Fraser Island Things to Do

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Lake Mackenzie is a must do if you come to Fraser Island. Not only is it stunninly beautiful, this huge lake only holds rainwater and does not run into the ocean. The turquoise waters makes it look like some tropical destination and the sand is white as white and is really soft to walk on.

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Hammerstone Sandblow is a huge sand dune (unfortunately I can't find out how big it actually is!) - and you need to climb and cross it if you want to get to Lake Wabby! The way from the car park takes you through a section of wunderful rainforests, and then you start to trek over the dune... I admit: I really, really hated it. It was not easy, and I was not fit, it was hot, and I just wished that I would be done... It can be really tiring to walk up hill in the soft sand for a long time!

But - Hammerstone Sandblow is certainly very impressive! It is just so big that you feel like suddenly being in a desert. The dimensions were very captivating.

The dune moves about 3m each year - which means that sooner or later, Lake Wabby will not exist anymore :-(

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As I wrote about the turmoils of Hammerstone Sandblow in my previous tip - well, climbing that dune in order to get to Lake Wabby is pretty damn worth it!
Lake Wabby is a wonderful freshwater lake surrounded by the dune on one side and the rainforest on the other sides. The water is green and looks a bit muddy, but it is perfectly clean and just wonderful for a swim. After having climbed the dune and being all tired and sweating, it is SO refreshing to have a swim here and to enjoy the cool and pleasant water. I think that this was the first time in my life that I really enjoyed swimming. I just loved to be there and to hang around in the perfect water of this tranquil and beautiful place - it was very special.
Lake Wabby is a popular spot, but it's still a calm and secluded place and I liked it very much.
Previously, it was part of a creek which was then blocked by the sandblow, and as said before, that sandblow is moving about 3m a year, which means that in a few decades, Lake Wabby will be gone.

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Seventy Five Mile Beach stretches along the whole of the eastern side of the island. It is actually the main road, and the 4WD are driving along it to get across the island and to different places. It seems to be endless indeed! Moreover, it's the location of many of the island's best sights, such as Eli Creek, Maheno Ship Wreck and the Coloured Sands. You also have a great view on the beach from Indian Head, where you can see how long and beautiful it really is.

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Eli Creek is located on Seventy Five Mile Beach. It is a freshwater creek and everyday, it pumps several million litres of fresh water into the ocean!!! I think that this is really crazy - a country that continuously suffers from draughts, and millions of litres of water are just spilled into the sea. Yet, it does of course make sense because it is a world heritage area and a unique place that must not be destroyed.

Having said that Eli Cree is a unique place of nature, I am sorry to say that it rather seems like a fairground. At least when I was here, it was surrounded by campervans and full of people. Of course that's ok (I'm a tourist as well after all), but what I really disliked is that people had their radios turned on, so that you had to hear their loud music, people had put their chairs INTO the creek sitting in the water on chairs, and some even had put their BARBECUES into the creek, grilling and munching on their sausages. No comment.

Fraser Island is a beautiful place for sure, and most of it is, even if popular, still very enjoyable. Eli Creek was the exception.
What I just decribed happened at the mouth of the creek - the creek itself leads through the rainforest and you can swim and let yourself float in it, or you can wade through. I think it is very nice, especially because it is within such a beautiful rainforest scenery - but again, the behaviour of the people spoiled it for me and so I was ready to enjoy other places of the island :-)

My pictures show:
1 - mouth of the creek
2 - general view
3 - the creek itself (where you can swim or float)
4 - mouth at a rare lonely place
5 - general view

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Maheno Ship Wreck is the icon of Fraser Island and thus this was one of the places that evoked this crazy feeling in me. I had seen it on so many pictures, and now I saw it in reality!
The Maheno was built before World War One and was one of fastest ships in the world - she held the record for the shortest crossing from Sydney to New Zealand. During the war, she was used as a military hospital ship, which was great because she was so fast that she could not be attacked and always brought the wounded soldiers into safety. After the war, new techniques were developed and so she became old and not fast enough anymore. In 1939, she was to be brought to a ship cemetary (does that word exist in English??) but they encountered a cyclone and the rope and chains tying her to the tug tore. The Maheno was washed ashore right here at Seventy Five Mile Beach.
During World War Two, the wreck was used by the Australian Airforce to practice targeting. This is one of the reasons why it looks so badly destroyed now. Especially the stern was hit so hard that it is almost completely destroyed.
Nowadays, the Maheno is still lying here on the beach, rusting and looking great on pictures!

You can see more attached to this tip and in the travelogue

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Indian Head is a huge rock formation on Seventy Five Mile Beach. It is the only real rock on Fraser Island. When James Cook sailed along the coast in 1776, Aboriginals were standing on the rock looking out at the ships. As at those times, all Aboriginal people were called "Indians", Cook named the rock "Indian Head" (in my opinion, this name is rather discriminating and should be changed).
You can climb the rock via a steep and (of course) rocky path, and from the top, you have a spectacular view of the ocean and the beach. The main picture of this Fraser Island page was also taken from there. However, I got rather oppressive feelings when our guide told us what had happened on this rock: During the white settlement, hundreds of Aboriginal people were forced to jump from the rock, into their death. It is terrible to stand at this place and think about the fact that hundreds of people have been standing there and then had to jump...
If you can shake these thoughts off, you can indeed enjoy a wonderful view, and it's even possible to see sharks, turtles and dolphins from here if you are lucky (I did not see any, but I was only there for a short time).

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The Coloured Sands of Fraser Island are similar to those of Rainbow Beach. They are also called The Pinnacles. They are colourful sandstone cliffs and look gorgeous in the sunlight, when the red and orange colours are reflected beautifully. We stopped here on our way from Maheno Ship Wreck to Indian Head, as all three sights are located on Seventy Five Mile Beach.