Day 55 – Fraser Island, Australia – 3:53 PM

Check Fraser Island off the list of things to accomplish while in Australia.  Leading up to my day tour of Fraser Island today, everyone I spoke to raved about the island and ensured me it was worth a visit.  They were not wrong.  Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, exceeded my expectations.

This morning at 5:15 am I awoke at Dolphin’s Backpackers, my accommodations in Noosa. After a bowl of cereal for breakfast I was out the door and curbside waiting for the tour bus.  “Bus” is not an accurate description of the 4 x 4, 15 seat behemoth that pulled up and served as our transportation for the day.  After making 2 or 3 more stops in Noosa, we drove north to Rainbow Beach to pick up the remaining passengers.  Our driver, Robbie, asked if I minded riding shotgun as I was the only solo tour participate.  I nodded and took my seat in the passenger side of the cab.

We then drove to the ferry that transported us across Tin Can Bay to Hook Point on the southern end of Fraser Island. From there we proceeded north thru numerous stretches of forests and beaches.  Fraser Island is home to 70 ecosystems and the only subtropical rainforest growing on sand in the world.  The first forest we entered was open eucalyptus.   Robbie described to us how eucalyptus is one of the world’s great recyclers and immediately begins breaking down anything that falls on its forest floor.

As we continued on, we learned about the vast history of Fraser Island.  In 1836, Captain James Fraser, his wife Eliza and 18 crew and passengers departed Sydney, Australia with hopes of reaching Singapore.  These hopes were quickly dashed when their vessel, Stirling Castle, was punctured by coral while traversing the Great Barrier Reef.  All aboard abandoned ship into two life rafts.  As they drifted south, the raft with Mr. and Mrs. Fraser began to leak and they were left behind.  They eventually drifted onto the shores of what was then known as the Great Sandy Island.  Little is known of how Captain Fraser perished but Eliza was rescued roughly six weeks later.  She eventually moved to England where she made outlandish claims of slavary, cannibalism and torture while on the Great Sandy Island. As years progressed Great Sandy Island became known as Fraser Island.

Fraser Island was home to sand mining during the 1960s and 1970s.  Sand miners covered vast stretches of Fraser Island clearing large swaths of trees.  Next, they extracted vital nutrients from the sand before dumping the remains back on the ground.  This continued for nearly twenty years until the Australian government stepped in to halt all sand mining. Roughly twenty years later, Fraser Island became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is now part of Great Sandy National Park.

After exiting the rainforest, and emerging onto 75 Mile Beach, we continued north for an hour or so.  Our first stop was Lake McKenzie, a fresh water lake that is often the most photographed icon on Fraser Island.  While Fraser Island is surrounded by salt water, the island itself sits atop a massive amount of fresh water.  Enough fresh water to fill Sydney Harbor 30 times.  According to Robbie, it takes between fifty and sixty years for a single drop of fresh water to filtered through the sand of Fraser Island.  Over millions of years, this extraction led to the formation of Lake McKenzie.  After a quick 20 minute swim, I returned to the picnic area along its shores for lunch that included fish filets, an assortment of salads and various cuts of fruit.

After our thirty minute lunch, we returned to the beach and proceeded to the remains of the SS Maheno.  Built in 1905, the SS Maheno was originally a luxury passenger liner before serving as a hospital ship during WWI.  After the wars completion, she returned to luxury cruising.  In 1935, she was removed from service and sold to a Japanese ship salvaging company.  However, while being towed to Osaka in June 1935 the Maheno was caught in a cyclone and the tow line snapped.  Approximately two weeks later, she beached on Fraser Island.  Her rusted shell remains partially buried in the sand as the waves crash against her aging hull.

By now our tour was nearing completion.  It was time to return to Noosa.  We retraced our tracks, drove south along 75 Mile Beach and onto the ferry to recross Tin Can Bay and proceed south to Noosa.  After dropping off passengers in Rainbow Beach, we drove back on the sand and remained beach bound for the hour drive south to Noosa.