2018 – Part 47 – Day on Fraser Island

2018 – Part 47 – A Sandy, Sandy, Sandy Island 

One thing that was high up on my list to visit was Fraser Island.  Visiting the park provides many options.  From self-drive and explore, to one or two day organized trips.  Given our time we opted for a one day tour.  It was a long day, but worth every moment.

Fraser Island

What’s so special about Fraser Island?  Well, it’s a large island made entirely of sand.  Now, the island is not the inspiration behind cartoon islands where characters end up with a lone palm tree.  Instead this island stretches over 100 km long and has its own collection of forests, including a rainforest, and lakes.  Yes, there are spots where the sand doesn’t let water through and results in lakes.  Click here to go to wikipedia’s page on the island.

Logistics

To maximize our time at the island we had an early start to the day.  Staying in Mooloolaba resulted in us having a 5:25am pick-up time.  For those who wish to sleep in, you’ll have to stay closer, such as Noosa.  We were picked up by a mini-bus, and were shuttled up to the coast.  Upon arriving at a park in Noosaville we were informed our tour vehicle would be arriving soon.

To pass the few minutes while we waited, Amber headed to the nearby waterfront cafe to grab tea to help wake up.  Before I knew it, our transport for the day had arrived.  Oh my!

The Truck

Back in 2006 I joined coworkers and went on a day trip to Fraser Island.  We were driven around in a Toyota Land Cruiser and our driver, and guide did an excellent job.  I was half expecting that our tour would be by a similar vehicle.  I couldn’t be more incorrect.  A purpose built machine arrived.

Fraser Island tour machine

Scale of machine, with person for scale

Only made in Australia!

Other type of vehicles on the island

Very quickly the driver had us marshalled onto the vehicle and we were off.  After one quick pick-up for a family, the driver plowed through many roads to arrive at Rainbow Beach for our first stop and to prepare the vehicle for the island.  I don’t recall much, if any, of this part of the drive as I promptly fell asleep.  She, on the other hand, didn’t sleep a wink and was not impressed with my energy when I did awake.

The stop at Rainbow beach was to allow the driver to adjust pressure in the tires so that the truck should not get stuck in the sand.  The stop also afforded a quick bathroom break, and for those who didn’t pre-pack snacks, a chance to grab something to eat.

For the short portions of the drive when I was awake the view was something like this:

Onto the Island

With the tires at the appropriate pressure, our driver’s mic came alive.  Throughout the day he provided much commentary, and history of the island.  As we approached the ferry we were informed of the coolest benefit being in a tour group — it gets priority onto the ferry.  We waited no more than a few minutes to board the ferry to make the short trip to island.

Main Beach

Once on the island we were greeted with reminders that although almost all of the island is a designated park, speed limits still apply:

We quickly made our way up the eastern shore of the island.  With the tide going out, the water had left a fairly smooth surface to cover. We passed a few people who had stopped their vehicles to go fishing.  The danger of doing this wasn’t apparent until we stopped by a river for a snack and tea.

Once stopped for our tea, the roar of the ocean easily drowned out all other sounds, including vehicles.  Here our driver warned us that as pedestrians we had to double check that the beach was clear of vehicles before we moved in any direction.

However, while stopped and safely between the truck and the end of the beach the view was spectacular once you turned away from the rest of the tour group to have a picture completely vacant of human activity.

From here we proceeded inland and quickly found out that the definition of bumpy takes a new life on this island!

Roads of Fraser Island

The access tracks, like the island, is all sand.  Whenever a vehicle gets stuck, it will leave a depression in the sand once it’s free.  Only through rainfall will the sand be shifted enough to fill in some of the holes and depressions. 

During our day’s drive our driver/guide did mention that the road conditions were good for two reasons:  The first, being that it had recently rained where the worst offending holes and bumps had been moderated, and the second was that traffic was light for a long weekend.  With most roads barely a vehicle wide, when vehicles meet, one will have to backtrack until a spot is wide enough to accommodate both vehicles.  Near the end of the day he joked that his record was this year’s Easter weekend where he had to pass over 40 vehicles in a single day.  Sections of the road also had steep angles:

Why drive the roads?  There is lots to see inland, and we stopped at two of them.  First up, a lake!

Lake McKenzie

This lake, on a island made entirely of sand has impressive qualities.  The lake is fed solely by rainwater, and without an outlet, it’s important to keep the lake as clean as possible.  The lake’s greater fame is its colour.  The sandy bottom functions as a mirror, and once the sun comes out the water is a brilliant blue with almost perfectly clear water.  The beach has a steady and gentle slope.  Here at the lake, the quiet of the island became apparent.  Outside of the conversations and splashing from other visitors, there was no hum of machinery, engines nor buzzing of aircraft.  I found it peaceful and relaxing.

We had time to take a dip in the lake, and with the daytime temperature between 26-28C it was something to keep us cool.  Although I was hesitant to get in the water as it initially felt cold, we didn’t want to get out once we were both in the water.  From the picture, the sand truly is bright white.  Sunglasses and a hat are a must here.

Signboards about visiting McKenzie lake:

Animals oN Fraser Island

Lunch was provided during our time at McKenzie lake.  During this time a few of the local animals made their presence known.

Rainforest Walk

After lunch the tour drove into the middle of the island that is home to a rainforest.  Based on rainfall the area doesn’t meet the criteria, however so much water flows through the island that the flora of the area requires a constant water source no different from a rainforest.  To accomplish this, the island is essentially a large sponge.  Supposedly, there is so much water on the island, that if there was no rainfall it is estimated take it would take hundreds of years before the rivers ran dry.

The air was thick with humidity during the walk, a clear contrast from the fresh air on the beach, and calm around Lake McKenzie.  Although the island was heavily deforested, some old trees remain and their height and size was awe-inspiring.

DINGOS

While we made our way back to the ferry to return to the mainland we came across a dingo.

This one appeared as there was a fisherman nearby and the dingo had its hopes set on getting some feed or a small fish.

Great Sandy National Park

Once back on the mainland, instead of taking the main roads back to Noosa, low tide allowed us to drive along the beach.  Along the drive we stopped at a couple stops.  First up, was some colourful cliffs that iron and other deposits had coloured the sand and hillside.

As well, a portion of the National Park allows camping on the beachfront.  Once campers are up above the high tide watermark they are able to set up their campsite.  Here our driver/guide informed us that the campers use flags to help friends and visitors find their campsites, however during our drive several flags were repeated.  The flags greatly varied with alcohol and auto manufacturers being the most popular that I noticed. 

The second stop along our drive was around a shipwreck from the 1970s.  A recent cyclone had exposed the rusted hull, however in the few weeks that had passed most of the shipwreck was again covered by sand.

From there we returned to our morning meeting spot in Nossaville where we returned to the mini-bus.  Unlike the morning the bus was full and made many stops around Nossa and had us as the last group to be dropped off after the sun had set.

Overall

A one day tour is a full day, easily 12 hours or more depending on your pick-up location.  For those, like us, who didn’t have a lot of time it was a great opportunity to sample the splendour of Fraser Island.  Two day tours are available.  A coworker had recently taken one and after comparing our experiences, the extra day provides a slower paced tour.  It had more time at each spot, and stopped at more places on the island.

Our driver/guide did an excellent job telling us the history of the island including the source of the name.  He was personable and did an exceptional job navigating such a large vehicle through tight and tiny tracks through the island.

Read more about our trip by clicking here.