Fraser Island, Batjala K'Gari, is an island located along the southern coast of Queensland, Australia, approximately 300 km north of Brisbane. Its length is about 120 km. It was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km². Its resident human population was 360 at the census of 2006, of which were 11 Aborigines. It is administered by the Fraser Coast Regional Council.

Administration

Fraser Island is part of the Local Government Area Fraser Coast Regional Council, which was created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. Before the local government reorganization, the island was split up evenly betwen the City of Hervey Bay (northern part) and the City of Maryborough (southern part).

Fraser Island South is Local Area 8 of the City of Maryborough, and includes the existing village community of Eurong, the Kingfisher Bay Resort, and Dilli Village.

Access & tourism

The island can be reached by ferry from Hervey Bay or Inskip Point north of Rainbow Beach, or by chartered flight via Maroochydore Airport. Four-wheel drive is required for some landings, and travel on the island. A RAM permit is required for vehicles. Several firms provide four-wheel drive vehicles for rent. Tour buses travel the island as well.

The Fraser Island Great Walk offers an opportunity to explore the island on foot.

Bodies of water

Fraser Island has over 100 dune lakes, as well as the second highest concentration of lakes in Australia after Tasmania. The freshwater lakes on Fraser Island are some of the cleanest lakes in the world. A popular tourist area is Lake McKenzie which is located inland from the small town of Eurong. It is a "perched" lake sitting on top of compact sand and vegetable matter 100 metres above sea level. Lake McKenzie has an area of 150 hectares and is just over five metres in depth. The beach sand of Lake McKenzie is nearly pure silica and it is possible to wash hair, teeth, jewelry, and exfoliate one's skin. The lakes have very few nutrients and pH varies, though sunscreen and soaps are a problem as a form of pollution.

Eli Creek is the largest creek on the east coast of the island with a flow of 80 million litres per day. There is a boardwalk for visitors to reach the top of the creek and swim or ride down the creek if they wish.

Central Station remains as a popular tourism destination on the island. The station is surrounded by bushwalking tracks to enable full appreciation of the variety of plants living on the island. Some of the rarest ferns grow along the rainforest near the station. With year-round south-easterly wind, huge sand dunes on the island move at the rate of 1 - 2 metres a year, burying away everything on the way, thus making sand on the island extremely rich with nutrients. Sand is constantly washed ashore from as far as New South Wales.

The 75 mile beach

This runs along most of the east coast of Fraser Island. It is noted for its beauty and has a number of highlights such as Champagne Pools, Indian Head, the Maheno Wreck and Eli Creek. Eli Creek has its own unique and varied wild life. Tiger Sharks are known to inhabit the sea in the area.

The beach also acts as both a highway and a runway. The hard packed sand below the high tide mark can make for quite smooth driving. Aircraft often land on the beach and the highway rules state that vehicles must give way to aircraft if they are oncoming.

History

Name

The original name of the island is 'K'gari' in the Butchulla people's language. It means paradise.

According to Aboriginal legend, when humans were created and needed a place to live, the mighty god Beeral sent his messenger Nendingie with the goddess K’gari down from heaven to create the land and mountains, rivers and sea. K’gari fell in love with the earth’s beauty and did not want to leave it. So Yendingie changed her into a heavenly island – Fraser Island.

The name Fraser Island comes from Eliza Fraser and her story of survival from a shipwreck on the island. Captain James Fraser and his wife, Eliza Fraser, were shipwrecked on the island in 1836. The name of the ship was the Stirling Castle. Captain Fraser died but Eliza was rescued off the island. Eliza later made money traveling around England and Australia telling her story of the events that had occurred while the Stirling Castle’s officers were on the island. As she is known to have told several versions of the story, it is unknown which version is the most accurate.

Aboriginal Australians

Archaeological research and evidence shows that Aboriginal Australians occupied Fraser Island at least 5000 years ago. There was a permanent population of 400-600 that grew to 2000-3000 in the winter months due to abundant seafood resources. The arrival of European settlers in the area was an overwhelming disaster for the Butchulla people. Documented aggression between the Europeans and Aboriginal Australians occurred when the officers of the 'Stirling Castle', including Captain James Fraser and his wife Eliza Fraser were shipwrecked on the island. European settlement in the 1840s overwhelmed the Aboriginal lifestyle with weapons, disease and lack of food.[8] By the year 1890, Aboriginal numbers had been reduced to only 300 people. Most of the remaining Aborigines, the Butchulla tribe, left the island in 1904 as they were relocated to missions in Yarrabah and Durundur, Queensland.

Europeans

Initial European contact was limited to explorers and shipwrecks. The first European to sight Fraser Island was Captain James Cook who passed along the coast of the island between the 18th and 20th May 1770. He named it Indian Head after viewing a number of Aboriginal people gathered on the island. Matthew Flinders sailed past the island in 1799 and again in 1802. He mapped both voyages, but did not confirm it was separate from the mainland. In 1836, a number of survivors from the shipwreck of the 'Stirling Castle', including Captain James Fraser and his wife Eliza Fraser, lived for about six weeks on the island before being rescued.

Logging and sand mining industry

The trees on Fraser island were logged extensively as they made excellent timber. Logging took place starting in 1863, being initiated by American Jack Piggott. Railroad tracks were laid through the forest to facilitate logging, but were later removed. The logging industry continued right through until 1991 following the concerns of the Fraser Island Fitzgerald Inquiry, led by the Honourable Justice Gerald Edward Fitzgerald. The wealth of the island lay in its rich deposits of rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite. Sand mining leases were first granted in 1950 and lasted until 1977 following an environmental battle.

Wreck of the Maheno

A major landmark of Fraser Island is the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno. The S.S. Maheno was originally built in 1905 in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for trans-Tasman crossings. During the First World War the ship served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, before returning to a luxury liner. In 1935, the ship was declared outdated and on June 25, 1935 the ship was being towed from Melbourne when it was caught in a strong cyclone. A few days later, on July 9, 1935 she drifted ashore and was beached on Fraser Island. During the Second World War the Maheno served as target bombing practice for the RAAF. The ship has since become severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand. Climbing on the shipwreck is not permitted.

Nauru resettlement proposition

As part of ongoing meetings in the United Nations Trusteeship Council on the Conditions in the Trust Territories, the Republic of Nauru expressed concern that its phosphate mining exportation would be depleted by the end of the century, endangering the future of the island. In 1961, Fraser Island was proposed by Australia as a location for the resettlement of the entire population of the Republic of Nauru. The timber industry on Fraser Island managed to ensure that resettlement on Fraser Island did not proceed. In 1964 in the 31st session of United Nations Trusteeship Council meetings it was concluded that Curtis Island could provide a more satisfactory resettlement for the population of Nauru. Nauru rejected the offer of moving the entire population to Curtis Island due to political independence considerations that Australia would not agree to.

Although a resettlement never did occur, the Republic of Nauru went on to achieve independence on January 31, 1968.

Fauna

Dingoes

Dingoes were once common on the island, but are now decreasing. They are some of the last remaining pure dingoes in Eastern Australia and to prevent cross-breeding, dogs are not allowed on the island. There was no recorded history of dingoes attacking humans on Fraser Island up until 1995. In April 2001, a boy wandered away from his family and was discovered dead, with indications of a dingo attack. Forty dingoes were killed by authorities as a result of the incident. In 2004, a dingo entered a hotel room on the island where a baby was lying on a bed. It was chased off before any incident occurred. The relationship between dingo attacks on humans on Fraser Island has been documented on National Geographic. Caution with dingoes when on Fraser Island is mandatory for all people on the island. Feeding or attracting the attention of dingoes remains illegal. The remaining number of dingoes on the island is estimated to be 120 to 150 as of January 2008 and sightings are becoming rarer.

Other

Mammals

Besides dingoes, other mammals found on Fraser Island include swamp wallabies, echidnas, possums, sugar gliders (a gliding possum) and flying foxes (Pteropus, a bat). There are no kangaroos on the island. A few brumbies on the island are descendants of Arab stock turned loose for breeding purposes and they were joined later by horses brought over for the logging industry in 1879. Cetaceans, such as Humpback Whales or some species of dolphins are frequent visitors to this area. Dugongs can also be found.

Reptiles & Amphibians

Goannas, snakes, lizards, skinks and frogs are all present on the island. Frog species have adapted to the acidic lakes and swamps on the island, and are appropriately called acid frogs.

Birds

There are over 350 different species of birds on the island. Birds of prey include sea eagles, peregrine falcon, osprey and kites. Other common birds include pelicans, terns, honeyeaters, gulls, kingfishers and cockatoos. A rare, endangered bird on the island is the ground parrot, already extinct in some parts of Australia.

credited to wikipedia