Fraser Island

Put the van in storage and headed across to Fraser Island for 5 nights…. What an amazing place. Wild, rough and beautiful!!!!! Everyone knows about the 4WD’ing along the long wide 75 mile beach – but you don’t really hear about the inland tracks – they are serious 4WD tracks only. Sandy in parts, huge holes, big tree roots, and rough sections. The road (?!?!) across the Island starts with the Big Dipper – just to get you in the mood. You don’t get anywhere fast on the inland tracks!

Having said that – it is seriously worth it – some amazing and diverse sights.

Pile Valley is a lush deep green palm forest set among huge Satinay Trees.

Central Station was originally an old logging area, but is now a nice picnic area with the crystal clear creek flowing through it.

We also went for a long walk through the bush to Basin Lake

Lake McKenzie is stunning – it is a large rain-filled lake with a pure white silica sandy base which leaves the water crystal clear as it shifts from white to aqua to deep blue. Amazing spot – and very popular

We then drove across to the Eastern Coast and the beautiful 75 mile beach. We didn’t take notice of the tides on our first visit – and after driving for a short while across the golden sand up to Happy Valley, we abandoned our visit as the rising tide threatened to strand us. Returned the next day bright and early to avoid the rising tides ….. great day as we drove along the smooth golden sands from Eurong resort north along the beach.

Stopped at Eli Creek, then the Maheno Wreck – a ship involved in Gallipoli Rescues which became a luxury cruise ship and then became stranded on Fraser Island in the 1930’s … great spot for photos.

Stopped also at Red Canyon, and a shot of Pandana Trees before we got to Waddy Point and Champagne Pools. We did manage to get bogged in the soft sand, but recovered with the help of Max Trax. Others were less well prepared!!. We then cruised back along the beach …fantastic day.

We stayed at Kingfisher Resort on the West Coast – great spot …. Maybe getting a little bit tired – but very nice nonetheless. Fantastic pool, relaxing deck outside our room facing the bush – perfect for a relaxing Sav Blanc, nice restaurants, a sunset bar on the beach, and the casual Sand Bar and Restaurant with super pizzas … and the Dingo Bar … a strange ‘doof doof’ bar up on the hill – which we really enjoyed.

We also took a few nice walks along the beach, including a long walk down the McKenzie Jetty – an old abandoned jetty.

Amazingly, we didn’t see one Dingo – there are warning signs everywhere, and fenced off areas – but somehow we missed them. We did see Goannas, and lots of birds.

Definitely loved Fraser Island. Much wilder than we expected …. buts that’s part of the beauty. Amazing place.

1770 to Woodgate

Long drive to 1770 for Donnas sisters 50th …. 1770 is a great little beachside town which revolves around tourism.

After a tiring couple of days with Donna’s family, we chilled out for a while before heading down to Bundaberg … and out to a tiny little beachside suburb called Elliot Heads – not much there except a long rocky beach and a Caravan Park … but we loved it. Bundy is obviously famous for its rum, and also has a lot of sugar and other crops.

Then onto Woodgate – another tiny beachside town with bugger all – except in this case a long beautiful sandy beach – 16 km long in fact .. and a pub …. What else do you need?

Went for a run along the beach, where I stumbled across 2 sea snakes that had been washed up!!! Donna went fishing and caught a massive whiting – so massive that she threw it back in, and we had a ripper BBQ along the foreshore

Day 98+ - Airlie Beach to Cape Hillsborough

Quick trip back to Victoria for a weekend – our Nephew's Wedding in Tocumwal.

Great to see our boys – Jackson and Sean – and the rest of the family – for a very busy and funny few days – and a beautiful wedding … even the pressure of being Wedding Photographer didn’t deter the fun of the whole event!!

Flew back to collect the Van from Airlie Beach, and headed to MacKay … where the van was booked in to get a new fridge – the old one died!! MacKay is a large regional city – although the new shopping centre has caused the town centre to virtually die … and the ring road being built will certainly put a nail in the coffin. Stayed out on the beach and caught up with some friends for a nice dinner at the quirky Eimeo Pub – high up on the cliff.

Then back-tracked up to a tiny place called Finch Hatton, where we went for a walk through a lush green palm filled forest to a beautiful waterhole below Araluen Falls. Fantastic!! Then ventured up the hill to Broken River – where we saw 3 platypus swimming around – amazing spot. Next morning, went for an early morning walk through the mist filled Eungella National Park – stunning rainforest. Loved it.

Brekky at the tired Chalet, then headed across to Hillsborough National Park, where the Kangaroos gather on the beach each morning. Even though it has become a bit of a ‘Monkey Mia’ type tourist gathering (European Backpacker heavan!!!!!) – still an amazing sight and a photo frenzy. Few Kangaroos also wander through the park during the day, whilst we also had visits at our site from a friendly Kookaburra and a busy honey-eater bird.