Fraser Island through to Mackay…
Fraser Island, home to Dingoes, sandbashing 4WD’s and a smattering of tourists!
Getting there isn’t too hard. Fly in to Hervey Bay and catch the ferry from there. Or drive to Hervey Bay and put your car on the ferry from there.
Seriously though, the place is great! It’s a nice eco-retreat type holiday. Stay in an environmentally friendly resort (or pitch a tent and camp out if that’s more your style). Go fishing off the beach. Go sliding down the huge sand dunes on an esky lid. Go for rainforest walks. It’s a nice leisurely getaway and not too far off the coast.
Just try and avoid the dingoes! They have been known to attack people. Don’t feed them if they come up to you or your campsite looking for food, it’s only asking for trouble.
Also while in the Hervey Bay region, if you’re there in winter, why not try a whale watching tour. The humpback whales migrate north from the Antarctic for the winter. Hervey Bay is one of their primary haunts at that time of year for breeding. Many companies run tours during the Australian winter to go out and see the migrating whales. They won’t let the boats get too close, but it still makes for some spectacular photography and is something you’ll always remember. If you’re there at that time of year, I definitely recommend it!
Moving north again…Rockhamton? Average. Medium sized regional city. Largely dependent on the mining and agriculture sectors for sustainability. There’s a few islands off the coast that might be worth a visit like Great Keppel Island. Been a few years since I went there, but GKI is a nice place. Very relaxing, not overly built up. Worth a weekend there if you’re in the area though.
North again? Mackay. Sugar cane farming! And…Sugar cane farming! Mackay is also sort of a jumping off point to the Whitsunday Coast, which I’ll be posting about next. It’s also the place to go if you want to head out to Brampton Island (which is just south of the Whitsundays). Been about 15 years since I was on Brampton Island, but at the time it was a smallish family type resort island. One of the funniest things I recall seeing was a whole flock of rainbow lorikeets go flying in to a freshly cleaned clear glass window. In hindsight, probably not so funny because some of them got injured. But at the time you couldn’t help but laugh.
Lots of national parks in the Mackay region like Eungella NP. So if the bushwalking eco-tourism type thing is more your style, then Mackay is a great home base for it.
And slightly north again we hit Proserpine/Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands! Next post!
