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TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

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  • TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

    Well, a friend was up from Adelaide and my work days fell into place so we decided to head on up to Rainbow Beach via the Cooloola Way and then work out a return trip from there.

    I didn't bother with any pics of the Cooloola Way but I can say it was the least pleasant I have ever seen it. Heavily corrugated which is nothing new but also it was full of potholes (as advised in the EPA's conditions report) so it was really hard to find a sweet speed that suited all the conditions. It still beats heading up the highway via Gympie but was a slow and bumpy track.
    Noosa creek crossing was flowing and was about 20cm deep so we left it alone as there were a couple of girls there doing water/environment testing for university or the EPA or something :?

    We were going to head on over to Tewantin Beach via Kings Bore Track but we were starving for some reason so we decided to head to Rainbow Beach township for a meal. To early for the surfclub so we grabbed a pie at the bakery. The town was packed with people and traffic, saw heaps of Prado's all kitted up for a week or so of camping but didn't see any PP stickers

    Anyway, after refuelling our bellies we decided to head down Rainbow Beach towards the Leisha track as it was almost low tide.

    The Rocks weren't a problem...


    The real problem these days are the fallen trees further down the beach.
    This is the scene we were presented with and it was only 30mins before low tide :shock:



    We decided to wait till low tide and it did make a difference... 20 or so minutes later and we drove around the trees. I needed to time the waves but it didn't pose any problems once we waited for the tide to go out.

    Further up on the northern side of the headland we found a nice and shady spot to pull up.


    The headland/beach was busy but there was still plenty of room.


    After watching the whales off the headland for a little bit we headed over to Tewantin Beach via the Leisha Track. The track itself was no problems but you just need to watch the exit on the Tewantin Beach side where the boards meet the sand... a nasty little drop off is being created.


    We started to head south down the beach towards the Noosa North Shore and found a nice shady spot for lunch.


    Lovely, open beach for an explore and a quick dip in the ocean.


    ... and then it was time to start heading home.

    We aimed for the first cutting... (maximise our time on the beach) The beach between the 2nd and 1st cutting was very rough so I'd say the 3rd cutting would be the pick of the bunch if it was any more than 2 or so hours either side of low tide.

    The 1st cutting was very,very soft and powdery. Tyre pressure made all the difference.
    We saw hilux's with bling wheels, and Suzuki GV's get through with no worries then Cruisers and Poootrols take numerous attempts at exiting the beach.

    (notice the direction of the rooster trails )
    Cheers, Leon
    There's no such thing as a wrong turn... it's just the scenic route!
    1998 VX Grande 95... gone, 2008 GXL 120... almost gone... 2017 GXL 150... blank canvas
    Optix Photographix

  • #2
    Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

    Good stuff Leon, any day at teewah is a good day.
    [b]Rob[/b]

    [b]2016 Toyota Hilux SR5 D4D Auto Company Cruiser... [/b].
    [url=http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?23866-Hutch-s-2012-150-GXL-V6-petrol-Auto]Hutch's 2012 Build up[/url]
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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    • #3
      Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

      Hi Snaga,

      I thought it was you, was just about to post in the "spotted a PP in your travels" thread. I spent the last week camping on Teewah, and happened to be in Rainbow beach as you drove down the main street (actually right outside the bakery). My Charcoal Grey Prado was parked outside the Chemist. Weather was perfect and I can certainly second your thoughts on the end of leisha track. Actually Freshwater road is currently alot like coolola way by the sounds of it, VERY rough, Potholed, washouts and powdery soft sand, very hard to find the "right" speed.

      There were also another 2 PP'ers up there on Friday, don't know who they were yet but saw them on Teewah beach, I know the first car was silver with ARB Bar and blue covers on the driving lights, but my memory is a bit vague (that's pretty normal!!) of the 2nd car. I will post in the Spotted a PP thread and see if I can work out who it was.

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      • #4
        Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

        Would have to agree with Snaga.
        LFaR and I were up there over the weekend.
        I had the ARB bar and Blue Light lenses mentioned in the previous post.

        The Teewah Side is awesome and it looks like the sand has returned since the early part of this year.
        It's now bitumen all the way to beach after you cross the Noosa River. That is something new aswell.

        I hit the beach 1 hour B4 the hide mark at dusk and didn't really have any problems with access to the camping zone on Teewah, although I did see a Ford Maverick being recovered in the soft stuff.
        The sand was a bit soft in places close to the high tide mark but no real problem.

        Crossing the Leisha track was O.k., it had a bit of a lip or step up from the beach onto the track.
        We saw some cars hit it with a bit too much speed coming off the soft sand, and they ended up launching their vehicles skywards. We watched a V6 90 series do this on Saturday and thought I'm glad that's not my diff coping a beating.
        We negotiated it quite slowly and didn't get stuck, so there is was no need to attack it with vengeance.

        Across the Leisha Track on the North side of the headland was nice, the sand bar now streches from the rocks almost to beach now. We didn't head north into Rainbow as access was a bit iffy. From Snaga's pics it's obvious that fallen trees are still a problem.

        The Freshwater track is still fine and quite a nice drive, no real challenges there.
        We drove to Rainbow via this track on Sunday just to head back to Brisbane a different way.
        I look forward in 2 weeks time, when I get to do it all again.

        Cheers
        Stewy
        [B][COLOR="#0000FF"]"I need to change my avatar to an FJ"[/COLOR][/B]
        [I][B]I don' get stuck,....but I'll borrow your [COLOR="orange"]Maxtrax[/COLOR] anyway![/B][/I]
        [URL="http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread.php?14024-Stewy-s-08-D4D"]My Build up, and still going[/URL]
        [B][URL=http://www.youtube.com/user/MrStewys]My YouTube Channel[/URL][/B]

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        • #5
          Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

          I guess I should have clarified Freshwater Track a bit better, Yes there are no real challenges, as Stewy said. It's just very Bumpy/Soft/Potholed etc and hard to find a "good" speed. Anyone with half a brain and tyre pressures dropped wont have any problems at all. We had to wait for some time while another prado driver got himself repeatedly bogged on one of the hills, Finally I asked him what pressure his tyres were at and surprise surprise they were at 38psi (obviously not a forum member!!), Once he dropped them to 22psi (he was too scared to drop to 18psi, even though I showed him my tyres were at 18) he drove up the hill without any issues at all. We also came across a Santa Fe trying to cable tie his plastic bash plates back on!!!

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          • #6
            Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

            Speaking of cars being where they shouldn't be...
            ... as we approached the 1st cutting to exit the beach there was a 2wd honda civic or something being snatched backwards after getting about 8' onto the sand :roll: :roll: :roll:

            Steptoe, were you sitting on your bullbar talking on your mobile phone?? We first tried the Surfclub for lunch but it wasn't cooking yet so we then went to the bakery.

            Oh, and yes... I've been saying Tewantin Beach when it should have been Teewah Beach ops: ops:
            Cheers, Leon
            There's no such thing as a wrong turn... it's just the scenic route!
            1998 VX Grande 95... gone, 2008 GXL 120... almost gone... 2017 GXL 150... blank canvas
            Optix Photographix

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            • #7
              Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

              Yes that was me!!! Boy you've got a good memory.

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              • #8
                Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

                Originally posted by Steptoe
                Yes that was me!!! Boy you've got a good memory.
                Doh, I knew I should have spoken to you after you finished... BUT... the pie with mushy peas was just soooo good I forgot what I was doing 8)
                Cheers, Leon
                There's no such thing as a wrong turn... it's just the scenic route!
                1998 VX Grande 95... gone, 2008 GXL 120... almost gone... 2017 GXL 150... blank canvas
                Optix Photographix

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                • #9
                  Re: TRIP REPORT : Oct 1 Cooloola Way & Rainbow Beach

                  Thanks for the trip report snaga, looking forward to the weekend of the 16th to 18th as we are going camping on Teewah Beach with friends.
                  2008-12 D4D 5-Spd Auto Grande, Silver Ash, Full Window Tint, H-R Towbar, Cargo Barrier, Rhino-Racks, Rola Vortex Tray, GME TX3340, ARB Deluxe Winch Bar, IPF900XS Spotlights, BFG 275/65R17

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