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After Sydney we left Simone & Mark behind and set off up the east coast for the next part of our 3 week adventure before we would return to Sydney for the wedding. Our first stop was at Hervey Bay from where we would set sail on our 3 day trip to Fraser Island – the largest sand island in the world & a World Heritage Site. The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, wallum & peat swamps, sand dunes & coastal heaths and fantastic lakes. The weather wasn’t brilliant (we were there just after the Brisbane & Queensland floods) but we enjoyed the drive along 75 mile beach, the main highway. All transport is 4WD because all the roads/tracks are sand. The sights included The SS Maheno Shipwreck (drifted onto the beach in 1935 after a cyclone), Eli Creek, Pinnacle Rocks, Indian Head and wild dingoes! Surprisingly we had the same guide that our daughter Abi had had 4 yrs previously! We walked across Hammerstone Sandblow (a huge sand dune) to Lake Wabby where we had a refreshing swim. The dune moves about 3m every year so in time Lake Wabby will disappear. We also swam in Lake McKenzie where the sand - 98% quartz – is an excellent skin exfoliator. Needless to say we all gave it a try – didn’t seem to make us look any younger though! We had a walk in the rain forest where a leech attached itself to my ankle and had to be burned off with a cig lighter! Luckily my ankle soon recovered before the next part of our trip.