Day 53-54

Today we had our trip to Fraser Island. We were picked up at 8am by our 'Unimob' (this is an ex-military vehicle) and everyone laughed as it turned up. We boarded the ferry and we were on Fraser Island in about 40 minutes. Our first impressions were WOW!

We were informed by our guide 'Captain Kirk' that it was the largest sand island in the world and didn't we know it once we started driving as we bounced everywhere. Before it was known as Fraser Island it was known as K'gari which comes from the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. The word means beautiful women. The island was put on the World Heritage list in 1992. It only has about 40 permanent residents. The name Fraser comes from a Captain and his wife who got ship wrecked there. Captain Cook also named the island as the Great Sandy Penninsular until it was realised that it was an island.

The island was known for its purest dingoes and within 10 minutes we saw one. We headed through the Yidney Rainforest which is a virginal rainforest as no logging had taken place before it was put on the World Heritage list. We saw several trees, one that was over 300 years old and was worth over $80k; fig vines growing around the host tree which eventually killed it off, leaving a hollow tree which you could stand in; Paperbark Tree which the Aboriginies used for shelter and for a bandage as it has teatree in it.

We went through Happy Valley to Eli Creek. Eli Creek was a freshwater creek where 5 million litres of water flowed through it every hour, which was enough to fill the Sydney Harbour. We walked up against the current and really appreciated the force of it.

We then went to the Moheno Shipwreck. The Moheno was the first real luxury liner which was being shipped to Japan when it lost control and crashed into Fraser Island. The Japanese took too long trying to recover it and the waves started to erode the ship and it's been there ever since.

From here we visited Champagne Pools. This is where the ocean waves crash over natural pools creating thousands of bubbles. We jumped in to experience this even though the water was cold.

We then visited Indian Head which is the only rock on the island. We climbed upto the top and looked over the sheer cliffs. It was here where the white settlers used to push Aboriginies to their death. Indian Head was named by Captain Cook when he sailed by as he mistook an Aboriginie for an Indian. One view we had was of the ocean and the other was of a Tackie Sand Blow; this was our first look of one.

The tide was coming in so we headed back to the camp. As the main road was the beach, it was also used as a runway for small aircrafts. We had our tent for the evening and were woken in the night by a Dingo's howl.

The next day our first stop was the Coloured Sands. This was the ladies personal area where men were not allowed to enter. In total there were 72 different colours.

We then headed to Hammerstead Sand Blow. This was the mens personal area and where ladies were not allowed to enter. We walked across this Sand Blow to Lake Wabby. This lake was barraged, which means that from the sand blowing in an Easterly direction it covered the creek, leaving a lake. We had a swim in here although we couldn't walk in too far as it was 17 metres deep. We walked through a transitional forest to meet our guide; this is where the type of vegetation changes.

From here we went to Eurong and took a walk through another rainforest although this one had been logged in the past; there was a noticeable difference. We had lunch at Central Station; this was the Central Station for the logging industry, and is now a popular picnic spot.

Our final stop was at Lake Birrabean, it is less known than Lake Mckenzie but it worked in our favour as there we much less people there and it was far more beautiful. This was also a freshwater lake but was known as a perched lake, this was created by having 'Coffee Rock' (this is where ancient forest was buried under the sand and compressed to cause a black rock like formation which was very brittle) underneath the sand. This stopped the rain water from draining and created a lake. We had a snorkel around the reeds, where it is known for small fish and freshwater turtles, which Al was lucky enough to spot. Fraser Island is only 167500 hectares but has 3/4 of the worlds perched lakes.