Dec 1st 2011

Kingfisher Bay Resort, Fraser Island

Can't believe it's December! It's weird as it's so warm. It's officially the first day of summer here. We had a very quick look around our resort - we were on the banks of an inletwith sandy coastline. We then headed north on the Bruce Highway for 200km to River Heads to catch the ferry to Fraser Island. It was quite a boring drive really with alternating bush & farmland - nothing worthy of note!! Transfer went without a hitch - -they really know how to do things properly over here which is so stress free for us. Our room is good - - -we've been upgraded to a spa room with a big balcony. The balcony overlooks water & forest/ mangrove. We are in an elevated position , surrounded by tropical foliage so it's a bit like being in a tree house. Went for dinner in the v informal Sand Bar (as opposed to the restaurant). I had Fajita which were delicious with a very fresh salad & Pete had Guinness steak pie & chips!! V reasonably priced too. We had a few flashes of lightning & some rumbles of thunder & a bit of rain. Didn't make it in time for the Dingo talk & decided against night walk with ranger as it was raining & we were tired. However, we attended the Mammals presentation. It was one of those where the guy had put together a Powerpoint presentation (or more than likely it had been put together many years ago by someone else) & he stood behind us basically just reading it out!! I asked a question at the end & he wasn't able to answer it!! Never mind there's always Google!!

Dec 2nd 2011

We went on a 4WD tour of Fraser Island. The vehicle was basically a 4WD MAN truck with a coach type body put onto it. The tracks were very soft sand and had massive ruts in them but the truck was able to negotiate them all albeit at times with great difficulty & we had to have a few goes at some parts. In fact I wondered at times if the big complimentary cooked breakfast had been a good idea! Fraser Island is the biggest sand Island in the world and supports the only rainforest growing on sand! It was given World Heritage Status mainly because of the Lakes found on the Island. The Ranger pointed out the Banksia bushes which require fire before they form seed pods. They then await rain in order to germinate. Flowers make a lot of nectar which the Aboriginal people ate.

Stopped at Stone Tool Sand Blow which was called this because some Aboriginal tools were found here. It formed as a result of fire which destroyed vegetation and is now v vulnerable to weathering as it consists of mainly bare sand. Attempts are made to recolonise/ regenerate these bare areas to arrest further weathering.

We then drove onto 75 mile beach - -beautiful - -went on for ever!! It's called the Sand Highway & has speed limit signs on it in the same way as ordinary highways!! Top speed 80km/h and there are a surprising number of 4x4's belting up and down the sand. There had been many fatalities until 2 policemen were employed on a full time basis on the Island & there is a Police Station just off the beach. The police have been carrying out radar speed checks & also random breath tests & the number of fatalities has now dropped considerably.

The Island is colonised by shrubs and trees which is surprising as it's made of sand. Sand is not very nutritious. Apparently a plant called Casuarinas oak has a fungus/mould growing in it in a symbiotic relationship & this fungus is able to release nutrients from sand so allowing other plants to colonise & stabilize the sand just back from the beach.

In 1770 Cook sailed up the Great Sandy Strait & nearly got stuck on a Sand Bar & sailed away again - he thought he was still on the East coast of Australia & called it the great sandy peninsula. Matthew Flinders circumnavigated & realized it was an Island.

There were 'rock like' structures on the beach (a little like the lignite at Formby beach). In fact these were formed from resin & humous from plants combining with sand to form what the locals call coffee rocks.

Eli Creek

4.2 million litres of water per hour pour out here onto the beach. Had cookies and pastries and coffee here. Such a beautiful spot although there were quite a few 4WDs around.

We then drove along again to see the wreck of the Mahino. This was an ocean liner which used to do the 'Horse shoe' run between Sydney and Auckland. It was 400ft long by 50ft wide. It had a dining room , dancefloor etc as all liners did in those days. It had atop speed of 18knots (36km/h).It could carry 240 1st class passengers & 186 2nd class. It was then used in WW1 as a hospital ship between Egypt and England. It was so fast it didn't need an escort as it could outpace most U boats. In 1935 it was decommisioned and sold for scrap. The brass propellors were removed and then it was towed towards its destination for breaking up. A cyclone struck which was virtually unheard of in July & the Mahino broke away & drifted onto the 75 mile beach where it still remains as a v rusty wreck.

The Pinnacles

These look like sandstone rocks but they are in fact layers of sand of various colours showing mineral leakage. Sometimes a layer of carbon showing there had been a fire.

A brown colouration could be seen on some waves and this is due to some leakage from the coral which happens every November.

Many fresh water creeks open onto the beach & support the ecosystem e.g. give rise to colonisation by prawns/ shellfish etc which in turn support fish which in turn support sharks. Many sharks live in this stretch of water and also there are strong rip currents. Not advisable to swim. We then drove back down the Sand Highway towards Eurong, a small resort where we were to have lunch. En route we passed over a stretch of sand used as a landing strip for the Flying Doctor Service.

Eurong

Had a delicious buffet lunch here.

Central Station

This was the base for the logging operations that used to take place here. We took a walk through the rain forest here alongside a creek. Saw a kukaburra! I love kukaburras!!The ranger pointed out several trees of interest. One which had bark that the Australian army camouflage uniform had been based on cos of it's 'camouflage colours'. Another- -an eucalupt- that the 1st pioneers thought that the Aboriginees were communicating with them on. It has marks on it that are made by a moth that atacks it and the marks look like scribbling. Turpentine trees which were not thought to be of much use until it was discovered that they were resistant to the 'marine borer' & then thousands were felled for Jetty building. He also pointed out ferns which are living fossils & were around in Dinasaur times.

Lake MacKenzie

The wind hollowed this out & then plant material blown in formed humus which combined with sand to form the rock like substance coffee rock which is semi permeable. Lake MacKenzie is totally reliant on rain water to fill it up. (About 2m rain falls every year). The water is crystal clear, blue under a blue sky & really warm.

As we were getting back on the coach a wild Dingo appeared - a subordinate male. They monitor/manage Dingos here so it had a tag collar on. The Dingos here came originally from Asia by Indonesian traders. The Aboriginees used them for hunting. They are the purest strain of dingos in Australia because (being on an lsland) they've not had the opportunity to cross breed with ferral dogs.

Evening

We went back to the Sand Bar in the evening & I had Fajitas again with a wonderful fresh salad & Pete had a Margerita pizza! We stayed on for the Kareoke but it was so appaling (not a patch on the IMP)that we left after 10 mins!

Dec 3rd 2011

Had to leave Fraser Island on the 10.30 ferry. It was a shame -- could have stayed for ever!! The Aboriginal people had a name for the island K'gari which means paradise & I can understand why.

The crossing was great - -beautiful blue sea with gentle white horses.

Long drive today so collected our car from storage & set off. The scenery reflects the fact that this area has had it's lowest rainfall in Nov (apart from 1mm that fell on Nov 30th) since the 1940's. The grass was mostly parched & dry. Mostly farmland with Bramhan cattle becoming more prevelant as they can thrive on this type of vegetation (as in Northern Territory). Saw a banana plantation. Lots of Euc's that looked as if they should have Koalas in them and grassland under trees which should be kangaroo habitat but, disappointingly, we didn't see any. Most humans live in houses called Queenslanders. These are made of wood and are raised off the ground - some by as much as a full 'storey' others by a foot & various amounts in between. This is to allow air to circulate & help keep them cool. Most have verandahs on at least two whole sides. They have tin roofs as most houses in Australia do.We stopped for lunch overlooking a beautiful lake & saw a pheasant caucal. 3 hours hard driving later, arrived at Rockhampton at about 5.15pm. Lots of 'statues' of beef cattle in this town as this, apparently, is the beef capital of Australia. So we are off out for a fillet steak tonight! Accommodation is the scruffiest we've been in so far - bright yellow toilet seat and cistern, chipped & stained wash basin & shock horror NO HAIRDRYER!!!!! Won't be sorry to get away in the morning!! BTW we are back in the Tropics - Rockhampton straddles the Tropic of Capricorn - but thankfully there is a cooling breeze blowing tonight.

Dec 4th 2011

Travelled from Rockhampton to Airlie Beach - a long but uneventful trip. Mainly farmland - - cattle, horses, fruit & sugar cane. Passed a sugar refinery. Seem to have a special rail system here for sugar cane. Good news from Ben en route that he'd got his Chartership. Well done Ben!

About an hour before we arrived here the heavens opened and it's still pouring now. We are very disappointed as we are here for 2 nights so it would have been nice to have some time on the beach. We don't seem to do very well for weather. Our room is really nice - we are right on the coast & have a sea view. Much better than last night's 'dive'!!