Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

We arrived in Hervey Bay and found a caravan park that would let us store our van for four days while we went over to Fraser Island.  We spent the day packing and shopping, ready to leave on the ferry the following morning.

Fraser Island

We had scored a great hotel deal that included the ferry price ($175 for us and the car).  It departed from River Heads and arrived on Fraser Island at Wanggoolba Creek.  When we boarded the ferry, Ben was thrilled to meet up with two kids he had made friends with in Townsville.  He played with Angus and Sophie for the whole trip over and was disappointed to find out that they were not staying in the same place with us.

Ben with his friends on the ferry to Fraser Island.

Upon arrival, we had to drive about 45 mins across the island to Eurong Resort.  All of the roads on Fraser Island are sand so a high clearance 4WD is needed. Luckily, we have one of those and it was certainly needed.  There are potholes and soft sand sections, tree roots and steep inclines.  The speed limit on the internal roads is 30kmph and you’d be hard pressed to do more than that without risking serious damage to your car.  The main ‘road’ along 75 Mile Beach is actually an official road with an 80kmph speed limit.  It is patrolled by Police and National Parks Rangers and has several sections where it doubles as an airstrip so you need to make sure you look up!

The sandy roads of Fraser Island.

One standout feature of Fraser Island is the abundance of dingo warning signs.  They are everywhere.  You literally cannot turn around without being reminded not to walk anywhere alone and to keep your children close by.  Do not run anywhere.  Do not feed the dingoes or leave food where they might be able to access it.  If you see a dingo, do not run away, stand tall and back away slowly. If attacked, fight them off aggressively because they will try to kill you.  Don’t leave bait out when you are fishing, shut it in your car.  Don’t clean your fish where dingoes might see you.  Don’t even leave food in containers on top of your car because dingoes can get up there and break them open.  The message is very clear.  And yet, we still saw stupid people throwing food scraps into the bushes and letting their kids walk around alone.  Some people just can’t be told.   

One of the many signs.

We checked into our hotel, delighted at full sized beds and a room four times the size of the caravan. We unpacked before taking a drive to Lake Birrabeen.  Lake Birrabeen is a lovely lake with white sand and clear blue water.  We had a swim and headed back for dinner.

Lake Birrabeen.

The following day we did a big drive up 75 Mile Beach.  We had to time it quite carefully as it is recommended that you only try to cross Eli Creek within two hours of low tide.  Eli Creek is close to Eurong and we had to cross it on the way up the beach and once again later in the afternoon to get back south again.  We did NOT want to feature in one of those ‘4WD is washed out to sea’ pictures.

Awesome beach driving.

We stopped off at Eli Creek on the way north.  There is a boardwalk you follow upstream and then the current is so strong that you hop in the water and float down.  Many people take inflatable tyres or boogie boards and Ben did it several times, even going upstream once out of curiosity.

Floating down Eli Creek.

You hop out and walk back up the boardwalk to the start again.

He was very excited to see his friends Angus and Sophie there too but we couldn’t stay to play for very long as we had to be back before the tide came in too far.

Our next stop was the wreck of the Maheno, a container ship with distinguished ANZAC service that had been sold to the Japanese for scrap in the 60s.  During a freak storm, it became detached from the ship towing it to Tokyo and it beached on Fraser Island.  Nobody wanted to pay to recover it so it stayed there rotting and rusting over the decades.

Maheno Wreck.

Further north was Champagne Pools, rock pools that produce champagne like bubbles when the incoming tide causes waves to break over them.  They are pretty cool and the views from the path on the way in are spectacular.

Champagne Pools.

The pools from above.

We were in a bit of a rush by then and left 30mins later than we intended to.  Lou was a bit worried about the impending high tide and what the crossing at Eli Creek would be like but it turned out to be no problem at all.  Either the high tide was a small one or their timing recommendation built in a LOT of fat because the creek wasn’t much bigger than it had been when we crossed at low tide earlier in the day. 

The following day was rainy and dreary as we ventured inland again, to Central Station and Lake McKenzie.  Central Station is a big camping area next to Wanggoolba Creek.  It was a sacred Aboriginal women’s area and later the central home of logging operations on the island (back when logging was permitted).  The remnants of an old school and some other buildings are still there and several walking tracks intersect here, making it a good spot to do some short walks.

Tree hugger Ben.

We took the track along the banks of the creek, which is shallow and crystal clear, flowing silently over pristine white sand and surrounded by lush green ferns and trees.  Everything has a covering of moss and the air has a really damp, rainforest feel.  We were all being very dingo aware and Ben picked up a big whacking stick to walk with.  He’s been watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so stuck the stick down the back of his shirt ninja style.  This amused another group of walkers, some Spanish tourists and we had a great chat to them along the way.  

Dingo stick fight!

As we arrived back at the car we saw a huge black crow ripping into the rubbish bag that the people parked next to us had put up on their roof, presumably to keep it away from dingoes.  They would come back to a very big mess. 

Scavenger Crow.

We headed to Lake McKenzie, the jewel of Fraser Island.  This is what it looks like in the brochures:

On a sunny day..

This is what it looks like on a rainy, overcast day:

Not quite so beautiful in dreary weather.

It was still lovely, but we had to use our imaginations to visualise the beauty that has it listed in ‘Top Ten Beaches of the World’.  We had a swim but it was a bit cold and windy so we didn’t say too long.

In the carpark, we saw our only dingo of the four days we were on the island.  It was a juvenile and had white socks.  It mainly skulked in the bushes, scavenging the food that people had tossed in there but it did come out for a short time to walk openly around the carpark. 

Our only dingo sighting.

We continued our drive and went to a lookout above Lake Wabby and another overlooking Stonetool Sandblow.

Lake Wabby.

Stonetool Sandblow.

Our hotel building was right next to a tennis court and Ben was keen for a game so we borrowed some equipment and had a hit.  The balls they gave us were absolutely rubbish so it was a bit hard but Ben enjoyed doing an activity we haven’t done for months.

It bucketed down rain overnight but luckily had stopped by morning.  It was still overcast but we could see the sun trying to break through.  We hadn’t been for a swim in the resort pool yet and Ben was very keen so we spent the morning there before heading out to the beach again for some fishing.   

Apparently Fraser Island is a fishing mecca but it seems that you really need proper surf rods as the incoming waves are so strong that it’s hard to cast out far enough for your rig not to just get washed back in straight away.

Lou found it too hard to fish in this surf.

While we were driving along the beach we saw an odd black and white lump of something on the sand near the waterline.  We went to investigate and found a huge ball of plastic bags all tied around each other and tangled.  It weighted at least 25 or 30 kilos.  Obviously a lot of that was sand and water and it took both of us to lift it up and carry it back up the beach to the car.  We couldn’t work out how it had got there but did our bit for the environment by taking it back to put in the bins at the resort.

Where did this lump of bags come from?

We caught the ferry back to Hervey Bay that afternoon and after unpacking washed as much sand as we could out of the undercarriage.  Jenny spent a considerable amount of time lying under the car with a hose and came out covered in dirt and leaves.  We then took the car straight to the car wash for another good wash and a thorough vacuum.  We had to make sure to wash every bit of salt water out of all the nooks and gaps and troughs under the car to prevent rust setting in.  Finally Jenny spent 30 minutes spraying the engine bay and underneath with degreaser to get out any last remnants of salt.  As a result of Jenny’s OCD about it, the underside of the car and particularly the engine bay, now look almost as clean as when we drove it out of the dealership.  You’d never know it had been through months of red dust let alone four days of solid sand and salt 4WDing. 

Hervey Bay

We intended to stay one extra day to check out Hervey Bay before continuing south but loved the feel of the place so much that we stayed an extra four.  There is a fantastic long esplanade right along the beach with a bike track running end to end.  There are cafes, playgrounds, parks, exercise stations (Ben loves those), a free water park and a small skate park.  There a several short jetties and one huge one that runs 800m out to sea.  We spent a relaxing few days riding, swimming, fishing and playing.  It was nice not to be rushing around sightseeing for a while.

Awesome water park -and free!

Warming up in the sunshine.

Down he goes..

Ben was keen to go for a ride at the bigger skate park in town so we took him there one afternoon.  There was a group of older boys there and we were blown away by how good they were.  Thanks to Ben’s interest, we have been to a lot of skate parks all over the country and the guys at Hervey Bay are by far the most talented we have seen, on BMX and scooters.  They were flipping and flying high, riding on front wheels and doing all kinds of things we usually only see on YouTube.  

One of the boys doing crazy flips.

Ben was so intimidated that he ended up just wanting to watch them and while we sat there we got talking to one of the boys, named Hayden.  He is in year 8, a great kid and when we told him that Ben wanted a skateboard for Xmas he offered to sell us his old one that was now too small.  We ended up driving him home so he could pick it up and then dropped him back with his mates.  It was a good deal and we were happy to be able to help each other out.  So now Ben has spent the last 2 days skateboarding around the caravan park, getting frustrated at not yet being able to skate over a speed bump without falling off.  We are trying to teach him patience… :-)

And another new hobby...

The Three Blonde Nomads are now reluctantly leaving Hervey Bay as we need to be home in Melbourne in 15 days.

Bundaberg - visiting the distillery

We passed through Bundaberg on our way to Hervey Bay and wanted to stop off to look at the Bundaberg Rum distillery.  As it turned out, we arrived just as a tour was starting so we grabbed tickets and joined the group.

Out the front of the distillery.

It was really awesome!  The distillery is modern looking and is surrounded by an enormously badass looking electric fence.  Right next door is a large factory with smokestacks that billow steam and vapour.  We weren’t sure if the manky smokestacks were part of the distillery until the guide told us that the factory is a sugar refinery and their by product, molasses is a key component of Bundaberg Rum.  The distillery buys the molasses and it is pumped directly into huge holding tanks from next door.   

Smoke stacks at the factory next door.

We saw the bottling and packaging area, the molasses tanks, the fermentation tanks, stills and maturation vats.  You’re not allowed to take any electronic equipment in there so we don’t have photos but if you ever go to Bundaberg, do the tour.  Lou doesn’t even like rum and she found it fascinating.  Also, as part of your ticket you get two shots at the bar at the end of the tour and can taste just about any of the rum variations they make.  Lou kindly donated her shots to Jenny and took ownership of the car keys for the rest of the day.

Shot number 4 for Jenny.  Sloshed by 3pm...

After (or before if you’re early enough) the tour you can walk through the new visitor centre / museum which has stacks of history and Bundaberg Rum memorabilia. They have the original Bundy Bear costume and a TV that plays one of their popular ads showing a group of singing men building a ship which promptly sinks as soon as they put it in the ocean.   Ben loved it and watched it at least 20 times.  The only way we could get him out of there was by videoing the TV and promising him that he could watch it again in the car!

Mesmerised by the Bundy Ad.

 

Ben couldn't watch this TV commercial enough

We left Bundaberg and headed to Hervey Bay where we would base ourselves in preparation for a few days on Fraser Island.

1770

The town of Seventeen Seventy is named for the year that Lt James Cook landed there (he went on to become Captain James Cook).  Several people had recommended we go there so we drove through the small town of Agnes Waters and arrived at the beach front caravan park at 1770.

The park was jam packed and the sites are small so we were lucky that guys from the two sites in front of ours saw our big van and moved their cars for us.  Nevertheless, it was still a very narrow, tricky spot to back into.  Enter Jenny and her magical reversing powers.  I think I’ve mentioned how you always have an audience when you are parking your van and this time was no different.  She drove forward and then backed the van in perfectly, first go.  As Lou was at the rear of the van watching for how far back we could go the couple next door who were sitting at their table watching remarked “That was really well done. What an amazing job!”  We had at least two other people drop by over the next 24 hours to congratulate her as well.  

Sunset at 1770 beach.

Ben was very excited to see that the tent next door was home to a little girl playing on an iPad.  He immediately made friends and they went for a ride on their scooters.  Her name is Maya and she is also an only child and her parents were glad to have a playmate for her too.

We had dinner at the caravan park bistro and Ben ordered nuggets and chips.  Not only did they bring out his meal 5 mins after the adult's meals, they served him the biggest bowl of chips we have ever seen.  It was ridiculous and we ended up filling an enormous takeaway container and giving it to our neighbours (Maya's parents) so the food didn’t go to waste. 

We got up early the next day and went for a walk along the beach.  In addition to stinger warning signs, they have stonefish warnings too, which was nice for a bit of variety but not nice because stonefish can cause you excruciating pain and sometimes death.  The tide was out anyway and the ground underneath was muddy and rocky so we stayed up on the sand.  It really is beautiful to look out over the water there and we followed the walking trail through the bush to a monument to Lt James Cook. 

The James Cook monument.

That afternoon we drove around to Agnes Waters and found a much better beach.  It had surf and was patrolled so we had a swim and Ben did some great boogie boarding.  There is a caravan park right next to the beach and it looked more spacious and nicer than where we were camped.  We made a mental note to stay there next time we come here.  

Ben boogie boarding at Agnes Waters.

Later we drove up to the headland to see the views from above 1770 and out across the ocean.

View from the 1770 headlands.

Ben with the anchor of the ship "Countess Russell' which was wrecked here in 1873.

Maya’s parents, Ruth and Mick told us about a great walk that Maya had loved so we got up early the next day to do it before we packed up to leave.  It is called the ‘Paperbark Walk’ and is through a forest of paperbark trees.  Part of the trail involves hopping across round stumps in the ground and it has a real fairyland feel.  It’s only 400m around a circuit and once we had done it one way Ben insisted we do it in reverse too.  It was really lovely.

The lovely paperbark walk.

Yee Haaarr! Kinka Beach and a rodeo in Rockhampton.

We headed to a place near Rockhampton called Kinka Beach.  On the way we left Daniel a geo cache under a tree on the back roads of a small town.  He would be passing that way in a few days and we hoped he would be able to find Ben’s gift of a drawing, a lollipop and a bag of popcorn.  We sent Ross the GPS coordinates and set them the challenge of locating it.

A present for Daniel.

We left it hidden under this tree.

We had to drive through Rockhampton to get to Kinka Beach and stopped off at the big shopping centre to get a few things.  While we were there Jenny discovered that there was a rodeo on in Rockhampton that night!  We were very excited because we have wanted to see a rodeo since we started the trip but have always arrived in town a week after they’ve been on.  We decided to head to Kinka Beach, set up camp and then drive the 40mins back to ‘Rocky’ that evening.  It was a bit of extra driving but meant that we wouldn’t have to move the van two nights in a row.

The ‘Top Gun Rodeo’ was awesome.  It was held at the Great Western Hotel, which has a rodeo ring out the back.  There were cowboys and cowgirls everywhere – big hats, dusty boots, checked shirts and diamante studded belts aplenty!  We saw horse agility trials, steer riding, bull riding, bucking horses and little kid cowboys on small bucking bulls.  The thing that struck us most was how tough those competitors are. 

Agility time trials.

One of the big bulls.

They get thrown hard and just get up and scramble off.  A few of them got kicked or stood on by the bulls, some got their hands caught in their leather straps and looked like they’d had their elbows or shoulders dislocated and others got mushed against the fence.  They just get up and limp off or stagger away cradling an arm and not one other competitor or official goes over to see if they are ok.  I saw one guy squatting out the back, hunched over in pain as he held an injured arm and about a dozen people all walked around him not even sparing him a look.  We didn’t actually think there were medics in attendance until one guy got bucked off and kicked in the chest.  He didn’t get up and then some St John’s volunteers appeared with a stretcher and carted him off to hospital.  We have a new saying now – cowboy tough.  When Ben hurts himself and we want him to be brave we remind him of the courageous cowboys.

It was a late night and we had a lazy morning the next day.  Kinka Beach is nice and quiet and we went for a walk along the beach. Ben made friends with some people with dogs and then played with their 7yo son. 

Kinka Beach.

We found a whole dead stingray stuck in the mud, complete with barb still in the tail.

The caravan park had a pet emu.

That afternoon we drove through Rosslyn Bay and the Marina before heading to nearby Yeppoon where there was a skate park.

We had a message from Ross, Barb and Daniel to say that they had moved more quickly than they anticipated and were nearly at Yeppoon.  We laughed, accused them of stalking us and told them to meet us at the skate park.  We don’t know why we bother to say goodbye to each other anymore.

Daniel and Ben scooting.

They came back to Kinka Beach with us and stayed the night there.  They had found the geo cache we left them and Ross showed us an app that lists all the different geo caches that people have left all over the country.  The idea is to find it, write your name on the log and then put it back for others to find.

We left Ross, Barb and Daniel (again!) and headed towards the town of 1770.  They were staying in Yeppoon for a couple of days and headed back that way.

We stopped at a geo cache site along the highway and found the hidden tube in the top of a roadside pole. 

Someone had cut the top off the pole and hidden a tube inside.

It was really fun and when we stopped for afternoon tea at a rest area later on, we found another in the frame of a nearby billboard. 

Another find in the billboard frame.

That rest stop was right next to someone’s front yard and we enjoyed looking at their incredible metal sculptures before we set off again.

Awesome metal art.

There were at least a dozen sculptures.

 

Sailing the Whitsundays

At the start of the trip, we had tossed around the idea of chartering a yacht to sail around the Whitsundays.  One of Jenny’s friends had done it and said it was awesome.  It was pretty expensive though and neither of us have sailed a boat that big (strangely, they’ll still rent you one though.  We just didn’t feel that confident.)

We’d spoken to Ross and Barb about it and they were keen too.  Luckily Ross has sailed a fair bit (smaller sail boats but enough to be confident) so we decided to charter a yacht together and spend 4 days sailing ourselves around the amazing Whitsunday Islands.  We highly recommend it - it was absolutely awesome!

Our boat was a 41 foot Bavaria yacht called Y-Knot.  It has three cabins, 2 toilet/showers, 2 sails and an enormously oversized steering wheel which we all joked about.

On board our home for the next four days.

We moved into the yacht on a Sunday afternoon, packed all our gear away and stayed overnight in the marina.  The boys shared the cabin up the front of the boat while the other two cabins were at the back.   

The boys in their snug sleeping quarters.

We had a 4 hour briefing the following morning.  One of the guys from the charter company came on board and showed us around and how some of the things worked.  He was a bit casual about it but we felt confident with Ross’ experience and Jenny’s very thorough study of the manual they had given us.  We sailed out of the marina with him on board and practiced putting up and taking down the sails, dropping and lifting the anchor and attaching / detaching from a mooring buoy. When he deemed us capable he hopped in his dinghy and sped away.  If was a bit of a surreal moment when he left.  We all looked at each other and said ‘right then, off we go in this huge yacht..’.

Ross was an awesome skipper and he and Jenny navigated us around without any issues.  There are buoys, sand bars, reefs and rocks to avoid and we didn’t have any problems.  We all took turns at steering and each of the adults was responsible for a particular job on board. (Ross – skipper.  Jenny – navigation.  Barb – anchor and mooring. Lou – looking after the dinghy that was tethered to the boat.)

Helmsman Ben!

We sailed to Nara Inlet that first afternoon and saw dolphins along the way.  You have to be anchored by 4pm each day and we found a sheltered spot with plenty of room around us.  The sunset was spectacular and the boys had a swim off the back of the yacht. 

Gorgeous sunset.

Inflatable fruit ninjas.

We had bought them some inflatables (Daniel had a big round lime and Ben had a giant strawberry which he named Logan) and they had a great time jumping from the yacht onto the blowup fruit.  

Jenny swam with them and then went out in the dinghy with Ross to snorkel on the reef.  Lou and Barb did some fishing and didn’t see many fish but did see loads of squid.  Barb caught one but the others eluded her squid jig.

At this point any fish is a good fish to catch.  This guy went back of course.

Every morning you must check in with the base station on the radio and tell them where you are going that day.  They broadcast the weather and based on conditions will approve your intended route or suggest a better location if they think that winds or tides will be unsuitable where you want to go. Our route was approved so we set off towards Tongue Bay.  We set the sails that day and had lots of fun sailing rather than just motoring along.  We saw a big mackerel jump up about 3m out of the water next to the yacht.

Us under sail - shot from Ross' drone.

We moored in Tongue Bay amongst a load of tourist boats and did two trips in the dinghy to ferry us all to shore. 

Dinghy ride into shore.

We left the dinghy and walked up a well known trail that takes you to a lookout with spectacular views of Whitehaven Beach which was on the next island, across a channel.  It is absolutely breathtaking.  The deep blue of the water and pristine white sand is unforgettable.   

Amazing views!

Something caught our attention...

We walked down to the beach of the island we were on and could see small sharks swimming in the shallows.  Jenny had a quick swim and Ross flew his drone to get some great aerial footage.

Down on the beach.

Another drone shot from Ross.

Ross' drone footage at Hill Inlet

We went back to the yacht, intending to sail over to Whitehaven Beach but the wind had picked up and it was getting really choppy the further we went in that direction.  We also had a technical issue when Ross suddenly lost power to the GPS and all the components at the helm.  We radioed base for assistance and they ran through all the switches we needed to check.  When we switched one of them on the problem was resolved.  We have no idea how it suddenly got switched off and think that Jenny must have accidentally lent on it when she had been in the area a short time before.  With the rougher seas and the time we lost fixing the controls we realised that we wouldn’t have time to go to Whitehaven and still get to our overnight stop by 4pm. We were bummed not to go there and headed to Mocona Inlet where we would anchor for the night. 

 

Heading to Macona inlet (link to Ross' video)

 

Drone footage on the way to Macona inlet from Whitehaven Bay

 

On the way we saw some green turtles.  They were huge and slow and it was great to see them out in the  middle of the ocean.

We had better luck fishing that night, catching a few small ones but were teased for hours by a school of huge fish that circled under the light at the rear of the yacht.  We tried all kinds of bait and lures and even some very unorthodox fishing methods but weren’t able to catch one. 

This was the super moon night.

The following morning the wind had really picked up and there white caps on the waves all around us.  The yacht bounced up and down and when we were at the helm we got splashed as the prow bounced up and down over the waves.  Poor Jenny had picked up a virus and was down below in bed all day coughing her lungs out.  It can’t have been pleasant in those rough seas.

The seas got rougher.

We put the sails up again for a while and later when the wind had quietened a little, Ross put the drone up to film us sailing.  It was hard to launch from moving platform and Barb had to hold on to it and let go just at the right time.  ‘Catching’ it when it was coming back to the yacht was a feat in itself too.

Unorthodox drone launching.

We sailed to Manta Ray Bay and did some great snorkelling before heading back through Hook Passage to check out the area around Hayman Island.  We saw a huge school of tuna and threw a line in but they managed to avoid us yet again.

After a snorkel, Ben collected pistol shaped coral.

The guy who had done our briefing recommended we stay at Stonehaven Bay near Hayman so we hooked onto a mooring buoy for our last night.  The wind was still pretty strong and were confused as to why he had said that place had good shelter.  We tried to fish and caught one reasonable tuskfish but the boat kept swinging around and tangling our lines in the mooring rope and the last thing we wanted was to tangle them on the rudder or keel. 

A better sized fish..

It was an awful night, the boat bumping against the buoy all night and even riding right over the top of it a few times.  We swung around it this way and that and we had to tie down the sun shelter over the helm so it didn’t get damaged in the wind.  No-one got much sleep with the wind gusting strongly and the buoy bumping the hull all night.  

The following morning we headed back to the marina in strong winds.  The boys loved getting splashed by the waves and when we bounced up and down on the waves it was like being on a trampoline.  We were amazed at how different it was to the first day’s sailing when the sea had been as smooth as glass and we had given the boys (and Lou) a ride being pulled along in the dinghy. 

Lou's turn at the helm.

Jenny in charge.

When we arrived back at the marina one of the staff came out to meet us in a dinghy and took the helm so steer us to the refuelling dock and then into the tight berth at the marina.  He did an inspection and then we unpacked everything, heading back to the Big 4.  Poor Jenny still felt sick and went straight to bed.

We said farewell (again!) to Ross, Barb and Daniel the following day.  They traveled with us to Mackay where we stopped at a park that had ducks and turtles in a pond.  The boys had loads of fun feeding them and having a final play together before we continued south and R,B & D found a spot to stop for the night.