Fraser Island 2005

[JB]

Fraser Island 2005 [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Well after many months of planning and anticipation we left for the paradise that is fraser island
on saturday 1st oct. We left burleigh at 4am and headed to rainbow beach to inskip point.

Now, having a reasonably new 2.7 petrol hilux and not the biggest boat in the world we were expecting
to just kill it on the sand. So we let our tires down to 18psi all round including trailer. Then i took
a nice happy snap of the sign mentioning soft sand ahead just incase it could be funny later... well it
was funny alright cause we got about 20 meters into the sand and down we went. CRAP! Out of the car we
get and sure enough, we were on the diff. So it was pretty bloody hot digging the boat and car out
i can tell ya, i was so bloody happy when some bloke with a patrol turned up to give us a snatch. Thank
god for that i was thinking (not as fit as i used to be !). After nearly bogging himself 3 times, he
reved the tits off the patrol and hauled our sunken butts out of the sand. So down to the barge we
went a little worried and a little nervous now! Met a bloke on the barge with a much larger boat that
gave us the tee up that our tires were way too high still and if we didnt let them down to 12psi we
had no hope of makin the indian head cut in. So the trip up the beach was tops on the low tide, car
and boat went really well. We get to indian head and my god, i've never seen such a circus in all my
life! There must have been 4 cars and 1 boat /car combo bogged, 2 cars trying to get them out, and about
30 backpackers and local bums drinkin piss and heckling the crap out of everyone from the hill. It
was like running the friggin gauntlet i tell ya. So down our tires went to 12psi and a few prayers were said
by me. 2nd gear, low range, 5 grands worth of revs and my mate heads for the hill. Now i must say
we spent 30 mins waiting for it too clear and we also walked up and picked the correct rut to drive in.

I was up on the hill pumping my fists and yellin at me mate, "Fu#!%ing Give it too it son!!" and he made
it first go .. WOOHOO. Some cheering from the crowd and some remarks like "too hands for beginers" were
made but we were stoked. Now it is my very firm belief that if we had not let our tyres down to 12psi
on the boat and the trailer, there is no way we would have got up that hill.

Now we had some pretty ordinary northerlies for most of the week, but 2 days were TGO's which got out
out nice and wide. The water was that clear in one spot i could just make out reef patches of the
bottom in 28 meters. We had 3knots (no exaggeration) of current to condend with, which made fishing
interesting indeed. After some initial blunders on the first day, wrong baits and wrong rigs the second day
we had some good fish coming aboard, along with a few bust ups that came with some swearing.

Now for the beach launching, i took some photos in perfect conditions, but let me tell you that
25knts of northerly and a mid too high tide are nearly impossible to get ur boat bak on trailer. We
anchored boat in gutter and waited for tide to receede. The waves on high tide come right over bank
and smash into the back of the boat.

As for the extended draw bar, we didnt need it, however our setup was quite small compared to other rigs.

Rob, we said gday to ranger linda my mate told her she had a croaky voice! hahah, wat a goose . He thought
he was being smooth. She'd be a fiesty little one i rekon.



Thanks to all that gave us information about the island and the fishing, was most appreciated. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

If you have the chance to take the boat, go for it!

Jas

[JB]

Warning us...

[JB]

Ooops

[JB]

The rescue party [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[JB]

Barge trip over

[JB]

The setup

[JB]

Our roast lamb cooking... mmmm man that was a good feed [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

[JB]

Waiting for tide to go lower.

[JB]

Waddy pt , early morning. Wat a day.

[JB]

Me with a nice red throat

[JB]

We managed a good feed of these tasty buggers.

[JB]

Putting the boat back on in PERFECT conditions

[JB]

Another putting boat on in gutter.

[JB]

One for the beach fishos... plenty of weed for those blokes . Saying that, they were killing the tailor off the headlands. Plenty of them.

[Sportfish_5]

JB - Always a good adventure headin to Fraser

Was there a big red 7m Sailfish Cat still up at Waddy while you where there ?

Cheers

Greg