Unfortunately we found out Andrew and I were booked on separate flights. He would be going on the 2pm flight while I was to go on the 2:30pm flight. At 1:30pm the wife of the pilot came to pick him and 3 other people up, and I had to wait for my turn. As I was sitting there friends from Fraser Island, Melissa and Fabian, were coming back from their surf lesson so I killed some time by chatting with them. The freaky part was, as I was talking to them, I saw Phil, the guys we had met at the rest stop before going to the Australia Zoo, walk by. He was looking straight at me and I’m sure it was just a coincidence but it completely creeped me out. He was looking at me like he knew me (which of course he did) but since Andrew wasn’t there with me I think he wasn’t sure if it was me or not.
Two other guys were scheduled to be on my flight, but when the wife of the pilot showed up to pick us up, they were nowhere to be seen. They arrived a half hour late but finally we were on our way to the airport. We arrived at a very small airport and I was surprised the landing strip was not asphalt but grass. Bruce, the pilot, greeted us and we drew straws for who would be flying in the front. I didn’t draw well and was not able to sit at the front. The plane we would be flying is a small 4 seat-er. It would be the 3 of us and the pilot. Bruce seemed like a nice guy and I just hoped he knew what he was doing. We boarded the plane, me right behind Bruce, and were taxing to get ready for takeoff. I was a little nervous because the plane was shaking since it was driving on grass. Then in minutes we were off.
The flight itself takes around 20 minutes to get to the island, however what an exhilarating 20 minutes it was. The views were unbelievable. We flew over the ocean and were able to see the breathtaking views of where the ocean meets the east coast of Australia and the various rivers that join the Ocean. The most thrilling part of the flight was the acrobatics Bruce performed. He would climb the plane vertically up and then drop it at the last second, telling the guy next to me to take a picture of me when he says go. When the plane would drop, it would feel like you are falling on a very steep rollercoaster and I was screaming at the top of my lungs. The first time especially because I didn’t realize what he was going to do. Then he asked if I wanted to hold his hand, to which of course I replied “No! You have to fly the plane!” but he made me hold his hand. As soon as I took his hand in mine, he swerved the plane to the right. Again, I was screaming like a little girl. He is obviously a guy who likes to have fun. Unfortunately I never obtained the photos of me in the plane from those guys.
We arrived at the island 20 minutes later and landed right on the beach. It was a beautiful view and the island was stunning. I got off the plane and Andrew greeted me with “How did you like the plane ride?” and a knowing grin spread across his face. There were a total of 12 people on the island already. Since Andrew had arrived earlier he had already selected the tent we would be sleeping in. That afternoon I hung out “reading” my audio book I copied from Anne on to my ipod while Andrew was fishing. During his fishing he actually saw a small shark close to the shore. Luckily he was small but Andrew made sure to see if its “mommy” was anywhere nearby. Bruce came back with the last 3 people an hour later, which brought the total number of people staying on the island that night to 15.
Included in the price of the trip is dinner which Bruce and his wife provide. It’s just a basic stew but it’s a huge pot. He brought it with him on his last flight and provided us with instructions on how to cook it. The two Italian guys were put in charge of the stew but I ended up looking after it to make sure it didn’t burn. While dinner was on the stove, the “men” went to look for firewood for the night. Once they collected enough wood and the food was ready we sat down to eat. Since this is a deserted island and there isn’t much to do since there is no electricity except for a few solar powered lamps, we just sat around chatting around the fire pit. The solar lights and lack of electricity might scare some people from coming on this trip, but what should really scare them is the toilet facilities. Or the lack of toilet facilities since our toilet was actually a hole in the ground. Not just an outhouse, but a hole with a toilet seat on top of it, with no walls. So if anyone was walking on the beach, they could see the top of your head and wave to you and you could wave back. We had to be really careful not to just walk in on anyone. At night it was easier since everyone had a flashlight with them. Also, the girls always went together at night so it was harder for anyone to just walk in on us.
Of course Andrew and I were the oldest ones and it made me feel really old once a guy said something along the lines of “I remember when I was 16 and how stupid I was back then”. Of course I asked him how old he was now (wondering how many years of wisdom had already passed by) and his reply shocked me…19! It was such a ridiculous statement that I didn’t even know what to say. I didn’t want to tell him my age when he asked me.
For 16 – 21 year olds sitting around the fire for the night (especially when it gets dark at 6pm…remember it’s winter here people) isn’t very exciting, so of course they came up with a brilliant game. Let’s roll down the sand dune in the tractor tubes provided for swimming in the ocean. As stupid as it was, I have to say it was entertaining to watch. Andrew tried to take some photos of this but it being night combined with them being drunk didn’t allow him to take the best photos. Later on Andrew and I took a walk along the beach and it was surprising how high the tide was. We ended up going to sleep fairly early since there wasn’t much to do that night.
One of the things Bruce also provided us with was a map of the island, albeit one that was open to interpretation since the markings of trails were really general and you had to assume the trail you were on was the right one. The island itself isn’t that big but it would take you a good part of a whole day to get all the way around it.
When we woke up in the morning we had a quick breakfast of bread and Nutella and decided to go for a hike. Actually, Andrew dragged me for a hike because all I really wanted to do was to sit on the beach and relax. We walked down the beach, about a kilometer, towards the end of the island. At the end of the island there was a hill which we would have to climb to get over to the other side, but before we got there we needed to get over the rocks. It was high tide so we weren’t able to walk along the beach near the end and we had to walk on the rocks. We made our way uphill to the peninsula and we were treated to a beautiful view of ocean. We kept on walking and made our way down to the other side of the island. According to the map there was supposed to be a path that led back to our camp. The map was very general as it was an aerial shot of the island with some lines drawn through it to show the paths. On the side we were on, there were a lot of small bays and beaches and it was hard for us to distinguish which bay/beach we should be taking the path from. None of the beaches are named and the path is not clearly marked on land as “they” would prefer for the island to be left in its natural state. After a good 30 minutes of searching, and even asking a random family that was picnicking on one of the beaches, we could not find the path that would lead us back to our camp. We were getting a little worried because we knew the plane would be coming to pick us up in the next couple of hours and it took us a good hour and a half to get this way. We had two options; head back the way we came and face another hour and a half walk, or cut through the bush across the island and hopefully make it out the other side.
Normal people would have turned back around the way they came, but not us. We decided, in order to save time, to cut across the island. I think our main reason was we were hoping to find the path and save some time. We started walking through the bush and initially it wasn’t too difficult as the bush wasn’t too thick. Gradually it became thicker and it became harder to cross. We were only wearing shorts, t-shirt and running shoes and we were completely unprepared for this crossing (a machete would have been nice to cut through the thick bush). We did our best to avoid the thickest parts by walking around them and we were trying to keep to a general direction hoping we were going the right way. Soon we could no longer hear the waves breaking on the beaches. Besides the thick bush, there were giant spider webs. I was worried about coming across any large spiders as well as stepping on some snakes. The ground was littered with dead leaves and branches, so at any time you could step on something unseen. Finally, after about a half hour of cutting through the bush we could hear the ocean again. I was ready to be out of the bush and I was trying to hurry to get out of there. In our rush Andrew almost walked into a giant spider web with a large spider on it. We made sure to be more careful after that. After another 10 minutes we came out on the other side, at the end of the beach, near the rocks where we had started our hike. Except for some scratches, we had made it out unscathed out of the Australian bush.
We walked back to our camp and a few minutes after that the plane landed to drop off its first people of the day and to pick up its first passengers. The first people off the plane were our friends Melissa and Fabian. They had made it to the island after all. We spent the rest of the day on the beach hanging out and talking, until it was time for Andrew to take his flight back. While waiting for my flight I just relaxed by taking a nap on the beach. I thought our hike was the end of the excitement of the day, and I completely forgot how exciting our flight in was, hence I was completely unprepared for the theatrics of our pilot again. In addition to doing some engine stalling like before, this time he placed a few cameras on the dashboard of the plane and created a 0 gravity atmosphere (by climbing the plane and letting it fall) and we watch the cameras float around the cabin.
Once we got back to the hostel and had a chance to shower, Bruce (the pilot) came back to pick us up and take us to his house for some beers. It turned out he brews his own beer at home! He wanted to download our photos for his facebook site. While Andrew and Bruce were downloading the pictures, I talked to Bruce’s wife and played with their dog. It turns out the dog has somewhat of a “condition”. When people come over and scratch the floor, the dog becomes convinced there is something in the floor and paces back and forth looking and listening to it. It’s funny to watch because he actually tippy toes around being extremely careful not to make a sound. He lifts his paws high off the ground and slowly walks around the room listening for any sound “in” the floor. Andrew thought it was hilarious and kept driving him crazy by scratching the floor randomly sending the dog searching for the source of the sound. It would have been sad if it wouldn’t have been so funny. Bruce dropped us back off at the hostel and we spent the remainder of the night watching T.V.
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