Road trip immersed in nature

Exploring the scenic route driving from Brisbane to K’gari (Fraser Island)

Leaving Brisbane’s urban crawl behind, my drive north skipped along the Pacific Coast Way’s corridor of contrasts where pine forests give way to sprawling pineapple plantations, and pockets of rainforest merge with towering eucalypts.

In just over three hours, I reached River Heads, the gateway to K’gari, just south of Hervey Bay.

First stop: Discovering K’gari (Fraser Island)

Swapping my car for a ferry and a 50-minute glide to K’gari felt like I was leaving the world behind.

K’gari, meaning ‘paradise’ in the Butchulla language, is a world-renowned natural wonder and the largest sand island on Earth.

Spanning 123km, it’s far more than just sand, with sweeping golden dunes, sapphire and emerald-hued perched lakes, and dense subtropical rainforests improbably rooted in sand.

Testament to nature’s ingenuity, the island earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1992 for its beauty and ecological importance.

I explored more of K’gari on the Beauty Spots Tour, departing daily from Kingfisher Bay Resort where I stayed.

Second stop: Bundaberg region – Witnessing sea turtles hatching

Reluctant to leave K’gari, but eager to connect with more natural treasures in Queensland’s backyard, I continued with the 1.5-hour drive north to Bundaberg.

The undisputed star of the region is its sea turtles and Mon Repos Beach is Australia’s turtle headquarters.

Home to the largest concentration of nesting sea turtles on the eastern seaboard, it supports the South Pacific’s most significant population of endangered loggerhead turtles, whose survival is critical to the species’ future.

A stay at the new Turtle Sands nature resort provided a unique proximity to this extraordinary lifecycle, with the beach serving as a nesting ground from October to February and a stage for hatchlings from January to April.

To safeguard these vital moments, the beach is closed to guests from 6pm to 6am, while nearby Mon Repos Turtle Centre offers guided night tours during turtle season.

Watching a giant loggerhead lay her eggs is both awe-inspiring and humbling, underscored by the sobering reality that as few as one in 1,000 hatchlings will reach adulthood.

Conservation is a shared commitment across the Southern Great Barrier Reef, and during a behind-the-scenes tour at Monsoon Aquatics, I witnessed thousands of baby corals thriving in tanks designed to mimic natural conditions.

This innovative approach aims to one day support reef restoration efforts, setting the perfect scene for my visit to the Great Barrier Reef the following day, where I would take on the role of a citizen scientist.

Third stop: Lady Musgrave Island – Understanding reef conservation

Aboard Lady Musgrave Experience’s 35m catamaran, Reef Empress, we set off on a 2.5-hour journey from Bundaberg to Lady Musgrave Island, a heart-shaped coral cay surrounded by 1,215ha of reef.

As the second southernmost island in the Great Barrier Reef, it’s home to a seasonal turtle rookery and seabird nesting sites, making it an aquatic paradise for snorkelers, divers, and nature enthusiasts.

The Lady Musgrave Experience is celebrated for its advanced eco-certified program, now elevated by the addition of the Reef Sanctuary Pontoon.

This new wind-and-solar powered floating hub – joining their first pontoon, the luxurious Reef HQ – serves as a purpose-built base for marine scientists to conduct vital work, and in many cases, guests can opt to assist them.

My session coincided with the resident marine biologist conducting a fish survey.

Armed with a checklist of fish species and a designated reef patch to patrol, my job was to record as many fish as I spotted.

I started off quite well, but as clouds of fish decided to embrace me as one of their own, I found it challenging to keep up.

Needless to say, the reef appears to be thriving, and the data I gathered was later uploaded to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Eye on the Reef app, contributing to the ongoing monitoring of reef and marine health.

With upcoming initiatives like coral adoption and reef restoration on the horizon, visitors will have even more opportunities to actively

participate in conservation.

Founder of Lady Musgrave Experience Brett Lakey envisions these efforts becoming a key part of every guest’s reef journey, fostering a deeper connection to the reef’s future.

The writer was a guest of Tourism Events Queensland (TEQ).

Photos TEQ and Narelle Bouveng.