Fraser Island

Fraser Island (also known as K'gari and Gari) is a World-Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia.

Fraser Island (also known as K'gari and Gari) is a World-Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The name K'gari is the Indigenous name in the Butchulla language, while the name Gari is the Indigenous name in the Badtjala language. The island is approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane,and is within theFraser Coast Region local government area. The world heritageincludes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland.Fraser Island, and some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, form the County of Fraser, which is subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands are Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southernmost parish of Talboor.The island is about 123 kilometres (76 mi) long and 22 kilometres (14 mi) wide. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 square kilometres (710 sq mi). It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the east coast of Australia.

Fraser Island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants. The island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is protected as part of the Great Sandy National Park, and is a popular tourism destination.Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for as long as 5,000 years. Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. For a short period the island was known as Great Sandy Island. The island became known as Fraser Island due to the stories of a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser.

In 1992 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under the name "Fraser Island"; this name was altered to the traditional Aboriginal name of K'gari in 2021. In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, Fraser Island was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "Natural attraction".

The island was part of the traditional lands of the Butchulla (Badjala) people before European settlement.

Captain James Fraser and his wife, Eliza Fraser, were shipwrecked on the island in 1836. Their ship, the brig Stirling Castle, set sail from Sydney to Singapore with 18 crew and passengers. The ship was holed on coral while travelling through the Great Barrier Reef north of the island. Transferring to two lifeboats, the crew set a course south, attempting to reach the settlement at Moreton (now Brisbane). During this trip in the lifeboats, Captain Fraser's pregnant wife gave birth in the leaking lifeboat. The infant died soon after birth. The Captain's lifeboat was becoming more and more unseaworthy and was soon left behind by the other lifeboat which continued on. The sinking boat and its crew was beached on what was then known as the Great Sandy Island. Whether the survivors died due to disease, hunger, exhaustion or battles with the native population will never be known for sure; most likely a little of all of the above. Captain Fraser died leaving Eliza living among the local peoples. She was rescued 6 weeks later by a convict, John Graham, who had lived in the bush as an escapee and who spoke the Aboriginal language. He was sent from the settlement at Moreton by the authorities there who had heard about Eliza's plight, and negotiated her return. Within 6 months, Eliza had married another sea captain. She moved to England and became a sideshow attraction in Hyde Park telling ever more lurid tales about her experiences with the enslavement of the crew, cannibalism, torture, and murder. As she is known to have told several versions of the story, it is unknown which (if any) version was most accurate. She was killed in a carriage accident in Melbourne in 1858 during a visit. Fraser's stories were later discredited and first hand accounts of other survivors of the ship differed markedly.

Butchulla (also known as Batjala, Badtjala, Badjela and Badjala) is the language of the Fraser Coast region, including Fraser Island. Butchulla language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, particularly the towns of Maryborough and Hervey Bay extending south towards Noosa.Archaeological research and evidence shows that Aboriginal Australians occupied Fraser Island at least 5,000 years ago. There was a permanent population of 400–600 that grew to 2,000–3,000 in the winter months due to abundant seafood resources. The arrival of Europeans in the area was an overwhelming disaster for the Butchulla people. European colonisation in the 1840s destroyed the foundations of Aboriginal life. By 1890, it was reported the permanent Butchulla island population had been reduced to only 300 people. Most of these people were taken off the island in 1904 and relocated to missions in Yarrabah and Durundur, Queensland. It is estimated that up to 500 Indigenous archaeological sites are located on the island.In October 2014, Native title rights were granted to the Butchulla people by the Federal Court. This essentially enables Butchulla people to hunt, fish and take water for domestic purposes; and opens the island up to economic opportunities for current and future generations of Butchulla people through ecotourism and related business development.

Initial European contact was limited to explorers and shipwrecks. The first recorded Britisher to sight Fraser Island was James Cook who passed along the coast of the island between 18 and 20 May 1770. He named Indian Head after viewing a number of Aboriginal people gathered on the headland. After Cook's passage an Aboriginal song was composed to commemorate the event. This was later recognised as the first preserved oral testimony of Indigenous observation of Europeans. Matthew Flinders sailed past the island in 1799, and again in 1802, this time landing at Sandy Cape, while charting Hervey Bay. His 1814 chart is a combination of both voyages, but did not confirm Fraser Island as being separate from the mainland. However, Flinders did suggest the presence of shallow swampy areas at the lower part of the bay. Flinders was told of an opening at Hook Point, between Fraser Island and the mainland, by two American whalers who were hunting whales in Hervey Bay. In 1842, Andrew Petrie recorded good pastoral lands and forests, attracting graziers to the region. Lieutenant Robert Dayman was the first European to sail between Fraser Island and the mainland in 1847.

Non-Indigenous occupation of the Butchulla-owned mainland area began in 1847, sparking frontier conflict which was brutal, fatal, and vastly in favour of the non-Indigenous people. Pre-existing Butchulla ownership of the land, established customs, or occupation patterns vital to their survival were not considered or accommodated by non-Indigenous occupants in 'settlements', and the Butchulla people strongly resisted non-Indigenous occupation. Retribution for crimes, perceived or actual, was enacted indiscriminately rather than upon any individual suspect. With the growing non-Indigenous occupation of Butchulla-owned mainland area, Fraser Island became a refuge for Butchulla people and became seen as a threat to non-Indigenous occupants.

Non-Indigenous propaganda against Butchulla people involving Fraser Island was used to legitimise and further frontier conflict and raise support for it. This included widespread, lurid newspaper articles describing unverified acts on Fraser Island by Butchulla people against non-Indigenous people, such as THE COAST BLACKS. These articles drove vigilante and government-organised retribution. In October 1850, there were reports that 'blacks' (sic) had killed a shepherd and taken 2000 stolen sheep to Fraser Island. In 1851, a small government and vigilante force including Commandant Frederick Walker and a contingent of the Native Police force were called in to 'apprehend' Butchulla people who were charged with committing a number of offences and were using Fraser Island as a 'sanctuary'. Walker had received advice from the Attorney-General of New South Wales, John Hubert Plunkett, "It must, unhappily, be expected that the proposed attempt at arrest may lead to a warlike conflict and perhaps to loss of life, but the aim of the law must not be paralysed by the expectation of such results". The specific suspects were not identified. The government had effectively provided its support for the force to murder any Butchulla people encountered and there was no real attempt at justice for the supposed crimes and none was achieved. Reports of the conflict, provided by non-Indigenous participants only, are one-sided but report no non-Indigenous casualties and many Butchulla deaths.

The force included Walker, Lieutenant Richard Marshall, Sergeant Doolan, three divisions of troopers, and armed locals including James Leith Hay, aboard a schooner. Butchulla people were encountered on the Mary River on the journey to Fraser Island, said to be in stolen boats, were shot along the way and one boat was seized. The force landed on the west coast of the island where the divisions split up. During the night, conflict began and a number of Butchulla people were shot and others captured. The weather was bad and Commandant Walker allowed his division to track down other groups of Butchulla people without him. This group tracked a group of Butchulla people across the island to the east coast where they hunted them into the open ocean to an unknown fate. After months of conflict, the force returned to Maryborough in early January 1852 and Captain Currie received a reward of £10 for his contribution.Despite this, British commissioners stationed in Maryborough reported non-Indigenous occupants felt threatened by Butchulla people. In 1857, a Native Police barracks under the command of Lieutenant John O'Connell Bligh was established at Coopers Plains, now Owanyilla, not far from Maryborough. The close proximity of this force eliminated most Butchulla resistance by 1860 with Bligh conducting further bloody forays into Fraser Island, Cooloola and in the town of Maryborough itself.

In 1859 rumours of two shipwrecked 'white' girls living with Butchulla people on Fraser Island gained some credence when Captain Arnold of the Coquette arrived in Sydney with information seeming to confirm the story. Public interest was stirred and Arnold was requested by the New South Wales Government to return to the island with a rescue party, obtaining the right to a £200 bonus if the girls were brought back. The expedition was carried out with the aid of an Aboriginal man named Tommy, who identified the Aboriginal camp near Indian Head where two girls aged about 12 and 18 were located and captured. The girls' 'excited' family/families were bribed with gifts and lies the girls would be returned soon. On taking them to Sydney, it became evident through their appearance and through their complete lack of knowledge of the English language that the girls were likely Aboriginal 'half-castes'. Arthur Macalister stated that he "thought it very probable that these girls were half castes, and that the whole thing was a trick". Further discredit was placed on the process when it was found that the Aboriginal people who were paid by the search party to find the girls were rewarded in worthless commemorative coins instead of real money. The girls, 'Kitty' Mundi and 'Maria' Quoheen/Coyeen, were not returned to their home but were initially kept at the Immigration Depot, where they yearned for their family. Kitty, the eldest of the two, suffered severe mental distress and died shortly afterwards. Maria survived for about 20 years, dying from pulmonary tuberculosis.

In 1897, as part of the implementation of the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, the Government of Queensland moved 51 Indigenous people who had been deemed to have "reached a deplorable stage of degradation, being completely demoralised by drink, opium, disease, and intermittent periods of semi-starvation" from the Maryborough district to a camp on the west coast of Fraser Island. The main bureaucrat in charge of the relocations of Indigenous people in Queensland at the time, Archibald Meston, transported the 51 men, women and children to a defunct quarantine station at White Cliffs (Beerillbee) about 2 km south of the present day Kingfisher Bay Resort. However, white residents of Maryborough made incursions into the camp area and caused tension and flare ups which resulted in the relocation of the camp 10 km north to Bogimbah creek. The Queensland Government ran the Bogimbah site under the direction of Archibald Meston's son and wife until February 1900, when control was handed over to the Australian Board of Missions. By this time, Bogimbah had become an incarceration facility for Indigenous people from around Queensland. At the end of 1899 there were 137 Indigenous people from 25 different locations, including some who had served prison sentences in places like St Helena Island and Townsville Gaol and had been refused permission to return to their homes. A former Native Police trooper named Barney, who had assisted in the operations to capture Ned Kelly, was sent to Bogimbah but drowned there not long after in a boating accident.Conditions at Bogimbah were dire, with inadequate shelter and rations. Inmates frequently tried to escape to the mainland in order to get access to better food and obtain employment. Some died through malnutrition, pulmonary tuberculosis and geophagia. In 1904, in order to save money on funding to the Missions Board, the Queensland Government decided to shut the Bogimbah facility. Of the 145 Indigenous people counted at the time of closure, 94 were transferred to the Yarrabah facility near Cairns, 33 to the Durundur facility near Woodford, 9 were kept local and another 9 escaped or were sent elsewhere. Those who were removed to Yarrabah were transported by the Rio Loge and there appears to have been deceptive techniques involved in getting the people to separate from loved ones. Once in Yarrabah, similarly poor living standards greeted these people and those who become troublesome were transferred to Fitzroy Island.

Logging on the island began in 1863, initiated by American Jack Piggott (known as 'Yankee Jack'). Piggott's contribution, however, was limited as he was killed the following year by Indigenous people on the northern part of the island after what was rumoured to be a "black-shooting expedition" went awry. Blackbutt trees (Eucalyptus pilularis), Queensland kauri (Agathis robusta) and satinay or Fraser Island turpentine (Syncarpia hillii) were extensively exploited as they provided excellent timber. Satinay logs were sent to Egypt to be used in the construction of the Suez Canal. For the first 70 years of logging, bullock drays were used to haul the timber to loading points on the beach. Railway tracks were laid through the forest to facilitate logging, but were later removed. The logging industry continued until 1991, ceasing following concerns raised by the Commission of Inquiry into the Conservation, Management and Use of Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Region, appointed by the Goss Labor government and chaired by Justice Tony Fitzgerald.

The geology of the island includes extensive deposits of rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite. Sand mining leases were first granted in 1950, and mining continued until 1977. Without public knowledge the Queensland Government granted mining leases to the American mining company Dillingham-Murphyores in the 1960s. In 1971, the Fraser Island Defenders Organisation (FIDO) opposed the granting of more leases to the company. Despite more than 1,300 submissions that were made to the local mining warden objecting to new leases, the submission was granted. FIDO took the case to the High Court of Australia which overruled the decision noting that the public interest was not being upheld. Dillingham-Murphyores continued mining. The Whitlam Government established Australia's first environmental impact inquiry, which recommended that mining cease. Eventually the Fraser Government cancelled the company's mineral export license, which halted mining on the island. That represented a significant win for the conservation movement in Australia. Fraser Island then became the first place to be included in the Australian Heritage Commission's Register of the National Estate.

A major landmark on Fraser Island is the shipwreck of the S.S. Maheno. The Maheno was built in Scotland in 1905 as a luxury passenger ship for the trans-Tasman crossing. During World War I it served as a hospital ship in the English Channel, and was then returned to its owners to resume usual commercial operation. By 1935 the ship had been taken out of service and was sold to a ship-breaker in Japan. On 25 June 1935, while being towed to Osaka to be broken up, the ship was caught in a strong cyclone about 80 kilometres (50 miles) off the coast of Queensland. The towline parted, and on 9 July 1935 the Maheno became beached on the east coast of Fraser Island.

During World War II the wreck served as target bombing practice for the RAAF and was used as an explosives demolition target by special forces from the Fraser Commando School. The remains of the ship are now severely rusted, with almost three and a half storeys buried under the sand. Because of the danger it poses, climbing on the wreck is not permitted.

During World War II, the area near McKenzie's Jetty was used by the Services Reconnaissance Department (popularly known as "Z Special Unit") as a special forces training camp – the Fraser Commando School. Thousands of soldiers were trained here because the conditions were similar to those found on Pacific Islands where the Japanese were fought. Lake McKenzie was used for parachute training and the wreck of the Maheno was used for explosive demolitions practice.

Visitors to the site of the Fraser Commando School today can still see various relics of its military past including armour plates used to test armour piercing explosive charges and weapons and a concrete relief map of Singapore Harbour used as an aid in operations planning.

As part of ongoing meetings in the United Nations Trusteeship Council on the Conditions in the Trust Territories, the Republic of Nauru expressed concern that its phosphate mining exportation would be depleted by the end of the century, endangering the future of the island. In 1961, Fraser Island was proposed by Australia as a location for the resettlement of the entire population of the Republic of Nauru. The timber industry on Fraser Island managed to ensure that resettlement on Fraser Island did not proceed. In 1964 in the 31st session of United Nations Trusteeship Council meetings it was concluded that Curtis Island could provide a more satisfactory resettlement for the population of Nauru. Nauru rejected the offer of moving the entire population to Curtis Island due to political independence considerations that Australia would not agree to. When visiting the island in 1964, the head of the Nauru delegation, Hammer de Roburt, insisted on this point of sovereignty in order to protect his people from the overt racism that he himself experienced on this tour. Although a resettlement never did occur, the Republic of Nauru went on to achieve independence on 31 January 1968.

At the 2011 census, Fraser Island had a population of 194 people.

On 14 October 2020, a large bushfire was started on the island by an illegal campfire. It impacted multiple communities and caused residents to flee their homes as it burned out of control.In early December interstate assistance, including from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) who provided a Boeing 737-300 Large Air Tanker waterbombing aircraft, was used to fight the fire as Happy Valley township was threatened. High temperatures, 32 °C (90 °F), and strong winds hindered fire fighting and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Director Brian Cox said "A lot of this fire is burning in inaccessible country …".Heavy rainfall in mid-December helped contain the fire and the QFES was able to hand control back to the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS). This was the longest burning fire of the 2020–21 bushfire season up to 14 December 2020 as it had been burning since October, over two months, and as of that date, more than half the island had been "blackened" by fire.The island reopened to tourists on 15 December. The fire was still burning, but the island was declared safe for visitors, though some walking trails and burner areas were still restricted for safety. It is expected that the burned areas will successfully regenerate.

Fraser Island has a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen: Aw) barely avoiding the humid subtropical classification, it is generally warm and not subject to extremes in temperature due to the moderating influence of the ocean. Temperatures rarely rise above 33 °C (91 °F) or drop below 7 °C (45 °F) and humidity is consistently high. Rainfall is heaviest during the summer and early autumn, and the annual average is 1,251 mm (49.25 in). Cyclones can be a threat; Cyclone Hamish brushed the island as a category 5 in March 2009, while Cyclone Oswald in January 2013 was significantly weaker at a Category 1. Both storms however caused severe beach erosion, particularly on the island's northern tip. The average annual temperature of the sea ranges from 22 °C (72 °F) between July and September to 27 °C (81 °F) between January and March.

Fraser Island is one of Queensland's most popular islands for tourists, who can reach the island by ferry from Hervey Bay or Rainbow Beach, which takes approximately 50-minutes. Estimates of the number of visitors to the island each year range from 350,000 to 500,000. The chance of seeing a dingo in its natural setting is one of the main reasons people visit the island. The use of boardwalks and marked tracks by visitors is encouraged to reduce erosion.Urinating tourists have created environmental problems in Fraser Island lakes and on coastal dunes. The foredunes are used as a toilet by bush campers, who are estimated to number 90,000 each year. Many of the perched lakes have no outflow or inflow which exacerbates the problem. Water quality in some lakes is being affected by storm water run-off from dune roads, and by swimmers' use of sunscreen.

In April 2009, a vehicle overturned on the beach after being hit by a wave. Two backpackers were killed in the accident. Following the incident speed limits on the beach were reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h, and from 40 km/h to 30 km/h inland. Everyone who hires a vehicle on the island from an organisation accredited by the Fraser Coast 4WD Operators Association must attend a one-hour-long briefing on vehicle safety.

"Central Station", which was formerly the hub of the forestry industry when there was logging on Fraser Island, is now a popular tourist destination. Some of the rarest ferns grow in the rainforest near the location.

The island can be reached by a ferry from River Heads (South of Hervey Bay) to Kingfisher Bay and Wanggoolba Creek or Inskip Point to north of Rainbow Beach to Hook Point, or by chartered flight from Maroochydore Airport.A four-wheel drive is required for all landings (except Kingfisher Bay), and travel on the island (except within the Kingfisher Bay Resort). A permit is required for vehicles and is obtainable on-line from DERM and several outlets at Rainbow Beach. Several firms provide four-wheel drive vehicles for hire. Tour buses travel the island as well as several kinds of self-drive tours departing regularly from Hervey Bay, Rainbow Beach and Noosa.

Tailor is one of the more common species sought by anglers on Fraser Island and along the Queensland coast. Other fish caught on the eastern coast include jewfish, golden trevally and surf bream, while whiting, flathead and surf bream prefer the calmer western waters. Pilchards, bloodworms, yabbies, pipi and sandworms can all be used for bait. Fishing is banned in the island's freshwater creeks and lakes. There is an annual seasonal fishing closure between the beginning of 1 August to the end of 29 September, for eastern foreshore waters as well as waters within 400 m out to sea from the eastern shore and between 400 m north of Waddy Point and 400 m south of Indian Head. The fishing closure prohibits the taking of fin fish only and anglers are still allowed to hand collect worms and pipis during the closure.

There are many campgrounds on Fraser Island with varying amenities and access. The main camping areas are: Dundubara Campground, Cathedrals on Fraser, Waddy Point campground, Central Station Tent Sites, Waddy Beach (tent only campsites), Cornwells Break (large group site), One Tree Rocks camp zone (Eurong-One Tree Rocks), however there are others. Permits are required for camping and also for vehicle access.

There are various possibilities for overnight hiking on the island. Most notable is the 90 km long Fraser Island Great Walk. A shorter hike would be for example to start in Kingfisher Bay (ferry drop off) and head to Lake McKenzie, stay there for one night, and then hike back.