Hervey Bay and Fraser Island.

We arrived in Hervey Bay which has a fantastic beach but is apparently more of a retirement town than a tourist town. The only reason people stop there is for the crossing to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world and is only accessible by 4WD. We booked ourselves onto a 2 day/1night tour. We were picked up from our site and taken to River Heads for the crossing over to the island. Our first stop was at Central Station which years ago was a logging depot. We then took a walk along Wanggoolba Creek which also know as whispering creek or invisible creek. It is a sand creek and as there no rocks the water runs silently along it. We then walked through Pile Valley where there are huge satinay trees which have almost been logged out on the island due to their excellent timber. They are very tough and have been used to repair Tilbury docks, in the building if the Suez Canal and even in Venice. It was down to 75 mile beach the M1 of Fraser Island. We stopped at Happy Valley Township for lunch and then it was on to Eli creek, the biggest creek on the eastern coast of Fraser for a paddle and to cool down. We walked as far as we were allowed through the water and then back along the edge. Next stop was the Maheno shipwreck. The Maheno was a cruise ship built in Scotland but was wrecked in 1935 after it had been bought by the Japanese. It was then on to the Champagne Pools, they are shallow rock pools safe for swimming. Our last stop of the day was at Indian Head the only rocks on the island. We climbed to the top for a look out over the ocean and to try and spot some sealift. We saw rays, sea eagles, turtles and the shadow of a shark. The best bit was when from out of nowhere an Australian Air Force jet flew low over the beach. It then headed out to sea and came back and buzzed us on the cliff!!

We were up early the next morning and went on a hike to Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby used to be a creek but a sand blow has cut it off from the ocean and it has formed a deep lake. The first 800m was through bush but the next 1km was across the Hammerstone sand blow which was like walking through the desert. After a swim it was another 2.3km hike through the bush to get back to the bus. We then went back to Central Station for lunch and then on to Lake Birrabeen which is perched in the sand dunes for another swim and then on to the barge crossing home. A really great couple of days.