Fraser Island

We arrived at Hervey Bay after the short drive from Noosa one day before our scheduled 3 day 2 night self-drive 4x4 safari on Fraser Island. We met that evening for a pre-tour briefing where 27 of us were separated into three groups of nine and then subjected to over an hour of safety and itinerary talk.

The next morning our group piled into our bright pink 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser and went to buy food and drink supplies, before boarding the ferry to Fraser Island at about 10:30am. The first stop was, in hindsight, the best place on Fraser Island; Lake McKenzie. With the turquoise water, blue skies and white sand, it was just pure paradise. The fresh water was unbelievably clear and great to swim in. We spent the first afternoon here before making our way up the beach to our camping area.

The first night was brilliant! After pitching the tents we had a big BBQ followed by lots of alcohol and drinking games from around the world! Needless to say there were a few sore heads at 7am when we packed up camp and got going for the day.

Our first stop was a refreshing dip at Eli Creek, we then stopped for piccies at The Maheno Shipwreck before driving the length of the eastern beach to Indian Heads.

From Indian Heads we enjoyed the views from the top of the headland down onto the beautiful beaches. We then walked 40mins north to the Champagne Pools where the sea crashed over the rocks (like champagne out of a bottle) into huge salt water pools, which were jellyfish and stinger free!

After chilling on the beach we headed back south to the same campground as the previous night. We cooked a great pasta dish and had a few beers before crashing into our tents.

On the third and final morning we made sausages and eggs, packed up the tents, and headed to Lake Wabby - the final stop on our itinerary. It was a 40min walk inland from the beach, and worth it! Set in between huge sand dunes and tropical rainforest, the lake was visually stunning and even better to run down the dunes and dive in to!

Filthy and exhausted, we arrived back in Hervey Bay at around 4pm. We managed to get most of the sand out of our ears, and do our laundry ready for the trip up to Cairns.

Hervey Bay to Cairns = 2 days, 1500km, and lots of coffee!