Day 2 – K’gari, an island of many names

18,689 steps taken, ~140 km driven, and a World Heritage UNESCO site ticked off the bucket list.

Today has been a whirlwind. It doesn’t even feel like it really happened. K’gari, originally known as The Great Sandy National Park, or Fraser Island is one of the most special natural places I have had the pleasure of visiting! But let’s go from the start.

We had an early start, where the 4 of us were up and ready for a shuttle to pick us up from outside our accommodation at 7.25. We were whisked off to the dock where we were boarding a ferry alongside other tour groups, as well as vehicles who have paid for permits to 4WD on the island. We made our way up the decks until we were on the top deck looking over the water open to the air. We were all very excited for today as it is something that we’ve has recommended to us from a number of people, and we’ve all heard that it’s an amazing place. There was a little bit of a wait on the shuttle buses with the other passengers for the tours, so we were just taking in the sights of the mangroves surrounding the dock when Anthony mentioned quite casually that he thought he saw a dolphin in the small waves. And luckily for us, he was right! We were blessed with the company of at least 3 dolphins in the shallows of the dock – 2 larger and 1 tiny dolphin – popping up to breathe in between dives for small fish. This was magical! We hadn’t even reached the island yet, and I was beaming. The smile didn’t leave my face all day after that.

The ride was smooth and felt quite quick, and when we reached K’gari, it was very fast paced to get us on the allocated busses and moving on with the tour. We went with Fraser Explorer Tours (soon to be known as K’gari Explorer Tours), who run 4WD buses to the main attractions on the island. We were matched up with tour guide Steve (if you do ever go on this tour, you will have a good time with him), and headed off to our first destination of Central Station, which was a base camp of the logging industry on the island in the late 1900’s. Steve was so knowledgable throughout the tour, and his passion and respect was admirable as he had us hanging on his every word. He lead us through the rainforest, which is the only naturally occurring rainforest in the world growing on a sand island, and showed us the different types of trees while explaining the history of the logging company, as well as some of the local wildlife and natural formations that we were walking passed. He told us that K’gari received its UNESCO World Heritage listing because it’s such a diverse and unique environment consisting of so many different types of biomes, with different types of forests, sand dunes, open plains, marsh and mangroves, all found on this 120km long island. This stretch of the tour was amazing for me, who finds peace amongst the trees but if I had to choose one thing that really sticks out in my mind and that I will never forget it would have to be the absolute beauty of the creek that ran along the boardwalk path that we were following. The water running here was the clearest water I have ever seen in a natural setting! All along the waters edge were Giant King Ferns, which we have learned are prehistoric plants, and that the setting we were in was likely no different than the environment that the dinosaurs used to walk in. I might just be geeking out about trees, but that’s pretty freaking cool in my opinion.

Once we finished up the tour in the forest, we headed to the restaurant for a buffet lunch and a sit down, before heading back to the bus to head towards our next destination – one that I was exceptionally excited about – 75 Mile Beach. As we drove from town down the hill, I see that this is no beach like I’ve ever seen before. I was met with the ferocious crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean ahead of us, wide sweeping shores where there is compacted sand that is at least 50 meters wide, and a speed sign? Not only that, it says 80?! We learnt that this is actually considered a national highway, and that anyone can drive here, as long as you had a permit, and there was no shortage of 4WD vehicles making the most of it. As we were careening down the sand, we were told that we should be on the look out for Dingoes here. The dingo population on the island is one of the most pure lines of dingos in the world, since they have had no breeding with dogs from the mainland (we didn’t see any this trip, but I will see one one day). I have had a hard time picking a favourite out of the places I was lucky enough to visit today, but I think The 75 Mile Beach is in front. Only just.

Speeding along to our next destination, learning so many interesting facts about the island and the environment, we were headed to one of the most photographed structures on K’gari – the shipwreck of the S.S Maheno. I wish we had more time at this location today, but it was amazing to experience such a large skeleton of a ship up close. There was something just so inviting, I wanted to see every nook of the wreck, but knowing that there was an $8k fine if you were found climbing the structure, or even being within 3m of it, I refrained. This is also where I first put my feet in the water, which was just so alluring, tempting me to swim. But swimming here is highly dangerous. Not only with the swell and large waves, but also the creatures you’ll find in the trench running the length of the coast. Here you will find everything from big fish like tuna, to 20ft sharks and whales when in the right season. No thank you.

Next up were The Pinnacles. These are sand dunes that are a little different to what you might picture in your head. They are made of over 70 different coloured sand layers which have formed over time due to the rust on the natural deposits of metals in the sands. They have also formed into beautiful structures poking out of the trees, getting their unique shape from coastal wind erosion. This was only a short stop, but before we moved on, we got to witness a plane landing as we were heading back to the bus! One thing they offer here (which i’m secretly having regrets for not taking the opportunity to go), is a small plane flight over the island, which shows you an eagle eye view of the island, and some of it’s many lakes and landmarks it has tucked away.

The casual nature of the Queensland folk really came to the forefront, as shoes were now optional with the sand from the beach coming into the bus from our feet, we were also told that we should get changed into our swimmers, as the next stop we had the option to get wet. After dipping my toes in, there was no way I wasn’t getting in some water now! Eli Creek is a fresh water “Wash Out”, which is fresh water flowing from one of the inland lakes, making its way down to the beach and out to sea, making a path in the sand as it goes. Because of this fact, there were areas where the water has moved sands where it was deep enough to float along the fast current from one end, towards the beach. So that’s exactly what we did. Most people here had come prepared with some kind of floatie, be it blow up ring or pool noodle. The tour group? Not so much. I was desperate to travel this creek current, so tried my best, but failed, at just floating myself down. With the giggles and feeling quite silly, that really didn’t work too well. But Amy and I made the most of it and made two trips down the creek before heading back to the bus to attempt a dry down before moving on. The winds along this side of the island are very strong, so we were pretty heavily battered by the sands on the way back.

To get from Eli Creek to the next stop had quite a bit of driving in between, so we made a quick comfort stop back at the town where the passengers could use the loo and get something to eat. Next stop, Lake Mckenzie (Boorangoora)! I’ve heard that everyone who sees this place has the same first word – wow – and I was no different. When you’re walking down the 130m path to the shore, and you look up and see the bright blue waters and white sand, is there anything else you can say? With how this lake was formed, it is referred to a soft water lake, which essentially means that when you’re in the waters and rubbing the smooth sand on your skin, you’re at a day spa. Because of the silica in the sand, your skin and hair feel amazing after a dip in these tranquil blue waters. So dropping our gear, we quickly ran over to the shore where we found that the water was so warm it felt like you were dipping yourself into a bathtub! I found myself thinking, “what can they even do if I just don’t go back to the bus?”. To make our experience feel even more like a dream, it started raining, quite heavily for a few moments, which resulted in many of the people who were crowding the shore to evacuate quickly – leaving us with only a few others to enjoy the picturesque beach, and glorious rainbow which had formed just over the trees.

With our itinerary completed for the day, we dragged ourselves away from the postcard we were sitting in and headed back to the bus. After the rain, the tracks were a little more bumpy, so we felt like we ended the day with the full 4WD experience! Before we knew it, we were back at the dock, loading onto the ferry once again to head back to the mainland. This provided us with a sunset over the water, like a peaceful wave from K’gari.

The name is derived from an Aboriginal Dreamtime story about a goddess named K’gari who fell in love with the earth and never wanted to leave. I felt the same way with this paradise island.