Visiting Queensland's Fraser Island

Lake McKenzie has super fine sand.

See that flock of crested terns up there, do you know what they are called when we drive by?"

No.

"Right terns."

The passengers groan, but John is just getting started.

"And when we come back the other way they'll be left terns. And if we go back and look at them again - u-terns. And if they get taken to the hospital - in terns."

More groans but John hasn't finished.

"You know that when they fly, they go in a circle in one direction and then back the other way - do you know why they do that?"

No.

"Because one good tern deserves another."

John our driver is passing the time as we race along Teewah Beach just north of Noosa in our 4WD landcruiser headed for Fraser Island.

By the end of the day we will have covered hundreds of kilometres on this sand island safari - taking in beautiful scenery and a lot of excruciating puns. John's other trick is to quiz passengers on collective nouns - a murder of crows, a rainbow of butterflies, a float of crocodile, a parliament of owls, a mob of kangaroos.

Hardly any of us knew any, which was a shame because we would have won one of John's fabled Fraser Island T-shirts featuring a dingo with an iguana in its mouth. We buy one, anyway.

We have been picked up about 7am in Noosa and crossed by car ferry to Noosa's north shore. From there we hit beach highway and the coloured sandcliffs of Cooloola.

But by far the most stunning aspect of this part of the journey is the beach camping along a 15km stretch of Teewah Beach between the boundary of the Noosa Shire and Freshwater Creek.

Hundreds of people camp there year-round and in summer it becomes a nomadic village, with water, firewood and food trucks plying the sands to service the inhabitants. Hard to imagine anything like it being allowed on New Zealand's conservation-obsessed coasts.

About 5km north of Freshwater Creek, we take in the wreck of the Cherry Venture, a 1600-ton cargo ship, sailing from New Zealand to Brisbane, which ran aground on July 8, 1973.

John quizzes us on the date later on, imparting further trivia - that four years were spent trying to refloat the vessel before it was abandoned to its present fate as a collapsing curiosity, with signs warning people not to board.

By mid-morning we're at Rainbow Beach and crossing the Great Sandy Straits on the Fraser Barge. We have just begun our journey on this 125km long, 160,000ha World Heritage-listed sand mass (apparently formed during the Ice Age when the prevailing winds transported vast quantities of grit from New South Wales and deposited it along the coast of Queensland) when we spot a dingo.

The mangy creature obliges a few photographs before sullenly stalking off.

The Fraser Island dingo is said to be the purest-strain dingo left in Australia and, while many are there, you don't always see one. Other wildlife includes iguana, lizards and kangaroos which we don't see. But we do get a fair sampling of the 200 bird species.

Next stop is the boardwalk along the crystal-clear Wanggoolba Creek, which meanders silently - the sand kills water noise - below an ancient rainforest canopy.

It is hard to comprehend how all this can grow in just sand - huge satinay and brush box, kauri pines, piccabeen palms and the rare angiopteris fern, so dense in places the light does not penetrate.

Vines tangle their way among the trees, with some enveloping trunks and eating them away from the outside until the trunk is gone.

Fraser Island has about 42 lakes. We lunch inland from Eurong at its best known, Lake McKenzie. Its pure-white sand, crystal-clear water and quiet provide one of my most memorable swims.

John tells us to exfoliate with the fine sand which is apparently also good for cleaning one's jewellery. We find it's a good shampoo/conditioner, too.

Lunch is washed down with a cool beer and we stop for afternoon tea at Double Island Point lighthouse, which delivers spectacular views.

John says he never tires of his job because every day is different. It's certainly different on parts of the trip home as the tide comes in and most of the beach disappears. But surf crashing over the 4WD makes for an exhilarating end to a tremendous day.

* Chris Barton went to Fraser Island as guest of Noosa Tourism.

Location
Fraser Island is on Queensland's Sunshine Coast between Noosa Heads and Hervey Bay.

Excursions
A day tour in an air-conditioned 4WD is $A169 a person. See www.fraserislandexcursions.com.au (link below).

Further information
You'll find more information about Fraser Island on www.dkd.net/fraser (link below).