Fraser Island

Early January while on holidays, I decided to take my son and myself for a long drive up the north coast of Queensland to Hervey Bay.

It was a very easy and pleasant 4 hour drive via the Bruce Highway to the idyllic seaside settlement of Hervey Bay.

The previous night I booked 4.5 * accommodation at the Ramada Hervey Bay right on the Esplanade through my trusty travel partner - lastminute.com.au.  I have now used this last minute accommodation booking service twice and I have to admit that both times I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality and price of the accommodation.

Possibly the only gripe my 11-year-old son had about the hotel was the lack of in-room WI-FI service.  During our first night at the hotel, they were also experiencing technical difficulties with their in-room cable TV and therefore we were only able to watch commercial channels and not pay-per-view (which my budget is thankful for anyway!).

The next day we ventured out to the beautiful Fraser Island and embarked on a guided group tour of this magnificent sand island.  Our tour was through Fraser Explorer Day Tours.  The day included courtesy pick up from your hotel in Hervey Bay, ferry across to Fraser Island, air-conditioned coach travel while on Fraser Island, buffet lunch and expert commentary about the island.

This tour was awesome and the lunch at the resort was delicious.  We also got to meet some very nice tourists from overseas and chatted while we ate.

The only disappointment during this tour was that we couldn't use the Resort swimming pool to cool off after walking on the scorching hot sand.

I've included further information about Fraser Island below, including some facts, historical information about the island and some do's and don'ts.

I would highly recommend a visit to Fraser Island, whether self-guided or fully-guided, it is a trip worth taking at least once in your life!

Fraser Island is situated just off the south Queensland coast opposite Hervey Bay. The island is about 120 kilometres long and between 5 and 25 kilometres wide.

Dozens of lakes, rainforest and huge sandblows cover vast parts of the island. People who visit Fraser Island for the first time often struggle to find the words to describe the beauty of this magical island. But also animal life, especially the 230 species of birds, Australia's purest dingo's and many other species contribute to the unique island environment.

Aboriginals of the Butchulla tribe have been living on Fraser Island for the last 5000 years. And because the abundance of food supplied by the sea, the lakes and the forest the number of inhabitants was quite high. 160 years ago about 2000 Aboriginals were living on the island. That changed dramatically when the island became an immigration- and quarantine post for ships that brought people and equipment for the gold fields in the area. forty years later there were only 150 tribe members left. These were taken off the island to reserves on the mainland.

Fraser Island was named after the British ship captain and his wife who were stranded on the island in 1836. The captain perished here but was survived by his wife who returned to England to tell their story. Prior to this time, the island was known as K'gari by the native inhabitants, the Butchulla people.

Not long after the island was discovered by the white settlers, so too were the beautiful rainforests and Fraser Island soon became a thriving logging community. Logging continued on the island until the late 1980's and as of December 1992 Fraser Island has been World Heritage Listed to preserve the unique environment.

As well as its beautiful rainforests, Fraser Island is also noted for its surrounding treacherous waters. The ferocity of these waters is evident in the magnificent shipwrecks that line the shores of the island. The most popular of these is the Maheno which was beached here in 1935 and has become as much a part of the island as the natural land formations.


The following information is from the Fraser Island - Queensland Bookings website.

Must Know

What to bring

Swimsuit, walking shoes, towel, sunscreen and camera

Important

Dingoes

Please keep your distance from the wild dingos and please do not feed them as they can be unpredictable and dangerous.

Camping

You will need a camping permit if camping on Fraser Island.

Your camping booking number is to be written on a camping tag and clearly displayed on the camping structure.

Please leave the area where you stop or stay tidy and exactly how you found it so that everyone can enjoy Fraser Islands natural beauty.

Camp fires may only be lit in communal fire rings provided.

Visitors are encouraged to bring and use their own fuel or gas camping stoves to help Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) in its attempts to reduce the high numbers of burn injuries related to open campfires. The policy on open campfires also aims to reduce the risk of wildfires caused by campfires and helps create a clean-air camping experience on Fraser Island.

Campers who want a campfire in the communal fire rings provided, must bring their own firewood. However it must be untreated, milled timber (e.g. mill off-cuts), not bush timber, as this reduces the risk of introducing foreign pathogens and other pests into the park. Visitors are reminded that all flora in protected areas, including dead trees or fallen limbs, is protected by law and therefore cannot be cut or collected.

Vehicles

You will need a vehicle access permit to drive a 4wd on Fraser Island.

All vehicles brought onto Fraser Island must have a current vehicle service permit (VSP).

The VSP booking number is to be written on a VSP tag and affixed to the windscreen of your vehicle.

Practice safe driving through the various sand tracks and do not exceed 80 km/h on the beach stretch.

You will only be able to drive 2WD vehicles around Kingfisher Bay Resort. All other parts of Fraser Island are only accessible with a 4WD vehicle.

Check your vehicle making sure it is in good working order and take spare parts eg. radiator hoses, spare wheels. Bring vehicle retrieving equipment in the case of your vehicle becoming stuck in the sand.

Other

The Island is far too large to see by foot.

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Christmas Crafts

Paper snowflakes

By Belinda Graham

To make paper snowflakes you'll need:

• Paper (plain white A4, coloured or patterned - it's up to you)
• Scissors

Step one

Cut an A4 size sheet into a square by folding a corner into a triangle and cutting off the excess rectangle. You can use the leftover strip to make smaller snowflakes.

Step two

Fold the triangle in half to make a smaller triangle.

Step three

Keep the 'open' end of the triangle to the left and the main fold on your right. Then visually divide the triangle into thirds. Fold the right-hand side down so the bottom right corner is poking down below the bottom of the triangle.

Step four

Fold the left hand side over on top of the other side so it resembles an arrow head.

Step five

Turn over to reveal a straight line across the top of the smaller triangles. Cut along this line to even it off.

Step six

Cut shapes into both sides of the triangle and unfold to reveal your shape!

Note: This cut  (with the main fold on the right-hand side and the 'open' side on the left) makes the large six-pointed star in the centre of the main image.

Wall advent calendar

By Belinda Graham

If you prefer to count down the 24 days to Christmas in a slightly more original way, steer clear of the chocolate advents in the supermarkets this year and make your own.

With a couple of hours, a few crafty supplies and a little creativity, you'll have a unique count-down calendar that doubles as a Chrissy decoration. And it's totally up to you what little gift you put inside (although, to be honest, you're quite space-limited!).

These ones were stuck to the wall in a Christmas tree shape with enough room in-between each box to slide open the 'drawer' to find a surprise tiny tree ornament inside. You could fill with little notes or wishes, jokes, lollies, choccies, small gifts or coins.

You'll need

• 24 papier mache boxes (come in packs of six from Spotlight), small gift boxes or mini cereal boxes
• Scrapbooking paper
• Ribbons
• Rub-ons - from Kmart or craft stores like Spotlight
• Buttons
• A white gel pen
• Other crafty supplies - glitter, cutters, confetti, cut-outs. You're limited by your imagination.

1. Equipment needed 2. Date boxes, decorate and fill with small gift
3. Use removable tape to fix the boxes to the wall in a Christmas tree shape

Step one

Work out a pattern on the floor - the boxes in this formation were mixed up between vertical and horizontal for interest and more flexibility in the decorations on the front.

Step two

Now get decorating! Vary using rub-ons and your own handwriting to date the boxes and use a similar colourway on all boxes in a range of different materials for a cohesive look.

Step three

Once done, fill the boxes and stick to the wall with 3M removable tape and enjoy the nightly countdown ritual!

Santa sack

By Belinda Graham

Did you know that you can easily turn your child's artwork into a T-shirt, cushion or for a little festive flavour a Santa sack? It's easy peasy and is a nice personal touch under the Christmas tree. Get your child to draw a Christmassy image – a tree, Santa himself or a reindeer as Zak did here and then transfer it to fabric with this magic paper.

You'll need

• Inspired White T-Shirt Projects A4 Transfers, from Spotlight and Lincraft stores

• An image. If you have Photoshop and are able to delete the background, any image is fine. Otherwise try creating a border around the image or drawing on a coloured background so the transfer surround won't show up.

• Fabric: if you are unable to make a sack yourself, try using a plain pillow case. If you're making from scratch, Duck cotton has a great thickness and feel to it. (see making sack instructions below)

• String or ribbon to tie around the filled-up sack

1. Print image onto transfer paper and cut out 2. Place image face-down on fabric and fix in place with hot iron 3. Carefully peel transfer paper off

Step one

Scan or photograph the image (in natural light, without a flash, straight from above) and open it in a picture editing program on your computer.

Step two

Crop the image until you're happy with it and play around with the size. Do a print test for size on plain paper.

Step three

Once you've got the right size, print onto the transfer paper. Wait for it to dry for 30 minutes.

Step four

Cut around the image - curves are best to avoid peeling. If the picture is on coloured paper, cut it into a square or circle with the image in the centre. If it's on white, follow the shape of the picture.

Step five

Place the image face down in place on your sack and use a hot iron over it. Follow the instructions carefully on the transfer paper packet as different sizes require different times.

Step six

Peel away, stuff the sack and tie with a bit of string!

To make the sack from scratch

Step one

Cut your fabric into one large rectangle 60cm by 45cm and fold width ways with right sides together so you have the correct size of the sack.

Step two

Use a sewing machine to stitch along two open sides in an L-shape, leaving the one 45cm-side unstitched as the sack's top.

Step three

Fold the top over twice and stitch all the way around to create a neat seam at the opening.

Step four

Turn inside out and apply the transfer (as above).

Homemade bath bombs

By Lana Hallowes 

Handmade gifts are so much better than bought ones - just the same as your kids' handwritten cards (the ones that are full of adorable spelling mistakes) beat bought ones any day! Make your own bath bombs as gifts for friends with this too-easy recipe.

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 cup citric acid powder (use fine grade, available from chemists or pool supply shops)
• Sieve
• Potpourri or herbal teabags such as chamomile, lemon, rosehip or peppermint
• An essential oil such as peppermint, lavender, geranium
• Sweet almond oil (from chemists)
• Food colouring
• Rubber gloves
• Moulds from craft shops

Step 1

To make the base mix: sieve the bicarb soda and citric acid powder into a large dry mixing bowl. This will make enough for four bath bombs.

Step 2

To make one bath bomb, transfer 1/2 cup of the base mix into a medium bowl and stir in the contents of a herbal teabag or other dry ingredient such as potpourri. Set aside.

Step 3

In a small bowl, combine 6 drops of essential oil of your choice, 1/2 teaspoon of sweet almond oil and 8 to 12 drops of food colouring - or until your desired colour is reached.

Pour this mixture into the bowl containing the 1/2 cup of base mix and stir quickly with a teaspoon so things don't start fizzing!

Step 4

Wearing rubber gloves, continue to combine the ingredients with your fingertips until it starts to clump together when compressed in your hand. It's essential you do this with your fingertips, not a spoon, so the liquid is distributed evenly. The mix is now ready to go into a mould.

Step 5

Wipe a little sweet almond oil inside the mould.

Fill the mould with the mixture, packing it in firmly.

Make the other bath bombs with the remaining mixture, working with 1/2 cup at a time.

Leave the bath bombs in their moulds to set for at least 24 hours (36 hours is even better).

After they have set, turn each mould over and bang it firmly once on a flat surface, then gently ease out the bath bombs

Tips

• According to aromatherapy, different essential oils have different effects - lavender brings a sense of calm and comfort; peppermint re-energises the body and clears the mind; and geranium uplifts both mind and spirit.
• To make sure your bath bombs are easy to remove, stick to simple moulds such as ball, heart and star shapes.
• To give your bombs a pretty, textured look, sprinkle extra herbal tea or potpourri into the moulds before you press in the mix.
• Wrap individual bath bombs in clear cellophane and tie with a pretty ribbon to give as gifts. Craft supply shops also sell various vessels such as wooden boxes that you can place the bath bombs in cushioned with raffia. You can also buy decorative noodle boxes from $2 shops that make a cute gift wrapping idea.

Remember, hot water activates the fizz in the bombs - cold water doesn't work.

Stencilled tote bags

By Belinda Graham

As green bags (and all the colours of the rainbow for that matter) take over grocery stores and sometimes, general shopping it'd be nice to see something a little more stylish on the shoulders of supermarket shoppers every now and then. Enter the classic calico tote, a little freezer paper, paint and a simple idea. These flashcard-style bags are sweet, personalised gifts for just about everyone kids as library bags, the store-owner as a bank bag, your mum as a shopping bag. And of course, it's not limited to a letter and matching motif spell out the recipient's name, design your own pattern or just use a cool graphic alone. Or stencil a T-shirt, tea towel, cushion...Easy peasy!

You'll need:

• A tote bag. These were made by hand, but Lincraft have plain calico bags for around $1.50.
• Paint. Acrylic is fine to use, but if you use on a T-shirt or something that will be washed regularly, fabric paint would be better.
• Paintbrush
• Scalpel
• Cutting mat: a chopping board does the same thing if you don't have one
• Printout stencil template: use Word for letters and Google images for silhouette shapes of your choice. Simple shapes are best...less cutting required
• Freezer paper. It needs to be freezer paper for the paper to stick. Spotlight sell Reynold's Freezer Paper by the metre ($1.50 per metre) or by the roll ($18).
• An iron and ironing board

1. Equipment 2. Position a sheet of freezer paper over paper stencil and cut out 3. Place the waxy side of the freezer paper on the fabric and iron into place 4. Using fabric paint, fill in stencil

Step one

Tape a piece of freezer paper waxy-side down over the top of the stencil and cut it out with a scalpel. You could also trace the letter or image onto the freezer paper first and then cut the pencil outline. Keep all smaller, interal cut-outs such as the circle in a b or o. 

Step two

With the iron set on hot, put your main freezer-paper stencil into place waxy-side down - on the bag and iron over it. The wax will gently melt onto the bag to create a seamless stencil. Now iron any insert cut-outs or smaller stencils into place. Slip another piece of freezer paper into the bag with the waxy side on the back-side of the area you're stenciling and iron. This will create a seal that will avoid the paint bleeding.

Step three

Paint the exposed area in the colour of your choice and leave overnight to dry or in the sun for several hours. Check fabric paint for specific instructions.

Step four

Gently peel away the stencil...it will remove easily.

Again, I could go on forever with these beautiful and simple Christmas crafts, but I only picked my favourites.  If you would like to check other equally easy and creative projects please visit www.kidspot.com.au.

The Book Depository stocks an amazing collection of Christmas Craft ideas books, here is a short preview:

Homemade Christmas and Festive Decorations: 25 Home Craft Projects (Paperback)By (author) Ros Badger, By (author) Elspeth Thompson

Add a touch of personality and creativity to your home with projects for Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine's and birthdays. Complete with step-by-step instructions and beautiful photography, learn to make extra special festive decorations - such as a birthday pinata, knitted angels, fragrant rose petal stuffed hearts or an Easter tree. Shop-bought decorations just can't compare! 25 fun and simple projects to make, perfect for beginners. Complete with patterns, and knitting, sewing and craft basics. Includes a directory of suppliers and resources The content of this book is adapted from Homemade by Ros Badger and Elspeth Thompson, first published by Collins in 2009.

Christmas Make and Do: Craft Ideas Inspired by the Story of the First Christmas (Bible Make and Do)(Paperback)
By (author) Gillian Chapman, By (author) Christine Chapman

Lets you make cards and wrapping paper, decorations, an advent calendar and the nativity tableau. This title features practical step-by-step craft ideas to keep children busy in Advent while teaching them the story and meaning of the events of the First Christmas. It emphasizes on using inexpensive materials and equipment, where possible.

Cookie Craft Christmas: Dozens of Decorating Ideas for a Sweet Holiday (Hardback)By (author) Valerie Peterson, By (author) Janice Fryer

Make every Christmas a cookie craft Christmas! The holidays offer just the right combination of cold weather and family togetherness for cookie crafters to elevate their skills to show stopping new heights. With more than 60 new Christmas cookie designs, along with festive New Year's cookies and lovely Hanukkah treats, "Cookie Craft Christmas" delivers colorful inspiration to cookie decorators just when they need it most. Each spread features a full-page, close-up photograph of one cookie cutter shape with detailed decorating instructions on the facing page. Some pages feature one gloriously decorated cookie, while others might feature two or three interpretations of the same shape - ornaments in complementary colors, Christmas trees decorated in varying styles or gingerbread men wearing a rainbow of colors and patterns. Decorating instructions are as simple as tinting cookie dough green before baking Christmas trees or as intricate as piping hair on a gingerbread grandma, creating a frilly pattern for her apron, and decorating her dress using a pretty feathering technique. Techniques are described in full in a Decorating Glossary, and cookie and icing recipes are included. Fresh inspiration and fabulous decorating ideas fill the pages of this handy little source book. It's the perfect gift for anyone who has ever picked up a pastry bag.

The Christmas Craft Book (Paperback)By (author) Thomas Berger

Simply made decorations for home or school are an absorbing way for children to become involved in the celebration of Advent and Christmas. Parents, teachers and children will quickly learn to make crib figures, candles, lanterns, angels, Advent calendars and a variety of Christmas tree decorations. The projects are all described and fully illustrated with diagrams and colour photographs.

The Advent Craft and Activity Book: Stories, Crafts, Recipes and Poems for the Christmas Season(Paperback)By (author) Christel Dhom, Translated by Bernadette Duncan

This practical, fully illustrated book includes creative suggestions for each day from December 1 through to Christmas and Epiphany, based on the Christian traditions of this festive period. The book is inspired by German Christmas traditions, and the crafts, activities and stories all have a wonderful German flavour. Learn how to bake delicious German biscuits and Stollen, make your own advent calendars and Christmas decorations, and find out more about legendary figures such as St Nicholas. This is a fabulous resource for keeping children engaged and involved with celebrations throughout the Christmas season.

Fa La La La Felt: 45 Handmade Holiday Decorations(Paperback)By (author) Amanda Carestio

'Tis the season to make felt crafts-fa, la la la la! These 45 festive Christmas projects will bring joy to crafters everywhere. Created by successful online designers from around the world, the adorable items range from a sweet garland of little birds to super-cute matryoshka doll ornaments. All can be made with simple sewing techniques and there are both no-sew and eco-smart options, too. Both indie and mainstream crafters will love these fresh new ideas!

Messy Christmas: 3 Complete Sessions and a Treasure Trove of Craft Ideas for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany(Paperback)By (author) Lucy Moore, By (author) Jane Leadbetter

Building on the popularity of Messy Crafts, this title extends the range of messy things to do at your Messy Church with a particular focus on the Christmas season. It includes crafts for Advent, crafts for Christmas and more general winter-themed activities to take you on into the New Year.

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