Fraser Island K'gari

Fraser Island or K'gari as named by its traditional owners is truly one of the most unique and beautiful places we have ever been. More than anything, it reminded us of the snow. The windswept sand dunes and sand roads carved between the trees just looked like snow capped mountains and freshly groomed ski runs, except with sand instead of snow.
Not being particularly experienced 4WDers and not having seen the conditions on the island for ourselves, we decided not to take the Landcruiser across and instead opted to join a 2-day tour of the island including an overnight stay.... in a motel! The local knowledge of our tour guide was exceptional and it allowed us to sit back and enjoy the trip as well as meet some lovely local and overseas travellers.
Here are our top five fav things from our two days on Fraser...
1. Floating down Eli Creek. With four million litres of the clearest and freshest water you've ever seen pumping into the ocean every hour, it creates a magical stream that's hard to resist not getting in... even when it's freezing!
2. Seeing the blue water of Lake McKenzie. The white silica sand is bathed in the most amazing blue water of the acid lake that is Lake McKenzie.
3. Exploring the rainforest. The ancient trees in the rainforest rival the beauty of the Daintree. A surprise was also the variation in the types of vegetation on the island as you move from place to place. It seemed as though every couple of minutes we would come to a new kind of forest.
4. 4WDing around the island. Driving the many narrow bush tracks, many of which are quite steep at times which was surprising to us, was a real thrill! We had pictured the island to be much flatter than it is. Driving along 75 mile beach, which is a recognised national highway, at 80klms/hr was nothing short of bizarre. It was even more bizarre when 'traffic' is stopped for the planes to land on the beach. When we said that it is one of the most unique places we've ever been we weren't kidding!
5. Seeing the Champagne Pools. We had really hoped that it would be warm enough to swim here but unfortunately it wasn't. This didn't take away from the beauty of this part of the island. The pools are majestic and the views from the cliffs above the pools are amazing.
Our time on Fraser made us feel like real life castaways. It is really quite a remote and unforgiving landscape but it is beautiful, unique and so diverse in itself. It has a rich history and the story of the Dreaming and lore of the land is truly captivating (Google Princess K'gari to read more about this). We'll definitely be back... and we might even brave bringing our own car across next time.