Fraser Island - MyAustraliainfo - Information about Australia

Fraser Island

June 2001 13/14/15

Today I leave Brisbane for Hervey Bay. It's a small town but very busy transit point to get to Fraser Island, the ferries leave from here to reach it. Harvey Bay is small and it didn't take long to see this town, it's a small sea town with tourists on there way to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is a beautiful island 120 km long and is the largest sand island in the world. In fact there is no soil just sand and rocks, a lot of vegetation and huge sand dunes as in the desert. At Fraser there are no roads but only sand tracks that go from one side to the other.  Only practical if you have a 4 Wheel driver.   To visit Fraser Island and go camping you need permission and you have to pay as well.  More than half the island is a national park recognized as a world heritage site. There are also several luxury resorts, and in addition to this do it yourself and there are several organizations that will organise everything for you. I visited here for two days on board a robust like bus that looks like 4x4 bus. I have seen one of the most beautiful parts of nature here and amazed by how the Rangers look after the island.. We covered the island and saw many exclusive parts of the island. I think it would be really difficult to drive in those conditions, more than once these robust 4x4's found themselves in difficulty. After about an hour we arrived at lake Wabby, truly spectacular with salt water and  crystal clear. The island has many lakes suitable to for swimming and our guide Bob tells us the sea is a bit 'dangerous due to strong currents and the presence sharks. I was surprised at first to see that there were no surfers there on those perfect waves and then I realised why.. After lunch, another beautiful lake,  lake Mackenzie and walks in the park for several kilometers in a truly unspoiled part of nature. From the resort and documentation given to us, there are warnings about dingos everywhere. The famous dogs that are really pure and wild only in this part of the world have they remained as they truely are. It is forbidden by law, with heavy penalties and fines, to feed or approach these animals because they are very dangerous and wild animals. During the two days that I was there only one Dingo approached the coach  on the beach, but he didn't get too close. Their presence, however, could be seen in the continuous tracks that they leave on the sand. The second day was dedicated entirely to the beaches, to the various streams and to the beach made up entirely of sand. Words cannot describe the beauty of this beach, miles and miles travelling along the shore between one wave and another, truly paradise a beautiful part of the World.. Every now and then, Bob the gude, pulled out a small container, and whent he water retired on the shore he would quickly dig and pull out  giant clams, I thought to myself what a nice plae of Spaghetti alle Vongole this would make!!. Close a shipwreck Mokeno, a passenger ship that ran aground years ago , now reduced to a pile junk. Bob talks on the CB and after a few minutes a small plane lands . I was one of those lucky few of 5, who paid for a scenic flight over the island.. It was the first time I flew on a small plane and I was a bit nervous as i was imanging it falling at any time.. I took some pictures from the plane and hope they are ok. Upon returning some technical problem, Bob as well as being a very good guide is also very competant and a very fast driver, although he drove like crazy and at one point we had to walk cause the car's gearbox gave way. We had to wait until late at night at the beach which gave us the chance to see the beautiful sunset even though it was terribly cold. The coach arrived to escort us back to the resort and to make up for the technical problems and being stranded for awhile we were offered dinner which, this was definitely appreciated.  Apart from being a great Guide, Bob is also a great guitar player, the first night on the beach he and two others sang and played guitar, singing songs that brought me back to the 60's/70's beautiful trio, and a really lovely evening. Unfortunately, the end of the trip to Fraser Island!! Tomorrow and the day after I make a change of direction and head to Melbourne back to the friends that I met via this web diary. I will return at a later date to Queensland again.....