Fraser Island

We’ve spent the last three days touring the world’s largest sand island (aka Fraser Island). The island stretches over 120 km and the only way to see it, is by 4x4. Our tour group of 20 backpackers were divided into four vehicles and guided by our local expert Wayne. There are no roads on the island and most of the driving was down the white sand of 75 Mile Beach on the east side of the island. It is remarkable to have the waves crashing so close to the truck, and in some situations even against the truck, and through the open windows. We also drove inland on a narrow and deep sand track, the steep sections were built with wooden planks to provide traction uphill. Our destination was Lake McKenzie and only about 10 km away, but took over 50 minutes of being jostled back and forth to get there.  The lake had the bluest, crystal clear water we had ever seen. The interesting thing about all of the lakes on Fraser is that none are filled by any rivers or streams, which coupled with white sand makes them so clear and blue. It was hard to believe that it was a lake a not a beach on the ocean.

We headed back to our campsite that we had set up earlier (behind the sand dunes with the beach only a few metres away) to make dinner. As expected, that’s when the Dingo’s showed up!  The wild Dingo’s that live on Fraser Island are the purest example of Australia’s native dog (Dingo’s on the mainland have crossbred with domestic dogs). They were mostly just curious and interested in our food, but Wayne kept track of them throughout the night so they did not bother us. It was highly emphasized to keep all the food/garbage up on the tops of the trucks, and truck doors closed at all times. Numerous times over the past few days we’ve spotted Dingos on the beach at sunrise and in the bush, usually in packs. Jenna got a great video of a pack of Dingos that approached our tour group on the beach one day.

Some other highlights of the trip were the Maheno wreck (a rusty ship wreck from a cyclone in the 1930’s), Eli Creek (swimming in a large freshwater stream), the Cathedrals (coloured sand pillars) and the Champagne Pools, where waves crash overtop of low lying rocks and form these blue water pools that were great for swimming (we weren’t allowed in the ocean because it’s a tiger shark breeding ground). We also walked up to Indian Head and actually saw some of the sharks below. On the last day, we closed out the trip with a 40 minute trek through the bush that opened up massive sandblow (it was like being in the middle of a desert) that had a steep slope down to a little oasis – Lake Wabby. At the lake, we swam, relaxed and Jenna saw and held a baby turtle. We spent two nights on Fraser Island and got to know our fellow backpackers from England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and the US over many shared “entire cups of goon” (aka cheap wine in a bag). Everyone exchanged their contact details so we could share pictures and stay in touch as many of us are traveling up the coast at the same pace, so we’ll likely see some of them again. When we returned to the hostel, we headed straight to Rainbow beach and took a nap. Later, we decided to join an evening sunset walking tour through Great Sandy National Park to another massive sandblow overlooking the ocean and Fraser Island in the distance. We ended the evening with our new group of friends having drinks at the hostel and sharing our travel plans and experiences so far.

Champagne Pools