1st Fraser Island Trip

[Ba77hy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ba77hy]

Not Sure exactly where we are staying, going up with a mate from Grafton a couple from Brisbane!. It will be my first time so I am looking forward to it, not sure if I will be taking my Prado or my mates yet?? But there could be 1 to 2 silver prado's and maybe a white patrol.

My car will have purple Number plates with BA77HY.

If you have any points of interest, let me know and I will check them out, and I see you posted your mobile number so I might give you a call when I get up there or before

my number is 0427422288

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Mate, plenty of points of interest, we have been their two times before and probably only seen less than a third of the island, however the big ticket ones are,
Lake mackenzie, central station, eli creek, champagne pools, indian head, any of the lakes, blah, blah, blah, doesn't matter were you go it will be fantastic.
My suggestion is get a book like the dirty weekends one on fraser island and have a good read.

A POINT TO NOTE; i noticed you are going on the 19th, did you know school holidays start on the 22nd, we are coming home on the 21st.
School holidays busy and expansive!!!

[Ba77hy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ba77hy]

Yep, we are only going until the Saturday (boys weekend style), just a few days as tempter trip, and a look around, next time I go I will have the whole family and hopefully a camper trailer. Soooo looking forward to it.

A couple of the guys I am going with have been there before so with any luck they will know their way around a bit also.

Hopefully catch up with you there, I will grab your phone and give you a call on the island, maybe share a beer and a few stories

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Yep, we are only going until the Saturday (boys weekend style), just a few days as tempter trip, and a look around, next time I go I will have the whole family and hopefully a camper trailer. Soooo looking forward to it.

A couple of the guys I am going with have been there before so with any luck they will know their way around a bit also.

Hopefully catch up with you there, I will grab your phone and give you a call on the island, maybe share a beer and a few stories

Mate , their arn't much phone reception on the island!!!

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

A POINT TO NOTE; i noticed you are going on the 19th, did you know school holidays start on the 22nd, we are coming home on the 21st. School holidays busy and expansive!!!

School holidays vary from state to state. I will be on Fraser from Tuesday 2 Oct to Saturday 13 Oct which coincides with the NSW school holidays.

Cheers - Byrnsie

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Byrnsie, expect to pay top dollar as peak season is from the 22/9 to 14/10 at most places on the island.

[Byrnsie Member Find all posts View Profile Close Byrnsie]

Byrnsie, expect to pay top dollar as peak season is from the 22/9 to 14/10 at most places on the island.

Joys of being married to a school teacher. Plenty of holidays but always at premium pricing. We are staying at a house up at Orchid Beach. Don't ask me how much - was booked through family contacts.

[Ba77hy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ba77hy]

Oh well, I will see how the phone reception goes, else I am looking for UHF also!!

"Joys of being married to a Teacher" LOL I am in that boat as well, thats why I am going without her on this occassion. I reckon I will probably have more fun that way, and probably fill her seat up with more beer or sumthing! for the nights around the camp fire!

[Pedro Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pedro]

Better check out the situation re fires on fraser.
http://www.frasercoastholidays.info/...ser-island.cfm

It is some time since I have been there but i think you need to take your own and it must meet certain conditions, and used in certain areas only.

Gone are the days of a truly open fire.

Pedro

[Ba77hy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ba77hy]

Yep from memory reading the park rules, can only be lit in deisgnated campfire areas, All cool tho, nothing beats a small campfire, Less than a month to go!

[TWC Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close TWC]

Guys,
I have been doing the Fraser trip several times a year since the 70's, so if i may add a couple of points that might help:

1. don't plan on having a fire - Despite the wording of "designated"; the last 3 years have have seen an end to open fires/camp fires. (to honest i see it as a good thing, but not as fun).

2. The bottom end of the island tends to be where the hoards go, so if you are planning on getting away from it all and have a few less people around, then plan to head north of Orchid beach. Orchid also has fuel and basic shop facilities (so it isn't exactly remote any more). I have also found fuel prices to be better at Orchid than the lower parts of the island.

3. Sensible driving in a prado means that nowhere on Fraser is difficult. When the sand is dry, the track behind Ngala rocks usually rates as the hardest stuff you will face. It, like quite a few other tracks, is essentially a single track with 2 way traffic, so it becomes a pain in the ass when people start getting bogged.

4. All the reports of Dingoes are accurate! At the very least look after your garbage cause the rangers will come down on you like a ton of bricks. At worst - whilst they are still shy, dingoes will still hassle you - be aware of them if you have young kids and be aware of them at night after the lights go down or you go to bed (when we were kids they never seemed to be an issue, but now i am in my fathers shoes with a young un of my own the alert levels are always there. Most of the common camp areas have resident populations that come out to rummage during the night. They also scare the crap out of you on a dark night, when they decide to fight next to your tent. When you see just how quick they can take down a brumby, it is better to err towards being cautious.

5. Fishing gets better the further north you go, but even that is very limited these days. Sight seeing - Definately Lake McKenzie, Eli, Wathumba (high tide especially), a walk to the top of indian head and the cape - all rate as my pick spots, but any of the other tourist locations are great. If doing the cape after dark during the summer be cautious of turtles on the beach (event the best spotties tend to miss them till the last moment).

6. Rubbish - something that really gets me angry!!!!! - the amount of rubbish left behind these days. It totally spoils Fraser to see so much toilet paper and other rubbish all over the camp sites. It only fuels the arguement for those that want to stop access to the island. Please do the right thing.

7. phone coverage - forget it! Pretty much the moment you get on to the island you will lose coverage. There is talk that this will change, but at the moment forget the mobile and enjoy escaping to the "real world".

8. In the warmer months - remember the Aeroguard! The flies are as big as the planes that land on the beach and they hurt!

9. In peak times even an island of that size becomes quite crowded remember the common sense, courtesy also goes a long way and another thing is to watch your speed (especially on the inland tracks), In a modern 4wd it is easy to do a speed way faster than what is safe - many of the inland tracks are two way with blind corners. The Prado's abs means it takes slightly longer to slow down in sand. These days there is also the occasional police presence, especially at peak times (and i have seen them using radar guns - especially on the beach north of Tewantin - south of Fraser in the speed zones). Also watch out for tourist busses on the lower half of Fraser - these now rate in the "almost outnumbering 4wd's category), most are on tight schedules and most are short on tollerance.


Hope that all helps someone!
(another "other half to a teacher")
Tim

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Good write up TWC, i wouldn't have the patience to write that much, we are going up to the tip for the first time this time, can you tell me anymore about Ngala rocks and to the north.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

great post TWC! heaps of usefull information

[TWC Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close TWC]

Thanks guys,
Fraser Is. is one of my life-long passions, so it is easy to talk about. I certainly have enough photos to sink a battleship and well, enough stories to totally bore the pants of anyone that will listen, but every time is a new experience.

Hutch, Ngala is a group of coffee rocks 15mins north of Orchid Beach. It is rarely passable on the beach side, so you must go behind the rocks, up through the sand in a single two way track. Some days it is the easiest track on the island other days it can take what seems like hours to get through. It isn't a long distance at all , but when the sand becomes dry it takes a fair bit of grunt to push your way through it. Once you add an assortment of cars and drivers, bogged vehicles, cars suddenly appearing from the opposite direction and a lack of common sense, a busy day can become a little tricky. Previous 4wd's that i have owned have really struggled to keep the momentum up and keep moving forward. If you do walk the sand in summer, have footwear as the dry sand burns. This is the first petrol 4wd i have owned and i was really impressed at the way the Prado eats it up.

Another 10 or so mins North of that there is little hidden track to the base of some massive sand dunes if you manage to find it. Great views south to Waddy from the top. After that it is long but simple drive to the cape. The beach is closed just after you reach the top of the island. Great fishing at certain tides and times right on the North- East most point of the Island (mainly dart - so a bit of fun). Late in the day around that point is some of the best variety of wildlife you will see on the island (including some very big sharks and turtles right at your feet - depending on how lucky and observant you are. There are always plenty Eagles and Kites up there and always Dingoes late in the day for photo opportunities, it is about as "wild" an area you will find on the island.

Like everything else on the island - travelling is that much less tiring and fuel consuming if done on the lower tides. Given that a couple of weeks ago we just had those storms up there, the beach will probably be eroded for the next month or so, so tides may play a big role in beach drivability.

If you are staying around the top end of the island, Ocean Lake will be your resident swimming pool. My tip is to be the first one there in the morning or last at the end of the day - if you are quiet it is amazing the wildlife you will see when the people aren't there - watersnakes, goannas, turtles, birds etc .

And one more point - the water on the bottom half of the island is almost always tea-tree in colour. Don't be discouraged, once north of Indian head it becomes blue.

Sorry for yet another essay-lengthed reply.

I also have some photo's on my web site if you are interested. These are only from January this year, so are pretty limited.

http://home.austarnet.com.au/turbo_tim/ ... frame.html

Tim

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Thanks, Tim great pics, the track in photo 226, do you remember were that is.

Thanks,

Hutch