Fraser Island Report

Lazy morning today, other than the 6:30 AM awake, which felt rather late, especially after the 5:30 yesterday and the 4:30 the day before. But the sun goes down early, and I’ve been getting to bed early, and that really does make a difference.

Back from 3 days and two nights on the largest sand island in the world, camping with a self-drive tour. Three 4-wheel drive vans between 30-some people (32?) in our team, no guides and a rough itinerary, as well as a morning-of-departure presentation that was still echoing in many minds even yesterday: “If you don’t listen to me, you’ll be in a whole world of hurt.”
Our van had almost as many mechanical problems as would be possible while leaving it still operable, from overheating and boiling over, a temporarily seized and smoking brake, cracked bearings on the first day, a tire blowout and damage to the rim n the second, to a litany of scratches and dents and saltwater and all sorts of miscellaneous damages throughout the whole trip, I was happy to have attracted the friendship of a mechanically minded fellow from Team 1 (we were team 2) and the rest of my team were happy to let me make the judgement calls and necessary repairs. Lots of fun, a bit of stress. At least until last night, when we got our $50 (each) bond back, or at least $49.50 of it, $5 of the total having gone to replace a sleeping matt that had gotten mangled at some point.
The social dynamics were really interesting, exciting at times. Lots of interaction, I did end up in a bit of a leadership position often times, but I also was willing to back off and let others take control when appropriate.
32 people, 3 very different groups, the character definitely coloured by the majority in each van. Ours was about mid-range, but with wider diversity than anyone, group 1 was quiet ‘cept Steve, the mechanically minded and group 3 was heavy drinking and fun loving. Balance, openness, self-expression. I’m pretty tired still and haven’t got the same burst of creative energy as the girls – little energizer bunnies, them two, and me to a lesser degree. We were dancing fairly continuously, at least whenever cooking, cleaning, hanging out…