Day 290. Fraser Island

Recovery Day....

After quite a late night with Andrea and Dave out on the balcony drinking until almost the wee hours of the morning, we were greeted with the rise of the children before 6am. We let them all stay up last night playing and watching movies together until 10pm, and were hoping they might sleep in this morning. But no such luck....

I boiled the jug, got the pancake shake out, and made all the kids breakfast. After dealing with the four of them, I set about cooking bacon and eggs for us adults. It was then a lovely lazy morning out on the balcony, with about 5 x cups of tea, while trying to muster up the energy to do something with the day. We were all so tired after yesterdays 8 hours of exploring; as the inland roads are so rough, and it really takes it out of you not only mentally, but physically too.

Scarlett, Sara and Lucy around their cubby

By 10am the kids were getting over the cartoons, so I slipped away with them all and we hit the pool. They played for hours, mermaids being the main game of choice. Then they moved all the pool furniture together, and made a massive cubby house. Lucky it's low season here, and there weren't many people around for them to annoy. Shane, Dave and Adrea joined us for a swim, and we then took turns watching the kids while each couple took off to check out the resorts shops.
 

Shane taking it easy by the pool

We decided to go to the 'Sand Bar' restaurant for lunch, as they do the best chicken schnitzels ever! They also have two great pools there for the kids to swim in, giving us some peace to chat the afternoon away. It's a great spot and we could have sat there all day just relaxing over a couple of beers. Unfortunately though, the tide was coming in over on the eastern beach, and the Barkla's needed to make it back up the beach and to their camp ground before it got any higher.

Shane and Dave waiting patiently for lunch

It was a sad farewell, as there isn't much chance we will see them again on this trip. We are now heading down into Brisbane to finalize everything there, and they are on their way to Wagga to start a new chapter in their lives. We have loved travelling together, and will miss them all heaps. But I know we will defiantly cross paths again someday.





Shane, Scarlett and I then went for a walk along the beach collecting driftwood for a future craft project I have in mind. There were a million soldier crabs also on the foreshore, and it was so funny as poor Scarlett who is usually the first to catch any crabs was really scared of them saying they looked a little to much like spiders. So we just ran towards them and watched them all disappear straight down into the sand.

Soldier Crabs

When we got back to the villa we discovered that it had been serviced; all the beds were made, and it was like no-one had ever been there. Scarlett and I decided to have a little nap that turned into a two and a half hour sleep. When we awoke it was nearly dinner time, so we cooked and sat out on the balcony and enjoyed each others company. This will be the last few times we will be able to do this on the trip, and I am getting sadder and sadder as the days go on, knowing everything we are doing is somehow now the last one for the trip.

When I think back to the day we started this journey, it seems like yesterday. It has been amazing to think how much we have seen, and how far we have travelled. I don't know how we are going to go resettling back into reality, but with the memories we have made and the million photos hopefully the magic of it all won't fade for a long time to come.....