July 2021 (ROTM#151) Fraser Island, QLD, Australia

World Heritage listed Fraser Island in southern Queensland is situated just north of the Sunshine Coast and is said to be one of largest sand islands in the world having been the dumping ground for sand that has been moving northward up the south-east coast of Australia for thousands of years. It’s a beautiful island and massively popular with tourists and you can rent a 4WD and drive and explore it yourself. However, any rental or tourism company will warn you about the dangers about swimming on Fraser Islands surf beaches – they say it’s mostly due to sharks, but it’s really mainly to do with rip currents because there’s plenty. I think the mention of sharks tends to get people’s attention more.

This picture is taken from Sumaro Head, the eastern most point on the island. Hopefully you can see the pronounced narrow, dark channel heading offshore about 100 m down the beach. That’s the rip. There’s a few other dark channel rips further down the beach. As sand moves past headlands the patterns of sandbars can change rapidly and be quite complex, so it’s really not a good idea to swim on either side of a headland at Fraser. This picture also shows the advantage that height gives you in being able to spot rips.

Thanks to my friend Claudia Boesch Hancox for the picture. I met Claudia during my 1992 backpacking trip to Australia and as an aside, when I visited this very same spot the group I was with did go swimming in the shallows and it wasn’t the sharks or rips that were the problem – it was the fireweed seaweed. Watch out for find red particles in the water – nasty stuff!

If the sharks don’t get you, the rip will.