Fraser Island

Before I’d come to Australia I didn’t know anything about Fraser Island. But it is a must go destinations when travelling the east coast, not just to see the beauty of the island, but also to enjoy a tour completely different from any other. I can guarantee you will make memories to last a life time. 
Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island and has some of the most beautiful rainforests and lakes that you will ever see. There are two types of tours you can do on Fraser Island which is a guided bus tour, or a 4WD tour. The guided bus tours vary from just a day trip or there are some which allow you to stay a few nights on the island. The over night stay tours allow you to see more and do more whilst you are on the island. Where as on the 4WD tours, it is a tour group of about 30 odd. You drive around the island in these great 4×4 cars, which seat up to 8 people. You each get a turn to drive the car on the island (t & c’s – you have to be 21 and have had a drivers license for 2 years) which is one of the biggest selling points of the tour and why it makes it so different to everything else. The 4WD tours tend to attract travellers, whether they are on their own or in a group. Where as the bus tours tend to attract tourists who just want to come to take pictures. 
We did a 4WD tour and I can honestly say it was the highlight of my time in Australia. I absolutely loved every minute of it, and if I could I would 100% do it all again! We booked our tour with Nomads, which was a 3 day 2 night tour. We picked this tour as we saw that it had really good reviews and was recommended to us through a friend. 

Car 3 SQUAD

Day 1 – The first day we spent the majority of the time getting to know everyone on the tour, you get put into a group of 8 which is then the people that are in your car for the trip. The tour guides are really reasonable on the trip so if you have friends that you want to be grouped with, just tell them and they should be able to put you together. After we had the cars sorted we took the ferry over to the island and we experienced driving on sand for the first time; which by the way to a lot more thrilling than it actually sounds. We continued to drive through the rainforest until we reached the beauty that is Lake McKenzie. Lake McKenzie was definitely one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen, the water is a bright blue colour and is crystal clear. If you’re lucky, you even see turtles in their sometimes! After that we drove to our accommodation and retired for the evening. 

Lake McKenzie

Day 2 – We were very lucky as our second day on the island, as it fell in line with Australia Day! This just meant that everyone’s mood almost tripled. We spent the morning/ early afternoon at Eli Creek playing volley ball and floating down the creek in rubber rings (not a bad way to start the day). We then went to the island shipwreck which is one of the most famous sites of the island. Then we went to this place called Indian Head where we climbed to the top of this cliff, our tour guide told us about some of the history of the spot and how important it was to the Aboriginal people; the views were phenomenal as well. Our guide also told us that you can sometimes see sharks hunting fish from the cliff, unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to see that. Mid afternoon we were taken to the Champagne Pools, which are these big rock pools that are filled up with sea water every time a wave comes into shaw. After we spent a couple of hours there, we headed back to our resort for the evening. Because it was Australia Day, one of the tour guides parked his truck on the beach and played music for a few hours in the late evening. If you ever get the chance to see the stars from Fraser Island, take the opportunity up because they were simply beautiful; you can see the milky way so clearly! 

Indian Head

Day 3 – On our final day on the island (waaah) we began the morning with a 45 minute hike (not great with a hangover) to a tea tree lake. In the lake there are thousands of little fish that nibble at all the dead skin on your body, the feeling is a little strange at first but after a while you get used to it. The fish are only tiny and will swim away from you when you move around so there’s nothing to be afraid of if fish aren’t your thing. Also, because the water is infused with tea tree oil, it’s really good for your hair and skin. You get to experience having spa treatments in the middle of a sand island, who can say no to that?! After we trekked our way back to our cars, we began the sad journey back to the mainland. Fraser Island will definitely always hold a special place in my heart as being 3 of the funniest days ever. 

Rainforest

So overall, if you couldn’t tell from this post I would absolutely recommend this tour for anyone! You don’t have to do the same tour that I did, there are hundreds of company’s which offer different variations of the Fraser Island trip. Some stay on a resort on the island, whilst others offer camping in the rainforest. Or if a day trip in more your thing/more in budget for you then go for it! Fraser Island is a treasure that should not be skipped when travelling on the east coast, or even if you’re just visiting Australia!