Everyday’s A Different Day On Fraser Island

Hana White from Dropbear Adventures, takes us through what life is like on Fraser Island, and what to expect from day to day.

The start of 2015 has brought with it an anniversary: four years of living and working on the beautiful Fraser Island just off the East Coast of Queensland. WOW! Four years on a remote island – it hardly seems real it’s gone that fast. Mark and I often get asked whether we live on Fraser Island, but not many people ask us why – until a guest asked me recently on tour.

It’s easy for anyone who has visited the island or seen pictures of it to see why someone would want to live here, but let’s face it; the reality of living in the middle of nowhere is just a novelty for most. My fiancé is an Aussie fella so for him it’s easy, but for me it’s a little harder. When I really think about it my answer is always for the love of adventure!

I love it here because everyday is different. I wake up every morning excited to find out what the day is going to bring, smiling knowing whatever it brings I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else experiencing it.

There’s far more to Fraser Island life than just 4WD and seeing Lake McKenzie, which is arguably what most people come to the island for. It’s a constant adventure and a battle as probably everyone’s everyday lives are, but I think what I love the most is the survival instincts it sparks in my very independent nature.

The island changes so much; with each tide the beach is different, with each season the flora transforms, and with each year comes new challenges for me. We’re all here on an adventure, but I think we choose just how adventurous ours will be.

I was never quite content with the magazines’ celebrity and real life headlining dramas like ‘My mum is having my husband’s quadruplets’. I sought more adventure, and living on the world’s largest sand island just off Australia’s beautiful coast of Queensland provides me with more than enough adventure that I get to share with my beautiful Aussie man.

From driving through metre-high foam after a lengthy storm to crawling over miles of exposed brittle coffee rock to a smooth highway of sand, the beach conditions on the island change so often. You have to plan everything around the moon and tides. Albeit I’m only popping to the shops for bread and milk, but it still feels very primordial when you then have to pump up the water, boil the kettle on the gas burner and start the fire all before you can think about having a cup of tea and a slice of toast.

The island is also home to over half of the world’s perch dune lakes with Lake McKenzie being its most famous. I’ve swum in 10 of the island’s most accessible crystal clear fresh water lakes, and with no nasties to watch out for, it’s heaven for people like me who don’t find the ocean that inviting. With over 60 lakes on the island, I’ve still got plenty more to see (I might need a machete to get to the other 50 mind you).

Anyone you speak to about Fraser Island will always tell you it’s only accessible by 4WD and that you need a 4WD to go there. Fraser Island is actually home to a very famous nature walk that people travel from all over the world to do. You have to be a pretty hardcore walker, so I think that’s got a lot to do with why it gets missed off the list of things to do on the island.

However, I have met many hikers on the island, usually when it’s sweltering and I just cant fathom how they could be walking in such a heat, so I always stop and ask if they want a lift or need water. I once met a Canadian lad who inspired me after thinking he was mad for walking his way around the island. It was only recently that I had the chance to take off on foot to explore the island and I totally saw why he made me promise him I would find time away from my laptop to walk the island one day.

I know that the island is home to many birds, lizards and dingoes and I’ve seen most at some point or another, but nothing prepared me for the abundance of wildlife I saw on my walk through the inland bush tracks and just how lucky I felt that day. It was amazing to just wander over sand dunes, through eucalyptus trees and into sub tropical rainforest.

I’ve come across some crazy things, from a tree snake regurgitating a brown snake to a pack of dingoes taking out a wallaby – and that’s just the wildlife. I’ve also seen some poor guy’s Porsche Cayenne be rolled around by the ocean like it was in a washing machine.

If there is one thing that I know from living on Fraser Island all this time, it’s that regardless of your own scale for desirable adventure, the island has all sorts to offer and I certainly won’t be going anywhere in a hurry. Leaving nothing but footprints and taking nothing but pictures, I will continue my adventures on an island I have grown to love and never get bored of.

Article courtesy of Hana White of Dropbear Adventure Tours.
www.dropbearadventures.com.au