Fraser Island

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Fraser Island, We came, We saw, We concurred!!!!!!

Fraser island was an interesting little destination. We started our journey to Fraser by catching the ferry from Inskip inlet, this is a 20minute ferry trip across to fraser and oh how expensive it was, Bloody $120 for a car and $60 for each of the bikes, and a permit to ride along the beaches, was about $50, they really do like to get their monies worth, but what they spend it on i really don't know, the first part of the drive was on a track, OMG! the corrugations were so bad!!!! The island itself is looking a little dated, we stayed in a house in Eurong, the resort here was a shocking mess, very run down and looking ever so shabby!!! food and fuel was very expensive too, a bottle of cheap wine was not so cheap at $28!!!!!! so Maggie and i had to settle for the $30 goon instead lol! below is a little speel about the island.



Fraser Island is a heritage-listed island located along the southern coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Brisbane.<sup id="cite_ref-qpni_1-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"> It is a locality within the Fraser Coast Region. Its length is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) and its width is approximately 24 kilometres (15 mi). It was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largestsand island in the world at 1840 km². It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the East Coast of Australia.

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants. Fraser Island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is part of the Fraser Coast Region and protected in the Great Sandy National Park.



Fraser Island has over 100 freshwater lakes, as well as the second highest concentration of lakes in Australia after Tasmania. The freshwater lakes on Fraser Island are some of the cleanest lakes in the world. A popular tourist area is Lake McKenzie which is located inland from the small town of Eurong. It is aperched lake sitting on top of compact sand and vegetable matter 100 metres (330 ft) above sea level. Lake McKenzie has an area of 150 hectares and is just over 5 metres (16 ft) in depth. The beach sand of Lake McKenzie is nearly pure silica. The lakes have very few nutrients and pH varies, though sunscreen and soapsare a problem as a form of pollution. Freshwater on the island may become stained by organic acids found in decaying vegetation. Because of the organic acids a pH level of 3.7 has been measured in some of the island's perched lakes.<sup id="cite_ref-fia_11-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"> The high acidity levels prevent many species from finding habitat in the lakes.

Another perched lake on the island is Lake Boomanjin, which at 200 hectares in size, is the largest perched lake in the world. In total there are 40 perched lakes on the island, half of all known lakes of this kind on the planet. Lake Boomanjin is fed by two creeks that pass through a wallum swamp where it collects tanninswhich tint the water red. Lake Wabby is the deepest lake on the island, at 12 metres (39 ft) in depth and also the least acidic which means it has the most aquatic life of all the lakes.
Hammerstone Sandblow and Lake Wabby
Some of the lakes on Fraser Island are window lakes. These form when the water table has risen to a point higher than the surrounding land. Most of the valleys on the islands have creeks which are fed by springs.Motor boats and jet skis are banned from the island's lakes.


Dingoes

Fraser Island dingoes
Dingoes were once common on the island, but are now decreasing. The Fraser Island dingoes are reputedly some of the last remaining pure dingoes in Eastern Australia and to prevent cross-breeding, dogs are not allowed on the island. According to DNA-examinations from the year 2004, the dingoes on Fraser Island are "pure". However, skull measurements from the 1990s detected crossbreeds between dingoes and domestic dogs among the population.

Up until 1995, there were no official records of dingoes attacking humans on Fraser Island. In April 2001, a boy named Clinton Gage wandered away from his family and was attacked and killed by several dingoes. Over 120 dingoes were killed by rangers as a result of the incident, though locals believe the number was much greater. After the 2001 attack, four dedicated rangers were allocated dingo management roles and ranger patrols were increased. There are fines for feeding dingoes or leaving food and rubbish out which may attract them.<sup id="cite_ref-xqnp_21-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;">

As of January 2008, the number of dingoes on the island was estimated to be 120 to 150, and sightings have become less common. A University of Queensland researcher, Nick Baker, claims the dingoes on Fraser Island have adopted unusual behaviour. Rather than hunt in small packs, Fraser Island dingoes had developed a tolerance for each other and work together in one big hunting pack. Dingo-proof fences, consisting of metals bars across a concrete pit and a 1.8 m high mesh fence were built around nine island settlements in 2008, to keep the dingoes out of the townships.

In late 2009, a former ranger (no actual formal records of him being employed by QPWS can be found) on the island, Ray Revill, claimed 70%!o(MISSING)f the dingo population, which was then estimated at between 100 and 120 animals, was malnourished. In March 2010, three separate reports of dingos biting tourists were made. Tourists have been criticised for ignoring advice from park rangers as they try to provoke reactions from dingoes while taking photographs.<sup id="cite_ref-tbg_32-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;">



We stayed in a 3 bedroom house in Eurong, there was plenty of room for us all, the only issue we had was the kids fighting with Maggie for control of the TV…… The house was very clean and tidy, basic but clean. We had a few visitors come and see us, like a big lizard trying to get into our bags and onto of the BBQ, he had no luck there as he fell off the BBQ, was so funny to watch!!! also lots of Gekhos. Also when we were leaving the island and waiting for the ferry back to the mainland we saw 3 dolphins about 10meters from the beach!!!! awesome sight!!! Martin was the first to catch a fish, maybe even the only one to catch a fish. We had a few encounters with the dingoes, when we first drove along the beach they seemed to be very attracted to the boys on their motorbikes and followed them for quite a while, we were safe as we were in Martins car.

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