D-I-N-G-O!

When was the last time you were out with your morning coffee and had a visit from a Dingo? For us, that was today. Sarah and I are progressively sleeping later and later…we made it to 6AM this morning! I was out looking at the view (with my camera) when I turned around and a wild dingo was within 30’ of me! Sarah was also out, close to the car (using the facilities in fact) and the guy just strolled on by. We think he was doing his morning rounds and checking if any campers left scraps about. The dingoes on Fraser are quite bold – used to seeing people and unfortunately used to waste that people leave around. There are signs all over the island to be “dingo savvy” - “mind your children” and don’t leave them unattended. It’s pupping season for dingoes and they can be aggressive when finding food.
We headed out on the beach (avoided the inland sand track driving today for the most part) and visited the Maheno shipwreck – a 1933 luxury liner that crashed on the east coast of the island. From there, we went on to Middle Rocks and took a dip in the Champagne Pools. Now you might think, since this is our honeymoon and all, that we are talking about a bathtub full of champagne. In fact, they are nothing that conventional. Champagne Pools are rock formations where ocean waves crash over into semi-protected pools where there are shellfish, small fish and other cool creatures (see anemone picture below!). The crashing water is bubbly and if you use your imagination, resembles champagne.
We also took a hike up a very large sandblow – they were hard to climb up but very fun to jump down, as you sank deep into the sand with every leap. From the top of the blow we saw another type of blow – coming from the humpback whales jumping off shore. Very cool!
Our search for a camping spot took us back down the beach which is apparently not only a road, but also a runway (see picture below of us playing chicken with a plane!). We explored more of the island and settled into a beachfront spot relatively early. Morning came along with fresh dingo tracks around our campsite.