Trekking south down the Queensland coast

Fraser Island dingo, the purest bred dingoes in Australia, at 75 Mile Beach. There is controversy over how they should be treated. Aggressive dingoes have attacked people.

Michael's Year 2 class did a topic on 'Change' and looked at how people change. Well, some of the places we've just visited have changed a lot too. Hervey Bay in the early 1990s was a little seaside resort. The Esplanade along the beach was lined with 1960s blond brick holiday units. Now Hervey Bay is huge with new apartment blocks and resorts everywhere. Flights from southern capitals bring the tourists to see the whales in July, go to the reef and visit Fraser Island.

From Hervey Bay, we spent a day at Fraser doing a typical tour - Lake Mackenzie, Eli Creek, Central Station rainforest, the Pinnacles coloured sands, the wreck of the Maheno on 75 Mile Beach. They are all beautiful and haven't changed much - luckily! Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. The beaches are long, the sand is white and the creeks are crystal clear fresh water. Plus it's fun being in a 4WD hurtling along the beach at 80km/h! Keith lived on Fraser Island in the early 1980s for two weeks and so is sort of local. Our tour guide was a colourful character and aired very strong views about how the Fraser Island dingoes, the purest dingoes in Australia, are being 'managed' by the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM). Late last year, a friend of hers, wildlife photographer Jenny Parkhurst was charged with feeding the dingoes, fined and banned from the Island. She featured on Australian Story in February on ABC TV. The transcript makes an interesting read.

Noosa has become very upmarket since our last visits but is now lacking in tourists. It's suffering from the Global Financial Crisis, the fact that Qantas doesn't fly there any more and that Aussies are travelling overseas more. Just west of Noosa is the fantastic Eumundi Markets, which must the be the hugest market ever. Susie got her hair braided there. Check it out!

Susannah with hair braids at Eumundi. Who needs to go to Bali?