Fraser Island

28-29th December 2006

So, we rock up at Hervery Bay late afternoon hoping to find some accomodation and to book a trip to Fraser Island for the following day. We should be so lucky. All the esplanade lined hotels and motels are full, all the tours are full. Everyone is going there for a few days over New Year and booked ages ago. Smart move. So for us dummies it was a trailer park with a local ginger idiot to boot. However, our luck was not completely out, in one last ditch attempt to get to the Island I'd heard so much about, we asked the lady at reception to double check and as luck would have it, there had just been a cancellation and did we want it. Hell yes!

We were met by our guide in a four wheel drive coach. Basically a monster truck which made caning it round the largest sand island in the world a thrilling ride. It seemed that the coach and driver were indestructuible as we raced past all the smaller vehicles. I'm not sure if it was because we only had one day to get round the island, or just because our vehicle was bigger than the others, but it was fun nonetheless.

During our few hours there we did a rainforest walk, visited Eli creek, the coloured sands, the Maheno wreck and Lake Mackenzie. All very impressive and I'll certainly be going back for longer one day.


Fraser Island is home to a variety of wildlife, including the infamous dingo. Despite their depleting numbers, they are still a real threat to us. I thought that it was pretty much guaranteed that you'd see one but we sadly didn't. However, on second thoughts, maybe this was for the best. After coming face to face with a casserwary, I'm now more careful what I wish for.