(2015/03/17-18) … going up north was on the list, but how far north should i drive? Seeing the Great Barrier Reef would be really cool, but that also means a lot of km and gas. Fraser Island, that was obviously, was my goal. I heard a lot of stories how great and awesome it is, staying there for a night, driving with an 4WD car on the beach and in sand. How should i sleep the next two weeks? Hostel ($25-$30)? Camping ($10-$15)? or better Free-Camping? The problem, not having a tent was solved in the K-Mart and some other camping gear like a single airbed and 12V air pump (in hope it’s light enough to fit in my luggage for Blazing Swan). The last item, a simple gas stove, was near impossible to find. Several K-Marts, Bunnings or other stores hadn’t any of these simple single burner gas stoves left, only the expensive and heavier double burner where left. To find a free camping spot was easy like in New Zealand. For Australia also exists an WikiCamps App, which worked in NZ pretty good. The only other goal was, make distance, getup north. I camped in Maryborough near the river and tried to make plans for Fraser Island.
Checking websites about the tours and realised that maybe only a day tour ($160) was in my budget, or better was not really. While checking the websites i noticed, that i was already a bit to far north, the tours starting in Rainbow Beach where about $5-10 less from the Rainbow Beach / Inskip as my planed ones from Hervey Bay. Should i book already today? Getup at 5am, drive to Hervey Bay for pickup at 7am? I thought more about relaxing, checking out the price for the ferry if i might just can get there without the car, just for hiking around the island. The internet didn’t gave me there a good answer, so moved that decision for up to tomorrow.
Without having a gas stove, making coffee was near impossible. Over night i had new neighbours, a french couple in a 4WD SUV which were so friendly and made me hot water for my coffee. They were a few days before on Fraser Island and are still fascinated about it and showed me some videos on their Gopro. After our common breakfast, i headed on the Hervey Bay to checkout my options for Fraser at River Heads. They call the ferry a barge here. At the info desk they had printed the costs and it was now clear, that i gonna book a tour. $50 for a passenger? A tour costs $160 including a coffee for breakfast and a lunch. Not sure about the pickup places to choose at Rainbow Beach for my tour, i decided to drive down, have a look and stay there for the night. Hervey Bay wasn’t that interesting (if you would not like to spend money) for me, just a short look at the beach and the harbour.
Not wasting more time, i headed down to the Rainbow Beach where i found my choice of pickup place and place to stay for the night. Inskip National Park and Campground was totally awesome and with only $5.45 also cheap and budget friendly. The self registration only was absolutely easy and fast, 100times better then the toll page for Brisbane. Wandering around at the beaches and dunes at the campground, astonished that there was almost nobody camping there. I packed my cameras and found a perfect spot to watch the sunset, i could already see Fraser Island in the distance. At this moment i was totally happy now, i got my traveling feeling back. Yay, tomorrow i’m gonna be there…