KT from Maximum Exposure — January 2008
Oz Experience is truly the most GENUINE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE. The drivers REALLY know their stuff. Tourists wind up knowing more about our country than we do after travelling with Oz Experience. I now see how they pass the citizenship test. Once our driver had done the full on drive around Airlie Beach making sure everyone was on the bus, he introduced himself as Firey. This man Firey is very patient. He looked for nyone who might be wearing a lanyard and passed out somewhere in Airlie Beach. He even found the ones who obviously didn’t reconfirm the night before and thought they were getting picked up at the YHA… Hmmmm… Firey is very patient and he knows A LOT of stuff about Australia. He has a great mix of tunes for our journey from Airlie Beach.
Lawn Bowls is the best group / team building experience for the Oz riders. We make groups of 4 to play lawn bowls and enjoy the friendly hospitality of the people that work at the club.
There are so many Kangaroo, Wallaby and Emu running wild across the farmland on the way to Kroombit Cattle Station – I had goose bumps all over my body for how proud I felt to be Australian.
Firey pointed them all out to us – told us some facts. Firey’s the one with such broad OzZy knowledge and GREAT stories! He tells us how the guys at Kroombit have been preparing our camp oven roast since that morning. Mmmmm. Camp oven roast! Our tummy’s tickle with hunger and excitement!
Look! We’re driving into Kroombit. We disembark the bus and hang out to find out what’s happening next. I can see a sneaky smile on Firey; I can tell he loves coming here.
Our room is beautiful. Cottage style inside – tartan and green sheets… It was lovely enough outside to enjoy a cool breeze from outside however there was air-conditioning if we preferred. I think I left my little duck towel there. The bathrooms are very clean. The shower has next to no pressure – actually there was hardly any water at all – but that’s ok, it was enough to get the soap off.
I can smell Camp Oven!!! We line up for our dish of our choice of 3 soups, followed by the carving and serving of the roast. Each spoonful presented with “Want more?” everyone loved
it. We cracked some whips. Alan showed us over and over how to do it – he had patience for everyone who wanted to learn. We all signed the disclaimer to ride the mechanical bull – wondering what kind of accidents happen. YAY! The Oz riders get it FREE! We’re tuckered out; it was a huge drive today, so we turned it in after the bull ride.
I wake to the happy tweets of the local birdlife, sit up, stretch and almost jump out of my skin when I see a horse munching the grass amongst the daisies at my window! It was a meter away and behind the fence so it couldn’t eat my sheets and ‘holy crap’ quickly changed to a warm feeling inside for what felt like the complete farm experience! We ate a light breakfast before preparing to ride the horses! Anyone who doesn’t choose to ride the horses has rocks in their head. Mustering goats was the highlight of my east coast experience. My horse was Peanut Butter. We have a lot in common. We bonded. Peanut Butter is very loud and vocal and always wants to go on her own mission. She has a very nice natured personality. I felt completely comfortable riding with her - I am not very experienced in riding horses. An hour of HEEYYYYYY-UP UP UP UP! Com’ON GOATS GEDDIN THERE! Peanut and I took the lead as we rounded up those goats like we did it every day! loved it! The goats loved it! They knew the rodeo was next and they were getting mustered in preparation! I’ll only say the rodeo was unreal. Fun Fun! Everyone should do a goat rodeo once.
Post rodeo I milked a goat! No one else wanted to try it though; some thought it was a ittle weird. I tried it and I liked it because I chased that goat, milked it, drank it and it was sweet and delicious. I felt like I was in touch with my inner Australian.
I got to shoot the endangered clay pigeon! The whole experience was very Australian. The Aussie farm hands are a real joy to be around.
We set off on our full day drive to Frasers on Rainbow at Rainbow Beach. Fiery is in fine form! He seems like he’s always ready to fire up the vibe for the day! I love the Matilda road stop! Everyone is very friendly there in the Service station section and there is so much choice of what to snack on!
Our journey was full of movies, rest stops, jokes and good times on board the Oz bus.
We arrive to Fraser’s and our crew is FAMISHED! We are ready for a hearty munch. Stacey the Rainbow Princess of the Frasers palace meets us at the bus and carries some of our bags in to reception. We are directed to our room and invited down for dinner before 8pm.
The rooms are VERY spacious. There were 4 beds in the first section of the room and 2 in a room off the main room – so there was loads of space. Crisp clean sheets and nice new mattresses. The bathrooms are old and as the tiles age it is understandable how hard they would be to keep clean.
Stacey and Matty are really putting in a lot of work to lift the aesthetic appearance of the buildings as the hostel is showing its age over the years. So we freshened up for the evening and when we saw the dinner menu we realize we are spoilt for choice! I had the calamari – all the meals are served with chips and salad – for 10 bucks, you can’t go wrong! The food is GREAT! Drinks all round and good night sleeps before our early morning Fraser Island briefing. I LOVE the outdoor area of Frasers and the pool gardens. The bar is in the perfect spot - I especially like the bird feeding in the morning.
After our briefing we are on our way – thankfully the Frasers team arranged all the food for us the day before so we were set! The really put on a great trip for us. Cars packed up and we head over to the vehicle suppliers for our driver tips! Our vehicle is a troopy. The Vehicle supplier guys are a dedicated hardworking bunch that work very long hours to ensure all the vehicles are up to scratch. Now the vehicles are rotating between other hostels as well – but everyone is looking forward to the new vehicles coming – newer models and exclusive to Fraser’s on Rainbow guests only! Guaranteed to all have stereos and MP3 compatible! YAY! Once the new vehicles are rolling – removable branded magnets would be a good in your face marketing – Rainbows would be fun and not too corny because there is one Fraser’s company that has newly painted hot pink high tops and they attract ALOT of attention. Pretty soon we board the barge for Fraser Island. The next 3 days were a blast. We really enjoyed our time relaxing at the lakes! We saw all the highlights of the island! Beautiful. Fraser Island will always be a special place. One of our crew rigged the fuse box so we could work the stereo – we all cheered!
On Thursday night we are back at the hostel. Thursday is the night that travelers from far and wide want to be at Frasers on Rainbow. Everyone loses all inhibitions and dresses up in costumes provided by the resort. There is a live performance by Matty Mudcrab and friends!
Frasers is the place you want to extend your stay until the weekend! What a cool place to hang out! The long term Fraser’s guests hang out for the night to dress up and enjoy the festivities. It would be great if the Thursday night tradition was extended to another night that the Oz bus arrives. My favourite ‘night out’ (but at home) on the trip! Every morning, so far, is an early one for our crew! Never a dull moment and there wasn’t about to be one, we realize when we meet Guido. He is our next Oz Experience Guide from Rainbow Beach to our stop - Brisbane. He tells us lots of stories about Australia. Again, I feel the warming pride of touring this country with knowledgeable professionals! Guido is the guy that makes every moment funny. When he let us in on a few conversations he had with prospective employers, beauty salons for extensive waxing, accepting the room with people he hasn’t met, in share houses! He has a lot of great stories, ask him! He plays funny songs for a while that had the whole bus cracking up – and then we listened to channel surfing for songs on the radio. We found some cool ones FOR sure! I thought about Firey and missed his great playlists.
The drive in to Noosa is BREATHTAKING! (I learn later Greyhound Australia’s ‘not so scenic route’ confirms why we travel with Oz Ex to get off the beaten track) We’re on the waterside road the whole way to the bus interchange. Guido gives us all the tips of where’s a great time to be had and points out numerous accommodation choices around Noosa! YAY! We get to stay for half an hour! We scurry across the road for 30minutes of beach time! It would be nice to have an hour in Noosa – it’s so pretty.
We board the bus and we’re on our way to Brisbane. Guido knows Brisbane. He told us a trick with the streets so we know where we are. Guido knows a lot of stuff. I was sad to get off the bus. I said good bye to the rest of the crew and the friends I had made on the bus on the way.
