Fraser Island

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. It is just off the coast of Australia and is 120 km long by 15 km wide. It is a World Heritage site. It has very diverse vegetation and also interesting wildlife. We packed up our snorkels and swim kit and headed off for the 3 hour drive up the coast.

I finally decided to read the guidebook on the journey up. Hmm...Deadly Dingoes - In 2001, a 9 year old was eaten by a dingo on the island. Always walk in pairs, never feed the dingoes, maintain eye contact. Next bit in the book said, "Swimming in the sea is deadly." Sounding less appealing by the moment. Between the strong undertoe and the sharks, never go in the ocean. So much for our snorkels. But at that point, it was too late to turn back.

We had signed up for a whale watching day. I had visions of being sick for 3 hours and not seeing a whale. I have heard some stories - one man was so ill he lost his dentures as he threw up overboard. Armed with ginger tablets, we set off. The day was perfectly calm and sunny. Because we were on the Western side of the island, it is quite sheltered. The Humpback whales that migrate to Antartica stop in the bay with their young. The use the time at Fraser Island to relax and teach their calves some tricks - like tail flapping, pectoral slapping and also breaching. The whales uses these noises to communicate with other whales, but also they seem to do them just because it's fun. The breaching was spectacular - the whale launches most of her body out of the water and then comes crashing down. Also, we saw a wonderful display where a mother was tail slapping. After a few minutes, the baby was giving it a go. Then the two of them tail slapped together for several minutes. It was a great day out and no sea sickness!

The other spectacular wildlife on the island however, remained elusive. When we went out for a night walk, we didn't see a thing for about an hour and a half. A snail was the most interesting - I missed seeing a cane toad (quick - pass me a shovel...) But finally we did see a Sugar Glider that leapt from one tree to another in full flight. That is a very strange little creature that has webbing between the front and back legs - so it can "fly" up to 120 metres. We never did see a dingo, but that's probably just as well.

One of pictures I will post show's Elliott swimming in one of the lakes on the island. The lakes are very clear and even more important - safe to swim in. It was a bit chilly and windy, so only a few people braved

getting in. We went on a tour of the island. I was glad we did because the driving looked a bit nerve wracking. You need a 4 wheel drive and the sand tracks are very rough. I would have been biting my nails all day had Tim been driving, and I didn't fancy the idea of shovelling out a bogged car. There was some lovely section of beach driving where you can drive along the beach for about 65 km. There are no rules about which side of the beach to be on - just look out for sunbathers!