Fraser Island

We got up early on Thursday, 5th May, packed up the ute and headed for the barge at River Heads (twenty minutes) from Hervey Bay for the half an hour boat ride to Fraser Island. We'd purchased a $20.00 4 person tent from Big W, so that we could leave the van in the caravan park at Hervey Bay.

After a cool, breezy barge ride we arrived and headed inland for our first stop - Lake McKenzie. This is a highly talked about fresh water lake, a "perched" lake, to give it it's official title. Perched lakes occur above the water table. They are saucer-shaped depressions with a hard, impervious base of organic matter and sand, form a catchment for the rain,  eventually creating the lake. Fraser Island has approx 40 fresh water lakes, of different varieties. Lake Wabby is a "barrage" lake where the drifting of the sand dunes as blocked off any flowing ability of the fresh water, and it is trapped. Several of us couldn't resist the chance to take a dip at Lake McKenzie, and the clear water was amazing. Having done a bit of sea and chlorinated pool swimming it was amazing to "taste" the fresh water! However if we'd wanted 'isolated', Lake McKenzie wasn't the spot for it! We were there with 'hundreds of others, all enjoying the same experience.

Lake Wabby

 

 Lake McKenzie 

Have we gone approx 1800kms to drive 'Ngarkat - like' country? Amazing! Over the central range, towards the eastern beaches, we drove through beautiful rain forest habitat, and then suddenly came out of the shade to lower bush, lots of banksias, white sandy tracks and scenery that reminded us all of home!

...to 'Ngarkat'!! (in a few hundred metres)

From rainforest ...

A little further on and we pull out on to 75 Mile Beach, or was that 75 Mile Highway?! There were 4x4's everywhere up and down the beach.

We commented on the beach campers that were lazy so -and -so's leaving so much garbage on the beaches of the Eastern side, until we realised that it is probably the result of QLD flooding and cyclones, and it has come from further up the coast and just lodged on Fraser Island. There were lot’s of coconuts, palm trunks, wood, plastic containers and general rubbish! I read somewhere that a lot of the mainland sand swirls around and lands on those beaches, so I presume the same could happen for rubbish! Hopefully, someone, somewhere can find the time and resources to tidy the place up. There are probably still more urgent matters at hand in Qld at the moment.

75 Mile Beach - no cars in the photo, but there had been a lot!

We decided to head for Waddy Point and make camp early, looking at other sights along the beach until the next morning. However, without anyone around to ask, we weren't aware of the 'nicer' beach camp a bit further on until the next morning. Having our hearts set on a beach camp we headed back the way we had come, down from Indian head a-ways, and set up camp in the dunes  for a bit of shelter from the wind.

Beach campsite, on 75 Mile Beach

(Please note - Jon has got his
shorts on for this photo!)

For this we were quite isolated. But the bush camp was very welcoming, and someone had left their 'facilities' for us to use!! This cheered Lily up a trifle until Jed glimpsed a dingo 'flashing' past in the bush! (of course he couldn't keep it to himself could he?? Up to this point we had seen no dingoes. ( The story is - since the last 'episode' of enforced culling on Fraser, the dingoes have gone into hiding!!). So although we had a seat to sit on, we had 'family' toilet excursions, with the shovel along for the ride - just in case! (dingo weapon!). The good news was, we didn't see anymore at camp.

Anyway, camp was set, the wind came up, the light began to fade and ... the rain began to fall. We snuck tea in and after a few games of cards and a chocky bar it was off to bed (all four of us squeezed in to the tent. Did I say '4 person tent'? In bed and asleep by 7.30pm. Needless to say it was one of those nights - wind, rain, water in the tent, and tossing and turning all night. I guess you can't expect a lot from a tent that only costs you $20 bucks - and it did keep out the mozzies! However, don't they say that adversity breeds ... something, ...what is it again?? However, rising with the sunlight and a cooked brekky did a fair bit to disperse the tenseness of the disrupted night. We packed up inbetween showers, and although it was wet, it was not real cold, and after we heard a few cars go past on the beach we decided to check our info on tide times, to see if we could safely head off for some more sight seeing!

Running the high tide



Phew...! Off the beach and onto the headland track




Kids having fun in dunes, near Indian Head


Back up the beach to Indian Head, and it was taking along time for the tide to start going out. We had a bit of a jaunt around here while we waited for the bit of beach up to Champagne Pools to be a bit less risky. I didn't much like the waves 'lapping' at the wheels! Great views of the coast and sand blows inland. By this time a few more people were up and down the beach and we decided to go for it!

The Champagne Pools were unique, and if the day had been a bit warmer and the tide a little lower, I may have been tempted to swim. Even the natural "changeroom" was unique, between the rocks. However, it did need a door - as we had to 'avert our eyes', when we arrived at the bottom of the steps!

Back down the beach:

More "Pinnacles" - I think every state has one! These ones were a startling, impressive orange tho', but equally as impressive.

The Maheno Wreck - and yes, we took the photo of our vehicle in front of it, just like everyone else does. This ship, has been on the beach at Fraser Island since 1935, when a cyclone washed it onto the beach. It was being towed back to a ship yard in Japan to be wrecked for scrap metal. 

The photo that everybody evidently takes!...their vehicle
 infront of Maheno Wreck

Just past the wreck we looked skywards, to see the tourist plane flying past. You can imagine my surprise when the noise got louder and it passed us on the left, landing on the beach in front of us. It all happened so quickly that I couldn't get a good camera shot until it had nearly touched down!

Flew on to the beach, passed us on the left and pulled up on the beach in front of us.

One of our "must see" spots we saved until last - Eli Creek! This was every bit as good as we expected, and by this stage of the day the weather had warmed up sufficiently, just, for some of us to don the "cozzies", blow up the purpose bought raft, and get wet! This is a magic spot, with crystal clear water, not terribly deep and flowing from the damp hills, meandering across the beach, to the Pacific Ocean. The only problem was the other tourists, including five buses of Year 4 students from Hervey Bay! (and their teachers expected them not to get wet!! I call that child torture!)

Fresh water creek, to Pacific Ocean

The other highlight of this spot was actually seeing a couple of the notorious Fraser dingoes! These just came out of the bush, wandered down the beach, and came over for a bit of a 'sniff' of the ute, then moved off further up the beach, when Jon told them to "get out of it"! (You know how it would go.) Great to see them, and these ones actually looked quite healthy!

Here boy! Good dog! (???)

  

Then it was time for the "idyll" to end, and head back to the barge. Right on sun down, which was great for mozzies and midgies!! We thought they weren't too bad until the next day, when we had lots of itchy red lumps on arms and legs!

Gorgeous sunset as we headed back to mainland!