Fraser Island

INTRODUCTION
Named after shipwreck victim Eliza Fraser, the World Heritage listed sub-tropical Fraser Island has a truly amazing array of natural wonders including beautiful rainforests, pristine lakes, endless surf beaches, immense sand blows, cliffs of coloured sands, crystal clear streams and vast stretches of mangroves.
Fraser Island is 125km long and over 160,000 hectares in area. It was formed during the ice age when the prevailing winds transported vast quantities of sand from New South Wales and deposited it along the coast of Queensland forming Fraser Island as we know it today.

In this fragile eco-system the rainforest consists of huge satinay and brush box, kauri pines, piccabeen palms and the rare angiopteris fern which is one of the largest ferns in the world. All this growing in pure sand! There are some wonderful walking tracks through these areas to enable visitors to appreciate the unique beauty of Fraser Island.

There are several lakes on Fraser Island each with its own individual character - from lakes stained red with tannin to others with pure white sand and crystal clear water. Swimming in these lakes is a memorable experience.

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Fraser Island is also home to over 200 species of birds along with a variety of mammals, wallabies, snakes, possums, turtles and flying foxes.

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Now listed as a World Heritage site, Fraser Island joins the ranks of the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and Kakadu National Parks as being of universal significance as the largest coastal dune system and sand island in the world and for its special environments. As a precious part of Queensland's natural and cultural heritage, it is protected for all to appreciate, enjoy and respect.

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NATIONAL PARKS, FORESTS & SAND
Fraser Island is part of the Great Sandy Region, the section of coastline stretching from the north shore of the Noosa River below Lake Cooroibah and Cooloola National Park, to Sandy Cape at the northern tip of Fraser Island.
About half of Fraser Island is currently national park. The Great Sandy National Park occupies the northern half of the island. The southern half is almost entirely crown land and state forests, proposed for national park, subject to resolution of Aboriginal land interests.

FORESTS
Fraser Island's forests are among the island's most remarkable and controversial features. Though the island was heavily logged, large stands of satinays and brush box still remain. Pile Valley, between Central Station and Lake McKenzie, where much of the logging took place, has the tallest of the towering satinay and brush box.

Satinay and brush box form part of Fraser Island's sub-tropical rainforests together with piccabeen palms and kauri pines. Fraser's rainforest are home to rare and ancient species including the angiopteris fern.

The angiopteris fern is notable due to its use of water pressure rather than structural tissue to keep its fronds erect. The walkways along Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station, inland from Eurong, pass several of the magnificent ferns.

Further north and inland from Happy Valley, the Yidney Scrub is home to a forest of 200 year old kauri pines.

Fraser Island's vegetation is not all tall forest. Wallum heathlands occupy much of the lowlands. They consist of shrublands, scribbly gum trees and wallum banksia. The heathlands spring to colour during August and September with a profusion of wildflowers.

The western coastline of the island is fringed with mangroves backed by areas of cypress pine.

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SAND FORMATIONS
The dune systems of the Great Sandy Region, which include Fraser Island, are the largest and oldest in the world dating back more than 30,000 years.

Along the ocean coastline, the dunes take on sculptured shapes at times, giving rise to the names 'The Cathedrals' and 'The Pinnacles'.

There are 72 different coloured sands that occur on Fraser Island. The best coloured sands can be seen along a 35km stretch of the ocean beach north of Happy Valley.

Sandblows are the other major sand formation, caused through the gradual action of shifting sand across the island. The Knifeblade, just north of the wreck of the "Maheno", is the largest of Fraser Island's sandblows. A lookout provides excellent views.

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ROCKY HEADLANDS
Fraser Island's build up of sands and dune systems hinges on the rocky headlands of Indian Head, Middle Rocks and Waddy Point. Indian Head (right) is the true anchor for the island. It stands at the end of Seventy-Five Mile Beach and in addition to being a major landmark, it provides an excellent lookout onto the beaches and dunes.

Further north, Middle Rocks' Champagne Pools are deep natural rock pools, ideal for swimming. Waddy Point is a popular base for anglers and provides good views from atop the lookout.

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PRISTINE LAKES AND CRYSTAL CREEKS
If sand is the key to how Fraser Island was formed, then water has been the reason it has become so special. The combination of environments, particularly the rainforests, have established Fraser Island's wealth of freshwater sources.
CREEKS
Crystal clear creeks and streams flow through the cool, shady forests and out into the sheltered waters of Hervey Bay on the western side of the island. Along the shore, hundreds of streams run down the smooth, sandy beach and into the ocean.

But of all the creeks and streams on Fraser Island, two stand out as exceptional. Wanggoolba Creek at Central Station flows silently over white sand along the floor of a thick rainforest. A major port of call for visitors, Wanggoolba's creekside walkways pass the angiopteris ferns, an ancient species boasting the largest single fern fronds in the world.

Eli Creek (left) on the eastern side of Fraser Island, is the largest of the freshwater streams flowing into the ocean. Eli is popular with visitors and walkways allow you to appreciate its beauty.

Stop for a while and spot the kingfishers as they dart amongst the pandanus and casuarinas.

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LAKES
It would be hard to imagine lakes clearer than those on Fraser Island. The water is so pure that the 40 or so lakes support relatively little life. There are three types of lakes on Fraser Island: window, barrage and perched lakes. Window lakes occur when the ground drops below the water table. The fine white sandy base acts as a filter, giving the water its clarity.

There are several window lakes including Yankee Jack, Ocean Lake and Lake Wabby. Lake Wabby is also termed a barrage lake, which is formed by the damming action of a sandblow blocking the waters of a natural spring. Wabby is relatively close to the ocean side of the island and unlike the other lakes it supports several varieties of fish. It is also a good example of the sandblow phenomenon, gradually encroaching on the deep green waters of Wabby as the sandblow makes its gradual progress westward across the island.

Perched lakes occur above the water table. Saucer-shaped depressions with a hard, impervious base of organic matter and sand, form a catchment for the rain eventually creating the lake.

The peat-like base generally stains the water the colour of tea. In the northern half of Fraser Island, Lake Bowarrady is the highest of the perched lakes being some 120 metres above sea level.

In the southern part of the island there is Lake Birrabeen and the popular Lake McKenzie (left).

Lake Boomanjin at approximately 190 hectares in area is the world's largest perched dune lake.

Each of the lakes has its own particular character. Mysterious, moody and beautiful, they are excellent subjects for photography, great places to see birds, other fauna and flora and a welcome oasis on hot summer days. Scenic 4WD circuits and walking tracks in the southern half of Fraser Island take in some of the largest of the lakes including McKenzie, Birrabeen, Benaroon and Boomanjin. There is a walking track to Lake Wabby from the beach.
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WORLD HERITAGE LISTING
Fraser Island attained its World Heritage Listing in December 1992 in recognition of the island's exceptional sand dune systems, its rainforests on sand and its pristine freshwater lakes and is the tenth World Heritage listed site in Australia. It joins the ranks of the Great Barrier Reef, the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Uluru National Park (formerly Ayers Rock) and Lord Howe Island. (Pictured is a sand goanna).
The listing recognises Fraser Island's combination of environments as having outstanding universal value.

Fraser Island has emerged from a century of exploitation of its rich resources - timber, sand minerals and fish. Logging and sand mining have ceased after many years of campaigning by environmental groups. The challenge for the island in the future will be in managing the growth in tourism but the responsibility of protecting Fraser Island for future generations belongs to all visitors in respecting the island's environments.

The unique qualities of Fraser Island make it a destination you must see!

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Marsupials were saved from competition with more highly developed mammals. Birds unique to Australia also survived, and distinctive trees and plants developed. There are about 280 species of mammals, 800 of bird, 300 of lizard, 140 of snake and two of crocodile. Of the mammals, almost half are marsupials. The rest are either placental mammals or monotremes and most are unique to Australia.
Australia’s best-known animals are the kangaroo, koala, platypus, wombat and spiny anteater.

Isolation enabled the Australian continent to become a sanctuary for marsupials - mammals that suckle their young in pouches.

Among Australia’s marsupials are grazing animals, tree climbers, amphibians, earth burrowers, and the counterparts of cats and dogs and rats and mice.

There are about 50 species of kangaroo, ranging from some that stand as tall as a man to others as small as cats. Pictured is a koala with her cub.

Of the bird species listed in Australia, 400 - including the large, flightless emu - are found nowhere else. Isolation also allowed for the development of strange birds - as strange as the kangaroo and the koala. They range from tiny honeyeaters to the flightless emu which stands nearly two metres tall.

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There are 55 species of parrots in Australia, and the birds are as numerous as they are colourful.

A map by one of the earliest navigators suggested the Australian continent should be called Terra psittacorum, land of parrots.

Some of these birds are worth thousands of dollars a pair overseas, whereas in Australia they wake you up in the morning and crap on your car. Pictured are Rainbow Lorikeets.

We have more species of venomous snakes than any other continent and our spiders are also among the world's most venomous.

Australia has 20,000 species of plants, including living fossils such as the cycad palm and the grass tree, and brilliant wildflowers such as the waratah, Sturt’s desert pea, the flowering cones of banksia trees, and the red and green kangaroo paw. The continent has 700 species of acacia, which Australians call wattle, and 1,200 species in the Myrtaceae family which includes eucalypts or gum trees. Wildflowers turn the arid and savanna grassland areas of Australia into carpets of colour after rain. Native forests are limited mainly to wetter coastal districts and rainforests are mainly in Queensland.

The subdued and sombre tones of the eucalypts give the face of Australia its distinctive appearance. Eucalypts truly occupy the continent, from the snow country of the south to the tropics of the north, salt-laden estuary banks and harsh deserts. Some species hug the ground while others reach towards the sky and specimens more than 150 metres in height have been recorded.

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Its land mass of nearly 7.7 million km² makes it the sixth largest country in area after Russia, Canada, China, the United States and Brazil. It is the flattest and (after Antarctica) the dryest of continents, yet it has extremes of climate and topography.
There are rainforests and vast plains in the north, snowfields in the south east, desert in the centre and fertile croplands in the east, south and south west. About one third of the country lies in the tropics. Australia has a coastline of 36,735km - if it were possible to drive non-stop along the entire coast at 60 km/h it would take about 24 days to complete the trip.

Queensland comprises the north-eastern part of Australia and ranges from the Tropics to more temperate areas. The tip of Queensland's Cape York is the continent's most northerly point (latitude 10°41'S) and the most northerly town is Thursday Island. Australia is the world's smallest continent and the sixth largest country being equal in area to the USA without Alaska or double the size of Europe excluding Russia.

The continent is one of the oldest land masses - continental bedrock exposed by erosion is more than 3,000 million years old - and is the flattest of the continents because it lies near the centre of a tectonic plate. The average elevation is less than 300 metres, compared with the world’s mean of about 700 metres. The Australian Alps in the south east contain Australia’s highest ground, the highest point being Mount Kosciusko (2,228 metres).

More than one-fifth of its land area is desert, more than two-thirds being classified as arid or semi-arid, unsuitable for settlement. The coldest regions are in the highlands and tablelands of Tasmania and the south-eastern corner of the mainland. The hottest temperature recorded was 53°C (127°F)at Cloncurry in Queensland in 1889.

Australia is the only continent without current volcanic activity - the last eruption took place 1400 years ago at Mt. Gambier.

Australia is an independent Western democracy with a population of more than 20 million. It is one of the world’s most urbanised countries, with about 70 per cent of the population living in the 10 largest cities. Most of the population is concentrated along the eastern seaboard and the south-eastern corner of the continent.

Australia’s lifestyle reflects its mainly Western origins, but Australia is also a multicultural society which has been enriched by nearly five million settlers from almost 200 nations. Four out of 10 Australians are migrants or the first-generation children of migrants, half of them from non-English speaking backgrounds. They come to Australia for various reasons - partly because of the climate, partly because of our wonderful lifestyle, partly because the police are after them, but mainly because of the shame of having been born in a country with more people than sheep.

Isolation of the Australian island-continent for 55 million years created a sanctuary for the flora and fauna. We have about 280 species of mammals of which almost half are marsupials. The rest are either placental mammals or monotremes and most are unique to Australia.

Australia’s national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, is a revised version of a late 19th-century patriotic song. It was declared the national anthem in April 1984, replacing God Save the Queen, which was designated the Royal Anthem. Waltzing Matilda, Australia's best known song, was thought to be unsuitable for state funerals! In the same year, Australia officially adopted green and gold as its national colours.

Australia’s official language is English, by common usage rather than law. Australian English does not differ significantly from other forms of English, although some colloquial and slang expressions are unique.
The flag of Australia is the only one to fly over a whole continent. The small Union Jack represents the historical link with Britain, the large seven-pointed star represents the six States and the combined Territories, and the small stars form the Southern Cross - a prominent feature of the southern hemisphere night sky.

Australia’s coat of arms - the official emblem of the Australian Government - was granted by King George V in 1912. The arms consist of a shield containing the badges of the six States. The supporters are native Australian fauna - a kangaroo and an emu. A yellow-flowered native plant, the wattle, also appears in the design.

Australia’s national day, Australia Day, on 26 January, marks the date in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip, of the British Royal Navy, commanding a fleet of 11 ships, sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney Cove). Phillip formally took possession of the eastern part of the continent for Britain and established a settlement, now Australia’s largest city, Sydney.

Air travel and the great variety of Australia’s attractions are combining to bring more international tourists to Australia every year. Overseas tourists are drawn by Australia’s sunshine, sandy beaches, the vast outback, rainforests, the Great Barrier Reef, unique flora and fauna, the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, the attractions of the cities, Australia’s friendly multicultural society, and the safe and welcoming environment. Tourism is one of Australia’s largest and fastest-growing industries. In 1992, 2.6 million international tourists visited Australia.


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all are places where you can relax, have a good time and indulge yourself. Places where city dwellers can cast off their daily worries and stresses. In Australia we call that place Noosa.
Noosa is at the northern end of Queensland’s sub-tropical Sunshine Coast and combines international sophistication with the laid back carefree ways of a small seaside town - our population is only about 50,000. Noosa is a place where you can spend your holiday in a tent or in the Sheraton Noosa Resort.
Hastings Street is the heart of the town and is Queensland's best known avenue with its tempting boutiques, restaurants, pavement bistros and beachfront north facing apartments. The perfect place to stay before you set out to explore all that we have to offer the visitor. Drive up to Laguna Lookout on Noosa Hill and gaze down on the sheer beauty of unspoilt green bushland, rainforest, Noosa River, pristine lakes, Main Beach and the North Shore beaches and secluded bays and coves. Noosa is a flora and fauna sanctuary where birds and wildlife can be found in their natural habitat. Few Australians have seen a koala in the wild but in Noosa they're not an uncommon sight.

Noosa National Park is the most visited national park in Queensland and you can swim, surf and hike there all year round. There are miles of well kept trails along the coast and through the bush and you can stop off at one of the many sandy and secluded beaches or keep walking until you get to Alexandria Bay, Noosa's nudist beach - every year they hold the Nude Olympics there with every frivolous sport except leap-frog.


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Noosa's beaches, river, lakes and canals offer everything for the water sports enthusiast - yachting, boating, fishing, surfing, swimming, jet-skiing, water-skiing and rowing. Bring your own boat or hire one along the riverside. Away from the water there's still plenty for you to do, whether in Noosa itself or in one of the many beautiful little towns and villages with their open-air markets, art galleries, potteries, superb restaurants and friendly pubs.

If you really want to get away, we can arrange a trip for you to World Heritage listed Fraser Island - the world’s largest sand island.

In Noosa you can get away from high rises, skyscrapers, dirt and noise. With no buildings higher than the trees you can stay in quality and comfort - at a price to suit millionaires or families on a budget.

Noosa is natural. Noosa is special. Noosa is sophisticated. Noosa is friendly and Noosa is waiting for you!

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Aboriginal legend tells us that The Coloured Sands were formed as follows:
"Way back in dream-time, there lived on the banks of the Noosa River a beautiful black maiden called Murrawar who fell in love with the Rainbow, which came to visit her here every morning. She would clap her hands and sing to this lovely rainbow.

"One day the Burwilla, a very bad man from a distant tribe, stole Murrawar for his slave wife, beating her cruelly and making her do all his work, while he sat in the shade admiring his terrible killing boomerang. This boomerang was bigger than the biggest tree and full of evil spirit.

"One day Murrawar ran away and as she hurried along the beach, which was all flat in those days, she looked back and saw Burwilla's boomerang coming to kill her. Calling out for help, she fell to the ground too frightened to run.

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