Fraser Island Great Walk Day 4
Distance walked – 12.5km
Total Distance – 69.1km
We woke this morning to find the world cloaked in a gentle mist which seemed to have changed our surroundings, transporting us to a mysterious unknown place. We wandered down to the lake to find it transformed as well from the bright paradise of yesterday to something more sombre and contemplative.
This morning we had the lake to ourselves, too early for the daytrippers, and our only fellow campers still in their tent. We love these early mornings and the opportunities they provide to enjoy a special place like Lake McKenzie. We walked along the beach as far as we easily could in both directions, soaking up the different views and vistas.
We returned to the campsite and had breakfast, filtered some water, packed up, and were ready to leave at just after seven thirty. As I shouldered my pack, I became aware of an unpleasant aroma which seemed to rise up in waves from my shirt. It occured to me that it was now my fourth day in the same clothes for walking, and it’s anti-odour coating seemed to have been somewhat over-whelmed. Perhaps tomorrow is the day to break out shirt number two. With Louisa keeping a safe distance, we set off for Lake Wabby.
Day 4 and smelling good
As today was going to be a bit of a shorter day, we had planned to get to the campsite for lunch, set up and then walk the 1.5km down to Lake Wabby and spend the afternoon swimming and exploring.
The track was fairly easy for most of the day with only a few short climbs. We initially followed the northern perimeter of Lake McKenzie before heading gently uphill to pass through an area of majestic tall trees. The walking was stunning, passing through the giant trees surrounded by lush undergrowth.
Short person for scale
The mist slowly cleared as the day heated up. For a while we followed an old logging tramline and then after a number of ups and downs we entered a cool sheltered area with some magnificent palms. It felt like we were slowly heading into a more remote and untouched part of the island.
The kilometres seemed to whiz by and after a couple of short stops for water and photos, we suddenly arrived at the sign for the Lake Wabby walkers’ campsite.
The campsite is beautifully situated in a forested area with about 10 individual sites each with a walkers table/platform and a metal locker. As with the other sites, the quality of the lockers seemed variable. We eventually chose a site which we hoped would shelter us from the afternoon sun, and set up camp.
Lake Wabby campsite
After lunch we packed some swimming gear, our micro-towels, and water and headed down to Lake Wabby. The campsite is actually a fair distance (about 1.5km) from the lake and part of the path lies along tomorrow’s route. We first climbed up a hill to the Lake Wabby carpark where there is a fairly substantial toilet block and water. From here it was a short stroll to the Lake Wabby lookout where we got our first view of the green water of the lake sitting below the edge of the dramatic Hammerstone Sandblow with the sea on the horizon.
View from Lookout
The path winds down from the lookout and past a track junction to Valley of the Giants, where we will head off tomorrow, and eventually up a steep narrow sandy ridge onto the edge of the Hammerstone Sandblow. There was a small group of people sheltering under some trees on the edge of the sand so we stopped to have a chat. They were part of a group who had walked down from the carpark but had decided it was too far and hot to go all the way to the lake. Their friends were down swimming while they waited. They were a group of retired couples who were travelling around the island for a week. We shared some stories of where they had been and what we were doing. As we left to continue down to the lake, it occurred to us that they were the first people we had spoken to since a brief conversation at Central Station, two days ago. We haven’t seen anyone else walking on the path since we set off from Hook Point four days ago and very few people altogether.
From here we traversed across the burning hot sand and then steeply down to the lake edge. The rest of the group we had been told about greeted us warmly as they bobbed in the water’s edge. We were quite surprised to see many large fish visible darting amongst the floating bodies. We found some shade for our gear and joined them in the wonderful refreshing water. Soon we were also surrounded by large inquisitive fish that seemed to want to stay close but would dart away if you tried to touch them.
Lake Wabby is termed a window lake as it lies below the water table as opposed to the perched lakes which sit high above the water table. It has been formed by the blockage of a coastal creek or natural spring by the encroaching dunes of the Hammerstone Sandblow. The sands and lake are in a constant battle with the sand gradually encroaching and filling the lake. Some day in the future it will be no more. At the moment, however, it is the deepest lake on K’gari with a depth of 12m.
We think it is one of the best lakes to swim in as the sandy bottom drops very quickly from the edge and it is a manageable size meaning you can swim to the other side or around the perimeter.
We spent a lot of the afternoon soaking in the lake before heading back uphill over the sandblow and back to the campsite. We were the only people in the campsite again, and had our usual nightly routine of dinner and book reading before falling asleep at a ridiculously early hour. Tomorrow we head north into the remote Valley of the Giants, which my guidebook says is the most isolated area of the walk where there are few roads and we will be the furthest from civilization. Who knows, maybe we will find Colonel Kurtz?
Today’s Route
