We also got the rods out for the first time and Ruben and Ash tried their hand at fishing, lasted about 5 mins which I thought was pretty good - Rob a bit disappointed, but he got to fish on in peace. He came home with a yellow fin tuna - nope didn't catch it but he discovered it pays to talk to the guys coming off the charter boats, they'd caught more than enough and were keen to share it around. Enough for two meals and really yummy.
The camper trailer was set for a week of doing it hard - it'll be first time 4wding, first time at a non-powered site, with no drinking water (unless boiled - we brought in 120 litres of water to be safe, we used about 20 litres so that was learning curve no. 201).While not exactly free camping the campsite was basic, although had hot water and the rangers cleaned the toilet block for us every morning. Most important, flushing toilets, phew that was a weight off!!
The Tourist Stops:
Lake Allom, where the freshwater turtles come up to see you.
Maheno shipwreck, once a luxury liner now a rusting tourist attraction. Kids were in awe, briefly anyway.
The pinnacles, another much photographed stop on the beach...
Most of the walks were too long for us to do, which was a bit disappointing but we did a couple of 1km tracks. At speed.
Waddy Point (above and below), in hindsight this is where we should have stayed. Its at the top of the island, past the point backpackers are allowed to drive their rental 'troopies' to - no offences to backpackers, but on Fraser they're nicknamed 'the circus', literally hundreds of them swarming all over the island, 12 to a vehicle (fair play to them too, looks bloody uncomfortable), many drinking heavily (don't I sound old!) and basically annoying everyone else around them. Waddy Points beach is not the main road/runway like the rest of 75 mile beach so you can use it like a normal beach, without expecting to be scraped off someones bumper.
We walked the boardwalk up Eli Creek and then walked back down to the beach in the creek. This was a major stop for 'the circus' (below) but they never ventured from their vehicles (same on many stops) so a very peaceful and enjoyable place to visit.
Lake Wabby, this lake was created by a sandblow (massive slow moving sand dunes that envelop forests and leave skeleton trees in their wake) damming a creek and turning it into a beautiful lake. The sandblow is now enveloping Wabby which will soon be no longer. Fantastic place for kids (young and old) to ride their boards down the dune to the water (they're the black dots on the sand near the lake).
Champagne pools, where the pounding surf gives the 'pool' water a bubbly effect as it comes over the rocks. We thought the pool might be a good place for the boys to try out their snorkels and see some crabs. Ash was proud of his attempt, at putting the mask on his head and dipping it in a puddle. Its a start.
Our campsite had a dingo fence around the perimeter - initial thought was a bit over the top but on reading the million and one signs around the island (ie dingoes attack children, we knew that, they also attack adults, didn't know that). A newspaper article pinned up at the campsite showed a series of four photos - 2 girls (4yr old, 2yr old) playing 50mtres from their adults. Dingo attacks 4yr old who is kneeling (a lucky break for the 2yr old), she wasn't badly hurt, cut and bruised stomach but it made us VERY AWARE! (The dingo was shot). Luckily every dingo we saw was from the vehicle - we saw four all up.
The west beach (75 mile beach) was also the airport for the rangers - many of whom were flown in and out on a daily basis. A bit freaky to look in your rear view mirror and see a plane right behind you, coming in to land. This plane gave Ash a major fright as it lifted off 50 mtres from where we were standing.
Ruben is still into weapons, now has his own homemade bow and arrow to torment backpackers with. 
We spent the morning at Kingfisher Resort on the way back to the mainland, our friendly bush ranger gave us instructions about how to get into the 'guests only' resort pool and it was worthwhile sneaking in the back way, beautiful warm pools, with spa pool in the middle, fantastic way to finish our island holiday up. We spent two days in Hervey Bay after this. Had to buy a new battery for the patrol, the deep cycle auxillary battery stopped working 1 day into the trip and our fridge had to be used as (a very expensive) chilli bin while on Fraser. Due to superb management, no food was lost. Liked Hervey Bay, would liked to have stayed longer, and hired some bicycles with kid seats but its time to head north... till next time.
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