15 | Fraser Island

Fraser is the largest naturally made Sand Island in the World. It did not disappoint either with one of the coastlines stretching over 125km. We commuted most of the island by 4wd rattling up and down on the soft sand and on dirt tracks. It was a lot of fun even though we did not drive ourselves.

Our first stop was at the Red lake which gets its name because of its colour up close which looks like Ice Tea. The colour is extracted from leaves and runs into the rivers and lakes in the area. The lake was not too deep and nothing dangerous apparently was in there so we ventured more than 80m out to enjoy the lake. Only our group was there at the time which made the view even better as it was not as crowded. We threw the AFL ball for a good hour of our allotted time there before we had to move on. We ensured Matt would get wet by throwing the ball a little out of his reaching which ended up getting him splashed every other throw to mine and Liam’s amusement.

On the first night we ate Pippis which we picked on the beach that were fresh but incredibly salty. Not exactly towards my taste but I gave them a go before washing them down with Cider. This is the place where I was first introduced to the card game dickhead. Describing the game basically, your highest card is 2 and your lowest 3. You can play singles, doubles and triples of a number if you have them in your hand. The game can get really addictive but it’s just for fun seen as poor backpackers can’t afford to put wagers on each hand haha.

In the evening we played a bar game where the objective was to pick up a cereal box with your teeth on the floor without falling over and standing on two feet. With each round the box would get smaller and smaller until paper-thin. Surprisingly I made it to the third round before bowing out. Fortunately for me this was perfect timing. In the next round one of the guys dislocated his knee whilst bending down with his eyes on the prize. A quick groan in the middle of the dance floor rang out before I ran to his aid with everyone else stood looking confused. I knew it had to be serious for a Scotsman to go down. After carrying the first victim of the night to bed, we headed off to the beach to look at the stars. It was spectacular! I have never seen the Milky Way so clear before. We were lucky enough to witness shooting starts and see the curvature of the milk way overhead as it vanished over the horizon. We headed off down the beach in search of Dingo’s which are the star attraction on the island. Before hand we anticipated there would be a couple of thousand on the large island roaming wild, however after 45 minutes of walking without torches down the beach, we gave up on finding any. The next day we were told by our guide that there were 200 left after poaching and he stated we would be incredibly lucky to see them; I somehow felt cheated by this news after feeling so confident the night before on our midnight adventure.

On our final day on the island we headed inland to Lake Mackenzie, the jewel in the crown! After winding through the dusty sand tracks we arrived at the most pristine lake I have ever seen. The lake was crystal clear and shallow enough to wade out quite far. Of course boys being boys the AFL ball was out within 10 minutes of taking in our new surroundings and our attention turned to throwing and catching. All this took place after we carried John down to the beach after sustaining a dislocated knee from the evening before. After he hobbled out of shot we managed to grab a few photos of the lake before the crowds turned up and spent around an hour there.

On our commute back to the ferry crossing we stopped at a wreckage of an old steamboat which ran ashore in a storm after the 1st World War. After its military service the Japanese purchased the boat to add to its fishing fleet. Apparently when the crew hit the shore, they barricaded themselves in the boat for a few weeks until rescue because they thought the native aboriginal tribe was going to eat them rather than help them.

#Nature #History #Culture #Beach