Paddling Fraser Island: 160km from North to South
Sun, Sea, and Sand: Fraser Island is the largest Sand Island in the World, and my friend Ewan Jerrard and I decided to paddle the length of the island by following the 160km of coastline on the western side of the island.
We started our adventure on the most northern point of the island: Sandy Cape. Named by Captain Cook in 1770, Sand Cape is revered as one of the most remote and desolate points on the east coast of Australia. Explorer Matthew Flinders landed on the point in 1802, and it was quite moving to know that such a legendary explorer had stood in the same area as I, dreaming of the adventure that lay ahead.
The first day was supposed to be 40km, and we had envisioned to be on the water just before first light. We thought ourselves to be keen adventurers, but instead, we were lazy teens who didn't get on the water until 7:30, two hours after when we had wanted to go. We payed the price for this, later in the day when we had planned to make an open crossing, the winds had picked up and it added another 7km onto the journey for the first day because we needed to hug the shoreline. We didn't get into our second campsite until 7:30pm. We paddled for 10km in low/no light, and we were only able to find our campsite due to a (illegal) fire that some other campers were sat around. Pasta for dinner, and bed.
On the second day, we set off at around the same time, and faced a 35km paddle to Moon point, which signified the end of Platypus Bay, which was the longest beach on the trip, and also signalled the halfway point of the entire expedition. More unsuccessful fishing and a swim, followed the paddle. On this particular day, we saw a fin; unsure as to whether it was a dolphin or shark, I carefully approached it, and it breached out of the water 3 metres in front of me- it was a dolphin, and that moment must have been one of the highlights of the whole trip.
The next day, we paddled a mere 26km to get to Kingfisher Bay, a resort on Fraser Island where my parents were staying, and where Ewan's cousin works. We arrived at 2pm after a 6 hour paddle where we saw turtles, manta rays, and more dolphins. We were blessed with some curly fries and a burger when we arrived, it was a nice break from the fish wraps I had previously been eating. Following a comfortable sleep inside, Ewan was interviewed by Craig Zonca of the ABC, and we were able to access the Kingfisher resort staff breakfast thanks to Ewan's cousin. Fuelled by hash browns, bacon, sausages and eggs, we set off on full stomachs for our next campsite: Gary's anchorage. This paddle was delightful, it felt as if the tide was with us the entire time. We paddled past shipwrecks, stingrays, turtles, cliffs, mangroves and dunes, and the diversity and sheer beauty of Fraser Island was reinforced into our minds.
We arrived at camp at about 2pm, which gave us plenty of time for a fish, swim, and relaxation. Like usual, we didn't catch anything, the plastic lures we'd been using had not been very attractive to fish. A man who walked past me on the beach told me that the reason I hadn't caught any fish is because fish hate English people. Who knows? Maybe the nationalistic fish of Australia just hate pommies! But Australian born Ewan had the same bad luck. However, later that afternoon (now evening) an elderly couple who went yabbie collecting gave us some yabbies in a bucket! I had bites straight away, but the small crayfish on the end of my hook just kept falling off. Following this, Ewan tied one on to my rod, and I cast. I felt a big bite: I've got something. Upon reeling in, this fairly small fish was hanging on the end of my rod! Cod! This would make dinner so much better! We had 1 last yabbie, so we tied it on, cast out, and luck was on my side: a second fish, this time a big Bream! Maccheroni con pesce! Maccaroni with fish! The final night of Fraser was brilliant, full bellies meant high energy, and we were ready to paddle the 24km to Inskip point back on Australia.
Sun's up, and the tide was against us. Low tide had just passed and we couldn't paddle in straight lines for the first hour due the exposed sandbanks everywhere, but alas, the waters rose, and we paddle for around 5 hours until Inskip point. That day was awesome, a Dugong whale, also known as a sea cow, swum beneath my boast, and it's wash waves were huge! I almost capsized due to this peaceful animal which I had accidentally disturbed. If that was the last animal I saw on Fraser island, I would be more than happy. But it wasn't. Dolphins, birds, turtles and... a shark. A shark swam straight next to my boat in the shallow waters we were paddling in; it wasn't big, but it was still a shark, and that was quite scary. But we kept paddling, we had no choice, the promise of fish and chips kept me going until the end. And the end came. We made it! 160km of paddling along the length of the world's largest sand island. The aboriginal name for the island is K'gari, which means paradise. Paradise it was: paradise is hard work, but paradise is still paradise, and paradise kept me going.
