Fraser Island Help

[trymyluck]

Ok, after living within an hour of Fraser Island for 10 years, 2015 is going to be year. What I want to know is peoples first hand experience with accommodation around Orchid Beach. Good, bad and the ugly. Probably going to be in September and yes I've considered school holidays.


Mark

[-Shay-]

Any particular reason Orchid beach? What do you want to do on the island?

[trymyluck]

Maybe taking a boat over, other then that a bit of beach fishing, exploring the island a bit.

[Lucky_Phill]

I have camped at Waddy beach, Waddy Camp Ground , Ocean Lake and rented a house at Orchid Beach.

What specifically do you want to know ?

[Whoofa]

I like Orchid as there are places to get the young ones away from vehicles driving past them at 80kmh. House accommodation starts at $1000 a week to what ever your budget. Most are set up for large groups to keep cost down. I've never camped there but will be in December. Waddy point similar to the lagoon at Inskip. If I went with mates only through tailor season I would most likely stay on the eastern beach, but with the wife and kids, I would venture further up to Orchid. Plus I love rock fishing. I can not comment on towing a boat through Indian or Waddy point

[-Shay-]

Eastern side is definitely better for being closer to the action. A lot more easy to explore options there. But definitely orchid (or waddy) if you want to launch a boat from the beach!!

[trymyluck]

Phill, if I do this there will be groups from down south as well as us so may be looking for a couple of houses close to each other. Other then that its just about houses and facilities available. May be a couple of young ones running around as well so will be looking quieter areas if they exist. I may be celebrating a milestone as well.

[TroyVIS]

Perfect timing, we just got back from Orchid beach on Sat.

We stayed in a great place, Rob was really helpful in pointing out things we didn't know about and even took us amateurs beach worming! We've booked again for next year.

I don't know how people cope with young kids on the beach esp at low tide. Some people think it's a race track, Orchid itself wasn't to busy and we made it up to Sandy Cape but make sure you're vehicle can navigate Ngkala rocks!

[Lucky_Phill]

Have a read of this Mark. could be the house you are looking for.. I forget the name of it... it is tucked in behind Orchid Beach, but very quiet and across the road from the Bowls club.

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...ghlight=fraser


cheers

[Just_chips]

We just stayed at Footsteps on Fraser ( http://shellycarew.wix.com/footsteps ) for two weeks of the Sept school holidays, great house, great people, I'm sure GMBluewater reads this he will also agree. Regardless, there are lots of options in Orchid, just google 'Orchid Beach Accommodation' to get an idea.

Footsteps is on Marloo Ave at the back of Orchid, nice and quiet and away from people in a hurry to get places, but you rarely spend time at the house anyway. You can drive to Wathumba from here within about 40 minutes and also across to Platypus Bay which only takes about 30 minutes, both are excellent places to sit and soak up the atmosphere and let the kids fish and paddle in the shallows or just explore and comb the beaches.

Both Waddy Point and Indian head have excellent lagoons formed on the northern side of each headland that provide safe day time swimming in crystal clear water for the kids. The sand dunes behind Waddy vary in size and are great fun on a decent quality boogie board for a bit of tobogganing. Champagne pools is also close by and for something different Wyuna Creek is not far south of Indian Head as a bit of an alternative to the busy Eli Creek area, it's a bit of an ugly stepsister if compared to Eli, but my kids like it more as it's always chocked full of tadpoles.

I prefer the fishing options at the top of the island when compared to the bottom half, but always find myself wishing I could spend more time fishing the gutters around Dilli Village/hook point. If you go in September then you will be restricted in regards to beach fishing only as your not allowed to fish off the stones until after 30 September. Even if you're not a rock fisherman, there are still some great spots to fish from off the rocks that seem to produce better fish than fishing just the gutters themselves.

Ngkala is only about 15 minutes north of Orchid and is the gateway to the cape provided you can get through the bypass track, but when we there last week we drove around the front on dead low tide through about 3 inches of gentle wash without the need to tackle the track except for the return leg which is a bit easier. My tips for the Ngkala track are to ensure your tyre pressure is low (max 18psi), head up on a falling tide early in the morning before too much sun has baked the track and too many vehicles have churned it up as the cool moist overnight air will firm the track up a bit, better still if there was rain the day or night before. We often have breakfast up the cape with a run out tide, this gives us most of the day before we need to make the return journey, obviously you need to check the high water marks on some of the other rocky spots just to the north of Ngkala and maybe even check their bypass tracks too as they can be treacherous at times.

Go for it, you will love it and wonder why you haven't done it sooner.

Kev

Can't comment on taking a boat up as I have never done it myself, but a huge amount of people do, so I'm sure there will be plenty of advise in this regard if needed.

[GM-Bluewater]

Great words Just Chips! Pretty much sums up Orchid Beach and the northern end of the island. You can't get much better for fishing spots and variety of spots all within a close distance.

My advice would be to book somewhere very soon for September next year. Majority of the houses have rolling bookings for the school holidays and that time of year in particular, so the sooner the better. Once you firm up some dates i'd be happy to look into accommodation for you. My families house sleeps 16 and is very popular with fisherman and large groups as it has a lot of room for boats and plenty of room to spread out.

house.jpg


Footsteps is another great option with the separate 'man cave' with pool table, bar and kitchen away from the house.

If you have any specific questions let me know.

Cheers