The Sunshine Coast of South East Queensland is the place to be when the temperatures in Sydney drop to their mid-winter levels but at 5.30 am it didn't really feel that way when the radio reported a chilly 5c degrees and a cold wind was blowing. Before leaving Sydney I had booked over the Internet for a day tour of Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world, which is about 100 klms north of where I was waiting for a shuttle bus to pick me up.
It was still dark with only a hint of red in the sky to show where the sun would rise when the bus arrived but before long we were travelling through Noosa to join up with the 4-wheel drive coach which would take us along the beaches on the mainland and up towards the Great Sandy National Park and then on to catch the ferry across the strait to the Island.
As usual, click on an image to see a larger version.
After crossing the Noosa River on the ferry, we soon moved through the sand dunes and down onto the beach together with another coach from the same company.
We saw lots of fishermen along the beach - heaven knows what time they must have got up !
Soon it was time for our first stop at Rainbow Beach, a place renowned for its coloured sands and rocks. It was somewhere around here that a small freighter called the Cherry Venture was driven aground during a fierce storm. Attempts had been made to refloat it but it was driven further up onto the beach until all that remained of it was the superstructure - and not too much of that ! Naturally, people HAD to climb on board it but when asbestos was found in the surrounding sand, it was decided that it just had to go as it was even more of a danger than had been thought.
After a brief stop, we all climbed on board the coaches again and set off north following a number of 4 wheel drive vehicles......
....and passing more fishermen.
We reached a point where we were unable to continue along the beach since storms had washed the sand away making it impossible for even these coaches to cope with the rocks reaching from the cliffs to the sea, so we headed inland through the Great Sandy National Park.
We had been warned as soon as we boarded the coach that seat belts must be worn and they were not kidding ! I have never been shaken about so much with rock and rolling definitely being the words to describe it, which is why I do not have many photographs of this section of the tour - I couldn't hold the camera steady enough to take any. The two photos below were the best of them.
Every item of rubbish taken into this National Park has to be carted out again by 4 wheel drive garbage trucks and we were told the story of one driver who got just a little too close to the edge of the road with a very steep drop into the valley below. The inevitable happened and the driver radio'd into base asking for help because he had slightly damaged his rear view vision mirror. Base said - Can't you fix it yourself ? There is a slight problem, he said, I can't reach it. Why not, was the next question. Because the truck is on top of it, was the reply.
Cranes were sent to lift it back onto the road again but after 2 or 3 days they gave up. They had to leave it for a woman driver of another truck to come along and drag it out.
At last we came out onto the beach again at the tip of the mainland which was closest to Fraser Island and waiting for us was the ferry which was boarded directly from the beach.
Once aboard no time was wasted getting underway and before we knew it we were approaching the beach on the southern tip of the island where another ferry had just unloaded its passengers.
The only vehicles allowed on the Island are 4 wheel drives and these people had to wait until their 2 wheel drive vehicle was replaced.
We drove straight off onto the beach with a comment by the driver that the coach ahead of us had become bogged at that place the day before.
All the way along the western side of the island we stayed on the beach sometimes running through the surf which was rolling in and crossing over a number of freshwater creeks - always keeping an eye open for whales and dolphins off shore and dingos peering from out of the scrub on land. While whales were sighted, all we could see of them were clouds of spray when they spouted.
Rough weather had revealed the remnants of trees and shrubs...
...and before long it was time to stop for morning tea prepared by our drivers.
We had stopped close to a creek so the cameras were busy as soon as the tea and biscuits were consumed and as by this time it was beginning to be quite warm, a number of people took their shoes off and spent some time wading through the water or exploring the sand hills.
There was quite a current gouging a gully out to the surf.....
....but that didn't stop a number of vehicles ploughing their way through it. This is after all the main highway on the island and I even saw a taxi speeding along here.
Once again we left the beach to travel through the forest and once again the road was so rough that my photographs didn't turn out very well but our next stop was at Lake Mackenzie where we were to spend time on the beach and where a number of the passengers went swimming. The guide had said that the water temperature was 19 degrees but I am afraid that I took his word for it and didn't test it myself.
Lunch was a barbecue with a choice of fish or steak and a large number of different salads with wine, beer or soft drinks - once again the drivers provided the refreshments.
After lunch we boarded the coaches again and this time it was my turn to sit in the front seat along side the driver but unfortunately it didn't make much difference to the clarity of my photographs !
,This track, for the benefit of those of you in the U.K., is known as the M1 !
They may have been a little clearer but not much - you can see why from the photo below.
...and yes, there must have been more than one taxi on the island.
The cage below is not used for animals but for food. It is close to a boardwalk, which takes tourists above the temperate rainforest and alongside a creek which has some of the clearest water I have ever seen flowing along it, and because the dingos love nothing better than to scavenge, people were advised to leave their supplies inside the cage to make sure they were still there after walking along the boardwalk.
The trees on the island were harvested for many many years before the island became a World Heritage site with some of them, the Turpentine Gums, being used to repair the London Docks after WW2, others strengthened the foundations of Venice when the old foundations rotted away and yet others have been used to line the banks of the Suez Canal.
I have never seen the roots of a tree curl themselves around the base of it before but this one certainly had.
This old rotten tree trunk was ravaged by termites and moss.....
...while close by, many others reached straight up to the sky.
One of the most famous views of Fraser Island is this creek with a tree trunk bridge across it, very very clear water in it and lush tropical vegetation along its banks.
Lots of fungi decorated all parts of the area.
...and snow white gums stood out from the rest of the forest.
I can never remember which are the Elkhorns and which are the Staghorns but whichever are which they are both spectacular in the way they attach themselves to trees.
Naturally, an area like this abounds in wildlife and this Butcher Bird had found a discarded prawn which he had been trying to 'kill' by bashing it on the log he is standing upon.
Back on track again and heading for the beach for the journey home.
We were fortunate to spot a large Sea Eagle feeding on something (we couldn't tell what). Apart from a quick glance when the coach stopped, he ignored us completely. As the driver said, if you know you are at the top of the food chain, who cares about a big red bus !
Back to the ferry again and heading to the mainland.
Some people must have decided to stay for a while - there are a number of camp sites and villages on the island.
The coastguard patrols the area because of the ease of landing along the coastline here....
...and we spotted the ferry we saw earlier in the day discharging its load of vehicles back on the mainland again.
After leaving the ferry we headed off into the bush .....
.... and had one last stop for afternoon tea.
The beach road cannot be used all the time to drive back to Noosa so this time we headed off home by using the regular roads and highways - very tame indeed after the bush tracks.
I arrived back at my friend's home at 6 pm after a wonderful day on one of the greatest tourist attractions in the world.
