Inland Island Oasis

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. This means that the island is missing a rock bed anchor and a rich soil layer. The inhabitants, which include dingoes and wallabies, subsist entirely on what the sand can provide, which is impressive as sand is pretty unforgiving. An entire rainforest has somehow managed to exist here. Over many hundreds (or thousands??) of years, plant remains built layers of nutrients available to the next generations of life, allowing soil-dependent species to adapt to living in sandy terrain. Pretty cool environment, and absolutely gorgeous to match! Check it out....

And the coolest part? That's a LAKE!! Yes, freshwater has never looked so amazing! Since the whole island is old, bleached-white silica sand, the lakes even look like beaches! This inland perched lake, Lake McKenzie, collects rainwater that is slightly acidic, making it uninhabitable for certain species. I took my underwater camera, and captured a few pictures that look staged in a backyard pool!

F.I. for Fraser Island

On our day tour to the island, we also visited the island's rainforests, crystal-clear inland creeks, wind-blown sand Pinnacle formations, and even an old shipwreck. It. was. AWESOME. Another absolutely gorgeous location. On the way home, we were even lucky enough to spot two dingoes! Check out the rest of our pictures in this album (Click where it says "this album"...)! There are just too many good ones to fit here. (I'll be keeping this Flickr album updated too, so you might want to bookmark it if you follow along!)

I'd have to say though, that the most shocking part of the trip for me was "morning tea" (snack) after the rainforest walk. Rainfall overnight had made the landscape damp, but nothing muddy or squishy considering the island had no dirt to make mud! I was hanging out on a log, warming myself with a cup of instant (gasp...) coffee, when I felt a sharp bite on the arch of my foot. I swatted at my Keens, thinking it was just one of the billion bugs that live here. I thought I got it until I felt the bite again. This time when I swatted, I noticed A BLACK LEECH on my skin. Cue spilling coffee and a mild state of panic. If there is anything that freaks me out as much as whiptail spiders and scorpions, it's leeches. I tore my shoe off and immediately thought of all the things in Australia that can kill you, wondering if this species of leech was one of those. Thankfully, our tour guide pulled it off before it was too attached, and Paco just chuckled at the coffee stains on my pants. 

The rest of our relaxing long weekend was spent...you guessed it....SURFING! Finally back in the water on the waves! We surfed Noosa Heads, one of the many world famous surf breaks here in Australia. The water was cool and so sparkling clear that I could see to the bottom more than 8 feet down! Words really can't describe how perfect the water is here....The waves were small, but really fun to catch on a longboard. The second day surfing, I tried out my new baby....Yes, I already found myself a surfboard, exactly what I was looking for! Fish shape that can catch knee high to overhead waves, three-, four-, or five-fin setup, 6'10" (getting shorter!), and it's even a pretty color! The guy gave me a fair price, with leash and fins, and it's epoxy material, which is supposed to be sturdier than my previous fiberglass boards. Hopefully it's sturdier than the one I snapped in half last spring...haha! Check her out on the left, she's a beaut. 

Yes, despite all this fun and adventure, I'm still working. Evie Update: This week has been the first half of a two-week school break. Evie and I have tried to keep busy all day by going on a mangrove tour with classmates and visiting the museum. We have also had some mighty interesting conversations. Evie tells me that when she grows up, she will have 164 natural childen, all with the middle name Helen (which is also her own middle name). She says your idea lightbulb is actually your skull...her lightbulb is green with leaves and mine is white with crystals. If we break our lightbulbs, new ones cost upwards of $129. Good thing that American lightbulbs are supposedly harder to break than Autralian ones, according to the storekeeper. Gargling is the surest way to turn on her lightbulb. She exclaimed once that the only thing she likes better than butterflies are train rides and the only thing better than icecream is a flight of stairs. Haha! Oh the mind of a (very imaginative) 5 year old.

Life's good here so far, I can't believe we've been here a whole month almost! This weekend will be spent relaxing in a quiet, empty house but more big travels are on the horizon! Watch for another update on that coming very soon.