The second day in the Cool Dingo tour was even better – seeing us really get out and about exploring the island.
We headed off to go exploring the deep interior, which meant we had an hour and a half of seriously bouncy road to endure (thank YOU Dramamine!):
… but it was all good fun, including a unique black water pool that has a bit of tar content. True, that does sound rather, well, icky – but the plus side is that it lends itself to stunning reflections. When the water is still, you really can’t tell which side of the picture is real or a mirror image…
After cruising on, we got to see an overlook on the eastern side of the island, which made it very clear how the island was formed. Big sand dunes are pushed in from the constant south-eastern winds, and pile up inland. Over millions of years this added up until Fraser Island is the massive place it is today…
From the heights, it was time to head down to the beach and another special feature of Fraser. The beaches are wide and flat, and serve as the 75 mile long expressway for the island. It’s a very very odd sight to be cruising at 60km/h among a stream of cars and buses going all over the place. This lends itself to odd traffic rules too – there are no lanes, instead each oncoming car signals as it approaches so the other driver knows which direction it’s going to pass.
… and then there’s the planes, using the beach as a cheap airfield…
Funny stuff. We were fortunate as well, in that we came across a female dingo just checking out the scene… dingos are descendants of domestic dogs of the first colonists, and they’ve made their home quite well in Fraser.
We got out to check out a 1930’s shipwreck of the Maheno, that has served as a bombing target and now as a bird sanctuary:
… then it was off to a beautiful peninsula called Indian Head. After a 20 minute hike up, you could see forever straight up and down 75 Mile Beach, accompanied by sea eagles gently coasting on the swirling wind currents, and BIG sting rays floating in the surf.
Lunch was a bit further on, and then it was time for a last stop – the Champagne Pools, a series of shallow wave fed pool protected (mostly) from the crashing surf. It was a bit odd to swim around the rocks, knowing that the waves were just yards away, but we got used to it…
Phew… almost there – the rest of the trip was spent heading back, although we did squeeze in a creek walk up 500 meters of a tree covered stream. Yup, you guessed it – crystal clear waters again… so refreshing, and since the current was fairly strong, so we could even coast/float like ungainly albino crocodiles back down the beach.
A bit of disc on the sand, then it was time to say farewell to the wilder bits of Fraser. A rather bouncy trip back, and we made it just in time for a sunset and a beer on the beach:
… then it was a quick dinner, and a ferry trip back to Hervey Bay for some much-anticipated sleep!
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