Fraser Island

From Noosa, we headed up to Rainbow Beach; mostly used as a departure point to Fraser Island, Rainbow has all the features a backpacker requires, but none of the charm of Noosa. We arrived with enough time to sleep, ice our groceries, and store our van before getting picked up for our excursion to Fraser Island. Fraser is known as the world's largest sand island, and is the only place on the planet where rain forest grows straight out of the sand. Eliza Fraser, her husband James, and their crew wrecked on the island on their way from England in the mid 19th century. Part of the crew headed north, but Eliza and James headed south where the came into contact with the Aborigines, who were already living on the island. James was killed and Eliza was held hostage. After 9 months, Englishmen came looking for the crew and recognized Eliza immediately--a white woman among natives. She returned to England but ultimately came back to Australia, the country that named an island for her.

The island contains some stunning and unique spots. We first trekked over a long sand dune that stretched to the point of desert. At its peak, it descended into a perfect sledding hill, and ended in cool, dark blue water, edged with leafy, green trees. On our second day on the island, we drove down a long stretch of coast, coined 75 mile beach, stopping to check out the colored sands*, the Maheno shipwreck, and a lookout that revealed sea turtles and manta rays. The island's biggest draw, Lake Mackenzie, deserves the hype. The water is crystal clear and aquamarine. The beach was packed with young Europeans drinking the beauty and the local beer, living up all that the island had to offer.

*The colored sands, known as the Pinnacles, are a sacred Aboriginal women's site. Legend has it that a young woman fell in love with a rainbow. A loyal lover, the rainbow appeared day after day without fail. In time, an evil man captured her and kept her against her will. She ran away, but to no avail. The evil man followed her, throwing his boomerang after her to bring her back, but her lover intervened. The rainbow came to the young girl's defense, but before the rainbow succeeded, the boomerang collided with it, causing the rainbow to explode, coloring the sand below in reds and deep oranges. The young girl escaped and Aboriginal women now view these sands as a memorial to women's spirit and power.

To see photos of Fraser Island, please click me