Rainbow Beach & Fraser Island
For our trip to Fraser Island we purchased an inclusive tour with Dingo’s. This included 2x nights in their hostel on Rainbow Beach, one night before the trip and one on our return. We all enjoyed a couple of nights out of the close comfort of the van, with a little more room to sleep! We were picked up on Saturday morning bright and early by our guide Geoff, and set off on the short ferry across to Fraser Island. Even on the ferry across we caught sight of a pod of dolphins only about 50m away! As we piled onto the island, and caught sight of the huge 4x4’s, the excitement set in. Taking the drivers seat and gliding along the white powdery sand was a memory I will never forget. The views were incredible, and the thrill of driving with no cars, traffic, just idyllic views on all side was amazing.
On the Dingo’s tour you sleep in tents in the middle of the island, which was great fun. They provide each car with the ingredients to cook dinners on both nights, the first night was chicken stir fry and the second steak and potato salad! They also provide a full breaky and lunch for each day, meaning you don’t have to pack much other than clothes.
The first afternoon on Fraser Island was spent at Lake Mackenzie, a perched lake located in the Great Sandy National Park which is entirely made up of rain water. Following afternoon of getting to know the rest of the group and swimming in the lake, we got back in the cars and headed to camp. After some dodgy driving through the bumpy landscapes we arrived just about in one piece, and were ready for the night ahead. We had heard about the star gazing on the island and how it is some of the clearest night sky’s you can see because there is zero light pollution on the island. We wandered down to the sand as the day turned to night, and it really was like a thick blanket full of all sorts of stars, we could even see the milky way across the middle of the sky. One guy called Aer on our tour had a drone and tried to capture it, it turned out a pretty cool photo. (@hiimaer) That night we played cards and danced underneath the stars until the small hours, the night sky enveloping us in it’s blanket of bliss. It was totally surreal and magical.
Day two was even more incredible than the first. We set off in the cars and drove to Indian Head, a panoramic viewpoint where we managed to spot some whales swimming out at sea. We then went to the “champagne pools”, which were similar to the fairy pools in Noosa only even bigger. They’re called this because of the bubbling water caused by waves crashing over volcanic rocks. We even saw a few groups drinking champagne in the pools, which in hindsight would’ve been a very good idea! Following the pools we drove to Eli Creek, where Geoff had brought us tubes to flow down the Creek in. Meanwhile he set up a volley ball net between the two cars, and as the sky once again turned that amazing shade of pink, we played the other group at beach volley.
On the drive back we stopped off at a shipwreck, an ocean liner belonging to the Union Company of New Zealand which crashed in 1935. It was huge! 122m to be precise.
The last day came around far too quickly, and none of us were ready to leave this magical island. Before the tour finished, Geoff took us to Lake Wabby, a small freshwater green coloured lake. It was particularly amazing because to get to it, we walked 45 minutes through trees and jungle-like land, and then 10 minutes through the desert! The landscape was so dramatic, it was amazing. After one last picnic lunch on Fraser Island, we drove back to the ferry, all absolutely knackered after a big weekend of activities. Safe to say we had the most incredible weekend on the island and it went by far too quickly. To anyone thinking of doing the trip - it is 100% a must do.
When we were back in Rainbow Beach, we had a well deserved long nights sleep before our morning dolphin kayak. We had no idea what to expect, seeing as I had won this tour as a prize playing bingo in the hostel! It was such a special morning, on the kayak we saw another pod of dolphins swim by, 5 mantaray’s which even swam right under the kayak’s, turtles, and we were even lucky enough to catch sight of a humpback whale in the distance. We will definitely be leaving Rainbow Beach/Fraser Island with some unforgettable memories.
