Sunshine paradise

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

Clockwise from above: The island hosts a vast array of vegetation, from towering pines to ancient tropical ferns. Rusting on the '70-mile beach', the wreckage of the New Zealand hospital ship SS Maheno washed ashore more than 75 years ago. White-sand beaches are a treat for tourists.

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.

At night, the distinctive double-story native-timber buildings blend in among the trees, and the sounds of the nocturnal animals, from bats to birds, and the rhythmic sound of frogs croaking produce a beautiful orchestra harmonized by the sea.

The award-winning Seabelle Restaurant offers the best of Australian and local seafood and a wine cellar that would make Bordeaux blush.

The resort is just a 50-minute trip by ferry from River Heads, Hervey Bay, which is a 45-minute flight or a three-and-a-half hour drive from the Queensland capital of Brisbane.

In fact, the whole Sunshine Coast is undergoing a major drive to attract the increasing number of visitors from China, who are looking for something different from the over-developed tourist Mecca of the Gold Coast.

A recent headline in the main regional newspaper warned businesses along the hundreds of kilometers of coastline to "Go Chinese or suffer", such as improving the number of Mandarin-speaking staff and signage, as the Chinese are expected to become the biggest tourist market in the years to come.

Driving along 400 km of the Sunshine Coast's Bruce Highway, it is easy to see how each small town or city is gearing up for the changing face of tourism.

Noosa Heads is a classy tourist town, with Hastings Street housing high-end shopping and restaurants on the beach.

Sails Restaurant is an absolute must for beachfront dining. The fresh barramundi, caught that morning, is seasoned to perfection and cooked with a strong devotion using both historic methods and local seasonal ingredients.

The Noosa Springs Golf & Spa Resort is a fantastic place to stay and offers something for all nationalities. Keen to tap into China's growing interest in golf, the 18-hole championship course has seen a growing increase in Chinese tour groups and has now started to print brochures in Mandarin. The resort, spa and fitness center have all won countless awards over the years.

For those who are tired of the beach and need some mindless tourist gimcrack, head to the Eumundi markets, where German sausages and crepes sizzle amid bored-looking couples buying gifts for people back home they have deluded themselves will be appreciated.

Storeyline Tours offers different group packages to experience the markets and the hinterlands if you want to leave the serenity of the beach.

Head farther south, and the Ginger Factory in Yandina and Underwater World in Mooloolaba are two great attractions for those with little ones to keep entertained.

The Crowne Plaza Pelican Waters Golf Resort and Spa offers the perfect start or ending point for those planning a full tour of the Sunshine Coast.

The resort is a great location to visit the Australia Zoo and former home of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Formally known as the Beerwah Reptile Park, it was first opened in 1970 by the Irwin family as a home for rescued crocodiles and rehabilitated wildlife.

The 40-hectare zoo is following Irwin's dream to allow people to see nature up close by cuddling a koala, hand-feeding Asian elephants, walking with a Sumatran tiger and watching a crocodile launch from the water's edge.