Hervey Bay & Fraser Island 25/3/16 – 29/3/16 After a 5 hour bus journey from Noosa we arrived in Hervey Bay around 4pm in some beautiful surroundings. It’s good Friday so not much was open apart from the odd bar, so we joined in what the locals were doing and went for a cheeky beer. The sun was shinning with not a cloud in the sky, no breeze in the air so rather muggy. The beach beautiful soft sand with a slight serge of waves in the sea. Very nice indeed.
We had 2 nights here before embarking on a 3 day 2 night camping tour of Fraser Island. On the day of departure we were up, ready and booked out of the backpackers by 6am!!!! Our guide PK got the 30 of us split into groups of 3×8 and 1×6 and loaded us and our luggage into 4 4×4 land cruisers. I was the driver of the 1×6 group so we had plenty of space. We were on the ferry by 8.30am and after 50 minutes we set foot on Fraser Island itself and off we went. Within seconds there was no tar seal on the roads, instead lots and lots of very fine sand. We couldn’t get out of 2nd gear all day as the terrain was exactly as stated by the guide, very deep fine sand with deep ruts that throw the car all over the place, very funny as you bounce out of your seat constantly but takes its toll on your bum! The first day tour included Lake Birrabean (unfortunately we just got in the lake when we had a massive down pour, by the time we got back to the cars everything was sopping wet, then onto Central Station and another lake (forget the name but it’s red due to the bark from the trees) before heading for our camp site. I use the term camp site very vaguely, as there was 1 Porto loo for 30 of us, and 8 tents (4 to each tent), we however scored a tent to ourselves. We were all given 1x yoga mat to sleep on, so to say it was an uncomfortable squeeze for all was correct. We had 1x 4 burner BBQ and no shower. Although this is sounding like I’m whining, i’m not cos we had a great time. We soon got to know our travelling companions with an average age of 20,they were a great bunch of kids. By 8pm on the first night we were knackered so off to bed we went. The others partied until gone midnight before it went quiet. We were warned of the wild dingo’s and informed not to go anywhere near them. And rightly so as we heard a pack of them howling very close to the campsite.
Up by 7am the following day and off continuing on our 4×4 drive by 8.30am. Today we drove for a few hours on the eastern side of the island. The going was tough through the deepest, finest sand I have ever come across. At points I had no control of the car as it skidded this way and that, however our guide (in car 1) was talking us through the best techniques to use for the novices like me. We were in car 4, and we were all asked to follow each others tracks, in a convey like way. However cars 2 and 3 were all over the place, as I was, so there weren’t and tracks to follow. It was Easter weekend so there were a lot of cars around, making us drivers more nervous, but on the whole we did a marvellous job.
Today we visited
(1)Champagne pools -these were on the beach surrounded by rocks formed by volcanic action, the sea in them bubbled like a jacuzzi. The waters here were so warm to swim in, it was like having a bath.
(2) Indian head, -the most easterly part of the island which provides 360’ views. This was a bit of a walk to its summit so we decided to stay at the cars.
(3) the Maheno shipwreck – an old steam ship that was abandoned after being shipwrecked on the island whilst being transported to Japan
and (4) Eli creek – this was a fantastic creek that you walked along and then hopped in and floated down its natural currents until it reached the sea shore. It’s temperature is a constant 18’ so quite cold, but at the same time a lovely change.
Then back to our campsite?
Day three included a stop and swim at Lake Mckenzie, a fantastic, clear lake of the finest sand at the bottom therefore making the waters as translucent as looking through tap water. It was beautiful, stunning and very warm. We then headed back to the jetty to catch the ferry back to Hervey Bay for a very welcomed shower. I never thought I would say this but I was soooo looking forward to my backpackers bed!
This whole trip has been fantastic, so pleased we decided to do it, the sights were brilliant, and the crowd we travelled with were as brilliant.
Expensive but we’ll worth it.