Fraser Island

 Day 1 – Sand Island & Lakes

A rude 6.30 alarm and we were up and dressed and had hastily cleaned the multitude of bird poo off the canopy, we headed off for our bus pick up at 7.15 just outside the campsite.  The bus trip was longer than we thought with numerous pick-up’s and about an hour or so later and we pulled up to the ferry point.

After paying the balance of our trip we then boarded the ferry and were soon on our way to the Island, it was just a 35 minute crossing but pleasant all the same with some picturesque scenery along the way before we got our first close up glimpse of Fraser Island.

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world at about 173km in length, it has also got a unique eco-system, with a tropical rainforest which grows on the sand, lots of lakes and creeks and the purest strain of Dingo’s in Australia.

On arrival we were then met by our driver/guide, John, and along with about 26 people doing the overnight trip we boarded the 4x4 bus.

We started off along the dirt track and we were given a safety instruction and outline on the plan for the day from John, which was typically Aussie in style with a lot of humour, although we were slightly worried concerning the Dingo arrangements.  Apparently if you encounter a Dingo you should stand tall (preferably in pairs) stare at it to try and intimidate it, if that doesn’t work call for more people or if that is not possible back off slowly.  Even more worrying was one of the lakes we were visiting only opened up again recently due to a dingo attack on a tourist a couple of months previously!!

From here the sandy dirt tracks got a lot more bumpy and narrower, we can see now why only 4x4’s are allowed on the island, I think Muriel would have quit after 100 yards!  After a journey of an hour or two we were arriving at our first stop, McKenzie Lake.

McKenzie Lake is a sink hole lake and is pure water with a low ph value which means when you bathe in it, it makes you hair softer (more effective than conditioner!).  It also has fine silica sand that you can rub on your body and it acts like an exfoliator, so basically this lake is like a natural beauty spa!!  It also has the title of one of the top 10 places in the world to swim!!

So after getting off the coach and John telling us there was a Death Adder (Incredibly poisonous snake) somewhere in the bush behind us and pointing out Funnel Web Spider Burrows(most deadly poisonous spider in Oz) on the bank near us we set off down to the lake.

When we got down to the lake it was absolutely stunning, fringed by the rain forest, ringed by aqua blue crystal clear water with powder fine sand all around it, picture card perfect.

The only downside was the sun had gone behind the clouds and the water was pretty cold in comparison to recent swims we had.  Nether the less in had to be done (my hair needed conditioning!!) and we waded in slowly before Shell took the plunge, me a split second later as Shell always attacks me with water if I have not got under!

We swam and splashed around for a bit and took a few selfies in this stunning location before the cold got the better of me and I had to get out and let myself dry and warm up.

An hour or so later we made our way back to the coach to go to our next destination which was Central Station, a place where in the past was where the logging took place on the island (now banned as it is a national park with UNESCO status).  Here it was time for group introductions and we all had to say a bit about ourselves, we told them all we had been travelling for 8 months, which over the course of the next two days resulted in most of the coach coming up to us and chatting about where we had been, how we have managed this, etc.

From here we then set off on a 2k rainforest trek alongside a Wanggoobo Creek also known as the whispering water as it passed over a sandy bed and makes absolutely no sound.  Also John told us as it had been sand filtered over month’s and is purer than the mineral water we had in our bottles ‘officially you are not allowed to drink from it, but if you go around the corner to some fallen logs where I cant’s see you, this is a good spot to fill you bottles!!’ said John.

The walk was pleasant enough, along a path that meandered along the creek with thick lush jungle vegetation along the way, although we were cautious about spotting, deadly snakes, deadly spiders and vicious dingo’s!! As John said he would take the coach and meet us at the other side of the walk.

John met us at the other end of the track and pointed out some interesting forest stuff before leading us to what was reckoned to be the oldest tree in the forest, at over 1000 years old.  Although it was massive John told us it got lonely at night so we all had to take part in a tree hugging session to keep it happy!!

Tree hugged,  it was time to go for lunch at the place we would be staying at for the night, so driving from the centre of the island we then hit 75 mile beach (yes its 75 miles of golden sand) and we motored along the beach alongside the sea until we reached the resort.

Everyone was pretty hungry as it had been an early start and it was now around 2ish, we entered the restaurant area and were treated to a massive all you can eat  cold buffet with everything you could think of and was pretty good.

An hour and a couple of plateful’s of food later we were on the move again.  Firstly back along the 75 mile beach where we got our first sightings of humpback whales in the distance, breaching and seeing spray coming up from their blowholes, which was great. 

We also got off the bus at one point to get a better view of the whales and whilst we were doing this John showed us how to get our own food, by digging up scallop type things from just under the sand.  You can eat them raw like oysters, however Shell and I declined the offer, although some of the people on the coach gave it a go.

Next we headed inland again to a place named Lake Wabby (Scene of the recent Dingo attack!). We had another 2.8k trek to this lake, once again being cautious of poisonous/bitey things.

After we arrived at the lake area it was a mass of sand dunes before you could get down to the lake.  This lake had been formed in a different way to the previous one, over time the sand dunes had come in and blocked a creek, thus forming the lake.

We headed down through the steep sand dunes, keeping an eye out for vicious canines and then sat on the bank with our feet in the water (It was later in the day and no one in the group was brave enough for a swim!).  Apparently there were mosquito fish in the lake that come and nibble the dead skin from your body (the same as the ones you see people with their feet in back home), but I’m guessing our feet were too smelly as we had no takers!! However we watched a few catfish swim on past whilst we were sitting there.

An hour later and we trekked back to the coach and we were soon whizzing back along 75 mile beach back to our accommodation for the night.  When we got there John handed out all the room keys, We had up-graded to a twin room as the other choice was single sex dorm’s.  We could not believe it when we entered our room as it was a very large self-catering twin room with an En-Suite bathroom, not the basic accommodation we were expecting.

After running round the apartment and doing a few star jumps in this space we then headed to the with every type of roast meat you can think of including salt-beef (they call it corned beef) along with all the trimmings, it was really good.

A couple of plateful’s later (rude not to!) we then headed to the bar they had onsite.  We sat in the bar and had a few beers, but it was quite quiet in there and we were pretty tired so we thought we would go back and enjoy our large room instead. However it did look like the party was just about to start just as we were leaving, the younger back-packers starting to hit the shots and talk about party games!

We decided that we were not going to get involve and just went back to our room and relax watching a bit of TV before bed.

Day 2 – Flights, Champagne & More Whales

It was once again a very early start as we had a lot to see and do on our packed itinerary. So after another great all you can eat buffet breakfast we were back onto the battle bus.

We drove back on the 75 mile beach and as we went along were once again spotting whales out to sea, after a short drive we were suddenly pulling up to three single prop planes on the beach.  Here John stopped and explained that they did flights over the Island and I thought this was something for another day, but he got one of the pilots on to explain what they did.

The pilot then came on board and said that these were twenty minute flights that gave you a birds eye view of the whole of the island then headed out to sea to get a better look at the whales.  Shell and I thought that this was going to cost £100 - £ 200 each so were discounting the idea but when he announced it was £ 40 each and asked who was interested our hands shot up, along with half of the bus.  Our coach was going to motor up the beach a bit further and we would meet back up with it on landing.

Getting off the coach we were split into small groups of 6-7 (tiny planes) and on walking to board the plane the pilot asked who wanted to be co-pilot, Shell’s hand shot up and she got in the co-pilot seat and donned her head phones.  I did point out to the rest of the passengers this could be a problem if anything happened to the pilot if they had witnessed Shell trying to reverse a car!

Soon the propeller was running and we were racing along the beach and then airborne.  We first headed inland and we got fantastic views of the whole island, passing over the lakes and rainforest we had visited the previous day, the photo below is McKenzie Lake. 

We then headed out to sea to spot the whales and soon enough we had some brilliant view of them, but this was not enough. The pilot then went into a tight downward spiral to get us a better view of them, this manoeuvre what quite stomach churning and slightly worrying (was he going to pull out of it??).  We all looked a bit relieve when he eventually flattened out and we could see the whales from a closer distance (One of the girls was sick after landing!).

After the whale spotting (and large sharks just a few metres from the shore!!) we then flew along the coastline for a short while, taking in some last views of the island from the air before we were soon landing back on the beach (an incredibly soft landing) to meet back up with the bus.

A few photo’s with the pilot (Shell said he would be sexy if it wasn’t for the long socks!!) later and we were boarding the bus again heading for a place named Indian Head.

Along the way we were treated to more whales, this time one was closer in and kept repeatedly displaying its large pectoral fin, John said it was doing this as it would be feeding its calf on its side (I forgot to mention it is whale migration season at the moment).  We also stopped at a place named Rainbow Pinnacles which was some multi-coloured sand formations in the surrounding sand cliffs, before finally arriving at Indian Head.

Indian Head was a rocky headland (some of the only 2% rock on the island) where you could climb up and have great views of the beaches and hopefully good opportunities to spot more whales close up.  John was particularly excited as he said the whales we had already seen were heading in this direction. 

Before we set off he gave us two bits of safety advice, don’t go too close to the edge ‘as you will come to a sticky end if you fall’ and yesterday a very large brown snake (extremely dangerous) was spotted on the path up, so stamp a lot to make sure it hears you coming!!  Is there anything on this island that is cute and fluffy?

We set off up the path to the headland, stamping our feet (bit worrying with all the long grass up there) and taking a few panoramic photo’s along the way.

At the top there was fantastic views of 75 mile beach, although sadly no whale spotting’s.  The only thing we did manage to see from up there were some stingrays swimming around, I don’t know who was more disappointed at the lack of sightings, us or John!

After climbing back down from the headland we were back on the beach in the bus and heading for a place named the Champagne pools and when we got there we were treated to tea/coffee and some fruit muffins before heading for the pools.

Walking along a board walk we then set our eyes upon the Champagne Pools which were two large pools surrounded by rocks, that when the surf came crashing across them acted like natural jacuzzi’s with foam everywhere, hence their name The Champagne Pools.

Reaching the beach we got into our bathers and jumped into the pools, although quite cold we were not going to miss this.  We enjoyed sitting in these pools waiting for the big waves to come over the rocks and create the Jacuzzi effect, whilst trying to get a few photo’s of it.

As it was a busy day we had a short time here to enjoy them and dry off before we were heading back to the bus again and on our way to some more sights.  The next place we stopped at was Red Canyon, which were like the Rainbow Pinnacles bud just red like in wild west movies.  We only stopped for a brief photo opportunity before heading off again.

Along the beach again, spotting yet more whales we then came to a stop at the Maheno Wreck, a passenger boat that had come to the end of it service and had been bought by some Japanese for scrap.  It was being towed back to Japan when it hit bad weather, its tow cable snapped and it ended up beached on 75 miles island, never to be recovered.  Due to its quality construction it had survived for the last 75 years on the beach and now is an iconic feature on the island and makes a very pretty picture.

It was now getting to around lunchtime and we headed for our final stop of the trip, Eli Creek.  We pulled up on the beach just next to the creek outlet and then were give lunch of a couple of large ham rolls and a soft drinks whilst we sat in the shade of the bus.

Having eaten,  we were now ready for the next activity. John had got some rubber rings from the back of the bus to float down the creek on.  As there were only a few available Shell and I decided to do without and walked a few hundred metres along a board walk and then proceeded to get in the fresh water creek and body float along back to the beach, which was pretty nice.

After a couple of times we then got out to dry off. Whilst we did this we walked along the beach to a spot where John told us there was a skeleton of a beached baby whale that had got stranded a few years previously.  Although a baby the skeleton was fairly large, the body had been placed just above the beach so the local wildlife could take advantage of an easy meal.

It was then time to head back, along the way we saw numerous fishermen (apparently excellent fishing here) along the beach, shore fishing.  When John spotted a few that had waded in to their knees, pointed out that this wasn’t a great idea as he had caught 3 metre Tiger Shark’s off of this beach and there no way he would swim here! (He had showed us a video of this on his phone the night before!!).

John also gave us the reason for the name of the island, a British sailor named Fraser who had discovered that Cook was wrong in his assumption that this was part of the mainland, got into bad weather and was shipwrecked here.  Whilst on the island he got into a dispute with the indigenous people and got speared for his troubles.  He died from the wound so his crew hastily escaped back to the mainland.  For some reason they had left his wife to fend for herself on the island and survived a few months before being rescued! But later on to honour his memory the island was named after him…there endeth the history lesson!!

We arrived back at the hotel resort and had time for a quick pint before we were then driven back through the bumpy tracks to the ferry port.

Fraser Island has to be one of the best trips we have been on so far in Australia and we have to say that John has been one of the best guides we have had. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he stopped for us if he saw anything interesting, it was like being shown round by a mate.  If you you ever get the chance, visit Fraser island!!

A short ferry ride and bus ride later and we were then re-united with Muriel at the campsite in Hervey Bay.  Being quite tired we made use of the Apricot Chicken I had cooked before leaving (It was just as bland as the one we had in a bar at The Lion’s Den), before having a few drinks outside Muriel before bed.