mike & rhonda's latest adventure: Competition for the Great Ocean Road

We had a fabulous time on the remarkable Fraser Island, a very large sand island, 120 km's long and 20 km's wide. Over time fresh water lakes developed at the top of huge sand dunes (from rainwater) so there are both crystal clear lakes and subtropical rainforests on the island but all based on sand with the only bit of rock being at the north end of the island. The purest form of dingos (wolf family) also roam the island, never having the chance to cross-breed with dogs which has happened on the mainland. Only four-wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the ferry over to the island so we elected for a two day tour to let someone else do the driving. It was a good decision and made for a very relaxing trip since the inland sand roads were very narrow with deep tire ruts. We chose a 30 person bus for the trip rather than a 4x4 and that also worked out since many of the smaller vehicles had to make several attempts climbing sand dune roads and some inexperienced drivers got stuck in the sand. We also moved along much faster and the other trucks got out of our way. Speed limits of 80 km/hr were posted on the beach but our machine often exceed those limits, driving close to the water's edge where the sand was firmer. It was a blast.

On our first day we spent time at Lake McKenzie where we had a freshwater swim and exfoliated our skin with the surrounding silica sand. Then it was off to Central Station, a former logging camp that was shut down in 1991 when the island was given a World Heritage listing. The stop also included a rainforest walk in Pine Valley where we encountered a 1,000 year old satinay tree that took six people to get their arms around it. After that we did a 5 km loop walk to Lake Wabby which had steep sand banks allowing people to run down the hill and jump into the sandy-bottomed lake. During the walk to the lake we crossed the Hammerstone Sandblow, a large expanse of sand (2 km`s long) which has blown over top of the ground cover and is moving east to west at a pace of one metre a year. We then returned to the Eurong Resort where I took my bathing suit off for the first time all day, and we had a nice dinner later that evening.

Our second day was spent almost entirely on 75 Mile Beach and we covered most of it on our bus making frequent stops along the way. When the tide was in our driver (and guide) had to wait sometimes for the ocean water to recede before continuing on. On other occasions he drove through the shallower waves. Our first stop was at the 1935 Maheno shipwreck, the rusted skeleton of a 500 passenger ocean liner which is slowly disappearing into the sand at the water's edge. The Coloured Sands (caused by oxidization) and a walk to the top of Indian Head for some fantastic views was next. After that we went to the Champagne Pools at the north end of the island for a dip in some sandy ocean pools where some reef rocks protected us from the wild surf but not from the spray and rush of water when larger waves came crashing onto the rock barrier. We had lunch on the beach before heading over to Eli Creek and it`s crystal clear water where we could walk upstream along a boardwalk and then float back to the ocean using the strong current to propel us.

During our ferry ride back to the mainland we watched a beautiful sunset, making for a perfect ending to our wonderful trip.