Hey, everyone! I spent the past three days on K’gari Island in a 4WD with about 22 other tourists. The tour was perhaps one of my favorite tours since being in Australia.

K’gari Island

The first day began… early. We had to meet up outside the hostel at 6.30am and we began our drive shortly after. The plan was to drive from Noosa to Rainbow Beach, where we then crossed over a ferry that took us to K’gari. K’gari Island was formerly known as Fraser Island. K’gari was the Aboriginal name for the island and so that’s the name it is now going by.

There were three cars driving to the island. I hopped in a car with six other people and we drove off, following our guide, B, to Rainbow Beach.

Everyone was tired but as we woke up, we started chatting. Being stuck in a car with six other people was a great way to make friends with fellow travelers! “Car Two” had Eimear, Emily, Emma, Rebecca, Teah, Jim, and me. Our group was composed of Irish, British, German, Dutch, and American.

We all were excited and as soon as we got on the ferries, it seemed to amplify. We were greeted by dolphins swimming alongside the ferry.

I was apprehensive to drive but the idea was that everyone (with a valid drivers license) would take turns driving during the trip. I hadn’t driven in a year and I hadn’t driven on the “opposite” side of the road before. Although, on K’gari there aren’t really roads… you’re driving along the beach as waves lap up beside you. There are inland tracks, too, but not quite the same as driving on a street.

It was so amazing to be driving on the beach, singing along to music. All three 4WDs had radios, so occasionally we would share jokes between cars or our guide B would ask for a “vibe check” where we would respond with hooting and hollering.

During the drive, B gave us information about the island and would also caution us when the tide was high or when the sand was going to be very soft in certain places.

Kudos to Emily on doing the first round of driving because it was CHAOS – the sand was so soft and we were in for a bumpy ride for a while.

Boorangoora

Our main attraction for the first day was Boorangoora – a beautiful inland lake with white sands like the Whitsundays. At this point, Rebecca took over driving. We were in an inland track which was even more rocky and bumpy than the soft sand in the beginning was. She killed it, though. Everyone who drove throughout the trip was respectful and safe towards their fellow passengers.

We switched into our bathing suits and after a safety briefing from B (“there may be dingoes, walk in groups of four, etc.”), we went down to the water. It was cold but it was beautiful. The white sand turned aquamarine under the water and then faded away to a darker blue the deeper the water got.

These inland lakes were formed by fallen organic matter (think lots and lots of fallen leaves, perhaps even tree branches, etc.) that then formed a sort of plug in the sand, allowing rainwater to eventually fill up a lake over time.

I swam to another part of the lake but it was pretty windy out and wind + cold water = freezing Steven. I get cold very easily. I toweled off and put my jumper back on. I ended up talking with B for some time. She is from Tasmania so we bonded over that and then started talking about Aboriginal culture and her life as a tour guide. It was a lovely chat. She is so interesting! B was also the closest to my age of anyone else. In fact, at 31, I was actually the oldest in the group… including our tour guide B haha.

After some fun in the sun, our next and final destination of the day was our campsite. The others in Car Two asked, “do you want to give it a go, Steve?” Meaning driving. Uh… Um… Yeah, okay! I was certainly nervous. Australian steering wheels are on the right hand side of the car. The indicators and the windshield wipers are on opposite sides. You drive on the left hand side. Could I do this?! But yes, I could.

I drove us out of the rainforest (the only sand-based rainforest in the world) which was, I must say, quite the feat, and then eventually out to the beach. Driving on the beach is… unlike anything else. It honestly was my favorite thing on the trip. Driving through sand, with ferocious waves crashing close to shore… the occasional whale doing a fin slap or breaching (while we didn’t see too much of this, we did see it!) But more importantly, the excitement of driving on the beach was seeing… dingoes!!!

First Dingo Sightings

Dingoes were estimated to have been brought over from Java around 4,000 years ago. According to the internet, they are regarded as an “ancient” breed of domestic dog. One of the tour managers that we briefly met at the campsite told us that dingoes actually are the only breed of dog that share the genome with the original wolves. How cool is that?

I was really, really hoping to see a dingo. B assured me, “if there is anything I would promise someone… it’s that they will see a dingo on this trip.” And she was right!

Shortly before we were pulling in to the campsite, we had to pull over for a pee break. As we were getting back into our cars, B was talking with us about dingoes and then said, “Oh, there’s actually a dingo right over there.” It was somewhat far in the distance but it was making its way in our direction.

Dingoes patrol the beach. It is actually a pretty smart tactic, considering they are living on an island and the other animals can only venture so far before running into a dingo.

There are between 100 and 200 dingoes living on K’gari. With that said, it’s about a 1,655 squared km island. While it is incredibly likely to see a dingo, it’s pretty cool to be able to see one when the area they can roam in is so massive.

The dingo walked by, sniffed the eskies/water coolers tucked into B’s trailer, and continued on. AMAZING!

We also passed some more dingoes that first day. One of them was a pair. One dingo was digging in the sand for something while the other lay in the sand.

Riding on a high, we finally made it to camp – an area that had an electric fence surrounding it to keep the dingoes out. Yikes!

Campsite

Our tour was in for a treat because we were given a free upgrade. We were supposed to be camping in tents and sleeping, I imagine, in sleeping bags, but we were upgraded to these gorgeous four-person permanent tents with LEGIT BEDS in them. These tents were actually better than some of the hostels I’ve stayed at.

One thing along the tour was that the guests all make the food themselves. It’s more of a communal thing. B provided us with all the food but a different car was assigned to put the meal together and then clean up afterwards. For instance, on day two, Car Two cooked dinner and cleaned up afterwards.

We all ate dinner together and then sat around the campfire. Emily and Eimear had brought marshmallows. I think someone else had provided chocolate and crackers. Some of the people had never had s’mores before so it was cute to see them experiencing that for the first time. The experience reminded me of my childhood, summer vacations in Wisconsin.

At times, I would drift away from the group. I am absolutely more of an introvert. I walked around with my flashlight/torch, looking for some interesting wildlife around camp. I came across a spider that was hanging outside someone’s tent. I went back to the group and asked if anyone is interested in spiders/would want to see one. A small group came over to look at it. Some people were disgusted and horrified haha. My brother probably would have been, too.

I can appreciate that spiders are “creepy” but having seen so many spiders in Australia at this point, I definitely respect them and find them fascinating. This particular spider was behaving in such a strange manner. B came to look at it with me and we thought maybe it was laying a sack of eggs. I snapped a picture and after zooming in later, I realized it was actually two spiders mating. They just looked like one spider. This was confirmed when even later in the evening, I checked on the spider again and there were two spiders there in close proximity. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that before!

After some time, I decided to go bed. It was late and I’d been up for so long. It took me some time to fall asleep but I had an excellent sleep.

The Sunrise Gang

Emily and Eimear have watched the sunrise every day since they’ve been in Australia together and they have a goal to continue that trend until they leave. The night before, they’d asked if anyone would like to join them. Since they were in my room, I agreed.

A small group of us met up around 6am and walked down to the beach. The sky was cloudy but as the sun rose, some of the clouds started turning pink.

We had a dingo stick with us – not to hit the dingoes with, but to smack them on the ground if a dingo starts approaching, to scare them off. With one of those sticks, Emily carved “K’gari Island” in the sand with a big love heart around it. Ephemeral grafitti. Everything is ephemeral.

It was a lovely way to start the morning.

Maheno Shipwreck

There are two things we had passed by on our first evening that we didn’t have a chance to look at with the fading sunlight. One was the Maheno shipwreck and the other was a dead whale carcass. I’m sure you can imagine which was more fascinating for me to see judging by my love of whales.

After breakfast, we drove down to the shipwreck. B informed us that no one died on the ship – it actually was basically junk metal that was being transported from New Zealand to Japan but a cyclone hit and washed it ashore. There was an attempted retrieval after the cyclone but it failed. The ship itself had actually been a New Zealand naval ship from World War I.

The shipwreck itself is a major tourist attraction on K’gari. It is really neat to witness. I’ve seen shipwrecks underwater while snorkeling but never something like this. Supposedly, only 20 years ago, it looked to be in decent condition and you could see coats of paint on it still. How quickly nature reclaims.

We walked along the shipwreck for a bit but B suggested we then use the time as an opportunity to take some group photos next to our 4WDs. Sold!

Everyone seemed to have such a fun time taking pictures.

Near the shipwreck, there is a somewhat recent dead whale carcass. We weren’t able to get too close to it as it’s in a brutal state of decay at this point. There was a discussion about whether to put the whale back in the sea since it would provide food and sustenance for other marine life but the Aboriginal representatives of K’gari decided that it should be pushed higher up on the island – for the dingoes and other wildlife.

I had never seen a whale carcass before but after having read Fathoms: The World in the Whale, I had been curious to see one. Of course, it’s a bummer that the whale died, but “circle of life” and all that, I suppose.

Eli Creek

After the shipwreck, we went to Eli Creek for a swim. It is a creek that leads out into the ocean and we had inflatable tubes to have a “lazy river” moment. Along the walk to the launching point, I spotted a golden orb-weaving spider. It was quite massive and I assumed a lot of the others hadn’t yet seen a spider so large so I pointed it out to everyone. Again, so funny to hear people’s responses. “Oh, that thing is definitely venomous,” (it’s not) “that thing is HUGE!” And of course, just general exclamations of disgust and/or horror haha. Orb-weaving spiders are quite smart and actually make their webs away from footpaths so they don’t get destroyed as people walk through them.

I did walk through the creek but afterwards, opted for yoga instead of doing the lazy river. I also walked along the boardwalk looking for wildlife and… of course, snakes.

Before we got back in our cars, B asked us if we could spend ten minutes picking up rubbish off the beach. Unfortunately, K’gari bears the brunt of a lot of litter coming in from the ocean. All over the beach there were microplastics disguised in the sand. Occasionally, a plastic crate on the beach or a piece of a small, playground slide. We all did this without question, happy to help clean up the beautiful island. I was quite impressed they integrated that activity into the tour. SAVE THE WORLD! Although, I think it is likely too late.

After Eli Creek, we stopped for lunch before continuing on to our next destination: Champagne Pools.

Along the way, we spotted a dingo with a fish in its mouth! Someone was telling me that occasionally, fishermen will actually bury discarded fish or shark fins in the sand for the dingoes. This way, the dingoes think they’re finding their own food instead of the danger of feeding wildlife and having them rely on humans.

How cool to see a dingo with a meal! I think this one was actually caught by the dingo because most of the fish seems intact still?? Not sure.

Champagne Pools

Champagne Pools was the farther north we would be going along the island – anything after that was going to be a bit too treacherous and we also just didn’t have the time. It is a protected rock hole that allows you to swim there.

People don’t swim in the ocean at K’gari because it is infested with sharks, allegedly. I wonder just how many sharks are hanging around there haha. The waves are so hectic, I actually wouldn’t want to swim. It seems there were riptides everywhere along the east side of the island.

When we rocked up to Champagne Pools, it started raining. We sat in the cars for a while as B told us the story of why K’gari Island was once called “Fraser Island.” Basically some white dude (surname: Fraser) with a racist, lying wife who claimed the people on K’gari kidnapped and raped her and then wrote a book about it. It later came out that the wife was lying about that experience… so it’s no wonder there was a push to go back to the original name of K’gari.

The rain subsided at the conclusion of B’s story and we headed to the pools. I had the intention to swim but when we got there, it was just too windy for me. B mentioned there may be blue-ringed octopus hanging out and to be aware of them. Instead, I walked around the pools, looking for wildlife.

It started to rain and I sought cover under the cliffs while some of the others in the group were enjoying being in the water (even with the rain). Some of them said that was actually their favorite part of the trip! While hiding from the rain, some of us were lucky enough to see a whale breaching off in the distance. Cool!

After some time, we headed back to our cars and drove back to camp for the night.

Car Two made dinner (my group) and afterwards, people hung around the fire again. I hung out for a while but then wanted to read some of my new book and went into the kitchen where some people were playing drinking games.

At one point, one of the dudes quickly jumped up and ran outside the kitchen, exclaiming that something was biting his dick. He legit pulled down his pants and had his ass out. Everyone was cackling. He truly had ants in his pants.

Lake Wabby

And just like that… it was our final day. It went by so quickly! I wish we had had more time on K’gari.

In the morning, we had breakfast and then packed our gear back into the cars. The goal for the day was to spend some time at Lake Wabby before doing the first day in reverse – getting to the ferry, driving back to Noosa, checking back into the hostel, etc.

I think the walk leading up to Lake Wabby was my favorite. It was a decent walking trail through the bush. The trail opened up to a huge desert landscape. Beautiful.

Lake Wabby serves as a little oasis – the deepest inland lake on K’gari. I think B mentioned it was 18 meters deep, so like 60 feet?

We went for a swim in the cool water. It was very cold but it was invigorating. I swam around for some time. It reminded me of my Emmagen Creek experience in Cape Tribulation, although this time I had swim trunks on haha.

Once out of the water, I walked along the sand for some time. I climbed one dune and looked down at the lake and was surprised to see shadows of some very large fish swimming along the edge of the water.

I wish I’d been able to spend more time near Lake Wabby. I would have liked to walk along the sand dunes, looking for snakes and the occasional dingo trudging through the sand. Unfortunately, we were required to travel in groups of four during the trip as a means of dingo safety. It was sort of a bummer for me because it limited what I was able to do. I would have loved to wander off on walking trails by myself, or go to the beach at night time, etc. People were more interested in hanging out at camp at night or laying at the beach at our attraction points during the day – which is fine! I suppose what I’m saying is I wish there had been three other people who had the same interests as me. I think B was probably most closely aligned with my interests but she unfortunately had the responsibility of sticking with the rest of the group to watch over them haha. Alas!

After Lake Wabby, we made lunch at the back of Car One. We made wraps and B mused, “I’d just love it if a dingo came out for you right now.” She knew I was the person that seemed most interested in wildlife. Perhaps five minutes later, a dingo passed us by along the beach.

It sniffed the air, knowing we had food, but since we were in such a large group it wasn’t going to try anything. It continued along and another dingo followed closely behind it. Amazing! This was the first time we were able to see dingoes on foot – not in the safety of our cars.

After lunch, we got in our cars and headed back to the ferry. Rebecca was already feeling it – “I can’t believe it’s already over.” I could relate. I also haven’t mentioned yet, but Rebecca is HILARIOUS. So many jokes without even trying. A total riot. Everyone in my group was really lovely. And others in the tour, too!

While waiting for the ferry, we had one final dingo to give us a farewell. It passed right by our cars, “They don’t get any closer than that,” B said. Once it passed all three of our cars, it sat down in the sand. I watched it in the side mirror until we had to pull onto the ferry.

As if in reverse, we made our way back to Noosa.

We all grabbed our things from the cars and suddenly, our time with B was over. She deserved a goddamn standing ovation for keeping us all safe and entertained, but I felt the group’s expression of gratitude to her was reserved. Everyone started walking inside, but I walked over and gave her a hug, thanking her for everything. Throughout the trip, she would often wander over in my direction and start up conversation with me – which was always good conversation. Thank you, B! Absolute legend.

And then… the tour was over. I suggested to the group that we go see Barbie and after showering/chilling/eating, some of us met up around 9pm and went to the 9.30pm screening. It was a pretty great movie!

Miscellaneous

Honestly, I think I covered most of it! Only a couple of things…

One – it was always 1pm in Car Two. I didn’t mention this yet but we first took vans from Noosa to Rainbow Beach, then switched over to our 4WDs at the depot. So we were always at 1pm when on K’gari. On the last day of the tour as we were switching back to the vans, the cars had the correct time. It was almost symbolic – “you are no longer on Island Time.”

Prior to going to K’gari, I told my parents I was keen on seeing dingoes. My dad joked that I’d be bringing a dingo home haha.

Art of the Week

Definitely into this one! This is from a week or so ago. I haven’t had much time to work on any new drawings but hopefully soon.

Reflections

I’m so glad I ended up going on the K’gari tour. Seeing a dingo has completed my “stereotypical Australian wildlife” list. Aside from the wildlife, I had such an absolutely blast with Car Two and meeting/bonding with people in general. I would love to do a tour like that again one day. It’s kind of like making friends at camp… and bittersweet to be parting ways.

I have a full day today in Noosa. I’m going to exercise and then go explore a little bit if it stops raining. Tomorrow is going to be a LONG. DAY. I am taking the Greyhound to Sydney, which will be where I eventually depart from Australia. I have a few things I’d really like to do around Sydney, but visiting Blue Mountains National Park is probably number one. I also think I’ll be doing a snorkel at Cabbage Tree Bay, since some friends I’d met on Magnetic Island suggested I go there to see the resident cuttlefish. The water will be cold so I’ll likely be hiring a wetsuit haha.

I suppose that’s all for now!

Sending you all my love. xx