How paradise became Fraser Island

"One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh 

Much of life on Fraser Island revolves around the tides. Our daily movements were timed around the ebb and flow. Even the postal service is dependent upon it. Indeed the very name of the island can claim it originates from the will of the ocean currents. In 1836, the Stirling Castle wrecked north of Fraser Island and the survivors included the Captain, James Fraser and his wife Eliza. This was not Captain Fraser's first shipwreck and his employment was said to be sought after by overinsured vessel owners.  

The Captain and crew launched two lifeboats and floated at sea for days. Heading south the vessels became separated.  During this time Eliza gave birth, but the infant died before their boat came ashore near Waddy Point. Mutinously, most of the crew began walking south to Moreton Bay leaving Eliza her husband and two crew members. 

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 

William Shakespeare 

The rest of the story highlights the divergence between European and Aboriginal histories. Eliza's account tells of how they were stripped naked and forced to carry wood, water and bark, of how she was made to forage for honey and roots for food. As her husband became too weak to work he sustained a spear injury from which he died. She was expected to nurse the babies, was beaten and offered little shelter. She was eventually taken to the mainland on the Aborigines' annual migration and rescued by a search party from Brisbane. Once recovered, she exaggerated her story and when she returned to England charged a fee to tell the tale. Her embellishments of Aboriginal cruelty, savagery and brutality helped create a legacy of persecution. Ironically her manipulation of the truth probably helped instigate many massacres of the very souls who had saved her on the Island which became known as Fraser.

"To us she was a liar...She said our ancestors were cannibals and treated her inhumanely. But they helped her, they saved her ... because she couldn't handle the harsh environment....what would you rather? An island named after a liar, or an island named after paradise?'' Mr Burns

In recent years the local council was empathetic towards the Aboriginal request to change the name back to K'gari, much in the same way Ayers Rock had been changed back to Uluru.  However the international recognition of the name and the economic dependency on tourism swayed them to leave the name unchanged.   

“Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray."
Friedrich Nietzsche

I was finding it difficult to reconcile the colonial attitudes and the historical treatment of the indigenous people. Times have changed and apologies have been made, but much has been lost.  Encouragingly, in the last couple of decades there seemed to be even more recognition of the significance of the Aboriginal culture.  The information boards scattered throughout the island offered insight into the indigenous way of life and how to protect the interwoven ecosystems.  

"A hungry dog hunts best. A hungrier dog hunts even better."

Norman Ralph Augustine

Too much thinking makes me hungry, time to get back to basics and forage for food like the other island inhabitants.  Some look on the beach, other's look in the ocean.

"When thou seest an eagle, 

thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head!"

William Blake

“Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.”

Aristophanes

There are two kinds of eagles on Fraser Island, the White-bellied Sea-eagle or the Red-backed Sea-eagle also known as a Brahminy Kite. This bird watching thing isn't easy for a dumb blonde.  I'm still trying to figure out which one this was. Regardless, it was magnificent to silently gaze skyward as it circled the water and swooped down to snatch a fish.  Whichever species this bird was, it was doing way better than us at procuring lunch.  

Looking at the map it seemed fortuitous that we would find a happy hunting ground at Happy Valley.  Although with gas at $9.00 a gallon we had the smile wiped off our faces quickly.  

It's a sad throwback to our time of home schooling that the kids are so proficient in playing pool.  I used to consider it time well spent for many reasons.  Firstly it was trigonometry in action, secondly it was the only thing they would do willingly and lastly there was usually beer close by.  Playing pool still provides that pretense of math, a smile or two and a splash of the amber nectar.  

“To play billiards well was a sign of an ill-spent youth” 

Herbert Spencer 

With everyone fed and watered including the Furd Exploder it was time to head off in search of Champagne Pools.  Although I'd already found my new favorite beer.

Q: What does a blond and a beer bottle have in common?

A: They're both empty from the neck up.