The last few days have truly been magical. I feel like I'm living in a dream anyway and someone's soon going to pinch me to wake me up. I keep having to remind myself where I am and that this is actually happening to me and the past few days have been even more majestic than the rest of the trip.
Wednesday 30th July 2014
Free pancakes are always a good way to start the day and after the initial disappointment that there was no Nutella, I settled down to jam smothered, gloopy goodness. At 7:45am I was ready and waiting at the bus stop, the bus pulled up and I stepped onto a bus where the average age must have been around 65. I thought 'What the hell have I let myself in for?!' but luckily most of these were on the 1 day tour while I was on the 3 day tour. At Inskip Point we took a short, 10 minute ferry over to Fraser Island.
Before I continue, let me give you a few facts about this amazing island. (Don't quote me on any of these, I tried to make notes on the second evening so they may have got a little warped, but they are roughly right - I checked Wikipedia and everything!)
- At 123km (76.4 miles) long, Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world. On average it is 15km (9 miles) wide but it is 22km (13.6 miles) at its widest point.
- It was created when rivers in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, eroded the sandstone, turning it back into sand. This sand was carried but the rivers into the Pacific Ocean between Sydney and Coffs Harbour and then taken by the tides up the coast. The Great Barrier Reef acts as a buffer and the sand is deposited to create Fraser Island.
- The tallest sand dune on Fraser Island is 244m, the 2nd tallest in the world, only 40m behind Dune 7 in the Sossusvlei dunes, Namibia.
- Fraser Island contains the only sub-tropical rainforest growing in sand in the world. Some of the trees reach 3m in diameter but there aren't as many of these as there should be as there was logging on the island. This finished in 1991 so that the island could become a World Heritage Site.
On the first morning we drove along the southern part of 75-mile beach, enjoying the sea on one side and the beach and trees on the other before stopping at Eurong Beach Resort for Morning Tea. While on the beach we spotted two dingos on the beach and a couple of whales in the sea.
At the resort I got chatting to Holly, a fellow backpacking 3-dayer. After muffins, cookies and juice, we headed inland to Lake Makenzie, the first of the beautifully clear, freshwater lakes we visited during our trip. Although the water was cold, it got us used to swimming in the water on the island.
Not realising we'd have time with the rest of the group, we got dried and dressed within 40 minutes of arriving at the lake. We then met the rest of our group who had arrived from Hervey Bay. Leaving a out luggage on the bus, we searched the beach for pink wristbands to identify our fellow travellers. This time I enjoyed a paddle before lunch.
Our next stop was Central Station, which was originally a small village where loggers lived and here we saw a large lizard.
Just after a view of Basin Lake, we began the first of 2 walks through the rainforest. At the point where the two walks met there was a freshwater creek which we were able to drink from - if we were daring enough to reach down from a log crossing. It was perfectly clear and the sand on the bottom created an optical illusion - it looked like moss growing on top!
During the drives around the island we saw scribbly gums, a type of eucalyptus tree. I didn't manage to take a photo but this picture gives you an idea of where they got their name from.
Our walks were rewarded with delicious chocolate cookies. Feeling tired, we headed to Kingfisher Resort, our home for our time on Fraser Island. The evening began with an amazing sunset over the beach.
We stayed in cute wooden lodges which swayed unsteadily at every movement. Dinner in the bar was Mexican Night so we devoured wraps filled with tasty chicken and chilli. These were followed by raucous drinking games back at the lodge. They wierdest part was starting the night with shots of milk from the fridge. I managed to narrowly escape the dirty (not quite) pint by grabbing a shower. At the beginning of the 2nd happy hour at the bar, there were games of twister on the dancefloor and pin the tail on the dingo.
This is where my night ended but the party continued in the bar.
Thursday 31st July 2014
The morning began with a cooked breakfast before an 8am meeting time at the bus. During the 45 minute bumpy journey across the island we stopped at Stonetool Sand Blow - named after the aboriginal tools discovered there. Basically, sand blows are created when sand is blown inland from the beaches and they travel further and further inland.
Once we reached the beach we started to travel north, seeing whales in the sea along the way. After only a short time we reached the planes which give scenic flights over the ocean and the island. Jumping into the front seat next to the pilot we took off along the beach and flew over mantarays, whales, trees, lakes, sandblows, the Maheno shipwreck and past the coloured sands. It was exhilarating to see the landscape and animals from the air and while we over land we could see both sides of the island.
Returning to the bus, we continued to the coloured sands for a closer look and they looked strangely different from the land.
From here we progressed to Champagne Pools, skirting Indian Head as we went. This was the most northerly point of the island we visited. During the walk from the bus to the pools, there was a fantastic viewing point where we gazed out to see at the whales. We lounged around in the pools for a time, taking underwater selfies while the waves lapped over rocks separating our rock pools from the sea. The bubble created from these waves is where the pools get their name.
Back at the bus we had our lunch, refueling ourselves for the climb up Indian Head. Scrambling over the rocks took us to a 360° view out to sea and back over the island.
Next stop was Maheno Wreck. Built as a pleasure boat in the early 20th century, it cruised from New Zealand to the USA via Fiji. During World War 1 it transported wounded soldiers frmo Europe to Britain and some back to New Zealand. In total it carried 18,000 soldiers. After World War 1 it returned to cruises but instead of crossing the Pacific, it carried passengers between Auckland and Sydney. New Zealand then sold the ship to Japan but it never made the journey to its new home. The Japanese decided it was a good idea to tow the ship with a smaller boat and removed the heavy propeller. As the ship was in full working order, it would have been far better to sail it home. It was during the journey that the ship became wrecked and it is now sinking into the sand. If you are interested compare my photos to others on the internet to see how much it has sunk.
Last stop on Thursday was Eli Creek where we had fun floating in rubber rings and sinking our feet into the sand. We also found little pumice stones which amazed us with their floating powers!
Back at Kingfisher Resort, we enjoyed some time in the jacuzzi before heading back for our roast dinner. Sadly we had to see off Channy and Michel after dinner and we had a quieter night but did wind Freddie up with a card trick we were all in on.
Friday 1st August 2014
Beginning in a similar way to Thursday, we left the resort at 8am for Birrabean Lake where we swam and played on inflatable paddle boards. The time whizzed by here and it was soon time for lunch at the Eurong Resort where I met Lucy and Georgie again (the Warwick Girls). Nathan, Freddie and Josh kindly replaced my pack of cards which had been enjoyed during the drinking games. After lunch we took a 40 minute walk up hill on soft sand (not fun!) to our final sandblow and Lake Wabby.
I enjoyed the view before we headed back for our final cookies on the beach. We dropped Holly back at Eurong before starting our final drive across the island, ready for our ferry crossing back to Hervey Bay.
Arriving at the YHA I was shattered so had a shower and some dinner and fell into bed - I had another early morning the next day.
Saturday 2nd August 2014
Words will not do today justice. I was picked up at 6:40am to go whale watching. All I am going to say is that we sailed out for a couple of hours and this photos were taken of whales metres from the edge of the boat. We could sense where they were by the cooing of the passengers - just like fireworks!
Sunday 3rd August 2014
Nothing to report for toady. The morning writing this blog and this afternoon I'm traveling to Agnes Water for more excitement tomorrow but you can wait a little longer to hear about that!
Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you.
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