i suppose an explanation is in order...

how ya goin'?

you may have noticed that the group of us recently posted about... well i'm not even going to estimate: we posted a whole bunch of pictures! everything we posted was essentially the happenings from this wednesday to sunday -- our trip to fraser island.

i don't think any of us have decided whose job it is to describe the whole thing, so i guess i'll do it. i think the best place to begin would be, of course, MY BIRTHDAY!

august 5th was a very special day. we had planned just a few small things to do in the evening; specifically, a dinner and a small party. i decided i'd wanted to go to "brisbane's worst vegetarian restaurant" -- the norman hotel. they're obviously famous for their meatier products (mainly steak), and apparently on a busy weekend they'll serve up over 400 steaks a night! that's a lot of dead cows! dinner went very well, and i received some very nice gifts from my friends: oven mitts and an apron (since i've promised to cook a meal), a sparkly birthday hat, a book of australian slang, a cd of swedish music, various cards and all sorts of wonderful things! this list is by no means comprehensive, so i'm sorry if you're not included on it :).

we moved from dinner to a housewarming party for our good friends claus, erik, max and johan. their house sure was warm: full to the brim with about 70 people there! i managed to have a good time once again. we followed all of that up with a little groovin' at a club and bob's your uncle -- happy birthday to ian!

that's about it for the birthday happenings. there's still a lot to say, however. i think what i'll do is to quickly summarize fraser island for you, and then let one of the other two kids give you a detailed breakdown.

things started wednesday morning with a big bus ride from a local train station (roma st) to rainbow beach, where the ferries leave for fraser island. the bus ride was a good couple of hours! we stopped shortly at a rest facility where i indulged in a roo burger that i was forced to eat in the span of about 5 minutes due to time constraints. let's just say it wasn't very satisfying!

the first night happened to be shehz's birthday, which also coincided with mexican night at our hostel: dingo's backpackers. our whole crew of ten slept in a few different rooms, which was nice because it allowed us to meet some new people. an israeli, a scot, some irish and brit gals... you meet people from everywhere in these crazy hostels! i'll let shehz do the birthday summary -- he'll definitely give you the best scoop on that whole event.

we had to get up quite early the next day to take advantage of the pancake breakfast, as well as the camper packing festivities. our whole crew was up bright and early throwing large coolers (called "eskies" down under, apparently) and crates full of food up onto the roof of a large 4wd toyota landcruiser! what a nice way to start the day...

after what seemed like an eternity of packing, we all hopped in our new homes for the journey and started on the road to inskip point where we'd be taking the ferries from. brian did a great job of figuring out the subtleties of the car: free versus locked hubs, high-4 versus low-4, and when you had to correct for differential wind. it was a bit complex, but we managed to survive without "a hitch". a little pun work by yours truly...

after getting onto the island things are a pretty big blur of sandy beaches, lake swimming, and attempted tent erection. once again, i hereby delegate the explanations to one of the other two guys who will give you a blow-by-blow of the fraser island experience.

so i guess that's it for me! you'll be hearing from the others soon regarding birthday festivities, sand driving, dingo encounters, swimming in lake mackenzie, eskie diving, campsite locations, eli creek, the maheno, eli creek, dolphin kayaking, and the coloured sands. i think i missed a few, but i'm sure they'll fill in the blanks.

rest assured that after our little weekend getaway, we're quite depressed to be back in sleepy brisbane and going to school, so let's get rid of the jealous sentiment right now!

we've got a few trips planned to sydney, cairns, and the whitsundays, so i'm sure you'll be hearing from us again before too long.

later dudes and dudettes,

> ian

A sunset petering out as the moon rises near Indian Head.

An artsy hair-in-water shot that I couldn't help attempting at Lake Mackenzie.

A porthole on the Maheno.

Caroline looks out to sea at Indian Head.

The group sits on Indian Head and watches for whales, dolphins, sharks, and rays (all of which we managed to see!).

The view from Indian Head -- a big honkin' rock that you can climb up and look out at the ocean from!

The coloured sands at a place called "The Pinnacles". I was a bit disappointed to learn that "coloured sands" entails a wide range of tones including tan, brown, yellowish-brown, tan-yellow, dark and light tan, burnt sienna...

More Maheno!

Shehz hanging out at the wreck of the Maheno: a big ship that sits smack dab in the middle of the beach (and is quite ruined!).

Ivan (the Rocking Italian) waiting to enter Eli Creek.

Evening at our first campsite on Fraser Island. We were quite fortunate to have nobody within a fairly large distance of us! On Fraser, you camp right on the beach, just behind the "Foredune" (so you don't get hit by cars/high tide/sharks).

Caroline is happy that we've stopped for lunch!

Shehz is either trying to catch a ball or praying to stay in this lake for the rest of his waking life. I personally think it's a little bit of both.

Al goes Kung Fu on me when I try to snap a pic.

Lake Mackenzie -- the big attraction on Fraser Island. The water is obscenely clear: so pure is it, in fact, that apparently only ONE creature has evolved to live within its reaches. It's some weird duck-like object that we didn't come across. Oh well, the lake was nice enough without it!

Brian skillfully manoeuvering onto the ferry. It's a shame none of the Canadians even know how to drive a standard or it may have been US in the front seat!

Our camper caravan preparing for ferry boarding.

Our first glimpse of Fraser Island from the mainland; it's basically a giant sand dune (plus vegetation) that takes about two hours to drive along the entire North-South shoreline.

Awaiting the camper packing rituals the next day as we prepare for Fraser Island.

I wanted a birthday face from Shehz, and what better way to get it than to jam a lemon in his mouth! Happy B-Day from your friend Ian!

Shehz takes a time out from the festivities to visit the local wildlife. We found this dingo right inside the hostel! Amazing how they let Shehzad approach so closely; he must have some sort of power over them...

The old sombrero-cum-bonnet trick!

Looks like there were a few other takers for Mexican Night: Kerstin, Hanna, Caroline, and Maria from left to right.

Look at that: the mole is even included!

It was Mexican Night at the Dingo's Hostel: who was Shehz to deny a little facepaint and a sombrero?

The first group shot, taken at the Greyhound terminal prior to our departure for Fraser Island.

And proceeds to destroy his candle-muffin (courtesy of Maria and Caroline)

The beast emerges!

Waiting to surprise Shehz on his birthday morn as he exits the shower...

A chocolate cake baked by Ian for Maria's Birthday! Sure, it came in a package -- but doesn't it look tasty?!

Shehz -- It stands for "Slick: He Envelops Her! Zounds!" In other words, Shehzad is an unstoppable lady-killing machine. Look at how they flock to him like seagulls to a french fry!

A novelty shot taken at the barbeque last night. We had an extended group hug, and eventually it became time to take a picture of the damn thing. Clockwise from me is: Ro, Maria, Max, Claus, and Caroline. You're all so beautiful!

... Looks like there was a chink in his monkey-space-armour.

A piece of accidental, but original, candle melting art I like to call "Monkey Astronaut". He has two beady eyes there, and a gasmask-like breathing apparatus that's slightly extruded to fit his little snout inside. Notice also the translucent eye-covering, so he can still see whilst performing monkey-experiments in space.

This picture was far less frantic for one of these subjects.

Al taking a time out for the ladies.

Our little beach. Off in the distance, you can see the skyscrapers of Surfer's Paradise. Not the close ones, the farrrrrr ones. Yep, there you go!

Meet Jeremy -- he's a classy fellow.

Erdem loves it too!

Those boys sure do love their surfing!

Shehz is quite excited about something, although I'm not sure what.

Our crew as seen by the ocean.

Can you believe this Bose? People are skywriting your name for you. A note: it's not like the word wasn't complete (i.e. he wasn't spelling... Boise?) -- he was just writing Bose! In fact, he did it twice within a span of about 10 minutes. The second one looked worse than my primary-school handwriting, however, so this one was the keeper. Apologies to those of you who are offended that I assumed the pilot was a male.

Al, however, seems less impressed...

And look -- even while we wait for the train, Shehz manages to keep a smile on his face.

The train station right near our place. We can take this into the downtown area and save ourselves a good 20 minutes of walking. Nice! We'll just pretend you don't have to wait 15 minutes for a train to come in the first place...

Guess who took this one?

Our house.

In the middle of our street.

Our house.