Thursday, February 19, 2009

Fraser Island

We took a two day one night trip over to Fraser Island from Hervey Bay. The island is accessible by 4X4 and only by ferry. When we arrived it was raining and we headed through the Central Station (an old logging station) out to the main beach. We drove up the beach and as we did the showers stopped and the sun came out for the first time in a week. We had good timing. We saw the wreck of the Maheno, an old passenger vessel that washed ashore on Fraser Island and drove up the 75 mile long beach to the north end. There were very few people there and we spend the majority of our time out of sight of any other people.

At the north end of the island we waded in the champaign pools and relaxed on the beach for the afternoon. For the evening we drove back down the beach and camped out for the night. We cooked dinner and camped right on the beach with no one in sight as far as you could see in both directions. The stars were the most stunning I have seen anywhere...including out at sea.

We spend the next day exploring the rain forests and inland lakes on the islands interior trails. The inland lakes boasted white sand beaches and clear blue water. It looked more like a beach in the caribbean than an inland lake. We relaxed at the lakes and went on nearly every trail on the island before leaving on the last ferry.

We are back in Hervey Bay now for the day...catching the overnight train to the Whitsundays for a couple days of sailing.....