Fraser Island oh how I love thee. Beautiful beaches, picturesque lakes, Lush forests and plenty of Sunshine.
We have been to Fraser Island about 4 times prior, but this was our first visit in 5 years, and with kids. Our two boys (4 & 2) love camping, the outdoors and the beach so we knew they would love Fraser Island. We stayed at Cathedrals On Fraser (check out our review here).
There is so much to do on Fraser Island but here is our Top 9 (in no particular order)…
1. Champagne Pools
The pools are a great place to head if the beach is windy as it offers protection for young kids swimming. It was definitely our kids favourite place on Fraser Island, Master 4 is swimming by himself without floaties so he loved that he could wade in and swim with the fishes.
The walk in is about 800m along a boardwalk with stairs. The pools do get super busy so our tip would be to go early morning or late afternoon.
2. Western Beach
Once again if the Eastern beach is really windy and not suitable for swimming for small kids then head to the west. The drive across is about 60min depending on the track. We headed to Bowarrady Creek for the day.
The kids had an absolute ball playing in the flat water and exploring the creek. They did some yabbying and then caught lots of Whiting and Master 2 landed a Flathead
3. Eli Creek
The Largest creek on the eastern side of Fraser Island. It pours Fresh Water into the ocean and is a great place to setup for the day.
Take some inflatable pool toys – you can walk about 200m along a boardwalk, enter the creek and float downstream.
4. Planes
If it’s your first time to Fraser Island the planes landing next to your car on a beach seems a little exciting. Well the kids never ever get sick of it. Their favourite past time was to sit near the Eli Creek Landing Strip and watch the planes take off and land.
They loved chatting to the pilots and even got to sit in one of the planes. If you do have the time and money a flight is well worth it (we did one several years ago) and seeing Fraser Island by air really does give you perspective of how large the island is and a birds eye view of the lakes and sand blow’s.
5. S.S. Maheno
Our kids indignation ran wild here (possibly egged on by us) we told them that it was a pirate ship that ran aground in a storm. The loved exploring this shipwreck and spent the entire week on fraser island discussing which campsite the pirates now lived in.
The Ship started its life as an ocean liner, then in world war 1 was converted into a hospital ship. Then in 1935 it was sold as scrap while being towed to Japan a cyclone hit and it ended up stranded on 75 Mile Beach on Fraser Island where she still lies today.
6. Sandy Cape Lighthouse
The Lighthouse at the North/West tip of Fraser Island, You park the car on the beach and walk UP a steep climb of 1.2km. We ended up carrying the kids most of the way.
There are great views from the top, a small museum to look at and a grassed area for the kids to explore at the base of the lighthouse. There are also some world war 2 bunkers you can walk.
7. Central Station
Our kids are still a bit to little to do longer bush walks so we headed to Central Station on our way to Lake McKenzie and did a short walk around in the rainforest.
They loved looking at all the old logging machinery around the place and were amazed by the really tall trees.
8. Lake’s (McKenzie & Garawongera)
Fraser Island has over 100 lakes. Get yourself and the kids to one of them. This trip we headed to Lake McKenzie which is the most picturesque lake on the island. It is nearly pure silica, making the sand almost white and the water colour the most beautiful blue. The kids once again love floating around in the shallows and building sandcastles on the beach. Lake McKenzie has some fenced picnic areas and is close to Central Station so you can include it in your round trip.
This time we also ventured to Lake Garawongera which was also a great spot for kids swimming and has lots of large Paperbark trees providing shade.
We have previously ventured to Lake Wabby, it is a 4.8km circuit so we didn’t do it this time with the kids, but it is one of my favourite as it is bordered by a giant sand dune.
9. Wildlife
The main reason we love Fraser is we are outside amounts the trees and animals. The boys were so excited when we spotted any wildlife and would happily go Goanna spotting for hours. They loved tracking dingo footprints along the beach and were beside themselves when we actually saw one.
A few other suggestions not on the list as we didn’t manage it this time
- Whale Watching (we did this from Hervey Bay but you can go from Fraser Island)
- Spend the day at Kingfisher
- Sand sledding/boarding – we love Carlo Sand low for this
OH and out TOP TIP – take the bumpy inland roads turn up Van Morrison and they generally fall asleep!!!
If you have any suggestions on what we should do next time we head to Fraser Island comment below.
