Fraser Island

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Tuesday evening I took the overnight bus down to Hervey Bay from Airlie Beach. I was very glad to leave my accommodation in Airlie Beach but now I can say that I’ve had a “true” backpacking experience. The hostel I stayed in had bed bugs, which is actually quite common. Thankfully I did not get them. The hostel also had a terrible kitchen that was about the size of a smallish bedroom. It didn’t even have real stoves or cookware. That’s because of course they want you to eat at their restaurant. One night the guy in the bunk next to me brought some girl over and they had sex with 10 other people in the room. I actually didn’t wake up because I was so tired and had earplugs in. Thank goodness! But the girl who was on the top bunk where the action was told me the next day that she woke up to her bed shaking like crazy. Hahaha! So the night bus wasn’t that bad. I was able to get a few hours sleep. Plus if you’re on the bus overnight you don’t have to pay for accommodation.


So I killed a day in Hervey Bay. Plus I had to catch up on a bit of sleep due to the overnight bus. Then on Friday I was ready to go on my 4x4 Fraser Island adventure. So what they do is put you in a group with about 9 other people and you’re supposed to drive around the island in a Toyota Land Cruiser and camp together for 3 days and 2 nights. I heard from many people that Fraser Island was a highlight from their trip in Australia so I was looking forward to it although there are natural reservations about being put with a group of strangers for 3 days. I also heard that the person who does the driving on the first day has the most fun so I was really hoping that I would get the chance to be that person. Turns out I was so I was super stoked for that. It really came about because the first person to sign up for driving is the one that is sort of “in charge” of the vehicle and is responsible for driving in town and responsible for speeding tickets and that kind of thing. So no one else wanted to do it, not even the guys, so I just volunteered.


We had our briefing about how to drive on the sand and change to 4 wheel drive and all that sort of stuff. Then we headed to the grocery store to get food. It was a frustrating experience and no one in our group wanted to make a final decision so we took a lot of time just standing there going “well I don’t really care”. Eventually we purchased food and headed to the ferry to go across to the island. Once on the island we prepped our car for the sand and filled up water. Then the real fun began!


The first bit of the drive is up a steep hill with many bumps and some surprise curves. I navigated it with no problem! And because I’m confident with my off-road driving skills, which I learned and used every day at Modoc, I was able to have so much fun driving. My group was so impressed with my driving that the guys had a lot to live up to. The guys held their own, and actually all the drivers in our group were good and I don’t think anyone feared losing their lives.


The first day we only had time to go to one place so we visited Lake Wabby. This is an interesting lake because it is gradually being filled in by a sand dune. Eventually the lake will be completely filled in and I guess there will just be a sand dune there until eventually it becomes colonized with vegetation. So we took a short hike through the woods and a quick dip in the lake. We had planned to camp with the other 2 cars in our group but one group raced off when they were done and the other group lost a group member for an hour so everyone ended up camping on their own. Of course there was arguing about what we should do because our group was in the middle so we didn’t know if we should wait for the others left behind or try to catch up. Eventually we just decided to stop and set up camp because it was getting dark. We actually managed to set up camp and start cooking before dark. Thank goodness since we only had about 5 lights for 10 people (2 of which were mine; then one (not mine) burned out).


The next morning we had to pack up camp and get started early because the road alone the island is the beach and you have to worry about tide times and all that kind of stuff. So we had to be up north before high tide time. So we cruised along the beach and eventually ended up at Indian Head. We waited to have breakfast at Indian Head. Unfortunate because of the sand. Where we camped it was nice and sheltered from the wind on the beach but that was not the case when we stopped the next morning. The wind was blowing like crazy so there was so much sand in our food and there was pretty much no way we could have avoided it. Then again, it was a losing battle against the sand since Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. For breakfast we had toast, scrambled eggs, and baked beans. Odd thing for breakfast but it is quite common in parts of Europe. It was not terrible but I think I’ll keep baked beans for lunch or dinner.


We enjoyed a short walk up to the top of Indian Head to get an awesome view of the beach and ocean. From the top we could even see sharks, turtles, and sting rays in the water below. It was quite a peaceful place at the top so we stayed there for a while, plus it was only about 9:30 am. After that we headed farther north to Champagne Pools. They are a series of pools that fill with water at high tide. It’s quite pretty too because the waves crash in to and flow over the rocks. We were sort of stuck up north because of the tide so we didn’t leave Champagne Pools until about 2:30 or so. We headed south to Eli Creek, a crystal clear freshwater creek that flows in to the ocean. There is aboard walk that you can take upstream and then you can float downstream. After being caked in sunscreen and sand it felt wonderful to rinse off. The cool freshwater felt so good that I went twice.


On the second night we were better at planning, and we actually found the group that lost one member so all three cars camped together on the second night. Up to that point we had seen a few dingoes but they didn’t approach us really and acted somewhat skittish. But on the second night there were so many around the camp site that it was not fun. They were not afraid of people at all and would come right up to camp. In fact when we woke up they were curled up under the trees right in our camp! I know that they wouldn’t act like that if people didn’t feed them and leave tiny bits of food on the ground. But people do so the dingoes approach camp and it really isn’t fun. They don’t want people, of course, but it’s still annoying to have wild dogs so close to you all the time. Especially at night when you can’t see them.


We were able to sleep in a little longer, but as usual when camping we didn’t sleep that late. We spent the day at Lake Mackenzie. It might be the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in Australia. The water is crystal clear and the sand is white. So we just relaxed on the beach all day. Some of our group decided they wanted to take the car for a spin so they left right about lunch time before anyone had eaten. They were all like “We’ll be back in like 30 or 45 minutes”. I knew that was a lie from the beginning. Driving on the island is really slow because of the roads so you can’t really get anywhere in half an hour. So anyway by about 1:45 people were started to get really hungry and cranky. Finally the others came back; turns out they had gotten stuck in the sand on the beach. But even that only took about 15 or 20 minutes so it was still annoying that they were gone with the food for so long. But to be fair they didn’t eat before they came back. So we ate a late lunch and then we had to head back to the jetty to catch the ferry. Our time on Fraser was over. I would have liked to stay longer and done some hiking around. There is still a lot on the island that we didn’t see.


We were lucky with our weather on Fraser Island. It rained a bit on the first day but we were able to wait it out in the car. On the second night it rained a little bit and that was it. There were even a few times the sun came out, which was awesome.


After one more night in Hervey Bay, mainly to recover, I headed to Rainbow Beach to see some colorful sand dunes. Turns out the walk up the dune is closed right now so I couldn’t see the main thing in the town. Oh well. There is a nice beach and colorful cliffs along the beach. Worth the stop, and the change in scenery. I leave shortly to head to Noosa for a few days. I’ve spent a lot of time and money doing tours in the north so now I’m going to make my way down past Sydney before I do any more real adventures. I’ll mainly be hanging out on the beaches along the east coast.

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Photos

Lake Wabby
Lake Wabby is a lake that is nestled in the forest but is being overtaken by a sand dune.

Patterns in the Sand
Minerals give sand different colors. The wind and water creates interesting patterns in the sand.

Indian Head
A sweeping view of the beach up to the Champagne Pools from Indian Head.

Champagne Pools
Champagne Pools at high tide.

Lake Mackenzie
Beautiful Lake Mackenzine with its crystal clear waters and white sand.