Thursday 18th January 2007. Fraser Island. Australia.

Today I am off on a 4WD (four wheel drive) excursion on Fraser Island. My first stop is Lake McKenzie. There are actually over 100 freshwater lakes on Fraser Island which in 1991 fully became a national park with the last log felled that same year. In 1992 the island which is the world's largest sand island was accorded world heritage status.

Lake McKenzie is a perched dune lake which means that it was formed in the sand dunes when a depression in the sand filled with decaying organic matter forming a 'cemented sand' that did not allow water to penetrate. Subsequent rain then fills such depressions resulting in fresh water lakes. Lake McKenzie sits some 90m above sea level and it is one of the 42 such lakes here on the island. In total the world has only 80 perched dune lakes worldwide so you can begin to see the importance of Fraser Island.

The traditional industries on the island have been logging and more recently sand mining. All such industry though is now banned in this ecological reserve.

Fraser Island stretches some 123km from Hook Point in the south to Sandy Cape in the north and averages 15km wide.

The island is geologically very important with studies carried out on both the vegetation and the ongoing changes in the sand. Most of the sand that makes up the island has come from the far south east of Australia and indeed some of the sand is from Antarctica (before Australia and Antarctica split).

The island is home to many different animals, although most are nocturnal and thus rarely seen. The island is most famous for the dingo population who inhabit all areas of the island. Closely related to the Asian Wolf dingoes can only produce one litter of pups each year; domestic dogs can produce two litters per year. Due to the isolation of Fraser Island the dingoes here are amongst the most pure in Australia.

Fraser Island is also home to 47 other mammal species such as the swamp wallaby and 354 species of bird. The wide range of habitats on the island provide for a range of food supplies allowing suitable breeding and nesting areas for a diversity of birds. Amongst the 79 species of reptile there are 19 species of snake.

The original inhabitants here were the aboriginal peoples of the Butchella tribe who called the island K'Gari (pronounced Gurri) which means paradise. Aboriginal history on the island stretches back some 8000 years.

Europeans first came to know of Fraser Island when Captain Cook spotted the Great Sandy Peninsular whilst travelling up the east coast of Australia in 1770. He mistakenly thought that the island was connected to the mainland. In 1799 Matthew Flinders on the Norfolk explored areas of Hervey Bay and discovered that the peninsular was an island. The naming of the island though has a somewhat more romantic history...

In 1836 Captain James Fraser on the brig Stirling Castle was wrecked at Swain's reef on the north of the island. The survivors travelled south eventually discovering that they were marooned on an island. Eliza Fraser the captain's wife was the sole survivor and the island was named after her.

Our next stop is Central Station (originally the homestead for the island's logging community).

Logging on Fraser Island started in 1863 with "Yankee" Jack Piggott and ended as recently as December 1991. Initially focused on trees such as the Hoop Pine and the Kauri Pine after 1925 Satinay became the major timber species logged on the island. Resistant to marine borer the satinay became popular around the world for use in marine conditions and was actually used in both the construction of the Suez Canal and the rebuilding of the London Docks after World War II.

From Wanggoolba Creek we walk to Pile Valley before heading for lunch at the Eurong Beach Resort.

After lunch it is off for a drive along 75 mile beach (which is actually only 65 miles long)to see the coloured sands of The Pinnacles that the local Badtjala people believe were created at the dawn of time along with the island, its plants, animals and features.

The highlight of the day for me was a visit to the wreck of the Maheno the Dumbarton built luxury liner that was designed to ply the route between Sydney and Auckland. One of the fastest ships of her time this Denny Bros masterpiece set the record for the fastest crossing of the Tasman(2 days 21 hours). The turbine driven steamship was struck by an out of season cyclone on July 8th 1935 and was washed ashore here at Fraser Island whilst enroute to Japan for scrapping. Her last major role was as target practice for the local airforce during the second world war.

Our last stop today is Eli Creek which flows from an underground aquifer about 6km inland from the beach. The creek has an amazing flow rate of 4.2 million litres per hour with the water a relatively constant 18 degrees celsius.