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Tour K’Gari

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K’gari Island

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Read about Lake Mckenzie here
Learn about the Shipwreck, S.S. Maheno

What better way to see an island than by air? As well as being a motorway, the 75-mile beach is also classed as a runway for planes. Here tourists can get scenic flights offering unparalleled views of K’Gari courtesy of Air Fraser.

I first saw these planes as I reached Eli Creek, parked on the beach by the shore. Our tour guide told us there were spaces if we wanted to have the chance. Giving me a 15-minute scenic tour over the island. I knew immediately I couldn’t miss this opportunity and I would regret it if I said no.

Within minutes we were loading onto the plane, it is a little unnerving when you first sit down. I am used to planes taking off from carefully laid tarmac,. Yet here I was about to take off and land from soft sand I had been struggling to walk in. Luckily they don’t give you much time to think about this as I was rapidly bundled into the plane. After a quick safety talk which featured no air hostesses showing us our exits, we were taxiing on the sand.

I was extremely lucky with the weather for my Air Fraser flight, with barely a cloud in the sky and no wind at all, I was able to relax and take in the sights. You get to see the island from a perspective many would only dream of. If you haven’t already visited yet, this could be your first glimpse of Lake McKenzie, a heart-shaped lake at the centre of the island, the perfect shape considering the lake is the heart and soul of the island. 

The next sight was the 75-mile beach, I know it’s named that for a reason, but watching the golden sands stretch out into the distance almost endlessly is breathtaking. Sitting on the shore is the S.S. Maheno, a WW1 hospital ship that has been left to rust since it washed up in 1935. I was very excited to see this, and couldn’t wait for the part of the tour that would take me closer. I had never seen a shipwreck before, besides the ones you find in goldfish bowls, and now was my chance. 

Even when compared to Whitehaven Beach, the 75-mile beach has to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. When the weather is perfect like it was for me, it stretches on for so long it’s hard to imagine there is anything else in the world besides yourself and the sand. The water is so striking we were encouraged to wake up at the crack of dawn to witness the sunrise, an experience that every visitor should have when they visit.

My tour had plans to see the S.S. Maheno up closer later on, and my attention was quickly taken away as the plane turned us towards the ocean. We were told whales had been spotted by the previous flight and everyone’s faces immediately pressed against the glass. I did my best to look, and although I was told some were there, they were a fair distance away and I had left my glasses on the bus so I had no chance. I was able to make out turtles and other animals though, and what I could see was amazing. 

There are some opportunities to relax and take a breath on K’Gari, but seeing it from the air it doesn’t feel like that was the island’s intention. Instead it feels like it’s about getting back to nature, and its beauty is designed to inspire you to work harder to protect it. With every passing moment on K’Gari I was learning something new about nature and all it made me want to do was work harder to make changes in my life and protect it. 

Before I knew it we were coming to land again. If I was anxious about taking off from the sand, I was terrified about landing on it. I was expecting a rough and bumpy landing. Luckily with Air Fraser, they have done these flights thousands of times, so I was in safe hands. If anything the opposite was true and the landing was smoother than anything I had experienced from commercial airlines. The pilots at Air Fraser are top of their class.