Rainbow beach- sand surfing

Rainbow beach is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world and we are here enjoying everything about it.  It got it's name because the sand that surrounds the beach is all different colours (yellow, white, orange, purple, blue, red).  Above the beach are the Carlo Blow Sand dunes where we enjoyed sand boarding and sledding as well as the quiet sunsets and sand trekking.  Derek and I have agreed that we have never seen such a place before.  We first stumbled across it a few mornings ago.  We put the first footsteps on the dunes that day.  It was absolutely breathtaking (and scorching hot).  It was like we were walking in the desert until we reached the cliff and saw the water. So close yet so far away as you are prohibited to access the beach via the dunes.

Rainbow beach appears to be a hub for backpackers.  However, it is very quaint, clean and easy to take in. We went to Fraser Island for the day via ferry and safari truck.  The boys loved this as we got to drive on the beaches.  It's amazing. Braden even got to sit in the front seat with the driver to act as co-polite.  There were 15 of us with the tour  guide.  Cameron explained to us that the beach was considered a highway and the speed limit was 80 km/h in the deep sands and water.  Scary stuff! At one point, carter and I were feeling a tad car sick but it eventually passed :-)

On this adventure, we saw a dugong swimming in the water, only one dingo and a monitor lizard.  We swam in lake Mackenzie which is pristine rain fed lake (soft, silky rain water: crystal clear water and white sandy bottoms).  You can see the bottom on the other side of the lake! We also did some tubing in the river which was especially fun for Carter. Lastly, we hiked through a sub tropical rainforest.  The vegetation was spectacular. The size of the trees were enormous. We learned that the top 7 deadliness snakes live on Fraser Island ( but we didn't see any). The ocean waters are not swimmable because great white sharks, bull and tiger sharks frequent them (but we did not see any! Even tho the fisherman did the days before).

Today, which is our last day in Rainbow beach started with an early departure to go feed the dolphins at the pier.  This is not a tour and if you are lucky you can buy a fish at the docks for $5 and get close and personal with the somewhat resident dolphins. There is a pod that comes every morning between 530-8 looking for fish.  They have been doing this for years .  Sometimes up to eight swim in but today we saw only two.  The boys each got to feed them and were so thrilled. We ran into a lady afterwards that recognized us from the morning and she said she was admiring how excited the kids were.

We were all exhausted from the early mornings of the past few days so we went back to the resort and had a nap as Derek went to the Anzac day celebrations.   This year marked the 100 year anniversary - it is considered the time when both Australia and New Zealand became nations.  It is celebrated similar to our Remembrance Day, but it's more specific to one eight month battle that was considered a huge military failure.  Derek went to the parade and then to listen to few speakers.    It appeared to him that it was more celebrated than ours at home, with many more young people and families.  

Later in the day, we went for a walk along the beach, watching the four by fours plough across the sand.  To finish the day, we did some more sand sledding and watched the sunset for the sand dunes.   In the morning, we drove to Brisbane for our flight to Airlie Beach, where we will hopefully head out to the Great Barrier Reef In the days ahead.