May 30-31 (Day 120-121) - Fraser Island

First up, apologies for the tardiness of this entry! As you will see it's a long one, and the video below took several evenings to get right as we had so much footage and it was a real challenge to try to compress it all into what still ended up as a 20 minute video. But the job's done (it now being June 13!), so please read on and enjoy!

So much happened on these two days that it's probably best to just watch this video of the highlights of our two days! However if you want the words, read on below the break!

First up, what is Fraser Island like?

I'd heard of people talking about "goin 'a' Fraser" for years, often rolled off the tongue as a badge of honour by Queenslanders with a obligatory Australian drawl and a casual flick of the head as though gesticulating in its direction. But like most southerners I had no idea what it was actually like. When one has never done something, one's default impression is necessarily formed by whatever experiences one has had which one believes should be similar. So my ideas of what Fraser Island might be like were, in the absence of any other data, formed fairly simplistically by my past island experience - i.e. Granite Island (Victor Harbor, SA), Kangaroo Island (also SA) and Bribie Island in Qld (must be comparable - after all it's an island in Qld right?). Surely an island is an island?

Well let me tell you - Fraser Island is something completely different to any of these!
 

Fraser Island. Credit: Queensland Tourism

So if you've never been to "Fraser", let me fill you in a bit on what it's like. It is basically a giant sand island which has almost no bitumen roads at all. The barge leaves from a beach and arrives at a beach, and from the moment you land on the island you're driving on sand - The. Whole. Time.! There are some permanent residents on the island in some settlements, and some of these have bitumen roads.

The main road on Fraser Island. I.e. The Beach.

But it's not like driving on bitumen road from town to town or anything. You're on sand the whole time, and if you drop into a settlement / town you might be on bitumen for 2 minutes. Once you're out the other side it's back into sand. This was unexpected for us. In fact on reflection it is probably very similar to Moreton Island which I visited after Brisbane Youth Conference in 1997, but for some reason I never even recalled this as being a potential comparator to Fraser in our planning. On reflection, it's the closest experience I've had.

Map of Fraser Island. We arrived at the
southern-most tip.

The main traffic route on the island is up and down the eastern beach (the side facing the Pacific Ocean), and along this it's mainly firm sand, although you certainly get soft patches here and there. Head inland though, to get to some of the other sites, and the tracks can be firm or soft, smooth or deeply rutted, so for both cases you definitely need a proper 4WD with good ground clearance. While you can manage some parts in 2WD, you simply wouldn't get the required ground clearance from a Subaru Forester or a Mazda CX-9, let alone the lack of a proper 4WD system to get you out of tricky situations.

One of many freshwater creeks which run across the
beach out to the ocean

The other amazing feature of Fraser Island is that there are a number of inland fresh water lakes, and this fresh water filters through goodness knows how many metres of sand and eventually flows out to sea along one of many (mainly!) shallow creeks which run along the beach. So when you're driving along the beach, particularly at the southern end of the island, every minute or two you'd drive through one of these fresh water creeks running across the beach and into the ocean. Some were quite shallow, no more than a bit of run-off in a spoon drain after a shower; a good number were fairly shallow, maybe up to 10cm deep. This can lull one into a false sense of security, and once in a while you'd come across one that was a bit deeper and the car would get a big shower as you went through! Eli Creek is the deepest one, probably about 20-30cm deep where most vehicles pass, and has 40 speed signs on either side; but there were a couple of others which are ready to trap unsuspecting land-lubbers! The water is crystal clear and deliciously drinkable. It's also really good for washing sand and salt off from the underside of one's vehicle to prevent rusting!


Fraser Island was still closed to camping, and had only been opened to day trips a couple of weeks earlier, so we found it was very quiet. There would probably be, relatively, a lot more traffic at this time of year, but it made it very peaceful for a first trip!

Day 1

We had arranged the night before to get up at 5.30am. But we ended up getting up at 5am to get ourselves ready and thankfully we did as we needed to get quite a bit of stuff together to take. Always seems like so much stuff, but you just don't know what you're going to need! We didn't realise at this stage how glad we would be we'd packed a few extra snacks...!

Loaded onto the barge and ready to leave Inskip Point

We filled up with fuel on the way and filled the jerry can which we'd stored in the jerry can holder on the roof of the car, and drove for about 2.5 hours south to Rainbow Beach where we topped up the fuel tank again and bought our barge ticket. We then drove towards the barge, which leaves from Inskip Point, not quite knowing what we would find. Well we found the bitumen road turned into a gravel road, and then quickly into a deeply rutted sand track across the beach! Fortunately we were already in 4WD otherwise we could have gotten stuck, so we were able to power across the sand and onto the barge. The trip to the island only took about 10 minutes.

We originally intended to make a day trip of our time, as at this stage overnight camping was still not allowed on the island. However we'd read that a day is simply not long enough to see all the things there are to see, and that 2-3 days is recommended. This would be a challenge since it was such a long drive from Woodgate down to Inskip Point, and we'd not been able to get caravan accommodation in nearby Rainbow Beach. So we decided for day 1 to drive up the eastern beach and have a look at some of the main sights and potentially go inland on the way back down to the barge, and hopefully find a cabin in Rainbow Beach overnight. If we found there were too many things to see, then at least we would have done the long drive up and back, and if we wanted to come back for a second day we could focus then on the inland parts closer to the bottom of the island such as Lake Mackenzie.

Well it sounded a good plan - to start with, we didn't get onto the island until about 9:30am!

One of Fraser Island's many wild dingoes

We drove from the barge around the bottom point and very early saw the first of several dingoes we saw on our time on the island, which can apparently get interested in people if they're wandering about alone!

Three wild monkeys!

We carried on up the eastern beach, passing through many of the (usually) shallow creeks mentioned above, stopping at one point for the kids to jump off the sand dunes. Some parts of the island had lots of pumice on the beach, indicating either a volcano on the island at some point, or pumice which had washed up from a volcano elsewhere in the Pacific. Further up we found there were some points where the rocks go all the way out to the water so you can't drive around, and at these points there are tracks which go up over the rocks and down the other side, often lined with wooden planks or plastic surfaces to protect the sand from erosion and aid in grip. A little way further along was a palm tree the kids wanted to climb so we stopped again, had some photos, and ripped open a coconut in true Fijian style only to find it had been affected by salt water. Yuck!

The S.S. Maheno wreck - east coast of Fraser Island

We drove on, and stopped again at a wreck of an old ship (the S.S. Maheno) which is grounded on the beach. You couldn't go on and explore it but it was a very interesting sight to see an old steamer right there on the beach!

Driving to Lake Allom

From here we took an inland track to Lake Allom where we intended to swim and have lunch. Inland driving was quite a bit slower - there is a 30kph speed limit inland and it's easy to see why, as the tracks can be quite narrow and unpredictable. Clearly no-one had been along for a while as there were spider webs in various spots across the track. I couldn't believe how strong these were - I had to break a few apart, much to the disgust of the resident arachnid who was gently, but no doubt indignantly, moved to the side of the track with the remains of its preciously-spun web! The bits of web left behind were about as thick as human hair and probably stronger! The track to Lake Allom bottomed out at one point where the ground was firmer and not as sandy, and it was very much being within the rainforest as the trees were quite thick and everything about was cool, fresh and quiet. We made it to Lake Allom and had a quiet stroll to the water's edge for lunch, but sadly found we couldn't swim there as it was fairly swampy around the edges. However it was still a lovely sight with which to enjoy lunch.

Lake Allom

Giant trees at Lake Allom

We intended to drive on further along the track and follow it back out to the eastern beach further down. But unfortunately we found the through track was closed, so we had to double back and carry on from where we'd gone in, which was a bit of a waste of time.

By now it was 1:30pm and it had all taken surprisingly longer than we'd expected, with the last barge leaving at 3pm. We realised there was no way we were going to be able to get up as far as we wanted to to achieve our highly efficient plan. There had indeed been lots to see and do! On the barge on the way over one of the boatmen had mentioned he'd heard a resort in Eurong (the main township) may have been taking guests and recommended we check it out rather than taking the barge back and forth on two consecutive days. We had investigated Eurong but found everything still closed up, so we now drove back south to the township of Happy Valley. We had passed this earlier and saw what looked like a potential place to stay. We met a lovely couple there who ran some apartments, and in order to dot the requisite I's and cross the obligatory T's, they befriended us and then allowed us to stay the night in one of their apartments!

Orchid Beach

Champagne Pools

With this plan secured, there was now no rush to get back to the bottom of the island. So we stuck to Plan A and returned north up along the beach we'd just driven down, past Indian Head, and all the way to Orchid Beach which is a little way up the north east facing bay of the island. We were very glad to have 4WD and good ground clearance on some of these tracks as the ruts were very deep and some of the time the 'bash plate' under the car which protects the engine sump was bumping on the smooth sand section in between the wheel ruts.

Orchid Beach was picturesque, but one's not to swim in any of these beaches on Fraser
because of the risk of crocodiles! That was also a bit of a surprise, and a disappointment, as swimming's what we go to the beach to do! But it was a pretty beach and the kids enjoyed sliding down the sand hills.

From here we drove back to Champagne Pools where you can swim. These are some rock pools on the beach side of a steep rock barrier, so sea water washes in between some gaps in the rocks, as well as washing over, and fills the deep pools. But obviously crocodiles aren't going to wash over the rocks and the gaps are too small, so this place is very safe to swim. We really enjoyed this spot!

One of the main pools at Champagne Pools. This one was about 2m deep!

Champagne Pools

It was getting time to head back so we drove back to Happy Valley for a lovely hot shower, having felt pretty cold after our dip at Champagne Pools.

Wow! Civilised indoor dining! Clearly the
moment of the occasion affected Jude!

This was where the first problem (which we had identified earlier in the day) presented itself. To save some time at the start of the day, we'd only brought the food we would need for the first day plus a bit of extra. We had taken extra dry food, but planned that if we did decide to go back for a second day, we would buy milk and the meal supplies for the next day in the evening in Rainbow Beach on the way to wherever we stayed the night. Well we were now staying on the island, where no shops are yet open, and with no way of getting food! We had a few muesli bars left and some odds and ends, but no milk. However the lovely lady gave us some bacon, eggs and milk, and some apples for the next day, so we could make a hot scrambled eggs for tea. Oh it was glorious! We quickly got ready for bed, as we were all zonked after our early start and long day. It was a rare treat after four months in a caravan (with the exception of a week in Melbourne) to be sleeping in real beds!

Day 2

We had cereal for breakfast (we'd brought plenty of that) and coffee from the supplies in the apartment, and quickly packed and headed on our way. Bek had had a quick Skype call with some friends she'd made back in Brisbane but we had to cut that short to get on our way. Just before we left we took a stroll to where a stream by Happy Valley beach passes over a ledge and makes a small but pretty waterfall.

Our plan for Day 2. The map starts at Happy Valley in the middle and runs up the eastern beach.

Now that we had a full day available to us and were already 1/2 the way up the island, we revised our plan to go back up the island so we could climb Indian Head, and then go across the island on an inland track, down the west coast, then cross back to Lake Mackenzie (which we really wanted to see) and then back to the barge. It was a very simple plan - after all, what could possibly go wrong?

Hmm.

Indian Head, looking south

At about 11am we stopped at Indian Head, which was lovely. It's a rocky headland that protrudes into the sea about 3/4 of the way up, and is the eastern-most point of Fraser Island. The walk up is only about 15 minutes and quite an easy walk, but, in my best David Attenborough impersonation, 'the view from up here is, (huff-puff) just remarkable.'  You could see a good way south back down the eastern beach, as well as out to the west up the long beach facing the north east of the island.

We saw some unidentified sea creatures frolicking out in the ocean, either sharks, whales, turtles or sting rays, it was too hard to work out which for our untrained eyes. On the way back down Mim found a dingo print we'd not seen on the way up. Maybe we were being stalked!

From Indian Head we drove north west up to Orchid Beach again (which is the northern-most point marked in orange on our map plan a bit further up). However when we were about to turn inland, we looked closer at the map and found that the track we were about to start on, leading to the west coast, actually came out at a part of the coastline where you can't drive down the beach (indicated by the solid red line along the shoreline). Unless there was an unmarked track somewhere (which we didn't want to chance), this would have left us stranded without any way to drive down the beach and cross back as we'd planned. So we had to turn around and drive back down the eastern beach. Our key destination in all this was Lake Mackenzie, which we'd heard great things about. It's an inland fresh water lake which is fine for swimming and croc-free! So we really wanted to get here. The double-back was a bit of a pest as time was moving on, but we still had plenty of time at this stage.

Enjoying Eli Creek - note the turbulence of the water's
surface around the pylons as a marker of how fast it's flowing!

About 12:30pm we stopped at Eli Creek, which is the main and deepest fresh water creek running out to the eastern beach. It has a lovely foot bridge passing over it. We got out here and the kids went for a swim. There was a surprisingly strong current here and, after walking upstream, they floated back down the creek on body boards and under the bridge.

Our attempt to get to Lake Mackenzie!
Orange track drawn on where we went, met the
dead end and had to double back and go via Eurong.

After we'd finished up here we drove on, heading towards Lake Mackenzie. The map showed Cornwells Break road led to Lake Mackenzie so we started along this track. Of course, this was our first time at Fraser Island so we weren't entirely sure what to expect, but it did strike us as we made our way along this reasonably narrow and rutted track that such condition was unusual for a track leading to such a major attraction as Lake Mackenzie. There were hardly any signs, although equally there were hardly any side tracks to confuse matters. But the map said this led to our destination, so we forged on. For about 5km. At about 15kph average. Until about 20 minutes later we came to a 'Road Closed' sign! :O There were no other side tracks to take to get around the closure, so there was nothing for it but to turn around and go all the way back to the eastern beach again!

This presented a problem for our schedule. It was now about 1:45pm and we still had to drive south to Eurong and try the next track, which we got to about at 2pm. With some rough calculations we took a punt and Jehu'd our way along these inland tracks. This track was much better (as far as Fraser Island tracks go), regularly sign-posted and somewhat smoother in the main (though still with large dips here and there along the track), so we knew we were on the right track, but time was against us. Frustratingly, the 'Lake Mackenzie - 12km' and so on signs seemed fairly arbitrary in their distance, as we found after driving about 10km according to the odometer that the next sign still said about 8km to go! Given these were what we were basing our decision to go on, this was irritating. However through much sand, many potholes and untold numbers of airborne objects in the back of the car, we finally arrived at Lake Mackenzie about 2:30pm.

Our destination - Lake Mackenzie!

The pristine shoreline of Lake Mackenzie

What a sight! Lake Mackenzie has a pristine white sandy beach, and the water went from clear to bright blue to deep blue as the depth increased. The lake floor was also completely sandy and graded gently into deeper water, while the surrounds were quiet and still. It was, perhaps, the perfect and quintessential tropical beach, and being fresh water it was drinkable too! It was the sort of place you just wanted to stand and absorb every element of its natural beauty!

Smiles - of relief, terror or madness?!

We enjoyed a few minutes (literally) of still and calm in this little paradise, before returning our minds to the harsh reality of the present that we had about an hour and a quarter's drive ahead of us, but only 30 minutes until we were supposed to be at the bottom of the island waiting for the last barge! After some initial wrong turns, we got some directions from a friendly ranger who, sadly, seemed oblivious to the urgency of our situation as he lazily described the route back to Eurong - 'orh well ya know she's a good hour from here, at least mate! Now....    ......  if ya drive down this track, turn LEFT at the end, ... and a while afta that there's another track on the right, see? Now, ... DON'T take that one .... , 'cos ya see that one goes out to the west coast...' and so on.

Anyway we left Mosey Joe behind, hit the road and raced towards the eastern beach. About 3:15 we called the barge operator to alert them to our situation and to the seemingly unavoidable possibility of us not making the last barge. They did say the last barge actually left at 3:30 but the 3pm was just so everyone was ready. This made an utterly impossible situation only impossible, which was a nice improvement, as there was still no way we'd get there in 15 minutes. They suggested a place we could stay the night if we wanted to, but being already low on food we really wanted to get back to the mainland. So after consideration they agreed to wait for us until we arrived. So in respect of that, Jehu accordingly dusted off his kit again and we made like the wind for the south tip of the island!

We beat the barge!

This 45+ minute drive from that point, which we somehow made in about 30 minutes, was a drive not to be forgotten, and one which was not really enjoyed by too many in the car, nor probably the car itself (we have since found the front shock absorbers, which were getting a bit soft down in Victoria, now need replacement. I'm not confused out of my mind as to what just might have finished them off...!). However we all bore up under the load and the rough ride, and, with due apologies to the flocks of seagulls we dispersed along our drive, we eventually got to the south tip, amazingly, before the barge arrived (in fairness they were 15 minutes late, but we were more than 15 minutes earlier than expected)! They were most surprised to find us already there and waiting for them when they pulled in!

We went up onto the bridge on the barge and had a nice relaxing stand and watch as we gently, and oh so smoothly, cruised back to Inskip Point.


What a journey! We had a great time for sure. But if there's ever a next time, which due to location I doubt, we will:

1. plan to do half as much in twice the time, and
2. check the condition of inland tracks with a ranger before we assume the maps are current!

-- Greg