Hervey Bay

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16/05/09 Saturday Day 274 Yet another day of driving
Another 400k+ day clocked up. We did however stop off at the rum distillery in Bundaberg for a quick tour and we also got two free drinks which made the tour turn out to be good enough value! That was about it for today really.
So now we’re here in Hervey Bay. We’ve a tour booked for tomorrow to visit Fraser Island.

17/05/09 Sunday Day 275 Fraser Island
Checked out the town last night. It’s basically one massive long esplanade with shops and pubs dotted around in little groups, but none more than a few minutes walk. Went to Houlihans Irish bar. It was one or two pubs closest to us and the liveliest. The was a local band playing there. Not bad at all and there was a good crowd there too.
Anywho back to today. Collected at 7.30am. Short bus ride to the harbour where we got the ferry across to Fraser Island. There, we split into two groups for two different 4x4 40 seater buses. One group was doing the two day tour and we were doing the one day tour. Basically Fraser Island is an island completely made of sand, where there is also a rain forest growing all around the place. There’s enough of nutrients in the sand to keep it all alive. First was to central station in the middle of the island and a short walk along a boardwalk looking at the different plants in the rain forest. After that it was back on the bus to the east beaches. We travelled north on Eli Creek. This is a freshwater creek that runs from the middle of the island out to the sea. It throws in 4.5 million litres of water an hour into the sea.
Then it was further up north to see the ruins on a ship that got run aground when it was being taken to Japan for scrap. It’s been there now some 75 years. Further on north was the pinnacles. These set of rocks have 72 different colours, mostly reds and yellows. It’s an aboriginal sacred place.
Down south next for a spot of buffet lunch in one of the resorts on the island. Then it was to Lake Mackenzie. This is a huge freshwater lake that’s complete clear when you go into it. Even up to waste height, you can still see your feet. Pretty cool. That was it for the tour. It was back to the ferry and back to the caravan park. Not a bad tour at all. It’s a lot cheaper than renting a 4x4 yourself and also the ferry cost.

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