It is said that all the sand from the Eastern coast of Australia eventually ends up on Fraser island – a gigantic sand bar measuring 120 kilometers by 15 kilometers and one of my favourite places in Australia.

To access Fraser Island we had to get a ferry and then the only way around was using a four by four. Naomi and I took an organised tour with four other people hoping this would be a good way to meet some people but unfortunately our tour companions didn’t speak a great deal of English. Our tour started off meeting our fellow travellers, picking up our Toyota Land Cruiser and being given a safety briefing at the tour office.

En route to the ferry we stopped and bought some food and alcohol for the next couple of days and were on the island by noon.

Our safety briefing had told us not to drive on the beach for two hours either side of high tide. Getting off the ferry we only had about an hour to make it to the beach and drive to our accommodation before we were no longer allowed to drive on the beach. A guy called Ramco of an undiscovered nationality drove us very slowly along the uneven sandy track to the beach. It took forever and just as we reached the soft sand at the entrance to the beach we spotted a four by four in front of us stuck in the sand. We hoped the same wouldn’t happen to us, but it did. By the time we’d dug ourselves out of the sand, using pieces of wood to encourage the tyres to move over the sand rather than burrow into it, our beach driving window had gone. Collectively we decided to bump slowly back down the track and try and make our way to our accommodation inland. Upon reaching the end of the track we realised the road we needed no longer existed, so we had no choice but to drive back to the beach and wait for the tide to go out so we could drive across it. At this point I took over the driving employing the ‘move quickly through loose sand’ tactic in the hope I wouldn’t get stuck as had happened regularly when both the boys were driving. At one point there was a comment about how much better my driving was, but this was before I hit a couple of big bumps a high speed – well as high speed as the track would allow. The speed limit was 35 kilometers an hour but this was more a target than a limit!

Driving along the beach was amazing fun. The hard sand was like driving on a normal road then every so often you would splash through a shallow creek running into the sea. At intervals I’d ‘aquaplane’ over a patch of soft sand feeling the steering get lighter as I did so – sooo much fun. I drove the whole way with a massive grin not wanting to ever reach our accommodation and have to turn of the beach! But alas eventually our turning came up – much to everyone else’s relief – and we were soon safe and sound in our accommodation for the night.

The second day on Fraser Island was an early start as we had to pack everything in before the tide came and in precluded beach driving. On Fraser Island the main road is the beach so places are inaccessible whilst the tide is in. Our first stop of the day was Indian Head a large volcanic headland offering fantastic views over Seventy-Five Mile Beach on one side and up to Middle Rocks on the other. From here it is possible to spot whales (in season) sharks, dolphins and rays although I didn’t manage to see anything!

Some cars driving along Seventy-five mile beach.

Our next stop was the champagne pools. These rock formations have made natural pools alongside the sea and are safe to swim in, although the waves still crash over the rocks and into the pools. We stopped here for a while to relax, enjoy the sun and go for a dip.

From here we began heading south again to Happy Valley (where our accommodation was) stopping along the way. We stopped at The Pinnacles, large sand formations in bright orangey colours. They were nowhere near as impressive as the ones in Mui Ne (Vietnam) but  still  worth a look. They looked as though weathering was beginning to take its toll as they had been fenced off around the bottom and were beginning to fall down.

The next stop was the Maheno ship wreck. The boat was blown ashore in a cyclone in 1935, luckily everyone on board survived, and it currently stands at the waters edge. It was very cool to look around, the wreck sticks out of the sand with the water crashing through it. One end looks much as it would have done save for the rust, the other end is much more broken up and is little more than scrap metal rusting in the sand.

Next we attempted to go to Eli creek but missing the turning ended up back at Happy Valley. Here three of our travelling companions decided to go back to the accommodation for the afternoon but Naomi, Ramco and I pressed on. We drove back up the beach eventually spotting Eli creek. This was obviously a favourite with tourists as many people were parked up near the creak swimming and walking up stream letting the current wash them back down. We joined the throngs of people walking upstream then sat at the waters edge and ate our lunch.

Our last stop of the day was a dodgy drive to Lake Allam to see fresh water turtles. We were cutting it close to get to the lake and back to the beach before our beach driving time expired but we decided to give it a go. Just as we got to the track leading to the lake two other four by fours pulled onto it. I followed them along the track willing them to move faster as going so slow meant I was liable to get stuck in the loose sand. Inevitably this is what happened. The car in front of me got stuck meaning I had to stop. Once I stopped there was no way I could get enough speed to pass the point where he got stuck. With lots of low revs we eventually crawled at snails pace through the deep sand and continued down the track. We soon caught up with the other two vehicles as one of them was stuck again. This time his mate with a bigger four by four had to pull him out of the sand. They saw we’d stopped and got stuck behind them so once their mate was safely out of the sand they came back for us, pulling us out then letting us go in front of them. After this there were no more incidents of getting stuck. We arrived at Lake Allam but there were no turtles around. This was probably because of the people swimming in the lake had scared them off. Never mind – it meant we didn’t stay long and we were soon heading back to the beach.

We exited the track onto the beach after the time we were supposed to be off the beach and began the precarious drive back to Happy Valley. There was almost no hard sand at all and we were constantly driving through soft sand. Normally I’d have loved this but if we broke the vehicle when we weren’t supposed to be driving on the beach our security deposit would have been lost, so I was pretty nervous. Eventually I caught up with a day trip bus that obviously knew where on the beach was best for driving and followed him zigzagging along the beach until we reached the turn off for Happy Vally. Parking up for the evening I was very glad the four by four made it back in once piece.

Our last day on Fraser Island was much more relaxed. The first stop of the day was a walk to Lake Wabby. This lake is slowly being overtaken by a massive sand blow and is pretty impressive to look at. The sand blow makes a very soft but steep drop into the lake. When we arrived a group of people had a bodyboard and were sliding down the sand and skimming across the lake before sinking into the water. It looked like a lot of fun and I was very tempted to ask for a go but I didn’t have my bikini with me.

We moved onto one of the prettiest parts of Fraser Island Lake McKenzie. The banks of the lake are gorgeous white silica sand giving way to crystal clear water that turns green then blue as the lake gets deeper. We spent some time here relaxing and enjoying our surroundings before making our last journey along the bumpy sandy tracks to the ferry.

* Posted by j150vsc on 24/12/2007.