Thursday, 24 December 2009

Saturday, 19th December- -Fraser Experience (Day 1)


We were picked up from our hostel bang on 9 am. We boarded the bus. 14 in total plus one tour guide, Sarah. We made the short journey to Inskip point, where we was to board a ferry over to Fraser Island. Making a slight detour on the way to let some air of our the tyres.

As soon as we hit the sand after landing on Fraser Island, Sarah hit the gas, bombing it down the beach. Throwing us all around. Never before have I been so thankful for seat belts. Immidiately we realised that the organised tour was the only way we would have been able to see Fraser Island. You see, many people do a self drive. Well there is no way either Becky or I would be able to drive in this.


So back to Fraser Island. It is amazing. I really did not have high expectations, but I was wrong. The place is just magical. Now let me put it into context. Fraser Island is literally just a massive Island made of sand. Yes, just sand. There is nothing else to it, apart from a small bit of volcanic rock, called India Head. But on this sand island there are lakes and even more bizarrely a rain forest. For trees actually grew in the sand. This place just should not happen. It is truly amazing.



If you was to look at the federal highways of Australia, Fraser Island is a federal highway, even though the 'Highway' is just the beach. Litterally. But not only that. The beach come Highway also serves as a runway for fixed wing aircraft, ie planes. Infact Fraser island is the only place that planes take off and land on the sand. Truly an amazing site.


For $70 you could go for a 15 minute scenic flight around the island and the coast. We was all game for the experience. But sadly we did not get the opportunity as the pilots did not meet us as agreed. But no worries.


We started off by driving down the 75 mile beach, which is not actually 75 miles. We held on for dear life and strapped our seat belts so tight that we practically cut off the circulation to our legs. LOL.



Our first stop was Eli Creek. Here you could take the short walk up the incline and jump in the fresh water creek and float down to the beach. We took the short walk, past all the Penis Trees. Yes! I said Penis Trees. This is not my poor attempt at humor, they are actually called this. I am sure you only need to look at them to understand why. In the end we decided to just wade through the creek and not float down, because the water was cold. We arrived at the mouth of the creek just in time for lunch.



From Eli Creek we went on to Indian Head. Indian Head is a rock outcrop that offers the best vantage point on the Island. Sharks, manta rays and dolphins can often be spotted from here. After the harsh climb up, which nearly cost Burger her ankle we were fortunate enough to see a Tiger Shark in the shallow waters below. I tried to capture the shark on camera but we was so high up if is not the best picture. But from where we we were it was clearly a rather large shark.



After Indian Head we went to examine the wreck of the Maheno. The Maheno is a boat that ended up being washed ashore on Fraser Island. It has a very long history and was at one time th best ship in its class. During the world wars it also operated as a floating hospital and I believe as ship for moving troops around. Obviously there is not much left to the ship now, but it certainly provides a compelling site, a rusty skeleton of a ship half buried in the sand, waves licking around the shell. The little I heard about the Maheno I have to say fascinated me, I am keen to learn more about the history of this boat.


From the wreck of the Maheno we went on to Dilly village, our home for the night. On the way spotting a few Dingo's. Fraser Island is home to the only pure breed of Dingo;s within Australia. We stayed on a University Research facility. The accommodation was excellent. I expected to be sleeping in filthy old tents. Sarah cooked us up a proper barbie and we ate and drank loads. All before hitting the bed.

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