5 Easy Steps to Renting a Car and Saving Money on the Deal.

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A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Fraser Island, Australia by TravelPod blogger Steibock79 titled “Adventure Tour on Fraser Island”

Steibock79’s travel blog entry:

“We left the Gold Coast with our Mitsubishi Pajero on Tuesday morning around 09.30 AM. We drove for about five hours the 560 kilometers up to Hervey Bay. We arrived well in time to park our car at the secured parking area and to check-in and the ferry terminal for the catamaran which was departing at 4.00 PM to our hotel resort on Fraser Island. So we had a small snack, Carol took six pieces of natural Oysters as usual, before boarding our speed boat. The crossing to the Kingfisher Bay Resort took us around 50 minutes, a relaxing cruise. On Fraser Island we were picked up at the Jetty and escorted to our hotel, where we received a welcome drink. Soon after we checked in our room where our luggage has already been deposited. It was close to sunset already and we decided to go for a short bush walk to the nearby lookout within the resort compound, a 2.4 kilometer return journey. When we arrived back at the jetty we could enjoy the wonderful sunset. Unfortunately we arrived about two minutes late, so we missed part of the sunset. Eventually we went back to our hotel and had our dinner at the main restaurant. That day they served a Mediterranean Buffet.

The next day we got up early in order to pick up our four wheels drive car which we had booked to explore the sandy island. We went to the office at 8.00 AM when they opened their doors and had to watch a safety briefing video which lasted for 35 minutes. Driving on Fraser Island is very tricky as they don’t have any paved roads. Inlands one has to drive on narrow and bumpy sandtracks which only allowed one way traffic so they have a lot of passing places in order to allow the cars to cross. Speed limit on these tracks where limited to 30 kilometers per hour. The main traffic however goes up and down along the eastern beach on the famous 75-miles-beach. There the maximum speed limit was 60 kph. However one had to be cautios as the beach was also used as a runway for the sightseeing planes. We also received an exact plan which indicated the high tide and the restricted time period when the beach was flooded. During this phase driving on the beach was is not possible.

After this extended safety briefing we could finally start our adventuorous day trip and it really started with a baptism of fire as the first road segment leaving the Kingfisher Bay Resort was the most tricky part to drive due to the soft sand conditions. I was the designated driver for the day and had quite some difficulties to get used how to drive through the soft sand using the high and the low four wheel drive gears. Driving through sand is similar to driving through deep powder snow and even with a very good four wheels drive car one can get easely stuck. So after only a five minutes drive we got stuck for the first time. Luckily some other cars followed soon after and the people where very helpful in pushing us out again. Only 500 meters after that the patrol car of the car rental company got stuck aswell so another push job had to be done. After the first five kilometers i got used to drive under those horrible conditions and the track got slightly better so we were able to manage the twelve kilometers to the Lake Mackenzie. It was a very shaky and bumpy drive and Carol even got some bruises on her lower backside.

Lake Mackenzie is a very beautiful lake with a nice white sandy beach. Perfect conditions to have a nice swim. we enjoyed a couple of minutes and explored the beach before heading further to the Eurong Resort on the East side of the Island. Once we reached Eurong we were just in time for the time slot which allowed us to drive along the 75-Miles-Beach. So we took the opportunity and drove 32 kilometers up the beach to the Pinnacles for a photo stop. From there the conditions along the beach would become more difficult again …”
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/steibock79/1/1264321049/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. “Hervey Bay”
2. “Ferry Crossing to Fraser Island”
3. “Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island”
4. “Our High Speed Catamaran”
5. “Our Hotel Room at Kingfisher Bay Resort”
6. “View From the Balcony of our Hotel Room”
7. “Spacious Lobby at Kingfisher Bay Resort”
8. “Bush Walk to the Outlook”
9. “Sunset at the Resort Jetty”
10. “Jetty at Kingfisher Bay Resort”
11. “Lake Mackenzie on Fraser Island”
12. “Sandy Track on Fraser Island”
13. “-Miles-Beach on Fraser Island”
14. “Airplane Taking of on the 75-Miles-Beach”
15. “The Pinnacles”
16. “Tourbus Arriving at the Pinnacles”
17. “Maheno Shipwreck”
18. “Second Sunset on Fraser Island”

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00c3-f930-3c36?ytv4=1

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A little info about this slideshow:

We were closing down one of our corporate offices in San Francisco and intended to drive it back to Utah. Along the way, we encountered a slight problem. Next thing we knew, thick black smoke was pouring in the cabin. We got out fairly quickly and waited for help. Nobody got hurt. We unloaded one fire extinguisher on this inferno but it didn’t even make a dent. 20-25 minutes later the F.D. came, but by that point, this was a writeoff. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. This happened at Donner’s pass about 45 minutes west of Truckee, California. The California Highway Patrol was kind enough to give us a ride back to Truckee where we rented a one-way car and went to Reno. From there we got a one-way ticket back to Salt Lake City. We lost our luggage in the fire. To soften the trauma on the 8 year old, we took him bowling. Ironically they gave free socks with the rental of some shoes, which did make us laugh pretty hard.

Insurance did reimburse our loss.

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