What makes me go to Fraser's Island then? Well, I have to thank my dear housemate, Joyce for being so enthusiastic and pulling me into joining the adventure. We have been discussing about this even before our exams. It was also a coincidence that my NZ friend, KS will be visiting me during that time; and Joyce's SO (significant other) will also be in Brissy after our finals. So, we drafted out our plan of going there by ourself, we don't like following tours.
To cut the story short, on the 17th November, Joyce woke me up around 6+ in the morning and we brought our luggages to ChinaTown so that we can start our journey there after we rent the car.
We went through so much hurdles before we finally got a car.
First of all, we only have 2 drivers, which are KS and Joyce's SO. KS is under 21, which he is not permitted to drive by those car-renting agency; so our hope was all on Joyce's SO, as he is over 25 and has an international driving licence. Sounds great, aye? Wrong! When we've negotiated everything and wanted to pay the agent, they asked to show the driving licence. Oh well, just show them right, no biggie! But we are so wrong!! To our horror, they wanted to look at the original driving licence too, and Joyce's SO did not bring his original with him, he left it back in TW!! He only has the translated international driving licence with him. OMFG, this is so freaking funny. I think those car-renting agency's people were probably laughing their heads off seeing us like that. Freaking embaressing, can!
We have no choice but to drag our luggages and walked out of that car-renting office and try to think of some other ways to get a car. I even called my friend to ask for help and he was very very very kind enough to offer to rent the car for us on behalf of his name *thanks a zillion, Kev!* While waiting for Kev to come to our rescue, we even decided to drag our luggages back home, if we can't get a car, but I was really determined to go on the trip! I admit I was so determined that I will not drag my luggage back home and I will go to somewhere like maybe Gold Coast or something, just not HOME! LOL...Joyce said she can sense my firmness, and that's what makes this trip a dream come true.
While waiting for Kev, we thought that it's still not so convenient even though we have someone to rent the car for us. You see, what if we can't rent the 4WD when we reach Hervey Bay? Then there goes our Fraser trip. So, we decided to try our luck with another car-renting agency, because we believe different agency has different policies. And guess what, we were right!! I was so excited when Joyce called me and told me Thrifty, another car-renting agency did not insist on looking for the original licence.....which means we've rented the car!! So, I quickly called Kev and told him we've got the car and thank him for his kindness.
After going through all the havoc early in the morning, we finally begin our journey at around 10.30 am. KS was the driver of the day and our destination is Hervey Bay. We decided to stay in Hervey Bay cause we know we will definitely miss the last barge to Fraser's Island, so might as well we take the earliest barge the next day morning.
Oh well, enough of words, here comes the pictures!
#1 ChinaTown
#2 Sad me with our luggages before we got the car
#3 Yay, it's brand new 2008, toyota Aurion, baby!!
#4 Finding our way out without a GPS, back to conventional map
#5 driver of the day, KS
#6 The place we stayed the 1st night
#7 not as bad as I thought, and man did i mention I love double decker bed?
#8 playing with Joyce's SO's professional slr camera
#9 at Hervey Bay
#10 artistic much?
#11 dinner was at Red Rooster. the fries were so much that we were struggling to finish it, so we played a guessing number game and the person who lose will have to eat 5 strands. lol
#12 follow by cold rock after that and back to backpackers for a good night sleep. I think I went to bed at 10pm that night. First time ever! LOL
and next up will be the day we set foot on Fraser's Island. here's a picture of the barge. till then.
