Time and Tide

Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, and apparently has been building up over hundreds of thousands of years. It has no rock, and no soil. Apparently it started as a large sand bank, which grew some grasses that decomposed enough to allow some larger plants to grow. Then there were layers of sand, followed by more layers of plant material. This went on over and over until it became a large island of over 100 kms long and 20 kms wide, and supporting forests of huge towering trees, all growing in sand.

Partly because of this, it has no roads, but only very rough tracks. Hence the only vehicles allowed on the island are 4 WD, and fairly tough ones at that. Hence we were advised to take a tour as we could not drive ourselves. And it was a very good choice.

Most of the driving on the island is on the "Pacific Highway", which is basically driving along the beach on the east side of the island, opening directly onto the Pacific. The width of the highway, and even its accessibility, is completely dependent on the time of day and the tides. In the morning, the "highway" was inaccessible and we had to take some of the inland tracks. These were rough as guts and quite spine jangling.

Being an official road, it even had road signs and speed limits, and at one stage we were stopped by the police and our driver was asked to undergo a random breath test. At some points the 'road' did double duty as a runway for small planes.

A large part of the island is covered in dense forest, and grows a particular type of tree called the Satinay, which does not grow anywhere else in the world. This has two specific characteristics which makes it very special. Firstly the trees grow very straight and very tall. This is because being a sand island, their roots grow straight down and very deep as there are no rocks etc to force them to spread horizontally. The second characteristic is that they are resistant to marine borers and other insects, so they are excellent for jetties and other places where timber poles need to stand in the sea. They were used in the Suez Canal and in various docks throughout England and Europe.

Hence logging was big business on Fraser Island, before it became a national park. When the logging stopped, all the horses that had been used to drag the logs were no longer needed, and left to roam free. After a while they started to interfere with the indigenous fauna, so they were moved off the island and allowed to run free on the mainland. So as we drove to Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach, there were signs to look out for the wild brumby population.

Although most of the people that run Fraser Island tours use pictures of dingoes, we were told that it is rare to actually see a dingo on a tour. Somehow, we managed to see five or six. Initially the driver picked up some dingo tracks, and as we progressed we came across three dingoes in the bush. Later in the day we found two or three others on the beach.

The dingo has a bit of a reputation on Fraser Island. They have been there for thousands of years, initially as hunting dogs with the aboriginal people. Later the miners and loggers kept dingoes as pets and to protect them from snakes and other vermin. Once the island came under the jurisdiction of National Parks in 1991, they decided dingoes should have no contact with people and made it illegal to keep them as pets, or even feed them. Obviously this was difficult to police as people didn't want to give up their pets, and tourists thought they were very cute and kept giving them scraps.

Hence the National Parks people, in all their wisdom, put electric fences around tourist area so dingoes could not get in. The consequence of this was that the snakes and other vermin worked out that there were no dingoes there, and went wild. Several tourists have had snake bites and had to be flown off by air ambulance for emergency anti-venom injections.

Part of the tour was to a fresh water lake on the island which is sourced simply from rainfall and drains only through evaporation. Hence the water becomes slightly acidic, which kills off all algae, and other plant life. This produces very crisp, clear water, and was lovely and refreshing for a dip. George, as usual, had more than a dip, deciding to swim to the other side of the lake, giving everyone a worry until he eventually made it back.

After the swim, we had a barbecue lunch arranged by our driver. I had filled my plate with meat and salads, then went back to get a drink. Leaving my plate unattended for just a moment, I turned to see a kookaburra swoop down and try to purloin my steak. With the aid of much noise and arm waving, he flew off to his friends on an overhanging branch, eyeing off all the other people looking for another opportunity. The bird life here is amazing (apart from the kookaburras). We also saw sea eagles and kites. Ross, you would have a field day here.

Also saw an old shipwreck on the shore. This boat was built in Scotland in 1905 and did transport duty between Aus an NZ for 30 years, when it was sold off to the Japanese for scrap metal. On its way being tugged to Japan it was hit by a cyclone and washed up on Fraser Island. By the time the Japanese organised to come and tug it back, it was already embedded in the sand and couldn't be moved. So it has gradually aged and deteriorated here ever since. Pretty tough after after 80 years. They don't build them like they used to.

GeorgeY's bit

Got up early as usual, but today I had the perfect excuse to make all the needed moves and noises without attracting grumpiness, in order to be ready by 7.30 am at the resort's entrance. (Yes, I know it is a caravan park but it is like a resort for me ). A German couple were waiting also, but theirs was a different tour operator. We still crossed them at different stops on the island.

The ride to the ferry went through inskip Point, where we had considered camping, and we picked up a couple from there. Apart from being remote from civilization, it did not inspire much as nature goes, and did not justify taking the Odyssey over the unsealed sand pits.

The lady picked up from there was so taken by it and kept trying to convince us to camp there if we can do it, as we mentioned that we are self sufficient with solar and, if needed, we have a generator, being a noisy one. She said many people there are running them, and in fact there was this game (Rugby) and all the young camper stayed up watching and cheering. Lovely. Imagine our disappointment now, having missed out on a night where all your really close neighbours, firing their generators in unison, watching the game and staying up late, loud and untamed. We decided to extend our stay at the resort.

The ferry ride was smooth and quick, and the beach landing and driving easy. First turn inland to Lake Mackenzie and the ongoing bone shaking experience begins. I never trusted chiropractors or believed what they preach about your spinal vertebrae being out or misaligned, and needed their service to put them back, as if it was a sort of Jenga. But after this ride I think all my bones were shuffled and put randomly together, then reshuffled again, a few times every minute. So if my nose looks like a kneecap in the pictures, that's because it is. My appreciation of bitumen has grown many fold, and I needed that swim more to settle my bones than to attract attention from the old ladies.

Police here are bored. No other way of putting it. Our driver runs a regular service on the island. He is on friendly terms with Mick the police officer, yet was stopped for random breath testing on the way to the Pinnacles, and on the way back. But this time with the breathalyzer fitted with new batteries and working. Other than breath testing, they enforce speed limits on the beach, pointing hairdryers at vehicles, and fight crimes on the island with plastic orange tipped revolvers.

For a sand island with no bitumen it was amazing to see planes, trains and automobiles (there was a track used by loggers.)

The bus dropped us on Rainbow Beach, literally, then drove on via the beach to Noosa. Apparently, tides permitting, there is a short cut to there without the need to go to inland Gympie.