There’s something about the moment a ferry heaves off from shore – when you’re propelled into that glorious space between two lands. On the Kingfisher Bay Resort car ferry to K’gari (formerly Fraser Island), we cut the engine, fill the kids with sandwiches, and stand at the side with the wind in our hair, anticipation carrying us as much as the vessel.
We’re on our way to Kingfisher Bay Resort, which will become our base for the next three nights and the launchpad to the magic of this World Heritage-listed island. At 123km long, K’gari is the largest sand island in Australia and its spoils are innumerable.
In the past I’ve driven its sandy beach highway – spotting dingoes and shipwrecks, rainbow dunes and frothy rock pools – and tackled its inland roads where towering satinay trees reach for the clouds. I’ve swum in crystalline Lake McKenzie and flown above it all on a scenic flight, but this is the first introduction for my two children – our first family holiday to this natural wonderland, just a few hours’ drive north from our home on the Sunshine Coast.
What we quickly realise is, this could be the best sustainable, nature-based family getaway in Australia.
DAY 1
The SeaLink barge from River Heads deposits us at the Kingfisher Bay Resort pier on the sheltered western side of K’gari.
We’ve brought our car, even though it’s not a 4WD, knowing it will help with little legs and midday naps. That said, bringing a vehicle isn’t necessary unless you plan to explore beyond the resort—shuttles and walking trails make getting around easy.
After checking into our two-bedroom villa, we head straight for the resort’s main pool. The October drizzle keeps me in the heated jacuzzi while the kids splash around. The transition from the mainland is complete; time slows, and the usual mental clutter drifts away.
Already relaxed, we pad our way to the Sunset Bar for a cheese plate and bottle of bubbles. This spot, with its picnic tables sunk into the sand and front-row seat to the sun’s swan song, always feels like the most low-key yet exclusive experience on the island. The kids play in the sand while we drink it in.
When little tummies rumble, Sand Bar and Bistro is mere footsteps away and provides the ideal casual setting for an early dinner. Sunshine Coast distillery, Diablo Co cocktails are on tap, alongside a menu of casual pub fare (pizzas, chicken schnitzel), and generous-sized kids meals. The macadamia-crusted barramundi was a winner at our table.
DAY 2
There’s no understating the novelty of a breakfast buffet, especially when it has all the breakfast cereal options to send your under fives starry eyed. We settle into the rhythm of resort life each morning here – lingering over coffee and mapping out the day – relishing the rare luxury of having nowhere we need to be.
The morning is unhurried. The kids climb through the playground, and we explore the K’gari World Heritage Area Discovery Centre, where interactive displays reveal the island’s ecosystems and Butchulla cultural heritage. The conservation stories capture our attention, particularly those about the island’s genetically distinct dingoes.
There’s an extensive roll-call of activities at Kingfisher Bay Resort that change week to week, and you can opt in or out as much as you like. Rangers guide daily nature walks, talks, wildlife presentations and the occasional canoe paddle, while there are Junior Eco Ranger activities specifically for kids.
This afternoon, chef Tony and Resort Ranger, Jess, lead us through a Bush Tucker Tasting. We learn more about, and introduce the kids to, native bush foods like lemon myrtle, macadamia and bunya nuts, finger limes and cinnamon myrtle, which has traditionally been used in a medicinal way by the Butchulla People. Ingredients like bush tomatoes, native rosella, lemon aspen, golden wattleseed and munthari are lesser known but all a hit during the interactive tasting experience.
There are three restaurants at Kingfisher Bay Resort but Dune is its headliner, fusing south-east Asian cuisines. We make an early booking and feast on duck pancakes, panang curry and golden egg king prawns before a journey into a side of the resort never seen before.
Illumina is a nightly light show, which launched in September 2024, and brings the wetlands of the resort alive in high definition. Designed by international light artist Bruce Ramus, the man responsible for the Wintjiri Wiru installation at Uluru, the 20-minute Return to Sky show is a captivating showpiece of light, laser and projections. (It’s short run time means it’s great for young kids).
DAY 3
Today is all about exploring beyond the resort. Without a 4WD, we’ve booked a private tour with Ranger Evan, whose knowledge of the island is as deep as his enthusiasm.
With a background in environmental science, he’s found his true calling on K’gari, especially after a misfortunate event during his former job at a wastewater plant. “I fell in one day,’ he says. “That’s the day I applied for this job.”
As he guides us expertly along Cornwells road – where the big buses can’t go – towards the eastern side of K’gari and it’s 120-kilometre ‘beach highway’, his passion for horticulture and bush tucker shines through as he riffs on the island’s history and its dizzying natural assets.
As a UNESCO World Heritage site, it boggles the mind that K’gari was logged for decades, with the practice only officially ending in 1991. Fresh water comes from an aquifer 30 times larger than Sydney Harbour that lies beneath and is where the resort sources its water from.
There are no kangaroos or koalas on the island, though there are wallabies, echidnas and bandicoots. The latter are the preferred prey of the 230 dingoes that call the island home. Kgari’s dingoes are one of the healthiest dingo populations in Australia but, “they only live to six years instead of 12 because they eat too much sand,” Evan says.
Evan grabs a bunch of cinnamon myrtle and crunches it between his fingers to release the smell during a stop at a lookout as he tells us more fun facts. It’s a good anaesthetic – the Butchulla people would infuse it into a tea for heartburn.
After a quick stop at Happy Valley for morning tea, we drive up the beach to the rusted relic of the Maheno shipwreck.
Built in Scotland in 1905, the Maheno was a luxury cruise liner that sailed between Sydney and Auckland for almost a decade, before being sent to Gallipoli as a hospital ship during WWI. After languishing in a shipyard until the mid 1930s, some Japanese businessmen bought it for parts. They intended to tow it to Japan, but only made it just past the island before running aground.
But of all the wonders we will see today, it’s a slow float down Eli Creek that will remain forever etched in my memory.
There might be 20 cars here today but during school holidays Evan says there can be over 100.
We wander the wooden boardwalk and jump onto our inflatable inner tubes to let the current carry us towards the ocean. Reflections shimmer on the tree branches and pandanus leaves above, while the rippled creek bed below make me think of Illumina’s dancing light show the night before.
The sky is a lurid blue, and we’re enveloped by green. We lay back and skim beneath low-hanging paperbarks, little fish darting below our bottoms. In moments of solitude, we find pockets of the creek to ourselves.
After our third slow float down the creek, I’ve forgotten any remnant stress and to-do list items from home. My mind has been wiped clean, replaced with soul-filling family time.
The ferry ride back feels different from our arrival. We leave Kingfisher Bay Resort carrying something intangible—the feeling of experiencing nature in a way that is both immersive and effortless. For families seeking a getaway that blends adventure with rest, K’gari offers the perfect balance.
Kingfisher Bay Resort’s Illumina Platinum Package provides the VIP treatment for two, with two nights in a King Bay room, daily buffet breakfast, return ferry transfers, ‘Return to Sky’ light show entry, pre-show two-course dinner, and a personalised (private) 4WD tour of K’gari. The show can also be booked independently – $50 for adults and $20 for children (4-14). Infants (1-3) are free.
Celeste and her family travelled as guests of Kingfisher Bay Resort. This post contains affiliate links.
