We had booked the tour through the woolshed hostel so we were able to leave our bigs bags there and stay a night either side of the 3 days on Fraser Island. Our initial thoughts of Hervey Bay was that it was a strange town with lots of retired people and not much going on. We arrived there in the evening after a comfortable 5 hour bus ride. The greyhound buses were proving a convenient way to travel around Australia.
Day 1
The guide that picked us up from our hostel gave us a great first impression of the Cooldingo tour company. He was energetic and chatty at 7am in the morning, building excitement for the tour ahead. He put us on the ferry and told us to find the bearded guy with a big hat on waiting for us at the otherside. Dave was easily recognisable and the group gathered as we got off the ferry. 'Dingo Dave' as he is known is a real character. He was joking around with the group and getting us chatting right from the start. He also talked about the plan for the next few days and really built up our expectations about the beauty of the island. We got on the bright yellow bus which can only be described as a cross between a coach and a four by four. It was a monster and we soon found out why it was necessary. The whole of Fraser Island is sand so the roads running through it were hard to drive on. But the bus stormed over the tracks with the ability to go a lot faster than all the range rovers travelling around the island. We felt like we were on an adventure already as Dave took us through the rainforest and starting telling us about the uniqueness of the island. Firstly it is the only place in the world where rainforest grows out of sand. It was also created in quite a unique way - a volcanic eruption caused rock to form out of the sea. This rock is now called 'Indian Head' and is the only rock on the island. The island formed around the rock as sand collected and built up around it. Because of its formation and interesting features the island is also home to some rare trees and animals. In fact 4 out of the 5 top deadliest snakes in the world can be found on Fraser Island. Dave also told us that we were likely to see a lot of wildlife while there. But we should beware of dingos which are canines with very strong jaws.
Anyway our first stop was the most famous place on Fraser Island which is called MacKenzie Lake. We had a bumpy journey there through the rainforest but soon enough the trees cleared revealing a very large expanse of water with pure white sands. It was a very surreal place, the sand and bright blue water didn't quite seem real. It is the biggest lake on Fraser Island and is created from rainwater collecting in sunken sand. The white sand is 98% silicon and we were encouraged to use it as exfoliator on our skin and to clean our jewellery. We already felt like we were in paradise. Our tour group of 30 were lovely, everyone was chatty and interested in one another. We were able to relax for a couple of hours there and get to know eachother.
We had lunch up in the enclosed eating area as the island tries to reduce dingos interaction with humans. If they associate humans with food then they would be encouraged to find humans on the island. After a great buffet meal, it was quickly on to the next place. As we drove, Dave chatted and told stories which were pretty unbelievable about how he got the name 'Dingo Dave'. He interrupted his story by stopping the bus and telling us to get off. He had seen snake trying to cross the road. It was a python which was luckily not venomous but it was interesting to see and take pictures.
It was then time for a walk through the rainforest, and Dave directed us onto the path where we got a real sense of the islands environment as we walked along a creek. Unfortunately it started to rain and by the time we got to the end of the trail we were all drenched. But we agreed to continue onto the next walk and try to ignore the rain. Despite the downpour both walks were beautiful and it was also more opportunity to talk to other people in the group. When we got back to the bus, Dave had teas and cookies laid out for us. Just what we needed.
That evening after showering and getting warm again we reconvened at the restaurant for our buffet dinner. We were told to get into groups of ten for the 'Bar Olympics'. A group of us that had bonded in the group got together and participated in the games. The games were hilarious and we had a great time messing around. We also played a bit of beer pong that night.
Day 2
The next morning it was a struggle to get up and ready for the bus leaving at 7.30. We got given bad news that Dave was very ill and wouldn't be able to take us. It also so happened that the big cool bus had a small malfunction so we had a slightly less cool but still very big bus to take us around. We were introduced to a new tour guide who was slightly less chatty and outgoing than Dave but very nice and accommodating.
Again the journey was very bumpy but the bus dominated the roads and we went quickly toward our first destination. What was interesting about the drive was that once we got to the other side of the island the road turned into a route along the beach. Vehicles were literally driving along the shoreline very close to the water. It was a very strange but beautiful journey. On our way to our first stop we got off briefly to see a ship wreck which was now just broken up metal. Our first official stop was at the champagne pools. These were basically very large rock pools that got filled up by the ocean. They were nice to paddle in and very pretty to look at. What was made very clear about the island was the number of sharks in the sea nearby. It was strongly enforced that people shouldn't swim on the eastern beaches of the island. Many sharks swam along the coast as they followed whales migrating along this way. That meant that all our stops on the tour involved swimming in lakes and swimming holes which were safe and inland.
The next stop was at Indian Head which was further along the beach. We climbed up the back of the cliff and came up to find lots of people on the edge watching out to sea. Everyone was looking for whales. After 5 minutes up there we started to notice a whale coming toward the headland. Small splashes every so often indicated the whale coming up above the surface. As it got closer we realised it was a mummy and baby whale! They seemed to like showing off and regularly came up above the water. It was great to see whales in their natural habitat.
On the way to our final stop the tour guide stopped the bus while on the beach track. He spotted a dingo alongside the bus. It was digging in the ground and had obviously found food. The tour guide explained how fishermen on the island had to bury fish they caught atleast 50cm deep in the sand so that the fishermen weren't associated with food and also the dingos had to work for their food. The dingo was so close to the bus and after going for a quick dip in the sea it headed back into the foliage inland. We were so lucky to see one as the tour guides hadn't come across one in weeks!
We then went to Eli Creek which is the biggest creek on the island. We took it in turns to use the rubber rings provided for us so that we could tube down the creek. It was very relaxing and the trees around the creek made the setting beautiful. After a few goes on the creek, the group decided to use the rings to make a volley ball court. We all played volleyball on the sand which got quite competitive. After a group photo it was time to head back to the resort.
That evening there was lots of goodbyes to be said as only 10 of us had booked onto the 3 day tour. The rest were on the 2 day version so they were leaving that evening. We had another group photo and added eachother on Facebook. It was nice to be building connections with people from all over the world. That evening we participated in a quiz and played more beer pong.
Day 3
Now down to 10 people we all hopped on the bus and spread out with loads of space on the bus. We were tired after the last few busy days and tried to sleep on the bus but it was much bumpier than normal. Our first stop was at lake Birabeen. It looked a lot like MacKenzie lake but was a bit smaller and had more long grass breaking up the beach. In a way I preferred visiting this lake to MacKenzie lake because this time we were completely on our own. MacKenzie lake was slightly ruined by the number of people going to see it. We were able to enjoy the scenery of lake Birabeen with no noise and explore the waters with no interruptions. It simply was paradise. We also had paddle boards with us so we blew them up and paddled out to the deep parts of the lake. What an incredible place. All too soon it was time to go to the next place.
The final stop involved a walk to find lake Wabby. It was a 2.5km walk but took almost 45 minutes because alot of it was uphill and through soft sand. At the end of the track the trees opened out into a large expanse of sand called a sand plug. It was very surreal with the sea in one direction and trees surrounding the outsides of the stretch of sand. If you took a picture of it and cropped it, people would easily mistake the picture for one in a dessert. We walked across the sand to find a large drop in the sand where the lake was located. Some people would slide down the sand to get to the water but we were strongly advised not to. Again this place was amazing but even more unique than the other lakes we had visited. The large hill of sand facing the lake made it quite strange. The other side of the lake was just foliage. Apparently it had originally been a creek but sand had built up and blocked the running water. It was very deep and we enjoyed swimming across the lake.
We then had to say more goodbyes as this was our last stop of the day. The travellers who had got a transfer from rainbow beach were being taken to a ferry dock elsewhere. Our smaller group of 10 had become even closer during the final day.
That evening we were shattered on the ferry ride home. We couldn't believe how amazing Fraser Island had been and the great few days we had had. It had partly been because of the people we had met and being able to share the same incredible experiences with them. We were sure that we would meet some of them again.