Thursday 25 October 2012

Island Desert


Hop in your 4-wheel drive, hang on tight and take one of the sand tracks to the interior of the island. I should add here that if you don't have much padding on your bum, expect some bruises and a good shaking up! It doesn't look too bad from this pic, but believe me, there are some massive ruts in the track, and being sand, it shifts, so you'll get thrown all over the place. But it's well worth it to get to the desert.


Moreton Island is the third largest sand island in the world, and not surprisingly the centre is very desert-like. Massive sand dunes have formed which are the perfect playground for visitors to race down a 90m mountain at 60kms an hour on a sand toboggan (read a small piece of plywood), your face centimetres away from the blistering hot sand! Sounding like fun? Hell on earth, but GREAT fun, believe me. Once you have removed sand from every conceivable orifice, and you want to take the thrill ride all over again, you have to climb back to the top of the dunes. This is a workout for your legs that you will feel for at least a week later. Who knew that climbing a sand dune was such hard work! 
Come back tomorrow and we'll have a more relaxing time.

1 comment:

nathalie, avignon said...

Al, thanks for this wonderful series, I'm enjoying it tremendously.

Seeing the photos I figured it was Fraser island. I've never been to either Moreton or Fraser islands and that's one of my greatest regrets - perhaps a reason to go back downunder one day?

How did you go to Moreton? With your own 4WD or with a tour?

And by the way thanks for your kind words about the changes in my blog and personal life. After being divorced for several years I'm actually moving in with the new man in my life so the reason behind the change is a very happy one. Take care,
Nathalie