Fraser Island – Day 2

There were clearly two groups of people during breakfast, the sulking dorm group and the energetic hotel group. It was so funny just to observe the different moods of the two groups.

The day started by going to the Stonetool Sandblow Lookout. It was like a small desert with tops of the trees clinging to the last bit of their lives. That area was once a forest full of green tall trees, but as the sand moved to this area, the whole forest was gradually buried under the sand and became a small desert.

One of the things I was so looking forward to see on this island was this shipwreck. It was indeed stunning to see it by yourself, and the whole thing makes it more interesting when you knew this ship had been once a luxury cruise, a hospital ship during WWII and then sold to the Japanese for scrape metals.

It was said that the Maheno was too heavy to be towed from Australia to Japan. So the Japanese decided to remove & sold the propellers first before towing back to Japan. On the way, strong winds had made the towing extremely difficult. Although Maheno was in perfectly good condition, she was unable to move on her own without the propellers, so the Japanese just let her go and she ended up on the shore of Fraser Island.

One of the best things about guided tours was that you get to know the history or stories of the things you see. Without the colourful background of the Maheno, she would just look like a huge piece of pathetic rusted metal.

The Indian Head was one of the volcanic rocks on the island. Climbing up the steep rock on a rainy day on your thongs was not a good idea, but everyone seemed did not mind. There was no constructed route to the top of the Indian Head, I nearly slipped a few times on the way.

When you reached the top, you know it was worth it, and hoping you were here on a bright sunny day, because that would be more spectacular. It was said if the weather was good, you could see sharks preying on schools of fishes, huge turtles, stingrays and other sea creatures. I spotted only one stingray.