Fraser
Island Beaches
75 Mile Beach
 |
Intrepid run 33 lively, good value, different tours of Australia, including overland adventures along the East Coast. All Australia Trips | East Coast Explorer |
75 Mile Beach - race track, landing strip but hardly a bathing beach.
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Fraser
Island's biggest highway, 75 Mile Beach - incorrectly guesstimated
by Captain Cooke and actually 58 miles long - is also the local runway.
This route is popular with tour buses, particularly day trip groups
from Hervey Bay, which are keen to waste the punter's morning in the
easiest possible way. Tourists shuffle morosely down a freshwater
stream called Eli Creek, stand in less than awe before a rusting wreck
and finally gaze blankly at a small cliff stained vaguely yellow/orange.
And to cap it all punters cannot swim for fear of Tiger sharks but
are encouraged to take a short $60 flight over the island. Sharks
all around it seems. Just say nay!
Fraser's magic lies inland, with walks through the rainforest,
over monster dunes and swimming from white powder beaches in spectacular
azure freshwater lakes. But to focus on these you will need to abandon
most pathetic tours and choose one that delivers the real thing [i.e.
inland], or use your own 4WD, rented and brought over from the mainland
or rented on the island. Hervey Bay's backpacker places are well set
up to organise small groups of travellers into an economic 4WD force.
There is a reasonable selection of accommodation on the island so
try to arrange at least two nights stay and three days driving.
Here are some pictures of Fraser Island's disappointing 'attractions'.
Eli Creek's five minute watery walk. An adrenalin rush for 80 year-olds, perhaps.
The wreck of passenger ship Maheno. No touching. Yawn.
The last banal sight of a disappointingly dull morning, the Pinnacles, snore. But Lake McKenzie is amazing!
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Pictures © bugbog.com