Fraser Island

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75 Mile Beach

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stomps
stomps
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5 out of 5
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Editor Pick

Indian Head

  • May 22, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by stomps from Houston, Texas
Indian Head

Indian Head is the large rock sitting at the northern end of 75 mile beach on the eastern coast of Fraser Island. This rock, around 80m tall, is the rock around which all the sand of the island slowly collected through time, creating the largest sand island in the world.

Driving to Indian Head was not a problem, since it was a straight shot from our digs in Eurong up 75 mile beach. Once we parked just below Indian Head, it was a short 10 minute walk up to the very top, which offered some of the most amazing views on the whole island. To the northwest, there was an expanse of beautiful beach best viewed from the rock, since driving there meant going through very soft sand and waiting for the two cars that had already lodged themselves in said sand. To the south was 75 mile beach stretching long and thin along the entire Fraser coast. Everywhere else was scintillating, sparkling turquoise water, so clear that we could literally see exactly what was swimming underneath it.

There were two main lookout points—a tamer rock where you could sit down and enjoy the scenery, or the rock that involved a bit of climbing and walking on small ledges to get to. I originally was at the former, but soon made my way over to the latter, where about half our group was standing with James looking directly down into the water below.

When I was making my way around the top of the rock, I actually ran into someone wearing a DBPS (drop bear protection system). This is really just a Vietnamese-style rice hat, but I had to wonder weather they bought it to block out the sun or to block out the deathly grip of the drop bear.

We saw a lot of wildlife in a very short time without much difficulty at all—and I wasn’t even wearing my glasses! We saw sharks ominously patrolling around the rocks below, along with flowing manta rays. The sea turtles definitely caught all the girls’ attention the most—we saw two or three of them and I even got a snap of one (of course, it looks like a dot, but I know it’s a turtle!). After a while, James tired of his perched lookout and gave us another 20 minutes on the rock, which we spent in absolute awe. I literally could have spent the entire day up there, just pointing and screaming out to people when I saw another form of fauna. However, had I done this, I would have very much regretted it a few hours later with a terrible sunburn.

I definitely recommend making the drive over to Indian Head, regardless of where on the island you are staying, especially if it is as perfect a day as we had. Little other scenery I have laid eyes on comes close to that seen from the top of Indian Head.

From journal Fraser Island: Literally Paradise

Editor Pick

75 Mile Beach

  • May 22, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by stomps from Houston, Texas
75 Mile Beach

75 Mile Beach stretches all the way north to Indian Head from the southern tip of the island along the eastern coast. This beach, like 40 mile beach on the mainland, is considered to be a highway so cars fly along at around 80km per hour. Both beach’s names may seem to be an anomaly in the metric-using Australia, but they were both named before Australia changed to the metric system some 20ish years ago.

The beach is absolutely beautiful and offers miles upon miles of pristine sand and sea. The only problem we could find with the beach was the fact that you can’t actually swim in the water, which could be considered to defeat the purpose of going to the beach in the first place. Massive sharks—sighted at over 17 feet long—hang out just off shore, so you can swim if you feel like it (and we saw a few people doing so), but you will be, as James said, “shark bait.” Even though we didn’t actually bathe on the beach, we rather enjoyed just sitting on the softer sand (not any sand that could possibly be considered road) and watching the sky change colors with the sunset and seeing the stars come out. I probably saw the most stars I had ever seen here.

The beach is a great starting point for going pretty much anywhere on the island. Lake Wabby is the closest lake to the beach, with tracks leading either through forest or sandblow that are about a kilometer long. We went to a lookout over the Hammerstone Sandblow which was reasonably close to the beach, and the view was brilliant—we could see all the sand, followed by a bit of forest, and then the dazzling waters off 75 mile beach just beyond.

Many attractions are located literally on the beach or a very short walk away. Eli Creek is located between Eurong and Indian Head, and while it starts a fair bit inland, you can jump into it whenever and float back out to 75 mile beach. The Maheno shipwreck lies pretty much in the middle of the highway. Indian Head, the northern tip of 75 mile beach, offers stunning views of the entire area after a short hike up the 80m rock. There are also helicopter rides offered that take off and land on the beach itself, since it is also classified as a runway!

Many of the resorts and campgrounds are located along 75 mile beach as well. Eurong is more towards the southern end of the beach and has a number of beachhouses and other guesthouses.

We stopped on the beach for some quick pippy races on our way to Indian Head. James showed us how to dig up pippies, the native shellfish, and once we had all dug up a fair number (really quite quickly), we raced them to see which one would dig itself back under the sand the quickest. Mine didn’t even come close to winning—I think they fell asleep!

From journal Fraser Island: Literally Paradise

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