Dan's Adventure

Fraser Island on the east coast of Australia is the world’s largest sand island. Everyone that travels the east coast makes a trip to Fraser Island, either on a tour or with a self drive 4 wheel drive vehicle. Hervey Bay is the start point for tours, whilst the majority of self drives start from Rainbow Beach, just a little further down the coast. After hearing the horror stories of the self drive option (getting stuck in the sand, vehicles flipping, weekly helicopter rescues to name but a few) I decided to go with the tour option.

Tours are available for either 2 days and 1 night or 3 days and 2 nights, with accommodation being provided in wooden lodges at the island’s resort. The island does have numerous campsites to accommodate self drives and those who are simply hiking their way across the island, but the prospect of camping in the rain was not one I wanted to contemplate. The lodges were on a par with some of the better hostels that I have stayed in, only 2 bunks per room, clean shared bathrooms and a small kitchen in each lodge. The kitchen wasn’t necessary though as all our meals were included in the price of the tour.

The company I signed up with was Cool Dingo which is aimed squarely at the backpacker market. Everyone in my group of 20 was aged between 20 and 34, so I was by no means the oldest, unlike in several of the dorms I stayed in along the way. The same tour is also offered by Fraser Explorer Tours which is aimed at an older crowd. From what I could see though, they are the same company – same guides, similar itineraries and same vehicles. Cool Dingo had been recommended to me by Cathy who I met on my Kenya to Cape Town trip.

Cool Dingo uses a bus similar to the truck I travelled through Africa on. After seeing the self drive vehicles, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this was by far the most comfortable way to drive around Fraser Island. At times it did feel like a roller coaster ride as we went up and down the sandy tracks that traverse the island. Fortunately our bus managed not to get stuck in the sand, but another wasn’t so fortunate. At Eli Creek it took almost half an hour for us to tow another bus out of the soft sand.

Our guide, Peter, had spent the last 14 years on Fraser Island so knew it like the back of his hand, he knew it so well that he has written a book on it that has been published along with his own photography. He was incredibly enthusiastic in telling us all about the island and made it his mission to find us a dingo. We hit all the main tourist hotspots including jungle walks, Eli Creek, the Maheno shipwreck, champagne pools, Indian Head, and Lake McKenzie, then we jumped off some sand dunes before hitting some really rough tracks on the way back to the lodge. Peter warned us that it was going to be rough, but he had some music to make it a more enjoyable ride. As the music started, he started around wearing his hat and pretended to crack a whip – it was the Indiana Jones theme tune.

I can highly recommend the Cool Dingo tour to Fraser Island. I had a great time over the two days and found the pace of the tour to be perfect. We had ample time to swim in the lakes, lie on the beaches and float down the creeks. Not only did we see several dingos, but we spotted a carpet python by the side of the road that had just feasted on some fruit bats! To top it all off, sitting on the balcony of our lodge having a few beers as the rain poured down at the end of the first day made us all very glad that we had chosen a tour that didn’t include camping!