The biggest sand island in the world…

Location: Hervey Bay, Queensland

Weather: Summer perfection, the suns out, there’s no clouds about and the temp is around 34ºc

“You’ve got too much luggage to take in the R44 heli” our pilot told us as Bre, the Beyond TV crew and I arrived at the Hervey Bay airport. Yep that’d be about right – we’re hauling around 200kgs of kit between us so M.I. Helicopters would have to take the larger Bell Ranger across to Fraser Island instead.

It’s a quick trip across the channel but throughout the flight looming large in the distance is Fraser Island stretching from horizon to horizon. 124kms long with around 40 freshwater lakes contained within its body it is the largest sand island in the world. There’s dense vegetation over the vast majority of it, rainforest in some sections and all along the eastern seaboard one of the largest beaches I’ve ever been on…sand as far as the eye can see!

We touch down on the helipad of Kingfisher Bay resort and meet the welcoming committee of Abbie from Aussie Trax and Damian from Fraser Coast Tourism who’ll be our guides over the next day. They arrive armed with two 4×4’s – the only way of getting about on the island as there’s no real roads, only sand tracks.

I have to say that this is massively exciting for me – after spending all of last year driving around Africa in a Land Rover battling the mud and sand roads there, the idea of taking on another 4WD challenge is just what I needed. But before we jump in the cars we cruise into the luxurious eco-surroundings of the Kingfisher Bay resort to a quick pit stop and drink, there’s nothing worse than getting caught out whilst on the road!

We depart and as soon as we’re out of the resort’s confines the road just disappears…well I say road I should have said slat-covered-track…the deep sand starts here so we engage 4WD and follow the deeply rutted tracks into the depths of the island.

These are actually the main roads here; the island is a national park and also listed as a World Heritage site which helps to maintain its beauty and unique features and attractions. The main road across the centre of the island has fairly large numbers of vehicles passing along it, mainly 4×4 rental cars with drivers experiencing sand driving for the first time.

It’s important to note to those visitors experiencing 4WD’ing for the first time should undertake the relevant training required before taking one of these cars out on Fraser Island’s sand roads.

Inevitably this does throw up a few issues within the first few kms of driving on the sand…stranded vehicles! It actually makes for quite a fun start to the journey as we have to leave the air-con comfort of Damian’s Pajero and head out to the front of the convoy that is stranded behind the unlucky bogged vehicle. This is where the fun really starts with the usual routine for extracting it from the sand – let some pressure out of the tyres, clear the four patched of sand from in front of them, back up a bit and…..HIT IT!!

Once we’ve coached the driver with some very basic skills they’re off blasting their way across the bumpy, sandy roads and it’s not long before the entire convoy is moving again – it’s amazing what a little bit of education will do.

The islands got some incredible rainforest and its amazing how it survives as sand isn’t the greatest retainer of water, but somehow it holds enough to maintain the life of a whole multitude of trees, bushes, plants and animals. A couple of hours later we’ve smashed and bashed our way across the centre of the island, rescued a few more tourists and slowly counted down the kilometre signs to Lake McKenzie – our stopping off point for a bite of lunch.

There are over forty freshwater lakes on Fraser and the one that everybody knows and wants to visit is Lake McKenzie. As I walk down the path that leads to its shores I can see why; the purest turquoise water surrounded by the whitest sand reminds me instantly of Whitehaven Beach back in the Whitsundays.

I take off down the beach like a madman, I love the water and this is heaven – not since I’d completed my dive qualification in Lake Malawi last year had I seen such perfect water. There’s a fair few other people here too, the backpacker community appear to have got here before us so there’s games of Frisbee, football and sunbaking going on all around.

Having a day to explore Fraser Island doesn’t leave anytime for exploring so we’re straight back in the vehicles and off again hitting the sand road due east all of the way to the coast…the massively long coast which stretches for nearly 120kms form north to south.

We drop onto the solid sand of the beach and join the highway; at least that’s what it felt like as there are so many 4×4’s doing exactly the same thing. Tyre tracks are everywhere and the rules of the highway really do apply here with speed limits and road signs very much the norm – this is the only way to head north from here.

Travelling on the hard sand, dodging the waves and avoiding the rocks requires lots of concentration and constant micro-adjustments to the steering wheel, so the sight of a huge wreck in the distance is a welcome relief from the road. The S.S. Maheno was originally built in 1905 in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for trans-Tasman crossings. During the First World War the ship served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, before returning to a luxury liner. In 1935, the ship was declared outdated and on June 25, 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later, on July 9, 1935 she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF. The ship has since become severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand.

The sun is getting lower in the sky and time, as ever, is pushing on – there’s one more location to visit before heading to our camp for the night and that’s Indian Head at the very northern tip of this section of beach. We climb the rocky headland and get a superb view down the length of the beach as it disappears off in the distance. In the foreground there was a little more to focus on…just below where we stood the outline of tiger sharks were obvious patrolling the fish-filled waters for their next meal. I can now see why swimming isn’t recommended around the coast of Fraser island!

In the failing light we return south along the beach and stop briefly for a quick lesson in sand-worm hunting – an essential skill if you consider yourself a local fisherman around these parts. Talk about a knack to it – something neither Bre or I clearly possess as we struggle to catch anything…at least our lives don’t depend on it anyway!

It’s a pretty quick drive back to the dip in the dunes we’d passed earlier marking the entrance up the beach to our resting point for the night, Cathedral Beach. Its a peaceful, remote location which Shane runs and has all of the facilities to make this a great self-catering location for those with their own 4×4. Having camped on top of my Land Rover every day last year it was wicked to be doing the same again tonight – although the luxuriously fitted safari-style tents here offer much more comfort than my canvas house did.

There’s a meal fit for a king waiting but the welcome sight of the shower block comes first adding to the feel-good factor of the day especially after we’ve inhaled enough dust and sand to fill a small bucket. Shane runs the Fraser Island Company and has a few different options for people looking to spend a few days exploring this amazing environment here at Fraser, the camp we’re staying in tonight is setup for all manner of adventurous types who come to the island for their holidays. From the simplistic campsites to the type of tents we’re staying in through to the luxury chalets.

Staying out in the bush is a great way to immerse yourself in your surroundings; there’s huge toads hopping about, the sound of the night is all around and a dingo evens walks right past us as were bedding down for the night. Superb.

The feeling of sunshine warming the outer wall of the tent signals sunrise and the end of my sleep unfortunately – I was really enjoying that, but there’s work to do recording a script for Tourism Queensland and I can’t think of a better place to do it than on the beach.

Work done, breakfast consumed and before we know it our time on Fraser island is almost up – we’re leaving on a tiny little plane from Scenic Flights who operate from the main beach and make our way down to the waters edge where Dale is waiting by his machine. He’s great fun and once we’re on board throws the plane about so we can see the sharks in the water below, the huge sand dunes in the distance and eventually the runway out on front of us only 30 minutes later as we come into land at Hervey Bay airport back on the mainland.

Fraser Island has so much to it and deserves a couple of weeks to explore it properly in a vehicle, the fishing is supposed to be incredible and some of the wild bush camps in the middle of nowhere must be brilliant.

When I finally get my Land Rover over from the UK and have some time off I’ll be making the drive up here again to play in the sand and float in Lake McKenzie until my fingers are wrinkled…

End of day location: Hervey Bay

Distance travelled: 120kms by road on sand, and 25kms by air

…camping on the beach!!

Interesting facts about Queensland:

• The capital of Queensland is Brisbane.
• The capital city of Brisbane is also known as ‘River City’ due to the serpentine Brisbane River that flows through it.
• Queensland houses five World Heritage listed preservation areas, namely Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh in the Gulf Country, Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves, Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.
• Towards the south of Queensland, the Gold Coast is located, which is the surfing and party Mecca of the state.
• Queensland was initially sited by Europeans in the 1600s.
• Queensland boasts of the fastest growing economy in entire Australia.
• Queensland has the lowest cost of living in comparison with the other Australian states.
• Queensland’s coastline stretches over 7400 km with the corals of the Great Barrier Reef fringing the eastern coastline for over 2000 kilometers.

Location: Peppers Palm Bay, Long Island

Weather: Another hazy but sunny day – when’s it going to go away!? 28°c

After a late night chatting away to Paully, the manager of Peppers Palm Bay, the unescapable clanging of my alarm clock was still too loud to hide from…it was only 5.00am- what on earth would I need to be up at this ungodly hour for?

The answer was just pulling up onto the beach: Armed with my luggage and a considerable hamper-breakfast I made my way down to meet the good ship Scamper, my transport for the next leg of the journey.

S-CAMP-ER is a brilliant idea; one that’s so simple you’d think “why on earth didn’t I think of that?!” An aluminium, high speed barge with a low draught allowing it to be taken over shallow reef and right up onto the numerous sandy beaches around the Whitsundays supplying, resupplying, dropping off and collecting campers from the campsites which are scattered around the islands – what a cracking way to earn a living!

Unloading our kayaks and kit from the barge we hauled it up the sandy beach making a pile at our prospective campsite and once the drone of the engine has disappeared we were there all alone – wild camping on Whitsunday Island!

A few of the QWPS (Queensland Wildlife Parks and Services) rangers have been living on the island for the last few months slowly and surely building a new track to the highest point on the island – Whitsunday Peak. Dave and his merry team of men have toiled with picks, shovels, slings and buckets using nothing but materials sourced only on the island to create a roughly manicured safe means of reaching the summit – something visitors to the island have been doing by other routes for years, unfortunately to the detriment of the surrounding forest.

We decide we’re going to take on the challenge and try to reach the summit. I’ve seen it from my balcony on Hamilton Island and regularly thought about scaling its heights and now here’s my opportunity! The track’s really good now and it takes us just under an hour to ascend the 435 metres to the rocky summit, however, the recent lingering dust storm has meant there’s still a fair amount of haze hanging around and I struggle to see my humble abode off in the distance. We turn and head back down to the beach below and once there cool off in the ocean…it’s a hot job pacing through the forest you know.

Nari’s Beach is our location for the night and our kayaks are the means of getting there, excellent- I love paddling across the water and the hour long cruise around the coastline takes us past sandy beaches, rocky granite outcrops and mangrove backwaters. The affection I feel as we paddle in and out of little secret areas is unrivaled…talk about motivation for my kayaking project next year!

The sound of scraping sand on the hull signals our arrival on the beach, we haul our rides to above the high-tide line and set camp for the night. I tempt fate and position my tent as close as I can to the water line – this real ‘out there’ camping experience is fantastic and just what I wanted.

Heading to bed following dinner which is served just after the sun goes down means one thing – waking up damn early! As the first glimmer of light breaks the horizon I roll out of my tent to watch from the beauty of the sandy beach. In fact stuff sitting still – so I grab a kayak and head out by myself onto the water passing suspect swirls of water, diving turtles and the occasional jumping fish. A totally incredible experience.

There is work setup for me not just frolicking around having fun – my day involves acting as a ranger with the Parks and Wildlife Board and an hour later the Marine Parks Board barge arrives on the beach with Bryan and Brett – my colleagues for the afternoon.

Complete with my new uniform we headed off to the first port of call, Hook Island to service the camp toilets. Not the most desirable of jobs but an essential one for all of the campers out there. A quick brush out of the units, replace the toilet rolls and drop a few handfuls of lime into the long drop to neutralise the contents and the job’s finished!

Next thing to do is check each of the campers permits, it’s compulsory to purchase a pitch in advance of staying on each island (or the place could become overrun with boat owners I can tell you!), once they’ve all been referenced against the booking numbers it’s onto the next job…

Another part of the work the rangers do is to keep the mooring markers clean which designate where boats can tie up against and it was to become my job for the afternoon; hauling them onboard before scraping and scrubbing them clean of all the marine cling-ons which, after a few weeks floating, consider these their home.

After a hard day’s toil and work out in the open air and on the ocean, Brett steered our barge into Nara Inlet on Hook Island, a perfectly sheltered natural harbour which the indigenous Ngaro people of this area stayed in during times gone by. At the top of a steep climb there’s a cave in which numerous paintings have been created over the decades depicting different Aboriginal motifs. The images can only be speculated about what exactly they mean, but when you stand at the top of the walk and look at them it’s very easy to imagine you’re back at the time they were drawn there.

The rangers maintain and check the solar panels, battery and electric fence surrounding the caves which are designed to keep out ferrel goats…it also acts as a deterrent to people too!

The day draws to a close as we head back over an increasingly lumpy ocean and finally turn the last corner past Henning Island enroute to Hamilton’s marina. A final farewell to the boys and I trot off home very happy to have done a good day’s work finally…in some people’s eyes anyway!

End of day location: Hamilton Island via Whitsunday Island
Distance covered: 60kms

Run the Great Whitsunday Walk…29kms of fun!

Location: Airlie Beach
Weather: A little too warm for running but clear blue skies and sunshine can’t be moaned at! 30°c

An exhausting but brilliant day…

I’ve been staying at Big4’s Adventure Whitsunday Caravan Park for the last couple of nights and have had a grand old time since I arrived…from the moment I checked in and was driven down to my accommodation in the golf buggy. This is not just any buggy, oh no, this is one with a huge frog on the roof – the logo of the resort!

My condo is one of a number of types of accommodation available on the site but the vast majority of people choose to arrive in their own vehicles towing either a caravan or trailer tent. As I walk into my luxury Condo I instantly think how much my sister and her family would love to stay here, with a family of three this place would be perfect.

Around the site there’s so much for kids to do too with the focal point being a swimming pool and waterpark, there’s tennis courts, jumping pillow (try bouncing around on this thing for a while!) and in the evenings open-air movie screen and a children’s disco, at which I was the adopted DJ for the night.

At the beginning of my contract I’d asked Tourism Queensland to try and enter me in as many running events as they could during my time with them so I could maintain my fitness and today was one of those days.

‘Run the Whitsundays Great Walk’ has been organised for a few years by the Mackay Running Club and takes place in the Conway State Forest, located inland from Airlie Beach. It’s 29 kms of forest path with considerable rises and falls which mean the course can take around 1.5 times as long as a comparable course on the flat.

It’s an early meet in Airlie before coaches take the 100 competitors up into the forest to the official start of the race. I’m a little nervous for the first time in a few races as my training has been next to nothing over the last few weeks and the course is rumoured to be a pretty challenging route.

As we clear the start line the pack breaks up quickly with the front runners disappearing off into the distance, the tracks only wide enough for two runners and I pair up with a guy called Geoff who’s running at a similar pace to me…pretty slow; a cautious move to conserve energy for the inevitable tough parts of the race later on.

What a scenic run! Over creeks, through clearings, winding up the side of ridges and dropping down steep dusty paths – this is the sort of running I like. The km’s slowly tick by and I’m out there enjoying myself on this Sunday morning.

I leave Geoff behind and up my pace feeling more confident in my abilities as the race goes on. By the time I read the 25km sign everything’s going brilliantly and the downhill track starts back towards Airlie Beach, the site for the finish, I’m racing past other people here and bar the cramp which hit me in my calf as I dropped down the hills, it’s the best race I’ve had in ages even finishing the final kilometre at sprint speed.

My finish time of 2hrs 52 mins is just about as good as I could have hoped for as this is my first long distance race in a while, all in all, a very satisfying day.

End of day location: Airlie Beach
Distance covered: 29.5kms running through the forest