G’day all
First post on ExplorOz. I wrote this wrap up when I got back over a month ago but totally forgot to post it after waiting for my account to be registered. Anyway, I found these posts extremely helpful in planning my recent trip to Fraser Island so I figured I should pay it forward and write something myself that will hopefully be of value to anyone planning their own trip.
We spent a week earlier this month (October) camped on Fraser Island. Enjoyed it a lot. Such an iconic Aussie destination. I hadn’t been there for almost 20 years so it was great to see it again. Set up
camp about half way up 75 Mile beach near the Maheno. Had good weather for the most part after a series of showers on the first day. Tides weren’t ideal with a midday high tide on our first day on the island but we weren’t in any hurry so this wasn’t much of a problem.
We crossed on the Manta Ray barge from
Inskip Point. Current prices are $110 per car and (I think) $170 for car+trailer.
The sand getting on to
the beach at
Inskip Point was quite soft but had no dramas and neither did anyone else. Provided tyres are aired down to <20 PSI as you leave the bitumen it shouldn’t be a problem. In fact we only saw one bloke bogged the entire time and managed in about 60 seconds to push him back down the
hill for a second try with a bit more right foot.
At this time of year we pretty much had a stretch of dunes to ourselves. It wouldn’t be hard finding a quiet spot to yourself in any of
the beach camping zones.
Ranger turned up promptly at 0800 h after our first night there to
check permits and run us through
dingo safety. Dingoes didn’t give us any trouble in
camp the entire time, but we were careful with foodstuffs and rubbish. Checked for tracks each morning but never saw any definitive prints. Did see two dingoes, one on the
Indian Head bypass and one on
the beach down towards
Hook Point.
Dunduburra and
Waddy Point are both excellent
camp grounds with good facilities. Didn’t see the hordes of backpackers that have been rumoured to occupy Dunduburra at times. Dunduburra was probably half full,
Waddy Point probably 2/3rds but
the beach area was close to full. Wasn’t impressed by
Central Station. No idea why anyone would want to stay so far inland unless you were doing the hiking trails.
A few march flies about our
beach camp site at times but for the most part didn’t have a problem with
pests while we were there.
Driving
Our
camp spot gave us a good view of
the beach so we could watch the traffic throughout the day. Plenty of soft-roaders on the island (including a Lexus!) not seeming to have much difficulty and quite a few caravans being towed up
the beach. Heaps of tours including the convoys of four 4WDs (mostly Troopies and Landcruisers) with backpackers at the wheel of the back three cars following a lead vehicle with the guide. These cars were always filled to capacity with seven or eight people per car. We would sometimes hear them giving driving instructions over the UHF. New rules limit hire cars to 60km/h and ban the use of roof racks to carry gear due to the number of rollovers.
The news is reporting as I write this that an English tourist has been killed and seven injured in a rollover on the bypass (high tide) road at
Hook Point. Tragic and completely unnecessary.
Despite this in all honesty the whole time we were there we didn’t see any really stupid driving. Saying that though, we did see a bloke knock over a coppers log barrier at Lake Garrawongera because he didn’t know where his front end was. Overshot it by about a foot. Also saw a number of completely overloaded roof racks with four or even five (presumably full) jerry cans on the roof plus other gear. Not a good idea.
It is best to follow the common advice and stay off
the beach for two hours either side of high tide. Although it is still possible to drive on
the beach, you may be blocked by landmarks such as
Eli Creek or
the rock formations and the rest of it will be hard going in the soft sand above the high tide mark. We would still see 3-4 cars an hour going past our
campsite during this period so it doesn’t stop everyone.
As usual, keep your speed down, as
the beach is full of washouts that are constantly changing the conditions as fresh water runs down
the beach to the sea. These are easier negotiated on the outgoing tide when they haven’t had as much time to dig large ditches into the sand.
Police were out enforcing the 40km/h zones, particularly around Yidney Rocks/
Happy Valley. Barge operator told us not long ago they got a bloke going up
the beach and then the same bloke on his way back. A slow learner apparently.
Prices
As we were on the island for a while it was necessary to do some shopping. I also took notes of prices even when I wasn’t buying because it’s always useful and I reckoned other people might be interested.
Fuel
Eurong: $2.13/L
Frasers on Cathedral: $2.20/L
Happy Valley: $2.20/L
Orchid Beach: $2.12/L
Groceries.
Best place for groceries we saw was probably
Eurong for selection and price. We thought Kingfisher might have had a good range being straight off the barge but it wasn’t any better than
Eurong and the prices were high.
Eurong: $4.10 for a cuppacino, $4.50 for a premium pie, $15.10/kg for frozen mince.
Frasers on Cathedral: Frozen mince $18/kg. Firewood $22.50 for 20kg. Tap water for filling jerries etc $1 for 10L.
Happy Valley: Frozen mince $10.34/kg
Kingfisher Bay: No mince. Frozen BBQ steak $25/kg.
Didn’t
check booze prices because that was what was taking up all the room instead of groceries when we came over from the mainland! :-D
Climate
October was an extremely pleasant time to be on the island. A little bit cold some nights, getting down below 15 degrees but comfortable days.
Other misc information
Make sure you take $1 coins for the NP showers at
Waddy Point and Dundaburra if you plan on using them. $1 gets your three minutes of hot water at a good rate of flow. We found one coin was enough time even for the ladies.
If you’re using an old Hema map as I was, you might also wonder like me why K’Gari
Campground is not signposted from
the beach. It’s a private
campground now that appears to be the exclusive domain of tour groups and the indigenous peoples. So don’t plan on rocking up there unannounced and getting a site.
There’s not much information on how
the beach landing sites for the light aircraft are supposed to work. Honestly the whole time I was pretty confused by them. They mark them out with traffic cones and there are ground vehicles that I presume stop traffic as the planes are landing. The cones are there all day every day so not really helpful in knowing whether
the beach is about to be used by a plane. I think they need to publicise this information a bit better.
Overall we had a great time and I would definitely say Fraser Island is not over-hyped as a 4WD destination. The camping is fantastic and it doesn’t take much gear or beach driving experience to get around the island, just the basics and a bit of care. Highly recommended if you can get there, especially outside of school holidays. Hopefully this information will be of use to those planning their next trip.