Fraser Island
Trip Start
Jun 18, 2008
1
52
72
Trip End
Ongoing
Fraser Island,
Queensland,
Australia
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Since leaving Brisbane we have followed the coast north, staying over once or twice in small surfing towns. We passed through Noosa, a popular spot for the cool kids, like us, but didn't really see the appeal. Looked like every other town on the coast. We didn't even get out the van to be honest. In fact, quite a few of the "must see" places we have been to have been a little disappointing - or at the very least, far too hyped up.
So we pulled into Hervey Bay with a little cynicism on board. Thankfully however, this "must see" turned out to be worth it. Really, really worth it.
Just east of Hervey Bay is Fraser Island, a 30 minute ferry ride across a Whale filled bay. It happens to be the largest sand island in the World. The entire island, all 124 km long and 20 odd km wide, is sand. Weirdly though, it's covered in rainforest, unique lakes and all sorts of colourful wildlife. Obviously, we had to go see it for ourselves.
However, and this is a big however, it's just sand. The roads are sand. Our little Van won't be going on that
Arsing about in Lake McKenzie
. In fact we wouldn't even be allowed to take it over. It's high clearance 4wd vehicles only, and you better be good at sand driving. I overheard the deck hand on the ferry talking about a guy the day before where the ferry staff took the keys out of his hire vehicle and refused to let me on the island, because his 4wd skills were so bad he couldn't reverse the vehicle on to the ferry. Apparently this is a common thing - a lot of young tourists come here, think they can drive off road, and find out they can't. It doesn't help that for many of them, it's the first time they have driven a right hand vehicle, and used a clutch. And sand is a lot harder to drive on than a muddy 4wd track- it keeps shifting.So we looked at all the options - hire a 4wd ourselves, take a tour, not go at all etc. I think I'm a fairly decent driver, have drived all over the world and all sorts of vehicles, but I do know my 4wd skills need work on them - driving Andy's 4wd down in Melbourne, on roads, illustraited that! Plus it was far too expensive for just the two of us, and im damned if im sharing with a bunch of strangers whose skills are worse than mine. So we did a day trip over instead. The downside really is that you don't get to see what you want, you are rushed from place to place, and there is 40 other people in front of you when trying to see anything. But it was well worth it.
After the ferry crossing, our first point of call was Central Station, once a logging camp
Carpet Python
. They logged Kerri Pine trees, which were super strong and resistant to all sorts of bugs. They also have 8kg Pine Cones, which dropping 50m to the floor, could probably hurt a human a little. The warning signs were quite amusing, although I made sure to look up every so often. The area is no longer a logging camp though, because back in 1992 Fraser Island was awarded World Heritage status. Now it's the start for a series of walks, and the tour followed the shortest one, down to a small creek. We saw a few Eels in the creek, as it was crystal clear. After a brief talk about the creek, the water table of the island and the logging operations, it was back to the truck. On the way back I noticed something move to my right, and just as I realised what it was, the lady in front of me shrieked very loudly and announced to the world my treasure - a 2m long Carpet Python. It's a beautiful Snake, harmless (can give you a nip still) and is useful for urban residents as it eats all the Rats. Sadly though as I were taking photos hoardes of people arrived to look, and scared the poor thing away. Still, at least I saw it. A few minutes later another one crossed the road in front of the truck, so there are obviously a few on the island.
Next we drove down the beach, literally. It's the main highway on the island, and is officially treated as a highway, with a few unique rules - you can overtake either side, you can stop anywhere you want and park up (other traffic has to go around you) and it's also a commercial runway, and planes really do take off next to you, land in front etc
Coloured Sands
. The Southern Pacific here is full of sharks as well, but we didn't spot any fins. The first stop on the beach highway was Eli Creek, a large, fast flowing creek where we had a little paddle, then onto the shipwreck remains of an old boat. From here we rushed to some coloured sands, called the Pinnacles, where the various minerals in the sand have coloured it. Some people from the tour took a small flight around the island, so those of us in the truck rushed back down the beach to meet them. When we met them, myself and Helen jumped out and got on the plane ourselves. Oh yes, we are full on tourists these days.
We did the flight last minute, as there were seats left, and it was cheap - £30 each isn't bad at all. So yes, we jumped on board, with our far-too-young-to-be-flying-a-plane pilot, and took off from the beach. We headed down the coast, where we spotted Turtles in the Ocean, then flew accross the island, where we saw the features we were told about on land. The Island is constantly picking up sand, shifted up from New South Wales, and over thousands of years, it actually swamps the rain forest. The rain forest we see today is the sixth rain forest they have had. Under the sand, are five older forests! From the air, we could see the huge sand dunes that are moving over the island at a rate of 1m a year, even spotting some of the tree tops just sticking out of the sand.
There are also unique lakes on the island, which you can only really appreciate from the air
Debarking at Fraser Island
. These lakes are well above sea level, and are "perched" in the sand dunes. All the water is rain water, and it only leaves through evaperation - the levels of sand and dead forest underneath is so great the water doesn't leak through. So we flew over a few of them, showing one which is being swamped by a giant sand dune - give it thirty years and it will be gone. The flight lasted around 20 minutes, but it really was worth it. We landed back on the beach, coming in just in front of the bus. Helen had never been in a small plane before, and loved it. I was very impressed - if you ever go there, don't think it's some tourist rip off, it really is worth it. Most people spend £30 on one meal on a night out, so for a flight over a World heritage listed, unique island, is well worth it.
After lunch, which was a buffet (I had three bread rolls, everything else was green or orange or stupid) we went up to Lake McKenzie, one of the lakes I mentioned above. It has stunning white sand, and in every sense was like being on the beach, just one surrounded by rain forest. So we had a little dip, spotted a Dingo in the forest (the Island is famous for them, as a) they are gentically the purest Dingo's left and b) these ones have killed people) and then back to the truck and a very bumpy ride back to the ferry.
So all in, it was a great day out. We didn't want to do a tour, as we like to see and do what we please, and not keep to a timetable, but we didn't have any alternative, and it turned out to be really good. It was rushed, no doubt about it, but there wasn't anything we could do about it. The majority of people touring Australia do so on various tours, and I can't help but think they have missed out on so, so much. I honestly think you need your own transport, and do it at a pace that suits you, but I realise not everyone can do that, like we couldn't do on Fraser Island.
So for once, the Lonely Planet guide has it correct - a "must see" that really is worth seeing.
