BOGGED IN THE SAND

It wasn't easy to find a company that allowed me to hire a 4 wheel drive from them and take it out to Fraser Island. Wonder why?....I thought. It is a 4 wheel drive after all, so it should be able to drive anywhere.

With the yellow pages in my hand I was going through the list of Brisbane car rental companies in order to find a suitable vehicle to take me out to this famous island. It wasn't high season so I eventually got lucky. I got my self a Toyota Land Cruiser with permission to take it out to the island. They did however warn me that if the car got bogged in the sand or broke down on the island it was my responsibility to get it back to the main land.
-Don't know who they thought they could scare with that.

A short while later I was sitting in this little tank and on my way up north towards Hervey bay - the jump point to Fraser Island.

Hervey bay is a 'short' 3 hours drive from Brisbane and a nice stopover before heading further north or out to the island.
By the time we arrived there the last ferry across to Fraser Island had already left so we spent the evening in the town centre of Hervey Bay and aimed for the first morning barge instead.

There are a few different places where you can board the barge and they stop at the various points according to a schedule, so make sure you get a copy of the schedule before heading out. This can be especially important for the time you have to go home, as the last barge from the Island leave already round 5 PM, and if you miss that one you're stuck until the next day.

Fraser Island is a sand island. In fact the worlds largest sand island.
That means that from when you leave the barge you will be walking or driving on sand whether you're on the beach or in the middle of the islands rain forest.

For me and my family it was the first time we were driving off-road and to drive straight of the barge on to a thick sand beach was amazingly exciting. All the cars followed a trail from the beach into the rain forest, and we were a bit nervous whether we were going to be able to keep up with the cars in front of us or if we were going to cause a traffic jam blocking the trail of we got bogged. Well it was good to know that we had people behind us if we needed help.

Driving on sand in the rain forest turned out to be pretty easy and a lot of fun. The only worries we had was when the trail turned sharply in a slope upwards. The heart stopped every time the car started leaning as if tilting on to the side.

The Island has a few lakes and rivers and Lake McKenzie is probably the most popular of them. This place has got the whitest sand I have ever seen and unbelievably clear water. Besides swimming you can spot a lot of animal life around these areas, particularly if camping over night.
On the island live amongst other turtles, wild horses and Australia's purest breed of Dingo's. The Dingo's here have not been cross mixed
Visitors to the island are however asked not to feed the Dingo's as they get quickly get accustomed to getting food from people and can in the case they don't get it become aggressive.
Dingos are frequently seen on the beach and near the islands resorts, looking for people who are willing to feed them.

We however only had a day to spend, and our aim was not to sit and hang around our aim was to head across the island to the Easter side and do some serious beach driving.

The beach was almost empty and wide like a 6 lane freeway. On the moist but stable sand we could speed up to a 100km/hour. The only real dangers were creeks with water running from the inland out to the ocean creating sharp edges whether the water is running.
Besides Dingo's, beach fishers and a few other 4 wheel drives, the beaches is shared with a number of tour companies using the beach as a landing place for their sports planes bringing tourists out to the island.
Picture 1: we see one of the planes that shortly before took of from the beach, and in front of our car one of the creeks running down from the forest.
Picture 2: A plane just about to take off

Along the east coast there are a number of 'must see' attractions such as the Maheno shipwreck.

After lunch we checked out the view point of the 'Indian head' and had a, for Queensland, a pretty cold dip in some rock pools.  The view from the top of the head was however great.
Our intention was to head all the way up to the northern tip but the incoming tide changed our plans. The beach was suddenly cut off by some rocks blocking the way, and the rising water had covered the small strip of sand between the boulders and the ocean. We probably could have gone right through the water, but the question was how long it would take until the low tide allowed us to come back again. The decision was to make a U-turn and head back south again. Thats when the car bogged down in the sand and got stuck. A car full of teens stopped to help, but no matter how we tried the wheels just kept digging deeper in.With a shovel we tried to dig a track in front of the wheels and placed wooden planks in front of the wheels, but without success. The waves were now coming very close to the car and I had a hard time showing that I was cool and had everything under control.

In what at the time felt like the last minute another 4 wheel drive stopped and a man who seemed to been around before came to take a look at what we were doing. His first question was if we REALLY had the car in 4 wheel drive mode "Sure" I said, checking the gear stick again. What I didn't know was that on the wheels you had to turn a small valve into 4WD mode or changing the gear wouldn't do any difference. A quick twist of the valve at every wheel and we could drive off as if I had just been parked at any car park. A little bit embarrassed but a lesson wiser we headed down south again.

Our plan was of course to stay as long as we could and we had book space on the last barge heading to the mainland. The maps of the island are however not very detailed but we found quite easily the way to the pick up point. When it was time for the barge to come in it was just us and another car waiting. We had expected a few more than that. The 'Welcome to Fraser Island' sign was however there, and the beach was full of track marks. Luckily enough I walked down to the water trying to spot the delayed barge when I saw some reflections in the distance. Following my gut feeling we hopped into our car, and followed by the other car, we headed down an unmarked side road. And yes, a couple of kilometres down the road we came to the 'New' and unmarked landing for the barge just in time before it left.

Boarding the barge

And, I almost forgot to tell you. The reason why the car rental companies don't want people to take the car out to the island is because of the damage the salt does to the car if you drive in the wet sand or in the water. I learned this when I was asked to pay $80 extra just for washing of the car.

/Mika

Click here if you want to find out more about Fraser Island and Hervey bay.