The natural world of Fraser Island, off Australia's Sunshine Coast, is a treat for dingoes and other wildlife as well as human visitors. Photos by Todd Balazovic / China Daily

 

Relaxed, undeveloped, with sun-kissed beaches where there's always something cooking on the 'barbie' and a cold beer to crack. Lee Hannon visits Australia's Sunshine Coast and is totally charmed by it.

Amischievous grin flashes across ranger Annie's face as she taps through her phone's music files to play a tune amid the natural sounds of the surrounding dense rainforest. We had just had our first close encounter with a wild dingo, and I am pleased to report it didn't eat my baby. In fact, the continent's largest terrestrial predator barely flashed us a cursory glance as the news-savvy beast headed for better headline prey. I guess a-dingo-ate-my-journalist just doesn't have the same appeal, despite how much some would be overjoyed to see it appear.

Come to Australia / You might accidentally get killed /Your life's constantly under threat / Have you been bitten yet? / You've only got three minutes left / Before a massive coronary breakdown

It might not be the most feel-good tune I've heard for those who have a genuine fear of snakes, spiders and sharks etc, and I can't see the tourism board adopting the rhymed quatrain for its next promotion, but this is exactly the experience Fraser Island, just off Australia's Sunshine Coast, has to offer.

It is the world's largest sand island, stretching over 123 km in length and 22 km at its widest point - and home to 47 other species of mammals, 350 different birds and 79 reptiles including 19 kinds of snakes.

Fraser Island is without doubt one of the world's most natural playgrounds, enshrined in sheer beauty with a precious eco-system that supports the unique wildlife protected under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Legend has it Fraser Island was first spotted by Captain James Cook in 1770 while sailing up the east coast of Australia.

Cook incorrectly named the island the Great Sandy Peninsula, thinking it was connected to the mainland. It wasn't until 1799 that Matthew Flinders explored parts of Hervey Bay and discovered Cook's mistake.

In 1836, Captain James Fraser was in command of the 351-ton brig Stirling Castle when it ran aground at Swain's Reef while traveling from Scotland to Sydney.

The survivors, including Fraser and his wife, Eliza, traveled south in a lifeboat and found themselves marooned on an island, where they were captured by Australian aborigines.

As with all legends, accounts differ, but two facts remain unquestioned: James Fraser died on the island, and Eliza was spared and later returned to England. The Europeans named the island after the late captain despite its aboriginal history.

It's hard to imagine what the indigenous Butchulla tribe would make of the four-wheel drives speeding along the Seventy Five Mile Beach ocean highway, where small planes taking off from the sand have the right of way over vehicles in a place they once called K'gari, which translates as "paradise".

There are few survivors, and no descendants now live on the island, but the original meaning of the island lives on.

Fraser is without doubt an enchanting paradise with vegetation almost entirely covered with sand, and over 40 freshwater lakes and dense rainforest make it an ideal destination for those who want to enjoy a natural eco-tourism holiday.

Nestled among the tree-covered dunes on the edge of the calm blue waters of the Great Sandy Strait, the award-winning Kingfisher Bay Resort has 152 hotel rooms, more than 100 self-contained bedroom villas, a 174-bed wilderness lodges for groups, three restaurants, four bars and a shopping village.

The unique island offers something for everyone, from the excitement and adventure of exploring wilderness to a place where you can pamper yourself and relax after a hard day traversing one of the world's most sensitive ecological systems.