Fraser Island
NOTE: Since I'm way behind with my blog posts, they don't really reflect to correct date of the activity. The Fraser Island tour occured on 26/10/2012.
Fraser Island is the world's biggest sand island - approx 127km long x 15 km wide. Although all roads on the island are just 4WD tracks, they are all gazzetted roads, including 75Mile Beach, and the island has a local cop who enforces the road rules. We saw him in action on the beach, pulling over cars.
To get to the island we took the ferry and were then split into several smaller groups and assigned to specially designed 4WD buses. The buses are outfitted with seatbelts, which are mandatory, and after 5 mins driving it was easy to see why.
The first stop was Central Station where the driver took us on a walk through forest, along a boardwalk, showing us beautiful kauri trees next to a crystal clear stream. Here's a quick video...
Then it was back into the bus for some more very rough travelling across to the other side of the island, and a place called Eurong. There is a resort here, and this is where we had an early lunch. The schedule of the tour can vary from day to day, because part of the tour involves a drive along 75mile beach, which is subject to the tides.
After lunch it was back into the bus for a drive along the beach - ahhhh, much smother! Aside from a couple of spots along the beach, the speed limit is 80kph, and it was quite strange to see lots & lots of 4WDs speeding up and down the beach in both directions. Not too far along we saw a plane on the beach, and the driver announced that we could take a joy flight if we liked. I hate flying in small planes (not good with turbulence), but my hand shot up to be one of the first - I couldn't miss out on this.
Once into the plane (I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat) he revved the engine and we started taxing down the beach to take off - IN BETWEEN THE ON COMING TRAFFIC. It was the weirdest sensation to take off from the beach. We climbed out over the ocean, for a brief bit of whale spotting, before banking back to fly over the island. Magnificent sight - there were huge swathes of green dotted with small pockets of sand as well as the odd lake. Coming into land was one of the scariest things I've done. First we came in perpendicular to the beach, then at the last minute banked sharply to the right (I thought the wing was going to touch the waves) then hit the sand - trying to pick a big enough gap between the cars. Still, I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
Once we landed we caught up with the bus, and had a quick look at the wreck of the Maheno.
We then stopped off at the coloured sands, as well as Eli Creeek which is a beautiful oasis based around one of the crystal clear creeks that a scattered around the island. It was a real party atmosphere with about 15-20 4WDs parked around the creek, with people playing beach volleyball, splashing around in the water, having picnics etc.
After that it was back down the beach towards Eurong (where the bus was washed), and inland again over some more rough tracks towards Lake Mackenzie. This is a freshwater lake that is not actually fed by and creeks or streams, but simply relies on the rainfall to fill it - which is normally an ample 2meters per year !! Due to the nature of the vegetation & clay that make up the lake floor, the water is slightly acidic with a pH of approx 4.4, which makes it feel very refreshing. Because of this acidity, there is virtually nothing living in the water, which also makes it extremely clear. After a long, hot day travelling on the bus it was fantastic to have a swim.
After the swim it was back onto the bus and hit the final stretch back to the ferry.
Having a day to explore Fraser Island was really only a "taster", and someday I'd really love to come back and spend a week or more exploring and camping on the island in a 4WD.
Here's a LINK to other photos from Fraser Island.