K'gari Great Walk- Fraser Island, Queensland. Lollipop loop- 150km, 4 days. March 2026.

 

Overview:

K'gari Great Walk.  

It's outstanding!  

It's mighty!  

Good fun really.

The official walk rambles around the interior of K'gari, -aka Fraser Island-  the largest sand island on the planet. 

Far, far away from the hoards of chuckle fuck dumbass bogans in jacked up diesel 4WD's hooning along white sandy beaches and endless tour groups of bikini clad Euro backpackers clumped together 'seeing the sights', this walk took us through serene forests and wild fresh water environs.  

Walking the interior is the one way to get away from the maddening crowds and enjoy what K'gari has to give.

This track blows past a surprisingly diverse array of ecological environments including freshwater lakes, towering rainforest trees, banksia heathlands and swamps chock full of noisy native critters.

It's sandy, wet, brimming with birds and dingoes and we only saw one other hiker in the 4 days we wandered around.

The official K'gari Great Walk is around 90 kilometres in length between Dilli Village in the south and Happy Valley in the north.  

Parks website link here.

You can also go mad and choose your own adventure.

We (Shiny and Safari) walked a modified route of about 150 kilometres starting at the ferry barge drop off at Hook Point in the south of the island up to Dilli Village along the Jabiru Swamp fire trail to Dilli on the official path to the Valley of the Giants campsite.

Instead of continuing onto Happy Valley we hung a right onto a feeder track just north of the Valley of the Giants campsite to the eastern shore and walked down the beach to the shops and hotels at Eurong and onto Dilli and Hook Point again to pick up the barge back to Inskip and Rainbow Beach.

Map sourced from Wikipedia.org

Getting to the trail:

Currently public transportation on the island is the missing link of the K'gari Great Walk.  You have to get creative.

The traditional mode of operation is to travel to Rainbow Beach, hop the Manta Ray barge from Inskip Point ($10 cash per pedestrian passenger) to Hook Point on the island and be shuttled to Dilli Village (Dilli is a University of the Sunshine Coast research centre where you can rent cabins or tent sites, no shop or other facilities) via the island taxi service.

At the time of writing this blog post the taxi service on K'gari is non existent.

The typical plan on finishing the walk after trudging 90 kilometres to Happy Valley in the north is to get the same mythical, elusive taxi to propel you down the beach back to Hook Point and onto the barge.

So as this isn't happening no one else was walking the track.  

Also, hence why we chose to just push up the 25 kilometres from Hook Point to Dilli on the Jabiru Swamp feeder trail and get on with it.

The 90 kilometres of signposted track is still there and there are plenty of other feeder trails connecting to the K'gari Great Walk route.

We left our vehicle at the car parking area next to the last large round-about at the end of Inskip Point Road, a few hundred metres from where the barge calls in at Inskip for the duration of our time on the island.  

Shiny's GPS tracking of our lollipop walking route heading from Hook Point in the south to the inland lakes and returning along the eastern coastline.

Shiny at the 'official' southern terminus near Dilli.

Camping and navigation:

The campsites we stayed at as follows;

*First night-  pouring rain had us booking a cabin at Dilli Village.  Basic and clean.  $160

*Second night-  Lake Wabby walkers camp.  Unfenced.  Dingo proof boxes, loads of March flies, flat tent site, table bench.  Toilets and water at the drive in carpark nearby.

*Third night-  Valley of the Giants walkers camp.  Unfenced.  Dingo proof boxes, table bench, stupendous surroundings, unreal nocturnal wildlife sounds.  Water via tap and rustic toileting facilities.  

*Fourth night-  Jabiru Swamp walkers camp.  Unfenced.  Dingo proof boxes, table bench, incredible star gazing.  Water from a tricky collection point just under a kilometre north of campsite on the track.

No toileting facilities.

All campsites require a booking and payment, info here.

Walking along Lake Benaroon. 

Sea eagle sighted on the beach walk.

Water and resupply:

*Water can be sourced at the campsites and Dilli Village.  I filtered all my water from the campsites and day use areas but you do you.

*We grabbed nosh and goodies during a lunch stop at Eurong.  Good bakery, well stocked general store that will get you through, just don't look at the sticker prices too long or you may curl up and cringe.  

It's a remote destination, prices reflect this.

*There is an IGA and Food works at Rainbow Beach. 

Shiny dodging March flies and smashing it down the eastern shoreline.

The good bits:

• Definitely do the side trips around the Valley of the Giants.  The whopping great Tallow wood and Satinay trees are next level and worth the effort.  The animal life after sunset in the area is astonishing.  We had the campground to ourselves, kinda.  Birds, gliders, lizards, bouncy things and a reminder that life is rich and lush in the wilderness.

• Piss easy navigation.  Blindingly obvious.  Signposted trails and we utilised All trails and the topo map provided on the Parks website.  

• Gentle undulation, no steep crazy climbs, just chill and push on.

• Birdlife is varied and prevalent.  Constant birdsong and beaked critters sneaking a peek.

• Constantly varied biomes that you walk through.  Strangler figs and piccabeen palms one moment then dry sclerophyll forest and onto banksia heathland.  Around the lakes there was a plethora of sundews and carnivorous plants.   Fantastic.  Brush box and Kauri feature heavily and loom over the wee walker below.  Big buggers.

• The variety of fungi and the colours they displayed had me squatting down and having a look see constantly.  Best not to touch or eat.  

•   No one else about.  It's rare to be rocking along a trail on the Queensland coast and sight no poo tickets or rubbish or anyone in the camps.  

Things to know:

*The dingoes we sighted were around the lakes and along the eastern coast.   Where there are people and people keen to feed the dingoes they will lurk.  

Otherwise we were left quite alone and undisturbed.

*Walking down the eastern coastline wasn't too bad.  Loads of 2 tonne utes flying past but no one charged us or threw abuse our way.  A fuck ton of plastic refuse on the beach.

*All Trails mapping app has the entire K'gari Great Walk available to download for offline use but does not feature the Jabiru Swamp Track or the alternate down to Pile Valley or any of the other feeder tracks on the island.  

We cross referenced with the Topographical map provided on the Parks website here.

*There is a smidgen of Telstra mobile reception on the high points and around Eurong.

*The official rule is that the walk is supposed to be done with at least 2 people due to well publicised dingo activity of late.  

The fungi was next level on K'gari.

Crested terns.

Thoughts:

I had a blast!

K'gari is far more varied and rich in flora and landscapes than I thought possible.  

It's a very popular recreational space for residents of South East Queensland and international visitors and I fully understand why.  

While the majority of the punters sit behind the wheel of a diesel spewing ute (I have a diesel spewing ute too by the way so not having a hypocritical rag on 4WD drivers) and drive, drive, drive the roads of the island, those that choose to quietly step out and leave the crowds and wander the sandy trails may just get a peek of what else this alluring green chunk of coastal goodness has to offer.

There was a bit of water along the Jabiru swamp track.

Jabiru swamp.

Hook point barge drop off site.

*All photos by Shiny & Safari.

Kaeng Krachen National Park- Thailand. 3 day wildlife spotting and walking.

Great Hornbill

In February 2026, I nicked off with my partner Shiny to Thailand for a week to seek recreation and make mischief.

We did the touristy nonsense and revisited old haunts around Bangkok and Kanchanaburi and then headed to Thailand's largest National Park, Kaeng Krachen, for a fantastic couple of days of bird watching and wildlife spotting.

Park info here.

Crested Serpent Eagle

I had pre-arranged a pick up with Baan Maka Nature Lodge to scoop us up from the coast at Hua Hin.  

It was a bit hit and nearly miss but eventually we were collected and driven to Baan Maka. We quickly threw our gear into our chalet unit and chowed down on legit delicious Thai food and frosty beer while watching the squirrels and Drongos and even a Hornbill swoop down and get stuck into the bananas and grain at the feeder station right in front of the dining area. 

 

Magic.  Straight into the local fauna.

There are short hiking trails and nice views on the property.

Baan Maka lodge website here.

Park map sourced from thainationalparks.com

For our first full day we were lead into the park by an older, very knowledgeable guide.

Everyone is smashing breakfast before first light.  

You head off into the hills in a 4WD ute scratching your eyes open swerving Soi dogs and stopping whenever an interesting critter pops up.  

Kaeng Krachen is a bird nerd mecca and we were surrounded by serious twitcher types toting gargantuan camera lenses.  We aren't that tragic but still keen to see everything and anything that the park contains.  

Which is quite a lot actually.  

The park is loaded with monkeys and birds and reptiles and big cats and caves and rain forest flora and stinging trees and stupendous views and is an ethereal antithesis to everything modern, gritty, overpopulated Thailand represents today.

Map sourced from Google Maps

View from Phanoen Thung campsite

The drive up to Phanoen Thung at around 950 metres altitude is 30 kilometres and winds up a bumpy track.  

90 minutes with stops to spy on the wildlife.

Once up on the ridge top it's all monkeys and stupendous views and colourful birds.  

Back at Baan Maka we chugged brews and went paddling on the lake and listened to the rain pounding on the roof all night.

Banded Kingfisher

Asian Forest Tortoise

Blue Eared Barbet

Second day we knew the drill and hauled ourselves out of bed earlier and pushed food and caffeine down our necks and jumped in a truck with a younger guide.  He floored it all the way to the top of the track to Phanoen Thung without stopping, very different from our previous guide the day before who pulled off to show us every single living thing he spotted.  

However Shiny took her best photos and we sighted more wildlife with this guy and had better viewings all over.  There you go.

Many butterflies covered the road in the lowlands near creek crossings

Greater Necklaced Laughing Thrush

Orange Breasted Trogon

Spectacle Langur

White Handed Gibbon

Totally recommend a visit to this lush chunk of Thailand.

Take plenty of Baht cash.  

Entrance fee daily is 300 Baht for foreigners.  Guides are around 2300 Baht.

We arranged a taxi ride back to Suvarnabhumi airport directly from Baan Maka which took about 4 hours, saving faffing about in Bangkok again.

Chalet in Baan Maka Nature Lodge

Monitor Lizard hanging out in a hollow

Road through the park

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

Book and brews after wildlife spotting back at Baan Maka

All photos by Shiny.

Sub Antarctic Islands- Snares, Auckland, Macquarie and Campbell Islands. December 2025

 Overview:

After reading Charlotte McConaughy's Wild Dark Shore- an excellent fictional novel set in the Southern Ocean- I decided to pull the trigger and finally visit a remote chunk of land that has been on my must-go-there list for too long.

Macquarie Island is a speck of basalt 34 kilometres long, 5 kilometres wide and a long way from anywhere, we're talking 1500 kilometres south of Australia and access is only via sailing vessel.

A Unesco World Heritage site, it is administered by Tasmania and visitor numbers are limited to 2000 people a year.  

To set foot on the island and experience the awe of being surrounded by millions of sea birds and penguins and elephant seals and incredible endemic flora you have to be a research scientist or tradesperson based on the island or pony up a bit of dosh and book passage on an organised cruise.  That's what I did.

The ship:

I travelled with my partner, Shiny.  

We booked a Worsley Cabin on Heritage Adventures' 12 day 'Galapagos of the Southern Ocean' sailing tour to the sub-Antarctic islands.

All meals, zodiac landings and guided walking trips on Enderby and Campbell Island were included.  

There were daily wildlife lectures from onboard experts, loads of sea life sighted from the outside decks and around 130 passengers all up. 

8 levels high, the Heritage Adventurer was large enough to find a quiet corner and meal time exceeded expectations with 5 star 4 course lunches and dinners every day.

We met up with our ship's crew in Queenstown, New Zealand.  

Then a coach down to Bluff at the far south of the South Island and off to the Snares Islands (no landing), Auckland Islands, Macquarie and Campbell Island.  

Return to Bluff, coach back to Queenstown.

 

Map of route sailed by Heritage Adventurer sourced from chimuadventures.com

Wildlife:

Amazing, just absolutely amazing.  I had a dumb grin on my face for most of the journey.  I usually hate group tours and sharing my outdoor experiences with many others but this was next level. 

We saw beautiful wildlife including:

King penguins

Royal penguin

Rockhopper penguin

Gentoo penguin

Snares crested penguin

Yellow eyed penguin

NZ fur seals

NZ sea lions

Pintado petrel

Giant northern petrel

Giant southern petrel

Sooty shearwater

Dotterel

Cormorant

Tomtit

Fernbird

Southern royal albatross

Light mantled sooty albatross

Campbell Island mollymawk

White capped mollymawk

Bullers mollymawk

Salvin's albatross

 

Southern polar skua

Sea elephant

Antarctic tern

Prion

Pipit

Campbell Island teal

Auckland Island teal

Best bits:

The itinerary is quite action packed.  

There are a few ocean only days where miles have to be made up but most of the time aboard you are waking to sunrise in a new bay off a new island somewhere and crushing breakfast and coffee and heading down to pull on your muck boots (provided), jump in a zodiac and go check out a giant prehistoric plant or forgotten sealers camp and encounter some cranky sea lions.  Good fun.

Staff were great.  Mixture of bird nerds, ecologists, fine dining specialists, tour guides and problem solvers.

I spent hours gazing out of our cabin window, chugging brews and watching the edge of the world. 

No internet.  

We read books.  

Watched intranet provided documentaries relevant to our travels.  

We visited the library and looked up plants and animals we wanted to know more about.  

Some of the afternoon lectures were very informative and fun.

Worked out, slept, chugged more brews.

Bits to be endured:

The ship is fairly well stabilised but I yakked my guts up and succumbed to seasickness for the first time in my life.  

It IS the Southern Ocean after all, a turbulent zero-fucks-given body of water.

Anti nausea tablets were provided by reception and I chomped on them when necessary.  Which was about half the time aboard.

We were at the lower end of the age bracket, understandably given the style of trip and financial cost for the privilege of visiting these remote isles.  We didn't make any friends but that wasn't the goal in any case.  

No one really irritated me greatly but watching others getting in and out of the zodiac crafts was often a viewing of wobbly, slow motion zombie like movements.  

I'm grateful I got to walk on Enderby and Campbell Islands while I was fit and energetic and with full mobility.  

We hit the dining room as soon as it opened every lunch or dinner to avoid the slow moving queues chasing a table and the buffet dishes.   We also had the option to order in room dining with our room package so we did that a few times too. 

Macquarie Island research station in the background.

Final thoughts:

This was a bucket list journey to a bucket list part of the world with Macquarie as the highlight.  

Every wildlife encounter exceeded expectations and I still get a thrill thinking of myself standing on the fore deck over the bows with the ship chugging along in the inky black sea and nothing on the horizon for 360 degrees but albatross and prions dive bombing the waves and a very otherworldly feeling of isolation and peace rippling through me.

No phones, no internet, no news.

Just tough feathered creatures getting on with it on the bottom of the planet and allowing me to sneak a peek at their world. 

Shiny on Macquarie Island with the big boat in the background and many flippered friends.

*All wildlife photos were taken by Shiny.