K’gari/Fraser Island
Just off the coast of Hervey Bay is the largest sand island in the world, K’gari (Fraser Island). This island is a popular holiday destination, particularly for 4WD campers. There are some beach houses available for rent and a couple of resorts on different parts of the island as well, but camping is by far the most popular way to stay on the island. The notable stops on this UNESCO World Heritage Site are spread right across the island, so being able to move around from place to place is critical to getting the most from a visit to this beautiful island. It is a large island, and transportation is essential.
We are not campers, but we considered the possibility of heading over to spend a night at a resort on K’gari. What held us back was the fact that, to really explore the island on our own, we would have needed 4WD vehicles. It is possible to get to one of the resorts (Kingfisher Bay) without a 4WD, and then take guided day tours from there. There are also 4WD vehicles available for hire for those who are confident to get themselves around. (Plenty of people make mistakes driving in soft sand or near the ocean, even in a 4WD though, so we were a bit hesitant to do this without a bit of practice.) In the end, we decided that we would just take a day tour from Hervey Bay, acknowledging that we’d just get a ‘taster’ of K’gari by choosing this option. We felt that it would be shame to be so close and not visit, and we knew that we could always go back for a longer visit in the future.
As a family of six, we look for options that cater to a range of ages and stages. On this trip, we had a six-year-old and a seven-year-old in our party, so we weren’t looking for high adventure. We highly recommend the very family-friendly Fraser Explorer Day Tour. There is always a compromise when booking a tour rather than exploring on your own, and that is a loss of flexibility in the itinerary. On the other hand, we find it helpful to have that external accountability at times – it stops certain members of the family from dragging their feet! The other nice thing about taking a tour is the fact that someone else is watching the clock, planning ahead, driving and dealing with any issues that arise.
The Fraser Explorer Day Tour included all meals, transfers and permits. We simply waited at the bus stop in the morning – again, right across the road from Sunseeker Motel – and once we boarded the bus, our driver/guide took care of everything for the rest of the day.
Our bus took us to the wharf, where we boarded the barge to K’gari. We got out of the vehicle and went up to the passenger area, where there was a small kiosk with snacks and hot drinks available. This ride was short - less than half an hour from start to finish. Once we reached the island, we disembarked and made our way to our waiting tour bus, which had been unloaded and parked nearby. Just a quick note here about bathrooms (an important topic if you’re travelling with young children). We thought we’d get the kids to use the bathrooms on the barge so they would be right for the next stage of the bus journey. The buses are 4WDs, not charter buses, and they don’t have bathrooms on board. We lined up for quite a while at the end of the barge ride because there were only two toilets available, and this meant we were delayed in disembarking. What we didn’t realise was that there was a toilet block right beside the bus parking area, which was larger and would have saved a lot of time. The tour guides probably need to add this information in their briefing for families just before they board the barge. If you’re reading this now, at least you’ll be prepared!
The tour buses adjust their itineraries depending on the tides, weather, other groups on the island, etc. This is where having an experienced guide is a real asset. For our tour, we started off by heading inland, crossing the island. This ride took around an hour and it was BUMPY! No exaggeration, our phones were in our bags all day and the motion of the bumping and jolting across the island led them to record over 16 000 ‘steps’ in our health apps, even though we were sitting down! The light through the trees is quite filtered and flickering as well, so anyone who suffers from migraines might want to wear sunglasses on this ride. I ended up putting a towel over the side of my face for part of the ride, because I was quite worried about getting a migraine at the start of what was supposed to be an amazing day! The roughness of the drive made us very grateful that we weren’t trying to make the drive in our own vehicle, particularly when we hit a spot of traffic on the track due to someone being bogged down in sand up ahead of us.
Our first sightseeing stop was the beautiful Lake McKenzie. The waters are crystal-clear in this freshwater lake. The sands are very fine, and we’d been told that we should try to clean our jewellery in them – advice we followed, and which did seem to work. The water wasn’t warm, but the kids enjoyed going in up to their waists and having a bit of a splash around. We used the changing rooms at Lake McKenzie to get into our swimming gear, and most of us stayed in some combination of swim and daywear from that point forward.
Our bus next took us to Central Station, an old lumber camp that has been turned into a popular campsite. From this base, we headed on a boardwalk through the rainforest. Our guide pointed out interesting details to us as we walked. For us, the most amazing thing we saw on this walk was a creek that was running so clear that we found it hard to tell that it had water in it. Around our hometown, the freshwater creeks are a light brown colour, so this spectacularly clear water amazed us.
We continued our drive east to the edge of the beach and to Eurong Beach Resort. This was where we had our lunch. At the start of the day, we’d selected our preferences from a menu passed around the bus. Once we were seated in the restaurant, boxed meals were brought out and drinks were served. In pre-COVID times, we believe the restaurant served a buffet. The lunch we enjoyed was still very tasty and adjusted to each individual, and we had no complaints. After lunch, we were given a period of free time to wander around the resort. We visited a small corner shop and bakery nearby to grab some sweet treats to keep us going.
Our tour then headed out to the beach and we drove north along the sand to visit three more sights: Eli Creek, the rainbow sands and the Maheno Shipwreck. Most of our party went for a swim through Eli Creek, though I stayed near the edge and enjoyed a bit of people-watching at this extremely popular site. The edge of the creek was ringed by 4WD vehicles and families had clearly parked and spent a whole day by the water. The tide was shifting when we arrived, and I watched as families gradually packed up and left, heading off along the ‘sand highway’ down the beach.
We enjoyed breaking up the coloured sands that our guide showed us in the rainbow sands area and then enjoyed walking around the Maheno Shipwreck. I’m a bit of a history nerd and our tour guide gave us a detailed explanation of the history of K’gari/Fraser Island, which I found really interesting.
One thing K’gari is known for is its dingoes. There are signs all over the island warning people not to get too close to the dingoes or feed them. We were therefore surprised that we didn’t see a single dingo at any of the sites we visited, which was something of a relief, but also a bit disappointing. We had our eyes peeled for dingoes when we made our final stop for afternoon tea at Eurong Beach Resort again, but didn’t see any wildlife. At least the task of scanning the trees for any movement made the bumpy ride back across the island at the end of the tour a bit more interesting.
Just as our bus pulled back into the parking lot beside the barge, a dingo appeared over the horizon, at the far end of the cleared parking area. We joked that it was a tame one, kept there by bus drivers in order to satisfy tourists. (It’s possible that this is truly not far off the mark!) In any case, we disembarked the bus, weary and a little sore from all the jolting, but feeling happy that we had seen a lot of K’gari’s natural beauty and wildlife in just one day.
We had a quiet barge ride back to Hervey Bay, and an uneventful bus ride back to our motel. It was a big day – we arrived back around 6:30 pm. We then headed out for dinner to celebrate the end of our amazing road trip.
The Last Supper
We marked our final dinner as a travel party at the Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay. We had a large table in an area that was almost exclusively ours, with family-friendly menu items and activities for the kids to enjoy. It was the perfect way to top off our travelling adventure. We enjoyed ‘going around the table’ and reflecting on our favourite meals, favourite activities and favourite locations from the trip. It’s always interesting to hear other peoples’ perspectives and, as a parent, it’s heart-warming to hear the kids talk about all that they enjoyed. We’d highly recommend the Beach House to families staying in Hervey Bay.
Day 10 Outback Queensland Family Road Trip Summary
Start:
Hervey Bay
End:
Hervey Bay
Driving:
Drove to the Beach House Hotel
(could have walked!)
Accommodation:
Sunseeker Motel, Hervey Bay
Notable Stops:
K’gari (Fraser Island)
Beach House Hotel
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