Wow today was amazing! Fraser Island or K`gari island which is it’s traditional name is such a wonderful UNESCO World heritage site. The island is named K’gari after its Dreamtime story it translates to White Princess. The Butchulla people believe that K’gari is the sky spirit the island was created from. The name goes back to the very creation of the island.
We got picked up from our accommodation super early and taken to the ferry terminal to catch the ferry to K’gari Island. It was awesome because while we were waiting for the cars to load on we saw a pod of dolphins swimming around. The ferry journey took about 30 minutes and soon we were greeted with the mangrove and sandy beaches of K’gari Island.
We met our tour guide Steve and started our adventure. Our first stop was too Central Station which is an old logging area on the island. It is also the start of where the rainforest is. There are the most beautiful huge trees in this area and the most interesting fact is that it is the only rainforest in the world to grow on sand and they cannot not explain why it does grow here. We walked along the board walk looking at the huge staghorn ferns. There are heaps of plants that are prehistoric like the habit king ferns. It’s amazing. The most stunning thing here though was the creek. At firt glance it looks yellow and like there is stuff mucing up the water but as you get closer it is just because it is super clear and you can see the sand underneath. Seriously stunning. After the wander through the rainforest we headed to lunch which was a buffet at one of the local resorts. It was ok but nothing really to write home about.
After that we were back on the road and this time Steve drove our tour bus onto 75 mile beach. Now it was super odd driving on the beach but what made it even more crazy is it is literally a 2 lane highway down the beach. There are uneven sandbars and riving crossings and pumice stone everywhere but the 4wd just deal with it and go it was a very surreal experience. Our first stop along the beautiful beach was Maheno Shipwreck. In 1935, the Maheno was sold to Japan from NZ to be made into scrap metal, but on its journey there a cyclone got it into trouble and it was washed onto K’gari Island. It would have cost too much to move it so nowadays it is just a beautiful rusty ship which was very interesting to explore. It has also been broken in half as the Australia Navy used it fo target practice. You are not allowed on or too close to the ship though or it is big fines. It was really cool to explore it.
Further down the road we stopped at the pinnacles wich has hills made of different colour sand. I dont know if it was the time od day we went or what it was but these were not as impressive.
Next it was down to a place called Eli Creek. Eli Creek is the largest creek on the eastern beach of Fraser Island, and amazingly it pours up to four million litres of clear, fresh water into the ocean every houe. This means you can take the board walk up further into the creek and float all the way to the ocean. You would have much more success if you had a noodle or a donut but Dani and I gave it our best go as the boys walked down the creek. The water was so clear, clean and refreshing. Such a beautiful spot on the island.
After a while swimming it was time to get back on the bus. We had a quick toilet stop and then it was off to Lake Mackenzie. We had a huge shower or rain on the way there but before long we arrived at Lake. The lake is stunning. Apparently the water is so soft that its great for your skin and also leaves your hair feeling conditioned. Again the water was crazy clear and so pretty. I went for a quick dip but Anthonys foot was hurting so when it started pouring again we headed up to the bus. Drew and Dani enjoyed the waters for a bit longer and go to see some rainbows. Tired and happy we got back on the bus to head to the ferry.
We watched the sunset as we cruised away from the island. K’gari was literally one of the most beautiful places I have seen. Well worth the tour price. The sunset was also amazing. We spent the night getting dinner which was not great and then ice cream which was great. I would love one day to camp of K’gari so hopefully we can come back.
