Fraser Island – Day 2
After our early morning jaunt to Basin Lake, we packed up our tent and headed off back towards the Eastern beach of Fraser Island, from where we would travel up towards Frasers @ Cathedral Bay to set up camp for the next night or two.
Lake McKenzie – Fraser Island
On the way to the beach we stopped at Lake McKenzie, where we thought we might have a dip in the water during the warmer period of the day. The water here is pure azure blue, and as clear as that found anywhere else on the island.
There were many more people here, and the sandy area around the lake was full of sunbathing tourists, though none were in the water when we arrived, it was clear several of them had been in the water.
As we were deciding whether or not to get changed and go in, a gang of about 8 or 9 Europeans walked out into the lake ahead of us. They looked pretty cold, despite the one who was swimming claiming that it was warm, the expressions on their faces told a different story. Again we decided not to enter the water, and after walking around and taking some pictures, returned to the car.
After completing 22KMs along another winding sandy single lane road, we turned left, or North, on the Beach and headed up the island at a good pace, eventually stopping at Happy Valley for lunch.
Happy Valley – Fraser Island
Happy Valley has a little shop, a petrol station, a bar and a restaurant. The prices in the shop are approaching the ludicrous, though the restaurant is extremely cheap, and good quality. We were really hungry by the time we got here, so it was nice to sit and eat fish and chips which someone else had prepared after fending for ourselves for the past couple of days, and at around $10 each, the meal was inexpensive.
Feeling refreshed, we left Happy Valley very happy and set off North up the beach again.
The Maheno Shipwreck
On the way up we experienced, not for the last time, the slightly surreal experience of driving past a semi-buried wrecked ship – the Maheno – which was washed onto the beach at Fraser Island in the early part of the 20th century during a storm while being towed to Japan.
We got plenty of photos, as did everyone else on Fraser Island.
Frasers @ Cathedral Bay
We arrived at our camp site of choice soon after the Maheno Shipwreck, and were pleased to find the facilities there were good, the showers hot and that they had a shop which sold booze as well as some unabashedly expensive food.
The location is good for exploring the Northern and Eastern parts of the island, so we decided to stay for a couple of nights and to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and barbecuing.
We would go further North the next day, and spent most of the evening making plans on what we would see and do.
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