SkumpaPoolen! Fraser Island

I have a feeling I’m going to be repeating a similar version of this line a lot through my travels, but I’ll say it anyways: Fraser Island has been my favorite place so far in Australia. The trip itself reminded me of why I travel, why I'm alive and what happiness means to me. It was also a refresher of how endless short periods of time can be if one chooses to make the most of it.

About six and a half hours (by bus) north of Brisbane, I stayed five days in total. It was a last minute decision. I hadn’t really been working the past month, although I had an English teaching job starting the 9th of March. I went with my Swedish friend Hannas (who I met at Woodford and have known since through mutual friends) and his friend Fredrick.

We booked a 4WD through a hostel we decided to stay at in Hervey bay, since it is the only possible mode of transport on the island (all roads are made of sand). The hostel placed us in a group with seven others to lessen the cost of the rental (10 is the maximum number per car). The group was more than awesome-- I have since met up with one of the girls back here in Brisbane and hope to cross some of the others through intersecting travels.

From a ferry we took a ridiculously bumpy road (we're talking serious head injuries if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt) to a grand finally of endless beach, with sand so fine it will lodge itself in nooks and crannies you never even knew existed. The island is unique in that it has no roads on the outskirts, in which case we were able to literally drive along the 75 mile beach and stop where we pleased. The beach also served as a free-range runway for what looked to be joy flights. Driving along the beach and having a plane land practically next to you like it's an every day thing... Now, that's a sight to see.

Places we visited include the Maheno Shipwreck, the Champagne Pools, Indian Head, Eli Creek and Lake McKenzie. The Maheno Shipwreck is what you see in the photo above. Not surprisingly, it is a real shipwreck from the 1930s that crashed in a cyclone and was consequently used for target bombing practice during the Second World War. Now it just kind of chills there, I guess.

The Champagne Pools are basically what they imply. A bunch of rocks combined with crashing waves make a pool of the same kind of effervescence you see in champagne. More importantly is that in Swedish it's called "Skumpapoolin." I know this because I overheard Hannas speaking to Fredick in Swedish-- I pinpointed the word and couldn't seem to let go of it for the rest of the trip. It eventually became our "theme" word of the trip, you might say.

Unfortunately, that's the extent of my knowledge of the Swedish language and it looks it may be that way for awhile. While I headed back to Brisbane to start my job, the boys continued North to sail the Whitsundays. Luckily, we left the day the cyclone hit. I am now, more than ever, committed to making enough money to travel in my last months here. The commitment grows even stronger now that I know I may be home as soon as this summer, to help celebrate a most joyous event...Lindsey's Wedding! Sorry Linds, had to throw it in there :)

Oh, almost forgot.


The best Line of the trip was an Australian mother talking to her daughter: "Honey, don't touch the diiingo!"