When my girlfriend invited me to join her and her two children for five days on Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island, I agreed to go but silently wondered what I would get apart from a sandy bottom. Within days, I was a four wheel drive convert.

"Drive it like you stole it," instructs Damian, leaning out the window of our 18-tonne 4WD vehicle. The two hapless tourists reversing down one of Fraser's notorious sandhills nod appreciatively and pull over to give us a go. Despite full throttle and a bus load of cheering tourists, Damien's efforts fail to conquer the knee high sand and we too beat our retreat and find an alternate route. Such is the unpredictable nature of four-wheel driving on Fraser Island.

Driver Damien, who conducts daily 4WD tours of the island through Kingfisher Resort, describes his job as 'a bit like riding a mechanical bull every day." He's been praying for rain for several weeks in the hope that the deep tracks in the sand will even out and compact down for smoother, easier driving. Mother Nature hasn't delivered, so we are guaranteed an interesting day on our Fraser Island Beauty Spots tour traversing parts of the 1500 kilometres of 4WD tracks that criss- cross the island.

Almost all tracks are two way to minimize environmental impact, but considering there is only room for one vehicle at a time they are dotted with regular cut aways where vehicles pull over to let others pass. Size does seem to matter as many a smaller vehicle beat a hasty retreat on sighting us.

Our first stop is Lake McKenzie, a freshwater dune lake fringed with fine, white silica sand. Turquoise tones and a water temperature of 25 degrees, entice all but non swimmers in for a refreshing dip. The lake, one of the island's beauty spots, doubles as a beauty shop as the fine sand particles are well known for their exfoliating properties. Sitting in the shallows we slather ourselves in wet sand and enjoy the prospect of 'getting younger by the minute.' No fish, no rays, no sharks and no rips make this one of the safest swimming experiences on offer at Fraser. On our return to the car park we hear the call of 'dingo' and grab the cameras for a snap at the first of three sightings for the day; a top tally according to locals.

Next stop is Central Station, a forestry township during logging days that is now a picturesque rainforest accessed via a boardwalk that follows the Wanggoolba Creek. Towering ferns and massive trees flank the flat track and keep us cool during the 40 minute walk.

From there we venture on to Seventy Five Mile Beach. Its actual length is 65 miles, but hey, we are in Queensland, where everything is more laid back. Close enough is all that matters.  Multiskilling is the order of the day and the beach doesn't disappoint; sand, sea, highway and runway all rolled into one, with a police station to boot. We watch small scenic planes land and take-off from the sandy strip that doubles as an airport. Damien invites pilot Tim aboard who gives us his 5 minute spiel about the 15 minute joy flight on offer.

He doesn't need to employ the hard sell as within minutes 7 of us are scooting along the sand, strapped in to the small plane, before oohing and aahing at the aerial view of Fraser's massive sand blows and freshwater lakes, framed by brilliant blueocean. Cameras are handed around the plane for holiday snaps from either side and Irish tourist Deidre in the back with her son, can't stop shrieking with delight at this unexpected aerial adventure opportunity. Take off and landing on sand are gentler experiences than in a large jet, and even those with small plane phobias are smiling as we disembark. Now why can't all airports be like that: no security checks, no luggage problems and no seat allocation.

No island is complete without a shipwreck and Fraser is no exception. The Maheno, which means island in Maori, was originally the world's first triple screw steamer before it came to grief during a cyclone on its way to Japan. Its destiny was to be sold off as scrap metal, so it has drawn the lucky end of the stick as a tourist attraction embedded in  sand.

Locals and visitors make good use of Maheno for photo shoots. A local politician from Maryborough apparently married on the deck (the 20 degree tilt no barrier) with a convoy of Model T Fords parked on 75 beach.

Further down the beach we pull off to Eli Creek, the largest freshwater creek on the eastern side of the island. On an hourly basis, Eli Creek pours up to 4 million litres of fresh water into the ocean. A short boardwalk takes us to a bridge where we can access the water, deliciously refreshing at this stage of the day with temperatures now in the mid thirties. Floating on our backs, heads skyward watching a canopy of banksias and pandanus overhead, it's a toss of the coin as to which is more inspiring; the plane trip or the creek dip?  Both are uniquely Fraser.

From Eli Creek it is home James and don't spare the horses as several of our group, including driver Damien are catching the last launch back to the mainland at 5-ish.

Eyes are peeled for more dingoes and before long we spot two more traversing the track.

Dingoes dominate conversation and signage on Fraser but are few and far between on the ground. A highly intelligent animal, they have overcome man's valiant efforts to keep dingoes and tourists separate. Electrified grids have been installed between island tracks and resort premises, however it took the dingoes one week to figure out how to 'tippy-toe' between the wires and maintain access to anything and everything.

Leaving food unattended in the national park will result in a $3000 fine, such is the ardour on Fraser to eliminate the practice of feeding dingoes. Rangers have witnessed dingo pups literally starving to death from reliance on handouts from well meaning tourists who fail to realize that as a result the pups will never develop their own hunting skills. Dingo aggression comes from expecting all tourists to provide food based on the behaviour of a few. Dingo behaviour changes throughout the year and January is a time of 'playfulness and interaction' according to the charts on display. Signs at the reception desk of Kingfisher Bay resort, indicate that several camping sites are temporarily closed during this time of increased aggressive behaviour.

We arrive back at Kingfisher Resort, bid farewell to those joining the ferry and head for the general store to grab a bottle of vino and a selection of cheeses before heading for the jetty beach on the east side of the island. As the sun slowly sinks into the sea, we sit and watch, silenced by the beauty before us and the memories of our day. Here's to fabulous fun on Fraser. Clink, clink.