O is for nearly Over.
This means that all our birthdays are done and dusted for another year.
Cheyenne turned 8 in September. She celebrated by having two of her friends sleep over (OMG, sooo won’t be doing that again for a few years!), and by getting her ears pierced. (O is for just a tiny Ouch.) She was very brave and had them done one at a time.
I turned 38 a week and a half ago; which is a rather unremarkable milestone. About the only remarkable thing about it is that I was on Fraser Island at the time, lol.
O is for Overdue. Trip to Fraser Island, that is. Finally, after all these years of going to Rainbow Beach, I have managed to actually go to Fraser Island for a holiday. Technically, I have stood on the shoreline of the island a few times when we’ve gone over in the tinnie flicking for flathead, but that isn’t “visiting Fraser Island”. At the Rainbow Beach Fishing Comp earlier this year Steve won (well, technically his dad did, but it was Steve’s fish) barge transfers and one night’s accommodation for 4 adults at Eurong Resort. So we paid for 3 extra nights (they didn’t charge us any extra for Cheyenne) and went over with his parents. The plan was to do the touristy stuff, so no fishing rods were taken. (shock horror). Although Steve has been to Fraser Is. many times on fishing trips, he hasn’t gone to most of the tourist spots, so this was a first for him as well.
Amusing ourselves with self-portraits on the s-l-o-w barge trip, lol.
Ocean views from our top floor balcony!
We stopped at the wreck of the Maheno (along with every single tour group and carload of backpackers on the island), went to the Champagne Pools (so named because of the frothy bubbles when the waves hit the rocks) and drove up the Eastern beach as far as Nkala Rocks.
We stopped several times at Eli Creek, which was fabulously icy and refreshing on the hot days. Most of the freshwater creek is only knee deep but there are a few deeper holes you can take a dip in.
Another day we did the Southern Lakes Scenic Drive and then on to Lake McKenzie, where Steve and Cheyenne went for a swim, but the rest of us decided it was too chilly. We also walked along the boardwalk beside the creek at Central Station.
The sand is so white at Lake Birrabeen and the water is crystal clear.
The above sign post cracked me up.
Don't even think about camping on the edge of Lake Boomanjin.
(Actually, as this lake is not crystal clear, has no nice beach and is, to be honest, pretty swampy and manky on the only side accessible by road, I don't think the sign is really neccessary.)
Lake McKenzie has crystal clear water and reflects the colour of the sky.
We saw dingoes (although not as many as you’d expect), whales in the distance (I sooo need a better camera with a telephoto lens *sigh*), a starfish in a rock pool, and a camera-shy echidna hurrying across a track.
Someone had carelessly discarded some fish frames on the beach, attracting a dingo. We pulled up alongside to watch it. A handful of gulls circled, trying to steal some fish. One got a little too close and the dingo asserted its claim on the fish. While we watched, it jumped up and snatched the gull out of the air. Once it was satisfied that the gull was dead, the dingo calmly returned to the piece of fish. Let that be a warning to other gulls. Don't try to steal food from a dingo.
We were blown away by the amount of devastation caused by the recent bushfires. Such a huge area of the island is now black and ghostly. Luckily, a lot of Australian native plants need fire to regenerate, so the area won’t stay black for long. The grass trees seem to be the quickest to recover.
All in all, it was a lovely holiday, albeit far to short for my liking. It is so nice to go places and actually see something other than bait and fishing gear.
