G'Day,
I hope you all had a great Easter holiday! I had a very non-traditional Easter to say the least. I spent Easter on Fraser Island at white sandy beaches with fresh water lakes and breath taking sand dunes.
I have been really busy since I got back from my trip getting caught up and trying to get several papers and a project done, so I will start with my Fraser Island Trip and then finish working on the two other parts of my trip in the next few days!
My trip started on Wednesday night (April 20th) where my friend Jackie and I traveled to Brisbane where we stayed in a 13 bedroom hostel for the night since our Greyhound bus left the next morning at 7a.m. Brisbane is a half hour bus ride and then an hour on the train from the Gold Coast.
Our bus left at 7am to head to Hervey Bay, which is the “gateway” to Fraser Island. The bus took 7 ½ hours which wasn't too bad because I bought a book which I read most of the trip.
When we arrived in Hervey Bay we got picked up and went to the hostel we were staying at. It was actually a really nice hostel with a bar and pool. We walked to the store to find something cheap to cook for dinner. We decided on chili and rice since everything was really over priced being the only grocery store in the small town. We got to bed early since we were leaving for our Fraser Island trip in the morning.
We woke up and headed right next door to where we had to meet for our self drive 4WD Fraser Island tour. We split up into two different groups. Our whole group was norwegans who all came together so Jackie and I were apprehensive at first as to how the trip would turn out. Jackie and I found out that the 4WD’s were manual like most cars in Australia and since neither of us knew how to drive stick we weren’t able to drive. We all piled in and headed to the ferry that would take us across to the island. It took about an hour to get there.
Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world. It is also the only place where rainforest grows on sand. Fraser is named after the sole survivor of a shipwreck Eliza Fraser. Fraser’s aboriginal name is ’K Gari’ which means “paradise”. Another fun fact is that there are only around 400 people who live on Fraser Island.
There are no paved roads it’s all sand so it can be really hard and dangerous to drive if you don’t know what you are doing and if the weather is bad.
Our first stop included a walk through the Wanggoolba Creek Rainforest where there was a small stream running through the bottom which was water so fresh you could drink it. We went for an hour walk through the rainforest before heading back to the car.
Wanggoolba Creek Rainforest
That would be a Goanna
The first night we set up camp in the rainforest. We had two person tents and got yoga type mats to sleep on. The lady neglected to tell Jackie and I we needed to bring our own sleeping bags or we needed to rent them from her so we roughed it which sounds worse than it actually was.
After we set up camp we had some sandwiches and then got back in our 4WD and drove to Lake Birrabeen where we swam and lounged around on the white sandy beach.
Lake Birrabeen
We headed back to camp for some burgers and sausage. At night, we all hung out and played some drinking games that one of the Norweigans taught us. Since it was quiet hour at our camping spot at 9 pm we headed to bed early in anticipation of another full day of adventure.
Saturday, we woke up early and had a big brekkie of eggs, pancakes, and bacon waiting for us. After we ate we piled in the 4WD for another bumpy ride to our first spot of the day which was Eli Creek. It was a beautiful day so we went for a swim in the crystal clear water. It was kind of crowded because Easter weekend is a huge weekend for camping on Fraser Island.
Our next stop was to see the famous Maheno Shipwreck. This was the result of a cyclone causing the ship to crash and wash up right near the beach. It was really cool how most of the ship was still intact so you could picture what it used to look inside. From there we made our way to our new campsite where we met up with the other group on our tour. They weren’t near as cool as our group so we were happy we got put in the group we did.
Once we set up camp we went for another drive down 75 mile beach to the champagne pools. These are small little pools where the ocean crashes on them causing a foam which is where the name of champagne was given. There were awesome views from atop the rocks surrounding the pools. While Fraser is located right on the ocean, because of how dangerous it is in this area we weren’t allowed to swim in it.
Champagne pools from above
Group photo of us with the Norwegians
From the champagne pools we headed further up the road to Indian Head. The views were spectacular from there and supposedly if you are lucky you can sometimes see dophins, sharks, and during the winter whales below you. We hung out there for awhile and no such luck but none the less the views were amazing.
View from Indian Head
That concluded the activities for the day and we headed back to our new camp spot and got ready for dinner. We had a really nice meal of steak, potatoes, and salad and then decided it go to bring the party to the beach. We hung out at the beach for awhile and had a great time.
On Easter Sunday, we woke up and drove headed to Lake Wabby, which ended up being a half hour walk through a forest to get there. There were catfish swimming around and huge sand dunes surrounding it which was really cool.
Sand Dunes looking away from lake
Sand Dunes
Lake Wabby
Lake Wabby
Our final stop of the trip was to Lake McKenzie which was definitely the most amazing of all the lakes! The sand is almost 100 percent silica sand. We were told if you had gold or silver jewellery to rub it in the sand and it would look brand new. The water was also really clear and definitely lived up its reputation.
Crystal clear water and pure white sand
That concludes my Fraser Island trip. We headed back to Hervey Bay on the ferry and then had time to quickly shower and then head to the bus station to catch our 12 hour overnight bus to Airlie Beach.
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