A farewell to Rainbow with a grand exit

After residing in the beautiful town of Rainbow Beach for a few months I knew the time was coming where I would have to pack my backpack, book the greyhound and bid farewell to all the friends I had made along the way.


One thing was for sure. I was not leaving Rainbow without seeing the one attraction that brings most backpackers and vacationers to this town. World heritage site, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world at a whopping 1840 km². 

"The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants." - wiki

This island is a mecca of natures beautiful things. We toured with Pippies Beach House's 4x4 self drive tour. Our tour guide, Tony was knowledgeable, patient, funny and also a great fisherman! We toured the island 3 days, 2 nights passing through places like Lake Wabby and Eli Creek which is the largest creek on the east coast of the island with a flow of 80 million litres of fresh (drinking!) water a day.  Also we were fortunate enough to see the crystal clear and blue waters of Lake McKenzie, the Pinnacles, the volcanic rocks exposed at Indian Head and the wreck of Maheno.

Of course, how could we forget the dingos? Fraser Island is home to one of the purest breeds of dingos. Before we even got off the barge we spotted a dingo along the shore and they were looming around our campsites looking for any piece of scraps they could grab or anything they could add to their homes (camera bags, clothing etc - literally anything). As calm and domestic they seem, these are still wild animals and can become aggressive, so there are certain precautions you are instructed to take seriously to ensure your safety and also to protect the dingos on the island.

If you are looking to get your hands on a 4x4 drive and explore paradise, I highly recommend giving a go on Fraser Island and take the tour with Pippies Beach House to get the most bang for your buck! (They have the ONLY spot on Fraser Island where you can have an open bon fire!)

Check out some of the pics I nabbed while I got to experience paradise at first hand....

Lake Wabby

Me at the ship wreck

Dingo!

Tony, our tour guide from Pippies Beach House

Indian Head

Lake McKenzie

For the full photo album of the beautiful Fraser Island, click HERE

Catchya Trev!

Trevor's last day in Rainbow Beach, testin out the surf... Click HERE to see the full album of his last day.

As most of you probably already know, my travelling partner has decided to return home after being in Oz for a few months. Yes, sadly my brother and I parted ways about a month ago. Trevor made his way back home to North Bay Ontario on a very long 30 hour flight while I stayed back in Rainbow Beach awaiting the annual fishing competition at the end of July. A Few things have gone down since the departure of my brother. I have been able to escape Rainbow a couple of times to enjoy some places outside of the coloured sands hot spot.

An experience that was memorable but also insanely cold (YES, Australia does get cold during their winter months!) was at Great Sandy National Park at the Freshwater Campground where I got to spend a couple of days hiking through the rainforest testing my fitness abilities that have recently been drowned by copious amounts of goon sacks over a couple months. A 14km hike back to Rainbow Beach was a combination of excitement, challenging, exhilarating and finally a sense of accomplishment.

Have a look at the photos or click here to see the full photo album.

Plans are in the books to finally leave Rainbow Beach after the fishing comp is done and I finish off one more week at Pippie's Beach House and end the whole trip in the famous and #2 on RACQ's top 150 things to do in Australia - Fraser Island.

Until then, let's just say that Australia has so far been quite the journey and I can only expect more amazing experiences along the way as I head up North towards Port Douglas. Thanks to my lil bro for setting the beginning of this journey to be something super amazing especially being able to share it with my brother. Thanks to everyone for making my trip a beautiful memory that continues to grow each and every day. In the Aussie way..... Simple AWWWW-Some!