Pomgonewalkabout replied:

18km out of 150 closed? Lets not be too greedy.

pauljohnston replied:

I"ve driven that road and it is a pain, speed up, brake, speed up brake all the way. make sure we get the tide right now. She has obviously never driven it either. Are you actually allowed to camp on that section of the beach anyway? I can't remember seeing anybody camping there, so is safety really an concern?

Dave from P7OFFROAD Accredited Driver Training replied:

They have established a couple fo campsites (with facilities I'm told, dunno about that personally, I did see a chemical toilet dump point however) along the 'road'.

Personally, I can live with the concept, the 'road' has improved a lot in recent years, but I fear for how it will stand up to the amount of traffic that it is about to bear...

What gets me is the way the pollies are making it 'family friendly' all of a sudden, this closure had been planned for years, and the original management plan didn't make reference to 'family friendly' as a reason...

If they wanna be 'family friendly' get a few of the buses and 'exclusive tours in shiny 100series' off the island, at least the backpackers actually experience the island, they camp, they have to plan according to tides, they pitch their tents, they get wet when it rains etc, etc...

Member - Welshmun (QLD) replied:

I assume the reference to 18kms on the Southern end of Fraser is the trip around the Hook; not always passable, and definitely risky if you get bogged.
However, it can be a nice quick beach run at low tide. But it's a nervous 20 minutes if you do it on an incoming tide; there is just nowhere to run with steep sand banks preventing escape. And the odd tree in the way. I certainly wouldn't camp there.
It's hard to imagine a family safety reason; I don't think I've ever seen anyone on this stretch except in a 4WD.
The alternative inland road is rough, corrugated and slow, but is also offroad terrain to test your vehicle; it adds a bit of variety, I think.
Of more concern are the closures in the North preventing access to the west side; it's beautiful and open only to campers who are prepared to hike 10Kms in soft sand with heavy backpacks. I'm just not that fit so won't be.
The Management plan is a 'Non-management plan'; basically the State Government is closing areas it can't look after - stuff the tourists and shoot the dingoes. Personally I'd let Darwin sort out who survives. My money's on the dingoes. which is how it should be.

chisel replied:

This is hardly the first section of beach to be closed to 4wds. As stated, most of the north/north-west beach is closed and there's a section north of the champagne pools which is also closed and has been for years.
They are apparently building campsites behind the beach and access tracks off the inland road. I'm not sure if these campsites will get used but it probably will appeal to some people who would like to let their kids play on the beach (they'd still have to be under close surveillance anyway though).

I guess the main trouble is that almost everyone going to Fraser uses the hook pt beach for driving. As long as they really do improve the inland road significantly (I'm not convinced) then I think it should be ok.