Fraser Island
Last week Dale, Dana and I took a long weekend trip to Fraser Island, which is a huge sand island off the Queensland coast, a couple hours drive North of Brisbane.
Dale jumped on a plane after finishing work on Wednesday in Perth and we met him at the airport in Sydney on Thursday morning. From there it was a 1.5 hour flight to Hervey Bay, where we picked up a big 4wd Land Rover and groceries for the weekend. Then it was a 30 minute ferry across to the Island.
The island itself is somehing like 120 km long by 20 or 30km wide and is entirely made out of sand. The centre is all rainforest with a smattering of giant dunes and freshwater lakes, while the coast is just giant beaches and dunes that end up being a highway for all the 4×4s and a landing strip for planes.
We camped the whole weekend on the beaches and during the days we jumped in the truck to check out all the natural wonders. Friday was spent zipping up and down the coast looking at a shipwreck from the 30s, some coastal rock pools, some rivers and just generally beautiful beaches. Saturday was spent mostly inland, driving from lake to lake and swimming in the clear, sandy waters. It’s nice to be able to swim in fresh water, since that’s rare in Australia. It’s also good that they don’t have crocs in the lakes, since the ocean around the island is full of sharks and deadly jellyfish. What they do have, however, are dingos, which we got several visits from at our campsites.
Let me tell you - it’s a good thing they only allow trucks onto the island, because the inland roads are horrendously bad. If you average 20 km an hour, you’re making good time. It’s hilly, massive bumps followed by loose sand that’s a foot deep. Fun to drivein , although I think as a passenger it would have been a bit less enjoyable.