Fraser Island is regarded as the highlight of their trip by many people I met along the way and it certainly does not disappoint. Despite some nasty bug bites, I had an amazing time on this island filled by unbelievably beautiful beaches, lakes, sandblows, rain forests, and dangerous animals. Personally I think its remarkable that a whole rain forest can grow on nothing but sand, although if you dig deep enough, the sand becomes black like soil.
Friday morning was a little foggy. However, the fog cleared up almost immediately and the sky was beautiful when we arrived at Lake McKenzie. The water at the lake is stunning. The color ranges from a deeper blue from the reflection of the vegetation to a greenish blue from the reflection of the sand. The sand is the whitest sand I have ever seen and looks amazing next to the lake. We swam in the lake and had some lazy time on the sand. In the afternoon, we walked through the rainforest and watched the sunset by the beach.
On Saturday, we drove on the never ending beach – literally on the sand with waves occasionally coming up to our tires. I flew in a small jet with four other people to see the Fraser Island and its surroundings from above. Then we went to see the Maheno Shipwreck and Indian Head and took some awesome pictures. We had lunch at the Champagne Pools, which are bubbling ocean rock pools by the ocean. The pools look like infinity pools next to the ocean and are pretty amazing. However, the water was too cold to swim in. In the afternoon, we went to Eli Creek and walked in the freshwater creek.
On our third and last day, we visited the emerald-green Lake Wabby, where we saw a few black sharks! The lake is right next to a huge desert-like sandblow. After lunch, we went to Lake Birrabeen, which is somewhat similar to McKenzie. We also witnessed a helicopter rescue as one of the motorbikes had an accident near the lake.
Pictures:
1) Marina at Harvey Bay
2) On the ferry to Fraser Island
3) Arriving at Fraser
4 to 7) Lake McKenzie – the water is absolutely stunning!
8) We saw a giant lizard on the ground when we were heading back from McKenzie
9) The vegetation on Fraser grows out of nothing but sand
10) Mushrooms we saw on our hike through the rain forest
11 to 12) Rain forest in the middle of the island
13) Weird looking tree near Central Station
14) Sunset at the dock
15 to 17) I flew in a jet to take a bird’s view of the island from above
18 to 23) The amazing view of the ocean, the beach, the forest, the sandblow, and numerous lakes of the island from the jet
24) This pictures shows how amazing it is to drive on the beach
25) 4 wheel drives like this are required because of the sand on the island
26) Shipwreck from the air
27 to 30) Shipwreck
31) Rock formation on the island
32) View of the ocean while we drove on the beach
33) Clams that live on the beach – I ate 5
34, 35) View from Indian Head
36) On top of the world
37 to 42) The amazing Champagne Pools
43 to 44) The beach around Champagne Pools
45 to 46) Sandblows in the middle of the island
47) The emerald-green Lake Wabby
48) Black sharks!
49) More of Wabby
50 to 51) Jumping into the sandblow
52) Lake Birrabeen
53) Jumping at Lake Birrabeen
54) Leaving Fraser
55) Sunset
