Fraser Island - Day 2 and 3

I jumped up as if I was hit by a lightning and although I immediately grabbed the torch, I couldn’t see what it was that had made its way up my head. It had disappeared who knows where to. There was no question that for the rest of the night I would sleep on the backseat of the car and that’s what I did.

Day 2 - Fraser Island

The next morning, we tried to find our way out of the rain forest driving slowly through the thick sand but as the signage was pretty bad, ended up 30 minutes later at another lake we hadn’t intended to end up. So we turned around and went all the way back only to realise that we had taken the wrong turn right at the start.

To drive on the beach and for us to reach our next camp in time, it was recommended to only drive 2.5 hours before and after low tide, so the vehicle will not get swamped by the incoming tide. Therefore time is of essence.

We drove to the eastern side of the island and came out at Eurong where we could finally see the ocean come up behind the dunes. It was amazing. Blue water, white surf and golden sand.

We entered the beach and Bulla put the foot on the pedal. It was fun driving right next to the water and the weather couldn’t have been better.

The first stop along the beach was Eli Creek. Eli Creek is the largest creek on the eastern beach of Fraser Island and apparently pours up to four million litres of clear, fresh water into the ocean every hour. We walked up the board walk as far as it went and like everybody else walked back through the beautiful, clear, cold water to the beach.

The next stop was at the shipwreck SS Maheno. The Maheno - is the most famous of Fraser Island's wrecks and has become a landmark attraction. Built in 1905, the SS Maheno was one of the first turbine-driven steamers. She plied a regular route between Sydney and Auckland until she was commissioned as a hospital ship in Europe during WW1. She also served in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

In 1935, she and her sister ship the Oonah were sold to Japan for

scrap.

The rudders of the boats were removed, and they were being towed to Japan. When they reached Queensland Waters, a cyclonic storm snapped the tow chain and the Maheno drifted helplessly onto Fraser Island's ocean beach.

There weren’t many people around when we reached the Maheno so we explored the ship and took lots of photos only to see a sign at the end telling everybody to stay 3m away from the wreck. Well, too late hehe.

Further up on the way we also saw some dingos walking around on the beach. Luckily we didn’t need our sticks as we felt safe in our car. We drove past the coloured sand cliffs called the Pinnacles and there are two different stories of how these rock formations came about.

The Dreamtime story told by the indigenous people of the island as well as the scientific theory. The Dreamtime story is named the ‘Tale of the Butchulla women.’ It tells of a woman named Wuru, who was arranged to marry an older man, called Winyer, but instead felt for a rainbow serpent named Wiberigan. Wuru visited the rainbow serpent every day at the eastern beach. One day, the suspicious Winyer followed her, and once seeing his finance in the embrace on another, fell into a jealous rage. He threw his boomerang at Wuru, but Wiberigan stepped in to take the blow. He shattered, spraying

onto the cliffs, covering the rocks in a thousand of colours. Wuru was saved and escaped unharmed due to the rainbow serpent’s sacrifice. Now the area is a good luck charm for Butchulla women.

And then there is the scientific theory suggesting the formation was due to the collection of minerals from the sand dunes. The formation was estimated to be over hundreds of thousands of years ago. An immersion of clay, minerals, and sand created the famous cliffs, with the colour stains due to the iron-rich minerals within the sand. The cliff’s sculptures were formed due to the weather, with wind and rain moulding the outer sand until the ancient core was exposed.

Shortly after passing the Pinnacles we came to our second camp called Dundubara, a lovely bush camp with lots of space as well as toilet and shower facilities. As we were setting up camp we had another visit from a beautiful lizard slowly walking past our ‘home’.

After a nice hot shower and our yummy ready-made dinners from Coles Supermarket, which we heat up in our 12volt portable oven for an hour or so, I crawled into the car for the night while Bulla chose the swag.

Day 3 - Fraser Island

The next morning, we took time to have breakfast and packing up as low tide was only at about 12.30PM. It was only a short trip to our next camp Waddy Point. Just before Waddy Point there are the famous Champaign Pools, where the waves crashing into these rock pools create a fizz and make them look like Champaign. Unfortunately, the best time to see these pools is between half and full tide, so not at the time we were passing them. It was still a beautiful sight and a nice walk downhill to these rock pools.

Just beyond Waddy Point is ‘Orchard Beach’, which sells petrol/diesel (at ‘only ’$3.50 per liter), and a shop, so we went this little bit further before setting up our camp to have a coffee and look around the shop. Waddy Point was very similar to the previous camp, with nice and clean facilities and lots of space and beautiful birds.