If you like walking through bush, along fabulous lakesides, wide open beaches or under huge Tallowood and Satinay trees, feel the fresh air and see wildlife, Fraser island has it all. Last year the track was closed during storm damage and bushfires. To make sure we could go this year I rang the info centre and was told that all the tracks North of and including Central Station were open as were the camping sites. The Southern lakes were still inundated as were the walking tracks. Our plan was to take the barge from River Heads (Hervey Bay) and start at Wangoolba. That was our plan in total. The rest was wait and see what happen. Yasmine had planned all the supplies needed for a ten day hike and the backpacks were filled to the brim and some of it was hanging on the packs. (thanks for carabiners). We drove up to River Heads, a suburb of Hervey Bay, and went to the boat ramp were the barge would depart. While there we bought the tickets for our transport but had a strange experience with the girl at the desk. As walkers, you don’t have to book ahead and we asked for two return tickets. Fifty dollars each and I paid the money (cash) and waited for the tickets. “You will get the tickets when you return about half an hour before departure time” the girl said. “Ok, can we have a receipt for our payment”? Yamine asked. “I’ll recoqnise you when you return”, was the answer. She looked strange when we insisted on having a receipt, but she got us one. We had to leave the car on this side of the water and a couple of days earlier I had arranged secure parking with Shane, Real Estate agent who also runs a security parking business. It gave us a nice comfy feeling having not to think about leaving the car on the site of the road being subject to break-ins etc. Shane also brought us to the barge. We were a bit early, the timetable for the barge left us little choice and taking the 4pm barge to Wanggoolba was a bit late but 10.15am was too early. No departures in between like the barges leaving from inskip point to Hook Point that run continuously. From travel stories we heard that you can get a lift from the barge to Central Station or Hppy Valley but having seen the few cars on the barge with no space for lifters, our hope was quickly dashed and we decided to walk to Central station. We came to walk anyway. The last hour and a bit we walked in the dark with a headlight mounted on my head. At the intersection which lead on one side to the dayrecreation area and the other way to the camping two boys were trying to get their car out of the sand. They were there bogged for two hours. We couldn’t do anything to free them but our encouraging words must have helped because they drove past us 50 metres further down the track and offered us a lift. Something we would have accepted coming from the barge but now gracefully declined since we were almost at our destination. We saw all these lights on the left hand side coming from the campsite but, the entrance was still about 600 mtr further down the track. A sign at the entrance told us that we again had to go back past two general campsites before we arrived at the walkers camp. About 600 mtr back. We found a nice spot to pitch our tent, had soup and chocolate and went to sleep. We walked about 11km through the soft sand and were a bit tired. Up the next day and found a cage where you can store food I think bushrats etc can still get to it. Upposite the toiletblock was a wonderful kitchensink with water. We fastened our backpacks and planned to walk to Lake Wabby.
Fraser Island Great Walk. part 2
Yasmine discovered a gate in the fence wich lead to the road to the day-use area. If we had known that yesterday, it would have saved us 1.2km walking along the campsite and back. A couple of early walkers directed us to the creek and a short walk got us down the stairs and onto the boardwalk which has been build along the Wanggoolba Creek. When we first saw the creek we thought OMG it is so dirty. We thought there was all this white/yellowish stuff on top of the water. Coming closer though, The water was so clear, we didn’t see it at first and only saw the colours of the sandy bottom. This is absolutely the clearest creek you’ll ever come across. The boarwalk is great and from here you can go either to the track which leads to Lake McKenzie or the one we took, to Pile Valley. The track was good. Not that loose sand we were walking on yesterday but nice and firm although heaps of small holes that were digged by those small animals that inhabit Fraser Island. Some uphill walking but not bad. At Pile Valley we saw a big tree trunk waiting for us to have a rest and we decided to have our coffee break. Pile Valley was declared a “beauty spot” in 1937. Before that, the massive Satinay trees were felled and their timber was used for heavy construction work as well as for furniture. The bark was resistant to marine borers and the trunks were ideal for use as marine piles. An empty 4WD bus arrived. The driver told me that he was waiting for people who walked the stretch from Central Station to Pile Valley and bring them back to where they came from. If you like to do some day walks, it’s nice to know that it can be done this way and only carry a daypack. Some more cars passed by on their way to Lake McKenzie but we packed up and followed the walking track to Lake Wabby. The path slowly got steeper and over a distance of about 6km the elevation was 110mtr until we reached the intersection with the trail to Lake McKenzie. From here, the track went up another 30 mtr over 1km and then steep down. Around 3.15 pm we reached the Lake Wabby walkers campsite and found a nice spot to set up our tent for the night. All tent sites are really good, some are suitable for two tents and every site has dingo safe food lockers. After we were settled we went to the lookout. This is about 600m from the
campsite while a toiletblock is about a 120m steep walk away. Here we filled our camelbacks. Coming at the lookout the view is just stunning. You’ll be surprised by seeing the beautiful contrasting colours of the deep blue water of Lake Wabby next to the bright yellow/white of the Hammerstone sandblow with in the distant the blue of the South Pacific Ocean behind a small belt of green from trees and shrub. Some people were swimming in the lake. After having added several images to the memory-card, we returned to the campsite and relaxed, waiting for the darkness to set in. Up early, the hike to the Valley of the Giants is about 16km not including a 1.3km side trip to the Badjala Sandblow. The track leads first past the lookout and then dives 70m to the “floor” where it divides. Following one leg would take you to Lake Wabby while, when following the other, you’ll end up at the Valley of the Giants which we intended to do. The track went slowly up and after about 11km we reached the spot where a site track leads to the Badjala Sandblow. Now it got interesting. There were still trees uprooted and blocking the path with their branches. We had to find a way to get around these obstacles without getting cut up by pins and needles from surrounding scrubs and other bushes. We reached the bottom of the sandblow and had lunch. The way back to the track was easier since we had already cut ourselves a path past the fallen trees. The rest of the track further to the Valley of the Giants went a 100m down and then up again. The campsite was empty which gave us the opportunity to pick the best spot. Here too were steel food containers to keep the dingo’s and smaller creatures, that after a quick snack, honest. A table, watertank and a very nice toiletblock were the other facilities to made our stay as comfortable as it gets here in the middle of the bush. Wake up, we’re off to Lake Garawongera. Another eventful day as we were aproaching the
If you like walking through bush, along fabulous lakesides, wide open beaches or under huge Tallowood and Satinay trees, feel the fresh air and see wildlife, Fraser island has it all. Last year the track was closed during storm damage and bushfires. To make sure we could go this year I rang the info centre and was told that all the tracks North of and including Central Station were open as were the camping sites. The Southern lakes were still inundated as were the walking tracks. Our plan was to take the barge from River Heads (Hervey Bay) and start at Wangoolba. That was our plan in total. The rest was wait and see what happen. Yasmine had planned all the supplies needed for a ten day hike and the backpacks were filled to the brim and some of it was hanging on the packs. (thanks for carabiners). We drove up to River Heads, a suburb of Hervey Bay, and went to the boat ramp were the barge would depart. While there we bought the tickets for our transport but had a strange experience with the girl at the desk. As walkers, you don’t have to book ahead and we asked for two return tickets. Fifty dollars each and I paid the money (cash) and waited for the tickets. “You will get the tickets when you return about half an hour before departure time” the girl said. “Ok, can we have a receipt for our payment”? Yamine asked. “I’ll recoqnise you when you return”, was the answer. She looked strange when we insisted on having a receipt, but she got us one. We had to leave the car on this side of the water and a couple of days earlier I had arranged secure parking with Shane, Real Estate agent who also runs a security parking business. It gave us a nice comfy feeling having not to think about leaving the car on the site of the road being subject to break-ins etc. Shane also brought us to the barge. We were a bit early, the timetable for the barge left us little choice and taking the 4pm barge to Wanggoolba was a bit late but 10.15am was too early. No departures in between like the barges leaving from inskip point to Hook Point that run continuously. From travel stories we heard that you can get a lift from the barge to Central Station or Hppy Valley but having seen the few cars on the barge with no space for lifters, our hope was quickly dashed and we decided to walk to Central station. We came to walk anyway. The last hour and a bit we walked in the dark with a headlight mounted on my head. At the intersection which lead on one side to the dayrecreation area and the other way to the camping two boys were trying to get their car out of the sand. They were there bogged for two hours. We couldn’t do anything to free them but our encouraging words must have helped because they drove past us 50 metres further down the track and offered us a lift. Something we would have accepted coming from the barge but now gracefully declined since we were almost at our destination. We saw all these lights on the left hand side coming from the campsite but, the entrance was still about 600 mtr further down the track. A sign at the entrance told us that we again had to go back past two general campsites before we arrived at the walkers camp. About 600 mtr back. We found a nice spot to pitch our tent, had soup and chocolate and went to sleep. We walked about 11km through the soft sand and were a bit tired. Up the next day and found a cage where you can store food I think bushrats etc can still get to it. Upposite the toiletblock was a wonderful kitchensink with water. We fastened our backpacks and planned to walk to Lake Wabby.
Fraser Island Great Walk. part 2
Yasmine discovered a gate in the fence wich lead to the road to the day-use area. If we had known that yesterday, it would have saved us 1.2km walking along the campsite and back. A couple of early walkers directed us to the creek and a short walk got us down the stairs and onto the boardwalk which has been build along the Wanggoolba Creek. When we first saw the creek we thought OMG it is so dirty. We thought there was all this white/yellowish stuff on top of the water. Coming closer though, The water was so clear, we didn’t see it at first and only saw the colours of the sandy bottom. This is absolutely the clearest creek you’ll ever come across. The boarwalk is great and from here you can go either to the track which leads to Lake McKenzie or the one we took, to Pile Valley. The track was good. Not that loose sand we were walking on yesterday but nice and firm although heaps of small holes that were digged by those small animals that inhabit Fraser Island. Some uphill walking but not bad. At Pile Valley we saw a big tree trunk waiting for us to have a rest and we decided to have our coffee break. Pile Valley was declared a “beauty spot” in 1937. Before that, the massive Satinay trees were felled and their timber was used for heavy construction work as well as for furniture. The bark was resistant to marine borers and the trunks were ideal for use as marine piles. An empty 4WD bus arrived. The driver told me that he was waiting for people who walked the stretch from Central Station to Pile Valley and bring them back to where they came from. If you like to do some day walks, it’s nice to know that it can be done this way and only carry a daypack. Some more cars passed by on their way to Lake McKenzie but we packed up and followed the walking track to Lake Wabby. The path slowly got steeper and over a distance of about 6km the elevation was 110mtr until we reached the intersection with the trail to Lake McKenzie. From here, the track went up another 30 mtr over 1km and then steep down. Around 3.15 pm we reached the Lake Wabby walkers campsite and found a nice spot to set up our tent for the night. All tent sites are really good, some are suitable for two tents and every site has dingo safe food lockers. After we were settled we went to the lookout. This is about 600m from the campsite while a toiletblock is about a 120m steep walk away. Here we filled our camelbacks. Coming at the lookout the view is just stunning. You’ll be surprised by seeing the beautiful contrasting colours of the deep blue water of Lake Wabby next to the bright yellow/white of the Hammerstone sandblow with in the distant the blue of the South Pacific Ocean behind a small belt of green from trees and shrub. Some people were swimming in the lake. After having added several images to the memory-card, we returned to the campsite and relaxed, waiting for the darkness to set in. Up early, the hike to the Valley of the Giants is about 16km not including a 1.3km side trip to the Badjala Sandblow. The track leads first past the lookout and then dives 70m to the “floor” where it divides. Following one leg would take you to Lake Wabby while, when following the other, you’ll end up at the Valley of the Giants which we intended to do. The track went slowly up and after about 11km we reached the spot where a site track leads to the Badjala Sandblow. Now it got interesting. There were still trees uprooted and blocking the path with their branches. We had to find a way to get around these obstacles without getting cut up by pins and needles from surrounding scrubs and other bushes. We reached the bottom of the sandblow and had lunch. The way back to the track was easier since we had already cut ourselves a path past the fallen trees. The rest of the track further to the Valley of the Giants went a 100m down and then up again. The campsite was empty which gave us the opportunity to pick the best spot. Here too were steel food containers to keep the dingo’s and smaller creatures, that after a quick snack, honest. A table, watertank and a very nice toiletblock were the other facilities to made our stay as comfortable as it gets here in the middle of the bush. Wake up, we’re off to Lake Garawongera. Another eventful day as we were aproaching the If you like walking through bush, along fabulous lakesides, wide open beaches or under huge Tallowood and Satinay trees, feel the fresh air and see wildlife, Fraser island has it all. Last year the track was closed during storm damage and bushfires. To make sure we could go this year I rang the info centre and was told that all the tracks North of and including Central Station were open as were the camping sites. The Southern lakes were still inundated as were the walking tracks. Our plan was to take the barge from River Heads (Hervey Bay) and start at Wangoolba. That was our plan in total. The rest was wait and see what happen. Yasmine had planned all the supplies needed for a ten day hike and the backpacks were filled to the brim and some of it was hanging on the packs. (thanks for carabiners). We drove up to River Heads, a suburb of Hervey Bay, and went to the boat ramp were the barge would depart. While there we bought the tickets for our transport but had a strange experience with the girl at the desk. As walkers, you don’t have to book ahead and we asked for two return tickets. Fifty dollars each and I paid the money (cash) and waited for the tickets. “You will get the tickets when you return about half an hour before departure time” the girl said. “Ok, can we have a receipt for our payment”? Yamine asked. “I’ll recoqnise you when you return”, was the answer. She looked strange when we insisted on having a receipt, but she got us one. We had to leave the car on this side of the water and a couple of days earlier I had arranged secure parking with Shane, Real Estate agent who also runs a security parking business. It gave us a nice comfy feeling having not to think about leaving the car on the site of the road being subject to break-ins etc. Shane also brought us to the barge. We were a bit early, the timetable for the barge left us little choice and taking the 4pm barge to Wanggoolba was 2