Last day in Fraser Island. Muz had us up again at 7am and this morning was slightly more painful than the previous one. I made cheese toasties (aka grilled cheese sandwiches) and we chugged coffee before packing everything up (including the tents) and heading to our final destination on Fraser Island: Lake Wabby.
It was a 45-minute walk from the 75-mile-beach to Lake Wabby so I was happy that my toe was beginning to feel better. We stopped at the most disgustingly smelly bathroom I have ever been in to change into our bikinis, then we started shuffling up the sand path. Halfway along the walk, I did an incredibly stupid thing. I stubbed my toe. Again. Same toe, similar stump. Faced with a split-second decision to laugh or cry, I chose the first and blinked back tears as my friends and I laughed over my incredible lack of gracefullness.
Continuing on with more of a limp than before, we climbed sand stairs, jumped at rustling bushes (remember that the eight most poisonous snakes in the world reside here), and finally topped the sand peak. Sweating and out of breath, we were absolutely longing to see the sparkling expanse of lake in front of us. As we climbed over the peak of the hill and saw what looked like a lake bed (but with no lake) in front of us, we were both devastated and confused.
To our right was the ocean, in front of us was sand dunes and jungle, to the left appeared to be more sand dunes. However, a small group of people were gathered to the left so we decided to walk that way. Muz wasn't with us to guide as he had returned to the campsite to pack up the rest of the gear, which explains our confusion. Luckily, we chose the correct direction. Five minutes later, we were standing at the top of a 50 ft. sand dune, looking down on the emerald green expanse of Lake Wabby. Black catfish swam in the shallows and jungle trees hung over the opposite bank. Although we were tempted to run down the dune and dive into the water, we had been warned not to due to unexpected shallows and invisible stumps. Still not satisfied with merely walking down the dune, Mirtja and I got on our tummys and rolled down the hill. I thought I was covered in sand before! Not even intense scrubbing in the lake could rid my hair and body of the fine white sand.
We spent an hour and a half in the lake, swimming, playing games, and trying to catch the minnows and catfish. Luckily, we were unsuccessful in catching the catfish. I say luckily because Muz informed us of the poisonous spikes on the catfish fins after we returned from the lake.
The walk back was slow and exhausted as our group of 31 backpackers realized this was our last stop on Fraser Island. We stopped at a cafe for lunch and drove to the barges at 1:00 to go back to the mainland.
Sandy, tired, and full of new memories, we cleaned out the cars and parted ways at Rainbow Beach, heading to our own hostels.
Had burritos for dinner, did my laundry, had the best shower of my life, got a book, and fell asleep very early.
I will not forget you: Potato, Spud, Predy, Pudding, Marzipan, Speculaas, Haggis, Fish 'n Chips, Carlos, and Tom. Rest assured that I will introduce myself as Maple from now on : ) I will also pass along goggles and fuzzy duck whenever a group of people are sitting down for a beer. Oh, and you owe me 10 for the game of life ; ) We'll see how many people we can get with Jimmi Whoops and Green Glass Doors!
See you in Sydney for Christmas! Thanks for the laughs and awesome memories.
Love to everyone back home, sorry for the inside jokes, hope you are having even a fraction of as much fun as I am!
xoxo - Katrina
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