I flew from Melbourne up to Brisbane and drove up the coast to Hervey Bay. From there, I took a day tour out to Fraser Island or K’Gari (which means paradise). It is the largest sand island in the world. The sand is constantly being moved across the island by the wind in big sand blows that cover over the forest and everything! I got to see them when I took a ride in a tiny little plane that took off and landed right on the beach (one of only two places in the world where you can do that!) I had never been in a tiny plane like that before, but I wasn’t too scared like I thought I’d be. It was very bumpy flying over the island though! We also visited the Maheno shipwreck, went swimming at Lake Mackenzie which had gorgeous clear water and a pure white sand beach, and took a short hike through the rainforest. The ride around the island was pretty crazy. The bus was a four wheel drive with huge wheels, and it was specially made for use on Fraser Island. The inland tracks are all sand and they have tons of holes and bumps so we bounced all over the place. Fortunately the driver offered me the very front seat, so I didn’t get sick from the motion. Then we also drove up the beach right along the water line because that’s where the sand was packed down. That was less bumpy but more wet!

After Fraser Island I traveled down the Sunshine Coast. I stayed in Noosa Heads and from there I went to a huge market, visited several beaches along the coast (not as spectacular as I was expecting), and saw some of Australia’s Big Things. In case you aren’t familiar with the Big Things, these are roadside stops with giant sculptures of…things. There are tons of them all over Australia. I visited the Big Pelican and the Big Pineapple. They made me smile! On my way back to Brisbane I drove the inland route and stopped at a few towns that were supposed to be cute (they weren’t — they were just touristy).