Visiting a Secret Commando Base on Frasier Island & @LoveGrubGalley cooking up Tuna for Dinner

Visiting a Secret Commando Base on Fraser Island

Hello friends, my name is James, and this is my 1965 Alberg 30 Sloop SV Triteia. I have been slowly sailing solo around the world since leaving Los Angeles in 2021. This is Ronda, a Kiwi sailor who moved aboard full-time once I reached Sydney. Join us as we explore the East Coast of Australia and see as many wild places and wild animals as possible just down in… here. As we make our way up to Southeast Asia, after crossing the bar and a peaceful night’s sleep at Gary’s Anchorage, we raced the tides to pass through the Great Sandy Straits and made our way to King Fisher Resort Anchorage on Fraser Island.

Exploring Fraser Island

Hello from King Fisher Resort Anchorage on Fraser Island. We had a pretty mellow night last night at the hook, pretty still, um been a little breezy this morning. Ronda went ashore for a spa day and massage. How was that? That was wonderful! Yes, it was nice. Definitely needed! Yeah yeah very nice! Definitely needed, so now we’re going to go ashore and get into some hiking. R found a map…

The Hiking Adventure

… talked about some different routes so we’re going to go check out what there is to check out on the walking front. Lots and lots of signs here warning of dingos, saying they’re rather aggressive and it’s Autumn (Fall) and it says on this pamphlet that they’re kind of the most aggressive in Autumn and Spring. So, we’re going to be aware of that as we go on our walk! I would love to see dingos, but I don’t want to get into a box match with one either!

Discovering Soldier Crabs

So that’s the plan. We’re going to head ashore, go walk around and uh see what there’s to see and take you guys with us. Can’t wait to show you guys these crazy soldier crabs! There are tens of thousands of them on the beach it’s insane.

WWII Commando Training Site Fraser Island

Those crabs are so spooky cuz they’re for one, they walk really slow unlike regular crabs! So that’s a little alarming – that they’re not that scared… and for two they look like spiders; they’re kind of built like spiders with weird helmets but pretty neat to see them in mass! Really cool! Really beautiful color. Pretty neat – really beautiful color. Soldier crabs are pretty neat. We then continued our hike, following the map we found a trail leading to the WWII Commando training site. This area was chosen as the site for the secret Commando school…

Secrets of World War II

…for its seclusion and because the Island’s difficult terrain lent itself to both jungle and amphibious training during World War II. It operated from October 1943 to December 1945. By which time, over 900 students had obtained training soldiers of the services reconnaissance Department with the cover name Special Operations Australia, then later renamed Zed special unit. They underwent unique training for deadly missions against the Japanese behind enemy lines in the jungles of Southeast Asia!

Operations and Successes

More than 260 operations were carried out before World War II ended. Some of the most successful raids during this time was the famous mission Operation Jaywick, carried out by members of The Zed unit in 1943. They sailed from Western Australia in MV Krait – a small captured Japanese fishing vessel which successfully destroyed six enemy ships! The base was so secret that it wasn’t until 1980 the operatives could share their experiences.

The Remnants of WWII

All that remains of the school today are some concrete slabs, ceramic pipes scattered, rusty machinery and vehicles a small memorial, and signs from the park service informing us about the site’s historic past. We didn’t see much structure or buildings as far as where the facilities were. But we found an old foundation to one building which showed how nature is reclaiming most of it – very interesting! Very cool and beautiful sights indeed!

Dingo Encounters

Well, we didn’t see any dingos on our adventure. But as we neared the end of our hike, we came up to a dingo fence… it’s an electric shock fence, and they say it keeps the dingos away from tourists at the resort! But while exploring, we found some interesting Dingo sticks! These sticks have holes in them and are placed strategically on Fraser Island to keep both people safe, dingos wild and to help prevent incidents.

The Return to the Boat

That’s cool though, yeah nice that’s cool. So this is what we’ve seen! The holes in the sand… we saw these exact holes right? Yeah, they return stuck, huh dingo stick. After our exciting exploration of Fraser Island, it was time to head back to our boat! But before we depart, Ronda shows us how she’s going to prepare and cook up a tasty Jack mackel tuna that was caught on the way here. It’s all about improvising with what she has in the galley.

Tasty Tuna

So, we got four fillets and running a bit low on things in the galley, so it’s time for some improv! Ronda covers the tuna fillet in olive oil and then sprinkles sesame seeds, pepper, chili, salt, and honey. She let’s the marinade soak in for half an hour before cooking it up with some potatoes, green beans, leaks, and garlic. It was delicious! So, if you enjoy the content on this channel and would like to contribute – you can consider joining our Patreon Crew. Thanks for watching! Fair winds until next time!