I’d heard good things about Fraser Island so couldn’t wait to go. I’d booked the 2 day 1 night tour with Drop Bear Adventures, who turned out to be amazing. I can see why they score the full 5 stars on Trip Advisor! Fraser Island also known as K’gari, in Queensland Australia, is the worlds largest sand island and can only be accessed via ferry and 4WD vehicles. There are two main ferry points in Hervey Bay to the North and Rainbow Beach to the south on the mainland. We met the group at Rainbow Beach which is pretty remote, on a point at the end of a National Park. We met ‘Fuzz’ the tour guide and the group and got to work straight on the tyres after a quick safety briefing on how to drive on sand and rough terrain. We all found a small twig and deflated each tyre in the 3 car convoy for 45 seconds to let enough air out so it was safer to drive on sand. There was the lead car, car 2 which was called ‘Rhino’ and car 3 which was named ‘Wombat’. Each car had walkie talkies which the lead car communicated through.
The ferry came in and we boarded, about 12 vehicles could fit on and off we went across the sea which took about 30 minutes. I was fascinated how it stopped and started as the ferry would literally beach itself on the sand and stop. As we got off the other side the fun began! These powerful machines really know how to take a pounding….bounce bounce bounce over sand dunes, rocks and grooves. The fun bit was also zooming down the beach at 80kph, wind in your hair and skimming the sea water. Was a pretty exhilarating feeling!
We stopped at the cool Beach House Eco-Hostel where we were staying on the beach which was solar powered, used sustainable products and energy and had electric gates and grids to keep the Dingo’s and snakes out! We then took it in turns to drive and went back down the beach to the first point, Eli Creek which is a freshwater creek right by the beach and means ‘sand crab’ in Aboriginal. We climbed to the top and floated down, like a natural lazy river, it was so refreshing! The water is so pure you can drink it so I filled my bottle up! I couldn’t believe that this water creek was literally 20metres away from the sea but was freshwater, so bizarre.
Back on the beach, we headed further north where we came across a landing strip for planes on the way to the coloured pinnacles which is a sacred place for Aboriginal women. Apparently it’s one of the only places in the world where planes can land on the sand. You have to keep your eyes peeled as you are literally driving on the runway! We saw several planes land and take off which was pretty cool to see. We headed inland over lots of narrow tracks and through dense forest to one of the many large freshwater lakes, Lake Birrabeen and Lake Boomanjin which were both stunning and gorgeous to swim in, so shallow and clear waters. Lake Boomanjin is also surrounded by Tea Tree Tree’s and you can really smell the leaves medicinal purposes which also runs into the lake so it’s good for the skin. We also had a go at boomerang throwing which was fun. They really do come flying back….with some force!
Our final stop was the Maheno Ship Wreck on the eastern coast which has an interesting history. Originally built as a luxury cruise ship that travelled between new Zealand and Australia, it was turned into a floating hospital during WW1. During the recession, it was too expensive to continue maintaining so it was sold to the Japanese who then sold some of the parts of the ship to pay for the cost of towing it back to Japan. During this time, the ship entered bad weather and a cyclone snapped the tow rope. The ship and it’s crew floated all the way to Fraser Island. The Japanese tried to re-float it but couldn’t, the Australian Government were going to charge them a clean up fee when the Japanese convinced them to keep it as a gift and leave it as a tourist attraction which it has become. Pretty cool! However, in WW2, the Australian army used the ship wreck as target practice dropping bombs on the island. Out of 600 dropped, only 1 hit the target from the air!
That evening we went back to base camp and had a lovely BBQ under the stars while learning to play the didgeridoo which I was actually quite good at! The moon came up like a sunrise, I have never seen a moon so orange before, it was really bright! Then as it rose high up it turned white and you could see the reflection on the sea. Some of us ventured out past the electric gates and onto the beach to see the moon, stars and just take in the fact we were on an island at night and it was so peaceful. We all had to take a ‘Dingo stick’ which is basically a big stick incase we saw any Dingo’s on the beach. They tend to come out at night although we didn’t get to see any this time. We did manage to see Dolphins in the bay though on our way home.
A great two days and it was worth every minute particularly with Drop Bear Adventures.
