Rainforest
Tall green rainforests soar out of sand dunes on the World Heritage listed Fraser Island. Sand contains no significant nutrients yet the largest sand island in the world boasts these towering diverse rainforests. Over thousands of years, nutrients have gradually been stockpiled with plants harnessing tiny amounts of wind blown elements and capturing and recycling nutrients from decaying trees and shrubs. This tedious process has resulted in a stunning array of plant life. The rainforests are so so dense in some places that light does not penetrate their canopy. Wanggoolba Creek valley near Central Station contains magnificent trees, huge kauri, rough barked satinay, brush box, hundreds of piccabeen palms and many more species. Many of the tall rainforest trees are festooned with huge crows nest ferns and staghorns which the early foresters saved from felled trees and brought to the area.

Eli Creek
Eli Creek is the largest freshwater stream on the eastern coast of the island. It is an area of exceptional and pristine beauty. There are a number of wooden walkways and a short, circular route runs up one side of the creek and down the other. It is possible to swim in the lower reaches of the creek. On a hot day it is very cool and refreshing.

The Maheno Wreck
After thirty years of service in Australian waters the Maheno, a huge cruise vessel, was being towed to Japan as scrap when it hit cyclonic conditions off the coast and was washed ashore on the 9th July 1935. The past 60 years of waves and weathering have reduced this once huge vessel to a rusting skeleton but it is still an imposing landmark. The Wreck of the Maheno is located just north of Happy Valley on the eastern beach. The vessel had been a well-known trans-Tasman liner and was heading for a Japanese wrecking yard when she was driven ashore during a cyclone in 1935. Today the hull lies slowly deteriorating in the harsh salt environment.