Queensland, Australia - Polarsteps

Fraser Day 1: Day one of Fraser had a bit of a rough start for me. After packing up all my shit from the hostel, I realized that my beloved Tevas were GONE, missing, vanished, disappeared!!! So before I write this blog post I have a 30 second Eulogy prepared for my Tevas: Since the day I took you out of the box you have been there for me. Supporting my arches while comforting my feet. You made it through two whole Arrowhead Summers and two years of Uni. Whether we were just going to class or climbing up Camel's Hump, you always knew how to support me. You looked great with my jeans and athletic shorts alike. You also single handedly started a fashion trend throughout the Arrowhead community. You will be greatly missed and I hope you have found a new owner that loves you even half as much as I did. Xoxo, jimmers Alright so now that the sappy stuff is out of the way.. After a much needed iced coffee, we boarded the ferry to Fraser Island!! I had a vision of what it would look or be like, I imagined a sand island with nothing else on it but a couple a dingoes and some people camping. But it was nothing like that at all. When the ferry landed I was greeted by a rather hairy rough n tough man who introduced himself as "Davy". After he took attendance he soon made the connection that I was THE vegan. I know I keep saying that the next Aussie is more funny than the last but I honestly think Davy is one of the funniest people I have ever met. He is a true Aussie, which he tells us. Kind of like a redneck of Australia... We decided that his personality and characteristics are a cross between Captain Jack Sparrow and Austin Powers. So there are about 20 of us whom board a coach style 4 wheel drive bus thing, it's pretty massive and intense. Once we are all on he asks who would like to take the first ride with him up front. I wasn't even sure what he said but my hand shot up and next thing I know I am in the front seat with Davy himself. After he put on his "Jason Dureulo" microphone, we were off along the sand trails through the island. At this point he pointed out that my seat was the bumpiest of the bus... Didn't take long to realize because the "roads" we're SO bumpy and I had minimal to no support in my tiny lil triangle top..... He cracked jokes through the next 20 minutes of flying (!!!) over sandy tire tracks through thick vegetation. I was literally catching air off the seat while holding onto my top and trying to not flash Davy. Our first stop was Lake Mackenzie. It was beautiful in every way. Davy told us a shit ton of facts that were actually super fascinating: - Lake Mackenzie is made of silica sand which is white, perfectly spherical and has some amazing properties - it can be used to polish silver, scrub your teeth, exfoliate your skin, scalp and condition your hair - all of Hawaii's natural sand is black. The white sand has been exported from Fraser Island to Hawaii for its super soft texture and white color We spent 2 hours sun bathing and swimming before having lunch in the dingo included fenced off eating area 😳. Of course Davey targeted the vegan and told me to go first. Super reminded me of Pat, how he would tease me about it but in the end always just wanted to make sure I was well fed and healthy 🙂👍🏻. After we took the afternoon walking through the island's rainforest. Again, we learned so much: - Fraser Island contains so many plants and trees that only exist on the island and no where else in the world - It is home to 4 of the 5 of the deadliest snakes in the world - and the deadliest spider whose bite can leave you brain damaged in hours (he really freaked me out at this point) - poison frogs have somehow made their way into the fresh water lakes over the past years. Because the fresh water pools have a low pH or high acidity, not many organisms exist within it - the acid frogs can thrive though, and apparently people lick them resulting in a trip which can last up to 24 hours! - the streams along the rainforest hike were perfect spring water, we filled up our water bottles, no filtration needed. Tasted unreal. We boarded the bus to head back to the wilderness lodges we would be staying at but took a pit stop at the beach for a drink while the sun set. At this point I felt the need to write down a few things that came out of Davey's mouth to help y'all back home understand: - "I would love to leave at 7:45 If we're ready at 8:10, I will be irritable. If we're ready at 10 past 10, I will have by big toe up someone's butt hole" - "So smooth you don't need the sports bra, the last thing we need is a wrecked pair of breasts" - "So lasts things first" - "but after the war there was a bit of a depresh" - "Love your work" usually referring to himself - "so yea were just gonna get out there and smash it to pieces" - " we're going to have a 10 minute comfort stop, do you know what a comfort stop is? That is a really nice way of saying doing your wee or a poo. Alright? Just in case we haven't had our morning movementssss. This drive across the island will be sure to work out those extra number twos. In case there are a few floating around in there that didn't plop out this morning" So I hope that helps picture this man in your head.... I haven't laughed that hard in a while and am starting to really preciate this guys humor.