Agnes Water and Fraser Island

On the morning of 15.06. we were awakened by a young, lively kangaroo. This kangaroo even kept us company during breakfast. We spent the whole morning comfortably at the Horizons Kangaroo Sanctuary campsite. Kenny worked on the new music mix for Airbeat One and Krissi simply enjoyed the sun, reading, and the hopping kangaroos.

In the afternoon, we headed towards the Town of 1770. First, we drove to the coast and took a walk along the Round Hill Lookout Walk, which offered great views of the cliffs and the sea - of course, rock climbing was also part of it. ;) This walk was somewhat overshadowed by a memorial for a crew that has been missing since October 2017. It was very touching to read the thoughts of the relatives.

For lunch, we settled down at a BBQ spot right on the beach of 1770. After lunch, Kenny discovered a nail stuck in the rear tire of the car parked next to us. So we wrote a short message to the owners of the other car to warn them. After spending the afternoon at the beach, we found a reply under our windshield wiper. Dallas and Joe thanked us warmly, they had discovered other nails when changing the tires and wished us a pleasant journey. :)

In the late afternoon, we drove to Workman's Beach Campground. When we arrived, all the spots were occupied. But we were lucky and the ranger in charge was at the campground and showed us an "unofficial" free spot to park. Following his recommendation, we also watched the sunset at the nearby beach.

On Saturday, we were woken up at 7 a.m. by a loud knocking from the ranger, who now wanted his money. After getting up early, we went to Agnes Water again for shopping and had lunch in Jeffery Memorial Park. In the afternoon, we spent time at Chinaman's Beach. Along the entire beach, clear water emerges from the sand and flows into the sea. The large rock slabs in the surf area were a nice change as well.

Later, we continued to Bundaberg, after initially heading to the wrong campsite where there would have been no toilets, we were able to sleep well at Hinkler Lions Tourist Park despite being close to the highway, airport, and sports bar.

On 17.06., we visited the Bundaberg Zoo. Once again, it was free ;) However, this zoo was really small, we saw a few iguanas, snakes, wallabies, and dingoes. Afterwards, we walked along the river of Bundaberg and strolled back to our car through the city center. Bundaberg doesn't really have much to offer.

For lunch, we drove back to the coast to the beach. On Sunday, the BBQ spots were naturally overcrowded, but after some searching at 'The Basin', we found an available spot.

Our next stop was the Hummack Lookout, where we could see the surrounding villages and fields. A little highlight was a fancy limousine, which was also parked at the viewpoint.

On the way, our little car reached 300,000 kilometers. Let's see how many more kilometers we can travel together.

We spent the night at Maryborough Showgrounds & Equestrian Park. Surrounded by sports fields, we even had warm showers and electricity here. The huge space is apparently used as a parking lot during sports events.

On Monday, we went to the center of Maryborough. We explored the small town on foot. Krissi really wanted to see the statue of Mary Poppins, and this wish came true. Even the traffic lights of the city were designed in the form of Mary Poppins, as the writer who created the character lived in Maryborough. Besides this highlight, we saw some street art, parks, and rivers. For our monthly anniversary, we treated ourselves to fried rice from the Asian restaurant. :D

Fortunately, we realized in time that Fraser Island was right to the east of us. Somehow we completely missed it so far. So in the afternoon, we headed back north to Hervey Bay, a starting point for tours to the island. Upon our arrival, we immediately booked a tour with Fraser Experience Tours. So both of us were $190 poorer in the evening. We spent the night directly on the beach at an overcrowded campsite, the Scarness Beachfront Tourist Park. After the evening beach walk and once the numerous colorful parrots in the nearby tree had calmed down, we slept well here.

On 19.06., we were picked up at 7:40 a.m. by our guide and the 4WD bus for our Fraser Tour. When we boarded, only the back seat and a 2-seater spot were available. Of course, we chose the 2-seater spot. At the next stop, an older couple got on, and the guide brought us up to the seats right next to the driver's seat. Jackpot :)

We continued to River Heads, where we boarded the ferry. Before leaving, we had the first highlight. In the distance, numerous dolphins were jumping in the water. :) So we were able to check off another animal from our wishlist. :)

Due to very low water levels, we couldn't dock at the normal pier that day; instead, we had to dock at Kingfisher Bay further north on Fraser Island. That meant an additional 20 km of off-road driving on the island.

Our first stop was Lake McKenzie. Here, our guide served morning tea with muffins, cookies, coffee, and tea. Then we had about 50 minutes to explore the lake. Unfortunately, it was very cold on this day, and the freshwater lakes are not known for their high temperatures. Despite this, Krissi insisted on swimming. You couldn't be on Lake McKenzie without bathing in the clear, blue water and exfoliating with the fine sand. :D Kenny impressed some of the tourists present with his backflip skills and even received applause and "I would break all my bones doing that."

We then headed to Central Station. This used to be the workers' village on the island. During a walk, we learned about the village and the island's nature.

Then, at Eurong, we finally reached the 75 Miles Beach, the official highway and airport of the island. On the beach, you can easily drive your 4WD at low tide.

We drove many kilometers towards the northern part of the island, and on the way along the beach, we also saw 3 dingoes. Pure dingoes can only be found on the island; on the mainland, they apparently like to mate with wild dogs. ;)

At the Happy Valley Hotel, we had delicious wraps and cold drinks for lunch.

Then we continued to the Maheno Ship Wreck. It is now 3 decks below sand level and will probably sink completely in the next few years. By this point, our guide also seemed a little rushed, we didn't have much time at the wreck.

On the way back, we finally experienced a thrilling off-road situation right on the beach, which our guide had avoided on the way there. Along rocks jutting into the sea, through deeper water, without visibility, we encountered several large sand holes. We could have easily gotten stuck in them. It also felt a bit like tipping over; the whole action was somewhat dramatized by one of the female guests screaming. ;)

Our guide only gave us 15 minutes at Eli Creek as well. Fortunately, this was completely sufficient for a walk along the river to the top and the return within the small water body. Normally, you can apparently also float back to the sea mouth with tires, but we didn't receive this offer, and it was also quite cold. :D

At 5 p.m., we returned to the ferry, and before leaving, we had a few more minutes to see a great sunset from the beach at Kingfisher Bay.

Throughout the tour, our bus sounded extremely strange, especially at high revs. When we arrived at the ferry, there was also a terrible smell when the engine was running. Due to a broken fan belt, our guide tried to arrange a replacement bus for us. However, on the ferry, he realized that it was "only" the belt for the air conditioning, so there was nothing preventing us from safely returning to the bus.

Fraser Island was truly a great trip. It is one of Kenny's absolute highlights. The whole island is made of sand, so self-driving promises a lot of fun, and the huge potholes were not as big as expected, so we could have easily done the tour with our own car. (Our off-road tour in Eurimbula National Park was much more dramatic). Kenny also wanted to become a driver on the island after the tour, but he was told that this required expensive licenses and training.

Still, it was very relaxing not having to worry about anything, and we also learned some interesting details about the island.

For example, our guide told us about a doctor who works at the hospital in Hervey Bay and is responsible for the patients from Fraser Island. On inquiry, he reported that 3-5 patients are admitted each week due to snake bites. The snake responsible for these high numbers is the Sticksnake. Our guide was surprised that he had never heard of this snake, even though it is responsible for so many bites. The doctor revealed that these were merely injuries caused by sticks that, in deep grass and panic, could quickly look like a snake. There are only one or two actual snake cases every two to three weeks.

Back in Hervey Bay, we initially wanted to spend another night at the same campsite as before. However, the reception was already closed, and there was no indication of a phone number. At the nearby Pialba Beachfront Caravan Park, we were able to stay overnight. When we arrived, another backpacker was standing in front of the door, talking on the phone with the campground owners. He immediately handed his phone over to us so we could make a reservation too. ;)

Due to the late hour and the lack of groceries, we treated ourselves to dinner at Dominos and Hungry Jacks - an expensive day. :D On the way there, a huge kangaroo leisurely hopped across the street in the middle of the city.

On Wednesday, 20.06., we started with a leisurely breakfast on the beach. Then we visited the market of Hervey Bay in the Urangan neighborhood. It was really small, but at least Kenny found a new stylish pair of sunglasses here. :) Afterwards, we strolled along the pier. The jetty into the water is a whopping 868m long, almost a half-world tour out to sea. When we asked anglers if it was possible to see whales from the jetty, they just laughed and denied it. :( However, we saw a pelican again from close up, which was hoping for feeding by the fishermen on the jetty.

For lunch, we went to Shelly Beach, and at Krissi's request, we also went to a nearby pond where we saw numerous turtles again.

After shopping at Coles and K-Mart, we headed towards Noosa. We spent the night halfway at Gunalda Rest Area right on the highway.

This morning, we continued towards Noosa. We made a spontaneous stop at the Tinbeerwah Lookout. There was a nicely paved path leading there, which then turned into a rocky path and offered a fantastic 360-degree view of Noosa and the associated national park. Unfortunately, it was a bit windy here.

We are now spending the rest of the day on the riverbank of Noosa at Pirates Lions Park. There are toilets, BBQ spots, and free electricity, so everything our backpacker hearts desire. We just don't know where we will sleep tonight yet. There don't seem to be many options nearby..