Today’s journey from Tin Can Bay through to South White Cliffs took us along the western side of Fraser Island and through an area called the Sheridan Flats. As the tides in the area run around 2 -3 knots we left early to catch the out going tide from Tin Can Bay then dropped anchor at Snout Point. Just after lunch we set off again with the incoming tide and had a lovely run through the channel – without hitting any sandbanks! This is our fifth trip through the Great Sandy Strait but the beauty is still breathtaking.
For those of you who haven’t visited Fraser Island you should put it on your travel itinerary. It’s the largest sand island in the world and thanks to a lot of hard work by passionate people it’s been protected as a world heritage site since 1992. The eastern beaches are superb, if a little busy with four-wheel drive traffic at low tide. The western side is a little less well traveled with areas of dense mangroves and eucalyptus forests that grow right to the water’s edge leaving nowhere for vehicles. Dingoes are perhaps the best known wildlife on the island and sadly get a bad rap… The island supports an enormous diversity of habitats from rocky headlands, to sand lakes, to beaches and forests. The fishing I’m told is sublime – not that we’ve had any success…
We’ll probably stay here for a couple of days so I can write and Graham can pursue those elusive fish. I think I can live with the view. (And as internet is patchy at best I’ll have no excuse to be procrastinating on social media!)
Enjoy 🙂
Snout Point's fallen gum tree survived another wet season
Reflections of a port marker 🙂
We've never see it so calm coming out the top of the Straits
Shags going somewhere in formation!
Sunset at South White Cliffs
Lions Den and Bloomfield is also worth the visit – I didn’t realise it was bitumen now@
You should grit your teeth and go driving on Fraser! We’ve had several wonderful holidays on the island – this time of year is perfect. The tracks are all in good conditions and with a low tide the beaches are firm. For the volume of traffic there really are only a few incidents – and usually because people are rushing to get past the rising tide. We had several times where we simply stopped on the dunes and waited for the tide to turn again.
It’s a stunning island 🙂
Thanks so much Helene, for suggesting those three things to see in Cooktown, we’ll check them out in the next couple of days. The info centre also suggested taking a drive to Lions Den and the Bloomfield track to the falls as that is now bitumen.
Hubby wasn’t impressed that we missed seeing Fraser Island again – my fault as I panic a bit when 4 wheel driving is involved. We could’ve booked a tour but I wasn’t sure about that either. It’s been his dream for the past 30 years to take his 4×4 onto Fraser Island. Maybe one day he’ll be 3rd time lucky.