Muddle Through Memoirs

A week in the wild across K’gari and Mackay

This week I connected with Australian wildlife more than ever before by being out in the thick of it and seeing dingoes, platypus, kangaroos and wallabies all in their natural habitat. One of my favourite things about travelling is having incredible animal encounters and this week was certainly not short of those.

The week started with a very rainy morning as my tour group and I all packed into our 4WD cars to catch the ferry across from Rainbow Beach to K’gari (also known as Fraser Island). It was on this initial ferry that we first caught sight of the wildlife with a pod of dolphins following along and jumping in the waves.
K’gari is the largest sand island in the world and features a 75 mile long beach, made clear by the veritable beach that came back in my bag.

The rain, fortunately, didn’t last long and after a picnic on the beach we headed for the famous crystal clear waters of Lake McKenzie (Boorangoora). As a ‘perched’ lake, it collects no ground water but rather only rain water allowing for the beautiful colour and clarity. Additionally the gorgeous white sand is very high in silica, making it very soft to walk on and helping to keep the water pure.

From here we endured 2 hours of possibly the most horrendously bumpy car journey known to man, for which I was unfortunately sat in the middle of the very back seat and therefore had no space or way to brace against the crashing. We did have to laugh about it.
On reaching our camp we were met with facilities well above my expectations with flushing loos, proper showers, a covered kitchen area with BBQs and pre-pitched tents – glamping almost.
After our BBQ dinner we headed to the campfire area for a few drinks and to keep warm whilst star gazing. This really was such a beautiful night (and not at all reflective of the terrible wind and rain which would keep many of us awake for much of the night!)

The next morning we were up at 5am, armed with our dingo sticks (high tech, red plastic poles), to walk down to the beach for sunrise. No dingoes, snakes or spiders were spotted so I’d call it a success despite the cloudy, slightly lack luster sunrise. At least we were first for the showers!

We then headed off for Lake Boomanjin, the island’s tea tree lake for a quick swim and sunbathe. This is my third tea tree lake so far and since they are supposed to be good for the skin and hair I’m expecting to wake up looking 10 years younger any day now.

From there we headed past 11 massive spiders along the boardwalk to the Champagne Pools, named for the natural spa effects and sparkling sheen caused by the waves lapping against the rock walls. This was probably my favourite stop of the tour due to the beautiful, clear water which made for the perfect opportunity to cool off in the heat of the afternoon.
Additionally, when walking back to the cars we had our closest dingo encounters when one strolled near enough straight past us on the boardwalk and later ambled up to our cars for a sniff around. Though they are cute looking it is really important to give the dingoes their space as any bites will result in the possible destruction of the animal.

On our last day on K’gari we were up again for the sunrise and an early breakfast before we headed to the famous SS Maheno ship wreck, a former luxury passenger vessel and WWI army hospital ship before it was wrecked by a cyclone in 1935.
We then moved on to our final destination, Eli Creek for a trip tubing down the natural lazy river. This was such a lovely, relaxing end to a trip I’ll never forget.

From Rainbow Beach I then had a 12.5hr overnight bus north to Mackay, an experience that was uncomfortable, freezing cold and distinctly lacking in the McDonalds stop that we had been dreaming of for our entire time on K’gari.
Having survived this pretty rough journey and another night lacking in proper sleep, it was a breath of fresh air to arrive in Mackay. As the only person from my bus hopping off here I was slightly worried about what I was walking into, but I can only say that this undiscovered gem (at least by the backpacker swarms) has been one of my top stops so far!

I was picked up from the bus by Amanda from the Mackay Adventure Lodge where I had booked on their 3 day Sandy Hopper tour. I was ever so slightly ecstatic to get the news that I had been upgraded from 8 bed hostel dorm to luxury twin room with one of the other girls from the tour and felt a bit out of place with my giant backpack.
The first day’s activity was a 90 minute wake boarding lesson. Lacking any core strength, good balance and general sporting grace this went about as well as could be expected but was fantastic fun. We started off on the knee boards and I did manage to get surprisingly far on these, perhaps not gliding across the water but more skidding before flopping into the lake. However, the actual wake boarding did prove beyond my limited capabilities and after giving it a go I was more than happy to enjoy my welcome drink and watch the professionals do their flips and tricks, flying around at speed.

The next morning was our main tour day, starting off at 9am heading towards Eungella National Park. On our way we did make a short pit stop for a meet and greet with local celebrity Felix the Brahman cow, a friendly, sweet animal who came straight over to us for a sniff and scratch.

After bidding goodbye to Felix, we started our hike through Finch Hatton Gorge towards the stunning Araluen falls for a swim. Having battled the heat and humidity, and fought past the leeches to make it to the water, the dip was so refreshing and the beautiful surroundings and occasional Ulysses butterflies made this the perfect place to spend a morning.

After our morning swim we headed into the town of Pinnacle for an iconic Aussie pie and chip lunch and then on to Broken River to spot some adorable little platypus in their natural habitat. As such shy creatures it’s really unusual to get to see platypus in the wild, especially as we saw multiple, and this made this experience even more special. Also spotted on this walk were a couple of goannas, a particularly lively snake and many turtles (including babies)!

Rounding out the day was a last stop to take in the beautiful views of the area, as well as a last unexpected animal encounter… a colony of 100,000 flying foxes (fruit bats). This made quite a sight with them all hanging from the trees, and I never would have thought I’d come across a colony so large so it was definitely a cool, if slightly eerie experience. No picture could really do it justice, sadly.

My final day in Mackay marked my earliest start yet, up at 3.15 and on the bus for 3.55am to head out to Cape Hillsborough for sunrise with the wallabies on the beach. The beach is home to a mob of approximately 70 wallabies and is looked after by 3 rangers who take it in turns doing the early start to ensure the safety of the animals when the tourists come to see them.
Wallabies are grass eaters but come down to the beach at dawn to feed on the mangrove seed pods which act as a sort of daily vitamin supplement for their diet. On this morning we saw a group of five wallabies (one of which was a mum with a joey in her pouch), as well as two friendly grey kangaroos.
Not only was this a beautiful sunrise, but to sit on the sand watching the wallabies hop around and feed was so peaceful and lovely. They have the sweetest little faces.

I can’t say enough about how much I’ve loved this week, so many incredible views, amazing sightings of wildlife, and time spent with some really lovely people. Australia, you just keeps getting better.