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| The Maheno |
Day One: It doesn't matter how much we seem to prepare for these trips, as we get to the pointy end of our preparations, there always seems to be a shit fight to get everything done. We hit the sack at 10pm on Friday night for a 1am rise and shine. The goal was to be at Inskip around 6 or 7ish to ensure we gave ourselves plenty of time to drive up the beach at low tide.
All was to plan when we hit the servo at Rainbow Beach for our last fill of diesel right on 6am. Our belly's also got a top up from the adjacent bakery and I highly recommend the place!
We reached the sand of Inskip at around 6:30, aired-down the Paj and van and were chuffed everything was going to plan. We hopped in line (probably 10 or so cars) whilst we waited for a couple bogged at the entrance to clear, then the fun started...
...I watched a few of the cars take off and launch themselves across the sand. Great! I now had my route planned and some idea of the speed I needed to maintain. A quick run back to the Paj, turned traction control off (didn't want to be caught by that bloody thing again!) and put the foot down. I hit the entrance and could see a number of cars had become bogged. No problem, my preferred line was still clear. The foot went down a bit harder and I was commited! Everything was going well until about 50 meters in we started to slow, things were flashing on the dash and we eventually came to a grinding halt. A quick deployment of the Maxx Traxx and back in to the drivers seat, only to discover the car was still in 2WD! FMD!! With 4WD now engaged we tried to traxx it out of the bog but only managed to move 5 mtrs up the beach before bogging again. A couple more tries with similar progress and the decision was made to tow us out. The Patrol unhitched his box trailer, hitched up the snatch strap and got to work. Success! we moved on to the hard sand and made our way down to the barge. When I jumped out to check out how others on the beach were going I couldn't believe the carnage that extended all the way back along the beach. Cars were stuck left right and centre, while others were flying around, behind and infront to make as much progress as they could.
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| Bogged at Inskip |
You know it's a special kind of day when even the barge operators are taking photos of the scene before them. Later, I met a guy in the shower (you know what I mean) who's been coming to Fraser regularly for years. He reckons he'd never seen anything like it, apparently the line for the barge extended back 1 1/2 kilomteres and the wait was around 3 hours.
There was a bit of a wait for the barge. We were ready to jump on the white one, but the Operator announced over the PA that we (and a Cruiser pulling a large boat) had to wait for the green barge.
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| The line-up from barge to Inskip entrance |
The trip over was pretty choppy but we arrived on the island in one piece and settled in for a relaxing drive up the beach highway. The van pulled well as we hugged the firm shoreline all the way up to Catherdrals. It was right on low tide, so our timing was proving to be perfect! The rig handled the cutting into Cathedrals with no worries and before we knew it, we were setting up camp and settling in to our new home. Our trip, 12 months in the making was finally happening!!
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| Eli before the masses arrived |
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| Base Camp |
We arrived at the lake in good time, the tracks were a little soft in places but nothing to worry about now that the trailers were off. There were a few bodies in and around the lake but definitely not what you would consider a lot of people. We claimed our piece of sand and set about doing our stuff. Swimming, sand castles, throwing the footy and backpacker watchin' were the activities of choice. The water was certainly cool but we braved it because it was Lake Freakin' McKenzie, this place is gorgeous!
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| Water + kids = a blast! |
Later, back at camp, we got a visit from the Ranger who gave the kids (and Adults) a very informative talk on dingo safety. Gotta say he was very convincing and put the wind up all the kids (and Adults). Needless to say everyone was a little more dingo aware from that point on.
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| Dingo ready to pounce on us (or just minding his own business??) |
Day Three: Today was always going to be a highlight of the trip. We'd been on the sandy shores of Fraser Island twice before but had never been further north than Orchid Beach. This time however we were set on reaching the tip and climbing to the lighthouse. The trip to Indian Head was as usual beautiful. It was great to see some of the creative signage and flags along the beach camping zones on our left whilst being mesmerised by the majestic ocean on our right.
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| Fraser Beach |
We had a little wait at the entrance of Indian Head but soon enough our convoy was on its way through. I went last and heard over the radio that a Cruiser was stuck on the track. No issue, it was off to our right and well out of the way. Whilst the Indian Head track has never caused us much drama I've always been spooked by its reputation, so the knuckles were tightly wrapped around the steering wheel and the right foot was firmly planted.
As we reached the half way mark I was feeling good and took some time out from concentrating on the track to eyeball the Cruiser and give the poor bogged bastard a superior smirk as I flew past. Of course the minute I take my eyes away from what's happening in front of me is the minute something happens that I should be aware of.
The two boys in front of me had both negotiated a large hole rather easily, neither were travelling at my speed so it wasn't much of an issue for them. By the time I saw that same hole it was too late. I jumped on the brakes but still hit it at speed. The Paj nose dived before surfacing and spraying half a tonne of the lsland all over the place. Thankfully the only damage suffered was a cracked licence plate cover and slightly bent plate.
We stopped on a firm surface and went back to help the Cruiser escape. Turns out he was a tourist running 30 PSI of pressure in his tyres. He also had a limited understanding of his gearbox so it wouldn't of surprised me if he was in 2WD. But hey, that can happen to the best of us, right? A quick snatch and he was on his way, as were we...
The next stop was South Ngkala rocks. Things came to a halt as a few blokes needed to clear themselves from the track. So the kids took the opportunity to climb the dune whilst we hypothesised about the best way to escape this track without that sinking feeling. We were soon underway and whilst the track was nice and soft we managed to negotiate it ok including that right angle hard-right turn just before exiting on to the beach.
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| Such a poser |
It was low tide so North Ngkala was a breeze, if not a tight squeeze, before we new it we were rounding the tip. The cape was all I hoped it would be, absolutely stunning!! We were on a mission this trip so I can't wait to get back there and spend a full day playing in this pristine area.
Soon enough we were at the entrance to the lighthouse and psyched up for a big climb. Which was just as well because it was a big climb we got. At the end it was worth all the effort. The view was brilliant and it provided most of the kids with their first upclose look of a lighthouse. After a well earned rest, we started the downward descent which was a hell of a lot easier than going the other way!!
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| The Lighthouse |
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| The View |
At the bottom we relocated to some dunes for the obligatory photos and the kids burned off some energy climbing to the top.
Before long we were back on the move and took a detour via the Waddy Point camp grounds to do a bit of sightseeing. It's amazing to see the resources these guys pull together in this area. It sure looks like the place to be if you like company.
On some back road from Orchid Beach we came across an older couple in a Rodeo ute who'd become stuck in the most innocuous of spots. A quick jerk with the snatch strap had them on their way and before we knew it we were back on Seventy Five Mile beach headed for camp.
That was until we saw a fisherman fighting hard with his rod in the surf. A crowd was starting gather so we joined them and watched this bloke pull in a massive shark. Very impressive to see him fight it all the way to shore. He took the obligatory pics and then wrestled it out into the shallows for a successful release.
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| Noah having his hook extracted |
After the show we made it back to camp and started prepping dinner. At that point things took a turn for the wierd. Most of us middle aged blokes are acutely aware of the medical signs that suggest things aren't as they should be. So when one of the mates we were camping with started to get some pretty scary symptoms the only thing to do was get him some medical attention. The plan was to get him to the Ambulance at Happy Valley, however when we stopped in at Cathedrals shop the owner made the call to the Ambulance and a unit was despatched to collect the cargo. After a check up it was decided that a helicopter would transport our mate to Hervey Bay hospital for further tests. With some of us baby-sitting the precious kid-cargo at base camp, our buddy, shitting himself in more ways than one, jumped in a helicopter and headed to the big smoke for some TLC. This evening had proven to be full of surprises and the next day would prove just as 'memorable'.
Day Four: Was always destined to be a write off. One of the blokes in our group was scheduled to leave the island to start a new job. His father in law was coming on to the island to fill the gap so we knew a trip to Inskip was on the cards. We started early and took a drive down south to get some telco signal and find out the state of play with our sick buddy. The prognosis was good and he'd been released from hospital.
So all was looking OK - the plan was simple. 'Sick mate' catches a bus from Hervey Bay to Rainbow; meets up with Father In Law, catches the barge over to Fraser. Meanwhile we drop 'new-job mate' off at the barge and he drives Father In Law's car back home...
...that is until 'new-job mate' decides to give his car a rinse. He grabs something out of the back door (a Pajero), then shuts the door. At this point his car locks and he yells out to the Missus, "what are locking the car for?"...you guessed it, she hadn't. So began a frantic search for the keys but they were nowhere to be found. We'll later learn that the keys had become jammed between the rear ledge and the bottom of the rear door. Closing the door had activated the central locking button!!?? The real fly in the ointment is...in the car was a suitcase filled with goodies that 'new-job mate' needed for his first day of new job! Faaaaaaark!!
So, the revised plan was call Father inlaw and have him turn around to collect spare car keys (thankfully he was only 20mins into his trip north); drive to inskip; pick up Father inlaw, now armed with spare keys and our 'sick mate'; drive back to camp; open car; collect goodies then drive 'new-job' mate back to the barge. Sounds simple except we need to get this all done before the last barge and a high tide that's rolling in at the same time. We really needed to haul ass!
To cut a long drive short, we eventually made it. But not before tempting fate by chancing our arm around Indian Head at 1/2 hour before high tide. Which resulted in us having to turn around just before the hook and jump on the inland track. Then on the way back, we were stuck at Happy Valley for a 2 hour dinner stop as the barman advised Eli would be impassable for 3 hours. I think we got back to camp that night at about 9pm.
Day 5: Today needed to be all about R&R and Champagne Pools was the destination of choice. We'd only been here once before and the ocean was flat as a tack then so when we climbed the stairs it was very pleasing to see the waves crashing over the famous rocks. The kids all had a ball playing in the wash, whilst the Dads kept a close eye on the tourist scene.
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| Champagne Pools |
That kept us busy until lunch time, then we transferred to Eli Creek to laze the day away.
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| Magical Eli Creek |
Later that night as we were preparing dinner excited shouts by the masses indicated there was a Dingo wandering through the camp. He quickly exited stage left when it became clear the welcome mat had been pulled in.
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| Not the same dingo, but this was the only other pic I had |
Day 6: The intention today was to hit the westside at Moon Point. We missed the main turn off and then the connection road was closed so the decision to push on was made. We landed on the beach at Woralie Creek. The thought process was to follow the beach south down to Moon Point. It's a much different landscape on this side of the island and before long things just got too soft to comfortably push on. We'd passed a group camping and just north of them was a fair sized creek that we thought would make a good picnic point.
Not long after we'd turned around, the Patrol decided to take a line further up the beach. He was cruising at around 50klms when all of a sudden, thwump! He came to a sudden stop and sank down to the doorsills. You can imagine the collective "holy shits!" that rang out over the UHF. He'd stopped so suddenly that the car had sank rather than dug in so thankfully he was able to simply reverse out and quickly scamper to more solid footing.
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| That sinking feeling |
We eventually made it to the creek and spent a great couple of hours there. This creek was a little Eli-like and the best part we didn't see another soul except for one fishing convoy that drove past and the sailing boats that floated past.
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| Coongul Creek on the westside |
Day 7: This was the Friday before the official start of school holidays, so when we hit Eli Ck for a few hours it was interesting to watch the 4bys pour up the beach highway all day. We were bound to have some new neighbours when we get back to camp.
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| Floating down Eli for the upteenth time |
An interesting change with our phone reception today. Usually we needed to head a few klms south of Cathedrals before receiving reception (Telstra) but today it kicked in as soon as we hit the beach. I'd heard overcast conditions could improve reception but hadn't actually experienced it.
Day 8: We're off to Central Station today. It's a gorgeous spot, particularly down by the creek. We'd camped at Central last time and I'd recommend doing so as a "gotta do it at least once" experience.
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| Pristine Wanggoolba Creek |
We took a drive through the campground, a walk along the creek and took our 3rd annual Benjamin at The Benjamin Fig photo.
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| Benji and his Fig over the years |
As we turned left to leave Central we could see an older couple down the track on our right who looked to be in some trouble...so we went to investigate.
The rubber block of their Tregg hitch had split and the trailer had nosed dived into the sand. So began the arduous task of lifting the trailer up with the bottle jack so we could hook it back up minus the rubber. We got there in the end despite the small jack, soft sand and broken jocky wheel handle.
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| The rubber mount sheared right through |
We said our farewells to our new friends who had the unenviable trip to Kingfisher ahead of them towing a trailer held together by two metal pins. That would have been one slow trip. They had been travelling with another car, but they'd become separated and without a radio had not been able to call for help. After an hour sitting on the track they still hadn't seen 'em..I think there's a lesson in that for everyone.
After that delay we were looking forward to getting back to Eurong quick smart, but you guessed it. We came to the crossroads to McKenzie and it was choked up with backpackers in their pink troopys. They were flogging the guts out these trucks trying to get up a soft hill with what looked like full tyres. After a frustrating 20 minutes they finally got their act together and we took the opportunity to sneak through the intersection before the second wave started.
Day 9: called for another day of relaxation and there's no better way to do that than hang around camp before spending a lazy few hours at Eli Creek. We also stopped in at The Pinnacles and Maheno to have a closer look.
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| Looking up Eli from the beach |
Day 10: Well the trip's come to an end so the unenviable task of packing up begins after a simple breaky. Low tides not until later in the afternoon so there's no rush but we make good time and decide to move on down to the beach and watch the day go by until the tides allow a smooth ride down to the barge.
We were playing on the beach when all of a sudden I hear this almighty roar coming from the north. Initially I'm thinkin' that it's a tricked up Paj, but its bearing down on us way too fast. We look to the heavens just in time to see the first of two Super Hornets fly overhead. A few minutes later, 2 more (or the same two, not real sure) flew past again - what a surreal buzz!
After a little while we start to make a move taking things nice and easy as the tide rolls out and leaves plenty of hard sand for us to travel on.
Before we know it Inskip is within site and we're waiting for the barge to make the journey over to take us home.
The drama isn't over yet. I must of swung the rig a little too high before parking it because when I went to get on the barge she just wanted to bog down. Grrr there's only one barge operating, so we'll need to wait for it to do a lap. Thankfully the Maxxtraxx were all that was needed to get us moving onto some hard stuff.
And wouldn't it be great if I could say that was the last time we got bogged...of course we still needed to negotiate Inskip.
We hit the hard stuff at Inskip, turned left and went as far as we could. Then it was a recon mission to pick the best line before fangin' it and having a good crack. Again though I'm pretty sure I f'd up by changing gears in the soft stuff and the van dug in bringing everything to a halt. Fortune was on our side and there was a young fella hanging around in his missus' 'new to them' Prado, just dying to do his good dead for the day. So he pulled us out without to much hassle and we were set to go again. I missed mates name but he's a Cowboy supporter and just a nice bloke, so if you're reading this by chance - thanks a million champ!
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| This close to escaping Inskip |
Just when I thought it was time to hit the blacktop and head back home we saw a Prado pulling a box trailer (on his way to the barge) dig in and bury. We spent some time helping him dig out before Cowboy Prado snatched him out and sent him on his way.
And that's our 2013 Fraser trip. Bloody awesome to spend that much time on the island, yet for some reason it still doesn't feel like enough??
Cathedrals was a great place to stay. It never felt crowded, we were able to run the genny during non obtrusive hours and we were never too far away from the essentials. Facilities were clean enough and the place was well maintained. We'll definately stay there again.
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| The Cathedrals General store / Bottle'O / Servo |
Over the last 3 years we've spent about 18 nights on Fraser yet there's still so much more we need to see. That can only mean one thing...a 2014 trip. If your heading over in Sep/Oct in 2014 I might just see you there.
Awesome read!!
ReplyDeleteloving your work mate, keep the blog rolling
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