10 Days on Fraser Island, day 6-10

Forest Walk

After the first 5 days the real exploration of the Island began. The area around Orchid beach was filled with mixed forest and lots of animals.
There were no set-out walking tracks around, so I just had to find my way around and back to the house, which I fortunately did.
From our house it was a nice hour beachwalk to Waddy Point, where you had a great view over a large part of the island, from Sandy Cape Lighthouse to Indian Head.
Situated between Waddy Point and Indian Head are the champagne pools.

Champagne Pools

On our big daytrip across the island, we first stopped at the pools. You access the champagne pools beach via wooden paths and the name becomes perfectly clear when you get to the bottom.  
The water crashes onto and over the natural formed volcanic rocks,  lands in the little pools and it bubbles up like champagne. The water is nice and warm and there are tropical fish swimming in the little pools. The aboriginal people on this island used these pools as natural fishtraps.
After we went to these pools we took a long drive over the 75 mile beach. (which, the more I think about it, has to be the only beach in the world designated as both a highway and an airstrip)
After a long drive we arrived at central station.

Area around Central Station

Central Station was originally established as a forestry camp when there was still logging on Fraser Island, untill halfway through the 20th century. Right now it stand in the middle of rainforest. And the only place on this planet where rainforest grows on sand. This is where a lot of walking tracks on the island start and if I'm ever going back to Fraser Island, this is where I'll start, with a backpack, and walk across the island on the Great Walk.
There were massive trees, parts so thick with leaves that the sun couldn't get through and water so clear en cold you just had to drink it.

Lake McKenzie

Snake on the road

From Central Station we drove to Lake McKenzie, the most popular of the Fraser Island lakes. It has pure white beaches and nice clear water, so is a popular swimming place for tourists on Fraser. It is a 'perched' lake, which means it contains only rainwater, no groundwater, is not fed by streams and does not flow into the ocean. The sand here is white silica, which acts as a filter, making the water so pure it can support very little life. Although the green/blue water looked interesting and Kat really enjoyed it, I was wanting to go back to rainforest.
We didn't really stay long and were going on a journey across the island on roads that really did not seem to be meant for driving, seeing some great scenery and snakes on the way, when we arrived at Lake Allom.

Lake Allom

Lake Allom was absolutely amazing and really made the difficult trip there worth it. Lake Allom is known as Turtle Lake and is another perched lake, surrounded by Mellaluca trees, which gives it an unusual appearance. The water of Lake Allom was almost black and that was a result from the tannin of these trees.

Turtle looking at us.

Kat learned from an ex-ranger that you could lure the Kreffs River Turtles living in the lake to the shore side by clapping in your hands which we of course tried. And behold, 2 minutes later we were surrounded by these beautiful creatures, sticking their heads up to look at us.
The serenity, tranquillity and beauty of Lake Allom made a big impression on me and I can advise anyone going to Fraser Island to check it out.
After Lake Allom it was time to head home after a nice day of exploration.
The next couple of days I filled with a few walks around our house, to Waddy Point and back, some more fishing and birdwatching and all in all it was an amazing holiday on a great island.
Here are a few more pictures we took on Fraser Island to give you an even better inpression:

Mixed Forest

Pingo (or Lingo) the Dingo

The Maheno shipwreck

Elks in the Rainforest Trees

Kat and Tree

Lake McKenzie

Huge Snake

Lake Allom

More Lake Allom

Waddy Point

View from Waddy Point (after big climb)

Indian Head

Rainforest Creek

More Big Trees

Sunrise

Our Porch

Airstrip on the Highway on the Beach

10 Days on Fraser Island, day 1-5

We have just returned from a great 10 day trip to the world-heritage listed Fraser Island, the largest sand-island in the world. The island is quite unique with lots of sand, forest, rainforest and a very diverse flora and fauna. Most notable inhabitants of the island are the Dingo's, Australia's famous wild dogs. The dingo's on Fraser Island are supposed to be the purest in Australia, because the island is big enough to prevent inbreeding and isolated enough to prevent cross-breeding. So that was at least one important thing to see, I thought beforehand. But the island was so much more.

We travelled to the island on the barge and entered ashore. There are no paved roads on the island, so you're only allowed on with a 4 wheel drive car, or a good cross-country bike. The ways to get around the island are driving the inland roads (which can be quite bumpy, bad and full of holes) and on the beach. Although it was dangerous at times, it was fun. Normal road rules apply on the beaches, but you should not be surprised if you were driving next to a plain, for the Fraser island landing strips were also on those same beaches.
After a journey of a couple of hours, and already spotting our first dingo, we arrived at our vacation house at Orchid Beach, where they have a couple of rental houses.

The first couple of days the four of us have mostly been reading, resting and catching our own meals. Everyday just before high-tide we went down to the beach with the rods to catch our dinner. We caught dart, flathead and a lot of whiting, unfortunately not enough to feed 3 of us every day.
The rest of the time I filled with reading and walking. And I came to the frightening conclusion that I have something of a birdwatcher in me.
In my defence: there are a lot of beautiful and uncommon birds in the region. The Great Sandy Strait, the region between Burrum Heads and Fraser Island, is a declared wetland of international importance with birds from as far away as Japan and Siberia arriving in summer to rest and feed. And so I learn something new every day about this region.

In the evenings Kat and I were normally sitting outside on the porch of our house to read, feed the birds, and wait for the dingo's to pass by in our yard. In these 10 days we've seen 3 different one come by, which we originally named Pingo, Ringo and Lingo.

All in all, the first 5 days were really relaxing, the weather was great and the tides were good.
I'll write more about the last 5 days when I can, and give you an update on my latest temporary hobby: birds!