The Elephant Never Forgets: Fraser Island 4x4 tour

Fraser Island is best described as 'out of this world' and has been Nathan and my highlights of the east coast so far.

Fraser Island is an unusual combination of rainforest and sand which makes it perfect for a bit of adventure. It is also 4x4 territory only because the entire island is made of sand and other vehicles just wouldn't be able to hack it.

A few facts about the island:

🔘 Home to more than 230 species of birds - one of the largest and most varied in Australia

🔘 25 species of mammal present and isolation has ensured there is also the purest breed of dingoes (wild dog)

🔘 Native mammals included wallabies, possoms, flying foxes and echidnas

🔘 During the migration of Humpback Whales they stop by some of the sheltered bays of Fraser Island

🔘 The waters which fringe the island have been home to more than 50 shipwrecks including the famous Maheno shipwreck

So we had an awesome group of mainly girls. 2 nurses from Taunton, another girl from Taunton but living in Oz, a guy from Germany, a girl from Netherlands, a girl from Staines and another girl from Norwich. These group tours work so much better if you actually like everyone in your group.

So our first stop was Lake Mackenzie. The clearest water, which this picture doesn't necessarily show.

We weren't allowed to go in with sun cream or have a quick wee in the lake in order to keep the water as pure as possible, as the only water to go in is rain water and it leaves by evaporation.

Our next famous area we visited was the Maheno Shipwreck. It is the most famous of Fraser's shipwrecks and has become a landmark attraction. The SS Maheno was one of the first turbine-driven steamers which was built in 1905. Normally her route was Sydney to Auckland however until she was commissed as a hospital ship in Europe during World War One. In 1935, she was sold to Japan for scrap, her rudders were removed and they were been towed to Japan. When they reached Queensland Waters, a cyclonic storm snapped the tow chain and the Maheno drifted onto Fraser Island's Ocean Beach.

That night we stayed in an Aboriginal campsite where we all stayed in tents and cooked food within our groups and drank lots of goon (cheap wine).

Early the next morning our group went on a walk along Ocean Beach from our campsite.

Later that day we travelling to Indian Head overlooking the Ocean where we spotted a few Humpback Whales, turtles and a sting ray.

Our next stop was Champagne Pools, which gives the 'illusion' of champagne as the waves crash over the rocks, but it was way too cold for me to swim in but it was our first chance to sun tan in while.

That night we cooked up a feast of steak, buttery potatoes and salad.

On our final day we headed to Lake Wabby, on parking up it took us a good 40 minutes to actually walk to the lake.

It was quite a tough walk up hills and through sand but it was worth it when we got there. There was this huge and I mean huge sand dune with Lake Wabby sitting at the bottom. It was slightly eery and creepy, like you could imagine it on a high school horror film.