Getting there

Barge via River Heads at Hervey Bay

How do you get to the start of the walk?

The Barge drops you at Kingfisher Bay and the rangers can tell/show you where the start of the walk is

Maps

Purchase a map from Queensland Parks and Wildlife for the Fraser Island Great Walk

Which maps cover the area?

QPWS map

Route/Trail notes

The walk forms part of the Great Walk. The entrance to the walk from Kingfisher is a little hard to find, so it would be best to get detailed information or a GPS coordinate before you leave the mainland. Apparentley there are two tracks from Kingfisher; one along the beach and one along the bush. I went bushside. Lots of wildflower here.

When I did this walk back in 2000 there were showers at Lake McKenzie, but I couldn't find any this time. I think QPWS have taken them away because they no longer allow vehicle-based camping at this spot. Not that you really need a shower here anyway because the lake is so beautiful to swim in and the sand makes a good body scrub. The water is clear and great to drink, although I did use my Sawyer filter.

The track to Central Station is much better since it was moved (it used to be much steeper), although it's still pretty steep in some spots. Walking through the swamp is just awesome. There was lot of really cool fungi here. Basin lake is around half way (I think) and it's a great spot to stop off an have a swim in the middle of nowhere. This was the most peaceful spot for me on the entire hike.

Central Station used to be really beautiful, but QPWS have unfortunatley let it go to ruin. It was overun by weeds and waist high grass when I was there. There's an awesome boardwalk along the creek and through the rainforest. The amenities here have hot showers for $1, but you will need several coins to keep the water hot long enough for a decent shower. This is the only spot on the hike where you can get rid of your rubbish. The rubbish bins are way up past the amenities block.

The track to Lake Boomanjin is hard. It's a long way and it's quite steep. You pass by two lakes on the way to Lake Boomanjin; Lake Birabeen and Lake Benaroon. Birabeen is a popular spot, although there's no vehicular access from the trackside of the lake. I got my gear off and had a swim here because it was so darn hot, even though it was the middle of winter. Lake Benaroon has toilets and a campsite for hikers if you want to stop overnight to break the hike up.

Lake Boomanjin is the world's largest perched lake. It's not as "pretty" as the other lakes because it's quite shallow and is stained by tannins, but it's still quite spectacular for just being what it is. There are bloody huge trees in this section of the hike. As you drop down onto the lake beach you think you are nearly there. Ha! You're not. There are little signs along the beach pointing the direction to go, but they aren't particularly obvious, so keep walking with the lake on your left hand side, don't deviate up into the bush or any tracks you see coming out of the bush until you arrive at the campsite, which is very conspicuous. The signs say it's 2km from where the track drops down onto the lake, but that was the longest 2km I've EVER walked in my life. More like 4km. It's safe to take your shoes off for the walk along the lake. I'm not sure if there are showers here because I was too tired to bother!

Unfortunatley I can't recall much about the track to Dilli Village other than it was difficult to follow in the first couple of kilometres and I remember thinking that QPWS could have done a better job of maintaining it. There is an amazing sand blow about half way to Dilli Village, which is worth unshouldering your gear to climb up and have a look. I wouldn't recommend taking your pack with you, but at the same time, don't leave it unattended for long incase wildlife gets into it, but then, who really knows if that would happen. I've been going to Fraser all my life and wildlife has NEVER gotten into anything of mine nor have I EVER been menaced by a dingo. I don't think this blow is accessible by vehicle.

Dilli Village is run by the University of the Sunshine Coast. It's awesome! You'll have to book prior to arrival and it's about $15/night from memory. There is tonnes of grass to camp on, a BBQ, they'll give you a fire ring and fire wood if you want it and there are hot showers that have soap, shampoo and conditioner dispensers in them. There's a cool little water hole and the beach is right at the front. I thought I could get rid of more rubbish here, but there weren't any bins, so I offloaded it to some vehicle-based campers who said they'd dump it in the big bin along the beach aways.

The track to Jabiru Swamp is actually a QPWS access road, so the walking is a little difficult due to vehicles using the track and turning the sand up. Hiking poles are really pretty essential for this section (or two big sturdy sticks) because it's so sandy and hilly. Also, there are couple of creeks to cross, which have rocks in them and the poles help you keep your balance while you walk across the water because there is no other way around.

The campsite is remote and as a result, it's pretty poorly maintained. I had to use my pocket knife to cut away vegetation so I had somewhere to put my tent. Some of the lockers were broken and had filled with water. It was a pretty cool spot though because I knew it was really and truly in the guts of nowhere. There is a water point about 700m before the campsite on the RHS. It's only a small gap in the trees to flowing water below.

The walk out to Hook Point is just a continuation of the service road along the swamp. I walked along the road to the barge rather than straight down the hill. It was too overgrown.

A detailed description of the walk!

Permits/Costs

Do you need any permits? What's the cost?

Camping permits are required from QPWS. You will also need to prebook at Dilli Village and prebook the barges at Hervey Bay and Inskip Point.

Other References

How can I find more info? Any guide books?