Hervey Bay is a quiet seaside town about seven hours north of Brisbane in a bus. There isn't much going on here, but the backpackers keep flowing in as Hervey Bay is where most Fraser Island tour operators are based. In the photo to the left you can see me attempting to coax a green parrot onto my hand - that's about the most exciting thing that happened on the mainland!
Fraser Island is a spit of sand just off the west coast of Queensland, though calling it a spit of sand hardly does the place justice - it is the world's largest sand island, stretching a whole 125km from north to south and about 20km at its widest point. The island is covered in rainforest, mangroves, sand blows and freshwater lakes. Plenty of animals make their home here, including Dingos (the purest strain left in Australia), goannas, plenty of birds, as well as the usually Aussie plethora of snakes and spiders. Off the west coast of Fraser Island it is not uncommon to find Estuarine Crocodiles (the saltwater variety) and the east coast is a tiger shark nursing ground. Besides the wildlife there are a few human settlements - very expensive holiday resorts mostly - but the island is largely unspoiled and untouched by human modifications. The only sealed road is to be found at the holiday resort of Eurong Beach, the rest of the island's roads are sand tracks, with the main thoroughfare being the west coast's 75 Mile Beach.
The reason so many backpackers visit Fraser Island is the self-drive, three day tour. Basically, you hand over about A$300 of your hard earned money and the hostel/tour operator gives you and seven strangers the keys to a bright pink Land Cruiser packed with camping gear and food, permits for camping on Fraser Island and tickets for the barge that plies the half hour crossing from the mainland. You're then free to explore Fraser Island - within limits. Certain less travelled tracks are off limits as the likelihood of getting stuck in fast are high, whereas the far northern and southern reaches of the island are deemed "not interesting" and hence are off limits too. Another no-no is driving in salt-water, which provides the drivers of the 4x4 quite a challenge! When you're driving along the beach you need to keep as close to the waterline as possible, as this is where the sand is firm, but its also in the direct path of the surf.
If you pull away from the water too much, you get into the soft sand, the truck starts to wobble, and you slow down to an ungainly 20km/h (the speed limit on the beach is 80km/h). Add to this hidden rocks, freshwater washouts that make the speed bumps and potholes of Maltese roads look insignificant, and plenty of pedestrians walking around on the sand, and driving on Fraser makes for quite a baptism of fire for the novice 4x4 driver!
Day 1:
The first day of our Fraser Island adventure started with a quick briefing on sand driving and general know-how about our Land Cruiser - how to engage the 4WD, what to do if we get bogged in, general niggles etc. By 9am we were on our way to the
Day 1:The first day of our Fraser Island adventure started with a quick briefing on sand driving and general know-how about our Land Cruiser - how to engage the 4WD, what to do if we get bogged in, general niggles etc. By 9am we were on our way to the
supermarket to buy food for three days, and Dominic, the only other guy in our group of travelers, took the driver's seat. His first reaction was "its handles like a Panzer" - the vehicle is BIG, and the clutch is either IN or OUT - you don't feather the clutch, just chuck the gear in and mash the gas pedal into the carpet, and you're off!With the shopping done we had to make our way some 20km out of Hervey Bay to the barge at River Heads, and I was given the task of driving to and onto the barge. My German companion Dominic was right, it does feel like you're driving a tank! And that clutch? Like pushing down a ton of bricks… but its all part of the adventure I guess! Getting to the barge was no problem, but reversing onto the barge proved to be another kettle of fish altogether! I generally find no problem reversing into tight spaces, but driving a new, huge car, without begin able to look through the rear window owing to all the gear and people piled in the back, and to make things worse, down a narrow ramp, with a clutch that doesn't like to be feathered was quite challenging. The first hurdle in our adventure was overcome with some help from the crew of the barge, and we were on our way to Fraser
Island!Once on the Island we were greeted by plenty of puddles and potholes - it had been raining rather heavily in the previous days so the road leveling crews couldn't do their job. This made for a very fun, bumpy ride up front in the driver's seat, but I think the swaying got boring after the first few minutes for the girls riding in the back. Driving off-road is a very slow and time consuming business - though the limit is set at 30km/h on the inland roads we hardly ever got past 20 - anyone who drives at the speed limit on these roads either has no regard for his passengers, or wants to punish them for some wrongdoing!
Our first scheduled stop was at an old logging site called Central Station, where we filled our water tank, emptied our bladders, and then set off for the first real attraction of the day - Lake Mackenzie. This freshwater lake is the largest on the island and is comprised of a sandy beach surrounded by rainforest, looking on to the cobalt blue waters of the lake and more rainforest on the far shore. It is a really lovely place to spend a sunny afternoon taking in the views and wading in the cooling waters, though our sun worshipping was limited somewhat by the arrival of rainclouds. We beat a hasty retreat to the carpark for lunch, then set out to our final destination for the day - Gabala camp grounds, along 75 Mile Beach. With plenty of one-way tracks and big back tracking loops to be done, it took us more than an hour and a half to get to the campsite even though we were just over 20km away.
With Autumn well under way it gets dark quite early, and none of the group being heavy drinkers intent on bingeing all night long, we were tucked away in our cosy tents by 10pm!
Day 2:
Despite the gloomy weather forecast for the duration of our stay we woke up to a bright, sunny morning, and were quickly on our way up the beach looking for a suitable place for breakfast. Once our grumbling bellies had been sated we set off for Eli Creek, the largest freshwater washout along the beach. Here we took a stroll through the picturesque rainforest to the end of the boardwalk, where all the party took off their sandals
Our first scheduled stop was at an old logging site called Central Station, where we filled our water tank, emptied our bladders, and then set off for the first real attraction of the day - Lake Mackenzie. This freshwater lake is the largest on the island and is comprised of a sandy beach surrounded by rainforest, looking on to the cobalt blue waters of the lake and more rainforest on the far shore. It is a really lovely place to spend a sunny afternoon taking in the views and wading in the cooling waters, though our sun worshipping was limited somewhat by the arrival of rainclouds. We beat a hasty retreat to the carpark for lunch, then set out to our final destination for the day - Gabala camp grounds, along 75 Mile Beach. With plenty of one-way tracks and big back tracking loops to be done, it took us more than an hour and a half to get to the campsite even though we were just over 20km away.
With Autumn well under way it gets dark quite early, and none of the group being heavy drinkers intent on bingeing all night long, we were tucked away in our cosy tents by 10pm!
Day 2:Despite the gloomy weather forecast for the duration of our stay we woke up to a bright, sunny morning, and were quickly on our way up the beach looking for a suitable place for breakfast. Once our grumbling bellies had been sated we set off for Eli Creek, the largest freshwater washout along the beach. Here we took a stroll through the picturesque rainforest to the end of the boardwalk, where all the party took off their sandals
and hopped in for a cooling walk in the water back to the 4x4. We didn't see any wildlife along our way, though a guy coming upstream did say he saw a snake…
Back on the Land Cruiser and on our way north along the beach we got our first glimpse of one of Fraser Island's famous dingos - we'd heard plenty of stories about Dingos bothering campers, chasing children, opening tents etc but it took us almost a full 24 hours on the island to see one! With the dingo photo session done we proceeded to the farthest reaches of 75 Mile Beach at Indian Heads. These large rock cliffs mark the point farthest north that we were allowed to travel in our vehicle, so we parked up in the soft sand and set off to explore on foot.
Indian Heads are so named because the cliffs supposedly look like the profile of an Indian - we tried hard at straining our eyes, and letting our imagination run loose, but we couldn't quite make out the profile. From Indian Heads we headed further north along the beach to the Champagne Pools - the only place on Fraser Island where you can swim in sea-water. The rock pools are so named because the crashing waves bubble and look like the expensive French beverage as the wash in on the bathers… though my friends assure me that that is where the similarities end, the taste being quite different!
Back at the Land Cruiser we had the pleasure of seeing some more Dingos feasting on the leftover lunch of some of the other groups… its this sort of behavior that makes the Dingos look to humans as a source of food, so if you ever are on Fraser Island, make sure you don't leave food scraps lying around. Dingos that are not afraid to approach humans can become a nuisance, some even become aggressive towards humans, and so any bold Dingos have to be humanely put down by the Rangers to prevent accidents. I'm getting off my soap-box now…
With the tide receding and the beach widening we could make our way back down the highway/beach towards other landmarks before making camp. Our first stop on the southward journey was at the Pinnacles, a multicolored sandstone formation that is being slowly eroded by the action of the sea and wind.
From the Pinnacles we headed onwards to the shipwreck of the luxury liner Maheno. This vessel foundered off the coast of Fraser Island in a violent storm in 1935 and has proved quite a popular attraction. Unfortunately the vessel has deteriorated so much that it is now forbidden to enter the wreck or stand within three meters of it, but we still got plenty of nice pictures (and everyone seems to disregard the three meter exclusion zone).
Once we'd had our fill of taking photos of the rusting hulk of the Maheno we got back into our pink Panzer and drove into the twilight towards our campsite for dinner and a good night's sleep. While we were setting up camp we were visited by the Fraser Island Rangers who inquired about any Dingos coming into the campsite and were quite surprised when we replied in the negative…
Once the rangers were gone and we sat down to dinner though it didn't take long for one of the four footed fiends to make its was into our clearing, though as soon as it noticed that we were aware of its presence the Dingo beat a hasty retreat, and we saw no sign of it while we were outside our tents.
Day 3:
In the morning we did find some evidence of Dingos in our camp clearing, but they seem to have stuck to sniffing around the Land Cruiser where all our food was stored, rather than approaching our tents.
Our final destination on Fraser Island was to be Lake Wabby, another freshwater lake, but this one being surrounded by high, steep sand dunes on one bank, and thick, impenetrable rainforest on the other. The water certainly wasn't as clear as that in Lake Mackenzie, but the ambient was just as nice. Lake Wabby is inhabited by catfish and turtles, and the former like to swim up to bather's feet for a tentative nibble! The sand dunes also provide for some entertainment - using discarded beer cartons you can slide down the sand dunes just like you would on a sledge down a snowy hill. The descent provides a nice adrenaline rush - and this is needed as the walk back up the dunes is quite taxing!
From the lake we headed to Eurong resort for lunch, and from there it was an all too quick drive back to the barge landing, and an end to our 4x4 adventure on Fraser Island.
A big wave goes out to our safari adventure companions - the German clan: Dominic, Brenda, Anka, Melissa and Sabrina, and the only other non-German speaker, Liz from America!
Back on the Land Cruiser and on our way north along the beach we got our first glimpse of one of Fraser Island's famous dingos - we'd heard plenty of stories about Dingos bothering campers, chasing children, opening tents etc but it took us almost a full 24 hours on the island to see one! With the dingo photo session done we proceeded to the farthest reaches of 75 Mile Beach at Indian Heads. These large rock cliffs mark the point farthest north that we were allowed to travel in our vehicle, so we parked up in the soft sand and set off to explore on foot.
Indian Heads are so named because the cliffs supposedly look like the profile of an Indian - we tried hard at straining our eyes, and letting our imagination run loose, but we couldn't quite make out the profile. From Indian Heads we headed further north along the beach to the Champagne Pools - the only place on Fraser Island where you can swim in sea-water. The rock pools are so named because the crashing waves bubble and look like the expensive French beverage as the wash in on the bathers… though my friends assure me that that is where the similarities end, the taste being quite different!
Back at the Land Cruiser we had the pleasure of seeing some more Dingos feasting on the leftover lunch of some of the other groups… its this sort of behavior that makes the Dingos look to humans as a source of food, so if you ever are on Fraser Island, make sure you don't leave food scraps lying around. Dingos that are not afraid to approach humans can become a nuisance, some even become aggressive towards humans, and so any bold Dingos have to be humanely put down by the Rangers to prevent accidents. I'm getting off my soap-box now…
With the tide receding and the beach widening we could make our way back down the highway/beach towards other landmarks before making camp. Our first stop on the southward journey was at the Pinnacles, a multicolored sandstone formation that is being slowly eroded by the action of the sea and wind.
From the Pinnacles we headed onwards to the shipwreck of the luxury liner Maheno. This vessel foundered off the coast of Fraser Island in a violent storm in 1935 and has proved quite a popular attraction. Unfortunately the vessel has deteriorated so much that it is now forbidden to enter the wreck or stand within three meters of it, but we still got plenty of nice pictures (and everyone seems to disregard the three meter exclusion zone).
Once we'd had our fill of taking photos of the rusting hulk of the Maheno we got back into our pink Panzer and drove into the twilight towards our campsite for dinner and a good night's sleep. While we were setting up camp we were visited by the Fraser Island Rangers who inquired about any Dingos coming into the campsite and were quite surprised when we replied in the negative…
Once the rangers were gone and we sat down to dinner though it didn't take long for one of the four footed fiends to make its was into our clearing, though as soon as it noticed that we were aware of its presence the Dingo beat a hasty retreat, and we saw no sign of it while we were outside our tents.
Day 3:In the morning we did find some evidence of Dingos in our camp clearing, but they seem to have stuck to sniffing around the Land Cruiser where all our food was stored, rather than approaching our tents.
Our final destination on Fraser Island was to be Lake Wabby, another freshwater lake, but this one being surrounded by high, steep sand dunes on one bank, and thick, impenetrable rainforest on the other. The water certainly wasn't as clear as that in Lake Mackenzie, but the ambient was just as nice. Lake Wabby is inhabited by catfish and turtles, and the former like to swim up to bather's feet for a tentative nibble! The sand dunes also provide for some entertainment - using discarded beer cartons you can slide down the sand dunes just like you would on a sledge down a snowy hill. The descent provides a nice adrenaline rush - and this is needed as the walk back up the dunes is quite taxing!
From the lake we headed to Eurong resort for lunch, and from there it was an all too quick drive back to the barge landing, and an end to our 4x4 adventure on Fraser Island.
A big wave goes out to our safari adventure companions - the German clan: Dominic, Brenda, Anka, Melissa and Sabrina, and the only other non-German speaker, Liz from America!
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