K’gari – formerly known as Fraser Island – is one of the highlights of a road trip up the Queensland coast. Here are six things to look out for while booking your K’gari tour or accommodation.
The rainforest at Central Station
K’gari may be the biggest sand island in the world, but it’s also the only place where rainforest grows on sand. Head inland to Central Station – a former logging camp – and it’s a lush world of scribblygums, hoop pines and the water-resistant satinay trees that have been used for canal and dock construction around the world.
The walk from here along Wanggoolba Creek is truly beautiful, and with the king ferns leaning over the water, feels very Jurassic Park.
The Maheno shipwreck on 75 Mile Beach
Seeing the Maheno wedged into the sand, being lapped at by the somewhat sharky waters, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise – the former Gallipoli hospital ship and cruise liner has been stricken on K’gari’s main beach since 1935. But the ship’s rusting corpse still has a jolting splendour when seen after driving for miles up the beach – a gazetted highway – past fishermen and the coned-off plane landing strip.
There’s a look but don’t touch policy with the wreck – which came a cropper during a severe cyclone – but it’s remarkably photogenic.
The inner tubing along Eli Creek
Eli Creek is one of several freshwater creeks that trickles out from Fraser’s interior towards the ocean. Apparently 4.2bn litres of fresh water pour out every hour, as it cuts through the sand. A boardwalk runs alongside it – keep a look out for eels under the bankside vegetation – but it’s too shallow for swimming in.
Backpackers on the tag-along tours from Hervey Bay and Rainbow Beach seem to have come up with the solution, though. They can be found drifting along the creek on inner tubes, to the profound jealousy of anyone else looking on, wishing they’d thought of this.
The coloured sands at the Pinnacles
That Fraser Island has lots and lots of sand is something of a given. That there is so much variety within that sand is perhaps unexpected, however. Amid the piles of sand that have blown up from beaches and river beds further south, there are mineral oxides and hydroxides that turn the dunes all manner of reds, oranges, whites and yellows.
The local Butchulla people explain this as the result of the rainbow serpent being hit by a boomerang, and all the colours of the rainbow spilling out from the wound.
Top spots to see this festival of colour are Rainbow Gorge and the Pinnacles, to the north of Eli Creek.
The commando school near the Kingfisher Bay Resort
During World War II, K’gari was earmarked as the perfect spot for combining amphibious and jungle warfare training. So, in 1942, a Z Force Commando school was set up at North White Cliffs on the west of the island. More than 900 men trained there, taking part in over 250 missions – some of which are still classified.
Most of the buildings were torn down, but remnants include the concrete contoured map embedded in the ground, and an old boiler on the beach that was used for target practice. Rangers are gradually uncovering more – a cricket pitch was a recent discovery – and the site can be accessed on a walking trail from the Kingfisher Bay Resort.
The bushtucker walks
Speaking of walks from Kingfisher Bay, it organises a ranger-led bush tucker and bush medicines walk around native plants in the grounds.
This is best combined with the late afternoon Bushtucker Talk and Taste, which introduces native ingredients – whether finger limes, muntries, bush tomatoes or lemon aspen – and shows off how best to use them in dishes. It’s eye-opening and educational. And, fortunately, surprisingly tasty – especially when the chef starts lightly searing the roo, emu and croc meats on the barbecue.
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More Queensland travel
Other Queensland travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Should you visit Eumundi Markets on Wednesday or Saturday?
- A guide to Cairns for first-time visitors.
- Exploring the Great Barrier Reef: Best islands and tours.
- Wildlife encounters on the journey up to Cape Tribulation.
- Planning a visit to the Jindalba Boardwalk near Cape Tribulation.
