73.Woodgate Nat. Pk., Fraser Island, Tin Can Bay

WOODGATE NATIONAL PARK We travelled for ages along this very soft sand & eventually found the camp. One of those places that doesn’t really offer too many rewards. The next morning we returned to the main beach at Woodgate & enjoyed a swim, breaky & a bit of a fish. Should have just stayed there the night, but if you don’t check these things out you’ll never know.

TIN CAN BAY Over thirty years ago a stricken dolphin made its way up the shallows to Tin Can Bay looking for refuge after either being attacked by Sharks or suffering injury from fishermen’s  nets. The dolphin was an Indo Pacific species that frequent the waters of Hervey Bay. This lucky dolphin was taken in by some locals & over a period of months recovered so that he was able to return to the wilds. To navigate this river system is a ‘taught’ practice & the male leader then began to bring others from his pod to visit his human friends. To this day & three generations later they still arrive each morning at 7.30 am to be feed. It is a beautiful story & one we were fortunate to experience.

INSKIP POINT After negotiating the extremely soft sands of Inskip point we were on our way to Fraser Island. A car ferry takes commuters from the mainland to the island. We prepaid for our ferry, National Park pass & had our camping permits & were on our first full off-road adventure without the van. For the next few days we would live out of the Landcruiser & sleep in a tent. This is a magnificent part of the country; the climate is perfect, the water just right & adventure abounds.