a couple of terns stand together in the wind
the beach doubles as runway. Planes have the right of way here so you better watch out
on the beach you have to negotiate freshwater creeks, some are almost a meter deep
our local means of transportation, on old Landrover with high clearance
we have a hotel at the east coast of the island. From our room we can see the sandy road we came by
after two days we have to go back to the jetty
fishing is popular here
Lake Wabby with the intense white Hammerstone Sandblow dune
the roads are all loose sand, some are almost shaft deep
the local airport provides only very basic facilities
East of
Hervey Bay lies
Fraser Island, the worlds largest sand island with over 100 cubic km of sand above sealevel.
Rainforests,
mangroves, freshwater creeks, lakes, towering dunes and a 120 km long stretch of beach provide a very diverse habitat to the
local
wildlife.
Dingos are the top predator here and they even
attack humans. In 2001 a boy was killed by a pack of hungry
dingos.
The
Butchulla know the island as K'gari. They did not survive the brutal European colonization and after several
bloody conflicts the last survivors were forcefully removed and relocated in 1904.
Fraser island is named after lady
Eliza Fraser who got shipwrecked here in 1836.
There are no paved roads so you need a 4WD with ample clearance.
These big beasts can be rented in Hervey Bay, from where you have to ride the ferry to the jetty at Frasier's west coast.
It is
here that the real fun starts as driving in the deep and loose sand while the car is actually drifting away in the sand
is a real feast. The faint-hearted among us better use the bus service.
We visited Fraser Island in
October 2004 with an old and smelly Landrover.
Google Maps shows us the location of Fraser Island, east of Hervey Bay
here comes the ferry that will transport us to Frasier Island. Only 4WDs on the deck
here comes the ferry to bring us and our Landrover back to Hervey Bay
