K’gari

After my stay on a coral island, yesterday I went on a day tour to the largest sand island in the world. K’gari is now know by the name given to it by the Butchulla people, which means “paradise”, but it is better known as Fraser Island.

Only 4WD vehicles are allowed on the island, as the roads are unmade, so their surface is just the sand which constitutes the entire island. After the ferry crossing from River Heads, we had a bumpy but enjoyable drive through forest to the ocean-facing east coast. Here, we headed onto 75 mile beach, which is actually part of the national road network!

En route, we were excited to find a dingo. Only about 100 of these wolf-like animals remain on the island, but they are the purest blooded in Australia, having never had the opportunity for cross-breeding.

A bit further along, we stopped at Eli creek: I had been looking forward to this! A boardwalk leads to a small jetty, from which you can float down the creek, just like in the lazy river I know from the Jay Peak waterpark.

With its sandy bed and lack of rocks, the water in the creek was clear and made only the slightest, hushed, trickling sound. The same was true of the inland Wanggoolba creek that we visited next. The micro-climate in the deep gully formed by the creek is ideal for rainforest development and it was a truly enchanting place.

Our final stop was at the stunning Lake McKenzie. Formed only by rainwater and with a bed of organic material preventing drainage, the lake is known for its iridescent blue waters and white sand. I spent a very pleasant hour bathing in the warm, shallow waters and chatting with a British fellow traveller I’d met at the hostel.

After another amazing day, it was time to return to the mainland and prepare for the long drive back to Brisbane. Having told the guide I was yet to see a kangaroo in Australia though, I first took a detour to a spot he recommended so that that could be rectified!

For the first part of the drive, I was revelling in the experience of an Aussie road trip, but soon tiredness hit and the radio and cold air-conditioning were no longer sufficient to stop my eyes from drooping. I found a spot to park up on the edge of a village and slept for the best part of two hours (but for the interruptions of a niggling mosquito…). Sufficiently refreshed to continue, I then completed the journey, returned the hire car and was very glad to collapse onto the bed in my hotel room at 3am, to recharge ahead of the cricket. Good thing it’s a day-night Test, so doesn’t start until 2pm!