Fri 17th Nov - Sunday 19th Nov"Ahhh! Ahhh!". The sound that immediately proceeded the clattering of the 4x4 traversing a creek. Immediately I slammed on the brakes bringing the Juggernaught to a stationary position almost instantaneously. What had happened, I thought to myself. Had more tomatoes fallen of the roof into the beach due to some no doubt sloppy packing, or was it the shear shock of the drop and lack of warning that had led to the girls into another screaming fit. Either way, it surely couldn't be too serious, I was trying my best to drive as steadily as possible. Surprisingly enough though I was wrong. The whiteness of Tess's face told a very different story as I glanced round to see that everyone was okay. What had happed. What had th
e hell had I caused this time. I think being the driver of the vehicle leaves you in a position where you’re always going to feel responsible for anything that happens inside the confines of the metal chassis. Especially when there is no other obvious person to blame. It would become apparent later that this was clearly no-ones fault, a freak accident to which could have happened to anyone, but it sure didn't feel that way for a good few days. Through the screaming and shouting of "Wrap it up" and "put pressure on it", I knew someone was hurt. The mention of blood going everywhere-conjured images of severed limbs from movies such Kill Bill and sent me instantly into a state of shock. Scrambling out the driver’s door just to get some air, let alone open the back door to let people out and to see what had happened, my motor functions seemed to fail to work. The emotional responses of everyone in 
the vehicle was overpowering and seemed to make even the simplest of tasks all the more difficult. Opening the back door there was urgency about everyone. The direction of some people’s eyes and others turned heads fixed towards Kieran, this was the place of incident, and this was the place where the trauma was coming from. Looking across I saw his hand grasping low, and it was then within a split second that all had been revealed. Clutching his, his big toe was a bloody mess, looking like it had been hacked to pieces. We had to do something and fast. Towels were thrown forward primarily to cover the damage up as the feeling of sickness set in among some of the girls, mark, and Kieran him self. There obviously aided in applying pressure and stopping the blood from spilling everywhere from the huge gash, which now dominated Kieran foot. With our breath regained partially the decision was made to head for help. Where though? Fraser Island being very remote and with little civilization, there seemed little chance of medical facilities. The only thing within reasonable driving distance was a small shop and camping sight we'd used earlier on our stay and thus, being the only real option we headed towards it as quick as humanly possible.
Being in the fairly shocked state, will a sense of self-blame on my shoulders, there was no way I was going to drive, and so Steveo took over. The drive seemed to take forever, with everyone quiet from the shock of all that happened. The only words spoken were those of comforting Kieran, trying to keep him as occupied from the gash on his foot. Reassurances of "everything will be fine" and "don't worry mate" spring to mind. Making the shop we got Kieran straight out the back, lying him down with his leg elevated to try and alleviate the bleeding. By this point the girls and mark, the big wimp, have scampered away to try escape the event that was Kieran's toe. I on the the other hand feeling guilty as sin was trying to help as much as possible. No doubt a method to redeem some of self blame but with no avail. With Kieran talking about passing out and "throw up", he still still had time to tell me that it was all an accident and that no-one could possibly be blamed. Kieran's a great bloke. Tall Irish fella with a large build, short redish brown hair and a face best described as, well Irish, his most memorable traits being; - An Irish Accent so thick it was near impossible the majority of times to understand - A high tolerance for pain as he never once screamed or swore - And a very low tolerance for alcohol considering his sized, he got pissed far to easily and drank most nights. The shop keeper was really helpful, providing a first aid kit and directions to the ambulance station a 30 min drive away. It was either this or call for the flying doctors, and considering the associated cost this was best left for the major emergencies. Leaving the rest of the group behind promising to be as quick as possible, Kieran, Adam, Mum (Claire), Steveo at the wheel and I headed out. Using the again the beach as the motorway we rushed south to seek some much needed proffesional medical attention. Kieran was lying in the back of the truck, Adam and I either side for support. 30 mins later we arrived where the paramedic manning the station examined and cleaned up the injured article. It looked pretty bad and luckily nothing had broken. Even more of a bonus was that it would be safe to leave it for a day or so before seeking further medical attention and thus allowing Kieran to experience the remainder of the island, although swimming was off the cards. Whilst the specialist worked on his toe we all distracted him by taking photo's, asking him to pose for all in true Kieran style. If I'm honest though we also did it to have a photographic record to remind us of all that had happened that day.
With everything now resolved as well as could be giving the circumstances and with a little DIY badaging to keep the sand away from the toe (I now hate sand, it get everywhere), we were back on our way to continue the island adventure. Overall it was amazing and I was flabbergasted by some of the sights, Lake Wabby and Mackenzie being the real eye openers, but isn't it funny how the most memorable moments are those of trauma and chaos.Lake Wabby is found about 1km in from the coast and approximately half way up the 160km island. With an amazing emerald green colour, in contrast to the perfect blue sea seen up and down Au's coastline, it made the place very unique. Put into the mix the steep sand dunes that run into and around the lake and frame it perfectly with some of the bushland on the other side its quite easy to forget that where you other with the scene looking more like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara. No wonder this place is talked about up and down the entire eastern coast by fellow backpackers/travellers.
Running down the sand dunes and diving into the water is a common event for all those crazy enough to do it, we on the other hand decided against it. Not because we were wimps or boring (it looked like amazing fun), but simply cautious due to the paramedic mentioning 3 people every year become quadriplegics from performing the travellers ritual, falling into mangled heap and ending up in the water at the bottom. I'm sure many people would think twice if they knew the dangers and likely hood of becoming wheel chair bound for the rest of their lives, but then again i'm sure many wouldn't.
Lake Mackenzie on the other hand is a completely different experience. Further south and inland, it took what seemed like hours to get there. To be honest it was probably longer, but due to the ipod connection in the car and music blasting out the 4x4's speakers, the groups collective singing and general pissing about seemed to make time move a lot quicker. Even after all that had happened with the foot incident, everyone even started to enjoy the huge dumps and diverts along the dirt track. There was still a large amount of cation concerning the positioning of toes so to avoid a reenactment.
Upon arriving, the first thing that hits you is the shear size and how blue the water is. This lake is bloody massive considering its on an island off the coast of Aus. Mind you over here, geographically speaking anyways, everything seems big. With another perfect weather day you vouldn't help but lose yourself in the surroundings. As the day continued the place got busier and busier becoming more of a holiday resort than a remote location.
Ad's and I took it upon ourselves to use this time to catch up on a bit of body maintenance. With a bit of limbering up we were ready to start the long distance main beach to a spit some 600-700m away that stuck out about halfway across the entire lake. Adam as per usual sped into the distance where as I took a more leisurely pace to ensure that I made the entire distance without drowning. Being a fresh water lake there was no added buoyancy to aid me. About half way the crossed my mind as to what the hell I was doing, but as per usual I put my head down and just got on with it. I still hate swimming. Making the shore I was a little bit out of breath, and even more so when Adam and another guy had been observing me for the final stint, informing me that there was something under the water following me popping its head up about 15m behind. This pretty much confirmed that there was no chance I was swimming back, instead the sandy beach would provide a suitable running track and safer route back. Adam the mad man that he is still swam. Admittedly it was probably a turtle but I wasn't staying to find out.
Soon after we jumped back in the 4x4, this time racing against time to make the ferry back to base camp at Rainbow beach. This was nearly without incident, but surprise surprise something had to happen. About 2mins from the ferry and Steveo decided to take us all on a little detour of the beach track and nearly into the sea. This was thankfully just about averted with screams and all, and we finally all made it safely to the ferry, well with the exception of Kierans foot.
Overall Fraser Island was awesome and probably my most favourite part of the east coast even with all that had happened. With beautiful surroundings and a great group, it's no doubt something i'll never be able to forget and constantly wish I was back at. Thrown all together with 2 nights of camping, plenty of alcohol (Ad's and I drank all our Goon on the first night, memory laps resulted), and some manic driving which would scare anyone at times, its easily an experience that comes highly recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment