My apologises for having gone AWOL for over two months but I’ve just been enjoying myself too much! There will be a big post covering the east coast soon but I thought I’d cover Fraser Island separately as it can be a bit of a mind field when you start looking at all the options!

Fraser Island; the largest sand island in the world, the home of the purest dingoes in the world and, quite frankly, breathtakingly beautiful.

As I said, there are loads of options for Fraser Island. Take your own 4WD car over on the ferry, hire a 4WD and follow a plan to ensure you’re driving at safe times or, like we did, go with a tour company so you can all enjoy it and nobody has to get stressed about sinking in the sand. (Hint; That was me.)

We opted for the tour company Fraser Explorer Tours. The company catered for everyone; explorers for anybody and Cool Dingoes for those between the ages of 18-35. The only reason we went with this company is because they were the only ones who could fit three of us in without us having to wait a few weeks. (Nick’s brother only had a limited amount of time and we had some distance to cover so we couldn’t wait around!)

Overall, the two day one night option was great, the accommodation was lovely and the all you can eat buffets for each meal were cherished after living off noodles and pasta for a while! They do offer longer trips but they were unfortunately a little out of our price range!

The trip begins with an early morning pick up from either Rainbow beach or Hervey Bay. We opted for Rainbow Beach and we’re greeted by a massive four wheel drive bus; it was quite a site seeing that coming down the road! The bus then takes you along to the ferry which you’d access by a short drive over the sand. It was at this point in the day where I realised we’d made the right decision to not hire a car. Tourists and experienced 4WD drivers alike were stuck at this point, having not even got on to the island!

After a short crossing we arrived and it was one hell of a bumpy journey! Exhilarating driving so close to the upcoming tide but nauseating being zigzagged across the beach to the safest spots of sand! (Tip; take travel sickness BEFORE you’re picked up; I didn’t take any until we did our first stop for morning tea but at that point it was already too late! (See photo evidence)

After a brief morning tea stop we were onto Lake McKenzie or, as I like to call it, paradise. The lake has a high PH level which means that algae can’t grow and no fish can live in the lake so it is literally crystal clear water. The clear light blue shortly turns to the deepest shade of navy indicating the depths below. We spent around an hour here and we didn’t get out once. It was lovely to cool off from that burning Australian sun and the rough journey there! It started off so well and it really was going to be hard to top this spot off!

It was back to the accommodation for lunch and then onto a super busy afternoon!

Stop 1; SS Maheno shipwreck – a ship bought by the Japanese that was wrecked when they attempted to take home. The ship has stayed wrecked on the beach ever since the incident and it is slowly and gracefully rotting away; whittling down to sweet nothing. It’s spectacular actually to see it, how big it was and how tragic it’s demise is. Now it’s just an excellent photo opportunity!

Stop 2; At the very top of the island (as far as you can drive) is Indian Head and the infamous Champagne pools. Now the pools were closed so I can’t make comment on them but Indian Head. What a spot! It’s a close call with lake Mckenzie as to my favourite spot on Fraser Island! There’s a short but steep walk along burning hot sand which takes you high up and around 200m into the ocean. The real treat we had was four frolicking manta rays swimming around showing off their majestic size and underside and two tiger sharks swimming up from the depths so we could see them clear as day! It was scary how clear they were from such a distance and really puts into perspective how big they really are! We stayed here for almost an hour and it was amazing to stand so high up and simply take it all in. We were very lucky to see all of this (the guide told us) they don’t usually see sharks or mantas as typically it’s turtles and sting rays!

Stop 3; Eli Creek. Another beautiful and shallow swimming spot where we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Fraser Island’s famous dingoes! Absolutely gorgeous and they look like dogs but should in no way be treated like a dog and rather; admired from afar. The creek runs along down towards the sea (which you can’t actually go in due to its sheer ferocity, stingers and those pesky sharks I mentioned earlier!) The creek’s water is so pure that it is clear and with the sand on the bottom it actually looks like someone has put in a concrete path! It’s great fun to walk down or even better to float down in a doughnut! Completely blissful and ultimate chill time.

From here it was on to accommodation for the night! A massive room with three separate beds was a very welcome change from the tent! We stayed at the Eurong Beach Resort. It was spotless, the staff friendly and the food was good so it’s a thumbs up from me!

After a good nights rest it was another early start ready for another jam packed day.

Stop 4; Lake Wabby – This was perhaps my least favourite stop. The walk to the lake is not very fun in the scorching heat and it takes around 45 minutes which of course you have to do on the way back! This involves a climb up a sand dune with the sun literally sizzling the sand which, in turn, sizzles your feet! It was beautiful but a bit smelly and the water was full of little fish who like to eat dead skin so not really my cup of tea! Lots of people said it was their favourite spot so always have an open mind! The walk also boasted a whole host of Australian wildlife including some pretty impressive orb spiders, lizards and goannas!

(Worth noting is to take insect repellant; the mosquitoes are bad but they are nothing in comparison to the horse flies. They are vicious!)

Stop 5; Another top swim spot Lake Birrabeen. A lot quieter than the other swim spots and just lovely. The water was lovely and cool and it was really shallow for around 100 metres which was great for sunbathing whilst remaining cool! This was also the spot where we had our picnic lunch which was great but seating was limited as was the shade!

Tip; If you’re doing it on your own I’d make sure you carry an umbrella just incase all the seats are taken and you can’t find any shade! Make sure you only eat in the designated picnic areas as most places are food free zones to protect yourself and also to protect the dingoes. (Beware of dingoes!)

Stop 6; Central Station and the rainforest walk. The station was the heart of the timber industry back in the day where it was the main work on Fraser Island until tree numbers deteriorated so much the government said that’s enough. The station has still got the houses and work stations with lots of interesting information about them all whilst completely surrounded by some of the tallest and magnificent trees you’ll ever see! From here we took a short stroll along the boardwalk with our guide who then sent us on our way through the rainforests for around 2km. It was breathtakingly magnificent, alive with sounds and vibrant in colours. The walk wasn’t difficult and it was so cool under the shaded canopy of the trees! A must do on Fraser Island. It gives it something a bit different. It’s not all sand and lakes!

And that was that. Our trip to Fraser Island had ended. Content but sleepy we headed back onto our bus along to the ferry where I was greeted by my final ‘ta-ra’ from Fraser Island when I saw a manta ray jump out of the water and I was the only one to see it as it just happened so fast! It was one of the best things I’ve ever seen!

(Make sure you get out onto the ferry as you just don’t know what you might get a glimpse of!)

Overall Fraser Island was something I was glad that we did and had planned to do. It’s expensive and when travelling to have such a substantial chunk of money spent on something short is a big commitment.

I was glad that we chose to do a tour just because the driving on the island was treacherous and a little bit scary. I’d only do it if I was an experienced 4WD driver and I had a trusted car that I knew would see me through. It was alarming how many cars you actually saw bogged down and blocking the roads and it was a hassle we just didn’t want to have. That being said, it was our first experience of being herded in Australia. We bought our own car so we’ve been free to do whatever we wanted for 8 months with no commitments or time frames so it was difficult to adjust to that but it was only two days and it was lovely to not actually have to think and rather just be told!

Side Note; there are a lot of visitors to the island and it also seems like a backpackers rite of passage so they are everywhere but it’s easy to forget them when you just take in the scenery!

Fraser Island is beautiful and is well worth a visit. The drive along the 75 mile highway is something you’ll never forget and it’s such good fun seeing the tide come in one side and looking out for dingoes on the other side all whilst being thrown about as if on a rollercoaster!

A gorgeous place, lots of laugh and wonderful memories to last a lifetime.