World heritage UNESCO listed Fraser Island (K’Gari) is the largest sand island in the world, off the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Wild purebred dingoes, huge sand blows, a wonderful shipwreck, rainforest and clear turquoise lakes, jetties, sand tracks, whales…………it is truly a wonderful magical place. I’ve been visiting this island for many years, and it’s always amazing. On my last trip I saw heaps of humpback whales on their annual migration, I saw stingrays and dolphins, dingoes, an array of birds including white-bellied storm petrel, brahminy kites, gannets, kingfishers, osprey, the list goes on and on.
I prefer the ocean side of Fraser Island. On the other side is a big resort (Kingfisher) and it’s accessible by barge/ferry from Hervey Bay. Over there is a long jetty and also a broken down stick jetty (Mackenzies Jetty) which I absolutely love. But on the ocean side, it’s 90-mile Beach, with views out into the horizon, and damn good fishing, especially around August/ September - tailor is the fish my partner likes to catch and it’s really good eating it fresh the same day nom nom….. we drive up to Inskip Point, queue up on the sandy beach and catch the barge, it takes about 20 minutes to get over the southern end of Fraser and then, it’s only sand tracks and beach from there on. I believe it’s one of the few beaches in the world allowing small aircraft to land in a few locations (and they have been bogged in the sand at times).
Four-wheel driving is what you need over there - knowing the tides is essential in order to get where you want to go, and experience driving in the sand is quite helpful too, as the sand tracks leading inland and across the island have claimed many unprepared drivers!
The dingoes are just gorgeous to see - however due to the stupidity and laziness of humans, they are accustomed to associating humans with food (campers leave their rubbish and food unsecured, or even worse, feed the dingoes) and this has led to dingo attacks on humans, mainly children (prey!) I have never been scared of dingoes but I do maintain a distance when possible, and I always respect them. They are naturally very lean, and eat fish and lizards and probably birds too, if they can.
So what’s a typical day for me on Fraser? Well, i get up at dawn, we drive up the beach to find a good gutter (that’s fishing-speak for dunno, a good place to catch fish?) and then my man puts on waders and has a bait bag clipped on his belt and he’s good for a few hours. In the meantime, I shoot flow, sunrise, beach tracks, then I whack on a telephoto lens and look for birds and dingoes, and then i may fly my drone. After many hours we go back to our accommodation (a holiday unit at a fenced village called Happy Valley) and have breakfast, go for a drive up the beach, spot whales and birds and dingoes, and then back for lunch of freshly-caught tailor, then a little afternoon rest before afternoon fishing (for him) and sunset photos (for me). There is really something for everyone on Fraser Island…..what could be better than that!!?
There’s all kinds of ways to experience this fab island - you can fly in a small scenic plane for a day trip including a 4WD to drive around, you could take your own vehicle over on the barge and either camp or stay at the many houses (very suitable for fishing groups or family groups), or at a resort, you could also do a day or overnight trip on a huge tour bus from the mainland. I highly recommend a week here to really soak up the Fraser Island vibes!
Let me know in the Comments below, have you been to Fraser? What do you think?
