Fraser Coast An Area Blessed By Nature

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday May 6, 2008

Chris Watson

Blessed by nature, the Fraser Coast is the home ofWorld

Heritage-listed Fraser Island, pristine beaches and

abundant marine life - especially humpback whales.

Three hour's drive north of Brisbane or a 90-minute flight from

Sydney, the region also offers the charms of the coastal city of

Hervey Bay and nearby heritage city of Maryborough.

Add long sandy beaches, national parks and great sailing

conditions and it?s easy to understand the Fraser Coast?s appeal.

Neighbouring South Burnett, two-and-a-half hour?s north west of

Brisbane, features boutique wineries, gourmet food and the Bunya

Mountains.

HOW TO GET THERE

Location: A three-hour drive north of Brisbane.

Airport: Fly into Hervey Bay Airport (45 minutes flying time from

Brisbane or 90 minutes from Sydney).

Train: Sunlander and The Tilt Train link Maryborough to coastal

centres including Brisbane, Mackay and Cairns.

WHERE TO STAY

The Fraser Coast offers accommodation from new five-star resorts

in Hervey Bay to quaint B&B cottages scattered throughout

South Burnett. Fraser Island offers accommodation from camping

grounds to beachside holiday houses, fully self-contained units

and award-winning eco resorts. A range of motels is also available.

DINING OUT

There?s many restaurants and cafes along the Esplanade in

Hervey Bay and the historicWharf St precinct in Maryborough.

Gourmet produce and fine wines are produced in the South

Burnett with markets in many towns every weekend. Seabelle

Restaurant, at Fraser Island?s Kingfisher Bay Resort, has native

meats such as kangaroo, crocodile and emu, and also runs

regular Bush Tucker Talk and Taste sessions where the chef is

joined by a ranger to give guests and understanding of Australian

cuisine.

MUST DO!

? Explore the world?s largest sand island,World Heritage-listed

Fraser Island.

? Go whale watching in Hervey Bay from late July to early

November.

? Take a dolphin cruise in the calm waters of the Great Sandy

Strait.

? Explore the Bunya Mountains National Park.

? Trek the Fraser Island Great Walk.

? Visit Lady Elliott Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef,

where you can snorkel right off the beach.

? Enjoy gourmet food experiences in the South Burnett.

? Follow the South BurnettWine Trail.

? Step back in time in historic Maryborough.

? Try freshwater fishing at Bjelke-Petersen and Boondooma

Dams.

EVENTS

? Maryborough Mary Poppins Festival In The Park (July 6)

? Holden Maryborough Technology Challenge (September)

? Hervey BayWhale Festival (August)

? Fraser Coast Golf Classic (August)

IDEAS AND INSPIRATIONS

? Fraser Island: The world?s largest sand island boasts some of

the world's rarest ecosystems, where rainforests grow in sand and

lakes nestle between rainforests and sand dunes. Take a guided

safari, hire your own 4WD or enjoy flying low over the island in a

helicopter or fixed wing aircraft that can land you on the beach.

Fraser Island is a 45-minute cruise from Hervey Bay. 4WDs can

access the island from River Heads and Rainbow Beach.

? World's best beach: Fraser Island is home to the world?s best

beach - as voted by US Discovery Channel - 75 Mile Beach.

Running along most of the east coast of the island, the beach is

both a registered highway for 4WD vehicles and a runway for light

planes.Highlights along the beach include the Champagne Pools,

Coloured Sands, Indian Head, MahenoWreck and Eli Creek.

? Whale watching: Hervey Bay is Australia?s whale-watching

capital.The bay is a sanctuary for migrating humpback whales

who every year from late July to early November socialize, feed

calves and rest up in the warm waters before heading south to the

Antarctic.There are full day, dawn, morning, afternoon and threequarter

day tours operating out of Hervey Bay.

? Outdoor adventures: The Fraser Coast is renowned for

adventure activities, from aerial adventures to water-based thrills

and walking tracks. Try jet skiing across Hervey Bay to Fraser

Island, sky diving, an acrobatic flight or kite surfing.

? Bunya Mountains: In the South Burnett, the Bunya Mountains

National Park features rainforests including strangler figs, hoop

pine and wild orchids.The park is home to around 120 species of

mammals, frogs and reptiles.

? Country towns: There are some beautiful and historic villages

in the South Burnett including Nanango, Kingaroy, Kilkivan,

Murgon andWondai.Discover local art and craft galleries,

tearooms, cottages, country farms and wineries.The area is one

of the major wine-producing regions in Queensland, which can

be explored on the South BurnettWine Trail.On the coast, fishing

communities line the shores of the Great Sandy Strait.

? Maryborough: Settled in 1847, Maryborough is one of

Queensland?s oldest provincial cities renowned for its colonial

and Queenslander architecture, outstanding museums, riverside

dining and parks. Take a free walking tour of the city with a local

guide dressed in period costume to learn more about its history

in the engineering, sugar and timber industries. Take a peek into

the good old days at Brennan and Geraghty?s Store, or discover

the port history of Maryborough at the Bond Store Museum and

Customs House in theWharf St precinct.Visit on a Thursday as

there?s a firing Time Cannon at 1 pm and the local Town Crier at

the Heritage City Markets.

? Childers: Childers, 60 km north of Maryborough on the Bruce

Highway, was settled in 1850 and the main street retains the

facades of early Queensland architecture, with the town being

classified by the National Trust. A timeline on the footpath uses

mosaics and sculptures to tell the story of the district and there

are a number of museums, including a military museum and the

only pharmaceutical museum in Australia.There is a backpackers?

memorial at The Palace Building, which was rebuilt after a tragic

fire in 2000.

? Kingaroy: Named after the Aboriginal word for "red ant" and

renowned for its huge peanut silos, Kingaroy is also home to

several wineries and produces gourmet delights, including olives

and cheeses, to complement the wines and more traditional crops.

FAST FACTS

? 75 Mile Beach on Fraser Island is a registered highway and also

a runway for planes operating scenic flights.

? The Aboriginal name for Fraser Island is "K'Gari", which means

paradise.

? The foreshore of Hervey Bay offers 14 km of shared pedestrian,

wheelchair and bicycle pathways.

MARY POPPINS

On the corner of Kent and Richmond streets, Maryborough, a

statue of Mary Poppins recognises the city's link with the famous

nanny. Author P L Travers was born Helen Lyndon Goff in

Maryborough in 1899, in the building outside which the statue

now stands.

Maryborough?s statue of Mary Poppins and the Proud Marys

display in the Visitor Information Centre is Australia?s only

significant tribute to Travers and the worldwide success of the

Mary Poppins novels.

The bronze statue of the nanny was erected through community

involvement and donations in September, 2005, and celebrations

of the city?s links to Travers happen each year in July at the Mary

Poppins Festival in the Park.

WORLD HERITAGE

Stretching more than 120 km along the coast of Queensland,

Fraser Island, with 184,000 hectares the largest sand island in

the world, was inscribed in theWorld Heritage List in 1992 in

recognition of being an outstanding example of ongoing ecological

and biological processes and containing superlative natural

phenomena.

The island is a place of great beauty, with long, uninterrupted

white beaches flanked by coloured sand cliffs and rainforests.The

massive sand deposits that make up the island are a continuous

record of climatic and sea-level changes over the past 700,000

years.

Fraser Island has complex dune systems that are continually

evolving, with the highest dunes reaching up to 240 metres above

sea level. An array of lakes can be found, exceptional in their

number, diversity and age.This includes 40 perched dune lakes,

half the number of such lakes in the world. Lake Boomanjin,

the largest perched lake in the world, is one of the island?s most

picturesque.The island is the only place in the world where tall

rainforests are found growing on sand dunes at elevations of more

than 200 metres.

Birds are plentiful with more than 350 species recorded. It is an

important island for migratory wading birds, which use the area

as a resting place during their flights between southern Australia

and their breeding grounds in Siberia.The dingo population on the

island is regarded as the most pure remaining in eastern Australia.

Fishing is also very popular.

The island reveals Aboriginal occupation of at least 5000 years,

containing many sites of archaeological significance.Middens,

artefact scatters, fish traps, scarred trees and campsites bear

witness to the lives of the original inhabitants.

GREATWALKS

The Fraser IslandWorld Heritage Area is the setting for the Fraser

Island Great Walk.Giant rainforests, lakes, coloured sands and

sand dunes are just a few of the natural wonders you can discover

on the walk.

Following the pathways of the island?s indigenous inhabitants,

the Butchulla people, the 90 km track passes sites such as Lake

McKenzie, Wanggoolba Creek, Lake Wabby and Central Station. It

also reveals some of the island?s hidden treasures like the Valley of

the Giants andWongi Sandblow.

Dilli Village and Happy Valley are the two main start and finish

points of the walk. In addition to the 90 km walk, there are many

short walks from places including Central Station, Kingfisher

Bay Resort, Lake McKenzie, Lake Wabby, Lake Boomanjin and

Eurong. Additional tracks link the walk to the island?s main ferry

barge landings, accommodation and supply centres.Most tracks

are suitable for reasonably fit people who have some bushwalking

experience.

There are a number of national park campsites along the walk,

and they need to be booked in advance through the Queensland

Parks andWildlife Service. Local operator Footprints on Fraser

offers four and five-day guided and fully catered walking tours.

Access to Fraser Island is from either Rainbow Beach township

or Hervey Bay.

WHAT?S NEW

The newest accommodation in Hervey Bay is Tingeera luxury

beachfront apartments. At Pialba, minutes from the heart of

Hervey Bay, Tingeera offers one, two and three-bedroom selfcontained

apartments.With water views from every apartment and

air-conditioning, there is also a pool, spa, barbecue and indoor

gym. All two and three-bedroom apartments have LCD TVs, DVDs

plus full kitchen and laundry facilities.

For more information on the Fraser Coast go to www.

frasercoastholidays.info

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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