Fraser Island – Philipp's TravelBlog

I had booked a 3day/2night tour across Fraser Island.

“K’gari” as it is called by the Aborigines means “Paradise”. This name describes it quite well 😀

Saturday, day 1

Around 10am I was picked up at my hostel from a cool guide named Jake. Our group consisted of 7 people and we were driving around in a 4WD jeep that could carry 2 more. First of all we stopped at the supermarket and the bottleshop, then we went to Inskip Point and went on the ferry over to K’gari. Because of high tide we couldn’t go on the beach right away and had to take an inland route for the first dozens of kilometers. It was a hard sandy road and everything was vibrating. Once we reached the beach we could speed up to 95k 🙂 the beach equals a freeway, amazing!

At noon we arrived at the camp. We stored the luggage in our dorm and made sandwiches for a picnic later on. Then we drove to Eli Creek, the biggest freshwater river on the island. We changed into our bathers, followed a walkway up, went into the river and floated back down 🙂 awesome! It was so good, we went for another time.

The next stop was the old shipwreck on the beach before we went up all the way until Indian Head. We hiked up that huge rock that keeps all the sand in place and has created the island and had a beautiful view into all directions.

We went halfway back, then went inlands to the beautiful Lake Allom where we could see dozens of turtles. The road was really bumpy and a trial of patience for my bum. I was relieved when I could get out of the car. On the road we had a few cars coming the other way, which was only a small problem. Our experienced guide drove us on the side so the others could pass. Better give way and be done than having the other one being stuck in the way.

On the way back to camp it was already dark. At some point we could not continue because the cliffs were in the way and the high tide had cut off the beach, so we were forced to do a detour inlands. Around 6pm we arrived back at camp, an hour later we had a nice BBQ. Salads, meat, saucages, and a taste of kangaroo. So delicious!

Afterwards we sat together and talked, it was really fun. We went to bed before 10 because breakfast the next day was at 6am.

Sunday, day 2

I slept through the night like a rock and woke up at 6am refreshed for the day. I had some breakfast and headed out to take photos of the sunrise, unfortunately there was a fat cloud in front of the sun. After taking a few pics I went back in and continued breakfast. After breakfast we had to prepare wraps for ourself as lunch to take with us. We left at 7.

The first stop for the day was a walk across one of the huge sand dunes to Lake Wabby. It was amazing, like a desert on top of the island. There was a huge dune that was quite steep. We took a run and jumped down the dune. AWESOME!!! We did that several times. Here’s a video of me jumping:

Running through the sand was really exhausted and I was really heated, so as soon as we reached Lake Wabby I got changed and went for an extended swim to cool down again. It was simply beautiful! When we had relaxed enough we went back another way than we came to the jeep. The jeeps are called “Troopies” by the guides, charming, isn’t it? 😀

We had a quick stop at Eurong where I met a girl again that I got to know in Noosa. It’s funny how I keep bumping into familiar faces 🙂

We drove to central station where we had lunch and then did a lovely walk along a river through the rainforest. When we were done we drove to Lake Birrabeen. It’s one of the pure rainwater lakes. Completely clear, with a white beach. Beautiful.

At Lake Birrabeen I met another girl that I also met before in Noosa. Isn’t it a small country?

We all went for a swim, except for one girl, but therefore she took nice group photos of us. When we were finished at Birrabeen we drove back onto the beach and searched for “Pippies”, a certain mussel in the sand. It’s a typical aboriginal food source. We found some and tried them at dinner. “Bushtuckers” as they were called then.

When we arrived back at basecamp we had about 3 hours of free time and the sun was still up. I went with Wibke (one of the german girls) to collect coconuts. One of the volunteers working there helped us to open them. We had some fresh coconut juice and heaps of coconut to eat. It was that much that Wibke prepared 2 bags for her, one for me, and there was still a plate for the group for after dinner. Very nice 🙂

The group by the way consisted of 2 german girls, me, one brazilian girl, one english guy and 2 french part canadians. All about my age.

For dinner we got selfmade spaghetti bolognese, the bushtuckers and coconut afterwards. Like the night before, we sat together in the common room drinking. The only addition was that Wibke and I collected everyone’s photos on our laptops. Like before, we hit the hay around 10pm.

Monday, day 3

We got up at 6am again. It was even cloudier than the morning before, so I didn’t even go down to the beach. We had breakfast, prepared wraps again and started packing. At 7 we left, and half an hour later we arrived at our destination. We had a walk of 2 – 2.5 hours ahead to some secret location that should be absolutely worth it. So we walked 2.5 hours through the rainforest, which was a bit tough, but enjoyable.

We ended up at Lake McKenzie, another clear pure rainwater lake. Its beach is one of the world’s top 10 rated beaches, so our guide told us. After that long walk we could really appreciate the beauty of it, and it was only 9.30am, hardly any other tourist there yet. However, our guide had chosen the most remote part of the beach for us to arrive, which was really good. Of course, after that long walk, I went for an extended swim. But first I needed the facilities, so I went over to the main beach. It turned out that the main beach was hidden from our place because it’s in a different bay with a big patch of sand and plants in between. I swam from that beach round that little half island back to our beach. It was a chilly 16° I guess, but nevertheless I loved it. It was so absolutely clear and refreshing.

After that swim I first laid down and dried in the sun, then ate my wraps. When I was finished our guide told us that we would have to leave soon if we should make it back to the mainland in time for Wibke to catch her Greyhound bus. The way back was exactly the same as before. I put my bluetooth headset on, actived my good mood playlist and went ahead. The upbeat music made me arrive back at the troopie 25 minutes earlier than the rest of the group. Quite a workout 🙂 but I figured it’s the least I can do, given the tons of cookies and timtams I eat during every week here 😀

I used my spare time to lay on the troopies roof and watch up to the at least 50 meter high tree tops. The metal bars that are meant for luggage were not really comfortable, but I didn’t care. I took in the awesome view and the absolute stillness (except for the lovely birds singing).

When the group arrived we headed back to basecamp, loaded all our luggage in / on the troopie and went back to the south end of K’gari, onto the ferry and back to rainbow beach. We arrived half an hour before Wibke’s Greyhound, so all is good 🙂

And now, enjoy the beautiful photos:

From 2011-07-02+2 Fraser Island. Posted by Philipp Hübner on 7/02/2011 (126 items)