There are more than 40 lakes on the island, each with special appeal.  Some are windows into the water table, but the majority were formed in a unique way and are, in effect, giant rainwater puddles held in sand dune hollows by a layer of sand rendered impermeable by reed humus rotting into it over centuries.  They are called "perched" lakes because they are perched high up in the dunes.

1.  Seen from the air are perched lakes, Lake McKenzie and the smaller Basin Lake.
 

2.  Inland from Eurong, Lake McKenzie is not the island's biggest lake, but is the best known.  Its beach is considered by some to rank amongst the world's ten best beaches.
 

3.  Another nice beach for swimming and watersports is at Lake Birrabeen.  The dazzling white beaches are formed of sand leached by the rise and fall of lake waters until all impurities have been removed, leaving pure silica.
 

4.  Lake Boomanjin is the biggest lake on the island.  The swampy areas and wetlands around lakes like this provide a habitat for numerous water birds.  The island's lakes are typically rimmed by melaleuca trees, many of great age, twisted and gnarled into amazing forms.
 

5.  No visit to Fraser Island would be complete without sighting a dingo, and there are plenty of them living in the wild around creeks and lakes where it is easy to get a drink.
 

6.  Throughout the island there are fractures in the dunes and the water table is exposed in window lakes and springs which create freshwater streams in profusion.  On one 30 kilometre stretch of surf beach 200 creeks run into the Pacific Ocean; some large, some mere seepages.  The largest and most attractive on the eastern shore is Eli Creek, which winds from many kilometres inland to the sea.  Pictured here is an inland stretch of Eli Creek, originally photographed for Manfreds Bushwalking Pages.
 

7.  Most visitors encounter Eli Creek where it carves its way across 75 mile beach to pour 120 million litres of fresh water a day into the sea.