Seventy-Five Mile Beach

Appropriately named, this beach stretches along the eastern coast of Fraser Island. Believe it or not, the beach is actually a registered highway in Australia, and by far the quickest way around the island. It's not an entirely reliable highway though - two hours on either side of high tide parts of the beach are completely impassable, and you have to just hunker down where you are.

Most of the camp sites on the island are along 75-mile Beach, just behind the dunes. I use the term "camp sites" loosely - other than regeneration zones, you just pick where you want to camp, and rough it. No water, no electricity, and certainly no toilets - hopefully you have everything you need in the back of your truck.

The sites are perfect - beautiful views, and a great breeze. All that water, however, is just a tease - you can't swim in it. In fact, it's a bad idea to even put your toes in. Why? Well, pick your reason: there are the rip tides that will sweep you right out to sea, the jelly fish that can cause a nasty bite (or, if you're up near the top of the island in the more tropical waters, can kill you), or the sharks. Seventy-five mile beach is some of the best fishing on the east coast of Australia, but the men aren't the only ones taking advantage of that. The waters are notoriously shark-filled, so much that it's officially against the law to swim in them.

Mark collected a lovely bunch of coconuts.

The road stretching before us.