Travelling tittle-tattle, tall tales and shameless name-dropping by Jon ‘Don’t Call Me’ Norman

About Me

My photo
London, United Kingdom

Tuesday 30 January 2007

Nine go mad on Fraser!

When I fulfill another of my lifetime ambitions of becoming an award-winning children's book writer I'm going to pen a series of self-help travel books aimed at the under-9's who want to journey the world on their own. For the chapter on Fraser Island I'll title it 'You'd better grow the fuck up quickly you little bastards 'cos if you think jumping around in a sandpit qualifies as a 'fun time' then wait until you get to Fraser Island.  IT FUCKING ROCKSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

I've had some great times since arriving in Australia. There have been some seriously funny moments. Some superb characters have lit up my path from Sydney through to Brisbane, from Adelaide to Perth and Melbourne then back again. But my Fraser Island of adventure ranks right up there. It was 4 nights and 5 days of the wildest rides, amazing views and beautiful scenery interspersed with countless knees on the ground, floor slapping, hysterically funny incidents.

In preparing for this 'blog, I sat down and tried to write a list of the funniest moments of my life. You know those times when you've laughed so long and loud it goes beyond being funny and you almost experience a quasi-religious moment within yourself. When your laughter is so pure that you are almost watching yourself flail about with an enormous grin stretching your mouth past what is appropriate. It is during these moments that you know it truly is good to be alive. You can find the list at the bottom of this 'blog. You will not be familiar with all the tales but I'm sure at least one will elicit a snort, a chuckle and make you pause to remember a night when you saw something so funny time seemed to slow down. When you became aware that all around were beside you on the ground, tears of laughter streaming down contorted faces, and you hoped the feeling would last forever.

And so it is with a smile on my face that I will always look back on my memories of the wild abandon and sheer recklessness in which my group took on everything Fraser Island could throw at us

9 = Drinking games I've learnt in Australia

Moon in the glass
I took a train
Higher Lower
Ka-Kaaaaaa
One up one down
Roxanne
One Red Hen
The cup tip race

....and to think it had all started so peacefully.

I'd flown into Hervey Bay early doors on the Friday morning. I'd taken a valium for the 80 minute flight and thus spent a very relaxing afternoon wandering up and down the beach and checking out the jetty.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


That night I'd unexpectedly bumped into Danny and his mate, Matt. So, we spent the evening supping a few brews and watching England lose in the cricket.

It was like old times. I wasn't in Danny's party so the next day I awoke and met the group I was to be touring with. There were 33 going on the tour and we were split into 3 groups. I was put into the A-team alongside ten others. We'd be spending the next three days squeezed together either in a 4x4 or at the campsite.

It's at times like these that you cross your fingers and pray you get a good bunch of mates. Little did I know that I was about to meet 8 of the funniest, mischievous and most likeable characters I'd met all tour, plus two South Korean girls.

So let me introduce them.

Name: Bob
Age: He celebrated his 37th birthday on Fraser
From: All over the place



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting



Bob is an absolute legend and he took up the challenge of the driving responsibilities which pretty much made our holiday as a result. For while the other groups were gingerly creeping their way around the island, petrified they might get a bit of sand in the jeep, Bob approached it like he'd just been bitten by a Redback spider and only had 2 hours to live.

Bob also managed to fall asleep in the sea, on the beach, on a road, on a bowling green and lying up a flight of stairs.  Considering we were only with him for three nights this was quite a feat.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Name: Hugh
Age: 36
From: Manchester

Bob was traveling around with his old Uni mate Hugh. They'd known each other for 15 years and Hugh had only just found out that Bob's real name was Dave. Hmmmmm. Hugh had brought 150 fags with him for the 3-day trip, so I knew we'd get on. He didn't suffer fools gladly and had no time for the many varied drinking games on offer. Not that this stopped him getting as pissed as us.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Name: Katie
Age: 18
From: Stratford
Funny as fuck, feisty and always up for a laugh, Katie and Lottie are traveling around together. Katie was the last to bed and almost the first to rise every morning. She also came closest to killing us all.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Lottie
Age: 18
From: Stratford
Katie's partner in crime Lottie also lit up the group with her infectious appetite to our adventure. In a way these two girls were the leaders of our pack. They were rarely quiet and were the reason everyone got talking so quickly on the first day.Ladies, I salute you!


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Nick
Age: 19
From:Kent(formerly Germany)

Extremely intelligent and funny guy he'd have been untouchable in the piss-take sweeps. Fortunately for us he had a strange English/German hybrid accent and couldn't pwonounce his R's properly so we had three days of fun out of that.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Tim
Age: 19
From: Germany

Fairly quiet chap with a strong Germanic jaw, Tim didn't say much until the drinking
games started. And then he was transformed! His face would light up and anything that was lost in translation didn't matter as his eyes managed to convey any humour lost, a great guy.

Timo aka T-Bone
Age: 19
From: France

Brought with him to the island a stinking cold.  He took full use of the group box of tissues. Every hour or so we'd hear what sounded like a foghorn going off in the back of the jeep or outside the tent, this would be quickly followed by the group shouting 'T-Booooooooooone!


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Babs
Age: 27
From: Austria

A great laugh and excellent drinking game companion, whilst sober Babs was fairly restrained for most of the trip. Right up until the last day when we were trying to sand-surf and then suddenly it was as though she was on glue.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


The two South Korean girls

They couldn't swim, they didn't drink, by day three their clothes were still impeccably clean (while my Fulham shirt is still battered despite 3 washes) and they only said four words the entire trip. But these 4 words were possibly the funniest of the tour.


The eleven of us comprised to make up the A-Team.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Within minutes of being put together the officious and rude staff ordered us to buy provisions for the 3-day tour.  If you ever book a Fraser Island tour do not book into Beaches hostel.

Lottie and I had to get the food shopping while Bob picked up the alcohol. We were taken to a nearby supermarket with $15 from each of the party. On the way there another 'rude as fuck' guide told us we had no more than 15 minutes to get everything we needed. Dire warnings of hefty fines and catastrophic consequences rained down on upon us. So when we arrived Lottie and I had manic quarter of an hour when we both fulfilled another lifetime ambition by taking part in a supermarket sweep.

We managed to get everything we needed (minus ham and toilet rolls) in the allotted time, plus a surprise birthday cake for Bob.

We got back to the others and were forced to listen to another hour of people telling us what we couldn't do, telling us off and treating us like kids. It put our backs up and possibly led to our defiant attitude to authority for the next 3 days.By the time we were ready to leave the inside of our jeep resembled a traveling off-licence. There was beer and cases of wine everywhere you looked. We were sitting on them, leaning on bottles of mixer, ciggies stuffed into every available hole. While all the food was crammed into boxes, and transported on top of the 4x4 along with our camping gear and bags. We were on our way!

Fraser is renowned for being the largest sand island in the world. It's about 100 miles long, you can drive 4x4s and land planes on the beach and in the centre are several large lakes. Blah, blah. blah. Go and read a guidebook. Essentially, and more interestingly, it's an off-road paradise. Anyone who fancies himself as a rally driver should go to Fraser. The pathways and beaten tracks that you have to drive down to get to the inland lakes and beauty spots are on the one hand extremely dangerous and on the other as much fun you can have driving without Gillian Taylforth in the passenger seat.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


It was a short ferry ride over to the Island and once we drove off the boat we were on our own until we reached camp that night. Bob put his foot down on the accelerator, overtook the only 4x4s to dare drive in front of us and off we went.

The first stop was about 20 minutes drive away. We were all still trying to get to know each other and it was a little quiet in the back of the jeep. But this wasn't to last.

At the first location we were faced with a 3-kilometre trek through a wooded area.  We approached it in the way we did for the remaining tour, without any forward planning and an attitude which bordered on the ridiculous.  So off we trekked, without cameras, swimming gear, water, food, a map & any real idea of where we were going.

It was a lovely spot, a clearing of trees, led to a round lake, surrounded by white sand and a naked old guy sunbathing on the other side.  Beautiful.  As mentioned I didn't take my camera and was cursing this fact until we got to our second destination.

Lake Margaret or Mckenzie (or something like that) was even more stunning. And we stayed there for an hour or so.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


It was getting late in the afternoon by this point and we were all starting to get a bit more comfortable with each other. And it showed. Bob was starting to drive more and more like a total lunatic. And we were fellow inmates in the back of the jeep screaming him on.

As it was a self-drive tour we had nobody telling us what to do.  Which was a good thing; we'd all had enough of that back in Hervey Bay. We'd been instructed to stick to 40 kph on the small roads inside the island but we gave a quick 'fuck you' to that as Bob approached them between 60 and 80kph.

It was mental. We were bumping all over the place, legs flying high, elbows smashing against elbow, heads against windows and all the while our cheesy arsed grins were being beamed back and forth to each other. As we hurtled down one side of the hill Nick suddenly erupted in laughter.

From the top of the jeep, where all our food was stored, a packet of cereal had bust open and Rice Krispies were flying out the back of the 4x4. This just made us egg Bob on to drive even faster and so he did.

Moments later there was uproar in the back as beer started spraying all over the windows and inside of the 4x4. One particularly memorable jolt had sent Hugh's foot through a six-pack of VB. While Katie's slight frame had somehow managed to break another two cans. A jet of beer covered Katie and Hugh and the screams of hilarity were quickly mixed in with the smell of alcohol.

We were all laughing so much at this point and it was with a groan that we pulled up behind a slower 4x4. We trundled along for a couple of minutes unable to pass. As we went down another steep incline we hit a deep pit at the bottom of the pass before the road curved sharply upwards to the right. We all tutted and agreed how much more fun it would have been if we'd hit that section at top speed.

I'm not sure whose idea it was but suddenly everyone had that look in the eyes. Before we knew it Bob had reversed half way back up the hill and was revving the engine.

It was like a scene from the Dukes of Hazzard. Yeeeee-Haaaaaawwwww!!!!! With Rice Krispies streaming off the top of the jeep, the stink of alcohol everywhere and Katie soaked in beer, we flew down the side of the hill, bumping and jolting all the way before hitting the bottom at such speed that I thought we were going to fly off the other side, hurtling down the hill to our doom. Ha ha ha!!!!!!Fraser Island DOES RULE!!!!!!

From this point onwards it was no holds. Every single time we were put in a position where we weren't sure we should do something we made sure we did. The group mentality was born in that moment and the success of our tour assured. It's a fantastic memory.

We continued on for another 20 minutes or so, every now and again reversing back up the hill and accelerating at any particularly juicy looking divots in the road. But after a while it got too much for one of the South Koreans. By now they were both sitting in the front of the jeep. Earlier, when they'd been in the back, and while Bob was cutting loose, I kept catching glimpses of one of their expressions and couldn't work out whether she was terrified and feared for her life. Or whether, like us, she was having a jolly good time.

Later that afternoon, with Bob once again attempting a do or die reverse and charge manoeuvre at a nasty looking stretch of the road it got too much. Unnoticed by those in the back, the South Korean leant over to Bob, touched him on the leg and implored him 'Please God, no more'.

I guess she wasn't having a jolly good time. We had been told that we had to be back in the campsite by 5pm. The tide meant that some stretches of the beach leading to the camp were impassable and to be late would mean an uncomfortable night on our own in the jeep. Yeah well. Sod that. We sauntered back into camp a good hour or so late and copped another barracking from the camp guard. He was an unusual bloke called Macca. Extremely camp, part boy band, part 50's theatre-hall, part Steve Irwin, part ballerina, part god knows. He'd obviously been bitten by one too many death adders in his time.

So while half the team put up the tent in the dark the rest sorted the food out. It was at this point that we realized that it wasn't just the Rice Krispies that had come a cropper. When we opened up our food we saw that the butter had melted and spread over pretty much everything. And Bob's birthday cake wasn't going to make the party.



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Regardless, that night we cooked up a storm, drunk far too much cheap vino rouge, played even more drinking games, sat on the beach, danced on the tables and got in trouble (again) for making too much noise. Great stuff.

The next morning we awoke bleary eyed. I'd crashed out in the jeep (surprisingly comfortable) and as we got ourselves ready for another day it was left to the birthday boy, Bob to once again take up driving responsibilities.

The day was spent traveling at break neck speed to some more delightful destinations. My personal favourite was Indian Head. It was far too high up for a vertigo suffering fool like me. But I managed to take a few photos before my hangover and nerves got the better of me.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting



By luck we made it back to our camp for lunch at around 2pm. So it was with a shock that we were informed that everyone had to be back by as the tide would be coming in. We hadn't seen nearly enough stuff so we made the group decision to completely ignore these orders and we high-tailed it out of the camp just as all the do-gooders were coming in.

We didn't have much time and we weren't sure where to go. So we opted to visit a creek 30 minutes drive away where we'd been the day before. We were racing against the clock (and tide) so we decided we'd race to the creek, get changed in record time (this only involved taking off shorts and t-shirts), running to the top of the creek and having a race down it.

So it was with something akin to military like precision that we arrived at our destination and high-tailed it to the top of the creek. The current was strong enough to let you float to the bottom. It was an idyllic spot, very relaxing and perfect for those wishing to unwind.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting



So what people must have thought as they saw the 9 of us fighting, yelling, screaming and half-drowning each other as we raced to the bottom. There were half-nelson's being performed underwater, shorts being yanked down, head dunks and all manner of whooping and wailing. For the record, I didn't win. Back in the jeep, breathless, soaking and laughing our heads off we dashed back to camp.And by some miracle we didn't get another ear bashing.

That night pretty much followed the first except we started on champagne as it was Bob's birthday. I'd promised myself not to drink any more of the dodgy red wine but as soon as the drinking games started this went out the window. We joined forces with a table of Scousers who taught us two new drinking games and the hilarity soon reached fever pitch.

With complaints from those camping in the posh bit that we were being too rowdy we were sent to the beach in shame. One of the lads had brought an ipod and speakers and it gave us the chance to hear music for the first time in a while.

It obviously got the better of me and Nick as we spent a good 20 minutes dancing away to Lily Allen while the rest of the party shone torches on us and sang away.

The 3rd and last day on Fraser once again began with a sore head and much laughter about the previous night's entertainment. We still had various sights to see and after a bit of a delay we were once again off on our travels.

The highlight of the day's trip was a visit to a lake situated next to steep sandy bank. We'd been told you could surf down it. So we brought with us two cooler lids with the intention of doing just this. But despite our best efforts, (honourable mention to Katie who appeared to be dry humping the sand) we gave up and relaxed in the water until we started to worry we'd not make the only ferry back to Hervey Bay.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


You'd have thought that by now we'd have been used to Bob's driving. Not a bit of it. The pain we had to endure on the last day far surpassed the previous two days. This was partly because of a delay in getting to our ferry. Of the other 4x4s had suffered an electrical problem, had burst into flames and completely burnt out. This meant that several of the roads to the ferry were completely blocked. So Bob had to really put his foot down as we'd once again left it far too late to make our rendezvous point. It was also the last chance we were going to get to enjoy the crazy driving conditions so Bob really went for it.

It's a bizarre thing when you're talking to someone and you're on the same eye level. Then seconds later you're still looking them straight in the eye but both your bums are in the air and your heads are centimeters from crashing into the roof. It goes without saying that once again we were the last group to turn up. Bob then tried to sneak our car past the waiting jeeps so we'd be off the ferry at the other side first. But he was rumbled.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


A quick kip on the ferry back was the only preparation for our last night together. After getting changed back at the hostel our team (minus the South Koreans) went out for a bite to eat. Being Monday night it was hardly the busiest of evenings. And we were still a little perturbed when we turned up at the town's nightclub as the only two people in there came dashing up to us exclaiming 'Argh! People! We're so glad, we've been here an hour!'

We were all pretty jaded from our trip but four shots in ten minutes certainly perked us all up.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


After kicking out time, Nick, Bob and I espied a lawn bowls club. So naturally we broke in and mucked about for a while. Bob then passed out. I can't remember what else we got up to but we were there for a while. After waking Bob up and dragging him back to camp we found most of our group had also passed out, chucked up or gone to sleep. But a few hardy souls remained. So we broke into the swimming pool and continued our merry evening.

This was where Bob managed to fall asleep on some stairs and also where we got in trouble for the final time of the holiday. One of the other group started moaning at us to keep the noise down. It was only 4am so I, Nick and Tim told him to shut it, carried Bob to bed, went for a final dip in the pool before crashing out.


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


And that was pretty much it. Fortunately I was on the same flight back to Sydney as Bob and Hugh so I had someone to share the hangover with.

But it was a sad morning as we all said our goodbyes, took e-mail addresses and promised to meet up back in England. Once again I'd come to the end of another amazing Aussie chapter.

My (far from definitive) list of 100% funny moments. Post your suggestions!

Neil Durrell's ill-fated pond jump at the Rookery
Percy's mum's skiing machine
The Quarry
"try and breath beer"
Jamo's 21st
Dan Tomason's 'piano entrance' at Chani's trip party
Gilo singing Barry White at Jamie's Karaoke leaving-do
Manky Jon's Ringside striptease
My dad shouting that David Ginola is a 'dirty Belgique' while Fulham were playing Tottenham
Jez on karaoke pointing and singing "You're Homosexual" to a pub full of Hull locals to the tune of EMF's 'Unbelievable'
My first 100% splif with Nicky B, Kirstie and Shona
Nicky B naked, apart from a pair of wellies, jumping up and down on that green mini metro
Jez putting the pizza in my face (twice)
Jules knocking over the cyclist
"Thank you Cincinnati!" 'The Weapon' and the other 7 days of laughter in Turkey
Fraser Island

No comments: