Wednesday 16th March - Fraser Island

On our walk yesterday afternoon we found the beginning of a walk we thought was the walk to Rainbow Gorge.  This morning we planned to have a look on a walk before breakfast.  As it turned out it was actually a walk across the island and fairly overgrown.  After a few hundred metres walk to the top of a hill, we decided that would be enough.  Saw a pretty impressive spider along the way.  We presumed it was a Golden Orb.

Back to camp for breakfast just as the rain started to come down.  This changed the plans a little and the decision was made to head up to Happy Valley and then west to Lake Garawongera.  This would also get us away from the March Flies which have been pretty annoying this trip.

Along the beach before Happy Valley we came across two small planes which are used for joy flights over the island.  No sign of anyone around.

Also before happy valley we had a short detour inland around Yidney Rocks.  These detours enable travel up and down the beach most of the day (excluding right on high tide).  Happy Valley village is quite a bit larger than when we were here 8 - 10 years ago.  In addition to the general store, there are quite a few venues to accommodate tourists.

Happy Valley

The drive to Lake Garawongera is through rainforest and we continue to be amazed at the size of the trees which grow on this sand island.

Lake Garawongera is a beautiful spot and we shared it with quite a few backpackers who were busy sunbaking (at least until it started to rain).  There is quite an emphasis on Dingo Dangers wherever you go and apparently it's breeding season, a time when their behaviour can be unpredictable.  We haven't seen any yet although we did see paw prints on our walk this morning.

Lake Garawongera

The road to the lake was a circuit which ended up back on the beach near our campsite just in time for lunch.  After a bit of down time we headed off to Kirrar Sandblow a little way up the beach.  It was an enjoyable walk in and had some great views of both the sand blow and back towards the ocean.

Kirrar Sandblow

Back at camp it was time to prepare for the roast dinner.  M&A had the roast chicken and we had the vegetables.  Two camp ovens over heat beads.  It was all delicious and of course we did have a nice table presentation with candles and a banksia centrepiece to add to the atmosphere.