Fraser Island Weekend Getaway

This past weekend I had the experience of a lifetime and got to see Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island. The weekend started off early on Friday morning. We got all packed Thursday afternoon and went to bed early to prepare for an early morning. There was a group of 20 friends, and all signed up to go with each other. When we walked down stairs to our meeting point we noticed there was only one small van. A man got out, Hayden, and said that we would have to wait another 30 minutes for the other van to arrive, so me and two other girls decided we had enough time to go get breakfast. We walked over the Café Bond and waited outside for 20 minutes until it opened, then ordered pancakes and fruit! We didn’t know if we had enough time so we just prayed we could get our food in time and make it to the bus, being late after the bus was already late would not have been good. We grabbed our food and hurried back just in time to see that everyone was on the buses and waiting for us. We noticed a small van that was crammed with 9 girls and then our bus had the other 15 of us. I got lucky and had a nice seat in the back with plenty of room to eat my delicious pancakes! Everyone else on the bus was incredibly jealous of our food, they tried to steal it but I wouldn’t let them. We stopped at a rest stop/gas station called Matilda (of course) after 3 hours of driving!I got a milkshake and learned that a milkshake in Australia is just that, milk-shaken with a small amount of chocolate. So essentially I was drinking chocolate milk, no good! After about 20 mins we piled back into the bus and van and made our way to Rainbow beach where we had lunch and walked around the town for about an hour. We had to wait for the tide to go out so we could take our ferry to the island and then be able to drive along the “highway”. Once on the ferry we noticed lots of thick orange and black smoke coming from the Island where we were going. The island had been set on fire for controlled burning about a week prior to our visit. The smoke was so thick, it made the sun and sky bright orange and looked creepy.We had just been in the massive dust storm a two days before this and now we were stuck in the middle of fire smoke. Our tour guides assured us that we would be fine because our resort was all the way on the other side of the island and that we would only be in trouble if the winds switched direction.
We got off the ferry and made our way down Fraser Island highway, which is just hard sand from the beach, and drove for about an hour, keeping our eyes out for whales and dingoes. I told everyone on the bus that I would give them 5$ if they spotted a whale and showed it to me. Sure enough about 10 minutes later we spotted the first whale. It was a humpback whale just breathing and shooting water out of its blowhole. It was the coolest thing seeing whale tale fins coming out of the water and smacking down against the rough seas. This was only the beginning of the whale sighting!
We made it to the resort, or hotel/hostel in little over an hour. We stopped, changed really quickly and made our way to the first fresh water lake of Fraser Island. Lake Wabby is this beautiful lake that is full of fresh water and surrounded by sand. There are dunes on three sides of the lake.We hiked 2.1 km to the lake and were so tired by the time we got there that everyone stripped down and jumped right in. We made a game where we all ran into the water from the top of the dune. It was so much fun to play in the water and be in sand. There were no weeds or anything, just sand, oh and catfish. The only animal in the water was catfish and there were tons of them. You could spot them very easily because they were black and the water was a murky green-brown. We played in the water for what seemed to be hours. Since I am the smallest person out of our group all the boys thought it would be fun to throw me into the water over and over and over again. Haha it was a ton of fun, we got tons of pictures and videos of everyone. After a while when we were all tired out we made our way back to the rooms and got showered and had a buffet dinner of tacos and burritos. They were delicious. Since it was all you can eat we all stuffed ourselves knowing that we wouldn’t eat again until breakfast the next morning.

Saturday started off at 8 am and we all ate breakfast then loaded back onto the bus and made our way to the rainforest and clear water Wanggoolba Creek. The rainforest was beautiful. The birds were chirping so loud I felt like there were millions. The trees were so high and the forest so densely packed that it made it hard to see any wild life or sunshine. I felt like I was walking through Planet Earth, if only I had the calm narration of the British woman in the background. I took some video with my camera of the birds and trees so I could remember how peaceful it was. The guides told us to take our time through the rain forest and that they would meet us at the other end. We walked about 2 km again until we came upon a crystal clear fresh water creek. The water was so clean that we filled our water bottles up with the water and took a rest to enjoy the cool water. At the end of the trail is Central Station, which used to be used for exporting trees. The trees were a huge income for Australia, but sadly today there are only a few left.
After the creek we hopped back into the bus and drove on the sandy and very uneven paths and made our way to Lake Birabeen. It was like paradise, you walk down steps and find yourself on white sandy beaches with the clearest blue water. I felt like I was seriously in paradise. It was beautiful. Again since we were so hot from hiking we jumped right into the water. It was so clear you could see everything! It was beautiful white sand on the bottom, so there were no weeds or animals. We waded out pretty far until the drop off and it turns into a thin layer of mud from the decaying leaves and trees. After playing in the water for a while we laid on the beach in the sand and got some sun. The wind picked up and sand literally went everywhere, in my ears, mouth, nose and hair. After lunch we went back to the beach and played in the sand, since there wasn’t much else to do. We were all so tired from being in the sun all day that we went back early to the rooms and rested and showed and had an early dinner at 615. That night I went to bed at 730, I was so tired and worn out and had caught a cold that was getting progressively worse as the weekend went on.
Sunday morning was the earliest day and started at 530. We got up to watch the sun rise from the beach but the wind shifted and the smoke from the fire was way too thick to see it. We got to the bus at 620 and put all our bags on the big bus, and I managed to snag the front seat with my roommate Meghan. We left the resort at 7 and headed to Indian Head. On our way there we spotted some dingoes running along the beach and more whales. This time we spotted a huge humpback whale jump all the way out of the water and come splashing down into the ocean. I was amazed at how big the splash was and how huge the animal was! Indian Head is the highest point of the island and you can hike up the cliff and look out over the whole island and vast wide open beautiful blue ocean! After admiring the water and seeing a pod of dolphins jumping about we headed back down the island to a famous shipwreck of the Maheno. It was wrecked shortly after being sold to the Japanese right before WWII. Since there wasn’t strong enough machinery back then to move it, it became target practice for the Australian and US air force. After seeing the ship we went to Eil Creek. Another freshwater creek clean enough to drink from! It was so cold but refreshing because it was so clean. We walked down the creek and got splashed by the tour guides and all the boys. The current was so strong you could float! After getting changed into warmer clothes I saw that there was an airplane on the beach. I asked Hayden our guide if I had time to go chat with the pilot and he said you can go ride in it if you want! I got super excited and ran over to the pilot and asked if I could get an air tour of the island. He said I needed at least one more person so come with me so I hurried back to the group of 24 and tried to convince people to come with me! I even offered to pay for their half (but didn’t end up having to mom and dad ☺) I got four others to join me in the 7 passenger air van. I got to rid up front in the right seat of the plane. We took off from the sand and within seconds we were in the air soaring over the island. The smoke made it difficult to see far out in the distance. It was the most amazing experience! I was so happy to be seeing the island from the air. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole flight. We saw more fresh water lakes, sand dunes, and in the ocean some whales and other people saw sharks! When it was time to land we just got real low and waited for the cars to move and landed between some orange cones that had been set up before we landed with a small sign sitting next to it saying “Caution Airplane Landing”!! It was so excited I didn’t stop smiling for hours! Hayden flew with us for the ride and so we talked about airplanes for the first half hour drive back down the highway. I explained that I have basically grown up in planes so how could I come to Australia and Fraser Island and not take a flight!!
We drove down the island and made our way back to the ferry and then off to Rainbow beach for lunch. The bus ride back took about 4 hours but I got in a 30-minute nap! Hayden was very chatty and I got to learn a lot about Australia! I had the best view of everyone because I was sitting in the front seat. We rolled through the hills of coast and made our way back down to sunny Bond Uni. On the ride home we saw wild horses and turkeys, some kangaroos, and lots of parakeets. Australia is beautiful and reminds me of northern California.
We made it back to bond around 5 o’clock Sunday night full of sand and very exhausted! The trip was so much fun and I would recommend to everyone that if you want a low key and beautiful trip to make it to Fraser Island. But be warned that you will come back with heaps of sand in every nook and cranny! Our next adventure is to Byron Bay in two weeks. There we will learn how to surf! It should be fun. Hopefully I will go on some day trips around the Gold Coast and up to Brisbane! There are wineries surrounding the Gold Coast and bus tours that take you to 4 or so in a day. I cant wait to see what the rest of Australia has in store for me!!