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Thu 16 April we took the 7.30 am Greyhound to Hervey Bay. We arrived at lunchtime and were picked up by the hostel transport Colonial Village, Hervey Bay. The hostel was quite quirky with Peacocks and other birds wandering free, a pond and a swimming pool. The bar/restaurant was the hub of the hostel, with a chef coming in for a couple of hours each eve to prepare meals with a dish of the day special for $16 (£8). Needless to say the kitchen area was hardly used! Our room was basic but for £28 a night it was good. The bus to and from the greyhound saved us $44 in taxi fees! We didn't see much of the town as the purpose of our stay was to pick up a 2 day tour to Fraser Island the next day. Fraser Island is a World Heritage listed Island located along the southern coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Brisbane. 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 largest sand Island
in the world at 1840 km². It is also the only place where tall rainforest grows on sand. It is Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the East Coast of Australia. Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for as long as 5,000 years. Explorer Captain James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders actually landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. For a short period after the island was known as
Great Sandy Island and its aboriginal name is K'gari - paradise. The island became known as Fraser due to the stories of a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser. Today the island's resident human population is 194 which matches the dingo population! At 8am Fri 17 April we boarded a minibus which took us to River Heads marina to pick up the 8.30 am ferry to Wanggoolba Creek landing Fraser Island. There are no hard surface "roads" only sand and so our journey was in a 4WD bus expertly driven by our tour leader Warren ( Wozza ), even so, the journey was very bumpy and you definitely needed seat belts on. Wozza is extremely knowledgable
and informed us about the history, geology and flora and fauna. The most important thing to be aware of is that Fraser Island is home to approx 200 dingoes, which are protected but can be dangerous to people if alone. So, we were frequently reminded of the need to be 'dingo safe'. Much of the rainforest was plundered by the logging industry and has been replanted with pine trees. Our first stop was Lake McKenzie which is a perched lake, formed by leaf litter falling and creating a natural pond liner which has filled with rainwater and silica to create a crystal blue lake. It looks like a tropical sea but the water has no taste. It was lovely and warm and perfect for swimming. From here we went to Pile Valley where we saw our first dingo sunbathing by a picnic area. We walked through the subtropical rainforest along a creek where we saw Marine Borer (underwater creatures which destroy timber by boring into it) resistant Satinay Trees, which were used to line the banks of the Suez Canal and to rebuild the London docks after WWII. From here we drove to the Eurong Beach Resort, which was our
accommodation for the night, for a buffet lunch. The afternoon's activity was a 2.5 mile trek across Hammerstone Sandblow, most of which was uphill, to swim in Lake Wabby! the deepest lake on Fraser Island. Unlike Lake McKenzie, this lake was an emerald green colour but after the walk in the heat of the day it was a welcome interlude! Back to the hotel for dinner and an early night. Day 2,after breakfast we checked out and drove out of the Eurong Beach Resort onto 75 Mile Beach and set off along the waters edge. After a few minutes we stopped and a young pilot got on to offer us the opportunity to see the island from the air on a 20 min flight taking off and landing on the beach. We couldn't believe it when he said the cost would be £ 38 pp so we were up for it! There were 8 of us on each of the two planes. It was an amazing experience to take off and land on wet sand! We took off flew out over the sea and circled the part of the island we had visited, seeing Lake McKenzie and Lake Wabby from
the air, the rainforest and some of the sand spits. While we were in the air, the coach and other travellers continued along 75 Mile Beach to the point where we were due to land. When we got there, there was no sign of the coach! A few radio conversations established that Wozza had arrived at the rendezvous before the ground crew cars and assumed we were landing further on. We had to get back on the plane again and fly further up the beach to find the bus! Don't think they made any profit on that flight! We had just boarded the coach when Wozza spotted a dingo on the beach trotting towards us. Everyone piled off the bus for a photo. We then continued along the beach to the wreck of the Maheno. This Scottish built ocean liner operated in the Tasman Sea from 1905 until 1935 and was used as a hospital ship by New Zealand Naval forces in WWI during the Gallipoli Campaign and ferried casualties across the English Channel in 1916 from the Somme. She resumed commercial service after the war and in 1935, whilst being towed buy another ship was caught in a cyclone
and broke free with a damaged propeller. The Maheno was found 3 days later beached off the coast of Fraser Island. Attempts to re float her failed and she was abandoned. From here we drove through sand dunes to Taylor Bay where we swam in Champagne Pools, large rock pools which form a natural jacuzzi created as the tide goes out. The water was warm and clear so you could see fish swimming around you. From here we drove back along the beach to climb Indian Head which provided a brilliant panorama of the North of Fraser Island and a glimpse of Dolphins. Captain Cook saw this part of Fraser Island in 1770 and declared it useless! We then drove back onto Taylor Bay for lunch. Cheese and ham salad sandwiches juice cakes and tea. After lunch, we headed back to 75 Mile Beach. Unfortunately the narrow access point through the dunes was blocked by 2 cars and a car with a boat on a trailer which were not equipped to deal with the sand which was drying out so our driver had to get out, attach tow ropes to the cars and pull them out of the sand by
reversing our 18 ton bus - very impressive! Lucky for them the route was blocked, had we been able to pass they would have had to sort themselves out. We drove along 75 Mile Beach for the last time to see the Pinnacles Coloured Sands. Not sure what I was expecting but they were a little disappointing in terms of colour. Our next and final stop was Eli Creek, a stream which you can wade up or down, which flows into the Coral Sea. A really popular spot for families with children floating down on rubber rings. It was a lovely relaxing end to a brilliant 2 days. Would definitely recommend a visit to this beautiful, unique island.
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