Fraser Island – One Huge Sand Island

Fraser Island is situated just off Hervey Bay. It is the largest sand island in the world and one huge playground for boys and their big toys. Girls love it as well, although they don’t seem to share the same enthusiasm when it comes to driving a 3 ton Toyota Landcruiser through soft sand and up and down steep hills.

Day 1

Our little group, 8 people all together, met at 8 am at the backpackers where we had booked our self drive tour to get some last minute instructions about driving in sand and getting us all back in one piece. Then it was everybody in the car and we were on our way to the ferry to Fraser Island. The first stop on the island was Lake McKenzie, a beautiful blue freshwater lake in the middle of the island. It’s just about 7 meters deep, so you can easily dive down there, although there isn’t much to see.

We had lunch there and then Sandra, one of the Swedish girls in our group drove us through dense forest on sandy roads to the beach at Eurong. Here Trudy, a welsh girl, took over and got us bogged down within 3 minutes. She thought that when we said she should go straight we actually meant straight and not just the middle track through the sand! Luckily we managed to dig us out quite quickly, though, only took about 15 minutes and it was quite funny, we were all in hysterics. The next stop was at the Moheno wreck, an old freighter at the eastern beach of Fraser. It’s very picturesque and would be even more beautiful if not for the love of signs Australian authorities seem to have (not that the Germans would be any better! ).

We then drove around for a bit looking for our camping site. With our tour deal we were allowed to stay in a rotunda on an aboriginal camping site. That had the advantage that we could make fires in the evening, as the national park authorities don’t have much to say on aboriginal land and those boys love a big bonfire. Who has ever heard of camping without a fire, anyways? The only things we weren’t allowed to do, was whistle after sunset and spit in the fire. Both these things will call bad spirits and you have to respect that, no matter if you believe in it or not.

Day 2

The next morning we all woke up with a bit of a hangover from all those beers and the drinking games the night before, but still managed to leave the camp around 9 am. About an hour later we arrived at Indian Heads. We climbed up onto the headland and spent ages looking at the eagle rays flying through the water below. Apparently sometimes you can see sharks and dolphins there, but we were not that lucky.

High tide was approaching at that time, so we decided to go to the Champagne Pools a little bit further to the north. These are basically natural saltwater pools with a little beach attached. Swimming is allowed here, as there is no danger from any sharks.

We weren’t really supposed to take the car north of Indian Head, but then neither were we supposed to drive due to high tide before 3 pm on the beach that day, which we did as well. We actually discovered on the last day a little leaflet, a not-to-do-list, and by the end of the trip we were able to put a tick behind most of them. Unintentionally of course, it just seemed stupid not to do them. Anyway, we then headed to Eli Creek, which is like a little river with water that tastes better than most tap water.

Day 3

Most of that morning we spent on Lake Wabby, a gorgeous green water lake on the way back to Eurong. There are curious catfish and small turtles in the water. Then there are huge sand dunes which you can run or roll down straight into the water. If you roll, then make sure to close your eyes and your mouth really tight…

After an ice cream at Eurong we then managed to miss our ferry back to the mainland. Not because we got lost, but because we accidentally drove to the wrong jetty. We still managed to catch a later ferry after a few hours sunbathing and arrived back in Hervey Bay around 5pm. I could spend another week in that place, it’s fantastic. So far the nicest place in Australia for me!

For more pictures of Fraser visit the gallery page!

Tags: 4x4, Australia, Fraser Island, Gear, Shark

Most of the time Boris can be found swimming with the big fish or chilling in his hammock in some far-away region of earth. Once he chewed some betel nut...

Posted in Travelogues on 6 November 2007 | Comments Feed

Related Images:

Aboriginal Dancing

Windmill

Tyre tracks

Champange pools