Hervey Bay and the Largest Sand Island in the World!

Hervey Bay is a the gateway to the worlds largest sand island. Its a thirty minute ferry ride to Fraser Island and is the ultimate 4x4 driving experience as it is the only way you can get around on the island! When we arrived in Hervey we were not too sure about which company to go with and whether or not we ought to be in a large group of people or by ourselves, so after much debating and listening to others who had already done the tour, it seemed that we were in the right guesthouse to do it from. Everyone we spoke to said they had an awesome time, and that people werent stupid while they were out there, because the guesthouse we were with didnt have the madpartyanimal reputation as next door at Koalas did! Also these guys are the ones that have been doing the tours for backpackers the longest and were surprisingly the cheapest too! So we booked ourselves in for the 3day 2night trip and met the group on the second night of our stay in Hervey after we had been given our brief. It had to be said, the group looked like a good mix of people and us girls felt safe in the knowledge that we had a higher ratio of guys to girls in the group so if we got really stuck in the sand, we had the manpower if not the brains!!!

We soon set off on the third day and picked up our supplies of food and drinks, then got the ferry across and got on our way! First stop, was to get our watertank filled from one of the campsites and then head out to Lake Wabby. An emerald lake next to a steep sand dune! You could litterally slide down the dune and splash into the lake and swim with the catfish, who tickle your feet and legs when you stand still! Strange to find freshwater on a sand island....

We stuck together with the other car from our guesthouse so that when we got to our first campsite and it poured it down, we got the tarp up between the two cars and got a couple of Barbies going! Awesome....it was such a good atmosphere and we set ourselves up so quick and helped each other out, so we were dry, happy, eating well and even had some music going; whereas the seven other koala cars that pulled up on the same camp site arrived in the dark, couldn't get their tents up because of the rain and the wind, and kept hovering around us for our food - dear or dear!

The next day we had some rain at lunch but otherwise it was OK, and again had a similar set up for camp as the night before. This time though, we had a beautiful clear night, and the stars made it that much more spectacular! It reminded us of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. During the day we checked out Indian Head, which is one the high clifftop viewpoints on the island and definately worth the walk up! From here you could see sting rays, and turtles and if you were lucky you could see a shark or two. By the way, if you think you can swim around Fraser Island, think again, like much of the East Coast you cannot swim by the beach, as there are stingers (jelly fish), reef sharks (the vicious ones), sting rays, and the rip tides and undercurrents are just so strong that you wold be swept out to sea within seconds, thats if you havent already drowned from being attacked from sharks or stung by jellies! Nice! Aaaanyway, after Indian Heads, we went to the Shipwreck and Eli Creek, the largest on the island. Tim also drove the 4x4 and loved every second but soon appreciated the difficulty of driving in the sand after he got stuck in it!

On the last day of the island, we headed back down to the bottom of the island and stopped off at the largest and most beautiful lake in the island. Lake Mackenzie, a crystal blue freshwater lake with the finest white sand you can imagine! Again, we had beautiful weather so after 10 mins of sun soaking, it was incredibly refreshing to jump in the lake and play some volleyball! After a few hours here, it was time to head off and get back to Hervey Bay. So we made our marmite sandwiches on the way back and ate them while the car was in motion too - funny as well as tasty as this was probably the first meal we had which didnt contain sand!!! Goodbye Fraser Island - a wonderful place and a fantastic experience! Before we all went our separate ways, we got together in the evening and went to a steak and grill reastaurant in the evening and had a few drinks. We were really lucky with our group, and if we had the chance to do it again, we would. There is so much to see on Fraser Island, from its beautiful lakes, to the rainforest walks, and camping with the dingoes was pretty good fun!

Hervey Bay and the Largest Sand Island in the World!

Gold Coast, Australia