Hervey Bay And Fraser Island

Fraser Island

It's a long way from Airlie Beach To Hervey Bay. To ease the 12 hour pain we decided to take the journey overnight. A wise move. When we arrived, we realised that Hervey Bay is not actually a particularly interesting place. It's described as a town but is more like one giant retail outlet, which stretches for miles before reaching a pleasant coastline of beach and piers where many try to spot whales making their annual journey from Antarctica. There is one main road along the coast which is generally filled with cafe's serving cheap breakfast but nothing else of interest, or in fact anything that might keep a young backpacker occupied. During the day I spent there I went down to the beach to look out for whales as it was coming up to the right time of year but unfortunately, they were not coming out to play that day!!!

Actually, the reason we were at Hervey Bay was because it is a major hub for people wanting to explore Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the world!!! You can visit the island via a guided tour or a self drive (go and explore it yourself) adventure. I decided to go for the latter. Paul and I were booked onto a 4x4 Jeep, which holds 10 people. The company we used has about 5 Jeep's going out at one time - and thus everyone is put essentially into a big hat and are teamed off into 10 or 11 man jeep team's. The night before we were heading to Fraser - you meet the rest of your team, which in my group included; Paul and I, 4 young English girls (Hannah, Anna, Claire and Elle), and a group of 4 Dutch (Yuri, Tom, Marloes and her brother)!!! We also had a briefing about how to set up our tent (we were camping on the island), how to drive a 4x4 jeep across rugged terrain and especially on sand - which is not that easy - we heard countless stories of past group's getting stuck and then the vehicle being washed away by incoming tides, or trucks being completely tipped on their heads. We then watched a video of all the dangers on Fraser Island. It's of course the usual - don't swim in the sea because of Tiger Sharks, watch out for Dingoes which can tear you to pieces if your unlucky etc.etc.

The next day we headed out on our 3 day, 2 night journey. We had all nominated Paul to do all of the driving because most were too young and I don't trust myself to carry 9 other passengers on a jeep which I am guaranteed to get stuck somewhere. We stocked up on all our food provisions and followed the other 4 jeeps to the barge. The boat takes about 45 minutes and then your on the Island and free to roam. We had been given an itinerary of places to visit each day and places not to go - although essentially we could go where we wanted at our own itinerary and in some places at our own risk!!! The main rule though was we only had two campsites that we could use on the island.

Day 1: There are no real roads on Fraser, thats why you use a jeep. I think people in our vehicle slightly underestimated what that all meant. Each bump, we were thrown around all over the place along with everyones bags. Our packing of equipment was perhaps less efficient too - which meant at one point a saucepan flew out and hit Yuri on the head - making the most comical cartoon boing soundeffect!!! We soon got the hang of the jeep and it's precarious movement. The first place we drove to was one of many of Fraser Island's stunning freshwater lakes - Lake McKenzie. To get there you have to travel through some colourful forest's which fill the centre of the island. The McKenzie was probably the most picturesque of all the lakes on Fraser. You can swim in it too but it was far too cold for me. We then headed to two more lakes as we travelled down south. This included Lake Birabeen and the tea-coloured Lake Boomanjin. Along the way we also stopped at a place called Central Station - a point for a series of forest walks.

Our camp-site was right by the last lake location so we (suprisingly easily) pitched up our tents, got our gas stoves out and with the other 4 jeep groups, got a big BBQ going. Obviously the beer and goone soon followed and it ended up as one big party. We really got to know our group that night!!!

Unfortunately as soon as the sun went down, it became really cold. In fact, we later found out that that night on Fraser (our first night) was the coldest on the island for 40 years - it even made the news, so it wasn't really the best night to be out camping in a tent. Memories of the outback flooded back to me and once again the cold kept me up all night. Luckily the nights events had given me an alcohol blanket which did help a fraction.

Day 2: I was up at 5am and was glad of it. We packed up our gear and headed off. We traveled across the island to the eastern coast where we finally reached the beach. Cruising on the sand is really fun as you can get your speed up a bit - you just have to watch out for wash-out's which have caught many a 4x4 jeep driver unaware and have sank the vehicle deep in the sand!!! We were fine on our trip though as most of the wash-out's were small and shallow.

We first headed to the Maheno Shipwreck - a boat stranded on the coast, which they have just left there to rust. Actually it does look quite cool - the ship just washed up on shore. It aparently was blown in there by a cyclone in 1935 and has been left as an attraction for visitors. We then travelled to Eli Creek before hitting our second campsite. We set up and had the afternoon to relax. Marloes and I took a walk to the nearby Lake Wabby (the deepest lake on the island). The journey getting there was perhaps more interesting than the destination though. To reach the lake you have to pass forest paths and then a sandy desert. The large dunes and hot sun made it feel like we were suddenly in the Sahara.

Our campsite on the second night was barely a campsite - it was simply an extension of the beach which had a few shrubs partially blocking the wind. There was no toilets or fence like we had the first night. Later - as the sun went down and the drinks came out - we noticed Dingoes and many of them. If you don't know a Dingo is, it's essentially a wild dog!!! We spotted quite a few that night.

I didn't see this although I would have loved to - but Elle and Hannah were taking plates to wash them in the sea whan a Dingo came up and started circling them for 10 minutes - they eventually scared it away. That night Marloes and I slept in the jeep to escape the cold of the tent - and it worked a treat!!!

Day 3: The next morning we found food and boxes all over the place because stupidly, the group sleeping next to us had left all their stuff out and the Dingoes had had a field day. We set off up the beach to a spot called the Pinnacles - which is a cliff-side of coloured sand - no-one was really interested in it except me!!! Before we set off back to the ferry point, we stopped along the coast and climbed some rocks to try and spot Whales - because we heard they were about. It didn't take long to spot them. Every so often a tail would pop up in the distance followed by a large splash as it went back down. They are amazing creatures and it is a real disgrace that the Japanese are hunting them for food. I say save the Whales and eat the Japanese instead (not seriously)!!!

After some Whale spotting we took the jeep back (via a final stop back at Lake Mckenzie - it really is an amazing lake) and met everyone for the ride back to the mainland. That night at the hostel we had a final night with the team before saying our goodbye's. I also bumped into Chris from the Whitsunday trip which was a nice suprise. The Fraser Island self drive trip was by far one of the best things I have done in Australia, a real fun adventure and highly recommended. The island is stunning, filled with forests, lakes and gorges, creeks and of course a lot of sand that you will likely find in places that you don't really want to find sand, for some time after!!!

I continued my journey south down the East Coast. It was time for more sun, sand and surf and where better to get it than Noosa..........