hans zatzka (1859 - 1945), interior with a lightly dressed woman and a lute player, at the swan lake, fairy dance // seventeen, circles (2022)

DAY 2:

Saturday, April 15th, 2017 

Woke up pretty early and had pancakes, toast, cereal and fruit for breakfast. We  got ready for our day on Fraiser island. The first picture is of our rides for the day. They were these all wheel drive trucks. We were able to drive on all type of terrain like the road, the beach, and the forest. The tires were so huge that when we were driving on the road our ears were vibrating! It even tickled my ears a little bit. We caught a 20-minute ferry to Fraiser Island. Known as “ the largest sandpit in the world.” Let me tell you..... it certainly felt like the largest. It was cool at first driving on the beach but after a while, I was like are we ever going to get there??? After about an hour of driving on the beach, we arrived at a spot  to have some morning tea and biscuits. I had a English breakfast tea and an Anzac biscuit. We were able to walk around for a little bit but were told to watch out for cars. I found this so weird like what? watch out for cars.... were on a beach. The time we spent having morning tea about 5 or 6 cars drove by us on the the beach! I also saw a small blue bottle jellyfish washed up on the beach. It is the picture with the footprint and a small plastic bag looking thing! After everyone finished up we went back in the trucks and head to Lake McKenzie. 

We were told we would have about an hour and a half there. I was thinking in my head like wow that’s a long time at a lake... like we will get so bored. The ride over to the lake was extremely long and very bumpy! I couldnt wait till we got there! With traveling on an island is fun, it does not have developed roads. So we ran into some cars that were able to back up and let our big truck drive by. One point we came to a stop for about 5 minutes. We were all wondering what in the world is going on!! There were 2 other tour buses that were going in the opposite direction as us. It took them about 20 minutes to move up off the side of the road for us to pass! It was funny driving by with inches to spare. After driving for what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived. The lake is kept very clean. No food or drinks are allowed down on the lake. (if you were caught it was a $3,000 fine!!!!). While waiting for my friends to come out of the bathroom I read about how the island is full of dingoes and to watch out for them (a dingo is like a wild dog....they may look cute but they are very dangerous!). Unfortunately we didn't end up seeing one at all that day (I was disappointed because Fraiser island is also know as dingoes island and I was hoping to see a wild dingo!). We walked on a small hill then down a path before arriving at the lake. Once we were past the trees and could see the lake my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe my eyes. That was a lake?!? It was not what I had pictured in my mind when I heard we were going to a lake. I pictured a lake with murky water and crappy sand....well Lake McKenzie definitely was not that and absolutely breath-taking. I was sad we ONLY had an hour and a half there!! I could have stayed there all day! 

The sand was so soft and had high levels of silica in them meaning that we could rub sand all over our hair and skin for a softer smoother feeling. Also if we had jewelry to rub sand on it and it will shine it right up!

This was actually the first time I used my GoPro underwater! I had so much fun taking videos because the water was SO clear! It was an amazing day even If we only had a short amount of time at the lake. We headed back up the hill to go to the main lodge site for lunch. I made myself a ham and cheese wrap with cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce in it. After lunch we headed back towards the ferry. The ride home was much more enjoyable. We had the best music playing (like a relaxing beach playlist playing throwback songs that reminded me of summer days at my dad’s house that my stepmom would play those kind of songs.) I was able to take a quick little nap on the ride home. After taking the ferry home and driving the backroads home, we got back to our hostel for dinner. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner! We all were able to shower before having dinner. Tour three meet up with us there and we were able to mingle for half an hour before heading to Airlie beach.... This was the LONG bus ride (10 hours to be exact) to our next destination. We watched 2 movies on this long bus ride. I didn't get too much sleep on this bus ride. I just could not get comfortable. I was able to put my headphones in and get a few hours of sleep in before arriving at Airlie beach at 7am the next morning. For day 3 was happening with or without any sleep......