Two Travelling Sisters: December 2010

Fraser Island - Pictures

Ali and I in front of the first lake we visited on Fraser - the Basin Lake
our first time seeing a lake on top of a sand dune :)

The Basin Lake

Second walk through the island - we followed a small stream through the woods. The stream had drinking water that was really clean and fresh

Getting ready to drink from the stream

Huge tree!

The trees in this forest reminded us a lot of Cathedral Grove in British Columbia

Lake Mackenzie

The white sand beach of Lake Mackenzie

Planted Trees!!

Successfully completed a 3-level pyramid :)

On the pier, watching the sunset

sunset :)

Our bus can drive on the beach, super close to the water :)

Shipwreck :)

The Coloured Sands

Sand Dune!!

Our own mini desert :)

Jumping off the sand dune!

Life prevails in even the most unexpected places :)

View of the beach from the top of Indian Head

Tons of ocean-life flock to this area of the island due to a deep undersea trench - this here is a very large eagle ray :)

View down from the top of Indian Head

SEA TURTLE!

The top of Indian Head

insects make interesting patterns on the trees

YMCA on the bus :)

Dragon Tree! (it looks like the dragon in the Neverending Story)

Lake Wabby

The sand dune beside Lake Wabby

Fraser Island is known for it's spiders, dingos and snakes :)

Another lake, this time a 4-level pyramid! our guide said we were the first group he's seen who has successfully done it!

Even larger beach cliche picture :)

A little bit of Info about Fraser Island

Fraser Island is a very unique island. It is completely made of sand, and trees and vegetation grow due to the build up of dead organic material in the soil. The island is formed from the east side and the sand on that side of the island is more orange is colour because it is not as weathered as the sand on the island interior or the west coast. The areas that have the white sand beaches are the areas that are older and where the wind has slowly broken and smoothed the silicon down so it is more reflective and thus more white in colour (example: the sand at Lake Mackenzie is very white and soft)

Freser Island is also known to have unique and unusal flora and fauna. It is the only place in the world where you can see fresh water, the ocean, sand dunes and sub-tropical forest all at the same time!

The island is also known as a great place to see giant sea turtles, eagle rays, and dingos :)
Unfortunately we did not see any dingos while on the island - it was quite disappointing....

Overall we spent 3 days and 2 nights on the island. We went with a tour group called "Cool Dingo" and we rode in a sand bus and stayed in a small resort while there. It was a great 3 days and a highlight of our trip :)

Hervey Bay

Hervey Bay is the starting point for most trips to Fraser Island.

We arrived in Hervey Bay at 9am after a long and bumpy bus ride from Airlie Beach. We caught a shuttle to our hostel and checked-in. We talked to a travel agent in our hostel and decided to book a trip with "Cool Dingo" to Fraser Island that was leaving the following morning. We booked an all inclusive 3 day, 2 night trip.

We spent the day in Hervey Bay sleeping, using the internet, and getting ready for Fraser Island. The next morning the Cool Dingo bus picked us up outside the hostel and we were on our way to the island :)

Airlie Beach

After Cairns we travelled south to Airlie Beach. It took us all night on the Greyhound to get there and we arrived to rain. After walking through the rain with all of our stuff we ended up at our hostel for the next couple days. Overall the hostel was okay, but the staff were not that pleasant.

We ended up staying in Airlie Beach for 2 days. Most people come to Airlie to catch a sailboat and sail the Whitsunday Islands. We decided that we did not want to spend a couple hundred dollars to do this, and in the end it was the best since it rained the entire time we were there.

While in Airlie we did not do much. We spent the time relaxing and running along the beach boardwalk. After 48 hours we caught another night bus and headed further south to Hervey Bay.