We were up very early as the bus was collecting us at 7.20am to go to Fraser Island! Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and is a world heritage site. It was a long bus journey, about 1 hour, collecting everyone from their hostels and hotels! We finally arrived at the ferry dock, (they called it a barge!) and boarded ready for our 40 min journey across to the island! Once on the island we were allocated to a 4x4 bus. We were advised by the guy on the campsite to not sit on the back row as the bus ride can be very bumpy, so we avoided it, even if it meant pushing people out the way!! hehe, joke! We did feel bad for those who did get the back seats though, especially once we got going!!
Our driver was Captain Kangaroo and he seemed like one of the more experienced rangers, especially as he was semi-retired and had lived there for 25 years!
Anyway, we set off along the sandy road, they don't have tarmac there its just very thick sand, and we were introduced to the island by the driver. The roads were more bumpy than expected and this was due to the lack of rain they have had, causing the sand to become softer and more dry. They usually have had more rain by now but they are just unlucky, a bit like at home, we are unlucky to have rain!!
The first stop was at central station which is a former logging camp and we went on a walk through the rainforest to see Wanggoolba creek which was crystal clear, so clear that you can barely make it out in the pics! We saw lots of different trees, furns and palms, each of which the ranger told us more about. One of the trees that we saw was from the same family as the giant sequoia tree (the general sherman) that we saw in America in Sequoia National Park! On this tree was a huge lizard climbing up it! He had a fancy name but neither of us can remember it!!
From there we went on a very bumpy ride to the beach. We passed through different types of forests that have been logged in different ways. The driver told us about how there is up to 5 rainforests buried beneath the sand and that the ones that we were passing through would buried one day too because of mobile sandblows.
Once on the beach we wondered what had happened, the driver suddenly took off at great speed down the beach, passing other vehicles on both sides!! He soon explained that the beach is the highway there and that road rules apply, apart from the passing on either side! You have to give way to planes taking off and landing and also to pedestrians no matter what they are doing! They even had the proper road signs! It was a bit crazy and the driver insisted on making up for lost time so only slowed for the creeks and rocks!
We stopped at Eli creek where the water flows through at about 4.2million litres of water per hour! I didn't make a mistake, its true!! it was lovely to walk through but you could feel the pressure of the water on your legs!
From there we made our way up to the Maheno shipwreck. There is a long story behind what happened but basically she was made in Scotland, used as a cruise liner, changed to a hospital ship in WW1, changed back to a cruise liner and then she was decomissioned and bought by the Japanese for scrappage and while being towed to Japan she was struck by a cyclone and washed ashore. It was used as an air force target practice during WW2 and has slowly become buried beneath the sand and become a victim of rusting! It was quite amazing to see and she was so big, yet so much was buried beneath us!
From the shipwreck we went further up the beach to the Pinnacles where the coloured sands are. There are meant to be 72 different colours, but we couldn't count them all! We got as far as red, orange, yellow and brown! hehe, they are mostly reds and yellows!
While at this point we watched the small planes taking off on the beach! Then it was time for lunch and you could tell that the driver was hungry as he raced back to the beach resort!! The lunch was yummy and there was so much on offer! Mark though christmas had come early as it was all you can eat!! We only got an hour for lunch and it seemed to go really quickly! We got chatting to a couple from Essex and Yorkshire. They are staying on our site and also have a camper! They have theres for much longer than us though! They were unfortunate enough to sit at the back of the bus and they looked quite travel sick when they got off for lunch!
It was then back on the bus and time for the exciting part of the day, a visit to Lake McKenzie! However, getting there was less exciting! The road there was very steep, very thick sand and very very bumpy!! The driver got stuck a couple of times and at one point we only moved about 2 metres in about 10 mins!! We also passed a 4x4 who had overheated, and as much as the group tried to persuade our driver to tow them, he carried on and left them! We made it in the end and its all part of the experience!! Needless to say, the couple from lunch were now looking even more ill! It was worth it in the end as the lake was amazing and very beautiful. It is a perched dune lake which had sparkling crystal clear blue water with pure white sandy beaches and eucalypt forests surrounding it. The lake has nothing running into it, it is just rain water and evaporation affecting its water level. The water was drinkable and it was lovely to be able to swim in water that was pure and free from salt and chlorine. We had about 1 hour and 30mins at the lake so we swam and chilled for a bit. It made a nice change from being on the bumpy bus.
We hadn't long left the lake on our way back to the ferry when we came across someone in our path who had got stuck in the sand! They were a group of about 10 and the driver got out to help, he couldn't do much else as they were blocking us! He tried different tactics, including towing them and digging them out, before they finally got moving! We then had to wait for about 30 mins down the road while he diverted all the self driven cars to ensure that the buses could get through! Was very amusing, especially as one of the buses got stuck which didn't impress the cars waiting!
The 'barge' was late getting into the harbour so had to wait around for a bit but the journey back to the mainland seemed to go quickly. It was a lovely cruise back as the sun was setting. We also saw kangaroos while driving back to the campsite on the bus! Once back at the camper, we flopped for the evening as we were both so shattered!