Rainbow Beach & Fraser Island

I'm not sure how the name of this...village? hamlet?...can be justified when the sand is BLACK (ew). 

Apparently the name derives from the coloured sands and cliffs (not walking distance), but after a long spell of torrential rain the sun fought its way through thick black cloud and brought an actual rainbow with it which was quite nice.

I'd gone out to take a quick look at the beach while the rain was holding off but ended up on an hour and a half walk which culminated in running down an enormous sand dune! It was as scary as it was thrilling - a couple of locals I met on the way warned me not to run down the other side at high tide aaaand I did. But all's well that ends well - aside from almost going arse over tit, sinking in the deep sand and having to scramble over a fence to get back onto the walking track, it went very smoothly!

Fraser Island - worth the hype?

At 126km long and 22km wide at its widest point, Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. Made up of 98% sand and 2% rock, it sounds pretty impressive, especially when there are entire rain forests growing out of pure sand. Fraser Island has been carved into the backpacker route for years, but does it live up to the hype?

Beautiful Lake McKenzie - just a shame I couldn't see it in the sun

Crystal clear creeks flowing through lush sub-tropical rainforest

A shipwreck from 1935

Rock like formations made entirely from sand

Dingo spotting!

I'm glad I saw Fraser Island but I'm equally relieved I didn't book onto a 2 or 3 day overnight trip; it's not AMAZING as many people would have you believe. Of course, that's just one girl's opinion. I would also go from Noosa next time because there's nothing to do in Rainbow Beach...especially when it's raining! Next stop, Hervey Bay...got a couple of phone calls lined up for potential whale watching jobs :)