Kingfisher Bay K’Gari (Fraser Island)
Lake Mackenzie large blue fresh water lake in middle of Fraser Island
Friday 15th July
Caught up on some much needed sleep last night before heading off with high tide so we could go the short cut back to Kingfisher. The predicted light winds and change to southerly was late in arriving and we had a very spirited and lumpy trip back across the bay especially at the shallow point at the southern end of big woody island. Very choppy and winds gusting to 30 knots but our wonderful girl handled it all in her stride and kept a true course and got us safely over to the eastern side of the bay. There was a moments tension when we had the depth alarm sounding as in my haste to be there I cut a corner a bit much and had us over the shallow end of a reef. All was good though as it was only a small area and we soon returned to deep water.
We decided to anchor to the south of the pier and the other 2 boats already anchored as we would need quite a bit of chain out we wanted plenty of scope to rotate with the change in tide without hindering others.
We got ourselves set then Rick had a work call he had to do. While he was down in his office we had someone come and anchor off our starboard bow about a stones throw away. It is unbelievable that people don’t realize what a swing circle entails and if the tide changed with him there if we swung out we would definitely collect him in the process!
The other thing was that the tide went out so far we felt way too close to shore although we were still in 8 meters of water.
As soon as Ricks work was done it was engines on and we need to re anchor. Raising the anchor took us very close to our intrusive neighbor but we managed to clear away from him and move further south down the beach and anchored out in 13m. Our planned excursion in to the resort had to be postponed so we could ensure we were securely anchored which takes about an hour. Our cocktail and wedges will have to wait until tomorrow. Meanwhile we threw a line in and Rick caught a flatty and I caught a cod (a protected species so had to go back)
Saturday 16th July 2022
Overlooking resort pool while we have brunch
Headed into the resort this morning to check it out and picked up a few groceries from the store, went to the conservation display and the headed to the hotel restaurant where we sat overlooking the pools while we had brunch. We headed back to little Puss to grab the jerry cans to fill up with fresh water as we are running low. The tide was high when we arrived so Little Puss was up high on the beach. We timed it well because when we returned the tide was just on its way out so we didn’t have far to drag her back to the water. The tides go out a long way here and dragging Little Puss a long way back to the water would be tough.
Part of the old Mackenzie pier
Later in the day We headed out fishing in Little Puss as we were having absolutely no luck from the mother ship. After sitting out in wind then rain with no bites at all I called it and got Rick to drop me to shore so I could walk along the beach about a kilometer to Mackenzie’s pier where Rick joined me to go exploring. The pier was used to land Equiptment, supplies and troops that were to be trained on the island as commandos for the 2nd world war. Up on a nearby hill there were remains of machinery and huts that had been used at that time and a memorial to some of the commandos.
Commandos memorial
After a bit of fossicking through the commandos site for awhile we decided to head back to the main pier for a sunset cocktail. As we were scooting along in Little Puss there was the sudden whoosh of whale spume just out from us. Rick quickly stopped the boat and we spent a few magical minutes watching in awe as this beautiful beast surfaced a few times before disappearing below the water. What a treat!
We made it to shore at low tide so we anchored Little Puss as close in as possible but had about 300m of sloshing through squidgy crab clay sinking up to our shins at times then raising our grey smelly clay covered feet only to plunge into the depths again and again. Yuck!!!. As I said to Rick the cocktail better be worth it! Closer to shore the less clay and less squidgy it got but we certainly needed a good hose down at the tap before going to the bar. We grabbed drinks and sat out on the beach joining others who were there for the sunset. We decided after one drink we would actually ditch the crowd and go back to Nauti Kitty and enjoy the sunset from our own back verandah. So through the yuck we sloshed again!
Sundowners
Finally back on Nauti Kitty we enjoyed a beautiful sundowners! We are getting a bit anti social I think!
Sunday 17th July 2022.
Not a very detailed map to follow!
Up early and packed a picnic as we were heading off on a 25km hike to do the round trip to the beautiful lake Mackenzie. Due to the tides and difficulty getting Little Puss up and down the beach I suggested that Rick just drop me and all our stuff off on the beach then take Little Puss back to the boat and secure her then paddle back on his paddle board which is so light we could just carry it up to above high water line and lock it to a tree. This ended up working very well and Rick even enjoyed his paddle.
All geared up we headed up to the resort as we needed to register before heading off as a safety precaution as there is minimal signal out along the track and they like to know who is out there and when to expect them back.
So registration all done we headed to the track with very basic track notes in hand.
The first stage was quite a steep climb of about 800m up to the water tanks. As this is a sand island it was like climbing a large sand dune so we definitely had the heart rate pumping by the time we reached the crest. Only 24.2km to go!
Dingos not to be taken lightly
We gradually got into our rhythm and the next 3 km took us through the dingo fence and down to a small creek crossing. We carried dingo sticks with us and Rick made the interesting comment that this is one of the few places in Australia where we have to be concerned about carnivorous predators! I hadn’t considered that before.
The rest of the 12.5km to the lake had numerous ascents and descents, some long and slow and others steep and torturous, and road crossings, not well indicated on our map and causing occasional confusion, but about 2.5 hours later we could see the blue of the lake through the trees. We took the first path off the track we could find straight down to the waters edge. This part was quite deserted so we stripped off and had a wonderful skinny dip in the very cool but deliciously clear fresh water. What an awesome way to refresh the senses and the body!
Mackenzie lake
I’m sure on a warmer day you could luxuriate in that water for hours but as it was quite fresh we were soon out and dressed and enjoying our picnic lunch by the waters edge.
We soon noticed new arrivals further down the lake and it was evident the tourist buses had arrived. We were going to explore further around to the main beach but when we got in view of it there were so many people we decided we had got the best of it so we would start our homeward trek.
We had hoped to see a dingo or a goanna in our travels but unfortunately that wasn’t to be. We arrived back at the resort and checked out on the trek register then headed for cocktails and wedges! We were finally successful although the wedges ended up sweet potato fries but they were definitely a welcome treat to end the day.
We picked up a couple of steaks to have for dinner but by the time we got back to Nauti Kitty and had another drink we just had some cheese and bickies, a shower and bed!
Monday 18th July 2022
Nasty weather event we nearly missed
It was a slow start to the day as we planned on just having a rest day. We rang the marina at Urangan to book in from tomorrow for a couple of nights but the manager said he would get back to us as he was very busy due to the up coming weather event. Wow! What event? We had become a bit complacent being in relatively sheltered waters for a couple of weeks now we hadn’t been keeping as close an eye on the weather. Big wake up call as when we checked there was a huge front coming with 50-60 knot winds and up to 6 meter waves. Yes this was ocean side of Fraser but still if he hadn’t mentioned it we would have missed it. The manager rang back and could give us the 2 nights we had asked for but we asked to extend to a week as that was how long this foul weather was to be around and fortunately he was able to accommodate us for that. He said he was virtually full now.
What a wake up call. We are very Lucky!
The calm before the storm Big Woody Island
We spent the morning getting some more water and having ice creams. I then suggested given the winds were likely to increase tomorrow and that we had the tide to consider that maybe we have a nice sail over to Big woody this afternoon then we could quickly Duck around the corner to the marina in the morning. It was only an hour and the tide was high so we could go the short cut and have the tide with us so that is what we did. We anchored at the northern anchorage and had an awesome very calm night.
