years and I've finally conquered it.
My family was always into hiking and it's important to be able to pee freely. I never could. The problem really was my performance anxiety. Just couldn't start. In 8th grade our class trip was camping on Mt. Cardigan (yes, I grew up in New Hampshire). When I heard we had only a hole I panicked and built a toilet seat out of a crate and a plastic toilet seat and hiked up the mountain with it. Until 2 nights ago I still was completely unable to pee freely. Even squatting over a public toilet has to be done when I truly truly have got to go.
Now, I may have to be naked from the bottom down but I can pee anywhere! Sand dunes, beaches, behind trees, even with other people around. It was a little like marking territory and, if you watch United States of Tara, I may have looked like Gimme, but I did it. Have you ever peed on a beach under moonlight and a sky filled with stars? You should try it.
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