TRAVEL: EXPLORING FRASER ISLAND WITH A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE
08:32:00While travelling with my friend we had booked two three-day trips. During the roadtrip through New South Wales and Victories with my boyfriend almost everything was accessible by yourself (or at least the stops we chose), but Queensland is slightly more touristy and some of the biggest tourist attractions are not really DIY stops. We got an amazing deal to do a three day tour to Fraser Island and three days of sailing in the Whitsundays for 700 Dollars or 440 Europs. This is actually an amazing deal since usually one of these tours alon can cost 300 Euros. We booked through Peter Pans Adventure Travel. They operate all throughout Australia and offer a bunch of different tours, bus tickets and all that jazz. We were happy with both our tours, but especially for sailing the Whitsundays there is such a variety, that I am not sure if I would have gone through Peter Pans if I would not have gotten this deal. I personally would make sure to sign up to newsletters for a bunch of different companies and compare their prices and offers well in advance of your trip.
The Tour
We booked a self drive tour for three days and two nights, sleeping in tents. Fraser Island is the biggest sand island on earth and that´s exactly why you probably want to stick to a tour because you cannot really move around this remote island without a four wheel drive and even with those it is extremely easy to get stuck in the sand. I was extremely happy, that we had a guide by our side the entire time and you still get to drive around by yourself the majority of the time anyways.
The trip starts in Rainbow Beach at Dingos hostel with a security briefing. Rainbow Beach is absolutely dead except for people coming for the tours and I would make sure you really only come here for your briefing and get out of town right afterwards. Dingos hostel however was quite nice, it has a pool, two bars with cheap drinks and a free pancake breakfast. For 15 Dollars a person you can park your car or van in the parking lot of the hostel and use the showers here.
Our three day tour included accommodation, food and fuel for three days. You can buy additional snacks and drinks and I would make sure to bring some chips and/or crackers for late night snacks. You could buy and bring your own alcohol, but the prices for goon and beer at the hostel are cheaper than the bottle shops in Rainbow Beach and you can share as a group. Make sure to get more than you think, we almost ran out at the end of the two days.
Driving on Sand
To drive the four wheel drive you just need a normal drivers´ liscense. The cars have a gear shift, which is very convenient for Europeans, but can be slightly intimidating: driving on the wrong side of the road, with the wheel on the wrong side of the car plus gear shift on sand - needless to say I was super nervous, but it worked out so well and actually was really, really fun! If you can aim for seats in the middle and the further up front the better, but if you are a nice person you switch around regularly. Make sure to download lots of good music for your roadtrip, I weirdly found party music the best suited and don´t worry about driving too much, you can always switch with others and you get used to the car and the underground quite quickly.
Day 1
You are up for an early start as getting to Fraser and especially your camp will take some time. You start your day with a breakfast of pancakes, jam, nutella and peanutbutter before loading up the kart with your food and water for the day. You can leave your luggage at the hostel free of charge - just make sure to bring a lock - and only take what you need for the three days. I´d pack very simply: shorts, bikini, sunhat, sunscreen, pyjama, a warm jumper and some toiletries. Showers are a dollar for five minutes, but trust me if it is hot and you are in the car all day it is worth it to invest in that.
To get to Fraser Island you have to take a ferry and from that ferry you make your way inland. Your tour guides will decide on your tour based on the conditions on the island and especially the tide. Since there are very limited streets on the island the main "street" is the beach. So if the tide is high you may be holding on to the inland streets, sometimes making it difficult to reach certain sights.
From the "harbour" you make your way to a little "town" on the island and if you ever get to Fraser Island you will understand why I use qoutation marks here. You will get lunch here, which will be a sandwhich or wrap with some type of sandwhich meat, salad, tomatoes, cucumber and cheese for the three days. Make sure you get your hands on the honey mustard sauce and don´t let go of it.
We made sure to get Lake McKenzie on our first day, when the sun was out. This fresh water lake in the middle of the island is absolutely mindblowing. The water here is so beautiful, I am still shocked that it is just rainwater and not a tropical sea. You will want to take about a hundred pictures here and it is an amazing spot to sunbathe.
We were here for about two hours before making our way to camp. You can rent a sleeping bag at the hostel, but since it is quite warm here, we just took the sheeets from our camper as blanket and used our bags as pillows. The camp is run by indigenous people, which I loved and it is really cozy. You do sleep basically on the floor though, but it is only two nights and you don´t spend too much time sleeping anyways.
You will cook and have dinner here - noodle stirfry yum! - and one or two or many drinks. You can watch the moon rise over the ocean before or after dinner and there is also a little "club" at the campgropund, but we did not make it here the first night.
Day 2
Another early start, breakfast (toast, cereal, breakfast spreads) and a breathalyzer test to make sure you are good to drive and you are off again - or you spend a good two hours waiting for the tide and your guide to work out your schedule.
We ended up heading to another lake, this one surrounded by tea tree oil trees and thus not nearly as clear and beautiful as LakeMc Kenzie, but apparently better for your skin and hair. Basically a cheap spa that is much needed after using one dollar Aldi shampoo for months.
After the lake we headed to a little creek, which you can float down on little floaties. Really fun and actually very calming to go down this river under trees towards the sea. On the beach you will also highly likely spot some dingos Fraser Island´s heraldic animal. They may look just like dogs, but can be quite dangerous since tourists have fed them and they may become aggressive. Never go somewhere alone, especially at dusk, dawn and night and don´t get too close to them.
From our little river adventure we drove to my second highlight after Lake McKenzie: the gorgeous Champagne pools, little natural pools that fill with the foam of the ocean. Swimming here is an absolute treat and the sea foam feels amazing.
This agenda sounds like it is not a lot for a day, but the roads here are insane and it may take ages to get from point A to point B so a majority of your day is spent driving, but driving through gorgeous forests and along the beach in a four wheel drive so it may actually be just as fun as bathing and exploring.
After all that fun it´s back to the camp for your last supper - potatoes and steak and the rest of your drinks, you would not want to waste the drinks you bought afterall. We were so lucky with the group in our car and had so so so much fun and especially this last night, we went hard. Would not want to miss a moment of those three days.
Day 3
Getting up early again may be hard after your last night, but maybe mother nature helps you like she did for me by raining in your tent. After breakfast you will make your way back along the beach or the inland road towards the harbour. We stopped along the way at the famous ship wreck for one last group selfie and then made our way back to Dingo´s hostel. Your trip includes one last drink here and most of our friends we made stayed at the hostel for another night, but we opted to head on. I think it pretty much depends on how busy your schedule is if you stay or not, but as I said there is very little going on in Rainbow beach and we felt like we had had enough drinks after our time on Fraser to last us a little while.
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