Posted 19-Sep-2009 from Australia:
Since we last updated the blog we left Airlie Beach, had a massive day of driving last Sunday down to Maryborough, just north of Brisbane, then returned the camper van (Fabio) Monday just before noon. We settled on a hostel in the West End for our time in Brisbane and set about searching for a trip/tour back up to Fraser Island. Now after 2 long days of driving neither Swiss, nor I for that matter…but he did all the work, were looking forward to driving almost 3 hours back up to Hervey Bay or Rainbow Beach to catch a tour out to Fraser Island. On top of that the scramble to find a rental car (some places were just out of cars to rent) and one that was reasonably priced was just stressful, so we booked a 2 day tour from Sunrover that was round trip from Brisbane so we didn’t have to worry about driving ourselves up to that area.
We spent the next 2 days just lounging around Brisbane and exploring the city and left Thursday morning (17-Sep)
Day One of Fraser Island:
We left our hostel at 5.30am to arrive at Roma St station by 6.45am to meet our tour. Our ride up to Fraser Island was a late model Toyota Land Cruiser that I wasn’t entirely certain was going make it. She’s solid and all, but she’s also seen a lot! :)
We stopped briefly at Rainbow Beach for lunch and to buy some meat/food for dinner…
It was then off to take a quick Ferry ride across to Fraser Island…
And we were off. Now, Fraser Island is a World Heritage Site and the largest sand island in the world. According to our tour guide it is believed that the sand extends up to 100 metres below sea level. It’s an impressive stretch of sandy beaches (beautiful sand at that)
and also plenty of lakes, sub-tropical rainforests and nice hikes to do, but more on that later. So we stopped by camp to put our food in the refrigerator (yes, we “camped” but at a site with running water, electricity for toasters, tea kettle and refrigerator, a BBQ and stove plus toilets and “hot” water showers (now I will say that the shower on Day 2 was luke warm at best, but I’m not complaining!) Oh, and they had mattresses to put under our sleeping bags in the tents, it was rough :)
So after setting down we headed off to see the Maheno Shipwreck. You can click the link to read all about it, but needless to say it was pretty cool (and definitely should require a tetanus booster before visiting!)
After that we stopped by Eli Creek for some swimming, relaxation and sun and then on over to Lake Wabby. From our stop on the beach it was about 2.4km one way out to the lake, and we chose the route over the sand blow, which got some amazing pictures (and a whole lot more sand!!)
Be sure to check out the video of Swiss rolling down the hill into Lake Wabby here! :)
After that we headed back to camp to cook up some sand mussels we found along the beach, plus some sausages we bought for dinner. I must add, also, that the stars were amazing out there on the island. Away from any light pollution and with a cloud free sky, it was an amazing display of stars at our campsite. There was no way to capture it on our cameras, but trust me, it was just fantastic! We made a bonfire (which didn’t last too long) and were off to bed before day 2.
Day 2 on Fraser Island
On day 2 it was up and going by 8.30am and off to Central Station for a look at the old mining camps there and a short (1.4 km) hike along a pristine and clear creek. From there it was a short drive over to Lake Mackenzie, our stop for a good 2 hours. This is a beautiful lake set in the middle of Fraser Island. The water that enters the lake is sand filtered (don’t ask me where it enters from) and crystal clear. A great spot to relax an swim in some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen in a lake!
We had a very nice picnic lunch near the lake and then it was time to head back to the mainland. Our quick ferry ride over and a ride down Rainbow Beach and we cut across to another beach for a nice break (and our driver wanted to surf there for a little while, and don’t blame him after drive the 9 of us around for 2 days!) and then the drive back to Brisbane, with a really quick stop to check out some kangaroos!
Fraser Island is an absolutely beautiful and amazing place and needs to be on everyone’s list of things to do on a trip to Australia.
There are a lot more pictures than posted here, so be sure to check out the Flickr album for this portion of the trip here! I’m not quite done uploading, so be sure to check back in a few days for the remaining third or so of the pics.
We’ve now got 2 more days here in Brisbane to hang out and relax this weekend before Monday morning we grab our next camper van relocation special and spend 3 days driving down to Sydney (arriving next Wednesday, 23-Sep-09)
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