Fraser Island - Tuesday 3rd JuneRob and I had a fairly early start, we were picked up by bus for our trip to Fraser.Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.It has remained fairly unspoilt, has a population of dingoes, much of the island is rain forest.Lots of the original hard wood trees were felled but some replanting was done with softer faster growing varieties.You can see the difference quite clearly (all the replanted sections are in rows, whereas the original areas are more uneven) the island has lots of rules and regulations to preserve its natural beauty, but with over 1000 visitors a day this is a big task.After our ferry trip across the sandy strait in thick fog we were driven through the island in a 4 X 4 truck.All the roads are made of sand so are very bumpy.Our driver was very experienced so he had a wonderful time opening up the throttle and bouncy us along!It was great fun, fortunately my back didn't suffer too much.The main highway on Fraser is called 75 Mile Beach (for obvious reasons), and the cars wizz up and down this road with the South Pacific Ocean crashing to the side of the vehicles.The fog had lifted but left low level cloud, this spoilt the experience a little as of course all the sea and sand colours look so much duller.The trip took us first to Central Station which is where the loggers first set up camp and a walk through the forest to learn a little about the area.Then we headed along 75 Mile beach to visit the Maheno ship wreck which was washed up onto the beach in the 1930's.We also saw the coloured sands at the Pinnacles (an area which shows the formation and colours very clearly), and also had a paddle down Elie Creek, which is clear mountain water.Usually people swim down the creek, but it wasn't quite the weather for swimming, we were getting wet enough from the showers!Lunch was taken at one of the resorts on the island and then we headed off inland to Lake Mackenzie.This is like a huge puddle in the middle if the island, the water is held there by the formation over many years of a layer of decaying leaves and vegetation, harder and less permeable but similar to peat. The lake has fantastic white sand, which you can rub onto your jewellery to clean it.The water is cold but crystal clear, Rob went in for a dip, but I chickened out.The photographs don't really do the place justice due to the cloudy skies.Melanie visited the lake last year on her travels and her pictures look totally different.On the journey back to Hervey Bay we saw dolphins swimming beside the boat.All in all we had a lovely day, despite the changing weather it was well worth the visit.