Fraser Island - Kingfisher Resort Anchorage
We arrived at Fraser Island's Kingfisher Resort at around lunch time after spending a quiet night at South Whitecliffs (a pit-stop from Garry's Anchorage). It was a busy place, with ferries chugging to and from the mainland, and quite a lot of boats anchored in the bay but the anchorage is so big, there was room for many more.
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| Venture's big brother. |
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| These ferries from the mainland were fairly constant |
Kingfisher Resort on Fraser Island is just that.... a resort, filled with holiday makers staying in their hotel rooms, or cabins, or eco accommodation. There are swimming pools and bars, tennis courts, restaurants and shops and lots of things to do as long as you can pay for it... and very little of it interested us. About the only thing I would have liked to have done was segue (or segway if you prefer) riding on the beach but we decided that our money was better spent elsewhere (but hey, if I get back to Fraser, it'll be me, the segue and the beach, baby!!).
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| Speed signs for those who feel that they need to speed |
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| Segue tracks on the beach. |
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| These little soldier crabs covered the beach and disappeared in a flash beneath the wet sand. |
We did take a wander along to the shop for a loaf of bread and a map of the island, and I did buy myself a new top (like I TOTALLY needed it!! No... really... I did!) but apart from that, the resort itself (apart from the Sand Bar, where there were showers and awesome pizza) had no appeal to us whatsoever so we looked at walking trails, of which there are many, in all different lengths, directions and difficulty.
The next morning we landed on the beach and dragged the dinghy up what felt like a kilometre of beach so that we were near the high tide mark, and tied off to an old tree. It was tough work but I think I'm actually getting biceps! We chatted to a couple of our-age blokes whose dinghy was also nearby and whose wives had gone resorting. After about 15 minutes of friendly chat, the men dragged their dinghy towards the water then headed back towards us to collect their portable engine, shoes and other bits and pieces. They chatted with us a bit more until one of them glanced back towards their dinghy. Suddenly it was panic stations as he, and then the other guy realised that the tide had come up more suddenly than they realised and their boat was slowly floating out to the open water. The first guy took off and stripped down to his undies as he raced towards the shoreline and then he plunged into the water. The trouble is, the floater had gone too far and out of safe depths, and he had to come back. They watched as their boat bobbed further out to sea. At that point Dave came to the rescue as he knew what he had to do! I raced along the beach and grabbed some young lads to help take our dinghy back down the beach. Then Dave and the second guy jumped into our dinghy and took off after the errant escapee. They finally caught up with it about half a mile off shore and brought it back in. Phew.... my hero!
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| Awesome pizza at the Sand Bar |
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| The big dinghy rescue. |
After all of that excitement we finally decided on the walk that took us from the Sand Bar up to a lookout and then a long ramble around the back of the resort area (which was fully fenced off to keep the dingoes out). At one stage we did leave the enclosed area (where there are much longer walks) but one look at the steepness of path, the angle of the dangles and the knee jolting roughness of the rocks changed my mind so back inside the gate we went.
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| View from the lookout at the beginning of Beerillbee track |
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| The Beerillbee trail. |
The walk we did take was meant to be a longish short walk along the
Beerillbee trail but somehow turned into a longish long walk filled with
twists and turns, ups and downs, a few birds, some awesome views and a
variety of paths from well marked to rocky ruts. In the end we wound up
back at the resort and it was decided that we'd burned off enough
calories to have a drink and an ice cream, so it was Coke and Magnums
all round. Oh yeah! We strolled out of the resort towards the beach
along the road that was flanked along its full length by vehicles filled
with outgoing holiday makers who were waiting around for the ferries to
take them back to their workaday lives.
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| Pied Butcherbird |
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| Varied Triller |
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| Grey Fantail |
Back at the boat, and
after a nap, we also planned our next move. Next stop, after a 6am start
(ugh!), Bundaberg and ever closer to the Whitsundays. :)
Location:
Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia
GoogleMaps |
GooglePlus Local
The next morning we landed on the beach and dragged the dinghy up what felt like a kilometre of beach so that we were near the high tide mark, and tied off to an old tree. It was tough work but I think I'm actually getting biceps! We chatted to a couple of our-age blokes whose dinghy was also nearby and whose wives had gone resorting. After about 15 minutes of friendly chat, the men dragged their dinghy towards the water then headed back towards us to collect their portable engine, shoes and other bits and pieces. They chatted with us a bit more until one of them glanced back towards their dinghy. Suddenly it was panic stations as he, and then the other guy realised that the tide had come up more suddenly than they realised and their boat was slowly floating out to the open water. The first guy took off and stripped down to his undies as he raced towards the shoreline and then he plunged into the water. The trouble is, the floater had gone too far and out of safe depths, and he had to come back. They watched as their boat bobbed further out to sea. At that point Dave came to the rescue as he knew what he had to do! I raced along the beach and grabbed some young lads to help take our dinghy back down the beach. Then Dave and the second guy jumped into our dinghy and took off after the errant escapee. They finally caught up with it about half a mile off shore and brought it back in. Phew.... my hero!
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