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We just returned from a weeks trip to Fraser Island. The Prado proved itself to be an extremely capable vehicle on the sand, the auto gearbox and centre diff lock allowed us to pass through soft and rutted sand with ease where lesser vehicles ran for cover.
We left home around 12:30am. My research indicated that it was likely that we would be delayed on the Gateway and I wanted to be on the first barge at 6 in the morning. We blew through Briz Vegas and ended up at the Matilda Servo (just south of Gympie) before 4:00am. We tried to get an hours sleep but that exercise was futile so the daughter and I decided to do a tour of this fabulous place. We bought a Hema map and a cuppa and sat around with other fishos and 4x4 enthusiastswaiting for 5am to roll around. These guys were also in the same boat, having heard horror stories about road works on the way up through Brisbane and hour long delays. Low tide was at 4am and we all needed to make the first barges to beat the tide for the long drive up the beach.
The tip here is to arrive at Gympie with as little fuel in the tanks as possible. The fuel here is as cheap as on the Gold Coast. We bought our pass for the Manta Ray barge here and got a further 4 cents a litre off the price of diesel, woohoo. We left the Matilda just before 5am for the 80 kay trip to Rainbow Beach. Topped the tanks up again, bought a pie and a chocky milk here and headed up to Inskip Point. Dont let your tyres down at Rainbow as there is still 10 or 15 kays to go on the tar with a series of frustrating little kinks in the road to slow traffic down. It is very easy to overheat the sidewalls of your tyres and even easier to pull the tyre off the rim along this section of road. We pulled of the track just before the soft sand starts and deflated the tyres here. Some time ago I ought a Tyre deflation kit from ARB. This handy device screws over the valve stem with a second internal shaft that lets you unscrew and pull the valve out of the stem.Watch the pressure guage go down to your desired pressure and simply screw the valve back in. Snap.
We drove straight on the Manta, The guys there already knew who I was, picking us out of the bunch and waving us on. The fun begins as you now leave the mainland, the kids get to look at the dolphins playing in the bow wave, what a great way to start your holiday. I was here once before with a mate who had a brand new Cruiser. We drove off the barge only to get bogged in the first 20 meters. Evey time you restarted the car you had to remember to re engage the 4x4/ centre diff lock. It was extremely frustrating and at times embarrasing to say the least. No such problems with the Prado.
We drove on the beach aound Inskip Point for the sprint up Seventy Five Mile Beach. We stopped at the Maheno wreck and Eli Creek, our destination was Orchid Beach, very close to the top of the iland .
Prado at Eli
A couple of pics of the Maheno and a chance for a bite to eat.
The wife and I had discussed camping, thought about towing the camper up and staying right on the beach somewhere. As it turned out my brother and his three kids plus a friend of ours, his partner and two kids also thought it sounded like a good idea. We decided to rent a house. Our digs for the week turned out to be place called Orchid House. It slept 10, had two bathrooms and toilets, full kitchen plus deep freeze and laundry. Splitting the rent three ways made our accomodation costs very reasonable plus all we had to supply was linen, food and beverage. The house was clean, cool and breezey with fantastic views to the north over Orhid Beach. Along the front was an enormous verandah, gas bbq and tables and chairs to sit about twenty. The fishing out the front of Orchid turned out to one of the best spots on the Island with a deep gutter that fished well no matter what the tide was doing. Just a few ks north is Ngkala Rocks which presents the opportunity to bag some exotic reef fish straight off the beach
First cast, first fish of the week.
View from verandah at Orchid House looking east at sunrise.
Indian Head looking south.
Looking north from Indian to Waddy Point.
The coloured sands of Cathedral Beach.
Dropping air at Stonetool Sandblow.
We decided to do a little touring to see Lake Wabby and Lake McKenzie. The road in to Wabby was in very poor condition so be warned. It was probably the hardest bit of driving I did all week with constant deep holes, ruts and very soft and churned up sand. Wabby was well worth the drive and we spent hours swimming in its pristine waters. This lake is slowly being swallowed by the progression of a massive sand blow.
McKenzie.
One of the residents at Orchid House.
She's got the whole world..
Sunrise looking east to Waddy Point-Hey dad how come the Prado made it into this picture as well?
Last day at Orchid, another glorious sunrise over Waddy Point.
I fitted a set of home made front recovery hooks and bought a hook that fitted in the tow ball socket. We took three snatch straps(two fifteen meter and one eight meter) also in my kit is a balance strap, tree trunk protector, tow strap (no stretch), bow shackles and gloves. Also included an exhaust bag type jack and shovel. I always carried 10 litres of water, compass and first aid kit plus plenty of food. Two way radios are almost a necessity and being able to talk with other 4x4s is great fun. You can also find out about conditions on various tracks and can lend a hand or get help if needed. Sand Grabba mats are fantastic (see my post) and the Hilux washer jet conversion was brilliant. Thanks to all the guys that post on Pradopoint, the various mods and tips proved invaluable to making our week on Fraser all the more enjoyable.
We left home around 12:30am. My research indicated that it was likely that we would be delayed on the Gateway and I wanted to be on the first barge at 6 in the morning. We blew through Briz Vegas and ended up at the Matilda Servo (just south of Gympie) before 4:00am. We tried to get an hours sleep but that exercise was futile so the daughter and I decided to do a tour of this fabulous place. We bought a Hema map and a cuppa and sat around with other fishos and 4x4 enthusiastswaiting for 5am to roll around. These guys were also in the same boat, having heard horror stories about road works on the way up through Brisbane and hour long delays. Low tide was at 4am and we all needed to make the first barges to beat the tide for the long drive up the beach.
The tip here is to arrive at Gympie with as little fuel in the tanks as possible. The fuel here is as cheap as on the Gold Coast. We bought our pass for the Manta Ray barge here and got a further 4 cents a litre off the price of diesel, woohoo. We left the Matilda just before 5am for the 80 kay trip to Rainbow Beach. Topped the tanks up again, bought a pie and a chocky milk here and headed up to Inskip Point. Dont let your tyres down at Rainbow as there is still 10 or 15 kays to go on the tar with a series of frustrating little kinks in the road to slow traffic down. It is very easy to overheat the sidewalls of your tyres and even easier to pull the tyre off the rim along this section of road. We pulled of the track just before the soft sand starts and deflated the tyres here. Some time ago I ought a Tyre deflation kit from ARB. This handy device screws over the valve stem with a second internal shaft that lets you unscrew and pull the valve out of the stem.Watch the pressure guage go down to your desired pressure and simply screw the valve back in. Snap.
We drove straight on the Manta, The guys there already knew who I was, picking us out of the bunch and waving us on. The fun begins as you now leave the mainland, the kids get to look at the dolphins playing in the bow wave, what a great way to start your holiday. I was here once before with a mate who had a brand new Cruiser. We drove off the barge only to get bogged in the first 20 meters. Evey time you restarted the car you had to remember to re engage the 4x4/ centre diff lock. It was extremely frustrating and at times embarrasing to say the least. No such problems with the Prado.
We drove on the beach aound Inskip Point for the sprint up Seventy Five Mile Beach. We stopped at the Maheno wreck and Eli Creek, our destination was Orchid Beach, very close to the top of the iland .
Prado at Eli
A couple of pics of the Maheno and a chance for a bite to eat.
The wife and I had discussed camping, thought about towing the camper up and staying right on the beach somewhere. As it turned out my brother and his three kids plus a friend of ours, his partner and two kids also thought it sounded like a good idea. We decided to rent a house. Our digs for the week turned out to be place called Orchid House. It slept 10, had two bathrooms and toilets, full kitchen plus deep freeze and laundry. Splitting the rent three ways made our accomodation costs very reasonable plus all we had to supply was linen, food and beverage. The house was clean, cool and breezey with fantastic views to the north over Orhid Beach. Along the front was an enormous verandah, gas bbq and tables and chairs to sit about twenty. The fishing out the front of Orchid turned out to one of the best spots on the Island with a deep gutter that fished well no matter what the tide was doing. Just a few ks north is Ngkala Rocks which presents the opportunity to bag some exotic reef fish straight off the beach
First cast, first fish of the week.
View from verandah at Orchid House looking east at sunrise.
Indian Head looking south.
Looking north from Indian to Waddy Point.
The coloured sands of Cathedral Beach.
Dropping air at Stonetool Sandblow.
We decided to do a little touring to see Lake Wabby and Lake McKenzie. The road in to Wabby was in very poor condition so be warned. It was probably the hardest bit of driving I did all week with constant deep holes, ruts and very soft and churned up sand. Wabby was well worth the drive and we spent hours swimming in its pristine waters. This lake is slowly being swallowed by the progression of a massive sand blow.
McKenzie.
One of the residents at Orchid House.
She's got the whole world..
Sunrise looking east to Waddy Point-Hey dad how come the Prado made it into this picture as well?
Last day at Orchid, another glorious sunrise over Waddy Point.
I fitted a set of home made front recovery hooks and bought a hook that fitted in the tow ball socket. We took three snatch straps(two fifteen meter and one eight meter) also in my kit is a balance strap, tree trunk protector, tow strap (no stretch), bow shackles and gloves. Also included an exhaust bag type jack and shovel. I always carried 10 litres of water, compass and first aid kit plus plenty of food. Two way radios are almost a necessity and being able to talk with other 4x4s is great fun. You can also find out about conditions on various tracks and can lend a hand or get help if needed. Sand Grabba mats are fantastic (see my post) and the Hilux washer jet conversion was brilliant. Thanks to all the guys that post on Pradopoint, the various mods and tips proved invaluable to making our week on Fraser all the more enjoyable.
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