Fraser Island

Deep culverts in the sand roads threw us about in our seats as we traversed our way out of the rainforest's emerald green cover to drive up the beach to the Maheno shipwreck.

The Maheno was a steam cruise liner that once held the time for the fastest crossing between Sydney to Auckland. During the First World War it was used as a hospital ship before becoming obsolete and sold for scrap. When its tow lines broke during a storm it became wrecked on the sands of Fraser Island. Used as target practice by the Australian Navy it is now a ghostly husk of itself.

Barnacles and limpets clung to its decaying underbelly, it's metal skeleton a brittle black stained with streaks and botches of rust. Port holes and steam exhausts silhouetted against the bright colours of sand and wave. This lonely fossil stands in contrast to all around it, viewable for miles on the flat open sands.

Further up the beach we sat in rock pools named the Champagne Pools because of the fizz that the tide creates when the white water crashes over the outer rocks. Whilst the angry sea frothed outside, the pools were an oasis of calm. Scales glittered beneath a rippling glass of water as fish of many sizes and colours darted away from our feet to disappear under rocks or deeper water. Flanks of Silver, specks of bronze and gold and stripes of black and white led a colourful parade.

On the cliffs at Indian Head, sea and sky met in perfect union as the beach swept away on either side. The rocks plummeted down to where two metre long sharks patrolled the swaying surf. Rays stealthy glided beneath the chop whilst further out dolphins crested the waves. In the distance a puff a spray denoted a whale's movement.

Finally at Eli Creek, where fresh water floated down through quiet bush to meet the beach, we floated on rubber tubes between sand bars and beneath the tendrils of hanging trees. The water was cold and clear as the air was held still and warm in the shelter of the creek.Read more