I stopped over in Rainbow Beach to visit Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The popular thing to do was to take a 3 day, 2 night tour of Fraser Island, but I didn't have the time or the interest in doing that. I opted for a 1 day tour instead. The tour was very good, well worth it. The guide was very informative, giving us more information than we could digest about the history of Fraser Island - from how it was was formed to the flora and fauna of the island to the Aborigibal peoples that inhabited the island.We boarded a big four wheel drive bus and took a 10 minute ferry ride to the island. The shore of the island acted as a highway and an airstrip. I saw a couple planes take off and land, which was pretty cool. The waters around the island contain sharks: nurse, leopard, and tiger, so no swimming at the beach. Also on the island are dingoes. I unfortunately saw neither sharks nor dingoes while I was on the island. The tour stopped by the remains of a shipwreck which was pretty neat to look at. The ship washed ashore in 1935 and since then the water and sand have been constantly eating away at it so that now it is partially buried in sand and its metal is rusted and jagged. Inward on Fraser Island is a rainforest and freshwater lakes. All the lakes are replenished solely by rainfall. The rainforest grew right out of the sand, which was quite unique. We stopped at the largest of the freshwater lakes, Lake Mackenzie for a very refreshing afternoon swim. The waters of the lake were crystal clear and 75 degrees. After a delicious lunch, complete with beer, we went on a walk through the rainforest. The walk took us down alongside a creek, though you wouldn't know it if you closed your eyes. The creek was eerily silent; there was no sound of running water. As it was explained to us it is because there are no rocks on the island, only sand. This gave the rainforest a very peaceful, almost magical atmosphere that I was disappointed to leave.
There wasn't much to do at Rainbow Beach except go to the beach. The water felt great, about the same temperature as Lake Mackenzie. Swimming around me in waves were fish, though not nearly as many as in the Great Barrier Reef and lacking the colors as well. I went body surfing in the waves for a little bit to escape the heat; it was in the mid 90s during my stay. I went to the beach at low tide and then back again at high tide to see the difference the tides make. It was remarkable how much more beach there was during low tide than when at high tide. There was about 20 yards more of beach at low tide than at high tide.
There was a large sand dune called Carlo Sandblow that was quite a sight to take in. The sand dune was quite large and there were trunks of trees poking out of the dune showing that where the sand is now was once covered in trees. The dune offered a fantastic view of the sunset. Watching the sunset was a nice way to end my stay at Rainbow Beach.
Wish you would have stayed longer at Fraser! There's a point on the Island you have to hike up to where (I'll almost guarantee) you'll see the sharks and some sea turtles ... just breathtaking! I'm glad you got to go though ... just jealous I wasn't there too! Did you happen across the creek (Eli Creek) with the current that flows out into the ocean? It was pretty fun ... a natural lazy river if you will but with salt water! :)
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