Fraser Island Queensland Information for Travellers
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
The 1600 sq km Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island, and despite the fact that it mainly consists of sand, it supports some variable vegetation and land forms from rainforests to colourful rocks, deep freshwater lakes and endless beaches. It is off the coast of Hervey Bay in Queensland, and most of it is covered by the Great Sandy National Park. Here are some Fraser Island pictures and travel information, and in the end of the page is a map of Fraser Island.
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Dingo on Fraser Island. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Queensland: Geology The world-heritage listed Fraser Island has got a unique geology. It happens to be in a spot off the coast of Queensland, where ocean currents bring all the sand eroded from the Great Dividing Range, as far as from Blue Mountains in New South Wales. All that sand forms some complex dune systems which are constantly changing over the geological time, and some of it has turned into colourful sandstone which you can see in Coloured Sands and Red Canyon. Vegetation is as variable as the geology, with lush rainforests in the central parts of the island and pandanus palms along the coasts.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Animals of Fraser Island: Dingo and Other Animals There is also some wildlife to watch – among the 350 species of birds are kookaburras, cockatoos, pelicans and many species of birds of prey. Animals easy to see are bats, possums, wallabies and echidnas; and off the coast it’s easy to see whales and dolphins. Fraser Island is interesting because there are no kangaroos; and there are lots of dingoes. The island is the most classic place in Australia to see dingoes, and the dingoes here are the most pure-breed, because domestic dogs are not allowed on the island to prevent cross-breeding. There have also been a few dingo attacks on humans and feeding dingoes is illegal.
Kingfisher Resort - Fraser Island Information Kingfisher Bay is a classic place to start a Fraser Island trip. It’s a small town with a few amenities such as a petrol station, grocery shop and accommodation like Kingfisher Bay Resort.
Kingfisher Resort. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Four Wheel Drive You can get around the Kingfisher Bay area by bushwalking, but to see the whole island, you will need a vehicle. You can not walk all of Fraser Island - it is too big. There are no sealed roads and most of the roads are fairly adventurous so you need a 4WD. Fuel is expensive on the island so if you bring your vehicle along from the mainland, get the petrol from Hervey Bay.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Queensland: Southern Walks Not far from Kingfisher Bay, in the central part of the island is Central Station, where many bushwalks start. Amongst vine forest and kauri pines is a ranger station, and if you take a southern walk towards Dillie Village (21km), you come to some sand dunes and an old logging road through tall forest that (after 7.5km) takes you to Lake Benaroon. Further the vegetation changes to woodland along another 7.5km track to Lake Boomanjin. From here, it is another 6.3km through some open forest and eucalypt woodlands to Dillie Village, where there are accommodation and camping. You can also camp at both of the lakes.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Lake Wabby and Eurong Beach Fraser Island Queensland Back at the Central Station, there is another long southern bushwalk to Garrys Anchorage, past Wanggoolba Creek. East of the Central Station are walks to Lake Wabby – the deepest lake on the island, and Eurong – a small settlement with a petrol station and a shop.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Lake McKenzie Fraser Island Queensland North of the Central station is one of the most popular places on Fraser Island - Lake McKenzie. While the ocean water around the island is too dangerous to swim because of sharks and rip currents, here you can spend time sunbathing and swimming in the bright blue water of this beautiful freshwater lake.
Lake McKenzie. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Queensland: Walks to Lake McKenzie There are two ways to get to Lake McKenzie from the Central Station. The shorter track (6.6km) takes you through some tall open forest, Banksia woodland and Melaleuca wetland past Basin Lake. The longer one (11.3km) follows an old forestry tramline through cool, shady rainforest to the Lake McKenzie.
Great Sandy National Park. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Walk: Great Sandy National Park You can also walk from Lake McKenzie to Lake Wabby (11.9km), past some east coast sand dunes and a lookout point. From Lake Wabby there is a walking track (16.2km) to the Valley of the Giants, where there are some of the island’s tallest trees. There is a lookout point where you can see the vast sand dune Badjala Sandblow. From the Valley of the Giants, there’s another 13.1km track past a historical logging site to Lake Garawongera, and from there there is a final 6.6km to Happy Valley, a little settlement with a shop, eatery and accommodation.
Eli Creek. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Drive to Eli Creek - Fraser Island Queensland North from Happy Valley you are best off getting around by a vehicle. You can drive the Seventy Five Mile Beach with a 4WD and it’s a lot of fun. North from Happy Valley is Eli Creek – the biggest stream on the eastern coast of the island and a nice place to have a dip. Not far from it is the most famous shipwreck on Fraser Island - Maheno Wreck.
Maheno shipwreck. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Queensland: The Pinnacles Further north are the coloured sands and eroded cliffs at The Pinnacles, and two camp grounds just north of the Pinnacles: K’gari, and Frasers at Cathedral Beach. Inland are Lake Coomboo and Lake Allom, and north along the coast is Red Canyon with Dundubara camp ground and a walking track to Wungul Sandblow and Lake Bowarrady.
Coloured Sands. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fishing Fraser Island: Seventy Five Mile Beach Then there is more driving along the Seventy Five Mile Beach until you get to Indian Head, where you have good views over the ocean and can watch turtles, sharks, manta rays, and dolphins and other whales (between August and October) passing by. Seventy Five Mile Beach is also a great place to fish.
Indian Head. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Queensland: Champagne Rock Pools Just north of Indian Head is Champagne Rock Pools – the only safe place for saltwater swimming on Fraser Island. North from here are Middle Rocks, and Waddy Point where there are gas barbeques, toilets, tap water and camping ground. Any further north from Waddy Point, the beach gets fairly remote and hire vehicles are not allowed past Waddy Point.
Champagne pool. Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Join a Fraser Island Tour If you are not sure about your four-wheel driving, you can join different tours on Fraser Island. The Kingfisher Bay Resort and Fraser Island Company have tours to different parts of the island, overnight tours include accommodation and some even the transfer from Hervey Bay. Backpackers’ hostels often have self-driving tours, where you can join a group of 10-ish backpackers, it’s cheaper because it doesn’t include a driver, and it’s a good way to meet other travellers.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Accommodation and Camping on Fraser Island Queensland There are camping grounds scattered around the whole island, so you can camp almost anywhere. There are also a few other accommodation such as Eurong Beach Resort and Fraser Island Beach Houses in Eurong, Fraser Island Retreat in Happy Valley and Kingfisher Bay Resort in Kingfisher Bay.
Courtesy of Tourism Queensland
Fraser Island Ferry Services You can catch a ferry to Fraser Island from a few different places. The most usual way is to catch the Fraser II from Urangan Marina in Hervey Bay to Kingfisher Bay on Fraser island. You can also catch a ferry from Hervey Bay to Moon Point on the western side of the island. If you bring your own transport, vehicle ferries go from River Heads, south of Hervey Bay, to two places on the island: Kingfisher Bay and Wanggoolba Creek on Fraser Island.
Here's a map of Fraser Island Queensland where I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.
NOTE: This website is written in British English, which is the English we use in Australia. You will find words like "traveller", "harbour" and "realise", and they are all correct in the language used in Australia.
