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Fraser Island - East Australia
Gap Year Travel Journal

(23rd - 24th April) Fraser Island
Apologies in advance. We had such a great time here that Jo got really carried away writing about it – so skim read for the best bits! From Hervey Bay we arranged a trip to Fraser Island. Mike had been raving about how good this place is ever since I’d known him so we were really looking forward to visiting the world’s largest huge sand island 124km x 27km = 185,000 hectares. Highest point is 244M above sea level and the sand reaches 600M below sea level which totals more sand than the Sahara Dessert! We opted for a two day self-drive tour which meant that we joined a group to get us out onto the island and across to the far side and then we were left to our own devices for the afternoon, evening and following morning before rejoining another group to head back to Hervey Bay. A 45 minute flat calm crossing over to the island on a car ferry started the trip off in style, especially when we saw dolphins swimming in the bay. The ferry pulls up on the beach and the vehicles drive straight off up the beach – hence only 4WD vehicles are allowed! We walked off and joined our tour bus – it was just like a normal coach except with the biggest, chunkiest tyres! Our trip across the island took 2 hours and we were bumped about the whole way. It was hilarious being thrown around – no wonder they told us to buckle up! We had a brief stop to walk through the only rainforest in the world that grows on sand and then we arrived at Happy Valley on the eastern side of the island. This is one of only 3 townships on the eastern side of the island and basically comprises a few houses and a small resort Fraser Island Retreat with restaurant, bar and shop. This is where we split off from the rest of the bus load who continued round the island to complete their one day tour. We checked in to our overnight accommodation which was a lovely big log cabin and then picked up our hire car for the trip – a little red Jeep Wrangler – which soon became known as the Red Devil. We had our lunch and then set off to explore the island. Mike just wouldn’t believe me when I told him which way we had to drive to get down to the beach – the track was so deeply rutted in sand that it looked impassable. It has been so dry here for so long that the sand isn’t compacted at all and with neither of us ever having driven on sand before, the results were hysterical. Mike set off a bit too fast to start with and we fairly flew through the sand being bumped and jostled. We slid down a slope and splashed through a freshwater creek (one of many along the beach) and then we were on the beach – called Seventy Five Mile Beach – that certainly beats the length of all the other beaches we’ve been on! Driving on the beach was great – it’s wide golden sand beach and if you drive on the hard sand it’s easy. It’s only when you have to go into the soft stuff that it gets interesting. We’ve included a close up photo of the rutted beach. 25km southwards down the beach we had to turn off inland to head up to the lakes and this is where the real fun began. Again Mike just wouldn’t believe me when I told him where we had to head but he ploughed onwards at great speed and we stated the bumpiest trip of our lives! We were screeching and yee-hahing the whole way. Jo was squeeling with hysterical laughter and just gripping on for dear life as Mike successfully negotiated the narrow deep sand tracks that bumped over exposed tree roots and suddenly disappeared into deep ruts and holes. If we met a car coming the other way we had to slew into a passing place and let them pass before proceeding. As they passed us they would coolly and calmly lift a hand to thank us, while we sat there breathless and grinning from ear to ear like excited school children. For Aussies four wheel driving is a way of life but for us it was so exhilarating! We stopped at a lookout to view Lake Wabby which is the deepest lake on the island and is being engulfed by the huge sandblow (moving sand dune) and is a barrage lake (see photo with Jo stood in front of a fence). Mike remembers sliding down the sand into the lake on beer cartons 10 years ago! After another hour of rocking and rolling along in the Red Devil, we finally arrived at Lake McKenzie, otherwise known as the Blue Lake, which is a really popular spot cause it is so beautiful. This is a perched lake where rainwater collects on vegetation that falls into a depression in the sand. Fraser has half the world’s perched lakes and also the largest. The lake is surrounded by the finest whitest silica sand which makes the water bright turquoise on the edge and then darker blue where the water goes deeper. The picture of Mike sat on the sand shows Lake McKenzie. After this we headed back to the resort before sunset. We had a lovely meal at the resort and collapsed exhausted and bruised. We were up and on the beach again at 6.45am the following day and drove north up to Indian Head. It was a beautiful morning and we saw loads of people camping along the beach which is what Mike did last time he visited. We came upon the wreck of the SS Maheno which was washed up here in 1935. Quite an eerie sight especially in the early morning light. An hours drive up the beach we reached Indian Head about 8am and climbed up the headland to admire the views. The aerial shot of the beach was taken from there and shows cars waiting to pass through a tricky road up to Champagne Pools. We had been advised not to attempt this as it is so badly rutted with deep dry sand and we watched as some tried it, even with boats on trailers! There was a tractor on standby to pull people out. Up on the rocks we were on the most easterly point of Australia and it had been named Indian Head by Captain Cook in 1770. Our climb was rewarded by spotting a huge tiger shark, a couple of turtles, some sea eagles and then a shoal of smaller sharks too. On the way back down the island we stopped at Eli Creek – 6.5km long and with a flow rate of 4.5million litres of fresh water per hour – enough to supply the whole of Sydney! We walked up a board walk and then got into the cold water to be swept along by the flow of the water (see photo of Jo skimming along on her bottom). We were very sorry to hand the Red Devil back but we had lunch and then joined the tour bus again to head back across the island, with a stop for a swim at Lake Garawongera – very therapeutic since it is lined with tea tree leaves. We scrubbed ourselves with the sand since it is covered in tea tree oil. We boarded the ferry at 5pm (see photo) and had a lovely sunset cruise back to the main land.