Fraser Island Getaway

It cannot possibly be 3 weeks since Rod and I went away. I think I must live in a time warp.

Fraser Island was a different kind of holiday for us, and I was feeling anxious for weeks leading up to it. We were going somewhere that only proper 4WD cars could go, and borrowing a tray back camper from a friend. Not being experienced 4Wheelers, there was a lot to learn before we went.

Barry took the time to show us the ropes, with the truck itself and the camper, which was custom-built by the man himself. After hours of tuition, we felt ready to tackle a trial run at Rod's place.

It was a total disaster. We got the camper set up and off the truck, but while we were inside of it, congratulating ourselves, the whole thing tipped up and threw Rod right off the bed. I couldn't believe it, we broke Barry's camper!

We spent the remainder of our day gently getting it back upright and I swore I was not going anywhere in it. The camper survived, my nerves were shot. Aren't holidays supposed to be relaxing? Rod promised me we wouldn't have to take the thing off the truck, and I settled for that.

Well, of course we did take it off, and the trip turned out to be a wonderful adventure. Very memorable, right from the dress rehearsal.

We started out with a visit to our friends in Perigian, a couple hours from our destination. They had been busy doing renovations, and we drove straight past their place!

What a luxurious start to our holiday! They do love to entertain, and besides the gourmet food, fine wine and witty reparte, just when we didn't think another bite could fit, out came the fresh local strawberries with CREAM and ICE CREAM. Naughty friends!

We set off Wednesday morning, refreshed from being pampered. We stopped off at Eumundi Markets to get some fresh fruit and veg. If you haven't been to Eumundi on market days (Wed and Sat), do yourself a favour and check it out. It is a dedicated market site, and it is huge!

After a brief stop at Rainbow beach for permits and information about The Island, we were off to Inskip Point to get on the barge.

Ha. We almost didn't get to the island at all. We cruised along the road to the barge and rounded the corner...and stopped dead. Yikes, there was a 300m stretch of deep, soft sand to negotiate! And some guy in a beefy lookin truck, Bogged halfway.

After watching someone else get on the barge, we just followed in their tracks and it was all fine.

That was the real start to our adventure and I finally started to feel better about the whole thing. Plus, the nice man on the barge gave us a good lead on a quiet camping spot, so off we went up the beach.

That one was taken, but I reckon we got the best one on the Island, right next to it. We had the whole area to ourselves, even tho the Island was bulging with fishermen and women.

We got set up easily before dusk and christened the site with a lovely bottle of red.

The first day was very cruisy, got the truck out from under the camper easily and headed up the coast to Indian Head and Waddy Point.

Eli Creek was pretty cool, despite the hundred or so people and the planes and giant tour buses. There is a boardwalk a little way up the creek, and I had a couple of rides down the fast moving, shallow water. It was so pure from being filtered through the sand, I could actually drink it while floating.

Up to Indian Head, which was great for whale watching and photo taking. It was a really nice drive, and we managed to avoid or ignore the large clumps of fishermen and tourists. I'm sure they were all very nice people.

Friday was adventure day. Naively, we set off to explore the inner island.

Well, that truck of Barry's, without it's camper on, feels every bump in the road. And there were lots and lots of bumps, big ones, little ones, long ones and short ones. In fact, I am pretty sure that's what they used to make the roads. Bumps.

We made it in one piece to Lake Garawongera before anyone else came along. A little too early to be warm enough for a complete dunking, but I paddled in paradise for a little bit.

Then we got stuck. Well and truly stuck. Tried everything, ran out of options stuck. Luckily for us, the nice man in a big 4WD came along and yanked us out of the poo. Which he had to do because we were right smack in the way. After that, we had to negotiate all these hairy bits of road at some speed, because going too slowly was how we got stuck. Honestly, there were some bits where I just hung on, closed my eyes and said go go go go go, don't stop, go! And there we were on the other side. Unbelievable. I think Rod closed his eyes too.

All the way on the other side of the Island is Kingfisher Bay, where we stopped for lunch under the casuarina trees. We took a walk to the end of the pier, met some very entertaining drunk fishermen and had a cold beer. Which I needed before getting back in that truck.

About 27 kilometres from anywhere (an hour at least), I was in tears, just wanting to get off this crazy ride.

But we made it back to camp, just before it got dark, very proud of ourselves indeed.

I then refused to get back in to the truck for the rest of the trip.

The next morning, we took a long walk along the beach and went exploring a bit. We had a little time for reading and relaxing, then a short ride to Lake Wabby, which was spectacular. It is a freshwater lake, on the edge of Hammerstone Sandblow (sand dune). The walk from the beach is 2km, half rainforest and half sand dune. The lake is clear and clean and emerald green, surrounded by rainforest, with these giant catfish swimming around. Shortly after we got there, everyone left, so we had the lake to ourselves.

When we got back to camp, we spent a couple hours packin up to go early in the morning, with the tide.

It was a lovely early morning drive back to Hook Point to catch the barge, and then back on to the mainland. We were in Rainbow Beach quite early, walked around town and had a nice breakfast before setting off again.

We had decided to head back to Perigian for another night of luxury, via a 50 km drive along the Cooloola Coast. We spent a bit of time at Freshwater National Park, waiting for the tide. We checked out the camping ground, the day use area and the lake. Had ourselves a nice picnic lunch and a rest in the shade, then off we went onto the beach again. There were lots of camping sites along the beach and some beautiful coloured sand dunes, which we stopped and checked out.

At one point, we came to a BIG yellow sign right on the beach that said, "SLOW DOWN, CHILDREN PLAYING" We thought, that's a bit interesting. Up ahead, there was a bit of a gathering at a narrow part of the beach/road, and it was a breathalyzer! Stopping everyone.

Boy I bet they got a lot of people that way. Fishing all day, having a few (dozen) beers, getting late, back to camp or home or whatever...Doh! Busted. Naughty fisher people.

Anyway, Rod passed with flying colours and we continued on to the ferry across the Noosa River. We soon met up with our friends again for another night of good food, wine, company, accommodation. What a great way to round out our holiday!

Much gratitude to B and V for the loan of the camper, and to Y and A for their gracious hospitality.

Can't wait for the next one!