K'gari (Fraser Island) - a recreational mecca second to none

World Heritage listed Fraser Island, or K'gari (meaning 'Paradise') is the largest sand island in the world stretching over 120km and covering 184,000 hectares. The island is part of Great Sandy National Park offering a huge range of exceptional natural beauty including, rainforests, white beaches, coloured sands, sand blows, freshwater perched lakes, crystal clear creeks and a vast amount of wildlife.

Fraser Island, which is only accessible by 4WD, is considered to be the most iconic 4WD destination in Australia. Fraser is highly sought after by domestic and international visitors and has spiritual status amongst nature lovers.

This post tells the story of our adventures to Fraser Island which is one of our personal all time favourite places that we visit often. In fact, we have visited Fraser 30 times over the last 38 years. For most of our kids, they went to Fraser nearly every year of their life growing up.

This is a very unique and special natural wonderland with diverse natural beauty from one end to the other. The island has increased in popularity enormously since our first visit, in 1983, largely fuelled by 4WD'ing becoming a growing recreational activity and more importantly from increasing international recognition of the significance of this natural wonderland. The last section on this post covers some of the history and changes over those years.

All of our trips to Fraser have been group trips, most of which I have planned and led such as 'Operation Paradise'.

Our purpose with this post is to give you just enough insight to spark your curiosity and enable you to plan your own expedition of discovery. Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.

Access to Fraser Island:

Vehicular access to the island is by barge which run from Inskip Point & Hervey Bay. Bookings are required for the barge if travelling from Hervey Bay but not for Inskip Point.

If coming from Inskip Point, you will land on Fraser at Hook Point (opposite Inskip Point) which needs planning to arrive with a low tide. There is also a short inland track, offering an alternative to driving around Hook Point, which brings you out further up the beach.

Once on the beach, it is the best beach driving you will ever experience as you cruise up this giant natural wonderland.

Hitting the sand and cruising up Seventy Five Mile Beach.

This is the culmination of months of anticipation making the beach drive a phenomenal experience every single time.

Closer to Eurong & Happy Valley, watch out for planes landing on the beach in front of you, expecting you to get out of the way, which is quite unnerving for your first time.

Fraser is well known to fishing enthusiasts particularly the attraction around August each year when massive schools of tailor migrate north. Long stretches of beach fill up with fisherman standing shoulder to shoulder catching a tailor on every cast. It becomes absolute mayhem with people coming from all over the island when they hear the tailor are on. Lines get tangled people get snagged by hooks but no one cares.

The vast amount of wildlife on Fraser includes 325 species of birds and of course the Dingo. Dingoes on Fraser are said to be the most pure in Australia. They can however be very dangerous and it is important to follow the Dingo-Safe guidelines from the NP rangers.

It has been said that ‘few things in life are as inspiring as watching whales at play’. Fraser is one of the worlds premier whale watching destinations. The great Humpback Whales head north past Fraser every May to August for their annual migration from Antartica to The Great Barrier Reef and return again in July. These are the most acrobatic of all whales and will leap right out of the sea.

You have two options for your access to Fraser from Inskip Point. The last town you come to before you cross over to Fraser Island is Rainbow Beach. The drive to Rainbow Beach can be via Gympie (bitumen) or via Teewah Beach.

The drive via Teewah Beach is a ‘Must Do’ (if tides permit) where you will enjoy another magnificent beach drive and you will also see the famous coloured sands. The attached PDF has the detail on this option.

We are awash with rich stories from our trips to Fraser Island and one of my personal favourites is about when we got into trouble at the infamous Hook Point.

"We only had minutes to get off the beach before our vehicles became another casualty of the Pacific Ocean. With our destination of the barge almost within reach we passed Hook Point and knew we had ignored all safety margins for incoming tides. The surf washing into our left wheel track and the sand cliff immediately on our right had certainly created white knuckle driving. Just as the tension was at its peak, with adrenaline & testosterone dripping from the roof, I heard four mind numbing words come over the CB radio, ‘I’m out of fuel’."

This is adventure country and it doesn’t get better than this.

Exploring Fraser:

You wont see it all on one visit so the attached PDF includes detail on my following recommended four best day trips around the island. The notes also offer detail on how to plan your day trips.

Beach driving on Fraser can only be done comfortably, three hours either side of low tide to guarantee hard sand or a more accurate measure is to drive when tide is not more than 1.2m high. You can drive on the soft sand above the high tide line however it is very slow, tiring and uses a lot of fuel. For these reasons your day tripping around the island should be planned around low tide.

Day Trip # 1: Central Station, Wanggoolba Creek, Lake McKenzie:

This trip heads inland to stunning perched lakes & sub tropical rainforest. Subject to your starting point, this trip is not so tide dependant and is ideal when tide times don't suit a long beach drive.

Fraser has over 100 freshwater lakes, 40 of which are perched above seal level and are believed to hold around 20 million mega litres in and below the lakes.

Lake McKenzie would be the most picturesque and exotic lake on the island with its white sand and changing shades of blue water. This would probably be the most popular attraction on the island. In peak periods it can be quite difficult just to find somewhere to park & sit.

Nearby Lake Birrabeen has a very similar crystal clear appearance to Lake McKenzie yet without the crowds. A bit further south again is Lake Boomajin which is the largest perched lake in the world @ 200 hectares.

A 500m boardwalk takes you along the lush rainforest wilderness of Wanggoolba Creek, at the former forestry station, Central Station, which would be one of the most photographed places on Fraser. The water is so clear it is even hard to see.

Central Station has a huge display of massive staghorns and elkhorns. The ferns in Wanggoolba Creek include the prehistoric Angiopteris having the largest fonds in the world.

Nearby Pile Valley is home to giant Satinay trees some of which are over 60m tall. Trees from Pile Valley line the Suez canal and London Docks.

If you wanted to visit Kingfisher Bay Resort you should include it on this day trip.

Day Trip # 2: Eli Creek, Maheno Shipwreck, The Pinnacles, Indian Head, Champagne Pools & Waddy Point

This trip runs right up north on the eastern beach crossing Indian Head and Middle Rocks where you can really enjoy cruising up the beach as well as enjoying some remarkable scenery. This trip necessitates a whole day including a stop over in the middle of the day while the high tide comes in and recedes making the beach drivable again. If coming from say, Eurong or Happy Valley, you need to pick a suitable day when the high tide is around midday.

There are many freshwater creeks flowing across the beach into the ocean. The most popular is Eli Creek which discharges 80 mega litres of water daily. The whole of Fraser discharges 325 mega litres per day.

Most days will see a huge number of vehicles parked at Eli Creek for swimming, chilling and floating down the creek from the end of

the boardwalk.

The best known landmark on the island would be the Maheno shipwreck which was a retired Trans Tasman passenger liner washed ashore during a cyclone in 1935. The ship has deteriorated with RAAF bombing practice and years of pounding salt water.

These coloured sands at The Pinnacles are said to be the most spectacular coloured sand formations in Australia with a total of 72 different colours.

The Champagne Pools are natural rock pools that are accessed by a 350m boardwalk from the Middle Rocks car park. With the right tide the waves will break over the pools leaving a mass of froth & bubble. Visitors flock to these pools as one of the great swimming spots on Fraser.

On a long day trip to the north of the island we have a long leisurely lunch at Waddy Point while the high tide comes in and recedes making the beach drivable again.

Day Trip # 3: The Western Beach, Lake Allom & Yidney Scrub

This trip takes you through fantastic sub tropical rainforest until you arrive at the peacefulness of the western side being calm Hervey Bay and a change from the wild surf beach on the east. There are long beaches of white sand and exotic emerald water. Subject to your starting point, this trip is also not so tide dependant unless you plan to drive on the western beach.

Yidney Scrub, just in from Happy Valley, is a great example of sub tropical rainforest including a stand of 200 year old Kauri Pine all of which makes an outstanding drive. Yidney Scrub is a seperate leg on this trip and can be done after returning from the western beach. The rainforest on Fraser also includes huge giant Satinay trees some of which are over 1000 years old and takes 14 people with arms outstretched to encircle.

Lake Allom sits amongst the towering Kauri & Hoop Pines with an excellent picnic area and a great swimming spot.

The west side of the island is very different to the east with its calm blue water of Hervey Bay over pristine white sand.

It is not recommended to drive on the western beach. Vehicles are lost on this beach regularly as it is particularly difficult to detect sections of soft sand. If you do want to risk it ensure you are traveling with at least 2 vehicles.

Day Trip # 4: Lake Wabby

Lake Wabby sits next to the immense Hammerstone sandblow which is slowly consuming the lake. Subject to your starting point, this trip is also not so tide dependant.

If walking from the beach, you should walk in the early morning or late afternoon after which you will really enjoy a refreshing swim in this lake. Our kids loved taking snow toboggans to Lake Wabby, with surfboard wax underneath, to slide down the dune into the water. This does however need a lot of care & supervision as there have been an number of incidents of spinal injury from running and jumping into the water.

Other Destinations:

This is the The Pyramid at Sandy Cape being one of the largest sand blows on the island. We found it an outstanding spot for tobogganing. Plenty of surf board wax to the bottom makes for a very fast ride. This is not far from the Sandy Cape Lighthouse.

Traveling to Sandy cape is very remote travel and only possible with a very low low tide due to the need to pass Ngkala Rocks on the beach. You will need a low tide of 0.2m which will allow you to pass 2 hours either side of this low which is the time you would need to visit this part of the island with enough time to return. However conditions always change so you need to make your own enquiries at the time of your visit. You should not travel to Sandy Cape alone given the remoteness of this area. The photo above is 'The Pyramid' at Sandy Cape with our boys enjoying the best tobogganing.

The Sandy Cape Lighthouse, constructed in 1870. Our mate Peter on the right who introduced us to Fraser Island.

Accommodation & Camping of Fraser:

Accommodation on Fraser:

There is a wide range of accommodation available on Fraser. On the eastern side, there are resorts and houses for rent at Eurong and Happy Valley. There are cabins with a private camp ground at Cathedral Beach and there are houses to rent at Orchid Beach. There is also the 5 star Kingfisher Bay Resort on the Western side. Many of the houses for rent can accommodate 2 or more families making it very cost effective.

These can all be searched and booked on line or contact Hervey Bay Visitor Information Centre.

We camped on the beach for the first 18 years of our Fraser trips yet we now tend to rent a house at Happy Valley being ideally central for day tripping.

Camping on Fraser:

Beach camping on Fraser would be the best camping we have ever experienced, absolutely idyllic. These days camping is quite regulated with camping numbers on beach controlled by a booking system.

If possible, it does help to get behind a sand dune to block some of the prevailing south east wind which can be quite punishing during bad weather. It is not uncommon to experience strong SE winds.

If you want the protection of a dingo fence around your camp site, there are off beach campsites at Dundubara and the private camp ground at Cathedral Beach which would be prudent if camping with small children. Other camp QPWS campsites are at Waddy Point & Central Station.

The pictures above show one of our group camping trips and our regular happy hour on the dune overlooking the beach.

Another group camping trip above and you can see how our toilet tent faired in a day of strong winds. We developed some special skills in using the toilet tent in these conditions.

This is a gate in the dingo fence at Dundubara Camping Area. Note the sticks lying at the gate which walkers take with them in case of trouble from a Dingo.

We exit the island back over to Inskip Point after a week on the island and we are already planning the next visit.

Some history of our Fraser adventures:

Our first trip to Fraser was in 1984. In those days the island was more untouched with no timber boarding on soft patches of sand, no where to dispose of rubbish, no resort at Kingfisher, very basic resorts at Eurong & Happy Valley, no resort at Cathedral Beach, little control over camping, no power steering on 4WD's and drinking water had to be taken from creeks.

4WD'ing was only just becoming a recreational activity in those days which was partly due to 4WD's no longer looking like military vehicles.

The national park management of the island, since those days, has been fantastic and I am happy to pay permit fees to have this paradise well managed and protected.

We soon started bringing groups of friends to our newly discovered paradise.

Operation Rainbow in 1993 was our first large group trip which included trip branded T shirts as modelled here by my mate Tony.

We have seen many accidents on Fraser as well as vehicles lost at sea. Both vehicles were travelling a tad too fast on inland tracks.

The Cherry Venture shipwreck was at Double Island Point (south of Rainbow Beach on the mainland) for many years before being removed.

Wild Brumbies once were a common sight on Fraser as they roamed the island before being culled due to their environmental damage.

We taught our kids their beach fishing skills early as they were growing up on the beach.

For some great stories from our group trips to Fraser Island refer to the post "Cracking true stories from our group trips - Part 1 - stories from trips to Fraser Island".

David & Rosemary Allan – the faces behind:

May adventure & discovery be your constant companions.

Reflection:

For me, a trip is memorable when I am enriched by a deeper sense of connection to a place which triggers an emotional or spiritual response. This comes from feelings of Awe when I feel part of something bigger. Such as, seeing dramatic landscapes, being caught up in the history and sensing the passion of the human spirit.

A memorable experience will cause me to day dream about the next trip even more than the last trip.

Remember: Your adventure begins the moment you decide to go.