Fraser Island

Located on the southeastern coast in Queensland, Australia, Fraser island is a very diverse and unique island filled with rainforests, mangroves, swamps, lakes, sand dunes and coastal heaths, and recognized as a World Heritage Site. Diverse landscapes and unique wildlife (like the dingoes) await for you.

Fraser island is famous for its 155 miles (250 km) of sandy beaches, strikingly colored sand cliffs, tall rainforest and freshwater lakes, the best that one island can offer.

It is an unique site, as the island is considered as the largest sand island in the world, with an area of 457,142 acres (184,999 hectares); and the only place where rainforest grow on sand dunes, at elevations over 200 meters.

The Butchulla people are the natives of Fraser Island. Archaeological research shows that the Butchulla have been living in the region for at least 5,000 years.

The first european to sight the island and the natives was Captain Cook in 1770, who named the island “the great sandy peninsula”. However there are records that show that Portuguese and Dutch explorers might have done undocumented visits to the island.

The arrival of the europeans later on diminished the population of Butchullas, as europeans did not respect or understand the Butchulla culture.

They brought new diseases, disturbed the natural food supply with their agriculture and fought against the natives when they resisted against the colonization. Nowadays there only a handful of surviving descendants from the Butchulla.

The island is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock, due to winds, waves and ocean currents carried the sand to the location.

One of the unique features of the island are its rainforests, formed on sand, thanks to its rich soil.

The original name of Fraser  island was ‘K’gari’, which means “paradise” in the Butchulla language.

Later on and after european settlement, the island became the “Fraser Island” thanks to the story of Eliza Fraser, a survivor of a shipwreck that ended up living on the island.

The story says that Captain James Fraser was passing by the island on his boat the “Stirling Castle”, which wrecked at Swain’s Reef. Its survivors travelled to the island, but unfortunately all of them but his wife, Eliza Fraser, died due to exhaustion, hunger or disease.