Whitsundays, Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, Hervey Bay, Noosa Heads, Brisbane…
The initial weather reports for our Whitsundays cruise had been questionable and showed a 50% chance of rain. On departure day we awoke to clear blue skies and the check-in staff advised us that weather reports were now showing great weather for the whole weekend.
We checked in and strolled along the already bustling beach towards the marina. The marina was the nicest we have seen and was brimming with sparking yachts and motorboats. Posh cafés and the offices of luxurious boat manufacturers surrounded the bright blue waters of the marina.
Whitsundays Sailing Adventures is the largest of the boat operators around the Whitsunday Islands and specialises in sleek sailing catamarans. The company also operates one of the only motor-powered catamarans in the area. We chose to sail on “Powerplay” due to its speed advantage and not having to rely on wind direction, giving the opportunity to tailor the itinerary to the group and visit more places in the same time-frame. A major factor in our decision (after much searching) was the reduced capacity of 18 guests compared to 25+ on other vessels.
The boat had three types of available accommodation with shared doubles in convertible beds around the living areas, shared doubles with two double beds and private cabins. The price difference was small and we struck a good deal, saving almost 300 dollars between us so we splashed out on the private cabin.
The boat was staffed by a crew of four: A skipper, first mate and two hosts. At 11 am we boarded the boat and settled down before a pre-departure briefing. The skipper advised us that we had chosen the right boat for the weekend as although the weather was good, wind speeds were reaching triple the normal 10 knots and pushing almost 30 knots. This meant the seas on the outgoing crossing to the islands would be rough and having the motor power would make things smoother than the sailing boats.
The seas were fairly rough but not terrible and Matt was the first to venture out onto the forward nets, with the waves smashing up underneath. Soon a few others followed to enjoy the waves and the view. The picture below shows the forward area in calm seas – had we tried to use our camera on the outward crossing we would no longer be posting pictures!
Over the next two days we relaxed on the boat during the day, hopping off to snorkel often and eating great food. Food was plentiful and both nights a BBQ finished off the day nicely.
Each evening the fore-deck spa was filled with nice hot water for a relaxing dip whilst watching the sunset.
The most famous spot on the Whitsunday Islands is Whitehaven Beach. The beach here is made from almost 100% silica sand and is like a white powder. The beach is tucked inside Hill Inlet and we walked to the top of the hill for a view of the white sands and swirling blue waters below.
The view was incredible and we were all eager for a swim so we walked back down and spent a couple of hours at the beach. The water in the inlet is extremely shallow and we could wade across huge sections. Small sharks and stingrays were swimming around only metres from us.
We returned to Airlie Beach around mid-day on the third day. We collected the camper and had been expecting a call during the morning from the hire company regarding the air conditioning. This was the second time they didn’t call back so we rang them to check the status of the repair booking. The previous operator had not completed the booking with the repair shop and estimates were one to two days before repair. Eventually a repair was booked for 4pm in Mackay, a few hours south and along the route we would take back towards Hervey Bay.
On the road the temperature was hot and we were relieved that we wouldn’t be driving too far before a repair to the a/c. The a/c was only blocked and the garage blasted away the blockage and within ten minutes we were back on the road.
When Matt made another call to the hire company to check the status of compensation for the issue and also our previous battery and water tank issue he was put through to a new operator. The new operator calculated a refund based on the reported time of breakdown until the time repaired. What he couldn’t see from their system was that the 3.5 days hire he refunded us was mostly due to the fact a repair couldn’t be made whilst we were sailing!
Obviously Matt reminded them how hot the weather over the weekend had been and added sufficient leverage with their poor call-back systems. In total a nice four days of hire were refunded.
We were now on our way back to Hervey Bay and stopped for the evening at a free camp-site alongside a river.
Our next day was another big drive to reach Hervey Bay. We had booked a Fraser Island tour for the following day and would be staying another night with Timmy’s parents. Again we were made very welcome and Deb cooked us an awesome spaghetti bolognese!
Fraser Island is one of the top sights in Australia and a very interesting island in its make-up and history.
- The island is the largest sand-island in the world and all the vegetation has a adapted to grow in sand.
- In Places the sand is 500m deep giving the largest sand-dunes in the world.
- The sand here is silica sand formed in tiny balls creating spaces between where fresh water from underground springs can seep. This creates what is “technically” the largest body of fresh water in the world.
- There are 27 snakes which could kill you on the island and 1-7 of the top 10 most deadly.
- The island hosts the “Fraser Funnelweb” spider, the most poisonous. There is a venomous spider for each square metre of the island.
- Rainforest only covers a third of the island but still covers an area the size of wales.
- 100 lakes are found on the island.
We had chosen to take a two day guided tour rather than a self-drive 4wd hire primarily due to the cost. For two people to hire a small Suzuki 4wd for three days with two nights hostel accommodation would have cost us 1100 dollars minimum. The other issue is the useless insurance offered which doesn’t cover you for single vehicle accidents or under-body damage – virtually the only type of accident on the island!
Our vehicle for the trip was a 4wd bus with 14 seats. The smaller vehicle would mean that there was more flexibility for the group and the itinerary. Some of the buses used by other operators are off-road coaches with 40+ seats.
We had a good group for the trip with a group of eight Taiwanese, a German couple and three English people who live in Southampton! The drive from Hervey Bay would take us down to the bottom of Fraser Island where we would catch the short ferry from Rainbow Beach across to the start of the 75 mile-long beach covering the east coast of the island.
The tricky part is boarding the ferry. Currents in the channel are strong and the ferry lands against the beach and uses its engines to keep it there – there is no set landing point. We would be boarding right from the beach which was deep, dry sand giving a good chance we would get stuck. We needed to hold on tight and be prepared to zoom onto the boat at the first opportunity which we managed without a problem. Our guide had seen countless vehicles in the sea over the years, all having miss-judged the boarding of the ferry.
Fraser islands 75 mile-long beach provides the main “highway” for the island and at times becomes very busy. One of the main accident spots is along this beach which gives a false sense of security with its smooth looking surface. It is only once cars reach speeds of 60-70mph on the smooth sand that the problems begin. The cars are travelling too fast to see the wash-outs from inland streams which run into the sea and in most cases hit them at full speed. These vary in depth but are fairly deep – we slowed the bus down to only a few mph at each one and it was still a fair bump!
Matt took the picture below whilst he was sat in the front seat.
Once on the beach the temperature soon increased and it became apparent that the air-conditioning was beginning to struggle. The driver had noted this earlier in the journey and we had been waiting to see how it would cope as the day warmed up. The bus was getting hot and with no opening windows in the passenger section the driver called the company who offered to meet us later with a replacement bus.
Minutes later we were flying down the beach towards the Maheno shipwreck site when the rear tyre blew. This didn’t really cause an issue as we were due to stop for lunch shortly so the driver made the repair whilst we enjoyed lunch on the beach.
Lunch was lovely and within thirty minutes we were packed up and had the spare-wheel fitted ready to go. Our next stop was the famous shipwreck of the Maheno.
Built in Scotland and commissioned only six months prior to the Titanic, Lloyds of London described it as the finest ship afloat. The Maheno was built as a first-class only passenger vessel, carrying passengers around the globe.
The Maheno quickly set the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing and held this record for the next thirty-nine years. It was during the Maiden Voyage of the Titanic when the owners of the ship had pressured the captain to try and better this record that the fatal decision was made to turn trough an ice-field and save time.
The history of the Maheno was fascinating and she had served as a vessel carrying troops throughout world wars and was later re-fitted completely before succumbing to the great depression and lack of first-class passengers.
Japan was slowly buying all the scrap metal in the world to turn into war machinery and vessels and the Maheno was sold to them for a bargain price. It was whilst the ship was being towed to Japan that it was hit by a violent storm and subsequently broke free from the tow-ship. Unable to re-secure the ship in the bad weather the tow ship retreated and the Maheno was left to wash-up onto the beach on the east-coast of Fraser Island. What can be seen today is only a mere fraction of the front section, the rest being buried in the sand off the beach.
Our next stop was the lookout point of Indian Head. Overlooking the ocean, 75 mile beach and the sand dunes to the west, the view was spectacular. We spotted stingray, small sharks and a turtle in the clear waters below.
The girl from Southampton didn’t want to make the walk to the top of Indian Head due to the possibly slippery rocks. When the driver quizzed her on this she revealed that she was pregnant. The driver wasn’t overly impressed that he hadn’t been told prior to the trip as the sections inland tomorrow would be very bumpy and she was already becoming sick from the movements.
We re-traced out steps and drove back down 75 mile-beach towards the clear waters of Eli Creek, the largest fresh-water spring on the island.
We swam in the cold but refreshing water for an hour before our replacement bus arrived.
The day was quickly drawing to an end and we began the journey back down the 75-mile beach to our overnight camp.
Our driver had been explaining about the Dingo’s which are found on Fraser Island. These are actually pure Asian Wolf and the only wolves in the world which have not been exposed to cross breeding with other wolves or domestic dogs. The Dingo’s grow to 86cm high at the shoulder which is twice the height of a German Shepard. Their jaws are similar to a snake and can open to 185 degrees with a bite five times more powerful than a pitbull terrier.
The Dingo has been decreasing in numbers as they come into contact with humans and develop a lack of fear for them. Once this occurs the dingo’s become dangerous and have to be culled.
At one point their was 5000 dingo’s on Fraser Island – now there are 300.
The main thing our driver was making us aware of is that they are around and can be dangerous. If you turn and run their instinct is to chase you. Many adults and small children have been mauled and killed by dingo’s.
As we were driving down the beach we saw a few dingo’s who were hanging around the fisherman on the shoreline. The only dingo’s we could expect to see were the young ones who are solitary for around two years before joining a pack. These young wolves are scavengers and often roam around camp-sites and fisherman hoping to sneak some food.
As we drew nearer the dingo’s were on our left, along the shoreline. A young boy of around 10 was walking on the right of the bus and saw us coming past. As many young children do he thought it would be fun to try and race the bus and broke into a run. Instantly we saw the dingo raise its head and make chase after the boy.
Luckily for the boy the driver saw this quickly and we floored the bus to try and push the dingo away. With some impressive gear changing we managed to (just!) get between the dingo and the boy. Had we not been around and the boy had still run along the beach, the dingo would have attacked him.
We used the bus to push the dingo right off the beach before the driver reminded us not to run away from dingo’s as this is what would happen!
We arrived at our camp for the evening. The company has a deal with a university which has a small eco-campus comprised of small huts around a central shower/toilet block and kitchen/eating building. The rooms they have here are on permanent allocation in return for the students receiving free transport from the company for their studies of the island. A good deal as we got to stay in great accommodation away from the main, busy resorts which other operators use.
The day ended with an incredible BBQ of burgers and steaks with lots of salads and potato.
We had been slightly inconvenienced by changing the bus so to compensate the driver had asked the driver of the replacement bus to fill a cooler with wine and beer for us – all on the house!
One of the guys from Southampton initiated a game of Ring of Fire – a drinking game using cards. After a few rounds we headed to bed but only after the Taiwanese girls had become extremely wobbly and the guy from Southampton had played badly so was forced to drink huge amounts of cheap boxed wine which the Aussies call Goon!
We had a late start the next day as the driver was making calls to the office. He explained to us that the girl and two guys from Southampton would be leaving us as she wasn’t feeling great and the driver wasn’t comfortable with her coming on the bumpy roads a second day. A car was sent to meet them and we could head off. It would be good for us as we could now make a crossing back straight to Hervey Bay rather than Rainbow Beach – we would have four extra hours to explore and could see more – or so we thought.
Matt was riding up-front with the driver as we left and headed onto the inland roads. The first big hill we hit hard to gather momentum and the engine turbo blew. A loud hiss signalled another breakdown! Matt and the driver spent some time investigating before we limped back to the big resort to await a solution.
With our second bus broken and their first vehicle in for an a/c repair the company had to send out two Land Cruiser 4wd vehicles, which took a couple of hours.
We had already met our new driver Simon as he had dropped off our replacement bus the day before. We were soon charging down the inland roads towards the famous spot of Lake McKenzie.
A crystal clear lake made from fresh-water filtered through the sand of the island. A Magnificent way to end our trip.
We were soon back on the main-land and at Timmy’s Parents recounting our “Fraser Experience” with a cup of tea.
We spent a night here before saying goodbye to begin our journey south to Noosa Heads. We had never met Timmy’s parents before but they made us so welcome and comfortable in their home which is always nice when you are travelling.
We stopped in Noosa Heads on a nice camp-site for three nights to relax and prepare for New Zealand.
One day we hired a boat to spend a few hours exploring the inland waterways around the big houses.
Our final drive took us to Brisbane where we handed back the camper. It was sad to leave the camper as we had got so used to having all our clothes accessible and not packed in bags and had enjoyed driving and sleeping in it.
We will be flying to Christchurch, our first stop in New Zealand!
Love Emma & Matt
xxx
Cooke & Craddock 