Fraser Island
Fraser Island, situated adjacent to Hervey Bay, Queensland is the largest
sand island in the world.
Named after shipwreck victim Eliza Fraser this World Heritage listed sub
tropical island has a truly amazing array of natural wonders including
beautiful rainforests, pristine lakes, endless surf beaches, immense sand
blows, cliffs of coloured sands, crystal clear streams and vast stretches
of mangroves.
The Island is 125km long and over 160,000 hectares in area. It was formed during the ice age when the prevailing winds transported the vast quantities of sand from New South Wales and deposited it along the coast of Queensland forming the island as we know it today.
In this fragile eco system the rainforest consists of huge satinay and
brush box, kauri pines, piccabeen palms and the rare angiopteris fern
which is one of the largest ferns in the world. All this growing in pure
sand ! There are some wonderful walking tracks through these areas to
enable visitors to appreciate the unique beauty of the island.
There are a number of lakes on the island each with their own individual character - from lakes stained red with tannin to others with pure white sand and crystal clear water. Swimming in these lakes is memorable experience.
Fraser is also home to over 200 species of birds along with a variety of mammals, wallabies, snakes, possums, turtles and flying foxes.
Now listed as a World Heritage site, Fraser joins the ranks of the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and Kakadu National Parks as being of universal significance as the largest coastal dune system and sand island in the world and for its special environments. As a precious part of Queensland's natural and cultural heritage, it is protected for all to appreciate, enjoy and respect.
PRISTINE LAKES AND CRYSTAL CREEKS
If sand is the key to how Fraser Island was formed, then water has been the reason it has become so special. The combination of environments, particularly the rainforests, have established through Fraser's wealth of freshwater sources.
CREEKS
Crystal clear creeks and streams flow through the cool, shady forests
and out into the sheltered waters of Hervey Bay on the western side of
the island. Along the ocean shore, hundreds of streams punctuate the smooth,
sandy beach. But of all the creeks and streams on Fraser, two stand out
as exceptional. Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station flows silently over
white sand along the floor of a thick rainforest. A major port of call
for visitors, Wanggoolba's creekside walkways pass the angiopteris ferns,
an ancient species boasting the largest single fern fronds in the world.
Eli Creek on the eastern side of the island, is the largest of the freshwater
streams flowing into the ocean. Eli is popular with visitors and walkways
allow you to appreciate its beauty. Stop for a while and spot the kingfishers
as they dart amongst the pandanus and casuarinas.
LAKES
It would be hard to imagine lakes clearer than those on Fraser Island.
The water is so pure that the 40 or so lakes support relatively little
life. There are three types of lakes on Fraser, window, barrage and perched
lakes. Window lakes occur when the ground drops below the water table.
The fine white sandy base acts as filters, giving the water its clarity.
There are several window lakes including Yankee Jack, Ocean lake and Lake
Wabby. Lake Wabby is also termed a barrage lake, which is formed by the
damming action of a sandblow blocking the waters on a natural spring.
Wabby is relatively close to the ocean side of the island and unlike the
other lakes it supports several varieties of fish. It is also a good example
of the sandblow phenomena, gradually encroaching on the deep green waters
of Wabby as the sandblow makes its gradual progress westward across the
island.
Swimmers in the lake should not run and dive off the sandblow - the water
is very shallow close to the edge of the lake. Perched lakes occur above
the water table. Saucer-shaped depressions with a hard, impervious base
of organic matter and sand, form a catchment for the rain eventually creating
the lake. The peat-like base generally stains the water the colour of
tea. In the northern half of the island, Lake Bowarrady is the highest
of the perched lakes being some 120 metres above sea level. In the southern
part of the island there is Lake Birrabeen and the popular Lake McKenzie.
Lake Boomajin approximately 190 hectares in area is the world's largest
perched dune lake.
Each of the lakes has its own particular character. Mysterious, moody and beautiful, they are excellent subjects for photography, great places to see birds, other fauna and flora and a welcome oasis for the hot Summer days. Scenic 4WD circuits and walking tracks in the southern half of the island take in some of the largest of the lakes including McKenzie, Birrabeen, Benaroon and Boomajin, There is a walking track to Lake Wabby from the beach.
Things To See
Stonetood Sand Dune
This huge dune is currently moving across the island burying everything
in its way. The movement, driven by the prevailing winds, is very slow.
The size of the dune is remarkable. It is not possible to walk across
the dune. Although the island has been used for over 100 years by Europeans
there is now a genuine environmental concern which recognises the delicate
ecology of the region.
Eli Creek
Eli Creek is the largest freshwater stream on the eastern coast of the
island. It is an area of exceptional and pristine beauty. There are a
number of wooden walkways and a short, circular route runs up one side
of the creek and down the other. It is possible to swim in the lower reaches
of the creek. On a hot day it is very cool and refreshing.
The
Wreck of the Maheno
After thirty years of service in Australian waters the Maheno, a huge
cruise vessel, was being towed to Japan as scrap when it hit cyclonic
conditions off the coast and was washed ashore on 9 July 1935. The past
60 years of waves and weathering have reduced this once huge vessel to
a small rusting hulk.
The Pinnacles and the Cathedrals
These coloured sand cliffs have been sculptured by the wind and rain blowing
in off the Pacific Ocean. The colours - red, brown, yellow and orange
- are spectacular. The size of the cliff faces is a reminder of how large
the sand dunes on the island are.
Central Station
The Woongoolbver Creek which carries clear water through the island's
rainforest at Central Station (Central Station was once the home of over
100 people and the centre of the forestry industry on the island) is one
of the most beautiful retreats on the whole of the island. It seems as
though this area inspired the Australian Nobel Prize winner Patrick White
whose description of the island in the novel A Fringe of Leaves includes
the lines: 'Now it hushed the strangers it was initiating. At some stages
of the journey the trees were so densely massed, the columns so moss-upholstered
or lichen-encrusted, the vines suspended from them so intricately rigged,
the light barely slithered down, and then a dark, watery green, though
in rare gaps where the sassafras had been thinned out, and once where
a giant blackbutt had crashed, the intruders might have been reminded
of actual light if this had not flittered, again like moss, but dry, crumbled,
white to golden.'
Lake McKenzie
There are a number of freshwater lakes on the island including Lake Bowarrady
(120 m above sea level), Lake McKenzie, Lake Boemingen (reputedly the
largest perched lake in the world), Ocean Lake, Hidden Lake, and Coomboo
Lake. Each is notable for the clarity of the water, the purity of the
white sands on the surrounding beaches and the peacefulness of the area.
They are ideal places for picnics.