Adventure before Dementia

"Adrenaline is wonderful.  It covers pain.  

It covers dementia.  It covers everything." 

Jerry Lewis

The wind and the weather had aligned perfectly with the tides and so we were going to attempt the run up the coast to Waddy Point.  Was this a daring day out or demented danger?

"keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel" 

Jim Morrison

Lucky for Greg, he had some extra drivers on hand for the journey.  Large parts of the beach had eroded from the winter storms and casuarina trees had toppled down across the beach.  At high tide in some places there was only a narrow section to drive through.

Q: What do you call a Blonde behind a steering wheel?

A: An air bag.

Still, there is always time to stop for photos if the light is 'just right'.  There are 354 bird species on the island, I was relieved to know that Greg hadn't turned into a Twitcher with a desire to photograph them all.

"The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay 

and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds 

or hear them sing."Eric Berne

Although, I was starting to feel a little twitchy and only relaxed once we had made it over Indian Head.  The cuttings down to the beach had soft deep sand to overcome and we watched a couple of adventurous fisherman use two vehicles to drag a boat up a steep sand cut.

"a number of the Natives were Assembled" 

Captain James Cook

As Captain Cook travelled past the Fraser Island coastline in 1770, he noticed a group of Aboriginals on a rocky outcrop and named the headland Indian Head.  The Aborigines knew the area as Takky Wooroo and the appearance of the white man had a much larger effect on the Aborigines.  They commemorated the sighting with a song which has been passed down through the generations.  They had actually followed the ship all the way along the coast from Hook Point and tried to call out a warning when the vessel veered too close to a dangerous sand bar.  

“rumours are afloat that natives were driven in to the sea, and there kept as long as daylight or life lasted…” 

Moreton Bay Courier.

Indian Head is a perfect lookout point for sea turtles, sharks, stingrays and whales.  However, we decided not to climb this sacred Butchulla site out of respect for the hundreds of indigenous people who were massacred here in 1851 by the infamous Native Police.  Over the next fifty years massacres, introduced diseases, drugs and malnutrition reduced the Butchulla Aborigines from over 2000 to around 200.  In 1904, the last remaining Aborigines were transported off the Island.   

“Isn't this one of the blackest pages 
in the history of the British Empire?” 
enraged Maryborough resident.

Only a handful of descendants remain on K'gari, which might better be termed paradise lost for the Butchulla people.  The aborigines lived in harmony with the seasons, land and sea.  They balanced the spiritual world with their social world and family.  The progeny of the Butchulla  still walk the cultural pathways of their ancestors who lived here since the beginning of the Dreaming.

"Those who lose dreaming are lost" 

Aboriginal proverb.

The butchulla believe in three laws: whatever is good for the land comes first, if you have plenty you must share and do not take or use what does not belong to you.  They also follow the rule that you are responsible for those younger than you.  With these sincere thoughts we made our way over the headland. 

"My connection to the earth is reinforced 
through the rhythm of the waves."
Mike Dolan

Finally we arrived at Waddy Point a place as famous for surf as for sharks.  The lagoons and gutters here are alive with fish, especially 'tailor' during the spawning season.

"If a shark ever asks you if he has bad breath, be aware that 9 times out of 10 it's just an elaborate scheme to bite your head off." Unknown

I came across a story about a local who would surf here with friends. One of them would sit up on a cliff or dune keeping a look out for the sharks. It was not when the sharks appeared, but only when they got too close, would the surfers be called in.  For once I was happy the water was too windy and choppy for SUP and we were happy to just hang out on the beach.

“I have always loved the beach. The smell of the salty water, the wind in my face, the gentle roar of the waves all combine to create a sense of peace and calm.”

Anonymous

The natural beauty was astounding here in this elemental meeting place of the water the wind and the sand. The remoteness just added to the unique experience.

"Solitude never hurt anyone.  Emily Dickinson lived alone, and she wrote some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever known... then went crazy as a loon." 
Lisa Simpson

The seclusion of the campsites on the beach here were a real example of self sufficiency.   Although the Aborigines had been coming here for thousands of years with far less gear.  

"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."

Anon.

This is a nature lover's paradise, a fisherman's dream. My last visit to Fraser evoked these same thoughts of survival over the elements. Seeing the locals and the town of Orchid Beach made me realize how independent from the main land these folks were.

"Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Give him a fishing lesson and he'll sit in a boat drinking beer every weekend." 

Alex Blackwell

It also reminded me of how passionate people can be about fishing. A favorite bait used on the island are live worms, which are caught using a stink bag. Filled with smelly old fish the bag is drawn backward and forward over the sand on an outgoing tide. The worm pops his head up expecting a snack and then you pull out the meter long wiggly.

“A wonderful bird is the pelican

His bill will hold more than his belican.

He can take in his beak Food enough for a week,

But I’m damned if I see how the helican.”

 Dixon Lanier Merritt

Of course the best fishermen are the birds and the pelicans who must be doing something right considering they have been around for 30 million or so years.  An aboriginal myth tells of how the pelican, who had all black plumage, made a canoe to save drowning people in a flood.  The Pelican fell in love with a woman he saved, but she tricked him and escaped.  He daubed himself in white war paint but before he could go to war another pelican killed him because he looked so strange.  And so that is how pelicans to this day are black and white. 

“Intelligence is like four-wheel drive. 
It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.” 

Garrison Keillor 

After a quick pie and fuel stop in Orchid Beach it was time for home and we followed the other vehicle tracks to be sure we didn't get bogged and caught by the incoming tide.  

"The dingo, he come part and parcel with the land. 

He is like family."

Joe Gala a descendent of Fraser Island's Butchulla tribe. 

We were not the only species heading home and we had an amazing dingo sighting.   These apex predators of Fraser Island are special in that they carry some of the purest DNA compared to the mainland dingoes, that have interbred with domestic dogs.  Sadly there is a problem with the dingos on the island becoming habituated.  This is when they lose their natural wariness of people and learn to associate humans with food.  These distant relatives to wolves can become aggressive when defending or fighting for their food.  People have been bitten, mauled and one boy tragically killed.  Unfortunately aggressive dingos may have to be destroyed, which completely disrupts the family group.  An Alpha Male and Female bond for life and are the only breeding pair within the pack.  However all members of the pack have vital roles and are involved in raising the young.

   

"There will be hunters and hunted"

Heinrich Pierer

Considering there are about 400,000 tourists who visit Fraser every year and only about 200 dingos, perhaps it would be better to view the island as having a people problem rather a dingo dilemma.