Fraser Island, 2 Days

Just got back from a 2 day "wilderness safari" bus tour of Fraser Island - I had a great time checking out all of the cool wilderness things! We did a lot of rain forest, sand, beach, and rock driving. We did A LOT of hiking as well. Learned mostly about all of the unique things on the island that...well makes it so unique! For example, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, yet it allows vegetation and all of the ancient rain forest foliage to not only grow but to thrive in, around, and up to your eyeballs in ...that's right...SAND!

Pile Valley - I'm just glad that we didn't "run" into any deadly snakes (in Australia alone there are 12 different snakes that are venomous enough to kill a human - 9 of which do inhabit Fraser Island). The air around us was so sweet and fresh you could have bottled it up and sold it! Was definitely a good experience in comparison to the big smelly city :)

Maheno Shipwreck - 1905 to 1935 R.I.P. She was as a luxury cruse ship initially, and then commissioned as a hospital ship in WWI. After the war she was bought and in the process of being towed to Japan when a unusual cyclone struck breaking the tow line. That would be when she found her final resting place, ashore Fraser Island in 1935.

Cloud appreciation is very BIG here on the island - this is my fine discovery of a whale cloud...pretty talented huh? On my first day even :)

The Pinnacles - compressed coloured sand cliffs. This leads to the coloured sand dunes known as Rainbow Gorge (below).

Indian Head - said to have gotten it's name from European explorer Captian James Cook in 1770, who thought that the Aborigines standing up on top looked like Indians, while sailing by in his ship. Also, the trees on top of the rock looked a lot like Indian feathers sticking out. A 75 mile beach follows, very nice. We hiked up to the top for a better view!

Hello Mr. Turtle! Washed up on shore just to say HI :)

This is Bingo the Dingo! It is estimated that there are up to 200 dingoes on Fraser Island. They look like domestic dogs but are actually more closely related to the Asian wolf. It is known that here they are the most genetically pure dingoes in all of Australia.

Rainbow Gorge - a place where there are massive sand dunes with about 72 different coloured sands in or around the area. Aboriginals used to mix these sands with water and paint their faces for spiritual ceremonies. These are just 8 or 9 that we found today.

This guy is pretty cool - Lace Monitor Lizard. He was hanging out by the girls bathroom before we left the island...hmmm, definitely a ladies man :)