K'gari, formaly known as Fraser Island

19 november 2017 - Sydney, Australië

Just for once, I’ll wright this story in English, so Dave and his collogues can read this to!

Fraser Island. It should be one of the highlights on the east coast in Australia. A trip I nearly skipped, because I thought it would be a shame of my campervan, standing in a parking lot for 3 days. After all the great reviews on and offline, I took the gamble. I parked the van outside the office of a company called Dropbear (cool name, google why). Was I going to regret this?

The day started out early; 06;30. I met the group I was going to travel with during a briefing, where they told us about the safety measures and laws on the island. How to drive, what to do when you encounter a dingo, all that. Soon enough we were in 4 jeeps, heading for the island. The 122 km long island dawned on us, while we were on the ferry to Fraser Island. Let the adventure begin!

As soon as the wheels of the powerful 4WD jeeps hit the sand in a column, I queued the music; the Jurassic Park soundtrack blasted through the speakers. It couldn’t have been more suitable! The island feels like in another timeline, where humankind have not messed anything up yet. On the way in we saw our first dingo and a huge turtle!

After a while we arrived at basecamp, where we got another briefing. They take things like recycling and nature preservation very seriously.  For breakfast, lunch and dinner they took really good care of the vegetarians and vegans as well. Everyone how wanted to drive in the jeeps, got their turn during the weekend.

That first day we went out for a swim in Eli Creek, a pristine creek so clean, you could actually drink the water. After playing and swimming in the stream, our guide Dave gave us lessons in how to throw a boomerang. During that time, he gave us all kind of information about the Butchulla people, who used to live there and which tree they used for what. He had the ability to tell people the core of the story, without losing the attention of the tour guests.

In the evening after diner, he gave lessons in how to play the digeridoo and told us stories. He has a great interest for the indigenous Aboriginal people. So much, he reached out to the Butchulla people at Fraser island, who adopted him. He has a great knowledge of their way of life, we could ask him anything. On a tour like this, that’s a huge advantage.

Out on the beach he showed us the important star systems (for the Butchella people), what give quiet a view.

On the second day Dave waked us by digeridoo and after breakfast, we went down to spot the shipwreck of the Maheno. The wreck has been down there for a long time and has almost rusted away. It creates an interesting picture!

On all of the days we would go out for a swim in fresh water, this time at lake Wabby. This lake, surrounded by big dunes, actually reminds me a bit of Holland. The water is lovely and we were the only ones there.

When we visited the Indian Head lookout, Dave told us about the importance of this place and of the killing of countless Butchella women and children on this site, just for being Aboriginal. The island is surrounded by a lot of tragedy, slavery and death, based on lies of a spoiled woman. Ironically, the island bears the name of her husband. There’s still a lot to be straightened out by the Australian government. Not just on K’gari, the native name of the island.

A while later we took a swim in the Champagne Pools; a natural swimming pool on the westside of the island. Protected by the rocks, it was totally safe to swim in the salt sea water.

After we had the opportunity to bath in the Eli Creek once more and rinse the salt of, we returned back to camp.

That night Dave told us a lot about the horrors that happened on the island. The Butchella people where not only forced out of their home, the where killed, enslaved and raped by the English. He shined a whole different light on the ‘great’ captain Cook and how he plunder his way around Australia. All the tour guests listened, how he explanted the history of his Butchella people. The good, but also a lot of the bad. You could feel his connection and pain with the native people in this country. It opened up my eyes about the status of the Aboriginal people and their deep fully respectful way for the land they live on.

On the last day we visited the beautiful Lake McKenzie, only reachable by an inland road. It gave me a chance to drive on a challenging track, I had a blast driving through the mud and steep hills!

The lake was beautiful and not that crowded yet, so we could explore this inland gem as well. After swimming for a while, we got back in the car and after a while we walked through a pristine rainforest, the only sand rainforest and one of the oldest in de world. This was the first rainforest I ever visited and it was quiet the experience.

At the end of the day we started heading back to the mainland, where we took a scenic route over Rainbow Beach.

So, coming back to the question; did I regret this? No. Just like a lot of other people I can only highly recommend a visit to K’gari and all his beauty. If you do decide to visit do, book a descent tour like with Dropbear. They respect the land, from the dingo’s, turtles and the Butchella people, to their habitats, food and holy places. It’s embarrassing to see other tour guides stepping all over their rights and wishes, just to quickly please their clients. With a tour guide like Dave, how has a ton of knowledge about the island, you know you’ll get the right experience. In the right, respectful way.

I can’t thank him and his colleagues enough and it is my pleasure, to highly recommend a tour with these guys (and girls).

So, if you have the chance; visit the beautiful K’gari and see it for yourself!

On a personal note:

When we reached the basecamp on day one and had to divide up by two to sleep in tents, all the other guests in my car teamed up with other people and I slept alone that weekend. Not personal I guess, but It threw me back, got me back in my shell and left me there for the next 24 hours. It’s worrying to notice, how fast depressive thoughts bedevil me when things don’t work out the way I thought/planned. The right path has been found, but the AAU is not going to make it easy to finish this course in Life. It won’t be the last time I’ll slip this trip, I still have a lot to learn about letting go and adapting and take it for what it is. Not everybody will like me, not everybody wants to be friends, so be it. I have to remember my training I got back at home and not sink away in the quicksand, the dark side in my wants me to get lost in.

Back alone in my campervan, I have to dust myself of and pick myself up again. Tomorrow will start the next lesson!

Van reisblog naar fotoboek
Laat een prachtig fotoboek afdrukken van je verhalen & foto's. Al vanaf € 21,95.
reisdrukker.nl

Foto’s

2 Reacties

  1. Angela:
    21 november 2017
    Wat een belevenis Robin, mooi geschreven. Lastig, die levenslessen, maar ook heel goed dat je dit doet! Je kunt het!
  2. Wouter:
    29 november 2017
    Wat een goed verhaal. Bijzonder ook, om de geschiedenis zo tot leven te zien komen en de trieste geschiedenis van hoe Europeanen (als op zoveel plekken) huisgehouden hebben. Mooi dat je een tour aanraadt die hier oog voor heeft!