Fraser Island

[chrisroche]

Help needed from Mexican heading north.

Hi All- we are heading on a family trip to down the east coast and planning to head over to Fraser Island for some luxury at Kingfisher Bay.  planning on leaving the CT on the mainland.  After any advice on types of tyres needed, pressures, places to see, recovery gear, etc... With 4 kids not into getting bogged up to the axles.

Will be in a Toyota prado.

Cheers

Chris

[nbd73]

A prado with no trailer + any tyres reduced to 18psi = no get bogged.
Places to see dependent upon time and your preferences. Would recommend the walk to lake wabby, a day trip to the top end, & lake bowaraddy to check out the tortoises, for starters.

[chisel]

Best advice is to run a search on here - in the Trips section probably - will return at least 100 threads with this sort of info.

No special tyres needed.  Prado will do fine ... just run 18psi for starters (may need lower but 18 would usually cover most situations)

[chisel]

a day trip to the top end lake bowaraddy to check out the tortoises, for starters.

Did you mean Lake Allom?  Bowaraddy is, or at least was, a long walk from Dundubara.  Like 11km round trip.

[JD-120]

Hey Chris,

Mate we went to fraser Easter this year. 2008 Prado, towing Camper. No dramas.
As mentioned by everyone else, drop to 18 psi and should not be a problem.

Being at kingfisher, you are close to lake mckenzie, central station and a few other sites in that area.

If you head plan on heading to the cape, maybe try getting some info on how soft nigalla rocks bypass is. depending on the conditions, this section is probably has the most potential for getting stuck from my experiences.

Other wise, enjoy fraser. make sure you get time to hit eli creek also..ahhh so many places at Fraser to go...

I WANNA GO BACK

Justin

[ATC]

Carry a snatch strap & shackles.

I had 2 pair of Max Trax, only used them for leveling the truck at night, Roof Top Tent isn't much fun on a slope.

Needed them on one section coming out of Kingfisher bay, towards Lake McKenzie.

Lots of the vehicles coming up the slope get bogged cause of the low speed, poor tyre pressure choices, & damn soft sand.

Have fun, it's awesome!

[Mallory Black]

All I can add is that if the weather is dry then the soft sand sections will be more treacherous than usual. You just have to be aware of that and as always in those circumstances momentum is your friend. We own a stock standard V6 Prado 95 and each time we visited we towed something so in our case:

Lower the tyre pressures- 18psi and carry a portable air compressor
no sudden changes of direction
Remember momentum- sometimes that's all that will be between you and a bogging so be sure that everything in the car is  secured because when things get bumpy you can't back off
Be careful of how much weight you have on a roof rack (if you have one)
Carry a snatch strap, have good rated points on the front, can use the tow hitch receiver on the rear
Maxtracks or the other brands like them will be very good insurance because you’ll be gobsmacked at how many travellers will drive straight past you if you’re bogged.
Stay in 4wd everywhere (except in Kingfisher and the sealed road parts of Eurong)

All those great videos about people getting bogged at Indian Head…. There’s always a reason they got bogged in the first place. Just watch them and you’ll see who makes it and why, and who doesn’t make it (and why) even recorded our own one year!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQTMcbkVo6o
Oh yeah, it’s the beach, make sure your car has protection before you get on the island (like a good coat of polish over the paint and alloy and even if it’s been professionally rustproofed, spray every nut, bolt and connection underneath with some lanotec HD
Heading there in Sept. can’t wait!

[hargs]

Great info. thanks so much. As it will be our first time too, I am hanging on every word.

[BigJules]

I'm going to dissent here and ask why the h3ll you're not taking your camper. I'm sure Kingfisher is lovely, but I'll be there are better resorts on the QLD coast. There would be few better camping locations however, and I'm sure that 30 minutes after yiouy arrive on the east coast and drive up the beach you'll be kicking yourself.

Stay in a resort, enjoy the luxury, try Noosa for instance, but don't waste your trip to Fraser.

If your plan is locked in, enjoy exploring and don't be too concerned, your vehicle and tyres will be fine, just lower your tyre pressures as above. If you find the going difficult at 18psi, go lower.

Get away early would also be my advice; Fraser is huge and there is so many things to do and see that you'll want to make the most of your time there.

[ATC]

Get away early would also be my advice; Fraser is huge and there is so many things to do and see that you'll want to make the most of your time there.

We were there for 5 days and did over 650+ km in that time.
The missus wasn't as fussed about all the driving, but I loved it.

Can't describe the feeling as you're driving on the beach, and a plane comes in over you to land - just in front!

[stephwoodall]

Hi Chris

We took our Customline camper to Fraser last year with no dramas.  Drop your tyre pressures as mentioned on both the tug and trailer and you will be fine.  We didn't have any dramas on the beach or inland and took the camper through washouts etc - no problems.  As always on Fraser commonsense is the key.  There are also plenty of idiots just check out YouTube but don't think that the trouble the idiots get into applies to everyone and don't let it dissuade you from taking the CT.

We camped at Central Station which is in the rainforest in the middle of the island.  Next time I would probably camp near the beach as it was fairly dark in the rainforest.  The advantage of Central Station is that it is quite protected from the wind etc. 

I think you will regret not taking the CT.

Cheers

Steph

[Mallory Black]

If you beach camp the only tip is to ensure your rig is set up for protection from the south east winds.
When it comes from the north, usually just a breeze but from the southeast, it's never ever 'just a breeze' so have extra poles pegs and ropes ready.
not sure what the winds do at different times of the year but that's how it is most times.
you can expect a few days of one type of weather then a few days of the other and so on so plan to be there for at least a week to see the place and get a good run with the weather.

[Bird]

I'm going to dissent here and ask why the h3ll you're not taking your camper.

Couldn't agree more. Take the trailer, that's why you got it dog!

[Bird]

I think the most important thing is pick and plan your tides... Driving on hard sand you can do in a Capella.

Tyre pressures come in second and are extremely important.

Don't be scared to drop to 10-12psi... just don't corner fast, or you will roll a tyre off the rim.

But when the tide is up, your on the beach going from one long section to another and your up in the much chewed soft sand, you can be in faeces extremely quick on any tyre.

Make sure you have good recovery points on your car and your own recovery gear so someone can rescue you. Most people wont lend their gear, it isnt cheap.


Now go there and have a ****in blast, Love Fraser, and cant wait to go back.....

[MDS69]

Concur with BigJules and Bird. Fraser in a camper trailer is a right of passage and you won't regret it. On future trips when your sitting around the campfire and your mates are talking about Fraser Island you can say "yeah been there with the CT" and get the respect from your mates that you will deserve.

[Steffo1]

If at Kingfisher DON'T put your drinks on "the room" or any sort of tab as you'll have to flog off the camper to pay the bill! Also, I went up with Broncos11 a couple of months ago with him towing a Jayco Expander. He even got it over some doozy little rocky bits at Yidney, off road hitch of course, so, as mentioned, have a rethink about parking the camper. Have a look at his trip report!
Have a hoot.
Steve

[Bird]

I went up with Broncos11 a couple of months ago with him towing a Jayco Expander.

When we got there, DDR was majorly pist that he didn't take his Trackmaster.. he ummed and arr'ed for weeks before we went, and didn't want to risk it.. 10 mins after getting there, he was pist off.

[outbackogre]

PM sent.

[chrisroche]

Thanks all for the advice.  Well received.

Kingfisher are a customer of mine so will kill a couple of birds with one stone and getting points also with SWMBO.

Cheers

Chris

[Ynot]

Kingfisher isn't too bad an option if you must do it, we spent a week there a year ago and enjoyed it, sunset coronas at the wharf bar is my tip!

With regards to momentum, leave plenty of space between you and vehicles in front as if they go down you want to be able to stop outside of the soft bit if you can. Especially with some of the buses, they can literally crawl through the sand and if they slow down to negotiate a tree sticking out or some other obstacle they can pull through, if you are up their clacker then they will cause you to stop and you may not get going again even with ultra low pressures.

We just had the standard Dunlop's on the Prado when we went up there last and had no issues.

Have fun!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Mik01]

Thanks all for the advice.  Well received.

Kingfisher are a customer of mine so will kill a couple of birds with one stone and getting points also with SWMBO.

Cheers

Chris

Been there lots over the last 30 years - go every year at least once. 
Inland tracks are all single lane, so.... Take recovery gear - not for you, but to pull out the multitudes of soft roaders, dheads and tourists in hire cars through the inland tracks that will block your path.
Also, on inland tracks watch out for the big tourist buses. They do not stop and you are expected to get out of the way. Unofficial rules of the tracks are biggest vehicle has right of way. After that, always give way to vehicles descending - they can't reverse up a hill, but you can reverse down.
And drive slowly approaching blind corners - luckily I haven't been hit, but many clowns have come too fast the other way and caused both to hit the skids. Corners come up fast.
Ditto what all the other guys above said about beach driving. Have seen falcons, holdens, vw beetle etc flying up the beach. If going north of happy valley, make sure you check tides, as it was not passable at high tide last year. You might have to spend the night in the car if returning on a high tide!!!

You'll be right mate. You've got the gear and the vehicle. Just add common sense.

[Bird]

Thanks all for the advice.  Well received.

Kingfisher are a customer of mine so will kill a couple of birds with one stone and getting points also with SWMBO.

Take me instead then!!!!

[chester ver2.0]

All is covered above

Totally agree with the tides when we went there we just got the tide times for the week and then you plan your day trips around those

Only other tip is at Kingfisher the mozzies get a bit friendly at night so take some bushmans with you

[gurules]

yep they have covered it
shame your not taking your trailer we camped over there great experiance top place
have a top trip and enjoy
go to the champain pools niiiiiiiccccccceeeee

[Nomad]

Doesn't matter how you decide to do it. Nike.
You can always find an excuse to go back and do it another way.

Have a blast.
Cheers