Maheno wreck

The Maheno Wreck is an iconic site, but becoming less as time goes by (good title for a song). Jessica and Toby have both visited here, we are following in our children’s footsteps.

Macca did a great job getting us there before the other tourists. After 10 minutes we were descended upon by two self-drive tag teams. Each is a convoy of 4 vehicles with a lead driver and then the tourists taking turns to drive the other three vehicles. Each vehicle takes 9 people, the lead vehicle might take 13 so each group are potentially 40 people that suddenly descend upon a site.

The boat was ahead of its time. Originally built as a steamer for trips between Australia ad NZ, it was commissioned during WWI as a hospital ship. We were told that it couldn’t have a protective convoy because it went so fast.

Even after it became grounded on Fraser Island in 1935 the boat continued to be useful. A wedding was held on board in 1936. The information plaque says that the Australian army used it for explosives training, blowing holes in it! Another source says that there is no ordnance around that area. More recently it has become a tourist attraction.Read more