Bradby Trip - Days 88 to 103 16 to 30 September 2009

15-30 September 2009 Days 89 – 103 – Fraser Island

We travelled to Hervey Bay for 2 days R&R at Tina and Glen Jones in Hervey Bay. It was great to sleep in a house and a real bed for two nights. Tina and Glen are great hosts and we enjoyed long dinners with red wine overlooking their beautiful garden and lake. Glen had just returned from a trip across the Simpson Desert and many great tales to tell. Their property is beautiful and has an abundance of wildlife including a goose that chased Jack up the yard, black swans, ducks, kookaburras and many other birds that come into the yard. It was like being in a resort for a few days. The time also gave us time to restock for our two weeks stay at Fraser Island.

On Wednesday we headed off travelling from Hervey Bay to Moon Point on Fraser Island, on the Fraser Dawn car barge. We thought it was funny there was a beware of croc sign for this far south. Christina, Cameron, Ben and Christian Jones met up with us at our Coongul Creek camp on the Wednesday night. They were on the same trip as Glen Jones across the Simpson Desert, and were on their way home after also enjoying their parents resort in Hervey Bay and a few nights at Kingfisher Resort on Fraser. Christina and Cameron live two blocks away from us in Brisbane.






There were four months of Friday night drinks, and yarns about their trip and our trip to be caught up on. We loved spending time with Ben and Christian who are 4 and 2. They have grown up so much in the 4 months we have been away. Christian is talking non stop, and had us in giggles many times. We all enjoyed the beach and fishing, and there were many yarns about our separate adventures. It was also good to see there new set up which is a roof top tent, and a fit out in the back of the car for a kitchen. After they left, the Caseys arrived for a weeks holiday. They had
started the trip with us in the Red Centre, and it was great fun having them with us at the end of the holiday too. Our daughter Angela and her partner Tiffany also joined us on the Thursday for four days. So the fortnight was one of reunions, lots of cards and celebrations.





On the fishing front, we put the tinny in Coongul Creek and were successful catching mud crabs for lunch everyday. We had really looked forward to a feed, as we carried pots with us for the 15 week holiday but didn’t put them in as we were told the crocs took them in the Kimberley. On the low tide we collected yabbies, for bait for the whiting at high tide. The first few days the wind was gentle and tides were right, for flathead at the mouth of the creek. As usual Jack fished most of his waking hours and had lots of success. Jack now is able to drive the boat himself, so he took his cousins Mitchell and Brent for a few fishing trips up the creek. A time of change that these three can take off on their own (they are 12-14 years old). We heard on the news about the dust storms in Brisbane, but were relatively untouched on Fraser except for very red skies.

On the Thursday Angela and Tiff arrived. The tides were high in the middle of the day so we took the opportunity to test their four wheel driving skills. They came over in Angela’s new Suzuki which is stock standard. They coped a fair bit of ribbing on the barge by the tour operators suggesting they would have problems with this car on the island as the tracks are very soft in places.






We took off with Mark Casey in lead, Angela nested behind and us following up the rear. Angela and her car surprised us all having no problems crossing the very soft sands of the Fraser tracks. A bit of luck, lots of momentum, and good driving skills got her there. We drove from Moon Point, down the centre to Kingfisher Resort for lunch, across to Lake MacKenzie for a swim, through Central Station and the rainforest and than onto the eastern beach for about 30km, past the ship wreck, to the Weralie Track back to the western beach. The drive from east to west across the island was just on dusk, so a bit challenging from a visibility point of view. We arrived home just on dusk and at low tide to set up Angela and Tiff’s camp. A fun but exhausting day.

Sunday the girls were leaving, so we decided to pull up stumps too and travel on the barge with them back to Hervey Bay. This was 3 days earlier than originally planned but worked well taking advantage of the right tides to get across Coongul Creek to the barge landing at Moon Point, plus getting away from the north westerly winds that had picked up in the last 2 days. We headed south to Teewah Beach (Double Island) for 3 nights of camping on the eastern coast of Great Sandy National Park. We have camped here many times before, and are regulars in Summer.

We took the Tin Can Bay Road, intending to take the Freshwater track across to the beach, but turned off 10 km early onto another track by mistake. After about 30 mins both Michael and I were saying this doesn’t look familiar. We had travelled the Freshwater track many times. The track we took was a little more adventurous with many soft sand hill climbs. We were fully loaded still with the boat on top and all water tanks full, so there were places that were a little challenging. We got through without problems though and after about an hour of challenging sand driving popped out south of the camping area along the beach. A track we didn’t know existed even after camping on Teewah for many years. We only wish we knew we were having the adventure while it was happening! The three days on Teewah beach were idyllic with light south easterly winds and a glassy ocean. Many whales swam by each day. We caught whiting on the turn of the tide for dinner.

All too soon our last day of the 15 week holiday has come around. We were all a little sad on our final pack up and joked we could easily turn around and head north again.



The trip lived up to (and more) all our expectations. It has wetted our appetite for more travels and we are already discussing a trip with Karen and Mark Casey to the Northern Territory in a few years time. Next year’s holidays are all locked in with a week to Mon Repos with friends in late January, a ski holiday in either Thredbo or Falls Creek with all of children and their partners, and the Caseys in August, and the boys are planning a week on Fraser at Coongul Creek in September. Linda has her eye on an overseas holiday in 2011 to Boulder, Colorado where our oldest daughter recently moved and looks to be settling in for a few years --- perhaps a road tour across the USA on the way may be the go! More food for thought!!

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