Fraser Island

Daph gets very travel sick. Except in the Kombi. For some obscure reason, the Kombi doesn’t make Daph sick. Maybe because it’s more like a rickety roller coaster, and Daph loves roller coasters. But Daph doesn’t fare well on boats, buses, and planes. So, what better way to spend the day than on a ferry to Fraser Island, followed by a four-wheel-drive bus trip and a scenic flight?!

Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island. This ecotourism haven boasts subtropical rainforests, perched freshwater lakes and a multitude of wildlife, including dingoes. Our friendly Fraser Island tour guide, Uncle Dave, was a wealth of knowledge and a library of scary stories about killer sea snakes, killer sharks, killer dingoes, killer box jellyfish and killer lakes. It put Daph’s travel sickness into perspective, and the bouncy bus seemed the safest place to be.

Did you know that the Fraser Island sand bed holds enough fresh water to fill Sydney Harbour five times?! And it’s the cleanest water you will find anywhere because it is continuously sand filtered. Still, in the chilly 18-degree temperature, and following a typical Uncle Dave story about recent drownings, this crystal-clear water wasn’t enough to tempt Daph and Ern to swim in Lake McKenzie. Though the crazy Europeans did. Nutters!

The Indigenous people know their stuff. They had it down pat here. Until the greedy colonists came along to mine the sand and harvest the timber. In 1992, this place was World Heritage listed, when we finally gained the intelligence to agree with the Aborigines and protect this place.

Onwards to Elliott Heads.