Fraser Island
Nov. 25 – We left the Gold Coast for Fraser Island. Our first stop of the day was Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland. Time to sightsee, window shop, buy souvenirs and explore the city. Joining our tour were Basil from Ontario, Scott from Melbourne, Melinda and Olivia, both from Brisbane. Then we visited Forest Glen Wildlife Sanctuary to see kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, possums, sugar gliders, and emus. It is the only place in Australia where you can cuddle a koala for picture taking.

Lunch at Noosa Heads, set on the edge of Noosa National Park and Laguna Bay, a beautiful resort town along the beach. From here we continued up the coast to Hervey Bay, (with rain starting to fall again), to catch a late afternoon launch across to Fraser Island. Kingfisher Bay Resort would be our home for the next 2 nights. Activities after dinner included karaoke sing-a-long. Met and had a chat with Delena, from Victoria Island, BC, who has been very reserve and quiet so far.

Nov. 26 – Fraser Island is the largest coastal dune system on earth being 124 kilometers long, and covering an area of 163,000 hectares. An ecological masterpiece of giant dunes, forests, streams and elevated fresh water lakes. Its Aboriginal name "K’gari" appropriately means Paradise. Nowhere else in the world will you see towering rainforests rooted in sand, surviving on the nutrient breakdown of other plants and the vast freshwater lakes and streams.

Vicky and I opted to explore the world’s largest sand island by 4-wheel drive buses. The 4WD bus took us through the rainforest, the Great Sandy Straits, Eli Creek, the Maheno shipwreck and Lake McKenzie, the only place one can swim without being bitten by stingers and sharks. We also took a bushwalk through the Yidney Rainforest.

Dingoes, Australia's native dog, a subspecies of the gray wolf are native to this island. We were advised to leave them alone to maintain its wild life instinct.

That evening, we had a good dinner at the hotel, while everyone else were having theirs at the Sandbar (pizza). Vicky, Jinelle, the French couple (Corine and Patrice), and Andrea, sat down for dinner with good South Australian wine and game cuisine. I had a tasteful meal of ostrich while some had kangaroo meat.

Nov. 27 – We took the morning launch back to the mainland and then cross the Tropic of Capricorn en route to Rockhampton, gateway city to the Tropics and Beef Capital of Australia. We continued to the small seaside village of Yeppoon. We checked in at Capricorn International Resort and went for a late afternoon swim before heading for Koorana Crocodile Farm where I first tasted crocodile soup (which tasted like chicken soup). In between courses, we were given a tour of the farm and got a glimpse of huge crocodile at a 5 feet distance, viewed the breeding pens and had a photo taken holding one of the smaller ones.