Fraser island wanderings

Sue Brooks May 17th, 2010

It was with great pleasure that I enjoyed the company of several other women on the very first Butchulla Women’s Tour of Fraser Island. Our wonderful hostess Chrissy introduced us to many facets of Butchulla culture and we enjoyed dancing, weaving, eating, wonderful company and visiting new places on our beautiful sandy island. We also learned more about how the very first inhabitants of this country prospered prior to the arrival of white man.

For me it was a trip of several firsts. I had not visited Dilli Village before and this is where we stayed on Saturday night. We visited Lake Boomanjin a beautiful large and very peaceful lake. It is so nice to find that this lake is less frequently visited by tourists and we were the only ones getting our tootsies wet. A beautiful and peaceful place. Then yesterday it was off to Indian Head to pay our respects to the Butchulla women of the past who are no longer with us. We then travelled to the Kgari camp (which I have now learned to pronounce as Gari), to enjoy a fresh and scrumptious lunch.

Over the two days I saw three dingoes. One female we saw twice at Dilli Village outside the dingo fence and this female showed absolutely no interest in us. Then we spied a glimpse of the dingo who frequents Kgari and this dingo also didn’t want to have anything to do with us. The last dingo was spotted on the beach from the bus and looked a bit worse for wear. He had been fighting and had a closed eye and scars and was the thinnest of the three. All dingo’s did not appear to be starving however and it made my trip all the better to know that these beautiful creatures are still surviving despite the trials of living in a now predominantly human impacted habitat!

Anyhow it was nice to get away and to try and forget about Council agenda’s and reports and other work related problems and activities. Lastly a big thank you to our intrepid driver Sarah. Sarah works for ‘Fraser Experience’ and is one of only two female bus driving tour guides on the island apparently. Sarah was informative and a highly experienced driver and I do recommend her tours.

So here are some pics to show you how wonderful our neighbourly island and our local Butchulla community are. Chrissy I wish you and everyone else that helped make our tour a great one every success for the future. Thank you, Sue