Hate it but do it

Hate is a strong word and maybe it's not quite the right word to use in this case so let me think of a better, nicer, way to put it...I really fucken don't fucken like fucken sand at all. There, that's more appropriate.

That's right, sand.

It gets everywhere and is so bloody annoying. Even just writing about it now makes me feel like I've got sand in some crack or crevice of my body like in my ears or something). I mean, who came up with the idea of sand anyway? I imagine some asshole sitting around thinking, hmm, what is the most annoying fucken thing I can think of to invent...oh yeah, fucken sand, and then they created it. What the fuck.

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Ok, so sand isn't my favourite thing which is probably pretty clear.

Not only don't I like the feel of it I hate that stuff getting in my stuff like my vehicle, my equipment and other such places...cracks and crevices. But...and here's the weird thing, I spend and have spent a lot of my time on and in sand. Yeah, who would have thought it.

The problem is that a lot of the places I've operated or needed to go are sandy places. The desert, wilderness and outback places, the beach...sand everywhere! It makes me grimace, (and not in a good way), but because I've had to go to such places I've had to deal with my hate really fucken strong dislike for sand. Basically, I've had to harden the fuck up and get shit done.

I've done a lot of off-roading on sand because to get to some of the best places it's necessary to drive on beaches, or through deserts, to get there and one of the coolest places is Fraser island. They call it some other politically correct indigenous name now but I refuse to call it that because I grew up knowing it as Fraser Island and the language of this land is English. (That's a political statement there folks.)

"Fraser", as it's colloquially known, is off the East Coast of Australia and is the world's largest sand island of about 120 kilometres in length.

There's something like 250 kilometres of bloody amazing beaches (with fucken sand on them) and is dotted with really cool lakes and creeks, forested areas and off-road tracks to explore. The fresh water bubbles up from underground rivers which originate back on the mainland and travel under the sea to get Fraser, and due to the filtration process along the way it's clear and pretty tasty. Yep, I'm one of those people who has to taste the water in a creek, lake, river or waterfall. There's some amazing fishing spots and really awesome camping spots...and the only way to move around it is by four wheel drive. This means that not many do and that's what I like about it. It's not wise to swim in the ocean there though. Sharks.

Using beaches as roads can be problematic if one has no clue or the vehicle isn't up to the task and getting bogged means (probably) losing the vehicle; they lose about one a week every year as the tide comes in and takes it because people have gotten themselves very bogged or don't have the skills and equipment to get unbogged. Dumbasses.

Driving on sand (for the getting bogged reason) can be a little daunting and is not something I really like to do, and not just because I really fucken don't like sand. It means a long time spend cleaning the underside of the vehicle once off the sand (sand on beaches is salty and salt rusts vehicles quickly) and getting sand in the interior of my four wheel drives sends me quite bonkers as that shit is so hard to get out. Still, I hate it (sand), yep, I really do hate it, but I do it because some of the most amazing and pristine natural places are accessed by beaches and sand roads.