Top 10 Adventures

1FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE ON THE WORLD’S LARGEST SAND ISLAND.

Driving a 4WD on Fraser is exciting, exhilarating, adventurous and a pleasure. The terrain varies from firm sandy tracks to soft sand blow-outs, threatening to swallow your vehicle whole. Hardwood forests, large wooded hills, crystal-clear streams, blue lakes and the hard sand of 75 Mile Beach deliver you into another world.

2DIVE INTO THE GREAT BARRIER

REEF. Don a mask and snorkel to swim with the resident manta rays on Lady Elliot Island and the other amazing marine life including turtles, sea stars, colourful coral, tropical fish, sea cucumbers and clams.

3SWIM WITH THE WHALES (LATE

JULY AND AUGUST). Be swept up in the surreal experience of being in the ocean right next to majestic humpback whales and experience Australia’s best up-close and personal whale encounter in Hervey Bay.

4HIKE FRASER’S 90km GREAT

WALK. Be prepared for the epic and traverse Fraser’s Great Walk, which stretches 90km and takes 6-8 days beside perched lakes, open dune country and rainforest, or take one of the shorter options if you are stuck for time. Head to the National Parks website nprsr.qld.gov.au/ fraser for more information.

Life’s short, play hard

5HOOK INTO SOME SPORTS

FISHING. Experience the thrill of catching marlin, golden trevally or a barramundi. The region’s fishing experiences are amongst the most diverse in Australia, thanks to an overlap of northern and southern species.

6TAKE A MOONLIGHT HORSE RIDE.

Join an evening horseback ride by the light of the full moon to Susan River and enjoy piping hot soup and garlic bread beside the campfire (permits allowing) before returning to the homestead for a hearty barbecue meal in the dining room. 7 GET WET AT WETSIDE. Take the young and young at heart to Hervey Bay’s WetSide Water Park, ranked No 3 of the top 25 water parks in the world by Tripadvisor. Climb the 7m sky tower and take a fast slide to the adventure playground below.

8JET SKI TO FRASER ISLAND.

Experience the thrill of a one-of-a-kind jet ski tour and discover the idyllic Pelican Bank in the heart of the Great Sandy Biosphere, before venturing on to the gorgeous western coast of Fraser Island.

9DIVE EX-HMAS TOBRUK. Join the sea life setting up home in this former Navy warship scuttled off Burrum Heads. Swim the length of the ship, which is lying on its starboard quarter with propellers and rudders in plain sight.

10 TAKE A SCENIC JOYFLIGHT. Hop aboard a light plane at Hervey Bay airport and fly over the UNESCO-listed Great Sandy Biosphere with its network of islands and creeks before landing on the beach at Fraser Island for a 4WD tour across the island’s rainforest tracks to catch the barge.