Frazer Island over Australia Day weekend (Steve's belated birthday present). A weekend of camping and 4-wheel driving on this strictly beach island. It is literally a beach island. The beach is not used for sunbathing. It is a highway. And the middle of ths island is all sand as well, so it made for a very bumpy ride but a very happy birthday boy.
This island is off of Queensland and has a population of wild dingoes. Everywhere you go are signs reading 'Be Dingo Safe.' It lists what to do in case of emergencies of a dingo encounter (look it in the eye, cross your arms, if you are with another adult stand back-to-back, do not run away, always accompany small children). It also listed how to prevent encounters with dingoes such as storing food in the car overnight and under no circumstances should you feed a dingo.
Easy enough. Although I was still scared that a dingo may attack me. They are cute. They look just like dogs. And they are not afraid of people in the sense that they came onto our campsite every night and stood about 6 feet from us. But they are scared if they feel they are being threatened. For instance, as I was scared of being attack, I was on the lookout for dingoes one evening after dinner. It was dark out so it's hard to see sometimes. Every movement of the wind in the bushes would scare me. And finally, a dingo was trotting along out of a bush on the side of our campsite I jumped up and screamed. The poor thing, I scared it more than it scared me. It flinched and scampered away tripping over itself.
The morning after the night we arrived I was packing up our site. We had just learned that Keith and Becky welcomed Maddie into the world!!!! Steve was sitting in the tent doorway looking perplexed. "Where are my thongs?" he asked me. "What do you mean, didn't you take them inside the tent last night?" I pointed to the outside of the tent. Of course I would assume he took everything inside the tent. That's what I would do. Just incase there is a masked murderer or a thief on the island trying to get whatever they can from innocent people sleeping. Always bring everything in the tent so not to tempt those people.
"No, I left them outside the tent. The dingoes must have gotten them." I thought it was a possibility. I mean, if I was afraid of a masked murderer traveling all the way to this remote island, getting through on a 4WD and taking the lives of innocent people, why would it be unlikely that a dingo (animals which were prevalent on the island and which we had seen just the night before) had taken them. Besides, hadn't a dingo eaten a baby before?
Still, as I didn't have proof, I couldn't be 100% positive. Innocent until proven guilty, right?
We finished packing up the site and were spending a few moments enjoying the weather before driving to our next destination. Steve did a scope of the site ensuring we didn't forget anything. And you'll never guess....there on the hill, 10 feet from the entrance to our tent were the platforms or base of Steve's thongs. Unless it was the masked murder, the dingo had taken his thong from right outside our tent in the middle of the night (we didn't even hear them!), taken the thongs only 10 feet away and proceeded to eat the strap on both thongs, again we didn't hear them/it chewing away at the thongs (They are so sneaky quiet).
But mystery solved. "The dingo ate my thong!" Steve proclaimed. It was a funny moment. Not only do they look like dogs, but they have similar interests as well (eating and chewing on people's shoes). Luckily Steve had a pair of boots he could wear for the rest of the trip.
Other than that exciting Aussie initiation, Frazer Island had gorgeous pure water lakes. One was so blue and clear with white sand beaches that I felt like I was in the carribean. Another lake was the color of honey - it was just beautiful and so peaceful. It was a great trip and Steve was very happy with his birthday present.
Don't forget to be Dingo Safe - be sure to accompany your children, and thongs, at all times.
