Day 10 - Lake Mackenzie ,the wreck and whale spouts

We drove to Lake Mackenzie first thing which due to its business proved less serene than the lake the day before.

It took a mad rush as we tried to fit in everything we wanted to do that day and involved some bone jangling drives severe enough to loose anything not tied down .

The wreck of the Scottish Leisure Liner produced some great photographic moments and we even managed to spot some distant whale spouts out to sea at Waddy Point. Alas the whales themselves were too hard to see without binoculars.

The sand cliffs between the Wreck and Waddy Point were awesome too and hard to believe they were completely made of silica crystals!

We allowed Caitlin to drive some of the way back along the beach and after a little fear on her behalf she quickly found the accelerator and managed a steady 60km//hr for a reasonable section . Good thing there was no motorway police!

We returned to the campsite just before dusk to the eerie calls of the bird life which this time sounded like pterodactyls and finished our last full day on Fraser sadly.

We did manage to see a dingo but only on the next day as we drove back to the ferry and it ran alongside the car posing for photos!

I will not relate to you our adventures in Dreamworld as one theme park is much like the next but will say they had some amazing tigers there.

And so ends our Queensland holiday and we left just wishing we could have had a bit longer - always a good note to finish on!

Day 9 - Fraser Island

An early start was required to get the boat ship shape and ready for shore at Carlo Point for 8.15am.

Then after a quick shop and rental of our monster engined behemoth 4 by 4 we took the ferry to Fraser Island.

Suddenly we were driving on a beach alongside the waves. What fun we had skitting along the sand, bouncing through numerous freshwater creeks snaking from the island's interior out to sea. Now that's what I call the Great Ocean road .
After 10 miles of outrageous fun, we turn inland driving through rutted sand tracks euphemistically called roads with me wishing I had worn a sports bra.
We discover mid afternoon a fabulous lake which I am not allowed to name as it was not the famous one and Grant wants to keep it a secret!!! From who?

White sand crumbly soft like icing sugar decorated the beach whilst crystal clear blue water sipped the edges. Tiny dark fish darted in and out between our toes as we waded in the cool, shallows. The kids paddled as far as their clothes allowed them and then a bit more.

Later in the day we arrived at our campground deep in the central rainforest of the island, fenced off from the wild Dingoes which had so far been non exsistent.

As I fell around the campsite, festooned with giant tree roots in the disappearing light ,forty young backpackers arrived and set up camp next to us. However in the end they were suprisingly quiet compared to us after a few G and T's and we slept soundly.

Day 8 - Last full day on Jabiru

Awoke this morning , turned and looked straight out onto the sunrise's colours reflecting off the ocean waters. What better way to start the day!
In the early morning we steered our way to Inskip Island and once anchored, set off for the beach in the' Tinnie' our small outboard motor boat.

I had my first meeting with squeaky sand so called because being totally devoid of shell material, when you stand on it, the escaping air produces a humorous squeaking noise. The beach came in a series of golden and silver hues and was devoid of people but not empty of sound as we listened to the squawks of hundreds of wild parrots in the scrub land adjoining the beach.

It had taken 2 trips to get most of us onto the island and during our exploring the tide had dropped. This meant the tinnie struggled to get its first passenger cargo back to the Jabiru with three of us pushing it, for a time, along the sea bottom before the water was deep enough for us to launch . The second trip however fared even worse and ended up with everyone from the beach having to swim out to the small motorboat whilst those aboard the Jabiru enjoyed the spectacle.

Grant /Captain Ahab, whilst we had been ashore had managed to land himself two prize fish which he proudly displayed to all and sundry, showing us the size of his catch by holding them glistening in the sunlight. It was only when I pointed out that one of them was indeed a poisonous Giant Toadfish that he finally released his hard earned treasure displaying instantly all the symptoms of the venom associated with eating this puffer fish . Despite this the other catch proved to be edible, a Sandy Flathead which I gutted and John barbecued for us all to sample that evening.

Day 7 Jaribu and cruising the creeks

Today Sarah and John carefully piloted the houseboat out of Carlo Creek aided by the owners.

To be honest I had no idea that navigating a houseboat would be so difficult ! We learnt about tide times, depth soundings, lead markers, red, yellow and black crosses. For me who frequently mistakes left for right the results if we had been on our own would have been disastrous as this area is awash with sandbanks! Add into the mix the fact we were afloat on the Pacific Ocean and you can see why at this point I was feeling a little nervous.

Then we had our first sighting of a pair of dolphins twenty five metres from the boat followed half an hour later by a whole pod playing in the water. Suddenly all my misgivings had disappeared. The morning was topped by a sea turtle floating on the top of the water who was swimming so close to us that when he regally lifted his head from the suface of the sea I looked straight into his ponderous eyes.

In the afternoon we moored the boat in Kauri Creek alongside the mangroves whilst John and Grant took the kids to behold the marching crab legions guarding their mudflats only to witness them fleeing in haste when they realised the size and unruliness of the opposing forces.

The crab pots set, we had our second casualty of our holiday. Katie, the Archards eight year old stood on something unseen in the mud and due to the risk of stonefish, whom are highly poisonous, a dash to bullock Point was required to meet the ambulance sent by the owners. Luckily this time all was fine and we returned to Kauri Creek to take up residence for the night.

The evening was again adorned by a breathtaking sunset complete with birdlife roosting in the mangroves and pelicans flying overhead.

Day 4,5,6

So today was the day the holiday came to a standstill!

As the adults packed away the tents , six year old William had climbed a nearby grass tree as boys so frequently do.

The next moment we were all stopped in our activities by loud screams and ran to find Ciara trapped under the fallen tree where it had collapsed on top of her throwing William free.

A quick look at the 40 degree angulation of her foot and we were off to the nearest hospital in Kingaroy, a good 35 miles away across mountain roads leaving the Archards to phone ahead.
Grant managed to make the journey in a record 35 minutes whilst I tried to make Ciara as comfortable as possible in the back, no easy feat.

The Doctors at Kingaroy had 1 attempt at reducing the fracture under sedation before sending us onward to the larger hospital at Toowomba. Ciara was admitted, spending a very uncomfortable 24hours , even with morphine, before her leg was finally reduced under a general anaesthetic and much to everyone's relief!!

The next day Ciara seemed very much back to normal and after consulting with the doctors and Ciara it was decided that we would go on with the holiday and join the Archards on the houseboat in Hervey Bay.

A much happier Mungin family arrived to board the " Jabiru"at sunset on Carlo point. I am not sure if it was the relief to have Ciara virtually back to normal after such a harrowing experience or the fantastic setting we found ourselves in, complete with pelicans roosting on the nearby sandbank as the sun went down over the Pacific inlet, which made the evening so memorable for us.

Day 3 - The Bunyas

We awoke to a beautiful Queensland sunrise complete with the call of the laughing Cukkaburra and the Whipcrack bird whom I thought from the loudness of the cries must have been perched on the ridge of our tent!

Our images of possums sliding down trees after stealing our butter the night before were soon vanquished as we discovered the real thieves - Magpies ! This morning they were caught in the act as we witnessed them from the open flaps of our tent knocking plates and cutlery off our tables and flying away with empty pasta wrappers only to return seconds later throwing the rubbish back down in disgust onto our belongings.

After a hearty breakfast made by the kids of french toast thoroughly drenched in maple syrup we attempted our second bush walk amusingly called Paradise!

This time we bore witness to fig vines hundreds of years old forming cathedral like scaffolding which the kids took to climbing. There were also breaks in the rain forest revealing vast ' alpine' like meadows looking out onto the Bunya Pine custodians on the opposite crest.

The day was rounded off with a game of rounders and an evening climb to the Bunya peak to sit and contemplate a spectacular sunset.

The Queensland adventure-Day 2 The Bunyas

The cold wind that night was a killer . " These tents weren't meant for cold weather camping" advised Sarah at dawn the next morning as Grant tried to rouse me from my hypothermic stupor. I felt like I'd barely slept but had failed to hear Bes throwing up all night in the big tent. In the end the only thing that could raise my body temperature was a voyage into the strange world of the Bush Shower.

This consisted of a baggy,soiled looking canvas bag with bright orange nozzle. In order to hoist the bag to head level there was a thin, dangling metal loo chain with no pulley system. Outside of the shower cubicle could be found the Donkey Boiler . This was the mechanism used to heat the water for the shower and effectively consisted of a small steam engine. The said intrepid Bush Camper was required to build a small fire under the large metal container and as cold water was fed into a funnel one end , hot steam and water was produced from a small tap at the other. This all of course depended on someone being able to get a fire going in the first place no easy feat with wet wood and high winds although diesel helped a lot.

Then a strong individual was required to carry a plastic container full of boiling water and fill the canvas bag and then return with an equal or so amount of cold water to get the mix 'Just right'. The bag could be hoisted up. Speed however was an imperative as there was a limit to how long the water would last.

I have to say after some initial trepidation on my behalf I agreed to be the first to sample what the bush shower had to offer and was pleasantly surprised, not only did it work, delivering hot water but was wonderfully invigorating . So much for modern technology .

Even the toilet grew on me as unlike many public toilets I have experienced in the U.k this one didn't smell despite relying on a composting system!!

After spending the first half an hour of my waking moments this first morning scheming with Sarah on how we were going to escape our camping nightmare , I now felt instantly revived and ready for whatever the Bunya's wanted to throw at me in the way of a hike.

So once everybody had partaken of the shower and breakies, we began our chosen Bush walk experiencing fantastic views along the Cherry and Darling Plains and across the Great Divide Mountain Range. At some points we had to pick our way along cliff hugging paths.

We finished the days activities with a drive to Dandabah to celebrate John's m something birthday with some genuine Bunya nut cake and spiced fig accompaniment whilst watching the wallaby colony frolic nearby. Grant tried to take photos of our first real wild sighting of this authentic Aussie animal whilst Ciara shrieked " Wallaby,wallaby" from the balcony causing the poor beasts to scatter in every direction even before Grant had managed to turn his camera on.

In this small collection of houses we were also able to feed the wild birds. Not just a few sparrows and tits but King Parrots and Crimson Rosella's. These birds were so used to tourists feeding them that they landed on shoulders, heads and arms and fed out of hands. If a noise disturbed them they would launch into the air, on mass, in a frenzy of feathers and colour causing the kids to shriek, mostly in delight but for Ciara in horror. She then refused point blank to have our feathered friends anywhere near her screaming as soon as one approached.

That evening we had what would turn out to be one of the best open fires of the holiday toasting marshmallows and admiring the night sky with the very visible Milky way and Southern Cross. It was my first real study of the Southern Hemisphere stars with their beautiful, crystal, clear clarity and totally new night sky landmarks for me. I found myself constantly staring above until I felt giddy( of course that could have been the small amount of alcohol I had consumed around the fire).

A much warmer night was had by all although the ' Tent of Death' as Grant and me now affectionately liked to call it , continued to deliver the goods with a midnight bout of coughing ( Young Will ) and explosive diarrhoea ( Bes). Their airbeds also experienced a midnight loss of air requiring John to replenish them with the foot pump in the dark whilst three of the Mungins (yes more and more were deserting The Tent Of Death ) listened on wondering if they should offer help or enjoy the warm confines of their sleeping bags. I'll leave you to guess which we did.