Similar to Whitehaven Beach near Airlie, the reason people visit Hervey Bay is to take a day-trip to Fraser Island. The island is huge, 75 miles long and 15 miles wide, and, for the most part, undeveloped. It is the largest island made only of sand, and the only place in the world where a rain forest has grown out of sand. It sounded like pretty rough terrain but “the Robster” assured us that many bus-loads of tourists visit each day so we signed up for a mid-sized tour and figured as long as we weren’t driving it wasn’t our problem to navigate the roads!
Our “bus” picked us up around 7:15am, then made a few more stops to pick up the rest of the passengers for the day. I say “bus” because that is what Murray, our very informative driver / tour guide, described it as. But I would describe it more as some sort of converted army vehicle that now has passenger seats. How else do you construct a 15-person vehicle capable of intense off-road conditions?
Our “bus” for the day (as seen mid-tour).
Once we were all on board we drove to the ferry – the only way to get from the mainland to Fraser Island. After a quick 30-minute ride, we were off on our adventure. First step: getting across the island. Not the simplest task given the road conditions (there are no paved roads on the island, only old sand roads that are maintained "whenever possible"). By the time we arrived at the beach on the east side of the island, I was almost ready to hurl – 45 minutes of bumps, hard brakes and leaning turns had taken its toll on me (and the rest of the passengers). Fortunately the next phase of the drive (north along the beach) was very smooth.
We arrived at our first stop, the Maheno Shipwreck, by mid-morning. As we explored this massive shipwreck, Murray prepared morning tea and coffee for us. The Maheno was an old passenger-turned-hospital-turned-back-into-passenger ship owned by the Australian government that they sold to Japan in the 1930s. The Japanese sent another ship down to tow it home, but a storm caused the cable to break and the Maheno to wash ashore at Fraser Island. The Japanese were unable to salvage the boat so they abandoned it…and then the Australian air force used it as target practice during World War II. Needless to say, there’s not much left. But to give you a sense of how big it was, there are apparently four decks buried in the sand below view.
The Maheno Shipwreck.
Our next stop was the Pinnacles, formations of colored sand dunes just north of the Maheno. I think we’ve been spoiled by some of the Southwestern US scenery we’ve seen because this didn’t impress us much…
The Pinnacles.
After the Pinnacles we headed back south to Eli Creek. This is a huge freshwater creek that feeds into the ocean. Most importantly for us, it has a constant flow of very chilly water. Rather than explore the creek, Sarah and I just laid down in the 8-inches of water and cooled off for half an hour. Time well spent!
We drove back toward the middle of the island and had lunch at Central Station, the former home base of all the loggers that once occupied Fraser Island. After lunch, we had a quick walk through the rainforest. It was an interesting change from the beach, but nothing compared to Costa Rica.
This hike did have a great boardwalk though!
Now that we were drenched in sweat from the hike, our final stop of the day was at Lake McKenzie. This is a crystal-clear freshwater lake. It reflects the blue of the sky, but when you are swimming in it you can see directly to the bottom – even the detailed sticks that look a lot like snakes! We relaxed here for an hour and a half before returning to the ferry back to the mainland.
Like I said, very clear water. And it was refreshingly cool too – much cooler than the oceans we’ve been in recently.
Trees growing in Lake McKenzie.
Once we were back at our hotel, Sarah and I got cleaned up and headed out to Badger & Brown’s for burgers. It happened to be $10 burger night so we saved ourselves a couple bucks. The food was great and a perfect way to end a long day exploring Fraser Island.