Tuesday 22nd April - Day 79

It's the second and last day at Fraser island. Those who may have spotted a 'shark fin' in the background of a photo yesterday may be disappointed to learn that it was actually the head of a person who was swimming at the time. No, it hasn't been severed by a shark either. However, later in the day on Tuesday I did have an encounter with a wild animal.

All is well in the camp. Everyone slept okay and we're all ready to go again. There is a towel at the bottom of the door of the room where the the girls are sleeping. One of the girls' is so paranoid of spiders coming into the dormitory that she has put the towel there to stop them. I really wish I had a plastic spider to put under the towel !

We have a similar day to yesterday, sun, sea, beach, walk, etc. It's all good. We're asked if we would like to pay $70 to fly over the island. An eight-seater light aircraft takes off from the beach and takes us for a 15 minute flight over the island. The flight is over in a flash and we land back on the beach.

Amongst the stories Ranger Bob tells us about is one about the Dingo's. This is the largest predator in the island and they kill and eat anything smaller than them. Although they look as cuddly as a labrador, they behave like wolves. We're told about the exploits of Scarface, an Alpha male, who has to resist the challenge of other Dingo's in the pack. Every year three or four will challenge for the position of top dog. The fights are usually very short and violent with the winner tearing out the throat of the challenger. It's a life or death struggle in the true sense. We all hope to see a dingo during our drive but it doesn't happen.

Early in the evening about 5:30pm we return to our base. A dingo was spotted on the edge of the forest but then disappears. Later on, we are back at our accommodation and about to have an evening meal. A dingo comes up to our area probably having smelled the food. We later discovered he is the Alpha male. He lies down with his head on his two front paws on the grass just 10 metres or so away from our eating area. He doesn't seem too worried about the number of people taking his photograph. I thought I might have a really good photo if I walked around to his front and got a little closer. As I knelt down to take my photo he decided to stand up and walk towards me. He stood less than a metre away from me. We were face to face. I wasn't about to blind him with a camera flash unless it upset him, and I felt a little nervous. After a few seconds he turned and walked away. I got the poorest photo of him and I was the nearest to him. I don't think I was in danger but it didn't feel that way. Here's a picture of him,but not the encounter itself: