Where is Fraser Island and its history? Australia. Fraser Island and sand dunes Fraser Island Australia on the map

Rare drops of rain hammer on the roof of our rusty Land Rover, where at night I searched the entire collapsing front panel with a flashlight and discovered a completely rotten cigarette lighter socket.
Well, naturally, connecting the plug of the voltage converter from 12V to 220V gave a negative result: I will not be able to recharge the camera battery.

In the accessible walking distance, the lights of a public toilet are shining (perhaps there are electrical sockets there), but I can imagine the picture that will open up to a respectable Australian tourist who goes there at 3 a.m. to take a leak (instead of doing it like a normal person - on the nearest tree - it’s still raining ) - he will be embarrassed to see the lonely Vinsky, sitting on the toilet with a laptop on his lap and entangled in black snakes of wires of all sorts of electrical devices that need to be charged...

Rent a Jeep for a trip to Fraser

The company where we received our Land Rover is located in a group of several other similar sharks of imperialism, who take quite a lot of money: renting jeeps for a trip to Fraser Island in search of adventure is a very profitable enterprise for them. And for us, the tourist consumers, it’s expensive...

Jeeps are equipped with equipment both for overnight stays in equipped campsites and in field, wild conditions.
The day before the appointed date, Borracho and I drove up to this office to look at our car, which had been ordered in advance via the Internet...

Having parked at the entrance, we walked into the backyard of the office and saw a Defender hanging on a lift.
“Apparently this is our device,” said Borracho
Several people in overalls were flashing welds from under the bottom of the car...
-Okay, if I'm wrong...

But Valera was not mistaken.
On the morning of the day scheduled for the start on Fraser Island, we arrived half an hour earlier than the start of the briefing, where they promised to give us very important and interesting information.
There was a lot of information.

I had to watch three videos:
— how not to spoil nature and poop in pre-dug holes
- how to behave when meeting wild dingoes,
— how to behave when meeting whales and sharks
- How to generally behave in life...

All this time, the office worker was writing something, calling somewhere, and simply scratching the back of his head with concern.

Our time was limited, since before the ferry left for the island, we had to
- return the car we rented from the airport rental car
— buy ice for the refrigerator box
— somehow catch the eleven o'clock ferry to Fraser Island.

Having finally finished with the films, we went out into the fresh air of a wonderful and sunny Australian morning and found a standing car that was to become ours:
- means of transportation
- family home on the island

Two metal boxes were found in the trunk of this wreck. And that's all...
Looking into one, we found a set from a nearby trash heap: a crumpled tin mug, several different-sized plates, rusty forks, a Made in China battery of unknown purpose packed in yellowed plastic with traces of leaked electrolyte, a can opener, a frying pan with a broken handle and signs of beating from the face ( or heads) and a couple of pans with the remains of rancid fat.

Another box contained a gas stove that could have been used in the Auschwitz concentration camp to dispose of human corpses.
“No shit,” was all we could say...
I forgot about the rusty sapper's shovel and Raskolnikov's ax, which had been lying on the floor of the jeep since those times.
- Where is the promised table, folding chairs, sleeping bags and a tent for 3 people?
“I almost forgot,” said the office worker and threw two double tents and two neoprene mats...
- Listen, dear! We ordered 3 chairs, a table, a refrigerator... We listed a lot of things... And a gas cylinder for your miracle stove won’t hurt...

On Fraser Island you cannot have an open fire and all cooking is done on gas stoves or bbq: be it kebab or smoked kangaroo tail.

The Australian muttered something, handed over a cylinder and a small plastic box that could fit several bottles of wine and a bag of grapes...
— You will have to pay extra for chairs, a table and sleeping bags...
- You will not get anything from me! We need to move - time is running out...

Borracho got behind the wheel of the car, and I crawled into the seat of the Defender, immediately scratching my leg with some rusty piece of iron sticking out from under the seat.

Cursing and releasing a cloud of black smoke from the exhaust pipe into the atmosphere and at the same time trying not to crash into the sedan in front, I crawled out of the parking lot onto the road.
In the end, we still successfully manage to do everything: return the car, buy ice and catch the barge...

Ferry to Fraser Island

The journey and adventure have begun.
The sun is shining.
Life is getting better.
And it doesn’t matter that the handbrake doesn’t hold and the car almost falls over the side of the ferry, resting against its fence, after it starts moving.
This is all bullshit...
Travel time to the island is about 40 minutes.

Borracho and I are on the upper deck discussing the route, having laid out a map on the bench. The map is pressed against a bottle of wine, which we touch from time to time, catching disapproving glances from those present. Upon arrival on Fraser Island, I release almost all the air in the tires of our rusty monster (up to 1 atmosphere) so that it can ride well on the sand: there are no paved roads on Fraser Island.

All movement around the island is possible only by jeep along the directions (not roads) made by timber trucks back in the days when logging was carried out on the island. Fraser Island uses 75 miles of beach as its main road. But you can only drive on it at low tide, so the most important paper that you are given when renting a jeep is the low tide schedule for the next 5 days.

We decided to spend the first day on the island exploring forest lakes and moving around inside the island, without going to the beach, since the tide schedule was such that there was no point in doing anything else: the rising ocean cuts off the open and hard section of the beach for moving by car and there is a chance to sail away in a jeep to Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.

What to see on Fraser Island

I described the Fraser Lakes in some detail in my report on my first trip to Australia four years ago.

Lake Mackenzie still popular and crowded.
This is not only due to the snow-white sand of the beach and the blue water.

This lake is the most accessible, which is why there are so many day tourists.
Next was Lake Wabby, my favorite lake with greenish water with the smell of eucalyptus tincture, pressed by a huge sand dune to the opposite wooded shore.

While posing for Borracho on one of the dunes, I rolled off it and fell backwards, landing my ear on the hard sandy cover. Tapping with the pads of my fingers and arms outstretched in a cross, I felt a clear ringing sound, as if a huge crystal ball was hidden under the thickness of the sand...
This place is amazing. I highly recommend it and add it to my top beaches

When tens of kilometers of internal routes were covered.
When it was jumped over hundreds of roots and holes...
….it began to get dark….

Accommodation on Fraser Island

It was necessary to decide on an overnight stay.
For some reason I didn’t want to put up tents and we went to Eurong, where there were several civilized places like a hotel-resort.

After haggling and getting a room for $126 (Australian), we tied up our iron horse in the parking lot and carried the most expensive thing we had from Borracho to our room: the red box.

In the red box, under a layer of purchased ice, there was meat. Mutton…
Freshest Australian lamb
I really wanted to eat.

Not far from our house there was a barbecue area: a cube made of brick, the top was a metal cavity with a hole in the middle for draining melted fat, heated from below by a flame gas burner triggered in a three-minute action by pressing a button.

First dinner on Fraser Island

For dinner there was:
— tomato and onion salad, dressed with Italian sauce based on balsamic, olive oil and aromatic herbs
- squid rings marinated in sweet and sour sauce
- iceberg lettuce leaves
- pieces of lamb on the bone marinated with onions and garlic (pistolettes)

Dinner took place under the stars burning in the sky (the night sky of Australia is a black blanket on the head, through which a charge of small shot was once fired) and conversations about parallel worlds and afterlife. With this we went to bed.

I had nightmares and, in my opinion, I swore in my sleep.
The morning was no less joyful: the reflections reflected from the water surface of the pool shimmered on the ceiling of the balcony; the taste of sweet Australian yoghurt could not spoil the aroma of tea with lime.

A quick scrambled egg with bacon and sautéed onions set us up for a day of adventure that began as soon as we hit the beach.

For me, driving along the long beach of Fraser Island was not new, but nevertheless, I was amazed again by driving over the stone tongues.

At this moment, it seems that the car is either going to overturn or, at best, part of the rocky rock from the bottom of the props will end up in the car's interior, right between the legs...

Photos, photographs, ocean dust from the surf.
The tide has just begun, so part of the path passes through loose sand spewing salty spray.

rusty skeleton Moheno- a cargo ship washed ashore by a storm somewhere in the late thirties - became even more broken down.

Since the first time I was on Fraser (5 years ago), the salty ocean water, wind, and sun have done their job.
Training bombing missions by the Australian Air Force completed the picture:

At the northern end of the beach it is cut off by a large Indian Head rock.
It is quite difficult to drive through this place - the detour is on loose sand and many cars sit on the bottom.

Therefore, this place was chosen by those for whom this is a kind of finish line and just a platform for landscape photography.
From here they open beautiful views on the ocean surf and the sandy path of cars.

But those who passed the test with honor and defeated the quicksand - they receive as a reward - Champagne baths.
In a place where the rocks come close to the ocean, natural baths have formed - large depressions in rock with a smooth bottom. Size - you can bathe a truck.
And when an ocean wave hits the wall of the bathtub, it turns into foam, which overflows into the bathtub.

Feeling. when you bathe in it, it’s like bathing in champagne: water with bubbles...
I fell there in flip-flops and swam to the edge, where the ocean surf beat and the strongest waves rolled, creating a foamy, effervescent effect, took on the streams of foam and shouted:
- More champagne! More champagne!

Robinsons on Fraser Island

After three hours the question arose: Where will we spend the night?
We decided to put up tents on the ocean shore and pack our boots.
There are places along the entire 75-mile beach where you can stop for a wild night.
You cannot stop in places that are flooded by the tide, where there are natural attractions: Red Canyon, Ely Creek.
We drove back from Indian Head and peered at the coastline.

I wanted to find a place with a view of the ocean and fresh water to wash after bathing in champagne baths.
After 4-5 attempts, such a place was found: when you have a choice, there is always room for doubt and you find fault with an ugly bush or dry grass...

In a pine grove on the ocean shore, surrounded by strange palm trees with pineapples growing on them, we parked. I positioned the car so that one side protected us from side winds and did not block the view of the raging ocean - the tide had begun. At this time, the sky, which had been gloomy for a couple of hours, burst into rain. What to do? Don't sit in the car...

For non-camping professionals, everything was done correctly: one end of the tent was tied to the windows of the car, and on the other side we attached it to the trees.
It turned out like a visor stretching from the roof of the car to the side. This created a temporary protection of 3 square meters from the water pouring from the sky.
Streams of water flowed down his face from his head, his shorts were completely wet, as if they had just come from the pool.

I didn’t think about comfort at all at that moment. Or rather, I thought of it as a goal, as a perspective. Therefore, not paying attention to the downpour, to periodic waterfalls from our temporary canopy, Valera and I continued to harmoniously secure various options for our protection from water and wind:

— we used the awning of one tent as frontal protection, tying it to the canopy visor from above, and pressing it down with stakes from below.
— we set up one tent, having difficulty understanding its design and spending some time arguing about where to attach what.

They took it outside so as not to interfere with the main process: the process of preparing dinner.
They took everything out of the trunk: a box of wine, a box of food. And finally, the queen of the fields - the gas stove.
We began to attach a gas cylinder to it and discovered that we were not given an adapter... Hello ass New Year!

Everything for which this overnight stay was started - this romance of a wild camp and spending the night - it was all in vain. You can’t light a fire on the island, and even if it were possible: where can you get dry firewood during a tropical downpour? There is nothing to eat except raw lamb. What to do?

The answer was obvious - go to a nearby civilized campsite and it was nearby, a few kilometers away along the beach. Visual memory even reproduced its name - Dundubara

High tide on Fraser Island

Everything was fine: it was a pity for the time spent on installing rain protection, storing things... And we were already ready to admire the ocean at night and fight with wild dingoes...

But the main thing was that the rising ocean was every minute devouring the solid expanse of beach sand, which serves as dear life here.
A few more minutes and we may remain cut off from the civilized world. Without electricity cellular communication and gas...

Getting ready took 5-10 minutes. They worked silently, harmoniously and without unnecessary conversations - the specificity of the situation affected.

Having thrown everything into the luggage compartment, we drove in downshift to the beach, where the ocean waves were already in full control, rolling to the sand dune behind which we were standing. There was no turning back. We were sandwiched on one side by the roaring ocean surf, and on the other by the steep shore... The road back caused me to have multiple gray hairs on my head and more.

When the waves hit the side of the car, and the reverse flow of water washed away the wheels of our Conqueror of the Dunes, it tilted and it seemed that it was about to fall on its side along with us.

Just in case, we put our money and passports in a waterproof bag. The rest... Well, if it happens, the kids on the islands of Micronesia will take it as souvenirs...

And then the engine of our Land Rover stalls... Damn, we said in unison. But we were probably lucky. A few more seconds and we would have been washed away into the open ocean...

The car started up and, pressing the gas pedal to the floor, I drove towards the receding water. Having picked up speed, he began to turn the wheels towards the shore.
The water receded and made it possible to gain additional speed, which allowed us to drive into the bed of a stream, which by chance and luckily happened to be on our way...

After driving along the hard bottom of the stream for several tens of meters, I stopped.
The waves were hitting us here too, but at least we weren’t standing sideways and were quite far from the watershed line.
Over the hill we could see a waving flag - this was the campsite where we were going.

I turned around carefully - it was good that the bottom of the stream was slightly rocky. And he began to wait for the arrival of a big wave. As soon as she hit the front bumper, I turned on second gear and
in low gear with all the blockages rushed towards the sea. Having already reached the beach, I turned left and after 50 meters I saw the desired goal: a path among two dunes leading
up to the campsite...

Yessss..... I could take a breath...
We entered here illegally, but we didn't give a damn. We experienced the elements... Although it rather tested us...

Camping on Fraser Island

The campground gate was closed, but not locked.
We stopped in front of a booth that had a sign explaining that we were on the campsite illegally because we didn't have a reservation.

And for everything to be done according to the law, you need to call and make a reservation. There was also a prehistoric telephone set that ate 50-cent coins.

We had one of these (mostly the money was in 20 and 50 dollar bills.
So, as soon as we waited for an answer on the other end of the line and the person asked to dictate his credit card number to withdraw 15 dollars for our legal stay here, the payphone ate the coin and turned off.

We did not grieve and leave here. We parked the car. We set up a wet tent and went to fry meat at a public barbecue.

The lamb was magical as always. After experiencing the elements, wine and a delicious dinner, we fell into our wet sleeping bags like dead men.

The next morning, when we were about to leave - the ocean began to recede and we could go to the beach - a ranger passed us (I was just sitting and watching the 11th episode of Lost, which I downloaded on mainland) and waved his hand welcomingly.

I also saluted him with a bottle of Shiraz. He showed his thumb - like everything is fine and left, without even looking at our permit to Fraser’s campsites, which was tied to the tent...

The whole next day we drove through holes, ruts and tree roots in the depths of the island, getting back to the lakes.
Well, in the afternoon we stopped at a place called Eurong Village where we stopped in advance, without waiting until it got dark.
For overnight accommodation there were already set up tents in the army style, in which there were fixed beds with normal bed linen, a table and chairs.
There was also a toilet and a hot shower, which was very useful. All the fun cost $25 per person.

The next morning we had breakfast with leftover bacon and cheese, melting it all in a frying pan in the public kitchen (the kitchen, refrigerators, cutlery and other utensils are public and are included in the price of the stay).

All other products (sausages, chicken, etc.) looked unappetizing when mixed with melted ice in a large coolbox and were thrown out in the evening.
We took all our junk out of the trunk. They washed it with a hose and stuffed it back into its original place.

Dumps on Fraser Island

The bag of garbage was taken to a specially designated place. It’s worth telling more about this place:

The dump on Fraser Island is a large clearing fenced off by wild Dingo dogs.

To prevent dogs from entering the territory of the garbage dump and, God forbid, from eating something, the only gate is equipped with a system of conductive plates on the ground through which a small, but noticeable current for dogs passes (nothing is done to the machine, but Dingo gives an electric shock, so they don't climb there).

There's a lot in the clearing garbage containers and that’s it, literally everyone comes and carefully lays them out: metal in one group, glass in another, organics in a third group of containers.
All that remains is to applaud the people who do not litter the place where they rest. I respect local tourists for this, remembering my dacha in Zhostovo, where savages come in cars for the weekend and we, local residents, then you have to collect garbage for them in the forest.

Dingo dogs

After that, as the sun began to appear, we went to sunbathe on Lake Mackenzie.
And there I observed an interesting picture: Dingo dogs have free access to the beach - it is not fenced.
And then one of the young dogs busily ran along the beach past us. Of course, everyone began to grab their cameras, mothers lined up their children next to them...
But Dingo, not paying attention to the movements of the tourists, began to busily sniff the bags standing on the sand.

She smelled something in one pile and stuck her muzzle into the bag. A woman sitting on a blanket nearby jumped to her feet and began waving a towel at the dog, but Dingo, not paying attention to her, pulled breakfast out of the bag and swallowed it. Then she grabbed a leather handbag lying nearby and ran away with it in her teeth. The woman ran after her along the beach and disappeared from view. About 10 minutes later she arrived upset and without her purse. From which I concluded that everything was gone (as I understood the money and documents) completely.

Australian Diary:
Traveling around Australia:

Fraser(eng. Fraser Island or Great Sandy Island) - a sandy island near east coast Australia.

History of discovery

In 1770, English explorer James Cook discovered the east coast of Australia. About 150 kilometers north of the modern city of Brisbane it passed big Island with a sandy coastline, which today is visited by up to 300,000 tourists a year. But then Cook did not pay any attention to him. He and his companions believed that this was not an island, but a peninsula. Finally, several years later, an explorer set foot on this sandy shore. Matthew Flinders. He wrote: "Nothing [could be] more barren than this peninsula".

If Cook and Flinders had ventured a few kilometers of golden beaches and dunes, their opinion of the island would have changed completely. They would discover a world of pristine tropical rainforests and clear lakes, sandy cliffs of every hues and hundreds of species of animals. In 1992, the world's largest sand island, known as Fraser, was inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Geography of the island

Fraser Island stretches 120 kilometers in length, its width is 25 kilometers, and its area is 160,000 hectares. The sand hills rise almost 240 meters above sea level, making it the world's highest sand island. It is believed that the huge masses of sand from which the island was formed were washed out of the Great Dividing Range, a mountain system that stretches along the entire east coast of Australia. For a long time, heavy rains washed away particles of rock from these mountains and carried them into the rivers and then into the sea. Ocean currents turned stones into sand and gradually carried it to the north. Grains of sand accumulated on rocky areas of the seabed, and over time Fraser Island appeared in the sea. Since then, the Pacific Ocean has continued to wash new sand onto the shore. The winds carry it deep into the island, forming dunes. The dunes, in turn, “creep” further, a meter per year, covering everything in their path.

Freshwater lakes of the island

Surprisingly, there are 40 freshwater lakes on the island in the hollows of the sand dunes. Some of these bodies of water are called "suspended lakes" because they are found in large depressions at the top of high dunes.

Why doesn't water seep through the sand? It is retained by organic deposits, or peat, the remains of rotted leaves, bark and branches. The island also has "window lakes", which form when a depression in the sand falls below the water table. Seeping through loose rocks, water, filtered by sand, accumulates in transparent lakes. The lakes on the island are replenished by rainfall, which falls up to 1,500 millimeters per year. Water flowing out of the lake or seeping through the sand forms streams that rush into the sea. One of these rivers carries more than 5 million liters of water per hour into the Pacific Ocean.

Forests

Thanks to the abundance of moisture, Fraser Island has a lot of greenery. Wet rainforests usually do not grow on barren sand. But Fraser Island is one of the few places on earth where lush forests grow among the sand. Indeed, the forest was once so dense that loggers could manage there for 100 years. Eucalyptus, agathis and tallow were the special pride of foresters.

In 1929 one of them said: “Travelers see a living wall of huge trees up to 45 meters in height. The trunks of these forest giants reach 2-3 meters in thickness.”. Some trees, such as syncarpia, were cut down for the construction of the Suez Canal. But these days, logging on Fraser Island has ceased.

The tragic story of Fraser Island paradise

The island received its name in connection with the tragedy that occurred there. In 1836 Captain James Fraser and his wife Eliza were shipwrecked on the brig "Sterling Castle" and landed on the island. Obviously, James was killed by the natives, but Eliza still managed to escape. In memory of this event, the island was renamed from Bolshoy Peschany to Fraser Island.

A difficult fate also befell the indigenous inhabitants of the island. More than 2,000 Aboriginal people used to live here. These were strong, strong people. They called their island Kgeri, or Paradise. As the legend about the creation of this island says, it was the most beautiful place on earth. Unfortunately, many islanders died from diseases introduced by Europeans. In addition, at the beginning of the 20th century, most of the remaining Aborigines were sent to reservations on the mainland.

Fauna of the island

Today the island is a wildlife sanctuary. Its most famous resident is the dingo, an Australian wild dog. Fraser Island dingoes are considered the most purebred in eastern Australia because they do not interbreed with domestic dogs found on the mainland. Dingoes are similar to domestic dogs, but they are not tame at all, and therefore you need to be careful with them.

More than 300 species of birds can be seen on the island. Brahminy kites and white-bellied sea eagles soar over the beaches, and iridescent blue forest kingfishers soar over the lakes. Frequent guests are migratory birds such as Mongolian plover, which hatch their chicks in Siberia and fly south for the winter. They stop at Fraser Island before continuing their journey. More than 30,000 grey-headed flying foxes - the name given to bats the size of crows - fly to the island when the eucalyptus trees bloom to enjoy the flower nectar.

The waters around the island are also teeming with life. Here you can meet humpback whales, sailing from the frozen Antarctic to the Bolshoi Barrier Reef for mating and birth of young. Before setting off on their return journey, the whales put on an amazing spectacle: they jump out of the water and fall noisily, raising columns of spray that can be seen several kilometers away - as if they were giving a farewell salute to the beautiful island.

It's already the second week of our trip to Australia. After exploring Western Australia and then getting to know Sydney and its main attractions, we flew north to the town of Hervey Bay, located almost in the center of the East Coast. From there we took a ferry to famous island Fraser and for the first acquaintance we flew around it in a helicopter.

The island is famous for being the largest sand island in the world. We will spend three days there and see how Australians greet New Year. Tourists arriving on the island spend the night there in different ways. Some of them, who usually rent jeeps on the mainland, prefer to travel in these cars and live in campsites. For those who love comfort, the island has several different hotels. We stayed in one of the largest and most comfortable - Kingfisher Bay Resort. It had two pools which was great as swimming in the ocean is unpleasant due to the poor muddy shoreline.

The hotel administration did everything to ensure that tourists did not get bored and offered tourists several excursions. The most worthless ones are to look at the “night” and “morning” animals. Their cost is 5 AUD, duration is an hour and a half. We bought it on the night ones. The guide walked with us after dinner through the wild territory of the hotel without even leaving its boundaries (the hotel is surrounded by a metal fence to keep out wild Dingo dogs). She showed some bugs and spiders and with that everyone went to bed.

We didn’t go on the morning excursion (we didn’t get our money back) because we had to get up at 4 am. And what should I watch? Will you surprise us with some spiders? The singing of birds could already be heard in the thick foliage from the window of the room. In general, there are no special animals on the island. So, one little thing - different mice.

True, there are also famous wild dogs Dingo on the island, but we were never able to see them. True, I remember in my youth there was a film of the same name by Yuli Karasik about a pure but bitter first teenage love.

Dingoes are similar to domestic dogs. Actually, they are re-feralized domestic dogs. But they are not at all tame, and therefore you need to be careful when meeting them. We were advised to follow the basic rules of behavior - do not walk outside the hotel alone and do not feed anyone (for this a fine of 1500 aud!), do not run away and do not turn your back on them, but wait until they leave. In general, they advised not to leave the hotel alone, either day or night.

After the helicopter flight, another most educational excursion offered a trip on an all-wheel drive 4WD bus at the most interesting places islands (70 AUD/person).

Fraser Island Overland Tour

Early in the morning we gather at the four-wheel drive buses and split into cars. Each car is driven by two people - a driver and a guide, who take turns. The guide talks continuously, spouting figures and facts from the history of the island’s development. It turns out that before the European colonization of Australia, several thousand aborigines of the Butchulla tribe lived on the island and in their language it was called K'gari. Which in our translation meant “Paradise”.

And his modern name associated with the surname of Captain Fraser, whose ship “Stirling Castle” was wrecked here in 1836. The captain and his crew were killed and eaten by the natives, and his wife Eliza was captured. After her release by escaped convicts, from whom she also suffered, Eliza ended her life in a psychiatric hospital from everything she had experienced...

This incident gave rise to hostility and aggressiveness in relations between Europeans and aborigines for a long time. This island had such a sad story.

On the issue of the formation of numerous lakes on the sandy island, the guide noted that all lakes are replenished by rainfall, which falls up to 1,500 millimeters per year. Water flowing from lakes or seeping through sand forms streams (here they are called Creeks), which, flowing down, disappear into the ocean.

The bus makes its way along a rutted sandy road, made many years ago by timber trucks. Now this road has sunk more than a meter into the sand. Once upon a time, forest was cut down on the island and the wood was transported to the continent. There is thick forest cover on both sides of the road. And if two cars meet on such a road, then the drivers see who is more comfortable sliding onto specially made spots or backing up even 100 meters. Everyone part ways politely and thank those who gave way. The “steepness” of the cars is not taken into account here.

After half an hour of driving like this, having driven about 10 km, we stop at Lake McKenzie. This is the most famous lake on the island. A large turquoise spot against the backdrop of the green jungle. Crystal clear water! I have only seen such clear water on the famous Shatsk lakes in Ukraine.

And although it is large, people only hang out on one beach. Everyone is lying in the coastal water area on the white sand and having fun. Almost no one swims. It feels like taking a bath. The lake is deep - this can be seen from the dark blue of the water about 20 meters from the shore, but no one was visible there.

All the women are in bikinis, and all the men are in long pants, down to the knees and below. Nobody swims in the swimming trunks common in our countries. We also had to put on the same pants, otherwise, they say, they might misperceive us based on our orientation. To be honest, this is an uncomfortable form of clothing for swimming (I completely forgot - they don’t swim!). I'm not even talking about leaving the water in this form in cold or windy weather. Various inflammations are 100% guaranteed. Fortunately, it’s hot here, and the water was +30.

After an hour of relaxation on the lake and tea and coffee with traditional Australian buns and cookies prepared by our guides, we drive further into the island. After a few kilometers we arrived at the Central station - a former lumberjack base. Now there is a scientific station for studying the flora and fauna of the island.

A short excursion with a story about these places. Wood usually doesn't grow well in sand. But here, thanks to the abundance of moisture, there is a lot of greenery. Fraser Island is one of the few places on earth where lush forests grow among the sand.

Indeed, the forest was once so dense that loggers lived here for 100 years. Some trees, such as syncarpia, were even harvested for the construction of the Suez Canal.

We pass through dense forest with its prehistoric ferns and huge silk trees along the clear Wangulba Creek.

Here we saw how much they love tourists in Australia. And not only healthy ones, but also those with the so-called. "limited capabilities". There are no disabled people in Australia - there are simply people whose physical capabilities are limited in some way - some cannot see, some cannot hear, or cannot walk. Just think! Everyone is just happy to see such a person and help him!

Here in the forest there were signs and descriptions of trees everywhere!, written in Braille for the blind! This is how Australians care about people!

After a few kilometers there is another stop. We crossed the island and arrived on its Pacific side - in Eurong Beach Resort. There is a hotel, a shop, a car repair shop and a small airstrip for small planes connecting with the mainland. By the way, they can also land on the surf.

After lunch, we get back into our cars and drive out to the ocean surf. At the exit there is a barrier, and a grate is laid along the ground with threads of wire stretched over it under the electric power. electric shock - this is from wild dogs Dingo. The entire territory of this hotel, as well as ours, is surrounded by a high mesh fence.

The ocean shore is impressive! Amazing sight! A strong wind raises whirlwinds of sand, and they mix with foam falling from the oncoming waves. The watery dust of the ocean surf hangs in the air. And then - thousands of kilometers of the Pacific Ocean! Cars leaving are visible along the surf. A real training ground for thrill-seekers! A sandy strip 70-80 meters wide goes in both directions - left and right - and disappears far beyond the horizon.

However, it is too early to rejoice for fans of high speeds - on the coast, regularly, especially at low tide, police officers with radar pistols stand and catch everyone for exceeding the limit of 80 km/h. Moreover, they measure ppm for alcohol. The fines are the same as on the mainland - for exceeding the limit even by 1 km - a fine of $133 + 1 penalty point! For exceeding 20 km - a fine of $333 + 4 penalty points, for exceeding 40 km - $933 + 8 penalty points. Each fine is entered into the computer and the police officer can clearly see how many times this driver has violated the rules.

Exceeding 40 km/h is considered “exorbitant” and for this your license (including foreign ones) is taken away right in the middle of the bush. Moreover, the unpleasant thing is that if there is no companion or he does not have a license, the car is seized and delivered to the rental office on a truck, which is paid for by you. Maybe that’s why, having driven hundreds of kilometers along the roads of Australia, we have not seen a single, even the smallest, accident!

We were lucky - the weather was great. Our route was towards the northern tip of the island. To the right, the ocean was steadily rolling in long turquoise waves, but almost the entire way, and we drove about 50 km, there was not a soul on its shore.

Only occasionally, near small streams flowing out of the forest, were there sites with tents and jeeps in the shade of trees. The few daredevils who wanted to plunge into the ocean went no deeper than knee-deep. Whenever driving along the shore, traffic was on the left.

Jeeps were racing towards us, right along the surf, moving away from the oncoming waves and, as if playing with them. On the way back, our driver did the same. An hour later, having traveled about 50-60 km, we stopped approximately in the middle of the island at Colored Sands - colored sands and turned back.

Along the way, in two places the beach line was crossed by stone ridges. These were Pinnacles weathered rock formations like the ones we saw in Western Australia. Of course, they were not so interesting and similar to the phalluses of the Pinnacle desert. But they are interesting in their own way. We drove around them from above, and on the way back - when the ocean receded - we calmly drove along the very strip of sandy surf.

While we were standing there, a small airplane flew over us, almost touching the roof of the bus, and deftly landed on a strip of sandy surf.

There were a couple more of the same here. aircraft and their handsome pilots in snow-white shorts and shirts with ornate shoulder straps offered everyone to fly over the island. Well, we flew yesterday and saw everything.

On the way back we stopped to examine the remains of the ship Maheno, which sank in 1936. The skeleton of the ship is corroded to the limit by rust. Frames protrude from the sand, looking like the ribs of a beached whale. Everyone wants to be photographed against this background.

Fraser is one of the resort islands of Australia; it consists entirely of sand, and this is its uniqueness.

Located along the east coast across the channel from Hervey Bay.

In the Aboriginal language Fraser is called "Kgari-rai".

This is fair - wide and clean sandy beaches, tropical forests and flowering heather meadows under clear blue skies suggest just such a comparison.

Fraser is considered the world's largest sand island. It stretches for more than 110 km in length, up to 23 km in width, and the sand dunes of the island are its attraction. These natural structures reach a height of almost 250 meters. In addition, they are absolutely white and against the green background of the forests covering the island they look almost like snow.

Fraser got its name thanks to a couple of Europeans who were shipwrecked off the shores of this lost in warm waters. Pacific Ocean islands. It must be said that in those days - 1836 - relations between the aborigines and Europeans were quite aggressive, so the local tribes were not too happy about such a neighborhood. As a result, the Fraser couple were held captive by the Aborigines for some time. In 1992, Fraser became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and received the status nature reserve. Despite this, it is very popular among tourists and travelers.

Surprisingly, this island, washed on all sides by the salty ocean, has quite a lot of fresh lakes. They are called “hanging” because they seem to hang between the salty waters of the Pacific Ocean. There are more than 100 of them. One of them is Lake Mackenzie, located in the forests 100 meters above sea level. This is the most beautiful fresh lake. The water in it is formed only from precipitation. It is almost distilled, so no freshwater organisms can live in it. But around the lake there is a snow-white beach of pure quartz sand.

And the largest of them is Boemingen, which is approximately 200 hectares in size. The water in the lake is cool and fresh, which is in sharp contrast to the Australian climate - for the most part hot. This is why Boemingen is so popular among tourists.

Palm trees, mangroves and bamboo, and tropical rain forest also grow on the shore of the lake.

Today, the indigenous population of the island is only 400 people, 11 of whom are descendants of the very tribes that held the Fraser couple captive. It should be noted that a few years after the captivity of the shipwrecked Europeans, colonialists from European countries came to Fraser and formed many new settlements. Of course, the natives were against such interference, and a war broke out. The unequal enemy forces simply destroyed the small and weakly armed army of the Australian tribes. Almost the entire local population was destroyed. Now Fraser is simply a place of entertainment for tourists, where there is a tourist complex: a hotel, motel, swimming pool, bar, shop and cafe. You can get to the island by small plane, but it is better to rent a car on the mainland and cross on a barge. Having your own wheels, you can get to know the island much better.

Fraser differs from the rest of Australia in having a milder climate; the island's nature is rich and varied due to the large amount of moisture. In the western part of the island there are mangroves and swamps, the east is a string of beautiful sandy beaches, and in the northern part of Fraser is located national park Great Sandy.

Because the vegetable world Fraser is quite diverse, and the animals live there are very different. For example, several species of turtles are found in fresh lakes. In the forest you can see bats and foxes, as well as representatives of classic Australian fauna: possums and wallabies, echidnas and dingoes. In order to observe animals in their natural habitat, tourists are offered canoe trips. In addition to the wildlife, it is not difficult to spot electric rays, sharks and dolphins in the waters surrounding the boat. The migration routes of humpback whales swimming in the island also pass by Fraser Island - these animals can be observed from August to October.

The world of birds will also not disappoint ornithology lovers. The Fraser is home to approximately 354 species of birds, 18 of which are considered raptors. You can also see birds that are rare species— a needle-footed owl and a ground parrot.

Since the tourism infrastructure of Fraser is quite developed, tourists, in addition to comfortable beach holiday, a variety of sports entertainment is offered, some of which are extreme. For example, surfing or bodyboarding along sand dunes followed by a noisy dive into the lake. To the program active entertainment Also included is a 4WD ride along the coast, where you can admire the Cathedral Rocks - amazing and majestic piles of multi-colored sand. Mini planes fly over miles of beaches, and small boats float tourists down the rushing Ely Creek straight to the ocean. Many travelers come to Fraser Island just to sail and watch sea creatures in their natural environment.

Sightseeing tours on the island usually include Happy Valley, where the wreck of the Makhino ship is located. This hulk was built in 1905 and served first as a transatlantic liner and later, during the First World War, as a floating hospital. The ship was later washed ashore on Fraser Beach during a cyclone.

To preserve the island's ecosystem, the population of Fraser actively promotes wild or green tourism, which involves overnight stays and living under open air or in a tent and moving around the island in an off-road jeep. This way of traveling allows you to admire untouched beauty nature of Fraser, without harming the ecology of one of the most amazing islands in the world.

Fraser Island is located in Queensland, north of Brisbane, and is a 123-kilometer-long sand spit separated from the mainland by a wide strait. You can get there only by a double-decker ferry, from the upper deck of which you can enjoy an unforgettable view of the world's largest sand island. To preserve the nature of the island, it was created here, covering its entire territory. There are no permanent settlements on the island. In 1992 it was inscribed on the World Natural Heritage List.

The island got its name from the captain of the British cargo ship Mobile Castle, which was wrecked at the northern tip of the island in 1836. Local aborigines from the Badtjala tribe rescued the captain and tried to do everything possible to cure him. But, despite their efforts, the captain soon died. His wife lived with her rescuers for about six months, after which she was found in good health by the British and taken home.

And the island owes its formation to the ocean waves and their tidal regime. By the way, it is the last factor that is felt first when driving along the ocean coast. Under the wheels it is absolutely smooth, without the slightest potholes or ruts, but not an asphalt road, but a sandy road. Or rather, not even a road, but simply a wide, several tens of meters long shore. Closer to the ocean there is sand with water, and closer to the center of the island it is dry and crumbling. Tidal fluctuations in the ocean, as is known, occur twice a day -. And most importantly, every day has its own schedule. And to make it easier, tourists are given special leaflets indicating the time and height of the maximum and minimum sea level marks.

Another treasure of the Fraser, unique not only in shape and color, but also in composition and animal population, are fresh lakes lying among the dunes. There are more than 40 of them, which is half of all inland lakes on the planet! Among them are the world's largest lake of this type in size - Bumanyin (200 hectares) and the highest - Boomerang (120 m above sea level). All lakes are completely different. Some are surrounded by dense forests with rich undergrowth, for example a lake, where tourists especially like to come around Christmas. On the shores of other lakes, on the contrary, there are areas of bare dune sand. However, both are poor in nutrients, hence life.

A lot of surprising things can be found, if desired, right next to the path on seemingly bare ground. From time to time you notice small green circles, two centimeters in diameter. If you carefully pick up one of them with a knife, it will rise and turn out to be... a lid that hinges back, as if on a good “hinge,” and closes the entrance to the house of a hunting spider with smooth inner walls. Most likely, you won’t find the spider in the house: sensing that the “prey” is too large, it will quickly crawl through the “back door” into the hole, further into the ground, before prudently slamming the “door”.

King parrots and yellow-tailed black cockatoos can be found in the treetops. An emerald pigeon feeds on fallen fruit on the ground. The brush-tailed glider and sugar glider also live here (although you can only see them on a specially organized night excursion).

Dingoes, these amazingly beautiful lean dogs of red color, with white paws and a narrow “fox” muzzle, are found everywhere. These dogs are very attractive, and their puppies, like any puppies, are also very touching. Therefore, the simple human desire of tourists to give the dingo something from their supplies in response to their pleading look is understandable. Some dogs constantly live in the vicinity of tourist sites and have already forgotten how to get their own food. Such dingoes, if they are denied a handout, become aggressive and can even bite. They become especially demanding during the period of feeding puppies, i.e. in winter (in Australia this is June - August). It is for this reason that they cause concern to the rangers. The most aggressive dogs have to be caught and destroyed.

In this regard, at all tourist stops (and several thousand of them come here every year - mainly in the Australian summer) special posters are hung: “Bt§oe8”. They inform visitors about the importance of conserving the dingo population on Fraser Island. After all, in all of this, this is practically the only absolutely pure community of dingoes that have no contact with domestic dogs. It also explains why feeding dingoes is so dangerous: dangerous for visitors.

Catching aggressive dogs is part of the rangers' job national park. They are also responsible for all information and environmental services. In addition, they must be able to provide first medical care and, if necessary, quickly evacuate the victim. Rangers regularly monitor the condition of the sites and ensure that tourists comply with the established rules of conduct. They are engaged in supplying campsites with firewood, showing slide films in the evenings, holding various holidays, etc., etc. In short, the Fraser Island rangers are as wonderful a landmark of this corner of Australia’s nature as its yellow dunes and coffee rocks, tree ferns and blooming orchids, emerald doves and wild dog dingo.