Fraser Island - Beach Driving and Inland Sand Tracks

We awoke early to a large group of Cockatoos that just wouldn’t keep it down and after a walk on the beach we were sure the tide was out far enough for safe driving. After our initial beach driving incident, we were both nervous about traversing the heavy sand. But with my previous experience I knew that provided we could get to the sand close to the surf we would be fine and the driving easy. Entering the beach was challenging but after my shenanigans from the previous day I was looking for redemption. I kept the speed up, I was learning to drive the diesel. We had a fantastic drive up the beach through Great Sandy National Park - very few cars and beautiful colored sands. Though we attempted to drive around the point of Great Sandy National Park the tide was still in too far (if it is even possible to do, we aren’t sure). We attempted the bypass sand track to the bay only to find that the tide was still too far in on the other side! So we took the sand track that would lead us to Rainbow Beach. The sand tracks are 4WD only and they are rough…high clearance is mandatory. I was amazed at the condition of what they would call a track. The entire track was single lane with sparse pullouts and I mean single lane…it was very narrow. There were holes and washouts…we met a few trucks along the way but managed the track with relative ease. Along the way we did get to see Australia’s biggest lizard, the Goanna, crikey she’s a beaut! In Rainbow beach we got our car barge pass, stopped at the butcher shop and the bottle shop and worked our way to the ferry. Just to get on to the ferry can be an ordeal without the proper rig….there was a Landcrusier stuck at the entrance as his trailer was bogged. We made it to the barge but it was touch and go.
Fraser Island is amazing. It is the world’s largest sand bar island (70+kMs long and about 20kM wide) and has a Jurassic Park-type feel to it - enormous prehistoric trees, giant ferns, and rainforest with crystal clear lakes in a landscape that quickly changes into sand blows, dunes and beaches. You have to have 4WD to go onto the island and we soon learned why! We arrived on the beach right at low tide which meant some of the beaches were 300’ wide. After driving about 30kM’s up the beach we took the inland track to Lake McKenzie. Immediately we both questioned if we were on the correct road….trees were brushing the side of the car. This track was rough…roots, holes, deep sand where I was nearly dragging the bottom…I was loving it! Lake McKenzie is wild. Fraser Island has the world’s largest “perched lakes” and McKenzie is on top of a hill and the lake is crystal clear fresh water. We spent some time and then headed back to the beach…or so we thought. It was roughly 25k of the worst track that we had seen yet. Several times we were almost bogged and I am sure that we would not have been able to return up the road we descended. The truck we are driving is equipped with LARGE metal bars that run from the front bumper around the top of the front wheel and down below the door. Below the door they are called sliders so that you can slide on them over an obstruction. They are meant to protect the body from damage…this trail was so rough that we used the sliders! Right after that we saw a large snake! Actually Sarah screamed that I was about to run it over. I tried to get a picture but I was overly cautious and couldn’t tell where it was…just a 5’ carpet python…crikey! she’s a beaut! She wasn’t interested in me at all and just wanted to slither away, very neat animal.
The road was blocked about 1k from the beach….several people bogged on the hill. We helped them out, put a lot of sticks in the sand and finally all made it. Our dinner was lamb chops and couscous (thanks Krista for your recipes!). Turns out that our barbie works pretty well!
(Note that our GPS thinks we are driving in the ocean!!!)