Hawk Nest Beach (Fraser Island)

[Kyle]We decided to leave Garrys and reenter the main channel via the shallower north exit. This is the much prettier path, but requires careful navigation to stay centered in the narrow channel. We had just listened to an Ocean Sailing Podcast (episode #102), where David talks about his experience grounding in this very channel. Our most nervous moment was not actually at the narrow exit, but instead while crossing the wide, shallow bay to get there, where the necessary deep spots are less well marked. It was about an hour before high tide, but we still found a spot where we got down to 1.6 meters before it finally started slowly increasing again.

Transiting the shallows of the Great Sandy Strait

Once we were safely in the main channel, we hoisted sail and shut down the engines for a broad reach through the remainder of the Great Sandy Strait. As sunset approached, we pulled up to the long anchorage at Hawk's Nest beach and found a spot amidst the widely separated boats. We are now in Hervey Bay, which (at this time of year) is renowned as a kindergarten for Humpback whales.

In the morning, before we had even made it all of the way from Begonia to the beach in our inflatable kayak, we spotted our first dingo of the year. Another boat had taken their dog ashore (which we don't think is permitted) and the dingo had sniffed out their dinghy while they were away. To get back to it, they had to chase it away with a stick. It then meandered down the beach past us on its morning roam.

Dingo Ashore!

We tried to go inland to turn our walk into a short loop, but found the path so overgrown and heavily populated with sand flies, that we quickly returned to the lower part of the beach, where the wind kept them at bay. The beach is pretty long, though, so we were still able to clock some miles by walking to Moon Point, about two and a half miles south of Begonia. There, we were rewarded with good views of the river outlet there and spotted either the same dingo or possibly a second one for the day, so that felt like a good time to turn and head for home.

The loop we'd planned started out OK, but soon became impossible

Beach walk at low tide(Hawk Nest Beach towards Moon Point)

We eventually found the other end of our originally intended trail - equally overgrown
The speed limit signs are probably no longer needed here! haha!

Since the day was still young, we decided to move the boat a few miles further North-East to Arch Cliffs.