Rainbow Beach

So today we got up around 8:30, packed up our stuff and headed out to the bus to get to Rainbow Beach for our trip to Fraser Island. We stopped at the travel agents on the way and booked our first buses for New Zealand.

The bus left at 10:30 and we got to Rainbow Beach just after 4pm, with a 50 minute lunch stop around 2. We had a huge portion of chips and gravy to share.

When we got to Rainbow beach it was still boiling so we were going to head to the beach. The hostel we are staying at has free body board hire so we asked to use them. The girl behind the reception said someone had been stung by a bluebottle  jellyfish earlier in the day so suggested we avoid it. Apparently the wind can bring in a whole group. She suggested instead we take the boards up to the sand dune and do some sand boarding and watch the sun set. So that's what we did.  It was a bit of hike uphill to the sand dune but it was so worth it for the view. We took some photos of the views (which are just not as good as the real thing; not even close) and then trudged up to the top of the sand dune to sand board down.  This failed miserably. The boards just wouldn't go down. We tried pushing with our feet, running jumps, standing on them, sitting/lying/kneeling in different positions everything. Nothing made them go. We got all covered in sand for no reason.

We gave up the sandboarding and went and sat down to watch the sunset. It was beautiful but I have seen better. It went down very quickly. After the sun had set around 7pm we headed back down towards the hostel. It was pretty dark by the point and when we heard a rustling in the shrubbery whilst walking through a wooded area, Lauren had a heart attack, screamed and started rushing away. I just laughed.

We got back around 7:45pm and asked the reception where I supermarket was. We had to be quick as it was about to shut. We got supplies for our Fraser Island trip and then looked for some dinner. We asked at the hostel and they told us everything shuts at 8. We trudged around trying cafe after cafe who told us they were shut or closing. Eventually we found a place that was open but it real expensive so we got the cheapest pizza to share. 

After the pizza we went back to the hostel and sorted ourselves out for the trip tomorrow. There's huge black beetles lying playing dead all round the hostel. Hopefully none will sneak in the gap under the door during the night. Some reason we booked a private double room at this hostel. I think it was only a couple of extra $ each. It's so nice to have our own room with an ensuite and a ceiling fan.

(Pictures will be posted at some point. The WiFi is playing up.)