Fraser Island in July

[idlegossip]

Hi all, thinking of Fraser Island for school holidays in early July.  What do I need to know and what should I be pre-booking and how far in advance.

The plan at the moment is as follows

30/6 depart Melbourne
2/7 arrive at Inskip (or somewhere around that area)
3/7 day around Inskip to finalize supplies etc
4/7 to 11/7 on Fraser Island
11/7 depart Fraser Island
14/7 arrive back in Melbourne

Looking for all recommendations re campsites, maybe break the stay on the island with 4 nights southern Island and 3 nights Northern or vise Versace should I stay 7 nights around the central regional and travel north/south.

Must see locations and ones not worth visiting.

What is the fishing like at that time of the year? And possibility of seeing whales? Last time I went to Fraser was on a day tour out of Harvey bay about 18 years ago.

I will be in my Petrol Prado towing a lifestyle camper and my mate will be ina diesel prado towing his camper. What additional equipment/prep will we need. Both cars are well equipped and we will be taking a couple of sets off maxtrax.

All advise and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Rumpig]

Any major supplies you want food wise i'd be grabbing from Gympie before heading to Rainbow and fuel up there also as the place is usually cheaper for fuel then Brisbane (then top up at Rainbow If you need to).... there is a Foodworks and IGA and servos at Rainbow, but you pay Rainbow prices (not as bad as Fraser though).
If you don't see 50 whales at that time of year I'll be surprised, we were there that time last year and saw probanly 100 whales in a week at a guess (seriously). Camping wise i was surprised how quiet it was on the island, i reckon the no fires thing keeps alot of people away in Winter. Let your tyres down sufficently and you'll have a great time.

[Nomad]

Havent look at the tides but........

Stuff staying at Inskip.

Pick up groceries etc in Tewantin.
Get barge over Noosa River and run up the beach through Noosa Northshore and Rainbow. (You've already spent enough time on the black top.)
Refuel in Rainbow, then barge to Fraser.
Being June any site that allows a campfire. (my last stay was at Cathedrals, fire and clean Shitters and showers for the family).
On fraser for 7 nights youve got time to go everywhere.
The weather should be exceptional and you should see alot of Whales going north.
Lake McKenzie and Eli Creek to perve on backpackers.
Lake Wobby to nearly break your neck sliding down the sand dune into the water
Then the rest of the usual stuff.
Also don't rule out the west coast for a day trip.
There will be fish but I'm not much of a fisherman so I will let someone else talk about that bit.
Enjoy it and relax. Put your tyres to 18psi and you should be sweet.

 

[trevc]

Last winter hols we speng 4 days each at Waddy Pt upper, Cathedrals private campground, and central station.

 Next time I'd probably spend  the majority of the time at Waddy and a few days around the wreck or the creek.
Central was nice but when im on an island i want to feel like I'm on an island.

Enjoy!

Ps the ocean was thick with whales, it was hard to look out to sea and not see whales. The joy flights at 80 bucks/pax was money well worth spending, and im a tight arse.

[trevc]

I will be in my Petrol Prado towing a lifestyle camper and my mate will be ina diesel prado towing his camper. What additional equipment/prep will we need. Both cars are well equipped and we will be taking a couple of sets off maxtrax.

Snap, towed a 1.5t trailer with V6 Prado, 18 PSI on all 6 tyres and its like drivng down Queen st.

One last comment, i. met a couple of country boys with well equiped Prados at Central.They got a bit excited driving down the beach and hit a washout pretty hard, blew a tyre and dash lit up with heaps of error codes. I had a s an guage that helped them clear the errors but added a heap of stress to their island holiday. Take it easy   

[Rumpig]

Snap, towed a 1.5t trailer with V6 Prado, 18 PSI on all 6 tyres and its like drivng down Queen st.

the beach changes all the time, but yes there are times it is in better condition then driving on the highways if you  generally work for a couple of hours either side of lowtide. Years ago back when the speed limit was 100kph we towed our caravan up that beach easily sitting on that speed, 4 days later you couldn't do 50kph on the same beach with how many wash outs there were, and at the end of our 2 week stay we could do 100kph back down to the ferry again. Last July the beach was like a rollercoaster, was painful to drive along but not hard if you just went easy sitting on about 50 - 60 kph and avoided getting airbourne

[Luke_D]

We will be there at the same time. Booked at house at happy valley

[Bird]

Any major supplies you want food wise i'd be grabbing from Gympie before heading to Rainbow

From mamories Gympie is closed on a Saturday too if you turn up then.. It was when we showed up, might have been lunch time, but tighter than a snare drum

[BaseCamp]

What about the Woolies shopping centre opposite Maccas? ...

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[Beachman]

We did a week at Eli Creek Camping Zone last September and I found that central enough to be able to explore the island. For example one day we drove up to Indian Head and then onto Sandy Cape, but you just have to pick your tides as it is a full day.

We originally had all these day trips planned, but after a couple of days the kids were happy driving 5 minutes up to Eli creek and relaxing there for the day. Mind you the water in Eli is cold in Summer, so can’t imagine much swimming happening in July.

Even is September we saw at least a hundred Whales, so I would expect you would see more in July.

In regards to fishing there should be some Taylor around.

[Rumpig]

From mamories Gympie is closed on a Saturday too if you turn up then.. It was when we showed up, might have been lunch time, but tighter than a snare drum

maybe 10 years ago...these days it has several Woolies and even an Aldi store open on weekends

[Bird]

maybe 10 years ago...these days it has several Woolies and even an Aldi store open on weekends

was 2009

[idlegossip]

Thanks all for advise so far.

Do I need to prebook anything like the barge, camp grounds, permits etc and how far in advance?

[edz]

Shouldnt be a problem on the camping side of things, Last year was quieter than normal  at that time .. 2016 was quite busy [ more than normal ]  meaning a fair amount of good camping sites to choose from still ..So this year could be either way .. Fairly sure you can book 6 months out So it might pay just to book it anyway with QPWS  .. Zones 5 & 6 would be the pick and day trip it North / South / West ..
The Manta ray apparently dosnt prebook Barge tickets online now and if you get your permits etc barge ticket from the servo's you pay a handling fee ontop off the permit / ticket ..
Take some 25 lt  water drums and some way to fill them for your shower water supplies, can be had from the little brackish fresh water creeks in those zones [ Ok for showering / washing clothes etc ].
Shell servo Rainbow Beach has a very good Bakery  / Coffee for fresh breads etc .. Cooloola Cove [ about 20k before rainbow ] has a decent Woollies

[Bird]

Thanks all for advise so far.

Do I need to prebook anything like the barge, camp grounds, permits etc and how far in advance?

https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/camping.html#camping_on_fraser_island

[Beachman]

As mentioned previously you can pre book 6 months out online, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be booked out that time of the year.

You just have to work out what zone you want. I also bought my beach permit online and printed it out at home and used sticky tape to attach it to the windscreen for the week.

Also for convenience I bought the barge ticket at the servo when filling up, or you can buy them on the barge. Also at Rainbow on the road to the barge is a water filling station to fill your tanks/jerry cans.  BYO hose.

In regards to water on the Island, Happy Valley were charging $2 per Jerry can or if you have a long hose there is a tap at the bottom of the retaining wall near the bakery at Eurong which is free. But for showers we used water from Eli Creek.

Rangers are very strict with food being locked up properly day & night and rubbish bags not being left out.

[Hoyks]

My favorite camp was right up the northern point near the lighthouse. It was quiet as people would drive that far for a day trip, but most didn't hang around least they be caught by the tide.
Absolutely no facilities though.

Our camp was sheltered and around 10 paces from the beach. The fishing wasn't that good, but the dolphins chasing the fish 10' off the beach might have had something to do with that.

[Linedropper]

We did our first trip real trip to Fraser with about 1.5 tonne behind us. Fronts down to 15psi, rears at 18psi and camper trailer at 15psi for the Inskip Point run onto the beach as it can be soft and it was.

We didn't need food supplies on the way but Cooloola Cove would be a good place to load up on the way to Rainbow. We purchased the barge ticket at the servo in Rainbow when topping up fuel and had already pre booked the Fraser Vehicle permit but not the camping permit as we didn't know where we would end up camping on the eastern beach (hadn't really been there before). I don't think you are meant to get onto the island without a camping permit but what are the chances of getting sprung I figured. We found Telstra phone reception ran out around Eli camping zone and missus had to have reception and it looked nice enough so pulled in, setup and booked the camping online. Eli ended up being pretty central for touring around and wasn't far to the creek for a swim.

Most of our water supplies came from the tap at Happy Valley and interesting to hear above that they charge for it because I asked and they said go for it but we had been spending a fair bit there on coffees, ice, ice creams, baby stuff we ran out of, a bit of fuel etc. Dundubura has a tap we used for water also if you are up that way.

Did day trips to Orchid Beach/Waddy. Lake McKenzie and a couple over to Kingfisher for lunch/swim in the pool. Fraser is great, enjoy the trip.

[edz]

Half dozen cheap $2 Solar lights around camp makes for a nice Moon like glow instead of bright LED's and Marks the Shitter nicely too ..
Kids will love Eli, yes it will be cold and colder with the usual Nor easter / sou Easter at 10 to 20 kts  They wont care .. ...
 Take a good kite for the kids.
 Usualy plenty of good fishing gutters to be had,  Whiting / Dart  and others .. Plenty of Pippies for bait,  look for the pop ups along the wheel tacks in the wet / dryish line of sand,  For Taylor use belly strips off fresh caught fish / lures or store bought [ expensive up there ].. # ##   Sharks do frequent the Gutters too, Be aware ###
Take  some decent 500mm sand pegs for the corner guy ropes and 350mm for the others will do, set up for a decent blow and possibly rain [ May not happen, BUT beats trying to batten things down in the wet at night ] ..
A 25 lt metal paint drum with snap lock band lid makes a good Dingo safe rubbish bin ... or lock food scraps up in a tree or your truck over night [ Crows like to rip apart plastic rubbish bags tied up in tree's ] ..
Cheap Green Laser pointer for satellite spotting with  the kids at night ..
Small inflatables for the kids at the lakes / Eli etc [ Cheaper at home than buying up there ]
### BE AWARE OF DEADLY IRAKANJI JELLY FISH ON THE WESTERN SIDE of the Island mostly ###   .  Been a few instances of stings lately ..
Fuel is about $2 pl at Happy Valley / Cathedral Beach / Waddy point and Slightly cheaper at Eurong and Kingfisher Bay [ Western side ] .
For something " SPECIAL" for your trip,  Just pull up and talk directly with,  to Pre organise with the pilots for a flight off the beach from the Maheno or Eli over the island only about 20 minutes  [ Roughly $85pp minimum of 4 ] They do cater for the Tourist busses mainly but will take you if you can organise a time slot .. you should get some nice views of plenty of Whales and the inland Lakes you cant realy drive to .. Makes for a great experience .
A spoiler or an Appetiser for you https://vimeo.com/253747556  click "  Vimeo " bottom right corner for big screen ..

[Black Diamond]

Some great advice so far, everything you need to know you will find on here trust me. Some of the members on here know the joint like the back of their hands.

Spent 9 days there over this New Years gone......bloody awesome spot your gunna love it mate.

I camped up at the top of  Zone 7 (Burad) not far from Indian head for 4 nights and the remainder in Zone 5 between Eli and Maheno. Personally I would stay up at Burad or even further north depending on what you want to see. Zone 5 is great if you wanna soak in as much as you can within a time frame purely because it’s central and that’s why we split Zones as it was our first time up there.
The beaches are a lot nicer up top and the water is a lot clearer as well (When we were there anyway)
SAND PEGS!!! We bought another 20 before we went on there and used them all plus what we had. Some areas are a bit firmer then others but it’s good insurance.

We bought 3/4 of our supplies in Melb before we left and last minute stuff on Rainbow. Alcohol was reasonably priced at the pub next to the BP.  Used the 45 Ltr as a freezer and The 80 as a fridge. Perfect for the 5 of us. Don’t stress too much about it, you will find you will come back with extra..

It’s really not as bad as it’s perceived if you get the tides right so don’t stress too much about it.

Just remember your on holidays so I wouldn’t plan an unrealistic agenda. We worked out roughly what we wanted to see and went with how we felt. In the end most of the planning went out the window and just went with the flow and that allowed plenty of time for relaxing especially when having to sit behind the wheel for 5000km.

I did the same on the way up. There at plenty of places to stay yet even on a last minute decision.

John 

[wasn]

We do Fraser few times a year, fishing wise, launching boat of beach.
One thing you want to make sure everyone have and a spare set sitting around is good sunnies. Without them it borders on unbearable.public hot showers at waddy takes $2 coin. If you are dragging a big van north of ngkala, make sure you have help linking up before hitting the soft stuff. Plenty of boats and CT have come unstuck there and acquires recovery damages.
This last xmas/ new year, someone decide to tow a 19' caravan behind a cruiser over the rock.
4 hours and 2 tractors later, some new dings it was all back in the southside.
The place is magic.

[edz]

Looks like you had a terrible spot there BD  Apart from being a bit exposed and that wide flat beach being a highway the crowds in the distance  must have drove you crazy . 
 Nice spot for a lunch / afternoon break ....  Wyuna creek few about 5ks North of QPWS  Dundaburra  is another spot you may like IDG, Nice for a spot of fishing out the front, wide beach for the kids to play on, fly a kite etc away from the traffic /  a nice little shallowish creek to cool off and play in /  explore with plenty of freshwater perch .. Worst part is you will generaly have it all to yourself .. Though some tour busses will stop for morning tea breaks ..
Day trip Platypus bay out on the western side from Orchid beach / Waddy point is bloody beautiful one small sandy wet boggy creek  section out close to the coast to watch for but not too bad .[ pays to walk it ].

[Julian Kaye]

 I spent 12 days at Waddy Point in December, great camping and good facilities but too far north IMO if you want to explore the island. I'd try and stay south of Cathedral Beach which makes all the island easily accessible, add to which you will avoid the Indian Head bypass and the track into Waddy which can be treacherous when the sand gets soft.

[Black Diamond]

Looks like you had a terrible spot there BD  Apart from being a bit exposed and that wide flat beach being a highway the crowds in the distance  must have drove you crazy . 

It was very hard to take and the sunsets were just horrible    Considering it was mid 30’s and humid the seabreeze was very welcomed at times. That was up at Burad. I’ll be heading straight to that zone again. Thanks for all your advice too mate it was very helpful 

[BBull]

Any major supplies you want food wise i'd be grabbing from Gympie before heading to Rainbow and fuel up there also as the place is usually cheaper for fuel then Brisbane (then top up at Rainbow If you need to).... there is a Foodworks and IGA and servos at Rainbow, but you pay Rainbow prices (not as bad as Fraser though).
If you don't see 50 whales at that time of year I'll be surprised, we were there that time last year and saw probanly 100 whales in a week at a guess (seriously). Camping wise i was surprised how quiet it was on the island, i reckon the no fires thing keeps alot of people away in Winter. Let your tyres down sufficently and you'll have a great time.