Paradise. That’s what the aboriginal name ‘K’gari’ for Fraser Island means and let me tell you, the original inhabitants of this incredible place were not wrong.

It really is quite something.

As I sit down to tell you about our Fraser Island experience, I’m a little worried that this post won’t do this magical place justice. That my photos won’t convey the immense natural beauty of this, the world’s largest sand island, or that my words will let it down. So please if you take just one thing away with you, from this post, take away this: if you ever get the chance to visit, you absolutely MUST.

Because Fraser Island isn’t just a great place to visit when you’re on the other side of the world, it’s a place that will stay with you, long after you return home. A place that, if you’re anything like us, you’ll forever hold dear in your hearts.

Here’s everything you need to know about our three day stay in ‘Paradise.’

WHERE WE STAYED

There are a few places to stay on Fraser Island but as a family of four with two little ones, we opted for Kingfisher Bay Resort which provided us with the perfect gateway to explore the World Heritage wilderness of the island.

The Kingfisher Bay Resort is the island’s premiere eco resort and has been specially designed to draw on the island’s natural beauty. All the resort buildings are designed to mirror the dunes and are set high up on stilts to allow the wildlife to get on with their business unhampered.

When you’re there, you really do feel like you’re living amongst wildlife and in my opinion that’s what makes this resort so special.

Kingfisher Bay Resort has everything you would expect from a good size hotel. There are three restaurants, four swimming pools, a spa, a gift shop, playground and 24 hour reception facilities. We booked a standard hotel room for three nights but were very kindly upgraded to a Bay View room which was a lovely surprise.

Our Bay View room was a very good size and more than comfortable enough for us as a family of four with two decent sized cosy beds, a large bathroom with a bath and shower plus tea and coffee facilities  but it was the view from our decking area that really stole the show. After three days of looking out to this beautiful view every day, I was genuinely saddened to leave it behind when we checked out.

We thoroughly enjoyed our three day stay at the hotel. The staff are helpful, warm and friendly, the food was tasty and it had everything we required for a pleasant stay, but really it’s the incredible location of this place and how it’s been designed which makes the Kingfisher Bay Resort unforgettable.

But to appreciate it fully, you really do need to get out and about and take in your beautiful surroundings. The resort offers all kinds of activities, including the Fraser Island Day Tours which I’ll tell you more about in a minute, and in my opinion it is this kind of activity that really does need to be experienced in order for you to make the most of your time in this incredible place.

For example, besides our day tour, another of my highlights from our entire month long trip to Oz was the four of us taking a ‘night walk‘ with one of the Kingfisher Bay Resort rangers. Outside and under the night’s sky, we found out how to spot animals in the dark, watched stingrays swim below us on the pier, gasped in awe at seeing the milky way in all of it’s fine glory (this moment was so special, it makes me tearful now just thinking about it!) and learned more about many of the island’s creepy crawlies as well as the rather fluffier inhabitants too.

All in all, it’s a great place to stay but if you want to elevate it to a holiday or break you’ll never forget, as I say you really do need to take advantage of what is on offer and experience as much as you possibly can.

THE FRASER ISLAND BEAUTY SPOTS DAY TOUR

First of all, I should probably tell you that Jamie and I have experienced this day tour before, about 16 years ago when we first visited Australia as fresh faced students. We absolutely loved it then so were really keen to see what it would be like to experience it as a family of four, with little Leo only being 18 months old.

The Beauty Spots Tour is a full scheduled day of activity (that includes lunch and afternoon tea) in which you are taken to the majority of the island’s iconic sites and it’s a must do if you’re ever to visit. Not only is it a great day out, but it’s also a really fun way to see what makes this island so magnificent and find out more about it’s history.

As the world’s largest sand island, Fraser Island is completely made up of sand and so on the day tour, the only way to get around is in one of the custom designed four wheel drive coaches.

As the kids are young, we were asked to take car seats for them onto the coach which was a really good idea as the ride can get a little bumpy at times! However, it’s surprisingly really good fun! I was a little worried that the trip might be too much for Elsie and Leo in particular, but they absolutely loved the bumpy journey. As to be fair, did I!  Both Elsie and I practically squealed with delight every time we hit a bumpy bit and as for Leo, well astonishingly it worked wonders at getting him to sleep!

On the day tour, you get to visit the most incredible sights including:

• Lake McKenzie.
• Central Station and Wanggoolba Creek.
• Pile Valley’s awe-inspiring Satinay and Brush Box forests
• 75 Mile Beach’s famous highway.
• The Maheno shipwreck and the coloured sands of The Pinnacles.
• The relaxing fresh waters of Eli Creek.

And this is where I’m going to stop writing for a moment as I think really, when it comes to the beauty spots, it’s time for the photos to do the talking. Seriously, just look at this place, paradise indeed.

We absolutely loved the Beauty Spots Day Tour and not to our surprise, did the kids. It was a wonderful day out as a family and one that I will always remember with such fondness and happiness. You know those family days you dream about? Well it was one of them.

From Elsie and I being the only people to swim in the rejuvenating fresh waters of Eli Creek (the Australians on the trip thought we were bonkers as it wasn’t the warmest day) to watching Leo gaze in awe at the incredible trees at Central Station, from seeing native dingos on the immense stretch of beach to seeing Elsie run around the shipwreck in total awe, it was simply fabulous from start to finish.

The only thing we wish had been different was the weather as it was the only cloudy day we had in the four weeks we spent in Queensland, but hey, you can’t win them all, right?

SUMMARY

If you haven’t got the message by now, let me sum it just one more time. WE LOVED FRASER ISLAND. Like, REALLY loved it.

Our three day stay at the Kingfisher Bay resort was one of our month-long trip highlights and I’ll cherish the memories of it forever.

Writing this post has reminded me just how much we adored this incredibly special island and I can only hope for you, that it will serve as inspiration to visit yourself, if you ever find yourself in beautiful sunny Queensland. It really is the most remarkable place.

This post was written in collaboration with the Kingfisher Bay Resort and Fraser Explorer Tours who kindly invited us to experience the Beauty Spots Tour for review. As always, all opinions and words are my own.