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Everyone will tell you that there is not much to Hervey Bay except to go whale watching in the three months between the end of each July and the end of October or to jump on the ferry to Fraser Island. Once you get to Fraser Island from Hervey Bay you are doomed unless you have arranged a tour – except if you have your own 4x4 or have hired one and arranged a permit! I noticed some of the cheaper hired 4x4’s were really struggling on the Fraser Terrain so beware of hiring self drive and driving in sand. The cheapest alternative is to become a tourist for the day. Australian friends and residents of Hervey Bay recommended the best, it wasn’t the cheapest at A$80 per person but it was excellent and realistically good value for money. This trip was organised by the major resort on Fraser Island, The Kingfisher Bay Resort.
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Sailing by catamaran from Urangan Marina in Hervey Bay to the Kingfisher resort on the West of the island. We hopped onto a huge 4x4 bus – driven by an experienced Ranger who knew Fraser Island like the back of his hand – Navigation for the first timer self driver must be a nightmare. Of course we were packaged but the Ranger was so incredibly knowledgeable and interesting he knew the answers to all the stupid and even sensible questions thrown at him. It made the trip very interesting and worth recommending. The standard tourist things were covered by the tour including a walk from Central Station (No – there are no trains on Fraser) to McKenzie Lake where we watched a magnificent fish eagle soaring. Those who had the foresight to bring bathers with them – stripped off and were soon in the refreshing cool water. Later we went to the old shipwreck of the Maheno and onto Eli Creek the largest stream on the island and even more refreshing water and cool drinks!
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The highlight of the trip was an extravagant extra – but worth every penny! A trip with Air Fraser Island – the only plane to share the beach – yes a sand runway shared with cars, buses and even cricketers and picnickers all using it at once! Seeing the whales surface from the air whet our appetites to stay over in Hervey Bay and go whale watching so this we did the next day. We did manage to see a dingo, nothing exciting just scavenging the waste paper bins before catching the catamaran back to Hervey Bay.
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The next morning within two minutes of leaving the apartment door we were at the Marina boarding the catamaran. We spent the first few hours of the day watching fellow travellers throw up their breakfasts and even the night be fore’s dinner and booze with seas that were only moderate. All was to be well – with the first splash of water and cry of “whale” their queasiness disappeared and some of the finest sights that nature can conjure were witnessed. The humpback whales with their calves were almost surrounding us. Incredible splashes, seductive dips and flips and then the breaches - absolutely breathtaking to watch!
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It was spectacular watching the humpback whales breaching with their newly born calves. The hard part was photographing them! Before you can raise your camera – they have flipped and disappeared! I finally managed to catch one on film – but then you just can’t stop you want a better shot, a bigger whale – thank goodness for digital cameras otherwise you might never know if you snapped a whale or just its flipper until you had the film developed weeks or months later!
A great place to stay is Great Sandy Straits Marina Resort, Hervey Bay (shown in the first picture above) Its so handy for the Marina and is luxurious accommodation for the family traveller or group of friends - cheaper than two hotel rooms
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Several on The Esplanade - found nothing spectacular or even worth mentioning. If you are self catering then this is a great place to buy your own seafood and a bottle of an excellent BYO Australian white. Alternatively if you are staying in a B&B try their meals some have BYO BBQ facilities - see:-
Tara B & B
Lakeside B & B
Melvos Country House
Oceanic Country House
View all on the www.bbbook.com.au website
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The good general web-sites of the area are:-
http://www.hervey.com.au/
http://www.seefraserisland.com/hb/hb.html
http://www.herveybaytourism.com.au/
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Published on Monday April 26th, 2004
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Thu, May 19 2005 - 07:52 AM
 by subdha
yes australia is really a nice place to visit ,however you have nicely narrated this place
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Thu, Jan 27 2005 - 08:39 AM
by ardelia
| I enjoy reading your report. This is so interesting especially the whale!! Keep up the good job and congrats uponb being no 1! You deserve to be no 1 ! Lovely pictures too |
Sun, Nov 07 2004 - 10:46 AM
by ravinderkumarsi
hii brit,
excellent report ,i dont know how i missed this report of your
ravi |
Wed, Oct 20 2004 - 08:40 AM
by gloriajames
| very informative report. ***** |
Tue, Jun 08 2004 - 03:31 PM
by krissie
| excellent page! sounds like a great place! |
Tue, Apr 27 2004 - 04:03 PM
by travelalain
| Oh Man, when I read this I think I missed a lot when I was there. A great report. |
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