Australia: The Long Way Downunda

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Scott, you realize the Brisbane Caravan and Camping Show is on in then. I reckon it's the biggest camping / camper trailer / motorhome show we have as there are plenty of Australian manufacturers based around South East Queensland and nearly everyone goes to that one even though Brisvegas is certainly alot less populated than Sydney or Melbourne. http://www.caravanqld.com.au/showsevents/caravan-camping--touring-holiday-show.aspx

You'd need the whole day to see it though. Friday is a good day to go as it's too packed on the weekend. It's at the Ekka virtually in the centre of town.

You're welcome to crash at my place for the night if need be. I live about 1.5 hrs North of Brisbane and the ferry to the North Shore is only 5 minutes drive in the morning. I'll check the tides for you but it's an awesome drive from here up the beach to Double Island Point and then on to Rainbow Beach and Iskip Point .......beautiful beach driving and some neat forest tracks through the Cooloola State Forest. You catch another ferry at Iskip across the channel to the bottom of Fraser and then later you can take a different ferry off the island when you are leaving over to Hervey Bay and then onto wherever. Check this out >> http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/52769-Show-me-your-country!/page2

You need to know the tides......let me get you a link to that so you can plan your trip. Some places are only passable at dead low tide and most is below half tide. The beach can change from week to week too. I can probably hook you up with the frequencies for the Fraser tour buses who might be around to offer advice on the day or suggest alternate routes, etc. I know most of the tour guys and believe me...... they have the tide times and routes on the island down to a fine art ....rainforest tracks and old logging roads at high tide and beach at low.

Let me know.

Edit: Here ya go. http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/oceanography/tides/tide_predications.cgi

Then enter the dates. Actually now that I've looked, it's almost perfect for you ....good timing. Looks like you would want to be on the first ferry across the Noosa River if you were heading that way. I think it's 6:00 start (I'll check) so that would get you up to Inskip along the beach by 8:00 or 8:30 on the 11th . Dead low will be around 10:00 so that gives you till around 2:00 comfortably on the beach. You'll have all day on 12th till around 3:00 and so on. Talk to the ranger when you get your beach permit. Do it all on line. Permit for the car to drive on the North Shore and for Fraser and a camping permit for you guys for the number of days unless you are staying in a cabin or resort (very loose description for most but that 's what they call them over there anyway). You'll also need cash for the ferries. The Noosa River ferry is only about $8 one way but the Inskip / Fraser Ferry is quite a bit more.

Heaps of info about all this online Scott. Google it/

Hey Scott......please, don't take any of this the wrong way. Not trying to be your travel planner......Fraser is our back yard......only offering suggestions.

BTW what car have you got for this trip?
 
Last edited:

Scott Brady

Founder
Many thanks for the details.

I will be attending the show in Friday, along with Rob from HEMA. I will then stay Friday night in Brisbane.

Saturday early, I am driving to Fraser Island, and will be spending the weekend exploring it with Rob. I will be back in Brisbane Monday evening.

My schedule is filling up quickly. I have a meeting scheduled with Pat Callinan early on the 15th and then into Sydney.
 

RMP&O

Expedition Leader
Agree on Fraser, good to see you are going there. It was one of my highlights in my 5 week Oz trip. I spent my 35th B-Day on Fraser drinking Guiness and sitting on the beach.

Also while in Sydney, I highly reccomend going to Royal National Park just outside the city. Amazing place!

I have a bunch of friends in Sydney, if you need somebody to grab a pint with in Sydney send me a pm for their details. My good buddy Steve drives Nissan Patrols, he has a 2010 as well as a bunch of classic. He is currently building a 72 Patrol for a SImpson Desert trek he is leading. Will be mostly old classic Patrols on that Simpson trip. Great pizza in Sydney and also great places to get b-fast. It is a nice city, one of my favorites.

Oh yeah....drink lot's of Toohoeys Old and Bundy Rum!! :)
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Saturday early, I am driving to Fraser Island, and will be spending the weekend exploring it with Rob. I will be back in Brisbane Monday evening.

Hey Scott, ..the offer's there.

Your Saturday morning will either look like this
5793440768_89d582b72f_m.jpg


or this
phoca_thumb_l_20.jpg


The beach is really good at the moment. All the beach approach to Fraser from my place up to Inskip is passable up to 3 or 3.5 hours either side of low tide....... Even the infamous rocks at Rainbow (that have claimed literally 100's of 4x4's) and the Rainbow side of the Liesha Track is all clear too. The Leisha Track is the pass you can just make out a few hundred metres behind Double Island Point in the pic above. When you get to Fraser, the whole beach will be fine for at least 4 hours or more either side of low. Tides should be getting up towards 2.o metres by Monday's afternoon high......... So not too bad but the general rule is don't get too brave and take risks on the incoming tide especially towards half tide.

Fraser is quicker for me to go up the beach rather than up the highway but if you are heading straight up from Brisbane without coming this way then go to Gympie (about 2 hrs North with a coffee stop) and take the Rainbow turn off (not quite an hour with a stop at the ranger station ) then another 10 minutes to Inskip Point.

I'll PM my phone number just in case. It'll be a long weekend when you are up there as Monday is a public holiday so there'll be a ton of other people around if you come unstuck. Might be a little traffic too but you'll be right if you leave early enough. You can go back a different way over to the mainland on a different ferry on your way home too if you like .

John.
 
Last edited:

Matto

Observer
...still nice up North though :)
That it is. A lovely 82 degrees F here today, and not a cloud in the sky. :D

Shame you're not coming up north, there's some beautiful countryside around here. The reef's already been mentioned, but the rainforest is also right on our doorstep. An hour and a half and you're over the Daintree and right into the midst of it, lizards and all.

John - have they bought in the access charges for Rainbow Beach yet?

Sounds like you've got a good itinerary Scott - you're certainly seeing a hell of a lot of the countryside in a short period of time! I wish you a great visit, I'm sure you'll have a blast. Say G'Day to Patski for me. Never met the man myself, but from all accounts he's a top bloke.

Give the Toohey's a miss (cheaper just to drink your old sump oil :Wow1:), but I'll definately second the Bundy rum. :)

If by chance you do end up in this end of the country, feel free to get in touch.

Thanks!
Matto :)
 

whatcharterboat

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Matto,

Yes. You ahve to pay access now for the beach from Noosa up to Rainbow now. I think it's 15 bucks. Stinks.............. Nothing like cutting loose on the motorcross bikes when we were kids in the '70's........ I even saw a speed camera on the beach a while ago and definitely expect an RBT at somepoint over a long weekend. John.
 

Scott Brady

Founder
I am in AU and loving it so far. Wonderful people (as I expected) and Brisbane is a nice city. Lots of time at the caravan show yesterday.

Today, I head north to Fraser island - in this. . .
earth-cruiser-b.jpg
 

Scott Brady

Founder
Landed on Fraser in the EarthCruiser. So far, it has managed the sand and mud just fine. The brand new 37" Hankooks didn't hurt.

So fun doing a beach landing with the ferry. In total, we drove 70k on the beach today.
 

Scott Brady

Founder
Fraser Island is a special place. It is impressive that such an adventure is available on an island of a developed country. In the US, the place would be overrun with people. Fortunately, Australia is the same land mass as the continental US, but with 7% of the people.

The 4wd tracks were not particularly difficult (although I expect they would be more so in dry conditions with soft sand), but they are beautiful. The perched lakes are some of the most clear and clean in the world.

And the EarthCruiser proved its worth too. This is a true RTW expedition camper, and impressively, can be purchased in the USA. It is rare for us to find RTW diesel platforms on our shores.

I am very thankful to Rick, and ExPo member and Australian who let me borrow his personal truck for the weekend - thank you.

259895_10150336626003275_640113274_10044585_7032402_n.jpg
 

p1michaud

Expedition Leader
Suggested sight while in South Australia

Scott,
Glad you enjoyed Fraser Island, it's a beautiful spot. Not overly happy that my plans fell through... :(

I noticed a gap in your itinerary:
Flinders Range: June 22nd-28th
Route back to Brisbane (undecided)
Leave for US on 30th, though I might push that back a few days.

May I suggest you take a scenic flight over Lake Eyre? It's got plenty of water in it at the moment. Not very often in a lifetime that you would get to see the desert full of water...

Cheers,
P
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,534
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top