Moving around Fraser Island.

Cyclone Marcia was the reason that we had to cut our family trip up the Queensland coast short. Unfortunately our visit to Agnes Water, 1770 and eventually LadyMusgrave Island at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef will have to wait for another time. But we managed to complete our first visit to Fraser Island. The island’s native name is K'gari and it is a unique place listed as a UNESCO world heritage site that holds a significant environmental and cultural value.  It is the world’s largest sand island, made up of sand that Pacific Ocean currents carried from the rivers of Northern New South Wales and Southern Queensland.

It is an extremely beautiful place with a fairly unique and fascinating transport system. You can get to Fraser Island either by a small ferry or by a small plane. We chose to take the ferry from River Heads near Hervey Bay to Wanggoolba Creek named Fraser Venture. The other options to arrive to Fraser Island were to take a different ferry from River Heads to Kingfisher Bay or a ferry from Inskip Point near Rainbow Beach to Hook Point at the southernmost point of the island. All three ferries are very small and can carry only a small number of cars and trucks.

To drive around Fraser Island you need a 4WD and not just a 4WD but a fairly high clearance 4WD with low range capacity and preferably new and wide tyres.  You will also need a vehicle permit that can be purchased online or by phone. The road network in the island is all sand and it is divided in two very different parts: Inland sand tracks and beach.  Driving on them requires different vehicle setup and specifically different tyre pressure and 4wd gear range settings. It offers a very different driving experience, driving at different speeds and at a different ride roughness.

Driving off the ferry at Wanggoolba Creek we followed the sand track towards Central Station. Wanggoolba Creek was a Butchulla woman’s area and birthing place where men were excluded. While the name usually refers to a train station, Central Station is an old lodging village and the headquarters of forestry operations from 1920 until the late 1950s. No matter how wide your 4WD tyres are, you need to deflate them to around 20 psi (depending on the vehicle and tyre make). You also need to engage low range before entering the sand tracks.  We visited Fraser island outside the school holiday season so traffic on the tracks was not too heavy and we avoided too many encounters of opposing traffic on the narrow sections of the tracks. Driving on sand tracks has a 30km/h speed limit and all other road rules apply. In practice it is quite difficult to reach even that speed as most of the drive is quite bumpy due to underground tree routes that give a wave like look along the track.

Our next stop after Central Station was Lake McKenzie or as is known by its Aboriginal name Boorangoora. A sandy beach of almost pure silica gives an exotic – paradise like look to the place.  Next stop from there was the eastern beach.

When planning your trip to Fraser Island is good to know the tide times. Driving on the beach is only safe two hours each side of the low tide. Driving two hours each side of the high tide is extremely dangerous and lots of cars have been taken by the Pacific Ocean. Arriving at Eurong you should re-inflate your tyres to the suggested by the manufacturer pressure. Driving on the beach is much more like driving on asphalt road. The magnificent 75 mile beach is one of the island’s main attractions. The speed limit on the beach is 80kms/h but you have to drive very cautiously and be aware of beach goers, deep washouts from creeks flowing into the sea and light airplanes landing on that same beach that you drive. 

Of course in such a sensitive environment there are always concerns on whether the transport system of driving around in 4WD cars and buses is the most sustainable and eco-friendly solution. In the same time driving on the beach and on sand tracks has not been free of crashes. Turning the sand tracks into regular roads is next to impossible due to the distraction such a measure will bring to ecosystems and habitats. Even upgrading the existing tracks will attract more vehicle traffic, resulting in a spiral of more road degradation and more expensive maintenance. Ideas about alternative transport systems like a light rail system, have been tabled in the past but were never investigated in depth.