Fraser Island 2012.

[Lucky_Phill]

Yep, it's close to that time of year again when the Tailor run north, the westerlies blow and Brisbane ^%$# 's me.

Heading to places north of Orchid Beach in mid June.

A fellow AF'er tagging along, ( well, it was his idea ) and some family.

Not taking the boats, just some beach fishing gear, camp ovens and GGW.

Going to be self sufficient and maybe let the girls drive down to Waddy for a hot shower every now and again, although we do have an ensuite setup close to camp

2 x Colorado dual cabs, each towing a trailer. Both diesel and One is an auto, the other a manual. Be interesting to see fuel usage figures.

Count down has begun and looking forward to getting the sand between the toes again, it's been a couple of months since I've been there.

cheers LP

[Goodoo haven]

Good luck there Phill.

[upstart]

Hey Phil,
I'll be there late June, camping somewhere. Can you tell me why you camp right up north? Pros and cons etc.
Cheers mate.

[Lucky_Phill]

upstart,

camping north of Orchid does a few things.

Gets us away from any other campers.... basically we'll have a few k's of beach to ourselves.

Orchid beach has fuel, tavern etc and just a 10k drive from where we are

The area we go to has little use by other campers throughout the year, meaning no broken glass and other :" surprises ".

Waddy Point camp ground is not that far away for water supplies and a hot shower.

Great worming beaches north of Nagala Rocks.

Not that far to do a Lighthouse day trip.

Plenty of Tailor off the rocks at Waddy Point and good whiting and jew in the surf out front of camp.

A lot less uummmmm how do I explain this without being rude ......... " first timers / amatuers / inexperienced 4 x 4 and Fraser folk " head past Indian Head and even less past Waddy, even less again past Orchid.


the downside....

doing the tourist thing... central station, Lake macKenzie etc is a full days trip and must be worked with tides.

No swimming at Eli creek this time of year... no near naked backpackers

I suppose it really boils down to what you want to do on the trip.

I've done the ... House, Camp on beach , towed large and small boats, day trips, extended trips, west side and east......... but this trip is for the others who have not been there.

It's not a fishing trip, but more of a " forget the big smoke and kick back , trip ."

cheers LP

[upstart]

Great reply thanks Phil.
I've camped a couple of times at Fraser. Once just south of Eurong and the other time was a bit north of the Maheno. They were good spots and like you said, close to the tourist spots. I've never been right to the lighthouse so maybe in the vicinity of where you're going would be the ticket.
I've got a 2010 BT50 dual cab diesel auto and the other vehicle will be a VW Toureg. Do you think the vee dub is suitable to get past Indian Head etc?
Keen to hear about the fuel use and the fishing!!

[Lucky_Phill]

The VW , in my opinion, should not be taken over Indian Head, but it probably can be. The vehicle in front will need to snatch it through Indian Head and Middle Beach offramp. You'll both need offroad experience to do this.

The inland road from Indian to Waddy is not the best and at this time of year, the sand will be soft / powdery.

The VW should not be considered to be taken past Nagala rocks, IMO.

Fuel usage for the Colorado manual will be between 14 to 15ltrs / 100 on the beach, ( with trailer ) and 11 - 13 without trailer, not too sure about the auto. A lot depends on driver. I use 2wd for 99% of my sand driving on Fraser.

cheers Phill

[Lucky_Phill]

I would also visit the QPWS website for road closures, maintenance and back-burning, which they do at this time of year.

have a good look around here.

http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/index.html


cheers Phill

[castlemaine]

Hi Phill

Camped Fraser once in July, swore never again. I've camped outdoors in Norway but was not close as cold.

Should be a good season, hope you catch heaps.

Cheers, Ivan

[Lucky_Phill]

mmm I go in June Ivan, because it is not cold.

T-shirts and shorts during the day and tracky dacks at night around the fire and some GGW to keep the chills away. Never really got " cold " so to speak, but as I said, I usually go in June, although 2 years ago we went mid July... ( stayed in house behind Orchid Beach ) wasn't cold but winds made the offshore fishing..... Jiggly ....

April - June is prime time I reckon...... then September just after the westerlies finish and it starts to warm up. Never , ever go late November to March... way too many tourists and way too many hot days and way way way too many Marsh Flies... big suckers too..... Summer on the western side is bad... I worked at Kingfisher Bay resort for a while...... trust me, the Marsh flies are that big they have Landing lights and are guided by Air Traffic Control.

Heres a bit of June 2007 action..

First up.... backpacker action at Lake McKenzie



Bit of a dip at Champagne Pools




and donging some whiting at Clareys corner ( between Waddy and Orchid )





and when we took the 4mtr tinnie.... we caught dinner. 10k's out from Waddy.




cheers Phill

[wags on the water]

Wish we were going - why would you post up such an informative post Phill (with 2 L's) while I'm stuck out in the desert????

[Lucky_Phill]

exactly that reason Wags

BTW, you'll be on double triple overtime and or I'll get is a warm and fuzzy feeling... inside A cheeky Port will take care of that

Are we there yet ???


cheers

[upstart]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1337467438.966129.jpg
It's a great place!

[upstart]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1337467528.328797.jpg

This was the week before Christmas in 2010.

[Lucky_Phill]

And if ya towing a trailer or boat... check ya wheel nuts




doh !

[Apollo]

Have fun Phill.