I woke up pretty early on Saturday to catch the 6am bus (which is actually more like a big van, but for some reason, Aussies don't use the word van here, they call them buses. Don't ask me why) that would take me on my day tour to Fraser's Island. Was pretty worried when after waiting until almost 6.30am, ths bus still hadn't shown up, so spent that time hoping that I hadn't been cheated out of my money and having a little chat with God, something that I haven't been doing much at all lately but that's another story. The bus eventually did show up, and I was on my way up north from Sunshine Coast to Fraser's Island with a bunch of other sunscreen-covered tourists. Along the way, we small bunch of sunscreen-covered tourists were transfered over from the small little van/bus to a real bus, the type that holds 40-plus people. And for small part of the trip, I was sitting next to this elderly Asian lady and her granddaughter, with the parents of the girl being on the other side of the bus. I think they were Thai, but I didn't hang around long enough to find out coz' I was smart enough to move to the front seat of the bus. Smart not because I wanted to get away from the cute kid and her grandma, but because there was nothing much to do during the tour except go ga-ga over the beautifulness of the beaches, and the front seat was the best seat from which to do so. Yes, the big 40-seater bus was actually driven along the beaches of Sunshine Coast as we made our way up to the island, and were driven along the beaches of the island itself once we got there. Most scenic bus ride I ever took, that's for sure. The windscreen was acted pretty much like a big screen tv, from which I would sit back and stare at miles and miles of magnificent view and just go "whoooaaaaa....". I can tell you very truthfully that the pictures I took, even the best ones, do little justice these beaches. The photos can only show water, sand, sky, clouds and hills...no life and no movement. What I saw on the bus as it drove up to the island were waters with differing shades of deep blue and green, it looked perfectly untouched and unpolluted. I saw seagulls and other birds flying in their flocks over the ocean, fishing for food. I saw waters shimmering as though millions of small diamonds were floating on the surface, as the sun shown brightly from above....
Along the beaches would be miles and miles of hills rising above the sands, and fading into the distance as the oceanic spray would rise and create a fog shrouding the hills....
Halfway through, we came to a place called Rainbow Beach, named as such because of the coloured sands of the surrounding cliffs. Sands that were yellow, white, orange, dark red and even pink. Pink sands! I don't think I'll ever see such sands anywhere else in my life!
Even on the ride back from the island, we drove along the same beach but I noticed even more things about the scenery. Like how the puffy white clouds would form strips over the clear light blue sky. And in the distance I could see small bery dark blue clouds, probably rainclouds, that added more colour to the sky. The horizon just over the ocean even appeared to glow white before fading into the blueness of the rest of the sky...
As the rolling waves washed back and forth across the beach, it would create a layer of water on the sand that acted like a mirror showing a reflection of those clear blue skies....
As the sun began to set, its rays would reflect of the water on the beach, making the whole beach shine so bright and creating the ultimate "ooooh!" effect!
And if the beach wsn't enough to blow me away, on Fraser's Island, we were taken to Lake McKenzie, which is listed as a World Heritage spot for obvious reasons. The waters in this lake are just so crystal clear and blue, and so clean and pure that the tour guide even said that after coming out from a swim in the lake, our hair would be silky smooth and our skin would be baby soft. And the sand was so fine that it could be used to rub away rough skin and even scrub jewellry to make it shine like brand new! Well, I don't know about the baby soft skin part, coz' my skin isn't usually all that rough, but usually after a swim, my hair comes out all tangled up. That didn't happen after I went for a dip in Lake McKenzie, so I guess the tour guide wasn't kidding. Also gave me a chance to wear my new bikini. :P
Might notice from the photo that the water behind is much more deep blue than the waters close to the shore. That's because the waters close to the shore are very shallow, but the floor level gets deeper very quickly just a few steps away from the shore. It's so deep that even though I wanted to swim out further to the middle of the lake, the darkness of the waters made me think twice. Didn't quite fancy the thought of some lake creature popping out from under me and trying to take a bite out of me or something!
Of course, apart from the very nice beaches, we also got to see one of the native wild animals, a dingo. It was running around on the beach, and as soon as we saw it, the bus driver tried to block it's way with the bus so it couldn't run away and we could get a better look at it. Poor fella. Must've scared the bejesus out of it.
And later on, on the way back, we were lucky enough to drive by some dingo puppies, resting by the side of the road. So cute!
Also saw some other, not-so-native wildlife, like this little fella who found himself on my tour bus window.
Ok, ok, obviously I don't have much more better photos to show. But all in all, for the $100 I spent on the trip, I wouldn't say it was completely worth it coz' we didn't have much time out of the bus to enjoy the beach. I have to say that going on a day tour to Fraser's Island is simply not enough, and by the end of the day, I was wishing I could have spent at least another day there to sit by the beach and just relax, or go camping there. A very good place to go with family and friends to spend time together, I would think. But unfortunately, I didn't have that opportunity. Next time, when I come back to Australia with a real bf in hand, I'll definitely drag him there with me! :P
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